What we said

The messenger takes us not to the throne room, but a room with tables and maps where the queen waits without all of her regalia, along with two old burly guys in armor, the court mage from earlier, and a guy with a book, bag, and writing set.

Queen Esmerelda Essex the Eighth gets straight to business, “Good, you're here. How quickly can you build that bypass of yours? We're going to need to link up thirty cities. I have a prioritized list.”

For me? “Less than an hour, provided I have good descriptions of every location," I blink. “What's the hurry?”

“An hour a city? Okay, we have a priority list…” one of the guys in armor begins.

“Ah, no. Total,” I interrupt, “I can work fast when I need to. What's the rush?”

“My Ex's sister just declared war,” Esmerelda shrugs, “I didn't think she was THAT enamored of her brother. Regardless, we need to shuffle troops quickly, so I need the links sooner rsther than later. That was thirty thousand for the first two, three grand each after that?”

I nod, then remember she can't see me, “Yes. So thirty linked cities would be…” I pause to do the math.

“One hundred fourteen thousand crowns,” the man with the bag answers, “Are gemstones OK?”

This is fast… but if it's war, I suppose that makes sense… “Yes.”

“Great,” the Queen nods, “Get it done.” She goes back to her maps and the man with the bag hands me the bag and book.

I open the book, and find descriptions of thirty different locations… looks like they settled on a spot inside the walls, right next to the main gates, plus inside the courtyard of this and one other castle. Okay, easy enough. I glance in the bag, and yes, Appraise tells me that's 114k in loose, non-magical gemstones. They're either really ****, or trust me a lot. Either way, upfront payment is a nice change from the King's way of doing things.

“I'll start immediately,” I inform them, and Esmerelda just waves and goes back to her work.

Scholar's Touch gives me an understanding of the book as though I read it once. The Autohypnosis skill from the Expanded Psionics Handbook commits it perfectly to memory. The first location is Greater Teleport to get there, Guiding Star to be treated as “Very familiar” with the spot, Greater Create Demiplane to make the "hallway" (I don't need Permanency), Greater Create Demiplane again to make a portal back to the Guiding Star, and Illusory Wall to label the gate based on the book. I then step through, and start cycling through all of the other spots: Greater Teleport, Guiding Star, Greater Plane Shift (to get back to the Demiplane), Create Greater Demiplane to make a portal, Illusory Wall to label it, step through, and repeat. I go through the list very mechanically and rapidly, and because of the intended use, I toss on a freebie: A casting of Create Demiplane for the “Structure” option, setting up an option for access control like I see around city gates… just upgraded: Pure Ore Orethblood Obdurium walls, barbican, gates, portculluses, and so on: Control structures that will allow her to post guards around each portal, close them, and so on. Obdurium is a metal stronger than Adamantine from the Stronghold Builder's Guide, and Pure Ore and Orethblood are upgrades to metals from different suppliments… basically it will all be nearly indestructible by mundane means (and highly resistant to most magical means as well). I then add Dimension Lock over the entire place, so nobody besides me is getting in without using one of the gates… or a Wish, I suppose. I start with the gates closed, other than the one at the palace. Even without guards, it will be a bit before anyone gets in.

I squeeze it in at six seconds per location due to the hurry and my action economy boosts, which means the entire thing takes just three minutes and change. I then walk out of the nearest portal, and head back to the… war room, I guess?... to report in. “All done; are you ready to take a look?”

The queen smiles, “Sebastian, go with…” she pauses, “...him, and set up the strike **** as we discussed. Let me know if something isn't suitable. Ambassador treatment for the Cardinal Heroes. If all is well, you have a green light, as Vanessa did officially declare war over her brother's conviction.”

“Yes Ma'am,” one of the armored men bows, “Ah, how do I…”

I chuckle as I summon a proxy, “Follow me,” I direct it through saying, and continue the conversation as we walk the halls of the palace, “So… what's she mean by ‘Ambassador treatment?’”

“That I'm supposed to treat you like a foreign dignitary,” the big guy shrugs. "It basically means she's acknowledging that you have power on par with the ruler of a country, and she's really not interested in a war with you.”

As we walk into the Demiplane's entrance, the man looks around at the brand new fortifications, and adds, “Ah… you just had this lying around?”

“No, I made it just a few minutes ago,” I have my proxy shrug, “with war looming I figured you'd appreciate some support from the building for controlling access, so I put together what I remembered from defensive fortifications. Each exit has a pair of portculluses, a pair of barred doors, **** holes, and such. I can redo the design if you like.”

I walk him around the thirty exits, and at the one for the second castle he pauses, “Mind if I take a peek through this one?”

I laugh, “It's for you guys, go for it.”

I watch as he very carefully looks through the gap in the ‘outer’ door, and smiles, “This will do fine. I'll get the men in here shortly. Thank you.”

“Happy to do business with you,” I smile as we walk back to the main palace.

When we reach the palace courtyard, the armored man asks, “Ah, can you find your way back to the tactical room? I need to command my men.”

“Yeah, no problem,” I nod… and frown slightly as I watch hundreds of soldiers, many on horseback, head into the portal. How many people is he going to have manning each Gate? And why horses? Maybe a quick strike **** for when the enemy invades? That makes sense… I mean, I have a link to all the big cities in the country.

They're still pouring through as I work my way back to where the Queen waits with the rest of the party, “So Sebastian seemed to like it. He's occupying it now. Any other little chorses at the moment?”

“I'm bending the rules of war enough as it is, thank you,” the queen replies. “At this point, I'm hoping we'll have the war resolved in a few days.”

Brian tilts his head at that, “Mind if I take a look at that book?” I hand it to him, and he flips through the pages, looking at the map occasionally, and nodding each time. Halfway through, he stops, “Yes, I can see why it will be over soon.”

Alice looks at the page he's on, and back at the map, and frowns, “Okay, so… if the man's sister was willing to declare war over that scumbag, her people need new leadership, but next time, please be a little more upfront about that you're having us set up an omega strike for you, hmm?”

I frown myself, and look at the map, and compare to the memorized pages… oh. The second castle isn't in this country… yet. Those soldiers are off to end the war by capturing the enemy capital, because all of the opposing soldiers are gathering at the border… and I just created a door to the heart of enemy territory. Also every major city in both countries, and I Esmerelda has the keys, because I gave them to her.

Esmerelda pauses, “Oh. You didn't… huh.” She thinks a bit, “Sorry, I'm not used to people who aren't versed in war having your kind of power. They declare war, I strike at them with whatever I have handy. I thought you knew.”

Surprisingly, Sense Motive let's me know she's not lying. Hmm. “Right. Going forward, please be a bit more explicit about such things.” I shake my head, “...and no, I'm not angry, just… caught off guard, and that doesn't feel great.”

“I will endeavor to do better,” the Queen nods. “For now, though, thank you.

Still shaking my head, we say our goodbyes for the evening, and head to our assigned quarters….