In another part of Silvermoon, a warehouse had been taken over and refitted. It was an old property belonging to the Silvermoon family. It was near the old Dragon Gate area and was used to house goods that weren't able to be stored in spatial storage devices. After the plague and then the shutting down of the Dragon Gate Network, the warehouse was left unused and empty.

Chrystianna Silvermoon now had hope of being able to not only reconnect with Thale, but perhaps soon, other worlds. The first worlds she wanted to reconnect with were those Emphyralis historically had contact with, albeit with a much more cautious stance. Afterall, it was a long term trading partner who first introduced the Dragon Hunters to Emphyralis.

The warehouse was magically refitted to be even larger than before. The back part of the warehouse was sectioned off into various rooms. The front part was slowly being remodeled into a transit station. Until the Dragon gate Network was repaired, or a new one created, they would first utilize the Bridging Spell to create go between points. Thale would be the first stop. She planned to have the other continents connected as well, but since trade between them was still easily accomplished, there was no hurry.

As for the Earthborne homeworld? They had no intention to establish trade with it just yet. The small-scale Bridging Spell would solely be used by the Earthborne, thus they were allowed to have the Emphyralian side located in New Bienskurr. If trade ever became an option, then a large one would be set up here at the new transit station.

The Bridging Arrays located here were ten times larger than the ten by ten foot one used to connect Emphyralis and witchborn or the one that will be used to connect to Cruinog. 

The one that will connect to Thale had already been drawn on this side. There were already clerks and guards hired. In the future shop fronts would be rented out. It would become what the transit area around the Dragon gates used to be. For now, there were just a few staff members there to register people and cargo and guards to keep everything orderly.

Chrystianna walked with her assistant Xolani D'a'Kar. "Is everything in order? Are the relief supplies for Thale ready?" she asked. Although they could find ways to get things to thale, large scale relief efforts were thwarted by the Siege.

Xolani blinked her large, solid black eyes as the short fuzzy antennae growing from her forehead twitched slightly. "Yes, your Grace. Everything is in order. Myrkir, Varmur, Vedanta, and Isaz have also donated to the effort. Although her ladyship Countess Icestorme has never let the true situation of Thale leak, estimates show that after nearly a century and a half without steady supplies from other nations, the citizens, while not starving, would gladly welcome a surplus. Clothing and other daily necessities unable to be produced in Thale should be the most eagerly anticipated," she reported efficiently.

Chrystianna nodded as she walked into the room with the Bridging array carved into the floor and embedded with Draconite. She pursed her lips. "It's so large. Will Britiana and ZsaZsa be able to handle it by themselves?" she wondered as if to herself.

Xolani blinked again. "According to estimates and comprehensive analysis of Lady Britiana's and Magus Morningstorme's strength, the two of them should suffice. Especially Lady Britiana who is one of the few people who know how to properly anchor the two arrays," she concluded professionally.

Chrystianna sighed and laughed slightly. We walked out of the room and surveyed the new station. The silver-haired woman was slim and elegant with soft lavender eyes that surveyed everything with an air serenity no matter how much she worried. "I finally feel like Emphyralis is getting back to normal," she said.

Xolani looked at the station thoughtfully as well. "Your Grace has worked hard and suffered much to come to this point. Your Grace's efforts are finally paying off," she said, a little emotion coloring her voice for the first time.

Indeed, Chrystianna Silvermoon wasn't even a teenager when the Plague wiped out most of the mature Dragons and she had to become the new leader of the world. The next century was spent in war against the Dragons Hunters. Not only was she unable to be with the man she loved, but she also had to send her children away before they were kidnapped. Now that she finally got them back, things seemed to finally be on the right path.

"The future will get better and better," she declared firmly.

Xolani bowed. "As Your Grace commands," she agreed.

Shaking herself out of her own fervor, Chrystianna began striding forward again. "Come, I want to double check the relief items personally," she said. It was nerves. This would be her biggest peacetime accomplishment. Reestablishing access to Thale had always been a priority for the Dracosenati and the Conclave of Scales. 

Xolani didn't argue, but as she felt eyes on her and moved her antennae in that direction. "Another foreign monster that needs to be sent away."

Chrystianna wasn't an empath, but she was very familiar with Xolani and felt her unusual pause. "What's wrong?" she asked.

Xolani turned her head and looked at the fuzzy orange laborer with under tusks moving some bricks. "Desert Orcs first appeared in Emphyralis in the Eight Age. The X'nari have been trading with Emphyralis since the sixth age," she stated loudly enough for the laborer to hear.

Chrystianna raised an eyebrow and glanced at the laborer who looked aghast and tried to sneak away. "Yes. Orcs aren't native to Emphyralis. Many of their kind are even hostile to other races," she said. "But they haven't been driven out," she added and then continued on her way.

Emphyralis has always seemed to have been a catch all for spatial rift and wild magic travel. It was a safe haven for many races. It was a vast planet with wild, untamed and unclaimed spaces. Hostile races that somehow made their way here, often made their homes in those places. The Bloodfin race that were leading the Siege were like that. The Wyrms were also like that.

Emphyralis has always been this way. The strange voices that are suddenly leading the charge calling for the expelling of "foreign" races was strange and disturbing. Technically, only the Dragons, Drakes, and Elementals were native to Emphyralis. Races like the Eoduun were personally led to Emphyralis by Elaides, Goddess of Death and Judgement. Yet, she also saw fliers calling for their expulsion from Emphyralis. Or, perhaps, their eradication.

Chrystianna pursed her lips. "Xolani, have Ysandar and Maia come to my office tomorrow morning. It's time to address these hate groups," she said.

Xolani blinked her black eyes again. "Noted, your Grace. May I suggest, your grace, appointing a Chancellor? Lady Britiana seems disinclined to take on the role at this stage," she said.

Chrystianna paused. There was a chancellor when she first took office. Usually the position was held by someone in the family who would one day become Grand Duchess as a type of pretraining, but not always. When the Plague hit, her great-grandmother appointed a non-Dragon Chancellor. However, that person retired after their spouse died in the Hunter Wars and she hadn't appointed one since. She possibly was holding on to the position for her daughter, but Xolani was right. Britiana wasn't ready for that yet and Chrystianna didn't want to force responsibility on her daughter the way it was forced on her.

She continued walking. "Start taking applications. Put yours in the mix as well," she said.

"Yes, your Grace," Xolani said, showing no reaction to possibly being appointed Chancellor of Silvermoon. She agreed with the Grand Duchess that she had the qualifications and experience. Chrystianna nodded and found the person in charge of the relief cargo. She'd have a busy day ahead of her.

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