Eternal
You didn’t lie to Kane when he wanted you to join him and you aren’t going to lie to Brenda, but you are going to try to reason with her.
“Brenda, I didn’t join Kane all those years ago, because his path wasn’t mine and I’m not joining you and Edgar for the same reasons. However I would hope that we don’t end up like me and him did.”
“What you think I’m going to try to kill you? No, I doubt if I could by myself. I fear I probably haven’t kept up my combat skills as honed as you have. To be quite honest, I wasn’t sure what I was going to do, if you rejected the offer. I guess I’ll give Edgar the bad news, but I know he’s not going to take it well and he’ll definitely attack this place with his army and I doubt if you’ll be spared for old times sake.”
“Then you’re going to have to convince him not to. Look, this place is not going to bend to his will. The paranoia and the idea of freedom is stronger here than it has ever been. If you attack Rask, be prepared to suffer considerable losses as I personally will make sure of it. This is my home now. I’m not leaving and I’m not serving another empire either. Even if you win, you will not easily recover from the losses let alone be able to fight the Felkan Kingdom, in fact they will most likely take advantage of the chaos. Now you’ve been in contact with Warrick long enough to know that the Felkan Kingdom is counting on you being disorganized and weak from attacking Rask. If you want to play it smart? Attack them instead and don’t worry about Rask.”
“What’s stopping Rask from attacking us if they ally with the Felkan Kingdom?”
“They won’t trust me. The Felkan Kingdom can send all the diplomats they want, but the Raskians are ultimately not going to stick their necks out for them.”
“And you think Edgar will go for this idea?”
“You know what? He’ll go for it, because if he TRULY respects me, he’ll fucking listen to my advice which has never steered him wrong, not to mention I saved his damn life more than once. I’m telling you to tell him, that he needs to consolidate his forces, get his house in order, maybe retake a few other areas of the old Empire and THEN attack the Felkan Kingdom if absolutely needs to. Rask is just death zone, it didn’t do the Empire any good and they only held on to it for as long as they did because I was here. I say that not as a boast, but as truth. Does Edgar have anyone like me in his army? I doubt it. The hostile inhabitants here didn’t call me the Bane of Rask for nothing. A name, which I’m still called, even by those I’m helping. If he sets an army in these lands, I’ll make sure they’ll start calling me the Bane of Edgar.”
Brenda smiles a bit again at your last remark.
“You always did have a way with words. I missed that sometimes. Okay, well I guess I’ll go then, to deliver your message.”
“Brenda y’know there is another option. You could stay here, or go somewhere else. You don’t need to follow Edgar. You’re fully capable of doing something else with your life.”
“Trust me, it’s tempting. I even thought about joining Warrick when he first approached me, but it’s not for me. Warrick’s path to me is one of a traitor, even if I do understand it and your path is one of freedom…something I guess I just can’t comprehend. I still need the structure and hierarchy. I dunno, maybe I just need to be with other likeminded Eternals. None of them are Roldan, but I don’t feel as lonely.”
And there it is at last. The real reason why Brenda is following Edgar, you knew it couldn’t be because she blindly believed in his cause. You can’t imagine what is going on in her head and there will be no talking her out of her choice, but you’re glad you won’t have to fight her and hopefully her message to Edgar will get through to him as well. You bid farewell to Brenda, probably for the last time. You go to bed that night, but you don’t really sleep, you just wonder what events the coming months will hold.
Months pass and just as Warrick said, diplomats from the Felkan Kingdom visit Rask. As you thought, they get a lot of promises of an alliance and some trade deals, but that’s about it. The general consensus of the Raskians is that they won’t be committing any troops unless war comes directly to their doorsteps. Great, now you just hope that Edgar follows your advice…
Year 58
Edgar took your advice, or at least you guess he did. He never attacked Rask. Never even sent anyone, he did however send thousands across the Felkan borders a couple years ago. The war is still going on and you hear it’s even more brutal than the one with the Empire. Edgar has adapted with the times unlike the Empire and is implementing stolen technology from the Felkans. You can only imagine how Warrick is faring and while it is unfortunate, you stopped being their “leader” decades ago and their motives, goals and dreams are their own concerns not yours.
And your only concern lately is getting old. Every day you notice new pains in your joints and muscles. You’re slower than you once were and not quite as strong anymore. You wonder how your fellow Eternals feel about getting old, though perhaps due to still being engaged in warfare, maybe they don’t dwell on it as much. Brenda and Warrick will probably expect to die in battle, as for Edgar, the fool probably believes he’ll live forever.
You don’t have as many students anymore, as many of the other towns have taken to creating their own combat schools, mostly run by those you taught. Mercenary work is even harder to come by nowadays; thanks to you each town actually has competent militias that can clean out hostiles without much mercenary aid anymore. Indeed they need something to do considering Edgar never attacked Rask.
Even the ogre tribes in the far north have settled down. Last you heard, Flog “retired” at one of their primitive villages, a forced wedding to an ogre bride for killing her husband to be. Bet he wishes he’d died with his fellows at Fort Defiance now! Eldolith ended up taking her remaining men to work for the Felkan Kingdom, one of the last mercenary squads to stay in Rask.
Ulivik said his goodbyes to his family and you even before the mercenary work dried up. Said he was bored of it and wanted to see more of the world and become an “adventurer.” You think his parents were even less pleased to hear that than when he wanted to be a merc, and you’ve never quite understood the appeal of the wandering life of an adventurer either, but you wished him the best. When he left, he thanked you one more time for taking the time to teach him when nobody else would.
You were always glad he got over his resentment of you due to your harsh training. And while it is true you did initially train him for coin and swore an oath to his parents to look after him during that time, it is because of those actions that you discovered a little more about yourself and focused yourself in the direction to open up your combat school.
Of course your actions have now changed Rask to an extent that you may have very well put yourself out of a job, but you aren’t worried. You still get students from Keplavisk, so you’ll probably always have a bit of business. Even if you don’t, you’ve been doing some saving over the years.
You can only prepare yourself now, for whatever changes might come in the future.
“Brenda, I didn’t join Kane all those years ago, because his path wasn’t mine and I’m not joining you and Edgar for the same reasons. However I would hope that we don’t end up like me and him did.”
“What you think I’m going to try to kill you? No, I doubt if I could by myself. I fear I probably haven’t kept up my combat skills as honed as you have. To be quite honest, I wasn’t sure what I was going to do, if you rejected the offer. I guess I’ll give Edgar the bad news, but I know he’s not going to take it well and he’ll definitely attack this place with his army and I doubt if you’ll be spared for old times sake.”
“Then you’re going to have to convince him not to. Look, this place is not going to bend to his will. The paranoia and the idea of freedom is stronger here than it has ever been. If you attack Rask, be prepared to suffer considerable losses as I personally will make sure of it. This is my home now. I’m not leaving and I’m not serving another empire either. Even if you win, you will not easily recover from the losses let alone be able to fight the Felkan Kingdom, in fact they will most likely take advantage of the chaos. Now you’ve been in contact with Warrick long enough to know that the Felkan Kingdom is counting on you being disorganized and weak from attacking Rask. If you want to play it smart? Attack them instead and don’t worry about Rask.”
“What’s stopping Rask from attacking us if they ally with the Felkan Kingdom?”
“They won’t trust me. The Felkan Kingdom can send all the diplomats they want, but the Raskians are ultimately not going to stick their necks out for them.”
“And you think Edgar will go for this idea?”
“You know what? He’ll go for it, because if he TRULY respects me, he’ll fucking listen to my advice which has never steered him wrong, not to mention I saved his damn life more than once. I’m telling you to tell him, that he needs to consolidate his forces, get his house in order, maybe retake a few other areas of the old Empire and THEN attack the Felkan Kingdom if absolutely needs to. Rask is just death zone, it didn’t do the Empire any good and they only held on to it for as long as they did because I was here. I say that not as a boast, but as truth. Does Edgar have anyone like me in his army? I doubt it. The hostile inhabitants here didn’t call me the Bane of Rask for nothing. A name, which I’m still called, even by those I’m helping. If he sets an army in these lands, I’ll make sure they’ll start calling me the Bane of Edgar.”
Brenda smiles a bit again at your last remark.
“You always did have a way with words. I missed that sometimes. Okay, well I guess I’ll go then, to deliver your message.”
“Brenda y’know there is another option. You could stay here, or go somewhere else. You don’t need to follow Edgar. You’re fully capable of doing something else with your life.”
“Trust me, it’s tempting. I even thought about joining Warrick when he first approached me, but it’s not for me. Warrick’s path to me is one of a traitor, even if I do understand it and your path is one of freedom…something I guess I just can’t comprehend. I still need the structure and hierarchy. I dunno, maybe I just need to be with other likeminded Eternals. None of them are Roldan, but I don’t feel as lonely.”
And there it is at last. The real reason why Brenda is following Edgar, you knew it couldn’t be because she blindly believed in his cause. You can’t imagine what is going on in her head and there will be no talking her out of her choice, but you’re glad you won’t have to fight her and hopefully her message to Edgar will get through to him as well. You bid farewell to Brenda, probably for the last time. You go to bed that night, but you don’t really sleep, you just wonder what events the coming months will hold.
Months pass and just as Warrick said, diplomats from the Felkan Kingdom visit Rask. As you thought, they get a lot of promises of an alliance and some trade deals, but that’s about it. The general consensus of the Raskians is that they won’t be committing any troops unless war comes directly to their doorsteps. Great, now you just hope that Edgar follows your advice…
Year 58
Edgar took your advice, or at least you guess he did. He never attacked Rask. Never even sent anyone, he did however send thousands across the Felkan borders a couple years ago. The war is still going on and you hear it’s even more brutal than the one with the Empire. Edgar has adapted with the times unlike the Empire and is implementing stolen technology from the Felkans. You can only imagine how Warrick is faring and while it is unfortunate, you stopped being their “leader” decades ago and their motives, goals and dreams are their own concerns not yours.
And your only concern lately is getting old. Every day you notice new pains in your joints and muscles. You’re slower than you once were and not quite as strong anymore. You wonder how your fellow Eternals feel about getting old, though perhaps due to still being engaged in warfare, maybe they don’t dwell on it as much. Brenda and Warrick will probably expect to die in battle, as for Edgar, the fool probably believes he’ll live forever.
You don’t have as many students anymore, as many of the other towns have taken to creating their own combat schools, mostly run by those you taught. Mercenary work is even harder to come by nowadays; thanks to you each town actually has competent militias that can clean out hostiles without much mercenary aid anymore. Indeed they need something to do considering Edgar never attacked Rask.
Even the ogre tribes in the far north have settled down. Last you heard, Flog “retired” at one of their primitive villages, a forced wedding to an ogre bride for killing her husband to be. Bet he wishes he’d died with his fellows at Fort Defiance now! Eldolith ended up taking her remaining men to work for the Felkan Kingdom, one of the last mercenary squads to stay in Rask.
Ulivik said his goodbyes to his family and you even before the mercenary work dried up. Said he was bored of it and wanted to see more of the world and become an “adventurer.” You think his parents were even less pleased to hear that than when he wanted to be a merc, and you’ve never quite understood the appeal of the wandering life of an adventurer either, but you wished him the best. When he left, he thanked you one more time for taking the time to teach him when nobody else would.
You were always glad he got over his resentment of you due to your harsh training. And while it is true you did initially train him for coin and swore an oath to his parents to look after him during that time, it is because of those actions that you discovered a little more about yourself and focused yourself in the direction to open up your combat school.
Of course your actions have now changed Rask to an extent that you may have very well put yourself out of a job, but you aren’t worried. You still get students from Keplavisk, so you’ll probably always have a bit of business. Even if you don’t, you’ve been doing some saving over the years.
You can only prepare yourself now, for whatever changes might come in the future.