386 days until the Arkon Shield falls

The last part of the wall to be finished turned out to be on the east side.

A small crowd was already assembled before the open section of palisade. At their fore was the commander and her direct subordinates, Soren, Albert, Melissa, Petrov, and Beth. Only Tara was missing. Is she still out on the southern plains? I wondered.

When Marcus and I arrived, Soren’s workers already had the final pieces in hand and were only waiting for our arrival to close the gap in the wall.

“Jamie, Marcus, come here please,” Jolin said when she caught sight of us.

Marcus and I moved to join her.

“Gentlemen, you may proceed,” the commander said to the squad of builders.

“Jamie, great work with the nails,” said Soren, stepping up to my side as the workers began to shift the final logs into place. “They worked better than we hoped, and as you can see we’ve finished earlier than expected!”

I bobbed my head in acknowledgement, then turned to the commander. “Is Tara still out, ma’am?”

“Yes,” Jolin replied. “But don’t worry, I’ve received word the ogres turned back. She will return before nightfall.”

“That’s good,” I said, expelling a relieved breath.

The commander threw me an amused glance. “I’ve heard you have been making plans to leave tomorrow, and with a team too.”

“I was going to tell you. With the settlement established, the quicker I set out, the better. Do you mind if I ask some of your people to go with me?”

“Anyone who wishes to accompany you is welcome to do so,” Jolin said, waving aside my concern. “I’ve already given orders to that effect. In which direction were you thinking of heading?”

“East, probably. Towards the dungeon in the forest. I don’t think we are in a position to attempt the dungeon just yet, but I still want to scout it out for myself.”

“Ah,” Jolin said. “In that case you will probably be happy to hear that the scouts have come back from the foothills with an interesting report. Marcus, if you will?”

“We’ve found another dungeon,” Marcus said with a grin. “Less than a day’s journey east from the spider warren. This one is marked by an obelisk covered in green runes.”

“Well,” I breathed. “That is good news.”

The commander raised an eyebrow. “I am guessing from both your reactions that the green runes signify something good?”

She frowned.

I raised my hands to forestall her objections. “We still aren’t strong enough to attempt the dungeon, but once we can get a team of players above level fifty, we stand a decent chance of beating it.”

But even as I said that to the commander, my thoughts spun while I tried to figure how to attempt the dungeon even earlier. I would have to see the dungeon for myself first, though. Until I knew what creatures inhabited it, I couldn’t be certain of the challenge we’d face inside.

The commander was still frowning. She opened her mouth to ask a question, then closed it with a sigh. “I will leave such matters to you and Marcus. Now,” she said, turning back to the wall, “it looks like the builders are just about done.”

Location seventy-eight has been established as a: village. You are within its borders and required to follow the rules and regulations of its new owner.

Settlement name: Location seventy-eight. Type: Village, rank 1. Leader: Jolin Silbright. Owning faction: none.

Human Dominion default policies are in effect. Location seventy-eight is allied: with humanity’s Patron, the Orcish Federation, and neutral: towards all other factions.

Dragon temple upgraded to: rank 1. New facilities available for use: global messaging system.

Location seventy-eight has claimed the lair: Brown Spider Warren. For being claimed within the first 14 days of the Human Dominion’s creation, the boundaries of location seventy-eight have expanded to include all territory between: the village and lair.

You own: a tent in location seventy-eight and have been designated a: vagrant. Apply to the village leader for full residency. Residents must comply with all settlement regulations to maintain their status. Current regulations: none.

Warning: Under the existing village charter, the villager leader Jolin Silbright has sole discretion in the approval of all residency applications.

Warning: Your status as a: vagrant will be revoked if you spend more than one consecutive night away from the village.

Warning: Changing or losing your home settlement may result in dire consequences. Choose your affiliations wisely!

As a founding member of only the fifth human settlement in Overworld, you have earned the Trait: Pioneer.

Trait: Pioneer. Rank: 1, common. Your Attributes are boosted by 5% when in the wilds or unclaimed territory.

“Wow,” I breathed after I had read the messages. The last one especially claimed my attention. I had known from the Trials’ feedback when we claimed the warren that there were other teams of humans out there, fighting the same fight we were.

But to find out we were not the first, but the fifth human village in Overworld—that was encouraging. “We are not alone,” I said softly. There were others in the Human Dominion battling for humanity’s survival.

I will find them, I vowed.

I looked at the others around me. They were all staring sightlessly, still caught up in their own Trials messages. The commander was the first of them to recover. Pulling out a flat, disc-shaped medallion from beneath her clothes, she studied it thoughtfully.

“What is that?” I asked.

She glanced at me. “It’s a settlement core—the control device for this location. We found it outside the temple on our first day here. Now, let’s see what I can do with it.” Narrowing her eyes in concentration, she focused on the medallion.

A moment later, more alerts flashed through my vision.

Location seventy-eight has been renamed to: Sierra.

A new faction has been born: The Forerunners.

Ownership of Sierra has passed to: The Forerunners.

The Forerunners have granted you: Ally status.

The Forerunners have repudiated their Patron! The Orcish Federation is barred from all territory owned by the Forerunners. This resolution will be enforced by the Trials until the Arkon Shield falls.

The messages were like a punch to the gut. “You named the village, Sierra,” I whispered. My hands were trembling. “How did you know?”

It was Mum’s name.

The commander’s face was grave as she met my eyes. “I make it a point to know all my people,” she said. “And it was the least we could do to honour your sacrifices.”

I nodded. Tears streamed down my face unheeded. “Thank you,” I managed before I choked up altogether. In no fit state for further speech, and feeling far too brittle to face the others at the moment, I fled.

✽✽✽

Getting back to my tent took much longer than I’d expected. The entire settlement—I suppose I should call it a village now—seemed to have received a similar slew of messages. Most of the inhabitants had received the Pioneer Trait as well. In fact, the only ones who didn’t get the Trait were the day-zero fishes.

All around the village, players congregated together, shouting, hollering, and cheering the village’s establishment.

It is almost as if Earth has not been destroyed today, I thought.

But that wasn’t fair. In spite of Earth’s demise, or perhaps because of it, people needed something to celebrate, something to provide them hope.

And Sierra was that hope.

I swallowed painfully. The commander’s gesture had caught me off guard and memories I still wished to keep buried had resurged. I couldn’t blame her. She had meant well. But every time I heard one of the villagers toast the village’s new name, it felt like a fresh stab in the heart.

It’s a good thing I am leaving tomorrow, I thought.

Brushing through the last of the throng celebrating in the camp, I ducked into my tent, relieved to finally have escaped the crowds.

Inside, I found Tara waiting.