356 Ongoing at the Wildlands

That day, calamity befell the Shadowflash Pack.

"Doggie!!" Nai'khan-dras leapt onto the back of a yelping wolfcat. "Doggie-ride!"

[NOOOOO…!!] the poor wolfcat fled, tail between her legs.

Nai'khan-dras gracefully hopped off the fleeing wolfcat and pounced on an even bigger one nearby. "Doggie-ride?!"

"Awwoooo!" that wolfcat started running too.

This time, she didn't jump off. She actually tried to hold on…

[Help! Somebody help! Mommmmy….!] the second wolfcat panicked and almost ran headlong into the wall.

[Roll! Quick! Roll over!] a helpful passer-by suggested.

So the panicked second wolfcat rolled over, and Nai'khan-dras hopped lightly out of the way, and then quickly grabbed the neck of the passer-by. "Doggie-ride!!"

[Oh fishbones… why me?!] the passer-by wolfcat howled. He started running too. Seeing him coming, with a Little Princess around his neck, all the wolfcats nearby scrambled to get out of the way and put as much distance in between them and catastrophe as possible.

In rapid succesion, wolfcat after wolfcat wizened up and ran for dear life. A mass exodus of fur and tails erupted from the den. Even Shadowflash himself was spotted sneaking away, slipping stealthily into the shadows.

Seeing it, Remian shook his head as he steered well clear of the hazard zone. "I think I'll stick to using my Silhouette's Armor form for a while."

***

While keeping his eye and his distance, Remian called George. "How's Kara-Goth doing?"

"We're fine." George said, tiredly. "At this point, I can't believe I ever worried about having a lack of population. There's so many new people wanting to settle here now, we might just burst. Did you know that at last count, our population already reached one hundred thousand?! I had to push more people toward the mining towns…"

"Really? I would have thought the refugees would prefer to settle on the Midland Sea Isles or Fal'Herim."

"No, Midlanders aren��t fond of living in a desert. Neither are they comfortable living on islands in the Midlands Sea. They want good, fertile ground, plenty of water, and enough farmland to feed a country. That's us, obviously."

"One hundred thousand, huh?"

"One hundred thousand in Kara-Goth alone, not counting everyone we had to send on to the mining towns and farming villages. There were some who wanted to strike out on their own and pioneer their own settlements, but then they heard what happened to the last bunch who tried that…"

"Having an agreement with the Wilds does seem to provide more security than all those defensive measures."

"Rumor has it we almost messed up that agreement and were about to get wiped out with the ongoing Beast Flood. Apparently we have you to thank for keeping it intact."

"Well, Shadowflash is content to just leave things as they are. For now. I still worry that having too many people added too quickly might upset the big guy, so, yeah, I had to channel as many as I could to the outlying settlements."

"Are you all right losing those industries? Economically?"

"Right now, we're turning mostly commercial. It's like Kara-Goth is turning into a mid-way trading center connecting Fal'Herim and the Wildlands. Everybody comes to the hill city to buy stuff from us, and most of it is on credit. Given the amounts everyone owns us, and the fact that nobody owns the land they live on and are paying us a rental fee to keep them safe, I think they're all going to be working for us the rest of their lives just to pay off some of their loans."

"But you're taking care of them right? Nobody is mistreated?"

"To hear some of them complain, you'd think otherwise. Basically, we can't afford to treat refugees like nobles, even if they were nobles in their original countries. Everyone will be able to live and earn honest wages, but I can't speak for luxury. Besides what sort of luxuries can I offer, compared to yours?"

"Mine? What do you mean?"

"Craggy Falls. I hear all you need to do to get water is to twist a tap open."

"Ah. That's just indoor plumbing."

"How's the construction? Still need materials?"

"We're about done with Phase 1 of construction."

"So… the majority of Adventurer utilities and services are operational? Training yard, gym, library, armory… everything?"

"Mostly. People have already moved into some Comrade-friendly housing and started up a few taverns."

"Does that mean I can send refugees over?"

"No way. This city is only open to Adventurers."

"That actually includes the vast majority of the older Kara-Gothians and the younger generation in the Wildlands. Last I checked, the Guild has some thirty thousand registered."

"And fifteen thousand of them have registered to stay at Craggy Falls."

George let out a low whistle. "That's more than twice the amount of Adventurers registered to Three Pines. I thought that was where all the Adventurers hung out, but I guess I was a bit behind times."

"Not entirely. While the Adventurers at Craggy Falls didn't take long to get used to indoor plumbing and electric lighting, the guys at Three Pines are more in-tune with nature. They often spend all day with their Comrades, climbing trees, hunting and foraging in the woods, and honestly suspect that light-bulbs are merely glass bottles with captured fireflies inside."

"That sounds peaceful. I thought they were still in a state of war readiness with the Spectres."

"No, they have Dragon Lake between them and the Spectres. Word is that Dragon Lake now hosts a military camp."

"Yes, they have knights, archers, priests, and mechanics all working to stomp out the Spectre threat once and for all. Some people just couldn't get out of a war mindset, maybe? We took them away from the midlands and away from war, but we couldn't take war away from them."

"It should be fine as long as the dragons don't mind. You know, I actually suggested to Zor'khan-dras that he settle the Draconian district there, but he doesn't want to bother his brothers."

So it was that Remian had to adjust his city planning and have the Draconians settle a district at Craggy Falls instead. This also meant the Spaceport and the world's interstellar commerce would be focused on his upcoming city. In one fell swoop, Remian had to toss out half his residential zoning plans and replace them with entertainment, hospitality and commercial zones.

"Speaking of bother, we actually had some nasty stragglers come by and cause trouble at Kara-Goth. Nothing that Shadowflash and the wolfcats couldn't handle, but the Beast Flood is surging through the Wildlands right now. At least they're not after us. They're after Song Chen's Great Docks."

"I saw it. They didn't look very much like docks to me. More like a string of forts and bunkers."

"What can I say? So far, they built more cannon towers and defensive siege weapons than boats, but they still trudge away at their goals."

Remian mused. "Maybe I should have a talk to Song Chen about the viability of non-magical airships versus maritime shipping."

"Good luck trying to talk any sense into him. Ever since he left the Defense Force, Song Chen has become decidedly… independent."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, he won't listen to me. Maybe you'll have better luck."

***

But he didn't. Remian tried for half an hour. Call as he might, Song Chen did not respond.

"Huh. I guess he's busy defending his turf against the Beast Flood."

***

By that time, the calamity had completely routed the wolfcats at Kara-Goth. Almost the entire pack had fled the premises and Little Princess Nai'khan-dras turned to the last remaining wolfcat in the Den.

"Doggie-ride?" she tugged at his ears hopefully.

The wolfcat didn't respond. This particular wolfcat was snoozing away peacefully as all his kin ran for their lives, and hadn't quite noticed the dangers he was in.

Tempted, Nai'khan slowly crept on top of him. "Doggie?"

But Chubs (who was the wolfcat in question) only snorted, pawed at his muzzle, and went on snoozing.

"Doggie ride!" Nai'khan-dras sat up straight on Chubs' back and happily proclaimed her success!