It's not a long trip to the impromptu city hall: They got enough canvas and wood together from the leftovers of our castle building to make a big tent. I hear some talking within, but can't really make it out… people are here, good. Still, the tent fp is closed, so rather than simply barge in, I shout “Knock knock.”

  Seconds ter, a gnomish man opens the fp, his eyes go wide, and he practically falls over himself, “Come in, your lordship.”

  I wonder how long it will take me to get used to that? I suppose I do have a small army and a baker's dozen attractive women behind me at the moment. I nod, “Thank you,” and step in.

  The tent is lit by Continual Fme spells; I briefly wonder where they got them, but they're perfect for a tent. Richard Swiftbde is sitting on a chair in front of a rge table, surrounded by a half dozen men of various races, all going over a number of parchment with numbers written on them… my chief architect for my castle does something simir. No matter.

  Ms. Swiftbde struggles to her feet as I enter, then bows, “What can I do for you, Lord Stu?”

  I'm still not used to that, “Two things… first, I have the promised town guard, and figured you'd want to assign a captain for them. Two, I'm looking at purchasing the old bordello and getting it running again.”

  The woman considers, “Sure,” and looks at one of her companions, “Alfred, do you think you can manage ordering the watch Lord Stu has cooked up?”

  A half-elf, I presume Alfred, pauses a moment, and directs a question my way, “Are these guards of yours like the workers you have building your castle?” I nod, and he follows up with, “And you're going to tell them to obey me?” I nod again, then the newly appointed guard captain turns back to Richard, “No problem. Those beings are missing an important piece of what makes a creature a person, but they're exceptionally loyal, so if they're under my orders, I can make that work easily.”

  The town speaker nods and turns back to me, “Thank you my lord. As for the old bordello… how are you pnning on… staffing it?”

  I shrug, “We can make female formed automata as easily as male ones… we already have, in fact: They're waiting outside with the new town guard.”

  Ms. Swiftbde looks down and to the left for a moment to think, her red hair covering one of her eyes, and she looks back up at me, “And they'll perform well?”

  I smile, “Yes: They're fully functional, and should be skilled enough to pass muster.”

  Richard considers a little longer, “The men could certainly use the distraction, they're far too pent up…” she looks around at the rest of the council, “...I've been getting far too much attention. Tell you what: Have the fake girls give the council members free and full service for as long as they keep their posts, and you can have it… well, unless there are any objections from the rest of the council?”

  There is one objection, and that only half an objection, from the gnome, “We should confirm the merchandise is suitable before committing to that.”

  The redheaded woman tilts her head to the side, “Fair. Lord Stu….”

  I ugh, “I can bring them in for a demo, sure.” I step outside, and see my mother waiting.

  “Forgetting something?” She raises an eyebrow.

  I answer with Telepathy, “They're fertile?”

  “You know what triggers my domain,” she answers not very cryptically, “but they're certainly fully formed physically from the tempte: Their biology is complete, and the setup your grandfather put in pce only strictly requires one living soul involved, so despite these girls not having them…” my mother trails off, frowning slightly.

  “Right. You can't directly tell me things I don't already know when you visit this way… well, that's easy to fix.” A baker's dozen Bestow Curse spells ter, and my mother smiles, “Great. Have fun…” as she fades out.

  Of course, she's ALSO with Richard inside, and will see everything anyway… but this way I'm not stuck with however many pregnant summons.

  I shake my head and direct the girls inside, following them… only to have Richard grab my arm on her way out, “Walk with me.”

  I finish giving telepathic orders to the summoned women and they file past me inside to entertain the half dozen council members as the woman who really shouldn't be pushing herself takes me elsewhere.

  “Sure…” I allow her to lean on me and direct our path, “What can I do for you Ms. Swiftbde?”

  She takes a breath, “First… it's ‘Mr. Swiftbde’ or ‘Richard’, please. This…” she gestures at her chest and very pregnant belly, “...was done to me by force. I didn't choose it, this body isn't really MINE.”

  I consider, “It’s a polymorph spell… I can fix that…” I can FEEL my mother gring at me, and as Richard here is pregnant, I add “...after the birth, and I can even arrange a wet nurse for the child, of the same sort as the other false people I have.”

  She frowns, “Thank you, but that wasn't why I…”

  She trails off as I use my spell-like Shapechange to become a female elf, “I don't ‘get’ why it bothers you,” I switch to the form of a female human, “someone looking at us is going to see two women walking around.” I switch to a female fox headed humanoid with a tail, “If we get offended by people addressing us AS two women while that's what we are, we're going to waste a rather lot of time being angry about something most people can't really help,” I switch to a half-elf female form, “After all, there's nothing externally obvious about us that says ‘male’ right now.”

  The council speaker frowns again, “You're a Kitsune?”

  I shrug, “Does it matter?”

  Richard takes a breath, “Not with the amount of sheer power you obviously have, no.” She pauses, “but back to what bothers me… I'm FORCED to be a woman, I am supposed to be a man. You clearly have a choice in the matter. I was mind controlled, warped to suit another's fantasy, kept naked in chains, and forcibly bred by a rat in gnomish flesh while I screamed for more because of the mind control. I want as few reminders of that nightmare as I can get. So please, Marty, it's ‘Richard’ or ‘Mr. Swiftbde’.”

  I consider, “Well… I can't say as I ‘get’ it, but I can at least attempt to respect it, Mr. Swiftbde.”

  She nods, “I suppose that's as good as I'm liable to get.” She takes a breath, “as for the other thing… you are BAD at keeping secrets, you know that, right?”

  Well, you don't know I'm a were-woman, “Yes. I'm guessing there's more to it than that, though.”

  “There is…” she pauses, “...those ‘magical constructs’ are living, breathing beings, and they're yours. I know you're not kidnapping anyone to make them - nobody has gone missing, and our little mining colony doesn’t have nearly enough people to cover your construction workers. And they're yours. Where are you getting them?”

  I give her a mostly true answer, “They're a long duration summoning effect.” Permanent, and they're not supposed to be, “it's mildly annoying to do,” mostly because of the additional spells to make them better at their jobs, “but I'm not sacrificing people, making deals with devils, or anything else particurly unsavory to make it happen: Just casting a spell.” Ish. Knowing the spells requires literal divine intervention… or at least instructions from one of the two people in the whole world who can cast it.

  “Are the rank and file soldiers you're making for the town watch any more difficult than the workers?”

  “Yes,” but only because I buff them up to deal with combat rather than just their specific skill role, “and I need a fixed site to anchor them for it to work. They're fine for a town guard, but that's about it,” this is a lie. No anchor is needed, I could absolutely field an army this way.

  “That's good at least. Still…” she goes silent for a moment, “that's the kind of power wars are fought over… even without the ability to use them in an invasion, being able to guard a city like that without sary or supplies…”

  “It only solves an ‘avaible bodies’ problem,” I interrupt. “There's a cost to the casting, and they still need supplies: Half of them are very minor priests that exist only to feed the other half with magic.” I pause, “they also need a pce to sleep, and being summoned creatures they're dependent on the dungeon. If an attacker knows what they're facing… well, the creatures won't be more than an inconvenience to an organized invasion. They're fine for watching the walls for wandering monsters, collecting toll and tribute, handling basic policing, and such… but they're not suitable for war.” A roughly even mix of lies and truth, there.

  The redhead nods, “I see. Still… this is a pretty extreme dispy of power. It's not a legion of undead… but it's certainly a legion, and you're using them to build a castle. What happens to us when someone wants to take it from you?”

  “I'm pnning to defend the castle and town, obviously,” I consider, “and we do have some fallback pns if an attacker kills the dungeon… but what you don't know can't be Charmed out of you, so…” I shrug. “We already added a curtain wall to the pns and you saw the town guard. We don't pn to leave anyone high and dry.”

  “I don't care for the idea that everything hinges on one man….”

  I shrug, “So make your own pns too. I'm not pnning on stopping you from - just as an example - making sure everyone has both a ranged and melee weapon, and organizing your own watch or anything: The best towns have everyone ready to fight. It's how cities survive. We're not intending to be dictators.”

  “You certainly take the time to listen.” Richard agrees. I'm gd we had this chat.” She pauses, “ah, mind helping me back to the tent? The council is… probably exhausted by now.”

  I chuckle, and walk her back.