“A village of your own,” I said, holding up the Great Picture. “It turns out that, as a champion, I am free to create new villages as I please. And, I’d even be able to appoint vassals to run my village. Like a kingship of sorts, the only limitation is you’d be beholden to me. And if I were to agree to allow you total and complete autonomy, you would essentially be a king.”
Tanders whistled at that. “You’re promising me a lot, but I can’t help but notice this reward only comes after I do as you wish.”
“Insurance for your loyalty,” I said. “And besides, what good would a village do if we’re still worried about the Tradesmen’s wrath? You ally with me in secret, and we take them down a peg. We don’t have to destroy them, but we can certainly remove their vice grip on Liora.”
Tanders stroked his mustache for a few minutes, pondering the details. “How can I be sure there is no trickery here?”
“There must be ways to bind oaths in this world, is there not?” I asked.
“The Temple of Ascoz provides such services,” Tanders said. “But a mark of Ascoz is a big leap. I’m not sure I’d be willing to take such a brand upon myself. For violating the oath would bring about ruin to your health.”
“What gives you hesitation?” I asked.
“Other than the fact that you tried to have me removed from power?” he asked. “The mere fact that if the Guild discovers my dealings, I’m a dead man.”
“Is this really what you want for your life to be?” I asked. “A man part of an organization that could kill him if they wished and nobody would bat an eye? For your death to be justifiable, simply because your loyalties have shifted?”
“It’s part of the risks of being in the Tradesmen,” Tanders said with a sigh. “But it does get tiresome.”
“I was able to convince one of your subordinates to go to war against you, right?” I said. “Is that the kind of organization you want to be a part of for the rest of your life? One where you’re constantly looking over your shoulder?”
“And you promise to be better about that? Hah, you know nothing about power,” Tanders scoffed.
“I know far more than you think,” I replied. “Listen, the only reason I’m floating this opportunity out to you is because I see a road to victory, one that would grant us both exactly what we’re looking for. Yes, we have had a fierce conflict in the past, and sure, if things were going a little worse for me, I know you’d have my head on a stick. But I’m willing to look past all of that, if you are.”
Tanders wrinkled his face and leaned back in his chair. “Complete autonomy?”
“Complete,” I said. “The village may be built under my name, but as far as I’m concerned, it’s yours to deal with as you please. Of course, there are limitations without being a champion, but I’m sure you’ll do fine.”
Tanders leaned forward and looked at me. “I will agree to this deal on one condition. You build this village for me first. You grow it to at least level 5. That way, when I am crowned, I will own a productive and prosperous land already. And I want whatever wealth this village collects as my own.”
“I’ll pay you half until you assume your authority,” I said. “And level 5 it is.” I was not worried about such an agreement. After all, it would take us at least a few years to upend the Tradesmen for good. I had plenty of time to build a new village.
“Very well,” Tanders said. “Then we must take three oaths of Ascoz. The first will be of silence, so that we cannot physically speak of our allegiance or dealings with any others. Our hands will seize up when writing letters of our alliance and our whispers will turn to fits of coughing.”
“And the others?” I asked. Champions could simply make deals within the Great Picture, to avoid the danger of treachery, but we did not have the same luxury. Only divine seals would satisfy Tanders’ fears. In truth, it would also soothe my own worries of betrayal.
“The second will be of our allegiance, that we pledge to aid one another and do no harm. And the third and final will be that you shall give me the city, named after my great grand-father, Yumber, in his honor.”
All of these oaths were amenable. They would remove the dangers of Tanders turning on me, and ensure that we would always be on each other’s side. There were many reasons for the man to despise me, but the opportunity to truly own and control his own land, his own village full of people who pledged to serve him was too great. The Tradesmen gave him a spacious office and a bountiful paycheck. I would give this man a kingdom. And in return? I would have everything I would need to erode my biggest source of competition.
Chapter 37
I stood alone, inside the newly built Temple of Ascoz. The cost of construction had only been a mere 50 gold pieces and, once constructed, a Priest arrived seemingly out of nowhere to tend to the building. My right arm was still burning from the pain of the brand that had been pressed against it three times. Each brand contained a different symbol, for a different oath, bound with magic to seal the agreement with Tanders. Such a ritual was expensive to perform, but Tanders was more than kind enough to foot the bill, as he needed my silence more than I needed his.
All in all, the village of Tine was safe from the Igithor chapter. Tanders, with a newfound sense of respect for me and a determination to ensure his investment would come to life, would report that I was finally on their side. The sanction would be lifted and, in return, I would be required to open the gates and allow merchants to pass through, unhindered. We would play by the rules for now, until it was the right time to strike.
Tanders’ main task was to prepare for me a profile of each chapter leader across Liora. These would be detailed files that would give me everything I needed to know about their strengths, weaknesses and how best to pull them into my new guild. The most common factor that each leader shared, Tanders had explained, was they were all purely interested in how much they personally profited from their work. There was no unifying mission statement of the Tradesmen, other than ‘it’s the only option you have.’ This meant that most of them would be easy to persuade, once I had the right materials to do so.
But that wouldn’t be for a while. The grand scheme would take a lot more power than I had right now, so in the meantime, I would continue to instead focus my energies and efforts on building up Tine. While I had been away for so long, things were more or less in a state of stasis. The only thing that had really changed was the level of the village, reaching level 3, thanks to the construction of the wall. There were no new traits to unlock with the third level, but that was fine for now. The overall prosperity of the city had increased, as well as the size of the maximum population. My borders were now overlapping a big enough portion of the forest to where we could expand.
I walked out of the temple and into the village, to see the townspeople conducting themselves. They waved to me as I passed. A few of them even stopped to bow as a sign of respect. The new housing developments were looking good. The tall wooden buildings were designed to have multiple floors, so the elders could live together, like a retirement community. Many an elder had invited me into their homes to show me around and tell me of their excitement. They were proud of what had been built and, more importantly, they were proud of the hand they had taken into designing these better homes. Some of them had even paid out of their own pocket to build the housing, a sign of ultimate respect.
The Satisfaction level in the village was high, almost as high as the Happiness. The beer flowing to the taverns, combined with the safety of the wall and the bounty of food that we had meant no villager was unhappy. They had simple desires and needs, and we had come a long way from where I had first found Tine. They were safe, healthy and happy.
But as I walked through the village, all I could see was how much more I could build it up. There would someday be a castle, where I would reside. There would be windmills to crush our grain, pig farms to raise livestock. We would grow into a proper village, like Euthos and Authos, one that held respect from all nearb
y. Now that we didn’t have to worry about the Tradesmen showing up to take what belonged to us, we were free to own our destiny. There was a lot of work cut out for me, but then again, work was what I loved. And this job was so different from back home.
Back home, I had spent my life working to build a business. I provided many jobs to the people and worked hard to sell my products and ideas to the rest of the world. Here in Liora, I was not responsible for shareholders; I was not responsible for coming up with a new product or saving millions of dollars. I was responsible for the lives of these villagers. And in so many ways, that drove me to push harder than ever before. When I failed in my old job, we’d lose some money, the boat would rock a bit and shareholders would grumble. But here? If I failed, people would be seriously hurt. They could even die. This was no game, that much I knew. But in spite of such pressure, I had never felt as alive as I had in these past few months.
I had been scrambling since I got here, all for the purpose of staying alive and then protecting the village. Now that they were safe and secure from the threats of the outside world, it was time to focus on giving them more than mere safety. I wanted them to have prosperity, the kind that would elevate Tine in every way. There was no culture, no arts, no music in this land, but those things would only come after safety had been found. As I watched the town bustle, all I could think about was what kind of village we would become. If I gave it my all, could I bring about a Renaissance Era for these people? The possibilities were endless.
I took a deep breath as I grabbed the Great Picture in my hands. Each time I went to open it, my heart would race a little, in excitement of what I was about to unfold. This time was no different. I opened the book and prepared to bring about a new age for Tine, an age of unrivaled prosperity.
Epilogue
There came a knock on my door in the middle of the night. A solitary knock loud enough to awaken me.
“Who’s there?” I asked, but there was no answer. I lay in bed for a moment longer, one eye open, wondering if perhaps a tree branch had hit my window. As I drifted off to sleep once more, there came yet another solitary knock.
“Who is there?” I repeated, getting out of bed this time. I opened the door slightly to find it was none other than the Priest of Ascoz standing in front of me. He was a strange man who spoke very little and wore thick goggles upon his face. The goggles were not lenses, however, but mirrors that reflected my own image back to me. They were similar to the mirror sunglasses that police officers from my own world would wear, with only one exception: you couldn’t see through these goggles.
The Priest was grinning like some lunatic. I had no reason to post guards on my own home yet, but this visit might convince me otherwise.
“Can I help you?” I asked, watching my own reflection shift as he slightly moved his head to examine me.
“I know a secret…” he whispered, snickering a little. “A very important secret.”
“Come in then,” I said, opening the door to my room. He pushed past me and entered my room, looking around for a moment. The only secret he could possibly know was the one I made an oath about, but as a Priest of Ascoz, he was bound to secrecy. Or was he? I had merely assumed so. Well, this wouldn’t be the first time I bribed a Priest.
“You aren’t really a champion,” he said, bending down to examine my boots that were by the door. “Quite the salacious piece of gossip.”
“That’s not really a secret around here,” I said. “You missed the whole part when the village wanted to lynch me.”
The snooping Priest snickered a bit at that. “That’s not the secret I know.”
I frowned. “Then what?”
“Can I have these?” the Priest asked, taking one of my boots and holding it up. “They are my size and vows of poverty make buying footwear quite difficult.”
“Sure,” I said, slowly walking over to the bed and sitting down. “But I would prefer if you stopped playing games with me. It’s quite late and I’m so very tired.”
“Tired from all the work, yes, yes,” he said, chuckling as he kicked off his thin sandals and placed his feet in the boots. “Now this is comfort. Since you helped me, I will tell you the secret. The gods are waiting for you.”
“What do you mean?”
The Priest smiled wide. “There are rules to the games that they play. They create a village, and elect a champion, pulling you from your home world, to see which outsiders are most adept at what they do. It’s a mark of pride, for these deities, to see their own raise great cities and prove that they are the best. For if a champion proves to be worthy, they show that the god is worthy too.”
“So it’s a competition?”
“Oh yes, and great fun for these gods and goddesses. Some take it quite seriously, and others do it merely as a matter of formality,” the Priest continued as he rooted around through my dresser, taking any non-clothing item he could find and placing it in his pockets. “But sometimes a Stray such as yourself shows up.”
“A stray? Is that what I’m called?”
He chuckled again, turning to hold up a jar full of jerky that I had and rattling it towards me, as if asking for permission to take it. I nodded at him, curious to find out more. “So what happens to strays?”
“They usually freak out and want to go home. Without the binding powers of the gods, it’s a simple matter of a teleportation spell. Most go back and, in the process, forget all they have learned. A bad dream for them to wake up from,” the Priest said. “Few stay. Those who do often struggle to make their way in this world.”
“I see.”
“But you are doing well! You have earned the village’s love, you have the Great Picture and best of all, you have done so without any great blessings!” he said, leaning against the dresser and unscrewing the jar to eat the jerky. “And so, the goddess who brought you here has no claim to you. She abandoned you and you took over a village that had no champion. By all rights, you deserve the same gifts as your kin have.”
“But won’t the gods be angry at me? For taking a village for my own?”
“Why would you be angry at a potential adoptive child?” he asked in between bites. “Yes, you walked into their house and started eating their food, but you also tidied up the place and fixed it up. Now, any reasonable god would love to have you as their adopted champion.”
I felt a surge of relief wash over me at the realization that I would not be facing some kind of divine wrath in the future. The goddess who had dropped me here would not come back with howling rage and an intention to kill me.
“So how does it all work then?” I asked. “How can I gain their favor?”
The Priest laughed and pointed to the Great Picture that was sitting on the table. “All you need to do is build the right shrine and pledge to serve one. You will be happily accepted into their family.”
“That’s all it takes?” I asked, shaking my head. “Seems easy enough.”
“Oh, absolutely not!” the Priest said, leaning forward close enough to where I could see my own eyes peering back at me. “Walking down this road will open up tremendous challenges, my friend. But the rewards? Oh, they will be so much more than you could possibly imagine. So, what do you say? Do you want to become a real champion?”
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