On occasion, hard work pays off. Idroa is not always the cruel mistress we make her out to be.

Wilfrid Pember - Historian- The Start of the Apocalypse

____

Focused, Silas ran his finger down the cloth, making a perfect line, and the rune came alive with an aura of strength. He let out the breath he had been holding and cocked his head back, chuckling in relief. It had taken all of yesterday and most of today, but he was finally done: he could now successfully engrave all the simple runes.

Olivia glanced over his shoulder, and he could tell she was smiling as well. When he had come back from the war, grimy and exhausted, he had been surprised to see her anxiously waiting outside the hotel. She had surprised him further by running up and embracing him, her eyes wet from worry and then joy. She had helped him to his room and shower, and as the warm water had washed away the dirt, he had wondered what she had been so happy about: was it at seeing her lifeline from this hellhole return, or was it at seeing a friend return? Either way, he had appreciated it.

The healers had come to his room sometime later, but he had sent them away as his condition wasn’t serious: their efforts were better used elsewhere. From the two levels he had gained from the war, he had placed one point into strength and the other into constitution.

Silas Wycliffe

Level 37

Level 8 Duellist

Mana: 97/223 (recovery rate: 1.05 per minute)

Strength: 28

Agility: 40 (+6)

Constitution: 24 (+9)

Arcana: 15 (+6)

Perception: 53 (+6)

Abilities: Weakness Vision, Harrying Blows

Aside from that, he had also gained two levels in his class, likely from solo killing several black mantises.

Class: Duellist - level 8

Quests: Duel the Armoured Bear (E-5), Duel Laerdya Elrond (F-1), Duel Floyd Godson (F-1)

Activities: Solo kill E-5s, Solo kill F-1s, Solo kill F-2s

Abilities: Weakness Vision, Harrying Blows (next ability available at level 10)

Floyd had recently popped up as a quest, but he didn’t intend to duel the Champion, for one because he didn’t know if duel meant until someone gave up or whether it was strictly to the death. Aside from this, while he was confident in beating the Champion, he knew it wouldn’t be a fun ordeal considering his exceptional strength and constitution. As for Laerdya and the Armoured Bear, he had little idea about them, but he suspected the bear had something to do with the animal-filled quarry Josh had briefly mentioned.

For the remainder of that day, he had simply rested, the next day recovering still but also practising his runes. Olivia had become warmer and more talkative after his return, and he had welcomed these changes while cooped up in the room. Curiously enough, Bandit had been missing for these days, but he figured the powerful owl was fine either way.

Today, however, was more important than those days as it was now two days since the horde attack: the day the council convened. There was still an hour or so to the meeting, and he was a little lost on how to act. Before, he had assumed to sit back and observe silently until it came to discussing the alliance between Riverside and New Derby. But, perhaps a more active approach would be more appropriate now given the fact he wasn’t a nobody anymore.

After his exploits in the war, news about him had spread to the fighters and from them to most of the non-fighters: he was now known as one of the strongest warriors in New Derby despite being from Riverside. That gave him influence, influence which he was going to use, and if need be abuse, to get what he wanted, primarily a meeting with Montigo, the Seer.

“At least this is finally done,” he said aloud. “Right, I’m going to see Skully before the meeting.”

“I’ll come with you,” Olivia said. It had only been four days since he had first caught her at the market and she already looked far healthier with more colour to her cheeks and fewer marks on her skin.

Few people knew him by sight - as most had only heard of him - and so they made it to Skully’s smithy without bother. Luckily, the Runesmith’s guards did know him and offered respectful nods as they let him skip the queue.

“Well, if it isn’t the local hero,” Skully said with a grin that looked strange surrounded by his larger, tattooed teeth. “How you doing, lad?”

“Not too bad,” Silas said, pulling out the cloth he had been practising on. He passed it to the Runesmith who inspected it with occasional nods.

“This is fair work, fair work indeed,” the tattooed skinhead said. “But, then again, these are the simplest runes, so I would have been disappointed if you had done any worse. I’m guessing you want to learn more?” Seeing the Duellist’s eager nod, Skully shook his head regretfully. “If you weren’t such a talented fighter, I would have taken you on as an apprentice. But hey, it’s probably better for the town that you are who you are.”

Skully dipped below the counter and brought out his book. “I can’t let you take this with you, but you can read through it now and ask me any questions you have. Probably for the best we have more engravers than less.”

As before, his trip to Skully’s was invaluable, and he found himself incredibly grateful to the tattooed Runesmith. Olivia spent some time peering over his shoulders before heading home as he set out for the council meeting.

The council building was as magnificent as he remembered it with its grand black-and-white design. There were guards attentively waiting at the gate for him, and they led him to a hall guarded by dozens of redguards. Inside, chairs circled a massive table with a raised platform for the speaker, he assumed. It somewhat reminded him of Parliament, although with far fewer people as there were only twenty seats in total.

He recognised a few people there as they were also fighters who had taken part in the war: they politely nodded at him and him back. Out of those with weaker auras, he only recognised one: Jane, the minister of defence. She gave him her usual faint smile, although it seemed thinner than he remembered.

It turned out Silas was just on time as the last member of the council came seconds after him: Floyd Godson, the Champion, and also the head of the council as New Derby’s mayor. No longer covered in blood, his features were discernible: a thick horseshoe moustache, shoulder-length dirty blond hair, thin eyes, and an aquiline nose. Aside from being as tall as Silas, he was also criminally muscled with several tattoos coursing his bare arms, tattoos in the same distinct style as Skully’s.

After the horde attack, Floyd had come to Silas’s hotel room unannounced, and he had been every bit like his combat style: domineering, unforgiving, and unyielding. Fortunately, he had been grateful to Silas and thus fond of him, so the Champion’s characteristics had worked in the Duellist’s favour.

“Good to see everyone’s here,” the Champion started, strutting to his seat. “First thing’s first, amazing victory. Our losses were large, sure, but that was unavoidable given how many monsters were there. Still, I can’t do everything by myself so we’ll need more warriors out there on the battlefield for the next horde.” He inclined his head towards Jane.

“Yes, I discussed the issue with Floyd and we’ve agreed on doubling the number of companies by training 2000 more warriors for the army - we’ve got too many vagrants doing naught, so we might as well put them to use. To fund this, we’ll be raising the VAT in the market to 30% and adding a weekly tax of 20% on incomes. These will both come into place after this meeting.”

The discussion continued on as people inputted their say on tax, citizenship, agriculture, defence, a gun factory they were opening, and so on. Silas eventually droned out, staring into blank space until he was called upon.

“And our final topic for today: a proposed alliance with Riverside. We’ll have Silas, the mayor of Riverside, give some points now,” Floyd said.

Silas took to the speaker’s podium with a sheet of paper in his hands. “I’m proposing an alliance in defence and movement of people and goods,” he read out. “Riverside is close to a ratkin settlement, and we’re endangered by them on a weekly basis, so I would appreciate any help from New Derby during these times. However, I acknowledge the difference in strength between our settlements and am willing to pay weekly tributes for your help.” He had gotten better at public speaking since his arrival on Idroa, but now he was stumbling over the formal language he felt compelled to use.

“Also, I heard about the horde format change from Harlan, and how it could be due to passing a citizen threshold. During my stay, I noticed many non-citizens living in New Derby who provide little benefit to this town. So, I propose we clear out the grounds between New Derby and Riverside to promote cross-migration. Not only will this reduce the time to reach each other during emergencies, but it will also help with your overpopulation and our underpopulation. Finally, I think a trade agreement could be mutually beneficial as I’ve heard from locals here that fresh produce is hard to come by, and I know we’re lacking weapons over there besides other things.”

Finished reading through notes, Silas took a calming breath. He didn’t mention the partial alliance Riverside had with Lyfort, as he didn’t know how these guys would react to the news. He also didn’t mention how he was no longer the mayor of Riverside, but whatever the situation was over there, he was certain they would appreciate this help.

“So, thoughts on it?” Floyd prompted.

Discussion broke out on clarifying and tweaking a number of the points, particularly on the matter of how much Riverside’s weekly tribute would be, but in the end, most passed through unmolested. It was a far bigger victory for Riverside than New Derby, Silas thought, but he kept his opinion to himself. Finally, both settlements also agreed to send envoys to each other as Silas mentioned he was unlikely to stay.

“Oh, pity. We would’ve done well with you here,” Floyd commented.

Silas realised this was the right moment. He had already messed up one opportunity when Floyd had come to visit him as he had been exhausted and let the matter slip his mind; he couldn’t mess this up as well. “Actually, I came here to New Derby hoping to find my brother and sister. I heard there’s a Seer here, and I had been hoping for him to spare some time out of his busy schedule for my request.” Although Silas appealed to the whole council, his main focus was on Floyd who frowned at the request. Gulping, he braced for the worst.

“What a load of shit!” Floyd growled, “Who told you Montigo has a busy schedule? That bastard has the most carefree life out of all of us! I’ll take you over right now, and I swear to God, if that two-bit clown claims he doesn’t have the time, I’ll crush his bones one by one until he remembers who’s on top here.”

Jane’s smile grew forced as she listened to the threats, but Silas didn’t rat her out. He didn’t see any point in making enemies, and besides, he wasn’t petty enough to harm her for trying to make use of him, especially since she had failed.

Regardless, he had to admit it felt good having a strongman at his back.

____

Laila Samra, the Mirage, was originally a secret agent from Saudi Arabia. Recorded as passing the extreme tutorial at a blazing pace, she joined Brightmoor on her arrival to Idroa. This is famously the home of Lucian Grimes, the Warlord, and she soon came to serve as one of his five captains. Proficient at espionage and possessing an ability to create copies of herself, she has infiltrated many other major settlements and collected information for Brightmoor’s use.

One such instance was when she eliminated a servant of a Drakkar Magi and took his place, allowing Lucian an advance notice on all the Magi’s activities. This was significant in the Battle of the Crying Wyvern where Laila warned of imminent betrayal, which led to Matteo Rivera, the Terramancer and another of Lucian’s captains, to break off a colossal chunk of cliff face and hurl it down onto the coming Drakkar party. This led to…

Stefan Sommer - the Chronicler - Heroes and Villains of the First Age