บท 29: Kingdom of Aachen

The great and first wizard of this World of Agatha, Rumpelstiltskin, was a man of admirable foresight.

Of all places, he chose to build his settlement on this island, after being kicked out of Azov.

Aachen stood at the intersection between east and west of the Nirvana Continent.

On the south, the Azure Horn, a medium-sized sea filled with small islands watered is shores.

While on the north, there was Azov, a great forest, majestic and dangerous in equal doses.

In other words, unless someone would be willing to go through great hassles, this island in the middle of the Anawasi was the gate which controlled the route connecting the entire continent.

The gnome wizards made use of their considerable powers and magical knowledge. As such, Aachen became extremely prosperous and safe from pillagers.

As time progressed, members of other races heard of the gnome's fabulous wealth and decided to live here as well, under their overlordship.

Halflings, some orcs, but mostly humans poured into the island, causing the population to boom.

The result was a caste society, where all other races lived under the tutelage of a gnomic nobility that detained a great mastery of arcane magic.

Aachen became the first and biggest full-fledged city in this world, an exotic specimen that flourished by the river's margin.

Eventually, Rumpelstiltskin decided to step back from political life to focus exclusively on honing his craft and William, his eldest son, was appointed as the new leader.

However, even though he was a capable wizard and an astute man, his position as the lord wasn't secure for quite a while.

That's because, just like their relatives who still lived in Azov, the gnomes of Aachen also believed in the superiority of the Firstborns. After all, they were not only older and more experienced but also were personally created by the goddess Agatha.

The second and third generations were born in a much weaker and fragile state known as "childhood". Only after many years, they would become full-fledged members of society. This was a strange flaw which sparked the Firstborns' disdain.

But William proved them all wrong by demonstrating his great strategic mind.

And he did this by defeating Aachen's most bitter rivals, the orc tribes from the Eastern Steppes.

A great supply of livestock sustained by the massive amounts of grass was the Steppes's gift for the orcs.

Some even said that an orc child would first learn how to ride, even before being able to walk.

It was probably not true. Yet no one would ever deny that horses were an indispensable foundation for the orcs' nomadic lifestyle.

But, as the settlements by the river's thrived, those tribes began to covet what its inhabitants possessed.

Be it by looting or forced tribute, the tribes established their supremacy on the eastern Anawasi. From the source until the Chokehold, between the forest and the sea, no power could challenge them.

Eventually, they decided to expand west, but unfortunately, there was one major hindrance on their way.

Lord William took this opportunity to broker a deal. The tribes would be allowed free passage to the other side of the Nirvana Continent. However, there were two conditions for this.

First, no settlement under Aachen's rule should be touched by their rampage.

Second, the city's market would have an absolute preference for buying all the products obtained through the tribes' campaigns, especially slaves.

For more than ten years this deal was kept and, while other settlements dwindled and declined, Aachen grew ever more wealthy and powerful.

The orcs also found this to be a profitable relationship, as the pillagers gained a new place to sell their goods.

They also managed to avoid having to assault a fortified island city. That was a target which they would be poorly equipped to deal with.

But in the year 203 a.t.a., this agreement was broken, as Lord William denied them the right of passage.

The reason for this was simple. The orcs had outlived their usefulness.

Aachen had everything to become an absolute powerhouse, but one thing stood in its way.

That was the short number of gnomes when compared with their subjects from other races.

As such, they couldn't afford to fight long and demanding wars as the wizard nobility was too precious of a resource to waste carelessly.

For years, William made use of the orcs to fight this war for him.

As the tribes looted the riverside villages, they grew ever weaker and ripe for conquest. Many even took the initiative to pay Aachen tribute in order to avoid the terror represented by the mounted hordes. While others had to be made submissive by "force".

Although, at this point, little resistance could be offered.

By denying access to orcs, Lord William was effectively saying.

"This side of the river and all of its inhabitants belong to Aachen. The orc hordes have no place here what so ever. Handle your business on your own land and we will handle ours."

On the war to come, everyone expected that the numerically superior orcs would focus on pillaging the smaller settlements since they couldn't challenge the fortress city directly, while the gnomes would attempt to wear down the aggressors with guerrilla tactics, taking advantage of the defensive positions at their disposal.

Victory would be achieved by the side that could withstand this taxing war effort for the longest amount of time.

Each had its trump cards. The orcs had both quantity and quality on their side. But the gnomes had the benefit of being the defenders.

But there was one thing that the orcs had not accounted for. The wizards had just developed a new type of illusion magic and intended to use it with great effect.

Typically illusions were more useful when targeting a single strong foe. That's because one illusionist could only keep under his or her spell one enemy at a time.

So far, this serious limitation had caused this field of magic to be mostly useless on large scale battles.

However, an especial formation was crafted, allowing the illusionist to "water down" the spell's resilience in order to affect a great number of individuals.

But, as the quality lowered, many countermeasures that would have been useless against the original technique became effective when dealing with the formation.

For instance, the simplest blessing, a spell known by even the most low ranking priest, was enough to neutralize this weapon entirely.

As such the gnomes needed to be really mindful of when to use this trick up their sleeves. For, as soon as the orcs learned about it, there wouldn't be much time before this weakness was exposed.

The hordes were a highly mobile force armed with very competent scouting parties, making the possibility of an enemy surprise attack a failure from the beginning.

But it was precisely on this arrogance that the gnomes intended to prey.

The scouts were the first to fall, being caught off guard by the formations. And them, Williams forces turned to face the main enemy host.

During the night they stroke, while the enemy firmed believed that the gnomes were hidden behind Aachen's thick walls.

Targeting the mounts first was extremely important in order to cripple the infamous orc cavalry.

The attacker's army was a numerically inferior, less experienced and contained soldiers of many different races and backgrounds, some of which held no goodwill towards their gnomic overlords.

Yet, despite all of this, under Lord William's command, they knocked the orcs' teeth out of their mouths, pushing them back.

The cost was great, but Aachen's Victory was still very clear.

On the first day of the year 205 a.t.a., on the anniversary of the Awakening, their ruler was crowned King William I, of Aachen, as the former city-state was lifted to the position of full-fledged kingdom.

It was the first time since 37 a.t.a., when King Alfred I fell in battle and Azov imploded in many independent factions, that the race of gnomes had a true kingdom, even if most of its subjects were not actually gnomes at all.

With the prestige gained from this fabulous victory, the new monarch cemented his position. And, even though he was not a Firstborn, no longer would anyone dare to question his authority.

...

Arda was the first princess from the Kingdom of Aachen and tonight she looked very gleeful.

From the balcony where she stood, it was possible to see the riverbank and several small vessels, some of which were in movement, while most of them were anchored, having finished their businesses during the day.

She had recently bought a map of the inheritance of an ancestral dragon that a strange man in red robes had sold on the market.

Normally she would not give any credits to such allegations. Especially coming from members of other races.

But the evidence just was too strong for her to doubt. Starting by the magic contained in the scroll, which was too sophisticated for a simple human to grasp.

Even if it wasn't a dragon's hoard, judging by the map quality alone, the prize should still be more than enough to cover the expenses.

She had sent forth a group with her finest subordinates to investigate, as well as to settle some other business nearby.

Two birds would be put down with one stone.

Now was the time to show everyone that she also bore the greatness of the royal family.

Why should William, Rumpelstiltskin's golden boy, have all the glories?

"Wait for me brother. As royal myself, I can't possibly stay behind."

Her eyes glowed with fervent determination.