Published 9/9/23
Worldbuilding: Portals and Demonic Entities
Portal magic is an archaic art that dates back many thousands of years. Opening a stable portal to a precise destination requires a high level of magical and scientific development. Portals make use of magic to tunnel through three dimensional space, providing near instantaneous travel between two far away points, similar to a wormhole.
Occasionally, a comparatively primitive society discovers or rediscovers the very basic fundamentals of portal magic. They are sometimes able to create extremely crude portals to random or generalized worlds.
However, unbeknownst to them, these portals are only semi-stable. Semi-stable portals lose integrity the longer they are open. After a few years, they will begin to rapidly decay, with disastrous consequences.
If a semi-stable portal remains open for too long, it will decay to the point where it becomes an unstable portal. On the other side of unstable portals, there exists a hellish dimension inhabited by malicious semi-corporeal magical entities: the Demonic Realm. Unstable portals do not last more than a few weeks, or a month at most, but that is more than enough time for demonic entities, aka demons, to pass through.
Out of necessity, societies that use portal magic also develop a crude way of closing semi-stable portals before they can decay. A stable portal requires a large amount of both mana and energy to maintain, and the process of stabilizing an already existing semi-stable portal is comparatively simple.
Primitive societies that use portal magic are able to close their semi-stable portals by stabilizing them. Without the large upkeep of mana and energy, the stable portal immediately collapses. They mistakenly believe that they are closing a 'normal' portal, when in reality they are stabilizing a semi-stable portal.
Stable portals swirl with blue magical energy, semi-stable portals swirl with purple magical energy, and unstable portals swirl with red magical energy. All three take the form of a perfect sphere, or a dome if embedded within the ground.
Demonic entities are semi-corporeal magical creatures; they are neither purely physical beings, nor are they purely noncorporeal beings. Demonic entities use a rare tenth type of mana called demonic mana. Whereas light and dark mana are opposites and form a neutral balance, neither having any inherently good or evil qualities, demons and demonic mana are in fact inherently evil.
Whenever an unstable portal opens up, demons come through and consume intelligent life. Demonic entities consume the entirety of their victims; their physical body, their consciousness, and magical essence are all consumed by the entity.
Physical wounds inflicted upon demonic entities heal almost immediately and cause them no pain. The same can be said for purely magical attacks. Killing a demonic entity requires a weapon that is both physical and magical, so that the wound on the demon is both on its physical body and its noncorporeal essence.
Demonic mana is not natural to the physical world, and thus mages do not have a natural demonic mana pool, nor is there any ambient demonic mana in the environment. To use demonic magic, a mage must build up their demonic mana pool by studying and performing demonic magic, however this is extremely dangerous.
Practicing demonic magic can cause small and temporary unstable portals to appear in the mage's vicinity, risking a minor demonic incursion. The main reason mages study demonic magic at all is because it is the only known purely magical method of harming demonic entities.
Semi-stable portals occasionally cause small and temporary unstable portals to open up in their vicinity. These spontaneous portals are far too weak to allow a sentient demonic entity to come through, and they usually collapse within a few hours. However, demonic fauna will occasionally manage to pass through them.
Chapter 6: The Recall
June 26th, 2053
Rhinewood River Valley
It has been a few hours since the 4th Deep Recon Team was recalled to Fort Roanoke. When Daniel radioed Fort Roanoke for more information, he found out that it wasn't just the 4th Deep Recon Team; every Deep Recon Team was recalled. Daniel couldn't find out anything more than that, but something big must have happened.
Because they weren't stopping to interact with the local villages, the trip back to Fort Roanoke would be much quicker than the rest of their journey. But because of the poor quality of roads, it would still take them the rest of the day to get back.
While the team was driving, Daniel was in the crew compartment speaking to Elmot and Thungar. They gave more thorough introductions of themselves. As a minotaur, Thungar was too large to be able to sit in the crew compartment, so he was standing with his head and upper torso sticking out of the topside crew compartment hatch. Luckily, it wasn't too difficult to hear his deep minotaur voice inside the Rhino.
Thungar was a minotaur taken as a slave from Mintauria, to the northwest. He was a strong and capable warrior who valiantly defended his home from the Rontak Empire before being captured and enslaved, along with his family, many years ago. During his enslavement, Thungar was forced to pull small carriages and work in the fields, so he knew the Rhinewood River Valley very well.
Elmot, on the other hand, was taken from one of the elven kingdoms north of the Vushfall Mountains during a raid. As an adept mage, he was forced to construct magical devices, like mana comms, for the Rontak Empire. Elmot had been a slave in the Rontak Empire for 80 years. He knew the local cities quite well, since his servitude did not include much physical labor.
Daniel explained to Elmot and Thungar that they came from the other side of a portal created by the Rontak Empire. Neither of them were surprised that the Rontak Empire had, once again, opened a portal, but they were shocked to learn that the people from the other side of the portal managed to defeat the Rontak Empire in battle.
Elmot was even more shocked to learn that magic did not exist on the other side of the portal and that his rescuers had no magical aptitude whatsoever. They had to explain to Elmot the basics of how the Rhino worked, just like with Eldryn, to convince him it wasn't some form of beast or magic.
At the Americans' request, Elmot was about to provide them with a demonstration of magic. Elmot asked for a canteen, and a marine handed him a water bottle.
"What I am about to show you is an example of elemental water magic," Elmot explained, as he unscrewed the cap.
"Hang on," Daniel said, "is this safe?"
"Yes, of course," Elmot replied. "I am only giving a small demonstration."
Daniel nodded and Elmot proceeded.
"Water magic allows a mage to control and manipulate the natural element of water," as he said this, he made a motion with his hand and the water flowed out of the bottle. It formed a ball that hovered slightly over the palm of Elmot's hand. Faint dark blue particles could be seen emanating from Elmot's hand, towards the water. "In all its forms," Elmot continued.
As he said that, the ball of water froze into ice, and then sublimated into water vapor. Then, Elmot turned the steam back into water and it flowed back into the bottle. Everyone applauded the impressive display as Elmot screwed the cap back on.
"Is it really true that your people have never even heard of magic before?" Elmot asked.
"Yep. As far as we know, magic simply doesn't exist in our world," Daniel replied.
"Fascinating," said Elmot. "And yet you have managed to create these wondrous contraptions..."
As they continued back to Fort Roanoke, the Americans tried to explain some of their technology to Elmot, Eldryn and Thungar. Most of the technical details went right over their heads, but they were intrigued by what the technology could do. Elmot in particular noticed some similarities between magic based technology and scientific based technology.
Rontak Empire, June 26th, 2053
Skies Above the Rontak Valley
Lord Kushmon and Lieutenant General Ulmok were riding wyverns high in the sky. After the defeat of the Portal Conquest Army, Lord Kushmon made the difficult decision to personally travel to the capital and speak with the Emperor himself.
Despite his fear of what the Emperor would do to him, Lord Kushmon felt this would be the best way to convey the seriousness of the otherworlder crisis. If he simply relayed what happened via mana comm, the far away nobles would likely just believe he was incompetent and repeat the same mistakes Lord Kushmon made. Even though Lord Kushmon was afraid of what his punishment would be, he was more loyal to the Rontak Empire than he was afraid of the Emperor.
Of course, he had already sent word of his defeat via mana comm, since the journey would still take many days, even by wyvern. And just as Lord Kushmon feared, the nobles in the capital disregarded the threat. He could only hope that the Emperor would take the Otherworlders more seriously.
During the last battle, Lieutenant General Fomar had convinced Lieutenant General Ulmok that the enemy had used up all their mana, and decided to personally lead their infantry into battle. Along with Archmage Vilintius, Lieutenant General Fomar was killed in the battle, leaving Lieutenant General Ulmok as the only high ranking officer who had witnessed the enemy's devastating magic in person.
Lord Kushmon ordered Lieutenant General Ulmok to accompany him to the Rontak Valley and left General Rallek in command of the Duremar province while he was away. Lieutenant General Ulmok made a hand signal to Lord Kushmon from his wyvern, informing him that they were approaching the capital's wyvern base.
As they descended, Lord Kushmon braced himself for the punishment the Emperor would inflict upon him for his monumental failure. Lord Kushmon would accept his fate though. This was the only way he would be able to convince the Emperor of the true threat posed by the Otherworlders. He had to succeed, for the sake of the Rontak Empire.
June 26th, 2053
Duremar Plains, Fort Roanoke
The 4th Deep Recon Team had just parked their Rhinos in the vehicle depot when Daniel was ordered to report to Lieutenant General Reed's office. Benny took care of assigning Eldryn temporary quarters while Liv took Elmot and Thungar to the infirmary.
Daniel walked into Lieutenant General Reed's office and gave a salute. But before his fingers even reached his forehead, Lieutenant General Reed said, "at ease."
Daniel could tell something was wrong. The Lieutenant General looked overworked and stressed.
"You brought Eldryn Kothmar back here as a refugee after his village was destroyed, correct?" Lieutenant General Reed asked.
"That is correct sir. We also rescued a minotaur and an elven mage from some sla-"
Lieutenant General Reed interrupted Daniel before he could finish his sentence. "Did you say a mage? As in someone who practices magic?"
"Umm, yes," Daniel replied, slightly confused. "Elmot is a mage and he gave us a demonstration of magic. It will all be in my report, sir."
"I don't have time to wait for your report, Ramirez. Get... You said his name was Elmot?" Daniel nodded in affirmation, and then Lieutenant General Reed continued, "get Elmot in here right away. Maybe he can help us figure out what happened to the 5th Deep Recon Team."
"Elmot is in the infirmary right now, sir, you'll have to wait for the docs to..."
Daniel suddenly realized what the Lieutenant General said, and asked, "wait, what happened to the 5th Deep Recon Team?"
"They're all dead, Ramirez," replied Lieutenant General Reed, bluntly. "And we can't figure out what the hell killed them."
Rontak Empire, June 26th, 2053
Capital City of Ronta, Imperial Palace
Emperor Cevlion Rontus IIX was sitting on his throne in the Imperial Palace. The throne room was a magnificently grand hall. There was a red carpet bordered by golden trim leading from the massive doors to Emperor Rontus's throne.
Marble columns coated with bronze lined the walls, each one adorned with the Rontak Empire's flag. Below the Rontak Empire's flag on each column was the flag of a conquered kingdom or territory, much smaller than the grand flag above it. The Emperor's throne was elevated by a few steps, so that anyone who was granted an audience with him would have to look up at him.
Right now, the Emperor was listening to a dreadfully boring report on the invasion of the Sandorian Desert. The Serpentfolk native to the region were powerful in battle and Emperor Rontus wanted to add them to his already diverse military.
Unfortunately, the intense heat and large sand dunes made for a logistical nightmare, but the invasion force was still making good progress, given the conditions. The Serpentfolk would soon become subjects of the Rontak Empire.
"... and so, your Highness, should we attack the Serpentfolk army from the east, or from the west?"
Hardly paying attention, Emperor Rontus replies, "I trust your judgment, General, do as you see fit."
Just as the general was about to protest the vague answer, a messenger came up and whispered something to Emperor Rontus. "Your Majesty, Lord Kushmon of the Duremar Province has arrived."
To Emperor Rontus, Lord Kushmon's timely arrival was a blessing. Dealing with Lord Kushmon would be a welcome distraction from the mundane conquest of the Serpentfolk. Emperor Rontus dismissed the general bearing the report, and summoned Lord Kushmon.
Lord Kushmon entered the throne room, accompanied by Lieutenant General Ulmok. They approached the Emperor and bowed to him. Then, they knelt down on one knee and looked up to the Emperor.
"Lord Kushmon," the Emperor said menacingly, "formerly, one of my most capable servants. I hope you have not come to grovel beneath me."
"Your Majesty," began Lord Kushmon, "I have come to tell you of a powerful enemy on our doorstep. The portal we opened in Duremar has led to a world with a kingdom that has overwhelmingly powerful magic. My army was helpless against them in battle. There was no chance of victory."
"What you say is... troubling," the Emperor replied. "Go on. I will decide whether or not you are at fault."
Unbeknownst to Lord Kushmon, Emperor Rontus had already contacted General Rallek, via mana comm, who explained the situation in its entirety. The Emperor wanted to make sure their two descriptions of events matched, so that he could be sure the information was accurate.
What he heard over the mana comm was difficult to believe. It was more likely that the defeat of the Portal Conquest Army was simply due to negligence or incompetence. But since Lord Kushmon, until now, had a perfect record of administering the Duremar Province and the Portal Conquest Army, Emperor Rontus had to be sure.
Lord Kushmon continued to explain how his initial incursion through the portal was quickly repelled and the steps he took in response. Then, Lieutenant General Ulmok gave his description of the enemy's magic.
"They had a great many war beasts completely covered in metal armor. Some of their creatures had long and thin snouts which spewed a small amount of fire. Following their seemingly weak fire magic, enormous explosions erupted among our cavalry. Other beasts launched streaks of flame and smoke into the sky towards our wyverns. Our wyvern knights tried to evade, but the enemy's magic followed them and killed our wyverns in similar explosions. When we thought they had exhausted their mana, we advanced with our infantry, but they were met with the same fiery death."
The Emperor listened closely to Lieutenant General Ulmok's description of the battle. He himself had never heard of such powerful weapons, but he was not a mage. Turning to his left, he asked, "Grand Mage Arpokla, have you ever heard of magic like this before?"
Grand Mage Arpoka, standing to the Emperor's left, was an elderly woman and one of the most powerful magic users in the Rontak Empire. There were rumors that in her youth she once bested an elven mage in a duel, a feat unheard for a human from the Rontak Empire. There were only a few individuals in the entire Rontak Empire who could match her magical skills.
"I have heard of nations from across the western sea using what they call 'magi cannons' to attack their enemies with explosions from a great distance. But the weapons Lieutenant General Ulmok described have tenfold the firepower of the magi cannons I am familiar with. Based on this testimony, I believe that the Otherworlders are using an incredibly powerful form of magi cannon. If that is indeed the case, there is truly nothing that Lord Kushmon and his army could have done. At least not without prior knowledge that the enemy possessed such weapons."
Lord Kushmon was grateful Grand Mage Arpokla freed him from blame for his defeats. But he was also filled with dread now that he realized the true magical power of the Otherworlders. If they could create such powerful 'magi cannons', as Grand Mage Arpokla called them, then the enemy would surely lay waste to every army the Rontak Empire sent to stop them.
"Your Majesty, I have delivered myself to your mercy in hopes that you will heed this message," said Lord Kushmon. "In a direct battle against the Otherworlders, our armies will be slaughtered."
Emperor Rontus summoned his own generals into the throne room. Together with Lord Kushmon, Lieutenant General Ulmok, and Grand Mage Arpokla, they formulated a plan to fight the Otherworlders.
First, they would let the enemy advance deep into the Rontak Empire. While the enemy advanced, their armies would engage them in small scale skirmishes to use up the enemy's mana and drain their supplies.
Several armies would be broken up into smaller units to fight a guerilla war against the invaders. This would ensure that no single engagement would result in as devastating a loss as the first two battles. These smaller units would find places to ambush the enemy and engage them in areas where magi cannons would be less effective, like in forests or cities.
Eventually, the enemy would have to receive mana crystal shipments. When the enemy starts sending supplies through the Rontak Empire's vast territory, their small units will target the enemy's supply lines. Cut off from their supply of mana crystals and deep within the Rontak Empire, the enemy will eventually be unable to use their powerful magi cannon weapons.
Then, the Rontak Empire will assemble several great armies to finally defeat and repel the Otherworlders. These armies would incorporate every military asset the Rontak Empire has at its disposal: infantry, cavalry, mages, minotaurs, centaurs, wyverns, and land dragons. Perhaps they would even use a few serpentfolk, if the invasion of the Sandorian Desert goes well.
Lieutenant General Ulmok cautioned the Emperor that his army had already counted on the enemy using up all of their mana, and were still defeated. The Emperor made it clear to every general in the room that they are not to coordinate a direct counter offensive against the Otherworlders until it is conclusively confirmed that the enemy's mana has run out.
Just as they were finishing up the details of their new strategy, Princess Maribelle burst through the grand throne room doors.
"Father!" Exclaimed Princess Maribelle, "I have just been informed of the situation in Duremar. What are you doing to counter this threat?"
"Calm yourself, Maribelle. There is no need for concern. Lord Kushmon and I have just come up with a plan to repel the invaders."
"A plan?" She laughed. "How can you have a plan to fight back against an enemy you know nothing about? Let me take my knights to gather information on the enemy before you send more Imperial soldiers to their doom. We could very well discover information vital to defeating these invaders."
Although her older brother, Cevlion Rontus IX, was the Crown Prince, Princess Maribelle had always taken her royal duties far more seriously than him. Princess Maribelle had even taken it upon herself to form the Order of the Dragon.
Princess Maribelle and her Knights of the Order of the Dragon traveled the Rontak Empire on wyverns, hunting down criminals and upholding the common law. They enforced justice and fairness across the entire Rontak Empire. For this, Princess Maribelle was incredibly popular with the people.
Unlike regular wyvern knights, every knight in Princess Maribelle's order was equipped with a mana comm to keep in contact with each other, since they were so spread out. Because she and her knights were so well traveled, they often acted as a personal information network for the Emperor.
The Emperor smiled. "As usual, your judgment is impeccable, my daughter. Very well. You may take your knights to investigate the Otherworlders."
"Thank you, father. I won't let you down," Maribelle replied as she turned to leave the throne room.
"With one condition," the Emperor roared. Maribelle turned back to face her father. "That you do not endanger yourself by directly engaging them in battle. This enemy is very powerful. Do not underestimate them or take any unnecessary risks."
"I give you my word that I will be careful, father."
"That is all I needed to hear," the Emperor replied. If the Princess gave her word, the Emperor knew with absolute certainty that she would keep it.
Maribelle turned and left the throne room, resolute in her desire to protect the Rontak Empire.
After the Princess left, the Emperor decided to send Lord Kushmon back to the Duremar Province to stall the Otherworlders. Meanwhile, the rest of the Rontak Empire would gather its armies and prepare for a protracted guerilla war within its own territory.
The other generals present saw it as a suicide mission; they thought it was Lord Kuhmon's punishment for bringing this threat to the Rontak Empire. The Emperor, however, had faith in Lord Kushmon's ability to succeed in this task. Despite this singular failure, Lord Kushmon was a gifted and loyal servant of the Rontak Empire.
The Emperor would not really have killed or tortured Lord Kushmon for his failure. Most of the stories about the Emperor's wrath were exaggerations he himself had spread. In truth, Emperor Rontus was a rather forgiving and wise ruler, but having your subjects fear you was useful. And having them be grateful to you for sparing them was even more useful.
As intended, Lord Kushmon was incredibly thankful for the opportunity to prove himself still worthy of serving the Emperor. He was determined to succeed and retain his position in Duremar.
June 26th, 2053
Duremar Plains, Fort Roanoke
Daniel was on his way back to Lieutenant General Reed's office, with Elmot. Apparently, Elmot's injuries were only superficial; they looked worse than they actually were. The doctors cleared him to leave the infirmary without protest. When they got to their destination, Daniel introduced Elmot to Lieutenant General Reed.
Lieutenant General Reed wasted no time getting to business. He flipped around his laptop and explained the concept of a video to Elmot. Elmot was familiar with the idea of a video, but was surprised it could be done without using magic.
"How were you able to build this without magic?" He asked Lieutenant General Reed.
"We can discuss that some other time. The matter at hand is far more important," Lieutenant General Reed replied. Then, he pressed a button on his laptop and the video began to play.
The scene in the video was dark, but they could see the sun rising on the horizon. The video was captured by droids and body cams worn by the marines of the 5th Deep Recon Team. The timestamp indicated that it was taken just that morning, only a few hours before the 4th Deep Recon Team rescued Elmot and Thungar.
The video showed a scene of complete chaos. Marines and droids were running around, firing their weapons. Daniel somberly watched the footage as they were cut down one by one.
Their assailant appeared to be a shadowy quadrupedal creature. Its skin was glossy black and emitted faint dark mist. It had one tail that split into two halfway down. Each of two tail tips culminated in a glowing orange blade. It had fear inducing solid orange glowing eyes.
Marines and droids shot the creature dozens of times, but it did nothing. The creature was completely unfazed by bullets. The creature ran around easily killing every member of the team one by one, but completely ignoring the droids. It used its tails to slice into marines and its sharp teeth and claws to maul them. Occasionally, it also launched a glowing orange projectile out of its mouth.
Daniel watched as an unlucky marine was hit by one of the projectiles. He immediately stopped in his tracks and dropped his weapon. He stared off into space for a few seconds, with a look of pain and terror on his face. Then, he gripped his head and started to scream in anguish. He started bleeding from the eyes, nose and ears, before a column of flame erupted from his mouth. Finally, he fell over, dead.
One of the droids unsheathed its combat knife and ran toward the creature. The droid stabbed the creature several times, but the creature barely even noticed. Eventually, it swatted the droid aside before continuing to go after the helpless marines.
The remaining marines retreated to the safety of one of their Rhinos. Daniel watched as the unlucky stragglers were dragged by their feet to a gruesome death. Then, the video switched to footage captured by one of the droids, who all remained outside the Rhinos, relentlessly shooting at the creature.
Then, the creature did something impossible. It jumped straight at the armored hull of the Rhino, and passed right through. Terrible screaming could be heard coming from the vehicle as the creature presumably slaughtered everyone inside. Then, the creature emerged from the side of the Rhino, passing through the solid metal hull again, and disappeared into a nearby forest.
The video ended. Daniel hadn't taken his eyes off it the entire time, but now turned to look at Elmot, who had a look of pure terror on his face.
"I take it, you know what that thing was?" Lieutenant General Reed asked.
Elmot's voice quivered as he said, "that... That was a demon."
Daniel and Lieutenant General Reed both looked at Elmot, confused by what they heard. Elmot explained the concept of demonic entities to them. As an elven mage, he knew general information about them. He also explained that they can only be killed using a combination of physical and magic weapons.
"How was it able to pass through solid metal?" Lieutenant General Reed asked.
"As I said, Demonic entities are semi-corporeal," Elmot replied, "meaning they can selectively pass through barriers that are purely physical or purely magical."
"Since we have no magic at all, you're saying that these things can just walk right through anything we put between them and us?" Daniel asked.
"That is correct," Elmot replied bluntly.
Then, Lieutenant General Reed asked, in a calm but dead serious tone, "can they travel through portals?"
"Of course," Elmot replied.
Daniel immediately realized the implications of what Elmot just said. Fort Roanoke, the entire expeditionary company, even the dome built around the portal in Central Park; none of it would be able to stop a demonic entity. If one of these demonic entities decided to go through the portal, they would have no way of fighting it, let alone stopping it.
"Can these... demons... be killed?" Lieutenant General Reed asked.
"Yes, but you must use a weapon that is both physical and magical, such as one forged from a magical metal," Elmot replied.
That caught Lieutenant General Reed's attention and gave him a sliver of hope, "and where can we acquire some of these 'magical metals'?"
"Magic metals are rare and highly valuable. However, there is a small mining town south of the Duremar Plains, called Miretan, that sits on a deposit of mithril ore. They would probably be willing to sell some to you." Explained Elmot
"And this Mithril, it can kill demonic entities?" Lieutenant General Reed inquired.
"Yes," replied Elmot.
"Many of the villages encountered by our Deep Recon Teams were severely impoverished and malnourished," said Lieutenant General Reed. "Would they be willing to trade their mithril for food, water, and medicine?"
"In small amounts, yes, but mithril is far more valuable than that." Elmot thought back to the dead wyverns he saw when he first arrived at Fort Roanoke. "When I arrived at your fortress, I noticed a large number of dead wyverns. Wyvern scales are very valuable and I'm certain the people of Miretan would be willing to trade their mithril for them."
"Alright then," said Lieutenant General Reed. He turned to Daniel and continued, "Ramirez, the 4th Deep Recon Team has a new mission. Establish contact with Miretan and acquire some of their mithril, as much as they are willing to trade."
"Yes sir!" Daniel replied.
"Elmot," began Lieutenant General Reed, "we have no right to ask for your assistance on this mission, but your knowledge of magic would be invaluable to us. Would you be willing to help us?"
Elmot hardly had to think before he answered. These Americans, strange as they may be, had freed him from his long servitude and given him clean water, food, and medicine. And now they were asking for his help.
"I would be honored to assist you," he said with great respect. "My knowledge and magic are at your disposal."
"Excellent," replied Lieutenant General Reed, with a smile. "Let's get to work."
Lieutenant General Reed ordered squads of marines to begin harvesting scales from the dead wyverns. Then, he and Daniel, with Elmot's help, planned an expedition to Miretan.
For transportation, the 4th Deep Recon Team would take three Rhinos, two Abrams X2s, and three cargo trucks. The Abrams X2 tanks would give them extra firepower in case they ran into any unforeseen complications. The additional Rhino gave them more transport capacity.
If the United States was going to establish a more long term trade deal with Miretan, the people of the town might want to send a representative to meet with someone in the United States government. With only two Rhinos, the 4th Deep Recon Team might not be able to accommodate their delegation, so they temporarily attached a third Rhino to the expedition.
The cargo trucks would carry payment for the mithril to Miretan, and then transport the magic metal back to Fort Roanoke. One of the cargo trucks would be filled to the brim with as many wyvern scales as it could fit. The other two trucks would be carrying food, water and medicine for the people of Miretan, as a show of good faith.
Agent Vanderhoff and the three scientists would also be made permanent members of the 4th Deep Recon Team. There was no telling what sort of strange phenomenon they would encounter going so deep into an alien world. They needed experts on hand to advise the marines in the event that they encountered anything that required scientific analysis.
The scope of the expedition started out as a simple trade mission, but eventually expanded to secure mining rights to the mithril deposit; the locals didn't have the technology to mine the ore in the quantities the US would need.
Elmot explained that magic was an integral part of the refining process for magical ores like mithril. Lieutenant General Reed and Daniel were skeptical that modern ore processing techniques and technologies wouldn't be able to refine the ore. However, they planned the mission based on the assumption that magic would in fact be required.
The three of them came up with a proposal overwhelmingly beneficial to the people of Miretan, that they would hardly be able to refuse. The United States needed their mithril to fight these demonic entities and protect the city of New York as well as the rest of the country. And they were willing to pay top dollar for it.
First, the United States would purchase mining rights to the mithril ore from the locals. The United States would set up modern equipment and begin mining operations. Then, they would work with the local magi blacksmiths to find a way to refine mass quantities of the ore into usable metal. The United States would then buy the processed mithril from Miretan at a price no one else would be able to match.
They would have to negotiate with Miretan to find a payment method more sustainable than wyvern scales. Although suitable for acquiring mithril immediately, they would need a better form of payment in the long term.
The ultimate goal was to secure a sustainable supply of mithril. However, the 4th Deep Recon Team would still try to secure an immediate deal to acquire as much mithril as possible. They needed a way to defend against attacks by demonic entities in the short term, as well as the long term.
Later that night, Daniel was approached by Eldryn and Thungar. They had heard about the expedition to bring back mithril, and they wanted to come along. Eldryn was adamant in his desire to aid the Americans however he could.
In the infirmary, Thungar was told about Daniel's heroic actions during the attack on New York City. He was impressed by the Americans' alleged feats on the battlefield and, like Elmot, he wanted to repay them for freeing him. Thungar also wanted the chance to fight side by side with the Americans himself.
Daniel reluctantly agreed, with the stipulation that Eldryn and Thungar obey his orders without question, just as if they were one of the marines under his command. Eldryn and Thungar eagerly accepted.
The expedition was scheduled to leave on June 28th, in two days.
Author's Note: I have decided against using Standard calendar dates in sections from the Rontak Empire's perspective. The point of the date is to let you, the reader, know when events are happening. But converting between our calendar and the standard calendar is too confusing and does not convey when things are happening. From now on, I will only give dates in our real world calendar, unless otherwise relevant to the events themselves.