Age of Heroes

It is always hard for outsiders to established themselves in the Three Kingdoms

But this is a special time where most of the outlanders who enter the Three Kingdoms and declares themselves as Kings or Queens could easily gather people of the tribes to fight under them

After all, now there is even the people of the Ten tribes in the mix.

Arial know that the enthusiasm of the original inhabitants to attach themselves to a foreign ruler is because the Thirteen Tribe believe the prophecy. 

As for the other warlords that had been popping off, they were either trying to strike it rich and famous by using the name of Asrana or people who wanted to snatch the fate of Asrana

After all, to many of the tribespeople, the old lore could be interpreted in many ways. To some, the position of Asrana is not entirely fixed. 

Not all believed that Asrana identity was determined from the start. 

As there are requirements for Asrana, many people believe that as long as the lord that they pick fulfil the requirements, they could be Asrana.

Arial rub his forehead and sighed

Loneliness. He is feeling that feeling again. Since the death of his wife, his life has seemed to be colorless and boring.

He shakes his head as he tries to drove the thought away from his mind. 

Now, is not the time to think about the matters of the heart.

It took him a few second before he could calm down his heart and focus back his thought toward the matter at hand

'There is also Maroth' he muttered to himself. It was like he is forcing his thought to return back to track. 

In the memorial, General Castile had written that Maroth should be monitored. Out of the many states, it is recognized that Maroth had the strongest defense.

They have four magic fortresses that had helped them repel many of the Iathus invasion in the past.

Now, this is something new for Arial. Arial had fought many siege battle and he had his fair share of capturing fortresses

But magic fortresses? Now that is another thing entirely. 

He had been roaming the world since he was twelve. He even roamed the dangerous lands in Arakath.

Arakath itself has fortresses guarded by mages. But this is not the same. The magic fortresses according to Castile have its own power. 

It aided mages increase their destructive power and the fortress itself could attack like it is some kind of living creature

And that is only some of its abilities. Arial rubs his chin as he seems to be thinking of something.

'This is quite interesting. A magic fortress. I never thought I would hear such term again' In the stories of Levitia, during the Age of the Gods, there were many Demon Lords that have such fortresses.

It is the reason why the Demon Lords could easily mount attack and not worry about the repercussion of their actions toward the Human Continent.

But of course, that all changes when Levitia rises to become the champion of humanity. Levitia would just charge through with his strength and there is even a story where he supposedly cut an entire fortress into two by a slice of his sword.

Tall tale for sure. 

Such stories of magic fortress could only be found in old stories. He did not think that when he come to the Shadowlands that he would hear this term again

And this time, this magic fortress is not like the magic fortresses found in the human continent where it is already old, in ruins and could not be activated

This is a functioning magic fortress. 

He would like to see if he could use it to his advantage. If he could take the knowledge of such technology, of such magic back to Davarus, this would increase the defense of his Empire.

Smiling, thinking of this he writes another order in another parchment. The order in that parchment was simple.

But who knows whether it would bear fruit. The order is simple, the execution on the other hand would be very hard.

He wanted to know more about the magic fortresses and what they can and could not do. he also wanted to know if it could be replicated and what is necessary items that is needed to create such a fortress.

Fortunately, in the entire Vernium kingdom, there is only one state that have such fortresses.

In the memorial it also spoke that the High Lord of Maroth is a man with an abnormal strength.

He is akin of a hero in the Three Kingdoms and everyone seems to know his name. 

But there is news that his relation with the royal family and the royal court has never been good

Arial of course wanted to know if this rumor could be trusted. His eyes narrowed when he read that information.

He immediately thinks of a few schemes that he could employ.

If it is, he could at least try to negotiate with the High Lord of Maroth. He could even cooperate with the High Lord of Maroth 

If its resources that he wants, then it would be easy for Arial to supply it. If he won this battle, and fulfill all that is required of him, his word will still have power in Davarus.

If he survived whatever final battle that he was supposed to have, then he still has to live. And he would able to fulfil anything that the High Lord wanted using the resources of the Empire.

He could promise the High Lord many things if he wanted to cooperate. 

As long as he could break any of the obstacles in front of him, conquering Vernium in its entirety would be easier.

He put the order to investigate the High Lord of Maroth on another paper. 

Then he returns back to his parchment and began outlining certain economic policy that he should pursue.

There is details that should be debated with the other ministers. 

But the broad strategy of economic of those under his rule right now, is to maintain the existing levels of taxation

At least that is what he had decided before. But now he had changed his mind a bit after reading the reports and the memorials presented to him

Yes, unlike the land of the ten tribes who lives in the fairer part of the New World, the people of the Shadowland were not living in such a primitive way like the ten tribes. 

They have a working economy. Was it a prosperous one? No. But it is working. It only needs to solve a lot of big problems.

This had been delayed by the rulers of the Shadowlands because of the constant war with the Darkspawn and also because of their limited understanding of economic principle.

It seems the Shadowlands had their own currency. They mint it from gold and it is the same as the gold standard of the continents.

It is no wonder then why so many mercenaries would accept quest from the Shadowlands. 

The ten tribes might have uses precious herbs and items to pay the fee for the task posted in the Mercenary Guild but the people of the Shadowlands had long uses gold to pay for the services of people inside the Shadowlands or people outside of it.

As for Davarus, it is slowly turning to paper money which is tied to the gold reserve of the bank

And since Arial family had power over the largest bank in the Empire, he is the wealthiest of them all.

Gold is something that Arial could easily offer. 

Because the Shadowlands had already had their own currency and system that is akin to the other continents, it makes it easier for Arial to stimulate economies.

If he had to build the economy structure of the Three Kingdoms from scratch, that would take a long time. 

Some of the memorials highlighted the different rates of taxation all over his dominion. Including ones that he did not yet control fully.

He looks at the figures and the rates of taxation and he could not help but sigh

'Did the nobles of the Three Kingdom really thought of their citizens no more than some milking cow and abandoned it when they could no longer produce milk' 

But then he shakes his head

Such things were also happening in then Human continent before he become the Emperor. 

It is quite unfair for him to judge the ruling classes of the Three Kingdoms without knowing the full story. 

But from the rates of taxation, he wonders how could these people under their rule survive other than being a hunter and gaining a lot of money

In the Empire while the kingdoms under the Empire does have different rates of taxation, the one deciding the rates is the Emperor.

The different rates of taxation in the Empire is because some of the kingdoms was badly affected by the war he had waged.

As such, as compensation, some kingdoms were give exemption for a few years until the economy could get back up again.