Technocracy 101:Rise Of The Steel Empire

Location: Oslo Keep – Alec's Study

Time: Evening, Day 389 After Alec's Arrival

The oil lamp flickered, casting long shadows over the spread of parchment across the heavy oak desk. The scent of hot wax and dried ink hung in the air, mingling with the cooler draft slipping under the stone sill.

Alec sat in silence.

Three letters. All from Midgard. One—delivered separately, on finer parchment—bore Vaelora's seal.

📜 Memo #1 – Midgard Company: Metallurgy Division

From: Artisan-Engineer Harrek

Subject: Iron yield optimization & forge designs

Lord Alenia,

We've completed three iterations of the ore pre-treatment process. Smelting loss has dropped by 14% since incorporating your coke-ventilation chimneys. Still struggling with uniformity in our bellows system. Recommending importation of sealed leather components from Hamstade (pending trade permission).

Attached: test data, forge blueprints, charcoal-coke balance ratios. Awaiting sign-off for next batch.

—Harrek

Alec read it twice.

Then, with smooth strokes, he replied:

Harrek,

Proceed with third-stage bellows if you can implement the metal-latched pressure system I outlined in Diagram B. Leathers from Hamstade are viable—but check quality grade with a third party.

Use excess slag from Batch 9 in road base layering as test. Document moisture exposure rate.

—AA

📜 Memo #2 – Midgard Company: Admin HQ, Armathane

From: Serina

Subject: Internal Staffing Log Update – Annotated Personally

The envelope was thick—an official packet with notations in multiple inks. But the handwriting on the inside margin was hers.

In her clean, exacting hand:

*"You should see the mess you left me with. Your field project ledgers are coded in strings only YOU understand. I had to re-learn three dialect variations of your shorthand.

…Mother laughed. I didn't.

I hope you're well. And not letting the Countess feed you anything spicy. You don't handle spice."*

He smiled—brief, flickering. Then picked up his quill.

Serina,

Apologies for the ledger strings. I assume you've begun adapting the format. Keep it. Your annotations improve clarity.

Forward my regards to Duchess Vaelora. And Milla—if she still suspects I'm eating "too little for a real man," tell her I miss the dried cherries.

Re: the Countess's food—I am surviving. No spice. Yet.

Enclosed: three staffing approvals. Watch Elias on Entry 12. He underreports.

—Alec

He paused after sealing it.

The tone had shifted. Not cold. Not formal.

Lighter.

He hadn't planned that.

He didn't dislike it.

📜 Memo #3 – Logistics & Roading

From: Lio, Field Foreman, Grendale

Subject: Coastal Road Washout

Alec skimmed it faster—technical, urgent.

Lord Alec,

Southward road link from Grendale to Varensholt flooded after last storm. We lost a full cart of milled timber. Suggesting embankment raise and addition of culverts. We'll need basalt.

Also: your design for footbridges is working. Locals love them. Started calling them "Alenia Steps."

—Lio

Alec didn't smile this time.

But he did stare at the word "Alenia Steps" longer than necessary.

Lio,

Raise the embankment. I've included slope specs. Delay basalt—use compacted gravel if moisture permits. Report any deep-well sinkage.

Continue footbridge installations. If they're being named, let them be named. Stability first. Recognition follows.

—AA

--------

He dipped the quill and began.

📜 Correspondence to:

Midgard Company – Armathane Central Registry OfficeTo the attention of: Administrator Torrik, Sector Logistics & Development

From: Lord Alec Alenia

Title: Chief Strategist, Overseer of Regional Expansion

Seal: Midgard Principal Wax Mark, Grade-Blue/Primary

Status Report: Oslo Deployment – Phase II Execution

Date: Day 377 After Arrival

Overview:The Oslo county capital has stabilized. Public work implementation has reached 46% completion of projected Phase II targets. Notably:

Canal dredging and filtration systems installed across two arteries, improving water potability and cargo float rate by 19% (measured across three days).

Barracks reconstruction is ahead of schedule. Bedding capacity increased by 42%. Reduction in physical altercations attributed to new ventilation grid.

Sanitation relays initiated. Latrine pathing and refuse flow now mapped for the entire lower quarter. Final designs pending reinforcement approval.

Local workforce retention exceeds expectations. Volunteer rotation exceeds initial conscription by 18%. Morale indicators positive.

Challenges:

Material lag from Delsagade. Iron reprocessing slow due to last frost flood.

Two noble houses (Halren & Kersh) remain resistant. Vesch is ambiguous. Surveillance recommended.

Sabotage risk increasing. Minor thefts, but no direct attacks.

Recommendations:

Request shipment of modular conduit units from Midgard foundry (per specification No. 12B-RC).

Approve temporary transfer of five additional engineers from Bulcrest roster.

Begin quiet vetting of Oslo minor barons for replacement candidacy if reforms are resisted further.

Closing Note:Oslo is responsive. The people adapt fast under structure. Resistance stems from legacy pride, not logistics. The moment power realigns at the symbolic level — public swearing-in of reformed guard, grain redistribution, etc — loyalty will shift permanently.

- A. Alenia

He folded the letter, applied the wax seal, and placed it on the outbound tray.

Then he sat back, flexed his fingers once, and exhaled.

The next letter required more… discretion.

He turned to a smaller piece of paper — finer parchment, lighter weight.

Not company-standard.

Duchess-standard.

📜 Correspondence to:

Her Grace, Duchess Vaelora of MidgardTo be opened privatelyFrom: Alec Alenia

Your Grace,

Oslo holds.

The structure is sound. The people move with purpose. The keep breathes again.

Reforms have been met with friction — as expected. Halren remains a blunt instrument. Kersh an antique. Vesch is harder to read. I suspect she's waiting for the winds to change direction before lifting her own flag.

I've begun preparing the first generation of standardized baronial charters. These will include tax obligation clarity, labor-code literacy, and criminal arbitration principles. No more "by ancestral judgment." No more court of whispers. By ink. By law.

On the infrastructure front, the Midgard Company continues to function with impressive efficiency, even in my absence. Serina's early reports show marked progress in ledger consolidation and dispatch communication. You were wise to assign her to Admin. She learns not by imitation — but through structural insight.

You once asked me what would remain if we removed the nobility.

Oslo is beginning to answer that.

Structure remains. Systems remain. Only the names change.

One more season, and this county becomes the model, not the problem.

I intend for it to outshine Armathane. Deliberately.

That's not rivalry. It's momentum.

—

Unrelatedly:

I observed Countess Elira and her daughter today, unguarded.

I say this as an analytical note — not sentiment: what they possess between them is stability incarnate.

If what we are building is meant to last, we must account for such variables. Not in weakness — in resilience.

I will continue my work here, but should you require a formal demonstration of success to the crown or outer duchies, Oslo will serve you well.

Let me know if Selvanis stirs again.

With clarity,—A.A.

He folded that letter more carefully than the others.

Waxed it with no seal but the small impression of a stylized compass — the sigil the Duchess had asked him to use in private correspondence.

He lingered a moment.

Then blew the lamp out.