Chapter 72: The War Council
The war room had outgrown its table.
Five months ago, the Chapel’s back chamber had held Krug, Zephyr’s presence, and a single map pinned to the wall. Decisions were fast, binary, and made by two voices. Now the table seated nine, and the maps covered three walls, and decisions required the kind of structured discussion that Zephyr recognized as the first symptom of institutional complexity.
Krug sat at the head. Not because of hierarchy — the Voice held hierarchy — but because Krug was the one who translated divine will into mortal action, and translation required a face.
To his right: Harsk. The former Gnoll alpha had developed into Ashenveil’s primary military strategist — not the strongest fighter, not the most inspired tactician, but the most relentless analyst. His notes covered the table in front of him, written in the compact shorthand he’d developed during his years in Demeterra’s intelligence infrastructure. He knew how the Rotting Grain fought because he’d served in the force structure that did the fighting.
To Krug’s left: Vark, Commander of Ironhold. The Lizardman officer who’d led the siege of The Stamp and now commanded the largest military installation in Zephyr’s territory. Six hundred soldiers under his direct authority. He sat with the economical stillness of a man who’d learned that conserving energy was a combat skill.
Father Edrik, representing the Crucible’s public arm — the worship infrastructure across four settlements.
Maren, representing Thornfield’s civilian administration — the first NPC settlement to fully integrate into the network.
Nez, the Goblin logistics coordinator — trade routes, supply chains, Iron Mark distribution.
Gorren, the minotaur captain of Ironhold’s garrison — Thyrak’s former officer, now the senior minotaur in Zephyr’s military hierarchy.
Gorthan, the hawk Warden — sitting at the end of the table with Ember perched on a wooden stand beside him, the steppe hawk watching the room with the focused disinterest of a predator in a space too small to hunt.
And a new face: Velka, the elder of Millhaven. Sharp-eyed, gray-haired, a river trader who spoke in margins and percentages and had converted to the Grand Ordinator not because she believed in gods but because she believed in Iron Marks.
Nine people. Five races. One table.
"Assessment," Krug said.
***
Harsk stood. He’d prepared.
"The Rotting Grain’s recovery. Our intelligence — confirmed by Skrit’s debrief — places her at approximately seventy percent military capacity. Her timeline to full strength is three to four months." He tapped the southern map. "When she reaches full capacity, she’ll have ten thousand soldiers, six vassal gods, and the Thornwyrm. Our best estimate for when she turns her attention north: three months. Maybe less if our trade disruption accelerates her timetable."
He moved to the territory map — Zephyr’s domain marked in gold, Demeterra’s in green, the unclaimed buffer zone between them in gray.
"Our current strength."
The status window materialized in Zephyr’s perception, mirroring what Harsk was presenting to the mortal council:
[STATUS — STRATEGIC ASSESSMENT]
[Believers: 3,100]
[FP Reserves: 42,000 / 80,000 (Rank 4 threshold)]
[Gap to Rank 4: 38,000 FP]
[Net Daily FP: 2,900]
[Time to Rank 4 at current rate: ~90 days (3 months)]
[Military: 1,200 soldiers (standing)]
[Settlements: Ashenveil, Ironhold, Thornfield, Millhaven, Greymoss]
[Divine Creature: Hydra — Warden Gorthan (active)]
[Vassal: Thyrak, Rank 3 (Beast domain)]
[Hawk Patrol: 6 hawks, 3 circuits, full coverage]
"Twelve hundred soldiers against ten thousand," Harsk said. "In open field, that’s annihilation. In defensive terrain — our fortified positions along the two southern approach corridors — we can hold five-to-one. Maybe seven-to-one if the Hydra is positioned correctly and the terrain channeling works as modeled."
"Eight-to-one is still losing," Gorren rumbled. The minotaur captain’s voice vibrated the water in the cup on the table.
"Eight-to-one is losing if she commits everything at once," Harsk corrected. "She won’t. Demeterra doesn’t do massed assaults. She builds pressure. Advance elements first — Gorvahn’s Frogmen, probably. Probing attacks to test our defenses. Then the main force, with siege units. She’ll try to break us systematically, not all at once."
"That’s worse," Velka said. "Systematic means she can sustain losses. We can’t."
"No," Harsk agreed. "We can’t sustain losses. Which means we need to not take losses."
***
Through the bond, Zephyr fed Krug the strategic framework. Krug relayed it the way he always relayed — not word-for-word but translated into the language of people who thought in swords and seasons rather than systems.
"Three priorities," Krug said. "First: accelerate believer acquisition. We need the Sovereign to reach the next tier of divine power before she moves. That ascension gives us expanded territory governance, area blessings, and new blessing tiers. It also sends a signal — a lesser god is a nuisance. A god at the next tier is a threat worth respecting."
[RANK 4 — Acceleration Plan]
[Current: 3,100 believers / 42,000 FP]
[Target: 3,800+ believers / 80,000 FP]
[Method: NPC settlement conversion (2-3 targets identified)]
[Method: Faith deepening (Casual→Devout→Fanatic progression)]
[Method: Infrastructure investment (temples, shrines, community rituals)]
[Timeline: 90 days maximum]
"Second: infrastructure that deepens faith organically. Better temples. More rituals. Community events that strengthen belief through experience rather than instruction. The deeply devoted give more to the Sovereign than a hundred lukewarm believers. We don’t need more believers — we need deeper believers."
Edrik straightened at this. The priest’s role — the thing he’d been doing quietly in Thornfield for months — was now officially strategic.
"Third: southern border positioning. Trenches, palisades, stonesteel-reinforced defensive positions along the two approach corridors. We don’t fortify to fight. We fortify to make fighting expensive."
The council processed this. Nine faces, five races, multiple calculations running in parallel. Vark was already mentally mapping trench positions. Gorren was calculating minotaur work crews for earthmoving. Nez was running supply numbers in her head — timber, iron, food stores for a construction labor force. Velka was thinking about trade route security, because fortification on the southern border meant supply lines needed rerouting.
"And if she comes before we’re ready?" Harsk asked. The question was practical, not fearful. The question of a strategist who planned for worst cases because worst cases planned for themselves.
Through the bond, Krug heard the Voice. He repeated it exactly, because some things didn’t need translation.
"Then we hold. With everything we have."