Outfit wealth 2

Now that Richland has been established and settled, the matter of establishing a route for commerce and safe passage has become paramount for the administration at Shylo. Not only will Richland require the capital's support in order to grow quickly and efficiently, it is the new gateway to the East, and any trade caravans from Kadmos or Bentha will most likely journey there rather than to the far shores of Chalice Lake. In the event of war, always likely considering the Outfit's history, a well maintained system of roads joining the two cities would also be of great strategic value.

Thus it was that Sarj Beorn sent his Alistairs forth to scout the terrain and protect the engineers as they began constructing a highway to Lanna's seat of power. Previously lawless except for local strongmen, defending their villages with perhaps a dozen or so thugs, the hill country had been a haven for bandits for as long as anyone could remember. After a lightning campaign that did much for Outfit morale, only the most cunning or deeply entrenched gangs still exist, the rest living on only as corpses impaled along the sides of the new great way east. Those remnants left alive may prove troublesome in the future, but it is unlikely that they shall ever be more than a temporary nuisance, suitable for target practice and blooding military apprentices. None of them are eager to test their strength of arms against giants wielding the vaunted steelwork of Chalice Lake, with rumor and memory of the great massacres still fresh in their minds.

Once the road is complete, nothing will stop the flow of commerce between lake and hills, at least not without running the risk of clashing with the Alistairs of the Outfit. In addition, the seidh community of Richland had had its talents supercharged by the newly discovered ghost rock, making their abilities even more terrifying and effective than ever before. Even were one so foolhardy as to think themselves invincible to a sword's edge, it would be a special man indeed who though himself equal to a figure wreathed in blue flames, now tinted with shades of emerald. Then again, the road must first be built, and no plan survives contact with the enemy.