Warlords of the witcher world

Chapter 7 Hackland Ecology

After entering the Blue Mountains, Herme and his party stopped at the ancient city in the Blue Mountains, or the ancient ruins of Lomugne.

The original picture of staying here is very simple, because this is where Herme received the kingdom's support.

Lomuigne, this ancient ruin belonged to the lizard people at first. After the lizard people declined, the elves occupied this place, and then humans destroyed this elf city, and it was abandoned.

This ruin was supposed to be untouched, and no one would come until it became the venue for the North Summit, but now that Herme has been appointed to develop Hackland, it has gained a lot of popularity.

Beneath the remaining stone pillars and walls, refugees who were expected to be relocated to Hackland cleared the stone floor of debris and set up tents.

Food was cooking in the pot, most of which were wild vegetables and mushrooms they found in the ruins, plus some relief food from the kingdom, and the smoke from the cooking rose into the sky repeatedly, giving the ruins a lot of life.

The refugees were all frowning, worrying about the future, only the children were still playing carefree in the ruins. The children saw the ruins as a maze, waiting for them to discover the treasures inside.

"It's too dangerous, why no one is in charge of these children."

Jerry frowned, looking at the wild children running around, "Maybe there are some monsters underground in Lomugne."

"Kids, that's how it is."

Herme looked at them and said, "Besides, the loss of the child may reduce the burden on these parents. Besides, it's time to find the witcher."

Hemei understood the farmer's mentality, and he didn't intend to do anything. His own butt was not stable, so why bother.

"Huh? Are those people dwarves?"

Looking in the direction Viato pointed out, Herme saw some short and sturdy figures drinking together.

Their voices were loud, and they discussed rude topics, and there was no shortage of all kinds of swear words, which almost overwhelmed the combined voices of other people.

"Well, yes, I remember the king's promise to send me a dwarven engineering team."

Herme recalled the conversation with King Demavi, "It seems that they are the ones. I am very happy to have the help of these professional craftsmen, but I didn't expect there to be so many. I thought there were only a dozen dwarves."

When Herme and his party were evaluating the people in the ruins of Lomugne, they also discovered Herme.

The refugees knew that their next master's flag was Xiang Falcon, so after seeing the flag, many people came forward to say hello and meet their future master.

Herme received them gently, comforted them with kind words, and confirmed to them the tax exemption promised by the king.

This is what the refugees care about most. They were forced to leave their homes because of the invasion of the black army, and it takes a lot of upfront costs to settle down in a new place. If they still bear heavy taxes at this time, then all they can do escape.

After appeasing the people, Herme came to an area full of black, gold and red tents, which were the defenders of the Kingdom of Aedirn.

The news of Herme's arrival had already spread, and everyone in the camp had already come out to greet the Baron.

When Herme's figure appeared, the people in full armor immediately straightened their backs, as if they were facing a general in a military parade.

"Soldiers, who is your commander?"

Herme signaled the others to settle the people they had brought, and then asked them.

"It's me. I'm Captain Marenga, Baron Herme. We were sent to you by the king. We have 30 people."

The young captain stood up. He was obviously very proud of his military status, and the golden and red mountain-shaped coat of arms was polished brightly.

"Son of a knight?"

Herme felt that this person did not come from a commoner, and his attire clearly had the style of a knight family, so she asked this, and the person nodded.

"Second son, my lord," he added.

"I have seen your subordinates, captain, you have trained them well, let them disband, let's talk in the tent, this is not a suitable place for conversation, I want to know the supplies provided by His Majesty. "

"Yes!"

There were not many things in Marenga's tent, so Herme sat directly at the table and filled the silver cup next to it with the wine on the table.

On the other side, Captain Marenga took out a document from the box,
"Hey, the data is here. King Demavi provided you with 710 seven southern refugees, a 100-man Mahakam dwarf construction team, and most importantly enough food, weapons and tools for 3000 people in the first half of the year. It has been sent to your barony of Saza first, and I personally escorted it. After you arrive at the territory, the king will continue to provide supplies."

Marenga spoke in a very orderly manner, and he didn't panic at all when facing Herme, which surprised Herme. He thought that the king would casually dismiss an inexperienced young man.

It seems that the king has indeed made a lot of efforts, and has provided real money and real talents to support his immigration.

Originally, he thought that King Demawei would play some word games, but now it seems that he is too malicious to speculate.

"That's really great, thank you very much for your help from His Majesty."

After the scene was finished, the scene was silent for a while, and then Herme talked about what he really wanted to ask, "Captain Marenga, have you ever been to Hackland?"

"Yes, I have been, Baron Herme, and I was one of the first Harkland investigators sent by the Kingdom."

"Then tell me what kind of land it is."

"Hackland... I remember that you should have received the king's report? Why do you still ask me? I may not know more than you."

"I know, I know." Herme shook her hand, "But I want to hear someone who has been there tell me about it."

"Okay, your order."

Marenga sat on a chair under Herme's gesture and began to talk about the distant land.

(About the setting of Hackland society, except for the existence of the belief in the evil god Lilit and the nomadic grasslands, others are privately set by me. After all, this is an area that neither the author nor CDPR has mentioned. Readers, please pay attention)
"Hackland... This is a land ruled by grasslands, and you can see vast grasslands that can't be seen everywhere. Lord Hemei, you should really take a good look at the scene, the feeling when you run on it is even more It’s amazing, the whole person feels liberated.”

When Marenga mentioned this, there was a longing look in his eyes, and Herme didn't say anything, just looked at him and continued.

"But this is a difficult land. There are often brutal fights among the Harkland tribes, fighting for pastures and resources. I have been deep into the grasslands, and I have seen the battles between the Harkland tribes with my own eyes. The men were killed. Killed, the woman becomes the spoils of the victor. The worst is some tribes that believe in the evil god Lilit, they will pile up human heads into hills to deter their enemies."

The captain wrinkled his brow, obviously all this seemed too barbaric to him.

Herme was not surprised by this. This was exactly what a nomadic society should look like, and it was in line with his expectations for Hackland.

"However, your territory is relatively safe. After we passed through the Blue Mountain Tunnel, what appeared before us was a land of hills and forests. Its name is the Land of the Cossacks. A river divided a piece of land from it. is where you rule."

"But the residents above are not Hackland nomads. A hundred years ago, the road between the north and Hackland was still open. At that time, some northerners crossed the Blue Mountains and settled here. Over time, there are also a large number of people here, who have been assimilated by the Haklans to a certain extent, but they still retain the traces of belonging to the northerners, and they have the identity of the north."

"Tell me about these people and my territory in detail."

This was what Herme was most concerned about. It was something that was unclear in the report to him. What happened to the residents in the territory that belonged to him by name.

"These people call themselves Cossacks. It is said that it means 'exiles' in the lingua franca a hundred years ago. They are all armed residents, and their families have weapons and equipment. Some of them have war horses, but they have very little armor. In addition to their deficiencies in this aspect, and they are still strong infantry, when facing a Cossack army, even the most powerful Hakland cavalry will not rush to attack them."

"When war breaks out, they will support a leader named Ataman, who leads the activities of the Cossack warband. When faced with a large-scale Haklan invasion, these Ataman will elect a Gait Man, to lead all Cossacks against the Haklans. While most Hetmans were dismissed after the war, only a few in Cossack history continued to hold the title as titular rulers of the land."

"The center of the Cossacks is Shechi, which is a solid wooden fortress. I have been there several times. Thousands of Cossacks have been stationed there for a long time. They are regarded as the standing army of this land. The first wave of power, and only the Gettleman has the right to lead them."

"As for your territory, it is a very small part of this Cossack society. The river named Zaar blocks most of your territory and grasslands. There are not many Cossacks on it and are not strong. That is why we decided to go to This establishes a stronghold."

Marenga obviously had been in Hackland for a long time, and he also tried his best to understand these nomadic and semi-nomadic residents. Heme couldn't help but sigh in his heart that he really asked the right person.

"Then what is their attitude towards the presence of the forces of the Kingdom of Aden?"

Herme asked about the attitude of these people towards the kingdom, which was crucial to his rule.

"Well, most people are indifferent to this. If they want to say something, they don't resist the arrival of the kingdom's power, because after trading with us, the Cossacks found that they can obtain all kinds of goods from Aden, Harkland Life is still very difficult, and their weapons and tools have always been scarce, which is what they desperately needed. So when we built the Sazar Fort, the Cossacks did not do anything to hinder it. But I think it is actually because of those powerful The Cossack warband didn't notice us, otherwise things couldn't have gone so smoothly."

"Okay, I understand, Captain, thank you very much for your information, I think you will gain a very important position in my territory in the future."

Herme made a promise, and Marenga knew Hackland well enough to make his promise.

"Thank you very much, Baron."

Excitement flashed in Marenga's eyes. It seemed that he was loyal to the baron, and he might really be able to become a knight...

After bidding farewell to Marenga, Herme went to his tent to gather the information he knew.

After hearing the information Marenga knew, Herme also had a clear idea of ​​her position in Hackland.

There, he will play the role of using northern goods to attract Cossacks and even Haklans, and achieve influence on these forces by importing goods.

From what I have learned about Hackland, it can be said that this place can become a good dumping ground for the northern countries.

From this, Herme thought a lot. As a traveler, he knew that the north would face the dumping of goods from the Nilfgaard Empire in the future, and many industries in the north would be impacted.

And if Hermey can let the products from the North enter Hackland smoothly and open up the commodity market, then the impact will naturally be eliminated, and the strength of the North will not be damaged because of this. Even the general trend of the Northern War will be destroyed. It changed because of my actions in Harkland.

Thinking about it, Herme became more and more proud of his choice. His choice was so correct, Hackland was simply a treasure.

However, he is also very clear that in the land where force is rampant in Harkland, it is impossible to do business well without strength.

At that time, he will definitely have to face many difficult battles. Whether it is the Cossacks or the Haklans, they will not be peaceful, but he has the confidence to conquer all of them.

If things are done well in Hakland, maybe he can really become a big man who can change the situation between the North and the South.

Gradually, some ambitions arose in Herme's heart...

The next day, Herme got up early, as if he was full of energy because of the prospect of the future.

Early in the morning, he walked around the whole of Lomugne, knowing who lived in the ruins, and showing his face in front of the people to let them know who the owner was.

Herme was just patrolling. He knew that there were treasures under the ruins of Lomugne, but that wasn't something he could explore, and he didn't have the level to explore.

Herme's predecessor actually knew some magic. He had studied at Ben Ade College, but he was dropped out of school because of his lack of talent in magic.

But his few things are not enough to look at, looking for that kind of thing is courting death, let a certain demon hunter explore it when the time comes.

It was also during such inspections that Herme found some Aedirian merchants who were planning to go to Hackland with the immigration team with their large bags and small bags.

Herme was not surprised by the appearance of these people. From the report, he saw the trade with Hackland. It seemed that they had noticed the sweetness of the trade with Hackland.

These merchants are fully armed, and it is not a safe land over there, and it is risky to move forward on it.

Most people in Lomuje are very satisfied with Herme. The lord is gentle and willing to understand the troubles of the residents. He even took people to solve a nest of threatening evil spirits near Lomuje.

Anyone who likes is a lord who will protect them. Herme's activeness undoubtedly gave him a lot of points, even for those old subordinates.

But Hemei also faced more and more pressure because of this. So many people were waiting for his leadership, and his every move would determine their fate.

Many times, Herme was thinking about how to move forward in Hackland, what attitude to adopt, and how to ensure the safety of the team.

It was also on such a day that the team was finally ready. Following Herme's order, the team of thousands of people embarked on the road to Hackland.

Although a lot of preparations had been made, the journey still made Herme quite flustered.

After all, it was the first time for him to manage so many people. As the team moved, there would naturally be more emergencies, and he would be caught off guard in the face of so many emergencies, but gradually he got used to it, and Began to become proficient.

And there are Jerry and Marondo to help him, both of them are two good clerks, and there is no problem in sharing the pressure for him.

On the way to the mountain, Herme felt prying eyes, but he knew who they were, the free elves of Blue Mountain.

But these elves did nothing to the immigration team, just watched them leave.

After all, the group of free elves in Blue Mountain prefer not to offend humans. Since Herme didn't come to do anything to them, they won't do anything.

Herme would never touch the free elves. He knew that there were elves and powerful elves who had received the knowledge of the White Ship in the Blue Mountains, so he couldn't provoke them.

Soon, the party came to Esther Hemlet, another ancient Elven city, but it was too damaged to live in, so only a few dozen soldiers of Aedirn were stationed here.

Arriving at Esther Hemlet means that it is not far from the Blue Mountain Tunnel. Heme took a short rest here and then headed there.

When they saw the Blue Mountain Tunnel, everyone including Herme couldn't help being amazed by what they saw.

Because what appeared in front of them was a passage enough for three carriages to pass side by side, with a height of six meters. This was a wide tunnel that could not be seen even in Mahakam.

According to the research of the scholars who were sent, they thought it was dug out by the monster Sharma. This monster is very good at digging in the mountains. Scholars guessed that Sharma dug through the Blue Mountains in order to find food. And Hakland was able to link again.

A hundred years ago, there was still a mountain road leading to Hackland in the Blue Mountains. It is said that it was left by the elves. Many northern residents fled to Hackland through there, which is the source of those Cossacks.

At that time, there was still trade between the two sides, and even nomads migrated to the north, and some of them became military nobles in the north, which has continued until now.

It was also at that time that the mountain road collapsed due to years of disrepair, and the sources on both sides were cut off.

Now the tunnel is guarded by more than 100 Aedian soldiers. This is a traffic artery. They have built a lot of fortifications here. It is estimated that this will become a pass in the future.

No matter what Sharma dug this tunnel for, it doesn't matter to Herme. What is important to him now is that this is a broad road, and that side represents the future and glory.

So Herme was the first one to step forward decisively, heading towards the distant world.

(End of this chapter)