Queen of the Road

    While there is no end to minor logistic and diplomatic matters, Baroness Wake does pay no small amount of attention to the works of others. When she learned that Goldenblade would apply her considerable expertise to the creation of the road to Eas, she was overjoyed. She has now come to see the project starting. It's a pleasantly warm day. Some might say hot, but they've never walked a mile to a Tokyo train in August.

    It is getting on towards the late evening when she arrives. It seems The Right Clothes today are elegant. A black dress more fit for a ball than for heavy labor, complete with jewelry, all decorated with rose symbols.

Goldenblade is wearing the mail that she typically wears, though the relic she carries is more a part of her regalia than normal. Camelot's Interface is both a VR planning and construction aid, and an earthmoving tool. She is surrounded by a swirl of plans, the road she's worked out overlaid on the landscape before us, showing how things will go.

Workers have been sent out, miners to quarry stone, hunters to find food for the construction party, builders, so many builders, doing the backbreaking labor of turning so much pristine landscape into flat, easily traversed path.

When Wake arrives, one of the assistants Goldenblade has retained taps her shoulder, and she looks up, smiles, and greets. "Ah, Barsoness!"

    The progress is already impressive. The Baroness surveys the state of the worksite in a sweeping glance. She smiles, quite pleased with the organization. At the same time, she's already sending messages to coordinate the resources she can bring to bear. It only takes a moment to call the cavalry.

    "Hello, Goldenblade!" calls out Wake. She closes the distance and glides into a deep curtsey. "Impressive start to the work! I can hardly believe you've managed so much in such a short time. Everyone at the outpost is excited by the prospect of soon having a smooth road to speed them along. Not to mention bring them all the supplies and comforts of the city."

    She studies the plans briefly, or at least tries to. She knows only the very basics, picked-up by watching Goldenblade and others work in previous efforts. "How are you feeling about things so far?"

Goldenblade insists, "Ninety percent of any job done right is planning. That's why things are laid out how they are." And that's why she's got a group of assistants and engineers working on contract to keep things straight. It seems like magic when the most recalcitrant obstacles are bulldozed by the power of her Interface, but for the lesser obstructions, workers with shovels are the tool of choice. But she's planned out just how this will go, down to the smallest detail.

"But, thank you," she says after a moment, to the praise for her impressive start. She does seem to be pulling out all the stops. "Next project will be trucks, but someone's got to invent the internal combustion engine first," she quips. As to how she's feeling about things, she shrugs. "I'm really in the groove, and feeling pretty good. There's a feeling, when you really hit your stride, and I'm in it, I think."

    The Baroness laughs gently, "Well, perhaps not trucks, but we've got a start on a steam engine. Perhaps we can build trains, first? Though there's no way one of those will be able to ascend the mountains. Perhaps a gondola?"

    She watches Goldenblade closely. "This reminds me, Tae made some food that I've brought with me. Perhaps we might sit down and you can tell me what the plans are how I might help. Since the light is failing, it seems a break might be due. How long have you been working?" Having gone through one of those feelings of "being in the groove" and supporting Giganpor and Miho through their work, it sounds a touch familiar..

In truth, Goldenblade's assistants are supporting her in shifts, which she's ignoring and working straight through without concern. One of the assistants brings her meals when it's appropriate, and Goldenblade, herself, isn't taking breaks or resting except when she passes out from exhaustion. That's a bit more dedication to a cause than is usual, even in her day, though it's not far from how things went once upon a time.

Goldenblade smiles and nods about the food, "It's greatly appreciated." Mainly by the workers. She barely notices it, and doesn't seem to mind, or even notice, if it's menu food. Goldenblade tells her assitants, "You know how things are to go. Keep pressing forward while I talk with the Baroness." They nod, and Goldenblade will lead Wake off to a tent off to the side. There's a small camp, really, between all the workers.

Goldenblade will invite Wake into her tent, which has two chairs, and she will take the other chair. "Things are going well," she explains. "I've surveyed out the route, and the one we've selected requires the minimum of actual earth moving. They're fine working by torchlight, actually," she digresses. "In fact, it's easier to do some of the work now, rather than in the heat of the day."

    The Baroness makes small notes of Goldenblade's reactions to food, carefully looking for hints of the same odd behaviors she's seen so many other times. Once they are seated, though, she draws out a basket. It's definitely not menu food. It's the very best that Tae can prepare, which is saying something. She brought enough to spare some with the workers, but more is already on the way.

    "That is quite sensible. It's easier to work in the evening breeze than to work in the heat of day. Your dedication and excitement are admirable. I can tell you love building things." The Baroness makes a point of eating, and setting out food directly in front of Goldenblade. Having done this kind of thing in the past, she knows it's quite critical to not fight the manic energy but to make it possible to eat almost by accident. And to be persistant.

    "How long do you think it will take to build this road all the way up to the castle?" she asks curiously. "I imagined it would take many weeks, but having seen your start, I'm revising my estimates. You are setting a legendary pace."

Goldenblade takes some of the food and eats, as much to be polite as from hunger. She really doesn't feel hunger, and doesn't eat /much/. Just snacking really. As to the 24-hour rotating shifts, she says, "It's certainly easier to keep working. More efficient to get a little done at a time, and just pass things along at shift change. Stopping work and starting up again are time-consuming evolutions that don't actually make road happen, so we've dispensed with that. Now we move up a hundred yards at a time. When the next shift wakes up and finds us a hundred yards ahead of where we were when they went to sleep, they can move their part of the camp up, and so we move across the land bit by bit."

As to how long it will take, she says, "With all of our plans and resources in place, I think 3 weeks."

    For most of that conversation, Wake is nodding thoughtfully. She is paying attention, of course, but she's also being a touch manipulative. Her moves are remarkably stealthy, of course, as she somehow finds ways to repeatedly refill Goldenblade's plate, casually using the woman's distraction from the food and desire to be 'polite' to keep her eating just a little bit from time to time. And then the estimate is given.

    "Three weeks?" Wake asks, quite nearly before Goldenblade can even finish the sentence. "That's incredible news! Why, you are building the road out so fast it almost feels like one might dance along it and not put a food on unpaved earth before they reach the castle itself!"

    She is of course exagerating a bit, but the point stands. That pace is something that is on the brink of impossible. At least impossible for anyone but Goldenblade.

Goldenblade has not yet noticed that she's being tricked into eating perhaps more than she'd intended. She hadn't actually intended to eat anything, so it's pretty much all manipulation at that point. But at Wake's surprise, she smiles, "Well, that's how we build, in Japan. Apart from the bulldozers, of course," she says with a smirk. "I mean, I could go faster with pavers and rollers and all, but that's modern construction. We're not really building a high-speed road for sixty-mile traffic. So we should be okay with how we're doing it." She chuckles, and observes, "And you've come dressed for it, I hadn't realized you were planning on dancing all the way."

    Wake smiles at the teasing. "Well, the clothes have a mind of their own, sometimes. But they are simply lovely today, and it suits the starlight I expect to come later, though I fear I've left my dance partner back at the first gate." She keeps up her gentle deceit, until she's quite satisfied that she's gotten something at least close to a proper meal into Goldenblade.

    "So you will build around the clock, and your progress will be remarkable. When the road is done, I feel we'll be prepared to really get to the big restoration works. I still plan on focusing on the village itself first. It will help the most people and practically speaking allow our residents to profit from the labor needed to rebuild the castle itself." Wake sounds like one who is doing her best to not show her excitement. Which is to say, she's not trying hard enough to succeed.

Goldenblade is in the groove, so to speak, and is fueled by her own inner fire, so Wake's excitement, or lack thereof, is not something she really notices. Much like food and sleep. She chuckles as Wake laments about leaving her dance partner back at the first gate, but nods at building around the clock. "Yes. We're already making remarkable progress. I think we'll be able to meet the schedule."

As far as rebuilding the village, she agrees, "That will give your labor force permanent homes as well, for rebuilding the castle itself. I'm sure the refugees in particular will be glad of that."

    "So how are you ensuring that the project moves forward when you rest?" asks Wake. It's an innocent enough question, but she has her suspicions. Hopefully she can assist with logistics to ensure Goldenblade's goals are achieved even when Goldenblade herself is spontaneously unconcious.

    "Oh, and I hope you don't mind if I visit regularly. It's not far from the first gate, and it inspires me to see progress. Until the wretched orcs are driven out, I'm oddly free of other duties." And doing so allows her to regularly feed her friend and master architect. And hopefully catch Goldenblade should she faint.

Goldenblade ohs, explains, "The crews are very good, they have their plans and can go forward without me, for the most part." She insists, "I just do fine tuning, as the road goes out, and making sure the plans are followed. When I'm not around, there's an assitant that can access the plans and verify things are going forward." Though she's around the vast majority of the time. What's sleep?

She shakes her head about minding the visits. "By all means, come as often as you like. It's good to have company. The crews are fine, but they're Landers, so they don't have much to talk about outside their jobs." Not that Goldenblade does at this point.

    "That's excellent to hear," replies Wake. She draws out a bottle of wine, pouring a glass for herself and offering it to Goldenblade with an arched eyebrow. "While I don't suggest you drink much, perhaps a small amount to celebrate?" She's not up to anything with this. She legitimately wants to recognize the importance of this moment.

    "You know, it's one thing to have the rights to a castle overwhelmed with orcs. It's quite another to have real property that is more than just potential. This road is going to change everything for us. It'll also be wonderful to have permanent repairs be made to the bridge in the hills. While the orcs have been repulsed from it almost a dozen times at this point, it doesn't have the feeling of strength that inspires confidence when moving carts full of heavy goods."

    Wake savors her first drink, but only after wafting the scent of the drink patiently. "Do you have any concerns? I will of course be bringing in support. Indeed, some is on its way as we speak. The crews at the outpost are without work, after all, and I imagine your plans can put more shovels and spades to good use."

Goldenblade will take a drink of the wine. She's used to the hard-drinking Japanese ways, but with an American constitution for drink, so she's got the mental fortitude, and however much her VR body can soak up booze. But one drink's not going to impair anyone. She smiles about the road, and about improving, repairing and refurbishing the castle.

"The road will become part of the trade road around Fourland," she agrees. "If we can extend it cross-country, it will compete with the coastal road connecting the major cities and Eas will become the major hub of that trade artery."

As far as concerns, she says, "Well, having supplies to complete the task is important. I think we've got a lot of it in hand, but there will be an amount of just-in-time delivery of the things like gravel and earth that we will collect as we go. A bit of earth magic in place of steam rollers, and we should be good to go. Earth's not my strongest suit, but I know a bit. But I think when we do get to the Castle and begin repaving the bridge the orcs keep trying to wreck, when we can bring that back to it's original specifications, then you will be truly connected."

    "We do have stone sources closer to the castle. A pity it's on the wrong end of the road, but as you get closer perhaps it will be practical to move resourches from that end as well," says Wake. "But in all likelihood, the quarries won't be doing us much until your work reaches the first gate, at which point the old road and whatever stores we can amass in the meantime will come into play."

    She pauses, thinking about the issue of trade. "There is a wonder I'd like to explore at some point, but it isn't something practical yet. We have steam engines, and while it is a bit out of reach at the moment, I do like the idea of being the first land to use it for transport. Perhaps as you build the road you might be able to keep an eye out for how that might come to pass."

Goldenblade nods about the stone sources closer to the castle, but says, "I had expected to use those mainly for the castle, itself? But stone's not quite as rare as that. Dig down a bit and you'll find it just about anywhere. The bits closer to the surface are most useful, of course." She nods.

She nods about trade being immportant, but the steam engines are critical. The thing about roads is rubber tires give you about the perfect ratio of traction to mobility. Too sticky, and it makes it harder to go, not sticky enough, and you slide off in the turns. Train tracks have special wheels that keep you on the tracks, but carts have to go anywhere. But if we can make steam trucks, that'd be the ideal case, I think."

    "I imagine their primary use will be for the castle, the walls, and some of the work in the village. I have visions of an ampitheater, for public meetings as well as sharing the arts with the Landers." Wake has many dreams and, perhaps uniquely, considerable patience to see them achieved. "I keep reflecting on how much I want Eas to be. Not just some fortress in the mountain, but a place of beauty, a seat of wisdom and art with enough strength to ensure none may threaten it."

    She gestures towards the road, "Even now, you lay down the very artery that shall pump lifeblood into the city. I don't say it enough, but.. thank you, Goldenblade. For myself, and for all those who will dwell there, I am grateful for all you have done and are doing to bring this idea to life." She reaches out to clasp Goldenblade's left shoulder, "Truly, you are making a difference."

Goldenblade will rise as Wake steps up to clasp her shoulder, and she nods gravely. "I am proud to be a part of such a grand project as Castle Eas," she says solemnly. "This road is just one part of it. And have no fear, when the castle is free of orcs, we will rebuild it, and I will help with that as much as I am able, with every bit as much effort as I am putting into the road. We will make Eas a cultural and political center in Fourland. They will have to call it Fiveland by the time we're done, I think."

    The Baroness rises as well, laughing softly at the suggestion she will one day be a Duchess. "Perhaps they will. But I must earn that title many times over, and would only accept it if it would benefit others. Besides, I can't imagine the paperwork involved in changing my title at this point."

    She will take the basket of food to leave with the landers. Along with a few additional goodies, as well as the promise of more to come. Tae will be busy!

    When all that is done, Wake offers her farewell curtsey to Goldenblade. "I will return again soon. Likely two days from now. I plan on bringing several of the large tents and placing them where they can be used to keep your people fed, and with the best food I can manage. Tae is getting accustomed to feeding the masses with me, but fear not, I have many ways to make it up to her." She turns then into the gathering night, and after just a few steps vanishes, gathering the shadows about her. Enemies of signifigance are rare here, but she's not keen to do any fighting in that dress.