An Angel Called Eternity

To Bet on Losing Dogs - Lykourgos XIII: The Campaign's End

Lykourgos XIII: The Campaign's End

The Tenth Day of the Tenth Moon, 873 AD.
Stagspring, Central Owkrestos, Klironomea.

"A note for you, your Grace. Well, a letter containing a dozen notes, actually. I'm not really sure how this was able to fit in the envelope."

"And?"

Ilias smiled at him as he handed Lykourgos the letter, the little rascal likely having already read it through.

"And the renovations to the capital have left the planning phases. Construction will have begun by the time we reach Anaria again, or so I've been told. Only on the west and south districts though, the rest will have to wait according to the Master of Copper. Apparently the money that would be needed to refurbish the northern district could be spent on renovating two of the others, so that's what's being done."

Lykourgos rubbed at his chin for a moment, then nodded in agreement with the absent Master of Copper.
"Well, whilst I'd of course rather have all five districts refurbished and improved he has made the right call by concentrating on those two in particular. They're the ones that provide a good deal of the economy in Anaria, or at least the southern district did before the hillocks were repurposed for the nobles to live in their manses and the old workshops were torn down. Without the nobles the south can once again become a hub of craftsmen and artisans, which by itself will greatly assist with the repairs and rebuilding of the rest of the city. As for the docks, well, that should go without saying. The docks always were important to Anaria, and an improvement in their infrastructure can only yield good results for us. Yes, the Master of Copper has made the right decision in this instance. I'll send my regards to him with a letter of my thanks for his diligence soon enough. Tell me Ilias, is there anything else?"

His cupbearer nodded dutifully, and handed over a small sheaf of papers with illustrations and notes on them.

"Yes, your Grace. The Master of Copper, having been advised by the Master of Silver, thought you might find some of the plans interesting for the docks. He's attached a few examples of what is to be built there with notes explaining what they are, how they work, and why they're to be built."

Lykourgos nodded his understanding, unable to keep the smile from spreading across his face. Even so far away Elikoidi knew exactly what Lykourgos liked to see, what sort of things he'd find interesting, and it would be a nice break so see some of what was planned for the city in the days to come.

The first sheet of paper detailed plans for a more permanent series of wharfs along the coast of the Bay of Saints, completely restructuring and replacing the ailing and, in all honesty, rather poor infrastructure that the dockside had degraded into using over the last few centuries. Chief amongst the diagrams were plans for an improved series of cranes for the loading and unloading of cargo, made of wood and built into a base that looked rather like a stout stone tower. A large treadmill to the side seemed like it would enable the mechanisms to move, though whether it would end up being powered by men or donkeys he didn't know.

Similarly the warehouses that dotted the waterfront were to be torn down and rebuilt out of stone with roofing slates atop them, the wooden buildings having been a fire hazard for so long that it was a miracle that half of the dockside had only burned down four times in the last hundred years. That would certainly make a good start to improving the western district of Anaria, and in all honesty Lykourgos himself would probably have stopped there, but it seemed that Master Yzaldae was something of a city planner as well as an economist.