41 Increasing Forces

In the end, it was Arnold who really blew Remian's budget. The things he asked for were estimated to wipe out half of Remian's earnings all by themselves. "You want that Repeating Scorpion quickly or in a few years? And a moving tower, no less… do you have any idea what it takes to build a decent Siege Tower?"

"Not really, no." Remian confessed.

"Neither do I." Arnold handed Charlie with a list of ordered parts, gears and tools. "Count it as research costs!"

"How long do you expect this 'research' to go on?" Remian asked, concerned for his wallet.

"Without these supplies? A Repeating Scorpion could take me all year. With them? I could have one ready in a week or so." Arnold clarified. "Putting it on a moving platform would need more work; we'll have to do a lot of testing and adjustments to fire a Scorpion while the platform is moving. Building an actual siege tower capable of withstanding Tier 3 and 4 Wilds… that's going to take at least another two weeks considering how few Legionnaires we have."

"We don't actually need a Siege Tower that can shoot while it moves." Remian grimaced. "It would be nice, but what I meant was a Guard Tower that could be moved. If the town expanded, for example, and the defense line were to shift another kilometer southward, we could simply pack it up and go. The current Guard Towers can't do that."

There were other reasons for a defense station that they could move, other places that could use some defense, while being dangerous enough that Remian didn't want long supply lines carrying materials or tired workers laboring on site to build fortifications.

"A pre-fabricated tower that can be packed up and deployed?" Arnold shook his head. "Remian, you're thinking about this all wrong. You're trying to use thick walls and the height of the shooters for protection. Think about it the other way; the best protection you could have against a Wild attack is to not be there. In other words, what you really want is a vehicle that can stay far away from the Wilds and attack from a long distance. That's the whole point of heavy weapons like Scorpions and Ballistae. In fact, what you really, really want is an airship with magic cannons or a whole lot of Mage Cavalry. But I assume you can't afford that."

Remian said nothing, letting him continue.

"I suggest an armored carriage. Trust to range and firepower to keep the carriage safe. A Repeating Scorpion could very well clear out an entire Blood Rabbit burrow all by itself. It would take a bigger Wild, perhaps a heavy Tier 3 or a Tier 4 to get past that kind of firepower to threaten the carriage. You'd want another carriage with a Ballista mounted for those. If you're really concerned about keeping the Wilds off, just build some movable barricades, steel frames with sharpened stakes and all that. You could load those up on a horse cart."

"Or you could just bring guards." Charlie tossed in. "You really have to think about getting private security. I'll try to keep low key, but sooner or later, someone's going to figure out we've got things worth protecting out here. I can try to put you in contact with some mercenaries if you want."

"Please do." Remian requested. "The sooner we can get reinforcements, the better."

"I could have a few here by next week if you'll trust me to do the hiring." Charlie mentioned.

"Next week would be awesome. We don't know when the next Beast Wave will hit." Remian hesitated for a moment, then, "What sort of mercenaries are we talking about?"

"Nobody too shady, I'm sure. The easiest folks to bring would be the lower level fighters from the Crescent Saber mercenaries at Fal'Herim. They're hardy survivors, accustomed to the desert, well known as merchant guards. These days, they're mostly fighting vermin in the Desert King's city."

"Vermin need to be fought?" Remian blinked.

"Sand Wyrms, mainly. One brood can spawn over a hundred of them. When they're young, they're about a couple of feet in length. I've seen older ones six feet long. Legend has it there's a ten foot Sand Wyrm out there in the desert somewhere."

"Are they that dangerous?"

"Only if you're made of sandstone. Which, incidentally, means most of the buildings in Fal'Herim. If you're a human, they're not much more dangerous than giant rats."

"And how dangerous are giant rats?"

"Hardly any threat. They're basically Tier 1 Wilds, except that they're city-dwellers."

"So… the mercenaries are Tier 1 fighters?"

"No, they kill Tier 1's for money. One on one, however, they should be a match for Tier 2 Wilds, especially if they have decent gear. I'd rather think of them as 'Tier 2 fighters'." Charlie thought for a bit. "I think if we offered them 100 Lir a week, we could get at least a dozen of them to sign up on the spot."

"That cheap?" Remian was amazed.

"100 Lir, food and shelter and all the water they could drink? Yeah, there are quite a few dirt poor desert folks dying of thirst that would jump for that job." Charlie coughed. "Double the money, promise good meat every meal and warm, clean beds every night, and we should be able to triple that number."

"And what if we could offer them 1000 lir a week and treat them like kings?"

"Then we'd empty half of Fal'Herim. Heck, for that kind of offer, we'd probably take half the people from all the mercenary guilds I can think of. That's tens of thousands of mercenaries, by the way. Not even you can afford that." Charlie shook his head. "But then again, my idea of treating people like kings might not be the same as what you have in mind."

"We can promise them 100 Lir, decent meals and shelter for now. We'll need time to build some structures before we can promise warm, clean beds." Remian cleared his throat.

"Who's hiring them? The Adventurers Guild? Or you, Remian Vin, personally?"

"Me, personally."

"Excellent. That keeps things simple." Charlie nodded. "I'll be hiring people on behalf of a business partner of the Deutero Company, then, a part-owner of the Frontier Airport and several shared businesses in the region, also the Guild Master of the Adventurers Guild. That should be enough for credibility. What should I tell them as a job description?"

"Guard duty. Mainly the town, sometimes convoys. Might have to help some fortification and construction work." Remian hesitated, but didn't mention the mines. Best not to tempt anyone with thieving opportunities. "Definitely going to fight Wilds. Might have to fight some gangs."

"Leave the mercenaries to fighting. If you want a construction workforce, just hire workers separately. It's cheaper." Charlie advised. "20 Lir a day plus food and shelter could get you a dozen of those. 40 Lir a day could get you a hundred, and that number would double the following week."

"Here." Arnold handed Charlie a revised list of needed materials, now intending to build armored carriages instead of mobile Siege Towers. "Can we get those?"

Charlie sighed. "These tools and equipment… precision machinery is going to be costly no matter what. This is enough to set up your own engineering workshop."

"Exactly!" Arnold brightened.

"How much?" Remian asked tightly.

"At least 60,000 Lir. Maybe 70,000." Charlie warned him.

"Do it." Remian said grimly. "I get the feeling that siege weapons are going to become extremely important in the coming weeks. Also, I want those hundred workers by next week and at least fifty mercenaries. 40 Lir a day for workers and 200 Lir for mercenaries is fine with me. All of them will have shelter and decent meals. We have a whole river here, and a spring at the Guild Hall; they can drink all the water they want. Just remember; the mercenaries are going to be fighting off Tier 3 Wilds. Hopefully, it will be from fortifications, but I can't make any long-term promises."

***

Meanwhile, he had to ask Carrie, [Who is it commanding the Beast Waves?]

Carrie blinked at him sleepily. It was the morning after the airship's visit, and they were still in the Cave. Mandy and Remian stayed there with the wolfcats and all the goods that the Guild owned; no human was allowed inside without permission and supervision.

As for Buff, who was neither a wolfcat nor a human… he usually just hung out around the mouth of the cave. Remian noticed him shifting his stuff into the cave bit by bit, mainly assorted junk and such. Buff's piles were outside the cave at first, then they were just inside the entrance, and now they seemed to be several inches farther in…

Maybe Buff was more suitable to be the cave's guardian, after all? The wolfcats were always busy every day. The bear wasn't very keen on running around and doing jobs or digging or helping construction or anything. He mainly just wanted his cave and his wand back. Remian wondered if he could just give them back and still retain the bear's services afterward.

[Why do you want to know?] Carrie asked.

[Maybe I could reason with him? So that the Beast Waves stop attacking?]

Carrie snorted. [There are five possible Lords who could be doing it, and none of them would listen to a single word you say before they bite your head off.]

[Who are those five and why would they send Beast Waves at us?]

[Three of them have lost relatives to human hunters. One more was driven out of his home and had to drive humans off their homes in order to get it back. The last one…] Carrie shifted uneasily. [The last one is the lord of this territory and might have finally gotten sick and tired of humans on it.]

[Shadowflash? It's possible that Shadowflash himself is commanding the Beast Waves?!] Remian stared.

[Anything is possible. This is his territory, after all, and I have not seen him in a while.] Carrie hesitated. [If he, too, has been taken by the Frenzy, then yes, he might be the one attacking you.]

[The what?] Remian paused. [What is the 'Frenzy'?]

[It is… hard to describe. But to put it simply, that's when our eyes turn red and fire burns in our blood You should have noticed it by now. All the Wilds in the Beast Wave have red eyes. That's not normal.]

[I've noticed. What does it mean?]

[To put it in simple terms, when that happens… a Frenzied Wild would do anything to kill every human we come across.] Carrie summarized. [Anything.]