it would be better for her if she had never been born - Epilogue: Lilia, Alex
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"Hm. It does seem better than having to buy from the Henderthanes," Though he was really expecting to be able to buy from Lastwall. Montero has a point that that can't last forever, though. "I'll ask Alfirin," first Alfirin, "whether she'd be willing to set up a factory here. And some steel mills and all the other things involved. And if not I'll send people to Vigil I suppose."

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"Who's Alfirin," asks Lilia, straightfaced, "and what decides where she'll set up factories?"

 

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"Are you really claiming not to know? She's one of Lastwall's best engineers, decided to go off to Almas and start some factories there after the war." Married to Freedom/Iomedae. Directly responsible for bringing over most of the American technology. Your mother, but nine hundred years younger and less Evil.

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Lilia doesn't know all of her mother's old names. She has a rough transcript of the miracle events in Vigil but without knowing all of her mother's old names it's one of a hundred unfamiliar names rapidly spoken in archaic Taldane, spelled Alkarin(?) in the copy she's seen. She declined the invitation to Freedom's wedding. "What did Andoran do to pitch her?"

 

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"I think she's Chaotic Good. Liked the thing where everybody votes… But she might build one here anyways, if it's important for keeping the new regime."

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"If everyone is planning to pull all of the Iomedaen countries together into a defensive alliance or renewed empire then I think there is no urgent necessity for Cheliax to have its own weapons manufacturing," says Lilia, "so long as we're sure it won't fall through." Lilia does not for a second believe that everyone is planning that.

 

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Lastwall has its commitments. So does Mendev. Andoran is unreliable. Cyprian…may still want the Chelish throne. "Alright. Local factories it is, enough to match Galt at least." He does not look happy about that.

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"Who's in charge of it," says Lilia who is planning to end up herself in charge of it.

 

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"I think I'll have to go to Vigil for some recruiting. Most of the engineers stayed there when the war started, for obvious reasons."

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Perfect. An engineer will be in charge of it and then only tracking engineering sorts of constraints. 

 

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"Do you know of any reason to locate it somewhere besides Westcrown?"

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"A massive favor to any noble you owe one," offers Lilia. "Or a bribe to this Alfirin, who will probably like Kintargo better culturally."

 

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"Doing our arms manufacture in Kintargo seems like it might create some difficulties in the event of another war." Unless he can count on two archmages again, and he doesn't think he can rely on any of the three for a future war that's not against Hell.

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"Not my department but the reason your military is low on Teleporters is that they all defected, and I can get half of them back if you're feeling the pinch, and at ordinary capacity they on a daily basis move sixty thousand pounds of materiel out of Kintargo. You should still probably do the guns here if Alfirin will agree."

 

 

 


 

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"Ser Cansellarion! Is this a social visit or are you here to ruin someone's retirement?"

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Alfirin does not look retired. She's covered in grease and directing a number of workmen assembling some big thing with an engine and a collection of giant axe-blades. "Aren't you a bit young for retirement?" he shouts over the din instead of pointing that out.

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"I own Industry, Like All of It, or at least a solid third of that, depending on what counts! I can retire whenever and however often I please! Do you want to go somewhere quieter?"

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He does very much want to go somewhere quieter.

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Alfirin prestidigitates herself clean and transforms her clothes into her best recollection of a 21st-century pant suit and leads Cansellarion to the top floor of her not-a-wizard's-tower. There's an elevator and big plate glass windows.

"So, what brings you here? Me or my wife?" She grins the kind of stupid grin of someone who's not yet gotten used to saying 'my wife'.

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"You. I want you to open some factories in Westcrown."

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"Planes, trains, and automobiles? Or guns?"

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He doesn't know what a train or an automobile is. He wants planes but he's willing to wait until they're better than the early models that he's seen so far. "Guns."

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"It's going to be very bad, you know."

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"What is?"

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"The war you're all gearing up for."

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