Eternal
You don’t have much else to do at this point. You might as well go to Nalin. If you decide you don’t like it there, you can always leave.
“Okay, okay, I’ll go with you. Just both of you stop going on about it!”
“You will? That’s wonderful! Hey would you…”
“Calvin, I told you to shut up already!” you snap.
Calvin shuts up and backs away. He starts telling his daughter that he has to stay here with most of the crew because there is still a lot of digging that needs to be done, but that he wants her to take you to Quintus right away. She nods and tells a few of the expedition crew to start loading up a few wagons to leave soon.
Jennifer herself on the other hand starts walking along side you and staring a lot.
“Shouldn’t you be helping load up the wagons?” you say implying that you’d like her to leave you be.
“No, they got it. Hey, so how well did you know my ancestor?” she asks ignoring or oblivious to your wishes.
“Not as well as I thought, considering he never mentioned having a family to me.”
“Oh I do not believe he had one of his own. But from what I’ve seen of my father’s family tree diagrams, Jacob had a couple of brothers that were just normal civil servants. Record keepers, that sort of thing. Obviously they had families though, otherwise my father and I wouldn’t be here. He never mentioned siblings?”
“Nope. Perhaps he wasn’t on good terms with them. I dunno. I only interacted with him on things concerning important Empire business. He was pretty immersed in his work most the time. I suppose I can say, he was a dedicated servant of the Empire.”
This remark makes Jennifer display a big grin.
“Hah, I knew it. We Mols have always been patriots to our nations!”
“Hm, well he definitely would do anything to save his nation. Unfortunately that seems to have been for naught given that it no longer exists.”
“So…um, why were you in that magic shell?” Jennifer asks changing her line of questioning.
“Why do you ask so many questions?”
“Because we could’ve never believed that we’d discover a living person from the old Empire, yet here you are! I mean we know about the Empire only from a few tattered incomplete writings or mostly oral stories. Now we’ve finally got someone who lived during those glorious times! Someone who can give us the truth about what happened. I mean the cataclysm for example. All anyone knows is it was a great disaster of a magical nature that occurred five centuries ago. Nobody really knows how or why it happened. You had to have been there for that. Do you know what happened?”
“Oh…I have an idea…” You say.
“And?!” Jennifer asks.
“And I’m not going to tell you.” You remark.
“What?!” Jennifer exclaims in total disbelief. She actually is at a loss for words, but unfortunately not for long.
“But why aren’t you going to tell me?!”
“Don’t take it personal. I’m not planning to tell anyone. It’s very apparent that you folks want something from me, which I can provide. History, information, and the truth. If I just give all that shit away, who’s to say you won’t just toss me aside and try to have me killed after you’ve milked me for all of it?”
“That…that wouldn’t happen! How could you even think we’d do such a thing?”
“How could I NOT think such a thing? Besides, I’m fairly certain you wouldn’t want the real truth anyway.”
“Of course we want the truth!”
“No, I don’t believe you do. Not really, I think you just want to hear what you want to hear. You want the truth? Here’s one for you. The Empire existed, and then it didn’t. End of history lesson.”
This cynical comment causes Jennifer to again briefly shut up which you hope will send her away, but she’s not going to be deterred so easily.
“Look, I realize you’re probably a little upset about your situation. I get that, but you don’t need to take it out on me. I’m just saying you’re living history. And more specifically you’re a very important part of my nation’s past. You could fill in so many blanks. You’re more than just some old magical weapon that we found in the dirt.”
You snort at that last statement.
“No. That’s exactly what you found, an old magical weapon that was buried in the dirt. Not even buried, but sealed away. And like most old magical weapons found sealed away and buried for centuries, sometimes the smartest thing you can do is leave them alone. I would think the dead bodies of two of your crew would be a good example of that.”
Jennifer perceives your comment as a threat, as well she should. She makes no smart comment back; she just shuts up like her father and continues walks along side of you. Glad to see these Mols have as much sense as their ancestor did.
Eventually you make it out of this dig site and into the open air. And what you see before you is severely different from what you remember.
Where you once knew a great city once stood is gone. These explorers have uncovered a few pieces of it, but by and large it’s gone. Even the surrounding area where you once knew farmland and even lush fields would’ve been is gone. Everything has been replaced by sickly undergrowth. A wasteland.
Jennifer remarks to everyone needing to keep an extra eye out for orc raiders. Jennifer looks over at you briefly again, but casts her eyes down and tries to get on with packing up the front wagon. You shake your head and walk over to Jennifer.
“Look, Jennifer is it? I apologize for my remarks earlier, but as you said all of this IS a shock to me. I’ve seen a lot during my time, but I don’t think anything could’ve prepared me for this.”
“I can only imagine. I guess overwhelming you with questions was inconsiderate of us.”
“Well I suppose your curiosity is natural, but let’s just say I’m not quite ready to discuss everything. At least not yet.”
“I understand. Your last memories of the Empire were during the cataclysm and you’re only just now seeing the results. It must’ve been a terrible time!”
“Yes, you could say that it was.”
Jennifer nods and you help her with loading the last bags on the head wagon. When you step aboard it, you’re on your way. For a while there’s silence between the pair of you as you ride through the wasteland, but you decide to be social and break the silence.
“So orcs huh? They’re a threat? I would’ve thought they’d all be extinct by now. There weren’t even many left in the Empire during my time.” you say.
“Sadly, that is no longer the case. I imagine without the Empire around, they reverted back to their chaotic natures and they bred unchecked. Now they’re all over the Qualan Badlands and elsewhere too. They probably were one of the few races to thrive during the dark ages. I’m not too worried about that happening today though now that we’ve got powerful Eternal travelling with us!”
“You shouldn’t be too overconfident of that. Under the right circumstances, anyone, no matter how powerful they appear to be can be brought down sometime by the humblest of things. Still, I see the reputation of the Eternals has still survived. So are there any in Nalin?”
“Ha ha ha ha! No, of course not! Before we found you, the last one died over four hundred years ago. First Matriarch Brenda of the Nalin Dominion. She was probably the main one responsible for keeping the fledging remnants of the Empire together during the cataclysm.”
“Glad to know someone was trying to uphold order. Good for her.”
“Did you know her well?”
‘Not excessively, but we did have dealings on a few matters, like during the taming of the lands east of Nalin for example. There was another major event too, but I’d care not to discuss that at this time.”
“Understood…well anyway that was back then. Things have changed a lot since her time, our government being just one of those things, but for all intents and purposes she sort of laid the foundations for the Nalin Republic by keeping the country safe in the first place.”
“You’re going to have to explain what the hell a republic is. Never heard of it before.” You say causing Jennifer to smile a bit.
“Well, nowadays a single leader doesn’t rule our government. It’s run by a senate, which consists of a group of politicians that are chosen by the people. They ultimately decide on the laws and such by discussing and debating them.”
You are completely baffled by this concept.
“That sounds like an inefficient way of running things. How does anything get accomplished?”
“Well, sometimes things do take time, but the citizens are a lot freer and happier by choosing their leaders.”
Now you’re really lost.
“Why the hell would people want to be free and happy? They should just be grateful for the protection and order that the government provides for their miserable lives! One strong leader to rule over them with an iron fist is only thing the citizens really need. And if they grumble too much they get executed, problem solved. Hell, it’s not like slaves cost that much if they need an extra hand in the fields.”
Jennifer chuckles at your totalitarian views.
“Yes, I imagine that it would be a bit strange to you. I’m sure it might also surprise you that we don’t have slavery anymore either; it actually became less cost effective. Still, you’ll see that it isn’t all bad. In fact you’ll probably get along with Quintus, he’s a very big admirer of old Empire history and culture. He’s the one been privately funding all these expeditions.”
Just as you’re about to ask Jennifer who this Quintus is, you hear war cries and howling in the distance. It might have been five hundred years, but you know the sounds of orcs when you hear them.
Not long after the general warning, you soon see them coming from the far left and the far right. They look every bit as big, mean and green as you remember them. No heavy armor, but the giant boar creatures they’re riding and the willingness to use bows are new.
Jennifer orders everyone to ride faster and ready their firearms. While readying the firearms is always a good idea, there is no way you’re going to outpace the orcs at the speed you’re going, the wagons are just not fast enough and are weighed down by equipment. There are also enough orcs that some of them are going reach you before they get shot off their pigs and that’s assuming everyone in this caravan is a crack shot that can hit them in the head.
Meanwhile you feel like you’re a sitting kobold on your own wagon. Part of you would rather just get on one of the horses and unhook the wagon, so you’ve got a little more maneuverability. Of course you could just start flinging magic spells at the orcs.
“Okay, okay, I’ll go with you. Just both of you stop going on about it!”
“You will? That’s wonderful! Hey would you…”
“Calvin, I told you to shut up already!” you snap.
Calvin shuts up and backs away. He starts telling his daughter that he has to stay here with most of the crew because there is still a lot of digging that needs to be done, but that he wants her to take you to Quintus right away. She nods and tells a few of the expedition crew to start loading up a few wagons to leave soon.
Jennifer herself on the other hand starts walking along side you and staring a lot.
“Shouldn’t you be helping load up the wagons?” you say implying that you’d like her to leave you be.
“No, they got it. Hey, so how well did you know my ancestor?” she asks ignoring or oblivious to your wishes.
“Not as well as I thought, considering he never mentioned having a family to me.”
“Oh I do not believe he had one of his own. But from what I’ve seen of my father’s family tree diagrams, Jacob had a couple of brothers that were just normal civil servants. Record keepers, that sort of thing. Obviously they had families though, otherwise my father and I wouldn’t be here. He never mentioned siblings?”
“Nope. Perhaps he wasn’t on good terms with them. I dunno. I only interacted with him on things concerning important Empire business. He was pretty immersed in his work most the time. I suppose I can say, he was a dedicated servant of the Empire.”
This remark makes Jennifer display a big grin.
“Hah, I knew it. We Mols have always been patriots to our nations!”
“Hm, well he definitely would do anything to save his nation. Unfortunately that seems to have been for naught given that it no longer exists.”
“So…um, why were you in that magic shell?” Jennifer asks changing her line of questioning.
“Why do you ask so many questions?”
“Because we could’ve never believed that we’d discover a living person from the old Empire, yet here you are! I mean we know about the Empire only from a few tattered incomplete writings or mostly oral stories. Now we’ve finally got someone who lived during those glorious times! Someone who can give us the truth about what happened. I mean the cataclysm for example. All anyone knows is it was a great disaster of a magical nature that occurred five centuries ago. Nobody really knows how or why it happened. You had to have been there for that. Do you know what happened?”
“Oh…I have an idea…” You say.
“And?!” Jennifer asks.
“And I’m not going to tell you.” You remark.
“What?!” Jennifer exclaims in total disbelief. She actually is at a loss for words, but unfortunately not for long.
“But why aren’t you going to tell me?!”
“Don’t take it personal. I’m not planning to tell anyone. It’s very apparent that you folks want something from me, which I can provide. History, information, and the truth. If I just give all that shit away, who’s to say you won’t just toss me aside and try to have me killed after you’ve milked me for all of it?”
“That…that wouldn’t happen! How could you even think we’d do such a thing?”
“How could I NOT think such a thing? Besides, I’m fairly certain you wouldn’t want the real truth anyway.”
“Of course we want the truth!”
“No, I don’t believe you do. Not really, I think you just want to hear what you want to hear. You want the truth? Here’s one for you. The Empire existed, and then it didn’t. End of history lesson.”
This cynical comment causes Jennifer to again briefly shut up which you hope will send her away, but she’s not going to be deterred so easily.
“Look, I realize you’re probably a little upset about your situation. I get that, but you don’t need to take it out on me. I’m just saying you’re living history. And more specifically you’re a very important part of my nation’s past. You could fill in so many blanks. You’re more than just some old magical weapon that we found in the dirt.”
You snort at that last statement.
“No. That’s exactly what you found, an old magical weapon that was buried in the dirt. Not even buried, but sealed away. And like most old magical weapons found sealed away and buried for centuries, sometimes the smartest thing you can do is leave them alone. I would think the dead bodies of two of your crew would be a good example of that.”
Jennifer perceives your comment as a threat, as well she should. She makes no smart comment back; she just shuts up like her father and continues walks along side of you. Glad to see these Mols have as much sense as their ancestor did.
Eventually you make it out of this dig site and into the open air. And what you see before you is severely different from what you remember.
Where you once knew a great city once stood is gone. These explorers have uncovered a few pieces of it, but by and large it’s gone. Even the surrounding area where you once knew farmland and even lush fields would’ve been is gone. Everything has been replaced by sickly undergrowth. A wasteland.
Jennifer remarks to everyone needing to keep an extra eye out for orc raiders. Jennifer looks over at you briefly again, but casts her eyes down and tries to get on with packing up the front wagon. You shake your head and walk over to Jennifer.
“Look, Jennifer is it? I apologize for my remarks earlier, but as you said all of this IS a shock to me. I’ve seen a lot during my time, but I don’t think anything could’ve prepared me for this.”
“I can only imagine. I guess overwhelming you with questions was inconsiderate of us.”
“Well I suppose your curiosity is natural, but let’s just say I’m not quite ready to discuss everything. At least not yet.”
“I understand. Your last memories of the Empire were during the cataclysm and you’re only just now seeing the results. It must’ve been a terrible time!”
“Yes, you could say that it was.”
Jennifer nods and you help her with loading the last bags on the head wagon. When you step aboard it, you’re on your way. For a while there’s silence between the pair of you as you ride through the wasteland, but you decide to be social and break the silence.
“So orcs huh? They’re a threat? I would’ve thought they’d all be extinct by now. There weren’t even many left in the Empire during my time.” you say.
“Sadly, that is no longer the case. I imagine without the Empire around, they reverted back to their chaotic natures and they bred unchecked. Now they’re all over the Qualan Badlands and elsewhere too. They probably were one of the few races to thrive during the dark ages. I’m not too worried about that happening today though now that we’ve got powerful Eternal travelling with us!”
“You shouldn’t be too overconfident of that. Under the right circumstances, anyone, no matter how powerful they appear to be can be brought down sometime by the humblest of things. Still, I see the reputation of the Eternals has still survived. So are there any in Nalin?”
“Ha ha ha ha! No, of course not! Before we found you, the last one died over four hundred years ago. First Matriarch Brenda of the Nalin Dominion. She was probably the main one responsible for keeping the fledging remnants of the Empire together during the cataclysm.”
“Glad to know someone was trying to uphold order. Good for her.”
“Did you know her well?”
‘Not excessively, but we did have dealings on a few matters, like during the taming of the lands east of Nalin for example. There was another major event too, but I’d care not to discuss that at this time.”
“Understood…well anyway that was back then. Things have changed a lot since her time, our government being just one of those things, but for all intents and purposes she sort of laid the foundations for the Nalin Republic by keeping the country safe in the first place.”
“You’re going to have to explain what the hell a republic is. Never heard of it before.” You say causing Jennifer to smile a bit.
“Well, nowadays a single leader doesn’t rule our government. It’s run by a senate, which consists of a group of politicians that are chosen by the people. They ultimately decide on the laws and such by discussing and debating them.”
You are completely baffled by this concept.
“That sounds like an inefficient way of running things. How does anything get accomplished?”
“Well, sometimes things do take time, but the citizens are a lot freer and happier by choosing their leaders.”
Now you’re really lost.
“Why the hell would people want to be free and happy? They should just be grateful for the protection and order that the government provides for their miserable lives! One strong leader to rule over them with an iron fist is only thing the citizens really need. And if they grumble too much they get executed, problem solved. Hell, it’s not like slaves cost that much if they need an extra hand in the fields.”
Jennifer chuckles at your totalitarian views.
“Yes, I imagine that it would be a bit strange to you. I’m sure it might also surprise you that we don’t have slavery anymore either; it actually became less cost effective. Still, you’ll see that it isn’t all bad. In fact you’ll probably get along with Quintus, he’s a very big admirer of old Empire history and culture. He’s the one been privately funding all these expeditions.”
Just as you’re about to ask Jennifer who this Quintus is, you hear war cries and howling in the distance. It might have been five hundred years, but you know the sounds of orcs when you hear them.
Not long after the general warning, you soon see them coming from the far left and the far right. They look every bit as big, mean and green as you remember them. No heavy armor, but the giant boar creatures they’re riding and the willingness to use bows are new.
Jennifer orders everyone to ride faster and ready their firearms. While readying the firearms is always a good idea, there is no way you’re going to outpace the orcs at the speed you’re going, the wagons are just not fast enough and are weighed down by equipment. There are also enough orcs that some of them are going reach you before they get shot off their pigs and that’s assuming everyone in this caravan is a crack shot that can hit them in the head.
Meanwhile you feel like you’re a sitting kobold on your own wagon. Part of you would rather just get on one of the horses and unhook the wagon, so you’ve got a little more maneuverability. Of course you could just start flinging magic spells at the orcs.