Last week continued with Rozemyne's rescue efforts. She used potions to heal Ferdinand, but Ferdinand assumed he was being poisoned by his signature ultra-nasty rejuvenation potion and attacked Rozemyne on reflex. A confounded Ferdinand questions the joyous Rozemyne's decision to rescue him. Rozemyne reminds Ferdinand of her vow that she would defy even greater duchies, the Sovereignty, the royal family, and the gods to save him.
Rozemyne finds out that her tablet form of the Book of Mestionora is perhaps less convenient than the traditional form. She does however astound Ferdinand with her copy-and-paste ability which she uses to remove Ferdinand's schtappe sealing bracelets. They discuss Ehrenfest's preparations against Georgine, what Rozemyne's Geduldh is, as well as her future plans to join the royal family and marry Prince Sigiswald. Rozemyne then returns Ferdinand's name stone.
Rozemyne attempts to quell the rage of the awakened Lord of Evil's desire for revenge against Ahrensbach and Lanzenave. Rozemyne informs Ferdinand that she has taken Ahrensbach's foundation thus becoming Aub Ahrensbach and that attacking Ahrensbach could violate his magic contract forbidding him from opposing her. Rozemyne asks for Ferdinand's help to resolve the issues with Detlinde, Georgine, and Letizia. Ferdinand agrees and asks Rozemyne about her future intentions as she cannot hold both Ahrensbach's and Yurgenschmidt's foundation simultaneously. Rozemyne mentions either relinquishing Ahrensbach to obtain Yurgenschmidt or to give the Grutrissheit to the royal family. We then get a history lesson on the Book of Mestionora, the wars of succession, the Grutrissheit, as well as how the royal family and Royal Academy came to be. Ferdinand concludes that even if Rozemyne were to marry Prince Sigiswald, mix mana, and then transfer the Grutrissheit by schtappe, he would not be able to read it and Rozemyne would end up too busy to read books. Ferdinand resolves to find a way to prevent Rozemyne's adoption, deal with Ahrensbach's issues, and send her back to Ehrenfest. Rozemyne conveys her concerns that remaining in Ehrenfest would have serious consequences for many people.
Rozemyne gives Ferdinand a registration feystone so he can leave the Mana Replenishment hall. They are given reports on the current situation by Eckhart and Justus. As Ferdinand prepares for battle, Rozemyne meets with Hannelore and finds out that Dunkelfelger is struggling to conquer Lanzenave's ships. After healing the injured knights, Rozemyne learns that her charm from Prince Sigiswald is actually a courtship charm. Ferdinand then arrives and is shocked to see that Dunkelfelger is assisting Rozemyne. His rival, Heisshitze, attempts to give back his cape, but Ferdinand refuses. Ferdinand persuades Dunkelfelger's knights to join him in battle to close the border gate, capture the remaining Lanzenavians, and then defend Ehrenfest's foundation. He also sends Hartmut and Clarissa to brainwash the nobles of Ahrensbach with tales of Rozemyne's sainthood so that she will be accepted by them as Aub Ahrensbach. Ferdinand informs Strahl that he and Rozemyne are headed to close the country gate.
With the Lord of Evil now joining the fray, what vicious schemes will be unleashed to crush their foes? Will Letizia and the captured noble daughters be rescued? What predictions do you have for this week's story?
Most ideally the Lanzenave crews will surrender, once they see the country gate in front of their ships shut tight. That would not only mean the best chances to retrieve the Ahrensbach women without injury, but also leave Rozemyne & Co with hostages of their own, who they can interrogate and who will potentially make good bargaining chips for negotiations with Lanzenave... assuming the country gate won't just be closed permanently. It would also mean they could capture a whole lot of silver equipment, to research or just use for themselves.
Unless of course the Lanzenavians on the ships are absolutely fanatical, because then they might just sink their own ships, to prevent the technology from falling into their enemy's hands. If that's the case, then saving Letizia & co will became a race against time.
I wonder why nobody has gotten the idea yet, to raid the city-watch's armouries for defensive equipment. With how regular steel swords can cut through silver cloth, I would assume that the same would be the case for defensive equipment too. They might not have enough time to put on commoner armour, but they can at least grab some steel or wood shields to defend themselves against the silver needle launchers mounted on the ships.
I'd also go with the idea that one Dunkelfelgerian suggested, of using enhanced strength to just basically throw big boulders at the ships. As they pointed out last release, punching holes in the ship hulls would endanger the captives, but the same can't be said about the sails! So take a page out of the French and Spanish Age of Sails playbook and wreck their sails, rigging and masts. That way, they will be stuck drifing in the ocean, unable to keep any defensive formation or come back to shore and you can take however much time you need to whittle them down. Since they are using phyiscal ammunition, they will run out eventually, and in a boarding action, my money is on the Dunkelfelger knights.
I would also have a surviving member of the Ahrensbach knight's order, tell the city guard to increase the watch at the city gates, keep the doors shut until further notice and try to apprehend anyone wearing silver clothing, preferably alive if possible, to make sure no Lanzenavian can disappear into the countryside. With the bulk of the Lanzenavians being on the ships, that as far as I gathered have already cast off from the harbour, using the commoners against the main remnant of the Lanzenave force is probably no longer an option... also even if it was, that woud very likely upset the Dunkelfelger knights, so it's probably a good thing the city watch can't attack the ships.
I think it'll be interesting to see what these ships are like. Rozemyne mentioned before that they looked like submarines. It's possible they may not have sails at all and if they actually can submerge then battle would get a whole lot trickier. Although like you said, after the gate is closed they shouldn't have many options and will hopefully just surrender.
I'm pretty sure if those ships had neither sails nor oars, that would have been mentioned in Ferdinand's chapter, when he first saw one of them, so Rozemyne probably meant the general hull shape. I'm thinking more along the lines of a Korean turtle ship, than an actual submarine, except with the "roof" being the same material as the sides of the ship, and of course longer and sleeker to accomodate the need to fit through the country gate.