Azrael sat inside Cairn’s house, looking at the two dwarves sitting opposite him. Cairn, Bartlos and Hugh were also in the building, further cramping the already limited space. All of the men in the room were silent as he observed the two in front of him.

Short and stocky both of dwarves were what he imagined. Both were shorter than everyone else in the building, but corded with muscle. Even their large beards, one red, one brown, fitted the stereotype.

One of them, the one with the red beard, seemed to be a bit younger, having fewer creases around his eyes and standing shorter than his compatriot.

Not wanting do draw this out much longer, Azrael used [Soul Sense] to confirm that they weren’t players, before using [Lord’s Insight] on the one with the red beard.

Name: Darj

Class: Smith (Lv.4), Brewer (Lv.4)

He checked the second dwarf.

Name: Durkov

Class: Smith (Lv.4), Stonemason (Lv.3), Miner (Lv.2).

Like Bartlos neither of them had the [Villager] class, instead holding ones he’d never seen before. It really seemed that there was a class for every occupation.

It was Cairn who broke him out of his musings.

“My Lord?”

“H...Mmm?”

“Your answer?”

“Sorry, could you repeat the question?”

“May we accept them into our village?”

“Wait, that’s it? That’s what you called me for?”

“…Yes?”

Azrael turned to Cairn with an unreadable expression. Placing one hand on his shoulder he began speaking to the man in a solemn tone “Cairn, by my power, from this day forth, I grant you the power to act on my behalf, as the leader of this village and all matter pertaining to it and its people.”

Cairn’s eyes bulged “Is that a yes?”

Azrael shrugged, expression returning to his face. “You decide, you’re the village chief.” With that he left the building.

Seriously though? What did those guys want from him anyways? Calling him just to ask if two people could live here? He’d already agreed to letting them stay here, couldn’t they solve their own problems? He only needed them to level up his [Lord] class. Did they expect him to do everything for them? It was better to pass the mundane problems on to someone else. Wasn’t that what nobles did, delegate? He didn’t have to do everything and they couldn’t expect him to either.

Congratulations!

For appointing your first subordinate you have gained a level in ‘Lord’

WIS+3, END+2, STR+2.

He smiled. At least the system seemed to agree with him.

Walking out, towards the main square, he found many of the villagers still crowded around the… status cube? It technically wasn’t a cube anymore. Status plate? Status stone? The status stone. He saw them all excitedly crowding around the status stone.

Not wanting to disturb them he slipped into [Stealth] and went over to browse Bartlos’ wares. They were packaged in boxes, baskets and just generally tied onto Bartlos’ two pack horses wherever there was space.

Azrael imagined that it was nightmare to remember where any of the stuff was. Seeing a metal pan he approached it and reached out to inspect it. Just as he was about to touch it Bartlos appeared beside him.

“Interested in any wares, honourable lord?”

Azrael glanced towards the rest of the villagers and then smiled at Bartlos, noticing the stressed word. How had the man gotten here so quickly? Wasn’t he just inside? And how had he seen through his [Stealth]? Probably an anti-thieving skill. It would make sense.

“Just browsing.”

“Of course, of course.”

“…”

“A fine pan, excellent for cooking.”

“…”

“I have pots too made from the finest… No, too simple for a great man such as yourself. Perhaps some spices might interest you. I have dried Filmur herb from the plains, ground Ranash root from the southern forests, salt from the northern seas…”

“Salt?”

“A keen eye, my lord, a keen eye. I knew you were a fine man. This is the finest salt from the Northern Seas, harvested by yours truly. I had to fight off a great many Tidal Crabs to gain access to…”

“What do you want for it?”

“Ah, for you my lord, only two gold. After all Cairn and I have been friends for many years.”

Bartlos seemed to look at Azrael with an innocent curiosity, perhaps wondering where Azrael kept his money bag.

“Ah… Um…”

“Ah, I see, worry not my lord. I understand that you would have spent a great deal of wealth to acquire the iron tools for the villagers. Cairn has already told me much of your benevolence and magnanimity.”

“…Sure…”

“Seeing as we are… friends, I propose a trade… say… for example… if you had any other artifacts you wish to get rid of?”

Azrael almost laughed at Bartlos’ acting. While his words and actions were innocent, his eyes held unbridled curiosity and ambition. Calling Alena over he got her to pull out her hand torch. Since he had given it to her, she carried it everywhere with her.

He showed it to Bartlos, switching it on.

“How much could you sell for one of these?”

Bartlos reached out to take it reverently, but Azrael pulled back. He gave it back to Alena. Through his soul link he could feel her worry that he was going to give it away. Bartlos’ eyes followed the torch until it vanished into Alena’s possession.

“An artifact such as that? At least five, maybe ten gold coins?” He twirled his moustache thoughtfully. Azrael could already see him weighing all possible scenarios. “I could trade it to you for seven, maybe eight.”

Azrael threw in his final card. “I can give you five by tonight.”

Bartlos gulped. “F-five, such working artifacts?”

Azrael nodded. “By tonight.”

Azrael could practically see the merchant’s mind whir to a stop, before starting up again.

“F-five… t-t-tonight… artifacts… I mean, Yes! Deal. My good Lord! My most fantastic Deal!” He grabbed both of Azrael’s hands in his and began to shake them, not noticing that he was switching words in his excitment. “Oh, you won’t regret this. You will not regret this.”

Azrael just stood there. Stunned. From the way Bartlos was acting you’d think Azrael had just told him that he had won a million dollar cash prize.

“Are artifacts that… rare?

“Rare? RARE?!?! They’re bloody well extinct! You won’t find any working artifact this side of the eastern Opening. The Elves in the east might be hoarding some and I’m pretty sure the dwarves in the south have one or two, but those are either owned by wealthy individuals, or whoever’s in charge. I’ve heard of a few rumors about Chosen that have either found, or made an artifact, but I have yet to see one of those. As for the rest of us normal humans, ha ha, we just have to make do. Any working artifact is a blessing and five? That’s nothing short of a miracle.”

“Opening?” Azrael asked, caught on the unfamiliar term.

Bartlos looked at him “you Chosen are bloody clueless, aren’tcha?”

Azrael noted that the more excited Bartlos got the more his façade of a businessman and merchant slipped. He seemed more of an adventurer that picked up the [Merchant] class along the way, than a [Merchant] who gained a combat class.

“Listen here. Three hundred or so years ago, maybe more, was the Ending.”

“The Ending?”

“Shush, listen. There was a great war between two empires. At that time each of these empires ruled around half of then charted world. One day the news came that one of the empires had something, something so dangerous and so terrifying that the Gods themselves would tremble in fear. Out of fear, the other empire summoned their greatest mages and launched their greatest weapon as a pre-emptive strike. What came next was the Ending. For a day and a night the whole world trembled and the skies were bleached white. All magics failed during that time. It was chaos. Dragons fled the skies, serpents and leviathans to the deepest parts of the oceans and the spirits retreated to the other realms. Even the Gods went silent. Then, after that day and a night, the other empire was no more. All that remained was the Rings, circular mountain chains that radiated out from the center of what once the capital of the other empire. Something terrible, something powerful had happened there and for a long time no-one dared venture into the Rings. Then almost a hundred years later a great convoy of all races left on an expedition. It was the largest ever seen. Humans, dwarves, beastkin, elves and even vampires and other such creatures congregated to explore the unknown.”

Bartlos fingered a blue bead on his a necklace before continuing.

“Under a great coalition they all entered a truce and set out. But nobody expected what they found. The effect of the Ending was deadly. Whatever that weapon was it hadn’t just changed the outcome of the war, but on the world. All the maps were better off used to start a fire, as the terrain had been completely rewritten. Seas had been dried to deserts; mountains flattened to savannas. Nothing remained of what was once there. Many on the expedition died to new and unexpected terrains. But it didn’t stop there. Due to trespassing on the land that their own empire had destroyed, the Gods revoked their blessing of mana from the mortal races, to ensure that such a thing would never happen again. Artifacts failed, communication devices, scrying devices, magic tools and weapons. They all failed and many more died. The effects though were worse for the mages and races that relied on magic. Many mages died, powerless and many more turned back. In the end the much-diminished convoy of races entered the final rings. The first ring, the epicentre was only a lake surrounded by small mountains, with an island in the middle. So, they settled in the second ring. Many races left, one after another. The beastkin and the elves were the first to leave, settling by the Opening in the north-east and south-east respectively. The Dwarves, hardier than the other races carried on with the humans. Other races split off in smaller groups, but eventually the dwarves also settled, making their homes in the south-west mountains. The humans settled most places, but a final group crossed to the other side from the Opening. They finally stopped when a forest and mountain barred their way. This was the end of the exodus, the end of their journey. Some tried to return back home, to report their findings. However, the people were not the only ones to return. The beasts did too. Dragons, serpents, gryphons, giants and many more made their homes in the rings. With beasts blocking the exits back to the third ring, the races were trapped. This forest here was the end of the expedition, the last point that was travelled to. That’s how it gained its name. The End Forest.”

“That’s… wow.”

Azrael left, his mind full of information. That was a lot.

New Earth - Map:

Please note: that this map is neither accurate, nor to scale, as a proper mapping system has not yet been invented by players!