Spring turned into summer, but the warming weather carried bleaker news from the West. The Elven nations were falling. It was hard to get a proper understanding of just how bad the situation in the depths of the forest was, but one thing was clear. Things were getting worse.

  The number of refugees reaching the borders of Logres kept growing. Each group was more desperate than the last. Dozens of wounded warriors and hundreds of starving civilians abandoned their homes, seeking shelter elsewhere. They told stories of burnt down towns and villages, and of cities besieged by an endless tide of goblins crashing against the hopeless defenders.

  At first most were following the safer paths, sticking close to the foothills. Eventually those routes must have been cut off by the enemies and more Elves attempted to cross through the dangerous heart of Gomera. No one could even estimate how many perished along this road. Still, small teams of survivors frequently popped everywhere from the Northern tips of Wantage, straddling the Grey Mountains, all the way to the borders with Langogne itself.

  It took over a month to make the crossing. Longer if the Elves needed to rest and recuperate during their journey, or if they got lost. Whichever news they brought with them were obsolete long before they made it. Every town they claimed was still miraculously holding off the invaders was probably already overrun by the time word reached Logres.

  Sofia worked hard to rescue as many of her people as possible. She set up several offices along the border, where Elves with healing experience or at least useful knowledge worked to mend everyone’s wounds. A few unlucky souls perished after reaching these safe zones, but most made it, thanks to everyone’s efforts.

  Once they were healthy, they’d be dispatched to a growing number of settlements spread throughout the Duchy of Wantage. As the number of refugees grew into the thousands, dozens of outposts were built to accommodate them all. Experienced hunters helped to trim the deadly monsters rampaging through the region, while artisans produced goods that could be sent to cities in the kingdom’s South.

  Many of the Elves were eager to return to their homeland someday and they focused on training for war in their spare time. Varre was happy to hear of this idea and he encouraged it whenever he could.

  His army focused on melee combat. Armored halberdiers, mounted knights, and rows of levied peasants would be the first line of defense in case of a goblin invasion. Mages would help, both by protecting the troops from enemy fire and by launching their own attacks, but the core was meant for close quarters.

  The citizens of Gomera meanwhile were renowned for their skill with the bow. While they were excellent with spears and other weapons too, with their limited numbers and without heavy armor, this wasn’t the best use for their troops. Some could certainly be deployed as guerilla fighters, prowling the woods and attacking supply trains, but it seemed like that tactic wasn’t enough to turn the tide back in their homeland.

  The only problem with archers would be the goblin slingers. They were less accurate, but with sufficient quantities it didn’t matter. They could shred through an unarmored formation of bowmen in minutes. Slings had a longer range, though with the invaders’ smaller size much of this benefit was lost. In all likelihood, both groups would have to be within each other’s reach to fight effectively.

  Mages could help here too, but this wouldn’t be easy. The shields would have to be carefully controlled and allow projectiles to pass through one side, but not the other. Only an experienced wizard could accomplish something like that and Elvira’s trainees still had a ways to go.

  Fortunately the Elves were able to assist them. The increase in the number of herbalists provided plenty of new ingredients for the students to practice with. The healers and alchemists learned quickly and were now ready to assist actual physicians. Their communication cousins were also able to dispatch messages to their teachers now, though they could only do so over short distances and their aura reserves were low. Even the shield mages moved some of their classes to the outdoors section. Most were able to slow projectiles down by now, though not enough to make them safe. They needed more training.

  The offensive mages were the most unique amongst all groups. Their level of understanding varied greatly, as many of the students already had years of schooling behind them. On top of that, everyone specialized in whichever spells came to them naturally. The teachers let them focus on their strengths, hoping to quickly achieve some results instead of following tradition and sticking to a generalist education.

  Some of the guild’s mages continued to grumble, but Elvira considered this project a success. The objectives had changed somewhat, but she began work on a proper academy where all of the students could be taught in a single place. Construction was already underway in the fields just outside of the Westbridge’s walls.

  But as all these projects continued, the kingdom started to look at another change that was secretly happening in the background. Though most people gossiped about the goblin threat, or their new Elven neighbors, those most interested in profit watched the latest land reform with great curiosity.

  Since assuming the throne, Varre the First became the largest landowner in the country by a wide margin. On top of the already extensive Crownlands, he brought in massive estates of his fallen relatives into the fold. Then, rather than hand it out to his supporters like most of his ancestors would, he elected to keep it for himself and use the proceeds to fund his administration.

  This year, he had decided to completely shake things up by distributing the land directly to his serfs. Some of the merchants secretly gossiped in the kingdom’s inns, wondering whether this idea would pan out in the end. The opinions differed, but the significance was obvious. If the project succeeded, Logres would have a great surplus of food to export soon. If it failed, then a famine was all but inevitable.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

  Opportunistic traders made preparations in advance. Some sought out customers already and refitted their ships to carry more grain. Others looked for exporters and signed contracts to purchase food in case the prices within the kingdom went up.

  The two people most involved with the process were Treasurer Johan, and Head Merchant Lester. They’ve been monitoring the progress carefully for months and made frequent visits to Crownland villages all over the country to get a better picture of the situation on the ground. Now that the harvest had finally began in earnest and the first reports were coming in, they called an urgent Council meeting to share their results.

  The room was buzzing with anticipation. With the possibility of war on the horizon, the last thing the kingdom needed at this point was to deal with starvation. Had the kingdom learned of the threat before proceeding with the reform, it would have been prudent to wait longer, or introduce it in a very limited capacity, as a test.

  Now it was far too late. By the time Varre decided to act and begin preparing for war, the process was already underway. The messages were already sent out and the magistrates began their work. Going back on his decision and undoing all of that progress then would have looked weak. The king wasn’t worried though. He was fully confident the plan would succeed and he was eager to prove it to everyone around him.

  Once everyone was seated, Lester cleared his throat. “Alright, it’s still too early to tell you the full results of the reform, but we have some preliminary reports. I’ve spoken to Johan about this a lot and we sent out some additional magistrates to a select few villages to observe the harvest and get back to us as soon as possible.”

  “And? How is looking?” Steward Marna asked, with an obviously worried expression.

  “It seems to have been a success,” the Head Merchant beamed, “we can expect the harvest to be around twenty, maybe thirty percent higher than last year.”

  A round of cheers resounded through the room. The kingdom would avoid a famine this year. In fact, this surplus would go well to cover any additional expensed the war preparations have incurred.

  “Now, before we start celebrating I do have some caveats,” Johan stood up and gestured with his arms to calm everyone down, “this is preliminary data and it’s only from a single harvest. This could have simply been a good year. We’ll need to compare it to the estates of other nobles around the country before we can be sure of the results. That said,” he looked up at Varre, “I believe you were correct your majesty. It was an excellent idea, though a little risky.”

  “Yes, that’s true,” Lester said once the Treasurer had sat down, “there was a noticeable improvement in the grain harvest, but most of the growth came from other products. The peasants grew more vegetables than usual. We also received more livestock, eggs, cheese, you name it.”

  “That is excellent news,” Varre replied, “any ideas as to why?”

  “If I had to guess your majesty,” Johan theorized, “I’d say it’s mostly because the serfs had more time for their duties. They were a little more thorough in weeding and planting their own fields which improved the overall yield, but since they put in more effort and finished earlier each day, they had the time to focus on their vegetable gardens, food processing, and caring for their animals.”

  “Oh? It’s rare to hear such praise from you,” the king chuckled, “I still remember when you thought the peasants would just laze about without an overseer watching over their shoulders.”

  The treasurer shrugged, but couldn’t hide a small smile. “What can I say? I look at the facts your majesty. And they clearly show that the serfs found the time to work on their homesteads.”

  Varre nodded. “Let’s wait for the full report to be sure, but I am pleased with the overall result. Now we’ll just need to figure out what to do with all this extra food.”

  “I’m certain I can find buyers for it,” Lester leaned back in his seat, “it’ll be a little harder to transport such variety than just shipping dried grain, but we’ll find ways to do it.”

  “The people will be happy to improve their diets, your majesty,” Marna suggested, “I’m sure they’ll happily buy it.”

  “A surplus of food will reduce prices. And our profits,” the head merchant noted, “but I think that’s a fair exchange. We can always export more of the grain to other nations. Or we can pickle these vegetables for transport. Ship live animals out too… So many options.”

  “Well if we’ll have more food then we can feed a greater population right? That will be good,” the king said, “then we can have more people move into the towns. They can create better tools for the peasants and improve production even further.”

  “It will take years for this new generation to grow into adulthood your majesty, but I agree with you in principle,” Johan replied, “I’m sure some people will start moving soon. Those who would have normally starved will survive and maybe even get hired by some of the wealthier serfs to work their land. With every peasant family having a surplus now, they might be willing to pay someone a meal for weeding their fields for example.”

  “I’ll have to meet with some of my contacts. We’ll need customers who’ll buy all of this produce off our hands,” Lester said, rolling up his sleeves and pulling out a piece of parchment, “probably abroad. Do you know when Anastasia is coming back? I’ll need to talk to her.”

  “Chancellor Anastasia is still off visiting foreign courts,” Marna recited from memory, “but in her latest message she said she’d return around September.”

  “Another month then. Good. We’ll have more reports to work with when she’s back,” the head merchant muttered under his nose and kept writing his notes.

  “Do we know if she managed to convince the Forleans to assist us?” Varre asked.

  “She said she was hopeful in her latest message,” the Steward recalled, “but I guess we’ll just have to wait for her arrival.”

  The king nodded. “Excellent. I was impressed with her success up North. It seems that people are taking this threat seriously enough. Let’s hope she’s bringing some more good news.”

  The meeting continued in good spirits after the positive reports from the Crownlands. Soon, word of the results spread throughout the merchant circles in the kingdom and everyone started making their moves. Either capitalizing on their preparation, or scrambling to recover from their failed bets.

  Varre meanwhile was waiting on the return of his chancellor and the full report of her activities. She had been travelling across the continent for months now, conferring with various monarchs, leaders, and dignitaries, stressing the importance of the growing threat in Gomera Forest.

  She began by visiting the Northeastern kingdoms, those most ravaged by the last goblin war. They remembered the devastation well and wanted to avoid another catastrophe at all costs. Logres couldn’t fall. They pledged support, but they wouldn’t send any forces until Logres came under actual, direct threat. A reasonable expectation, according to Anastasia. They were just as scared of another army attacking their lands.

  Varre was hoping that other nations across the sea, would be just as eager to help. They contributed greatly to the previous war effort, so any assistance from their side would be most welcome. However before the chancellor could make it back to announce their decision, troubling news came from the Duchy of Wantage.

  Early in September a group of adventurers had spotted goblins out in the foothills. They were already here.

  After all it takes weeks for messeges to travel back and forth.