As it turned out, Ijssel was actually fairly rich for a Border Principality. The confluence of sea trade from Barak Varr west to Tilea via the Black Gulf, and Land Trade via the Old Silk Road which ran east to Barak Varr in the World's Edge Mountains and west to Pugno in Tilea made Ijssel a decent trade center, though not to the extent of someplace more established or settled. Going over things with his new advisors revealed to Carlo that they were actually in a better position economically than many of their neighbors, which was probably the reason that Admiral Bigsmasha took his Waagh to attack Ijssel in the first place. It was richer than any of the other principalities save Barak Varr and maybe Khypris while being less defended than Barak Varr.
"Of course, a center of trade is only getting us so far without unique resources to trade. Fortunately for us, we have something worth its weight in silver. Sulfur and saltpeter. The small desert area that separates us from Khypris contains salt flats that we mine for saltpeter and sulfur. We combine them with charcoal coming down the Tana Dante River from Karak Izor to make gunpowder. Our powder works make the finest quality powder in the Border Princes." Grinned Jan Willem Dejong, one of the advisors Carlo had inherited from Elena's Father.
Jan Willem was a man who seemed to indulge in all he could whenever he could. He wore silk clothing, and a golden chain of office, ate rich foods whenever he could get them, drank expensive wines, and was generally content to make money and spend it on the finer things in life. The archetypical decadent merchant. Carlo had almost suspected the man of being a Slaaneshi Cultist, but some sense of his for ferreting out secrets told him that Jan Willem had nothing to hide, and fifteen minutes of studying the rather obese merchant while he summarized the finances of Ijssel had turned up nothing that would link the man to the Ruinous Powers beyond the superficial hedonism.
"That must be an issue of contention with Khypris? Surely the fact that we grow rich off of a trade good one of the primary components of passes through their lands galls them?" Questioned Carlo.
"Indeed, in fact, prior to the Greenskin attack, I would receive near monthly complaints from the court of Prince Faramond of Khypris over not just that issue, but the contention that Khypris owns the salt flats by ancient agreement from hundreds of years ago between the then-Prince of Khypris and the Dwarves who lived in the fort we built Ijssel out of." Snorted Karoline Blaumann, Carlo's Chief Diplomat.
Karoline was an older blonde woman in her forties whose body still possessed the vital shape of a woman ten years her junior, thanks to a diet of primarily poultry, fish, and vegetables combined with her love of hiking. Her main tools were her wit combined with a willingness to take zero shite that had made her an expert at the type of aggressive negotiations most often seen in the Border Princes. She could fillet a man with her words and force him to concede to demands afterward.
"And are they right?" Asked Carlo.
"Absolutely not. When we came here to establish Ijssel, Khypris was one of the few Principalities who just gave us land. Faramond even called it a worthless desert at the time. Even if there were an ancient binding agreement and not some forgery that Faramond had cooked up in some tantrum over trade rights one afternoon, possession is nine-tenths of the law. We both have the mines and the Town of Mijndorp where the Tana Dante River passes by the Salt Flats. Three thousand of our people live in Mijndorp. The closest Khypriot settlement is back over the border." Scoffed Karoline.
"Si, the only way that Khypris is going to get access to the Salt Flats is through force. On that account, the state of Ijssel's forces doesn't look good." Intoned Dante Luccia, Carlo's first-mate-turned-military advisor.
He'd been the one officer that Carlo had brought with him into retirement from mercenary life. He'd been the Lieutenant of the First Company of Ferretti's Foot at Aarnau. They'd also taken on their first sergeant, a former Brettonian Man-at-arms from Lyonesse who had turned mercenary a decade before Carlo had joined up named Henri. Henri had fallen into position as First Company's Drillmaster, and had followed Carli and Dante into the Privateer business, but had stayed at his position on the Raconteur instead of joining Carlo's council as Dante had.
Carlo turned to his bald-shaven, goateed, first mate-turned-advisor and asked, "How bad is it?"
"It isn't great, Mio Capitano. Ijssel relied primarily on a core of local mercenaries to train up her militia and stiffen the line in case of attack. What professional troops they had that weren't mercenaries got bled rather badly by the Greenskins. I had Henri do an inspection of the militia and mercenaries an hour ago and what he reported wasn't good." Answered Dante.
"I take it the local mercenaries weren't exactly putting in their best effort in training?" Questioned Carlo.
"Would you put in your best effort if doing so might see you dismissed?" Retorted Dante.
"Probably not." Sighed Carlo. "Exactly how bad are we talking here?"
"Bad enough that I wouldn't send them against Khypris as they are now. They could barely handle fighting a few goblins or some peasant mobs right now. They mostly have light armor and either a spear or halberd. Some have shields and some don't, some have bows and some don't, and only around a hundred have any kind of training on horseback. It doesn't look good. I'd recommend that Henri whip them into shape tout suit, as the Brettonians say." Grumbled Dante.
"And the Mercenaries? How are they? Would they be someone we could count on were we still with Commander Ferretti?" Queried Carlo.
"Si Mio Capitano, they're all quite professional as far as local Mercenaries go. They might even survive one of our engagements without all dying. For the Border Princes, that's on the more competent end for mercenaries. Their Commander is a man named Zwingli, a local from Masserschloss. They specialize in combined arms tactics and have three companies. One of halberdiers, one of crossbowmen, and one of lancers. In total some four-hundred-eighty men of Zwingli's Blue Banners are currently under contract. They're probably the only reason that Khypris didn't use the opportunity to invade. Myrmidia knows that the twelve-hundred militia and three-hundred guardsmen aren't the reason." Scoffed Dante.
"I see. Get Henri to start beating our militia into shape. If Faramond of Khypris wants to try something, we need to be ready." Ordered Carlo.
"Speaking of ready. I've been going over the damage from the Greenskin attack. While the town was barely touched and the walls remained unbreached, a pair of the outlying villages were raided by Goblins during the short time Ijssel was under siege. Both suffered damage to walls and had their fields destroyed. Both had around two hundred people killed in the raids. The remainder needs coin and materials to rebuild destroyed farmland and repair damaged walls." Warned Marius de Roelef, another advisor Carlo had inherited from Elena's Father. Marius was the great nephew of old Count Pieter de Roelef.
The de Roelef family was the only old Wasteland noble family to successfully transition into business instead of agriculture. Pieter's cousin, Charles de Roelef, the grandson of the current Count, had ambitions to sit on the Directorate of the City of Marienburg, though if not him, then at least his son or grandson would sit on the Directorate. It was largely the de Roelefs who had bankrolled Elena's Father and his establishment of Ijssel, to begin with, in order to gain easier access to the products of the mines and workshops of Barak Varr by having a de facto colony in the area that their ships could stop and resupply at.
For his part, Eric was built tall and broad, near six feet and covered in muscles. He handled accounts with the same skill that Carlo handled a blade, though Carlo suspected that the broadsword that Eric wore at his hip wasn't entirely for show either. Aside from stature, Eric's most striking feature was the drooping, waxed, auburn, mustache he wore. It almost reminded Carlo of a Walrus, a tusked aquatic creature he'd once seen while a mercenary in Imperial Nordland. Eric wasn't fat like a Walrus, though. Quite the opposite.
"I see. Fortunately, I arrived with a cargo of Arabyan Spices to sell at Barak Varr. Have you had a chance to look that cargo over?" Questioned Carlo.
"Yes, Admiral Karolski was kind enough to show me the hold of the Shisha Dream, terrible name that. You may want to change the name down the road. Most of the spices will sell well. The twenty-five tons of Arabyan Saffron alone would be enough to fetch half a million guilders. Fifty tons of Arabyan pepper would get you three-quarters of a million guilders, seventy-five tons of Arabyan black mustard would get you another quarter million guilders, and finally, twenty-five tons of cinnamon from Ind would net you a million guilders. If you wish to sell such a prodigious haul, I can have my contacts in Tilea sell it for perhaps eighty percent of full price. With the current market, that's as much as you're likely to get." Affirmed Eric, referring to notes he'd taken in a small, leatherbound diary.
"I see. We were fortunate to find such a prize. Would that repair the villages?" Questioned Carlo.
"Many times over, without even touching the treasury, of which we have a one-hundred-thousand guilders worth of coin in." Answered Eric.
"I assume you will be taking some of the payout as a transaction fee?" Asked Carlo.
"Five percent to my Tilean contact and fifteen percent to House de Roelef. That still leaves you with over a million and a half guilders in profit. Some Great Merchant Houses back home started with just such a score." Hedged Eric.
"And how much of that is going to be required to rebuild the villages?" Pressed Carlo.
"That depends on if you wanted to keep the villages with palisades or upgrade their defenses. One will only cost ten thousand guilders, the other will cost twenty thousand. Stone needs to be quarried and transported." Answered Eric.
"Upgrade all the villages to stone. That should only run us what? A hundred thousand guilders? While we're at it, we should look into improving roads between our villages, Mijndorp, and Ijssel. The Old Silk Road was Dwarf-built and is perfecto already. The rest are little more than dirt tracks with gravel covering. I can't help but feel it'd boost trade and troop movement to upgrade the roads some. Maybe we can offer the Dwarves payment for their expertise?" Ordered Carlo.
"I have a good report with the King of Karak Izor, Kazran Grimbrow. He just became King around twenty years ago at the young age of eighty. He'd be willing to deal fairly with us, especially if there is a good deal of gold involved. I suspect it won't take more than a hundred-thousand guilders to get him to send some masons to help build better roads." Affirmed Karoline.
"While you're there, inquire about purchasing better equipment for our militia. At least get our militia chain instead of leathers or just a padded jack. Look into getting them dwarf-made halberds, spears, and shields as well. Maybe Dwarven crossbows for those inclined to ranged weapons. And one hundred suits of full plate for one hundred cavalry, and proper pikes for three hundred Guardsmen." Ordered Carlo.
"That might cost another hundred thousand guilders and leaves our remaining three hundred guardsmen in just mail." Cautioned Dante.
"Which is why I would ask House de Roelef if they could not find three hundred suits of Miraglanese Armor while in Tilea?" Implored Carlo.
"Why? What are you thinking?" Asked Eric.
"I would like to be able to field three hundred Tilean-style Pike Guards, one hundred Heavy Lancers, three hundred Militia Halberdiers, three hundred Militia Spearmen, and three hundred Militia Crossbowmen, and have them drilled as well as they can be." Stated Carlo.
"Such an army, in addition to Zwingli's troops would be one of the more formidable forces in the Border Princes. You may spook some of the other principalities." Interjected Karoline.
"Which is why I will be relying on you to spread goodwill among my fellow Princes and assure them of our intentions." Responded Carlo.
"What are our intentions, just so I can say?" Questioned Karoline.
"We are going to use it to conquer Khypris. Of course, if anyone asks, just say we need the men to destroy the Blue Face Orcs. Nobody can begrudge us reclaiming lands from the Greenskins." Shrugged Carlo.
"I see. I presume we actually are going to fight the Greenskins?" Pressed Karoline.
"Eventually." Nodded Carlo.
That was when Jan Willem spoke up again. He'd been eating a roasted chicken and listening up until this point, but now he had to say something. "Drilling the militia and getting our forces ready could take a long time, six months at least. While that is happening, and work crews are repairing the villages and roads, we may produce less black powder for trade. When you take men out of the economy for military work, that tends to happen. How do you intend to bolster the economy in the meantime?" He asked.
"Why, Maritime Trade, of course. The Colorful Raconteur will set sail for Barak Varr to pick up a cargo of dwarf steel, then trade it in Tilea at premiums. Since the cities of Tilea are once more at war, high-quality steel will sell for a premium to various armorers. The same goes for black powder. We profit off the Tilean wars so that we can launch wars of our own." Grinned Carlo.
That seemed sound enough, and nobody could argue, especially not with over a million guilders still in the treasury even after all the purchases and improvements. Of course, arranging everything was going to take time, and while the functionaries scurried about, turning the wheels of administration and commerce that made Carlo's plans a reality, the various neighboring principalities had sent envoys to Ijssel to see what the new Count was made of. Already, Duc Ferenc of Grande Bouellia's Envoy and the Envoy of Prince Giacomo D'acciaio of Myrmidens awaited his presence in the Great Hall. Carlo dismissed his council and moved to join his Lady Wife to finally open court.
Unfortunately, the Duc's Envoy would not be as pleasant as the one from Myrmidens. . .
XXXX
AN: Ok, so yeah, this introduces Carlo's council, his plans, and the state of Ijssel in general. Ijssel is actually relatively prosperous for a Border Principality. They have six-thousand people in Ijssel proper, with three thousand in Mijndorp and another seven thousand spread out in the various countryside villages and farming communities, basically making its population a little smaller than the Pirate Haven of Sartosa.
It's actually the third largest Non-Dwarf Principality in the Border Princes, after Myrmidens and Khypris. Kypris is slightly bigger at seventeen thousand people in total and Myrmidens has twenty thousand. Barak Varr is still the biggest kid on the block at fifty thousand Dwarves strong, but Dwarf Holds aren't really comparable to Human Principalities in a number of ways so. . .
As to the amount of coin from spice sales, Spice really was that lucrative IRL. You could purchase an entire warhorse for what it costs to buy just a single pound of saffron, for example, and a Galley of the type captured can carry up to three hundred tons of spices in its hold. The capture, combined with Merchant Consortium backers, means that the financial impetus for expansion is already present in Ijssel. Carlo just needs time to get the military side ready and the effort and skill to actually conquer. Thankfully, his exaltation helps a lot with that last part. The time may be an issue though. . .
At any rate, you might be saying, "I don't recognize any of the names of these rulers, when is this set?"
The answer is that this is set in 2457, roughly 65 years before the End Times and the recognizable WHFB Setting. The reason is that Exalts live a long time, and I wanted to tell a story about build-up before telling one about the End Times if I tell the End Times at all. . .
Some of these names you might have seen in backstories of older people. For example, Faramond was the Prince of Khypris before the current prince took over sixty years before the present. Others are names I made up because we don't have canon yet.
At any rate, the next chapter will be the meeting with the envoys.
Stay tuned