Chapter Summaries

After weakening Ulf and assessing the threat posed by Karl von Schmidt and Carnford, Harald held off on another campaign to let the Sauron Alliance recover. He ordered General Leon to infiltrate Carnford and gather intelligence, beginning a covert struggle against Karl's territory.

• Harald reflected on the Saurons’ spoils and captives from their southern campaign, while considering Ulf’s demotion and the losses at Carnford.
• Harald learned that Karl was the son of Duke Schmidt, with Friedrich and Konrad as his brothers, and recognized that the Schmidt family and Earl Rochefort supported Carnford.
• Harald decided the Sauron Alliance needed time to recover before launching another major attack.
• Harald summoned General Leon and ordered him to send spies into Carnford or bribe key figures to uncover its troops, conflicts, supplies, and weaknesses.
• Leon accepted the assignment, and Harald watched him leave while focusing on Carnford on the map.

Harald recognized that the Sauron Tribe needed the captured Goldspur officials’ expertise to govern conquered lands and strengthen its war effort. He summoned a group of surrendered officials and began persuading them that their defeat was the Goldflower Kingdom’s fault, leaving their response unstated.

• Harald told a trusted general that the Sauron people needed captured officials as teachers in governance and construction.
• Harald ordered his guards to list the captured Goldspur officials by their former roles and abilities.
• Sauron warriors escorted a dozen surrendered officials into Harald’s hall, where they knelt in shaved heads and Sauron-style clothing.
• Harald ordered the officials to rise and take seats, then praised their abilities and told them the Goldflower King and court were responsible for the kingdom’s defeat.

Harald persuaded Broomflower's surrendered officials that Sauron's invasion was justified and offered them a place in his new administration. Albrecht's public display of loyalty earned him rich rewards and a promise of responsibility, prompting the other officials to follow suit.

• Harald told the officials that Sauron had been forced into war by Heinrich X's oppression and claimed Heaven favored his cause.
• Albrecht crawled forward, denounced his former allegiance, and pleaded for a chance to serve Harald.
• Harald rewarded Albrecht with a jeweled saber, gold, horses, and two women, then asked him to help govern the annexed people.
• Albrecht pledged to serve Harald and use his experience to pacify the people and develop production.
• Seeing Albrecht's reward and promised position, the other surrendered officials knelt and proclaimed their loyalty to Harald.

Harald explained that surrendered Goldspur officials would hold only nominal or deputy roles while the Sauron people retained real power. To contain Carnford without risking a frontal assault, he ordered Svein to reinforce nearby strongholds, restore Tyrol Fortress, and build a network of forest outposts and armed locals to blockade and harass the city.

• Svein questioned whether the surrendered Goldspur traitors could be trusted, and Harald said they would be kept away from military and decision-making power.
• Harald rejected an immediate attack on Carnford because his warriors feared the fortress and another assault could damage their morale.
• Harald ordered Svein to reinforce Golden City and Twin River City and restore Tyrol Fortress to block Carnford's route southwest.
• Harald instructed Svein to establish secret outposts and supply depots around Carnford and arm local tribes, hunters, and hill folk to attack Goldspur people entering the forests.
• Svein accepted the orders and left to gather men and supplies for the blockade and harassment campaign.

Harald considered how Carnford’s cannons had helped defeat the Sauron forces and recognized that the Goldflower Kingdom had invested far more heavily in the Northern Territory than he had believed. He concluded that the Sauron Tribal Alliance could neither smuggle in nor manufacture cannons, leaving the gap in artillery unresolved.

• Harald recalled how Carnford’s cannons had shattered the Sauron attacks and their Shield-carts.
• Harald assessed why captured cannons were unreliable for the Sauron: their gunners, maintenance, transport, and gunpowder were inadequate, and the weapons could explode.
• Harald remembered that his Nine-pound Field Gun had been destroyed during the army’s retreat from Carnford.
• Harald rejected smuggling cannons through Goldflower checkpoints as impractical.
• Harald dismissed manufacturing cannons because the Sauron lacked the industrial skills and systems required.

Harald learned that two captured Broomflower artisans knew how to make cannons and questioned them about the Minerva Cannon. He left with a practical alternative: producing simpler iron cannons by the mud-mold method while the artisans studied copper cannons over the long term.

• Asgeir reported that he had found and detained two artisans with firearm-making skills after posting notices in Harald's territories.
• Harald and Asgeir visited the artisans and questioned Klaus and Richard about their origins and knowledge of cannon-making.
• Klaus explained that making Minerva copper cannons was difficult, slow, and unreliable.
• Klaus described a faster mud-mold method for casting iron cannons, which could produce more than a dozen in a month.
• Asgeir recommended producing the simpler iron cannons first and treating Minerva cannons as a long-term goal.

Harald approved a plan to begin producing simple iron cannons for the Sauron Army and put Asgeir in charge of overseeing the work. In Carnford, Karl considered more practical cannon designs his territory could manufacture, focusing on the Crouching Tiger Cannon and Fo-Lang-Ji Cannon.

• Asgeir persuaded Harald that quickly producing usable iron cannons was more important than pursuing quality at the outset.
• Harald appointed Klaus and Richard as chief craftsmen of the cannon foundry and promised them supplies, wages, and protection for their families.
• Harald ordered Asgeir to supervise cannon production, recruit reliable assistants, and guard the process from leaks.
• Karl concluded that Carnford could not reproduce the six-pound bronze cannon and chose to keep the Count's cannon as a town defense weapon.
• Karl identified the Crouching Tiger Cannon and Fo-Lang-Ji Cannon as feasible designs to trial, weighing their manufacturing demands and battlefield strengths and weaknesses.

Karl visited Hector's workshop to plan cannons suited to Carnford's limited industrial capacity and described a breech-loading Fo-Lang-Ji Cannon. Hector recognized that the design sounded like the kingdom's Eagle Cannon.

• Karl chose the Crouching Tiger Cannon for infantry units and the Fo-Lang-Ji Cannon for regimental support.
• Karl visited Hector's expanded firearms workshop and learned that three drilling machines had doubled barrel-drilling speed and raised monthly Flintlock Rifle output to about two hundred.
• Karl explained his proposed Fo-Lang-Ji Cannon, which fired interchangeable, preloaded sub-cannons through an open rear breech.
• Hector interrupted Karl and said the proposed cannon sounded similar to the kingdom army's Eagle Cannon.

Karl learned that Carnford could not yet manufacture an Eagle Cannon because its gas-sealing parts required skills and precision the workshop lacked. Elmont, a young craftsman with experience maintaining pirate-ship cannons, convinced Karl to give him the resources to lead a testing group.

• Hector explained that Eagle Cannons relied on precise machining and gas seals, which Carnford’s craftsmen could not yet reproduce safely.
• Elmont claimed he knew how to make an Eagle Cannon from his years sailing with a fleet and maintaining its cannons.
• Elmont admitted that the fleet had not been entirely legitimate and offered to stand before the muzzle during the first test if his cannon proved defective.
• Karl trusted Elmont’s experience and ordered Hector to establish an Eagle Cannon testing group under Elmont’s technical guidance.
• Karl promoted Elmont to level-three craftsman and promised to appoint him chief artillery craftsman if he produced a cannon that passed rigorous testing.

Karl entrusted Elmont with secretly developing the Eagle Cannon and asked Hector to assess a simpler, rapidly producible cannon for immediate military use. Hector recognized Karl’s design as the Minin Cannon, prompting Karl to reconsider his reliance on Ming cannon technology and look to mature European artillery designs.

• Karl ordered Elmont to develop the Eagle Cannon in a dedicated, highly secret workshop and arranged for him to live there.
• Karl described the Crouching Tiger Cannon to Hector as a lightweight weapon designed to fire grapeshot against infantry at close range.
• Hector identified the design as the Minin Cannon and explained its construction, muzzle-loading operation, and manufacturing requirements.
• Karl realized that contemporary European cannons offered mature designs better suited to standardized production and Carnford’s upcoming war against the Sauron.

Karl reconsidered his lightweight Crouching Tiger Cannon design after Hector explained the heavier Minin Cannon, and concluded the Minin Cannon better suited Carnford’s plains and supply of horses. Hector agreed to build a prototype and document the process so the weapon could later be mass-produced.

• Hector explained that a Minin Cannon weighed about three hundred jin and offered greater range and firepower than Karl’s fifty-jin design.
• Karl compared the two cannons and decided Carnford’s horses and donkeys could offset the Minin Cannon’s weight and make it suitable for the Northern Territory.
• Karl asked Hector whether the workshop could safely cast and assemble a usable Minin Cannon, and Hector said he could make a prototype within half a month to a month.
• Karl instructed Hector to prioritize testing and recording a reliable manufacturing process over quickly producing a battlefield weapon.
• Hector accepted the task, and Karl told him to seek any needed support from Edgar.

Karl learned that Hector had taken in Helena, a widowed noblewoman who had fled to the Northern Territory, and saw that the two had grown close. He urged Hector to marry her properly, and Hector resolved to hold a wedding once their house in Stockaded Village Number One was ready.

• Karl saw Helena bring Hector lunch at the workshop, and Hector explained how he had helped her after she fled Fran City.
• Hector described how Helena had made his home comfortable and how much he valued having her with him.
• Helena greeted Karl, who encouraged Hector to choose a good house in Stockaded Village Number One and hold a wedding.
• Hector agreed to marry Helena once their house was built, and Karl promised to attend.
• Helena worried about the cost, but Hector insisted on giving her a proper wedding, and she accepted with tears of happiness.

Stockaded Village Number One neared completion as residents, workshops, and merchants moved in and brought new work and commerce to the Tunbao. Edgar and Morr also finished practical, low-cost improvements to the princess’s guest route and the castle, leaving Karl pleased with their work.

• Morr oversaw the final construction of Stockaded Village Number One as its defensive walls rose and its first homes and workshops were completed.
• Merchants opened shops, taverns, and restaurants in the residential area, drawing crowds of residents and soldiers eager to spend their pensions and subsidies.
• Hector and Helena explored the new shops, bought household supplies, and chose cloth for Helena’s wedding dress.
• Morr and Edgar completed inexpensive improvements to the princess’s route and repaired and cleaned the castle’s exterior and Lord’s Hall.
• Karl praised Morr and Edgar for completing the work efficiently while keeping the cost to around three hundred gold coins.

Karl saw Amber Bay’s strategic potential after two repaired sailing ships returned from a successful trade voyage to Fran City. He ordered a temporary floating dock plan and recruitment of shipwrights, leaving Carnford’s maritime route project poised to begin.

• Two sailing ships returned to Amber Bay after completing a trade voyage to Fran City, and their leader reported their success to Karl.
• Karl recognized Amber Bay’s value as a future harbor and outlined how a port could connect Carnford with Fran City and Field Territory.
• Morr proposed building pontoon barges as temporary floating docks until permanent stone docks could be constructed.
• Karl approved Morr’s plan and ordered recruitment of local ship-repairers and experienced shipwrights from Fran City and nearby coastal towns.
• Karl watched the bay and the ships, anticipating the development of Carnford’s maritime route.

Karl returned to Carnford Castle and found Lady Eileen preparing an elaborate wedding ceremony for him and Louise von Heinrich. Their conversation was interrupted by news that a suspected Saurons spy had been captured, and Karl left to investigate.

• Karl saw that Lady Eileen had transformed Carnford Castle’s hall into a lavish wedding venue.
• Lady Eileen described the wedding vows and imagined Karl and Louise becoming husband and wife, while Karl concealed his complicated feelings about the marriage.
• Brendan reported that an extremely suspicious individual, likely a Saurons spy, had been captured and was being interrogated by Richter.
• Karl left the hall with Brendan and learned that a sentry at Outpost No. 3 had identified contradictions in the man’s claims about being a refugee from Black Forest Valley.

Karl learned that a refugee detained at Carnford’s checkpoint was a Sauron spy sent to gather military intelligence, and he saw how thoroughly Franz’s vigilance had exposed him. The spy’s confession revealed a wider infiltration operation and left Karl resolved to strengthen Carnford’s internal security.

• Brendan told Karl that Franz had identified a disguised refugee as a spy by testing his local knowledge and accent, then handed him over to Captain Richter.
• Karl and Brendan visited the dungeon, where Richter reported that the spy had confessed under interrogation.
• The spy said a Sauron defector named Leon had ordered him to infiltrate Carnford and investigate its forces, defenses, and grain reserves.
• Richter explained that Leon had surrendered Old Osric Fortress and later gained Harald’s trust and a high position in the Sauron Army.
• The spy revealed that six other infiltrators had entered by separate routes, while the Sauron people held their families hostage and threatened to execute them if they failed to return within three months.
• Karl recognized the threat of further covert attacks and resolved to strengthen Carnford’s inspections and counterespionage efforts.

Karl established an Intelligence Department to uncover Sauron infiltrators and assigned Richter to lead it. Richter chose sentry Franz as his first recruit, whom Karl planned to interview after his wedding.

• Karl told Richter and Brendan that at least seven Sauron infiltrators had entered the territory among the refugees and announced the creation of an Intelligence Department.
• Karl appointed Richter to lead the department, tasked him with counterintelligence and external intelligence gathering, and authorized him to select a ten-person core team.
• Richter requested Franz, the sentry who had caught a spy at Outpost No. 3, and Brendan agreed to transfer him from the Main Corps.
• Karl asked Richter to bring Franz for a personal interview, then postponed the meeting until after his wedding.

Karl resolved to build an independent intelligence network for Carnford and chose Richter partly because he stood outside the territory’s established factions. He sought to coordinate the department’s launch with Edgar, but learned that Edgar was occupied with land distribution and training newly recruited officials.

• Karl concluded that Carnford needed its own loyal intelligence network after considering Harald’s espionage skills and the kingdom’s shortcomings.
• Karl assessed Richter’s background and decided his lack of ties to Carnford’s major factions made him suitable to lead the Intelligence Department.
• Karl planned to discuss the department’s staffing and operations with Edgar, keeping his future plans for internal oversight secret.
• Karl passed the Lord’s Hall, saw Lady Eileen directing wedding preparations, and hurried on to avoid being drawn into them.
• Karl learned that Edgar was working on land distribution and supervising a new selection system that had recruited junior officials from among the refugees.

Karl visited the Carnford Plains, where Edgar was overseeing the distribution of land to refugees, and learned about plans to protect the new settlements. Karl also told Edgar about Sauron spies in Carnford and secured his support for Richter’s new Intelligence Department.

• Karl rode to the Carnford Plains and saw refugees receiving plots and building shelters on their land.
• Edgar told Karl that land distribution was progressing smoothly, with nearly half the refugees’ plots allocated and the outskirts reserved for them.
• Edgar described Morr’s plan to protect the outer fields with Field Forts and Beacon Towers, which Karl approved.
• Karl informed Edgar that Leon had sent at least seven spies into Carnford and that Richter would lead an Intelligence Department under the Lord.
• Karl asked Edgar to provide cover identities, secret funding, and administrative support for the department, and Edgar agreed to cooperate fully.

Karl learned that Princess Louise’s escort had arrived in Fran City and prepared to receive her in Carnford, though he remained reluctant about their arranged marriage. After Lady Eileen comforted him and encouraged him to give the marriage a chance, he promised to try.

• A messenger told Karl that Princess Louise’s escort had reached Fran City and that Carnford should prepare for her arrival.
• Karl told Lady Eileen that the princess’s escort might head north within two or three days, and she began planning his wedding preparations.
• Lady Eileen sensed Karl’s reluctance and acknowledged that an arranged marriage could bring unease and regret.
• Lady Eileen encouraged Karl to believe that affection and companionship could grow after marriage, and Karl concealed his feelings about Charlotte as he promised to try.