A Drink for a King

[Lord Auldway]

"Of course." The king agrees with a nod. "It's why Alden plans to end the war as quickly as possible. I'm greatly chagrined at all this war. While it's certainly the direction my resonance is focused towards, it's not nearly as amusing as it would seem to dissolve entire companies of enemy troops when they attempt to march onto the city."

He sips down a bit more of his whiskey. "Certainly, as a business man, I cannot dispute the financially empowering aspects of the war. This goes far beyond the mass production of steam bombs and gun imports, though; the citizens of Alden cannot continue their fighting. This isn't a war that we had meant to enter: it's a war that the enemies of Alden latched onto during our moment of weakness."

"I agree all of this fighting is far from logical." King Auldway explains, itching his beard slightly. "Though for some damned reason, I can't get that through the heads of greedy rebels, or those who wish to take Greyhook as part of their own cities, now that the city is flourishing under my personal funding."

[Deadbolt]

Deadbolt chuckled at the King's mention of his power, and his uses thereof. "As it were, m'lord, such things are necessary. To win a war as effectively as possible, one must exploit all options accessible to them. If I could dissolve my enemies as you could, then perhaps Grehook wouldn't be in as much trouble." He shrugged. "But I cannot, so I am working with other mechanics to build new defenses.

"I've also seen that people are greedy. The enemies of Alden greed for power and control, and the rebels want 'freedom.' I feel that rebels rarely fully understand what they are fighting both for and against, and need to be educated. The ones that cannot, should be killed on principle. As for the war..." He shrugged again. "People are jealous. They see that you can run your kingdom effectively, and want to take your furthest assets to hinder you. If you lead us well then I fail to see issues that could arise, but for an effective, short war..." He hesitated. "In my previous line of work I learned that the most effective way to end a conflict was to end the leaders of your opposition. I feel that the best way to take care of issues with the rebels would be to contact their leaders and show them that you are trying to help. To deal with the enemies of Alden..." He spread his hands wide. "You could 'dissolve' them." He smiled wickedly.

[Lord Auldway]

The King strokes his beard and nods. "Winning a war effectively is not the same as winning a war efficiently, though. While I certainly could start visiting other cities and laying waste as much as possible... that sort of mass destruction is both irresponsible and irrational. Nevermind merely the waste of civilian lives, but the vast and far reaching destruction of unique cultures would be a blow to future generations."

"And certainly..." he continues. "if more people had the same level of power that I have achieved with resonant discordance, the world would be a bleak place indeed. Working on defenses is a considerably better goal."

"Disintegrating the molecular structure of everyone and everything with my resonance is not a tempting solution, though it may sound like one." The King begins. "It is better to work with people towards commonality and higher goals than to simply kill those who stand in your way. When one doesn't have such power at their disposal, it seems like a viable option - and understandably so. Even if I weren't worrying about the impact on the lives of so many people, I would be concerned with the appearances of such things; if I were to merely destroy those who stood in my way or dared to challenge me with a flick of my wrist and a wave of my hand, it would unite many more against me, and then what? Would I fight the world, just to keep a position I was not keen on getting? I was prompted to become the King by the nobility of the Gold House and their members who made their new homes here on my lands in Greyhook, and some of my peers thought it a good idea; I didn't grab for power, or struggle my way up. They saw that, as an efficient business man and competent, rational noble, I could make decisions that were the best for Alden. I certainly am not keen on such blatant responsibility, but the other options for king were... regrettably lacking."

[Deadbolt]

Deadbolt bows his hiead briefly. "If you excuse me, m'lord, but warfare is not my forte. What you say makes far more sense. I was trained in stealth and to utilize all your power to kill what needed to be killed." He shrugged. "It just shows me that there are far more than one way to solve an issue.

"I do remember some of the other candidates, and I am glad that even though Captain Spinderhawk, or whatever the hell he calls himself, presented what seemed like viable proof of his legitimacy, you were chosen over him. And some other daft gentleman I remember.

"But if defense is your tactic, and please excuse me if I speak out of turn, m'lord, but what about granting some funding for the local funds? Money for the doctors will allow them to research better medicines, mechanics can build better and more weapons for defense and healing, the guard can afford defenses. I know that war is taxing, but whatever you will do will not only show the people here that you care about their welfare, but it will also show your enemies that you have the ability to protect your assets despite their harrassment. Maybe with enough funding the people here could organize and build the wall that you want, unless you had something else in mind?"

[Lord Auldway]

"No no, it's not out of turn at all." King Maximillian nonchalantly dismisses with a wave of his hand. "The problem is funding. I tried to build a wall when I first brought the AMC here; the locals repeatedly harassed and attacked the construction crews. With this time of war, I am already sinking my personal funding into the war effort, nevermind The Crown's. Greyhook is a low priority target for mass attack - it's what many people want out of the war, so they aren't dropping steam bombs or mortaring."

He sighs, slugging down the rest of his whiskey, and tapping two fingers on the bar for more - the bartender quickly fills his glass. "Thankfully, I have found some who are willing to help with the war not for the purposes of gaining money so much as resources."

"Regardless of that, I do place a bit of money into Greyhook itself... it's generally more for construction and repair. With the influx of rather interesting people to stave off the local color and the wandering monsters, I admit I have been more lax. It isn't by choice so much as necessity, however; the military of Alden is not used to fighting on this scale. I've had to push much more funding into equipping them than anything else. The Royal Navy is also not as well equipped as I would hope, as the airship warfare they've been normally engaged in has been of a privateering nature against pirates, not this sort of large scale battle. Once things have calmed down, I am willing to funnel more funding towards those who have made this place their home, temporarily or otherwise." Auldway explains.

"And as for Spinderhawk..." he sighs again. "Honestly, of the three candidates, he'd been my choice. It was him, a religious freak or an insane communist... since the original candidate of my choice had been assassinated. It's too bad it was him and not his twin sister... I'm certain he didn't have any plans to get rid of the nobility."