Estaria hated losing, but if she was going to lose, she’d prefer a loss she got to walk away from, and not outright dying or nearly dying. Both incidents something that Zarh could claim responsibility for. This loss, at least, let her return to Middenheim, and see Filnon, who had woken since her absence and was playing with a large hammer. Beautifully made, and looking like it was designed for her alone, the thing really enticed Estaria for an unknown reason, and so she approached her to talk about it.

“Where did you find the hammer?” Estaria asked, bounding up to her wife and encompassing her in a hug.

“Hey love~ I found it clutched in the hands of a dead Chaos guy. It was lighting up my Minimap something fierce, and so I went over to see what this beacon was, and found a dead guy with a Hammer. It’s rarity colour is Black. I’ve never seen one of them before, the workshop only goes up to Red, which makes me wonder what the hell I’ve just picked up” Filnon explained, looking over the happen and flipping it around in her hand.

Estaria looked over it herself, and then memory bloomed and she took a step back in surprise, before getting super close with an excited grin.

“That’s Blitzbeil! It’s an heirloom from the ancient days of the Empire, gifted to the first Ar-Ulric by Ulric himself” Estaria exclaimed, visibly drooling over such a glorious weapon.

“You think..because I am the Bloodkin Of Ulric, this Hammer is special in my hands?” Filnon asked, somewhat apprehensively. She was never a Hammers sort of girl, but if this was a God-given relic like the Sword of Khaine, then that made it dangerous beyond measure.

“It could be. I mean, Black is a rarity that can’t be bought or earned. Maybe everyone has their unique weapon that ties in with their God?” Estaria pondered, but that was for later. Right now, she needed to hook her city back up and get it running before any retaliation came.

Filnon also decided it was something for later, and put the Hammer in her inventory, and then sneaking up behind Estaria and whispering in her ear.

“New system thing, I see. Territory Mode, huh? That where you were this morning?” Filnon asked. Estaria’s cheeks flushed and she furiously looked at the screen in front of her.”Our little Estaria saw the Siege mode and thought ‘yea, I’ll be able to do that’ and rushed off to go attack a castle by herself” Filnon continued to tease, and Estaria eventually became so embarrassed she couldn’t focus and just turned around and picked Filnon up.

“Nope! Back to bed with you! Sleepy Filnon!” Estaria shouted, echoed by Filnon’s laughter. Marching off to the mostly intact building they had spent the night in, Estaria dumped Filnon on the bed and tightly tucked the quilt around her. “Lots of sleep needs doing!” Estaria then rummaged in the shop for some leather straps to tie her down.

“If it makes you feel any better, it was something I was planning to do as well. But I saw you were there and thought you could handle it. And when you were coming back with it less than handled, I came to realize the scale of what we were up against” Filnon pacified Estaria, who stopped her frantically embarrassed actions and just looked abashed. Escaping from her bed-based bindings, Filnon kissed Estaria, and then gestured to the city.

“We are going to go about this properly. Which means..”

Filnon Nightfury has donated 400,000 gold to the treasury

Filnon Nightfury has been assigned to Architecture. Build times reduced

“I count as a Hero unit in your city, so I get to do cool stuff to help you out. There are a few unique buildings I can make but most of the building comes from the owner, which is you” Filnon had clearly been looking over this system while Estaria was on her ill-fated siege. “Though, I have been curious. A lot of literature is damaged in the temple, but...I feel I should know more about the God I am representing if I am going to, represent him” Filnon looked to Estaria, who had come out of her embarrassment and gave a smile. She was not the most religious, but the stories and legends fascinated her, and so she knew most of them. So, Estaria took Filnon outside, and began to tell the tale.

“It is said that Ulric once walked the land, a Living God for his tribe. The most savage warriors in the ancient world, they cut a bloody swath looking for a homeland. And eventually, came across a giant mountain, which Ulric squashed flat with his fist. When the tribe reached this place and saw a great flame burning, they named it Faustschlag, which is really creatively, Fist-Strike. Here they swore to build the greatest of temples in honour of Ulric” At this point, she paused and nodded to the Temple of Ulric.

“And how real is this tale?” Filnon asked, looking at the mountain and the temple. Seeing such a grand edifice made it easy to believe that a God had flattened the mountain for it to be built.

“Irrelevant. It doesn’t matter if Ulric really did walk the earth and flatten mountains. You tell a man that Ulric is watching him, judging him, awaiting him in the Afterlife. That He expects strength, honour, ruthlessness towards one’s enemies, self-reliance and courage from his followers and is angered by dishonourable displays of weakness and cowardice. And that man will fight furiously for his God. I saw it myself, with Middenhiem swordsmen facing down a horde of Norscans with no trace of fear, just savage anticipation for the fight to come. Whether or not Ulric exists is not the point, it is his impact on people’s lives that matter” Estaria gave her views on religion, to which Filnon looked somewhat surprised at.

“So what does Khaine do? I can’t see how a guy that demands you sacrifice your own race to him is helpful to the race” Filnon asked. After killing the Witch-King and seeing everything unravel before her, and then becoming the Bloodkin of Ulric, Filnon was in a crisis of faith.

“He’s your excuse. With him, you are honouring your God and being diligent servants. Without him, you are just butchering people for your own pleasure. Khaine allows you to kill without repercussion, because everyone worships Khaine, and if you cry foul for any sacrifice, then you are a heretic, and the next one to be sacrificed. Does he exist? Does he want sacrifices? It’s not an answer you are going to get from Him, because Divinity and Mortality are like the Earth and Sky. Wherever this game system has come from, it doesn’t put me in contact with the God I am the daughter of” Estaria finished, looking up into the sky after delivering some heavy theological concepts that would get her burned at the stake if anyone but Filnon heard them.

“An interesting view of Gods. Admittedly, having never met them or seen them, it is easy to think them creations to motivate and inspire, or to excuse action” Filnon pondered, before shaking her head.

“This is all too heavy for me. Going to go kill something with my new hammer-axe. And don’t worry, I’ll take care of myself” Filnon gave Estaria one last kiss and then headed out to go kill something. It was a great way to clear one’s head of things, after all.