Jeff Inlo - Chain of Bargains

"I do, you know," Enin said almost apologetically. "I haven't forgotten about my first home. I know I spend all of my time here in Connel. I even brought my dogs here, but I always keep an eye on Burbon."

"I know… and so do they, but there's no room for them."

"No room," Enin announced more to himself, as if he began to see the true issue. "Yes, I can imagine. Your wall sets a boundary. We have a wall here, too. The old stone bulwark built eons ago by the dwarves. They remain very proud of it. I think that's why they're so willing to work with Connel. There's a genuine link here."

Sy did not wish to downplay the relationship with the dwarves, but he needed to address his own problem before Enin wandered too far off on another tangent.

"That's fine for the dwarves, but what about Burbon? We can't just build outside and beyond the wall like they did here in Connel. We don't have the resources to defend outside the wall. We start putting up shacks that we can't protect and that really would be like ringing a dinner bell."

Enin let out a heavy breath-not a sigh of frustration, but a realization that the problem required more of his focus. He placed an image of Burbon in his mind. He didn't cast a sight spell that would allow him to see the specific conditions, but he allowed the reflection of magic to fill his consciousness with the proper perspective.

A general image of the small town filled the wizard's thoughts. He could see the straight roads and the evenly spaced houses. He saw order in design, and stability in practice. The walls and towers surrounding the town offered defense, but they also placed strict limits on the population.

"Hmm… lack of space is what it really comes down to. I wonder if I could address that with a spell. I don't think I'd want to actually alter the geography. The consequences would be worse than the original problem. The walls would probably collapse… buildings, too."

"That's not going to help," Sy agreed.

"Well, if I can't make Burbon larger in reality, perhaps all I need to do is adjust the perception of the people. Maybe just a simple illusion spell would work-make everything seem larger. The space would really be the same, but it would feel as if there was more room. People don't really need all the space they think they do, they just like extra room. The illusion spell could handle that. What do you think?"

"Messing with our perception? I don't like that at all. How are my guards supposed to handle threats if they're under some spell that affects their perception of space?"

"The spell wouldn't quite work that way. People wouldn't start running into each other or even buildings because they thought things were further away. It's more of altering their comfort level. It would be like removing the fear from someone who couldn't stand being in a tight place. They would know exactly how far something was from them, but they wouldn't feel threatened by close proximity."

"I think you'd just be fooling them. It's a temporary fix at best. Like I said, more keep coming each day. That's the real problem. My sergeant pointed the same thing out to me. Even if you make everyone comfortable with a crowd, at some point we're going to bust at the seams."

Enin sighed, but he agreed with the point. It would only buy time, and he had no idea how much more time Holli and Ryson needed to address the true cause of the problem. He turned the issue over in his mind and decided to attack it from another direction.

"Can you convince them to come to Connel?"

"I've tried. I even told them that's where you live now, but it hasn't helped. I think they're afraid of what happened here with the goblins. They've heard the stories of when the goblins took the city."

Enin thought of how the serp Sazar conquered Connel with a goblin army. It had occurred many seasons ago, but it was not something easily forgotten. Stories of the invasion spread east. The soldiers from Fort Nebran that assisted in freeing Connel from the goblin horde had served across the lands. It was the defeat of the goblins that finally brought the dwarves and humans together. It was a story that was becoming popular in every tavern and inn. It was not surprising that Connel's history was known to people from across the central plains and beyond.

From the information gathered from the refugees, the appearance of goblins in the Great Valleys caused much of the chaos in their previous homes. The dark creatures did not overrun towns, conquer cities, or plunder farms, but they had somehow become a force in the entire region. Could Enin blame anyone who sought to escape goblins for wishing to avoid a city that was once infested with a goblin horde? He could not.

He did not, however, wish to give up on the plan so easily. Connel could certainly handle the influx of refugees far better than Burbon.

"I can guarantee them safety from the goblins," the wizard announced. "I don't care how large the horde, I will never allow goblins to take Connel again."

"I'm sure that might induce some, but they also seem to be apprehensive of cities. Many of these people are farmers or people from very small towns and outposts. That's why they came to Burbon in the first place. I mean look around, Enin. Has this placed doubled in size in the past few seasons? Tripled? Connel is getting uncomfortable even for me. These people would rather live in tents outside the wall of a small town than enter a city of this size."

"So they will overcrowd a small town as opposed to enter a large city?" Enin asked.

"I didn't say it made sense. I'm just trying to tell you how I see it. Even if you guarantee them protection from goblins, even though they're facing goblin raids at Burbon every day, most of them still won't come to Connel."

Enin paced about for several moments. He mumbled to himself. At times, he tapped his hands together in a random beat to his silent contemplations but eventually returned them to behind his back. With an idea forming, he spun about and refocused his attention on Burbon's captain.

"Very well. They won't come here and they can't stay with you. Put them in Pinesway."

Sy found the proposal intriguing, if not surprising. He never even considered Pinesway, and he blurted out his immediate understanding of the small town to the west of Connel that neighbored Burbon and was also very near Dark Spruce Forest.

"Pinesway is abandoned."

"Which makes it perfect," Enin responded, still contemplating the full measure of the solution. "It's a small town that can house thousands-if done properly. No one has to be displaced and there is plenty of room. There are structures already in place."

"Many of them are falling apart."

Enin nodded, but he did not let that detail detract from the possible gains. It could be dealt with quickly and he believed he knew how.

"The dwarves will be happy to assist in that matter. They can build and reinforce structures almost as fast as I could create illusions."

That was certainly true. Sy had seen for himself how fast a small contingent of dwarf builders could construct a sturdy home. There were, however, other concerns.

"The town's not totally abandoned, either. You're not the only one who's thought of using Pinesway. Bandits returned after that little fight Holli had with the magic casters."

"Another problem that can be solved with the dwarves. They will assist with construction and patrols. Do you know of any bandits that would want to strike a dwarf war party?"

"No," Sy allowed. It was sounding more and more like a workable solution, but Sy focused quickly on all the implications of such an arrangement. He was no town manager, but he was an effective leader. It was under his guidance that Burbon survived the return of magic as opposed to falling into disarray as had so many other small towns. He followed the path of the solution to its end and considered all the costs. "The dwarves aren't going to do this just because we ask them. They're going to want to be paid. We don't have the money."