I take a moment standing by the cages looking back at the fires. Trying to get a grip on my new reality. Has it really been only a day? Classes and school just felt so long ago. Every problem I thought I had before just seemed petty and juvenile now. Ha, good thing I didn’t waste my time getting ready for midterms. But reality really hits home as I look back over the fires. I have slaves and for some reason I can’t go all Abe Lincoln and say you’re free and good luck. I look and see twenty-three people that are my responsibility. Huddled around the fires I see twenty-three people dirty and tired. Whispering to each other and glancing my way apprehensively. As unsure about what I’m going to do as I am. They look just worn out physically and emotionally and they look absolutely starving…. OH SHIT! They need to eat! I break out of my contemplation and walk over to meet everyone.

I walk over to the closest fire and clear my thought and give a bit of a wave. “Hey everyone, I want to introduce myself and get to know everyone, but first I know I’m hungry and everyone here looks like they could use something to eat too. I honestly don’t have much just a few cave rats, can anyone here butcher and cook them?”

By the second fire a hand slowly raised. I peer a little closer and a notification pops up

Ashley Roberts

Lvl 12 Human

Slave/Cook

Inspect. Lvl 3. reached

Blinking a bit and mentally swiping the notifications away I smile and look at Ashley. Pulling out the cave rats I look at Ashley and with a smile and talking with soft even tones “would you mind cleaning these and cooking them for everyone?”

Looking back at me she meekly nodded and said “yes sir”

I looked at her and smiled, “Thank you Ashley, but it just Thoren. Would you mind teaching me later?” With a slightly confused look she nodded slightly and said, “yes s… Thoren.” Smiling back, I said “Thank you Ashely, I really appreciate you helping me.”

Looking around at everyone. Trying to catch as many eyes I could I started talking hoping to reassure everyone as much as I could. “While Ashley starts working on some food, I really want to sit down and talk to everyone and figure out what is going on. Everyone knows I have soul companion Wick, but with him gone for the next few hours I’m hoping to rely on you to help fill in as many of the gaps as possible. Before that though I want to loot all the hobgoblins and see what we collectively have to work with; as well as burning the bodies, really don’t want to be stuck in here with a bunch of rotting corpses.”

On the other side of the fire the dwarf that I had talked to earlier started to rise. Taking a moment to look at him a bit more closely I got the notification.

Balram Graniteforge

Lvl 32 Dwarf

Slave/Blacksmith

Pushing himself up straight he looked at me, nodded and started. “Aye lad, da be a good idea. I be goin wit ya, ta look around. We be doin as ye said. Stacking supplies, and da bodies. Also, we be clearin some space ta set up a proper camp.” Looking around at the others, everyone nodded and started to get to their feet to get started on the tasks ahead.

Grabbing a few torches Balram and I started to make our way down the main road toward the statues I noticed earlier. Looking over at Balram I clear my throat, “So, why can’t I just free you guys since you’re my slaves?”

Giving me a look that was as much “why me” and that of a parent trying to respond to a child that keeps asking “why”; Balram let out a breath and mumbled, “ya really are as clueless as a babe in the woods… A’right lad here be da gist. As da System brought more n more planets in, many of da more aggressive races took to killin da innocents as they looked ta conquer more lands. Da System bein neither good nor bad, gave an option of slavery. It gave da option of sellin and usin da slave other dan killin em. A non-collared slave in a city can be taken as a slave by a new master. As a slave we be earnin system credits as we be workin. When we be earnin enough we can convert da credits ta free us, our master be gettin gold in return from da System. Na many do though, have ta be careful. Da master has ta ok da freedom and if he does have ta make sure he doesn’t jus make ya a slave again. Have ta earn da credits all over again.”

Taking a moment to digest all that, I notice that Balram doesn’t have a collar on and none of the other slaves had one on either. “Ok, I think I get that part of the system so far. How come you and the other slaves don’t have collars on. Oh and what is so special about the collars anyway?”

“Well da hobs took more slaves den they had collars. Only had fifty, so sent da rest of us here. They be thinkin where we be goin with da troll and it bein a cave and all. Da collars are control collars. Dependin on da collar it can make ya do or not do anything, as well as shockin and even killin ya if ya wanted to.”

“Well damn….Wait!” stopping and looking right at Balram almost incredulously, “there are 50 more slaves?! Where are they?”

“Aye, back at da hob village, which be somethin we be needin to figure out next. You don be thinkin dat da hobs naw be checkin in on here cave do ya?”

“Well shit…..”

Placing a hand on my shoulder, Balram looked me in the eyes and gave me a reassuring squeeze of my shoulder. “Lad, donna be frettin about it yet, lets do first things first, ya have a city now let’s be checkin it out, what be da name of da city anyway?”

“Ummmm Kham Faldihr”

Now it was Balrams turn to stop short. Quietly muttering to himself, “Da canna be right…” Looking back at me he looked a bit unsure, “lad ya be sure dat be da name?”

“Let me check.” Looking through my status screen I see a new tab for holdings. Clicking on the tab I see Kham Faldihr with two count down clocks. The first for claim completion having just over 12 hours left and one for integrations just over 17 hours left. “Yup, definitely Kham Faldihr”

Starting to walk again Balram looked completely lost in thought. The rest of the walk to the wall was done in contemplative silence as we both thought over the bits of information we both shared.

As we slowly made our way to the outer wall. The soft glow of the moss and the light of the torches started to reveal the giant statues I saw earlier. As we got closer Balrams steps started to falter as his eyes and mouth opened in true disbelief. Barely acknowledging me looking up agape says, “do ya know who dey be…. “falling to his knees he continued, “KhorDuuarven”.

Looking back and forth between him and the statues I nodded, “Yup, this was their city, there’s also a pretty amazing relief somewhat still intact on the wall over there”, pointing to down the wall I originally crept past.

Looking more confused and a bit aggravated Balram, spoke up voice getting a little louder with each word. “Ya knew dis be a KhorDuuarven city and d’na tell me?!”

Holding up my hands and taking a step back, “Whoa didn’t think it was a bit deal they just look like slightly taller dwarfs, figured they were cousins or something.”

“Ya though’ dey be cousins?! Are ya daft, stupid or jus a jack ass?! Dey be our ancestors!”

“Sorry! I had no idea! You’re the first dwarf I have ever met how am I supposed to know who your ancestors are, it’s not like the notifications give me any idea of how they relate to you

Taking a deep breath chewing the inside of cheek Balram nodded slightly and got to his feet. “Aye lad, ya right. I’m sorry. Ya jus canna know wha dis means to me an da other dwarves.” Walking up to the statues and running his hands along the smooth stone and bowing his head for a second, he continued as we walked toward the relief I had seen earlier. “Before da System integrated us, da dwarves an da duergar were one race, da khorduuarven. Da stories say da khorduuarven had a strong connection ta magic and portals; and had spread to a few planets.” Looking at the relief with a pained eye he took another slow breath and continued, running his hand along his beard. “Dey were a proud people, too proud. Dey found a planet filled with dragons, called Dakyun. For centuries did a war be fought. A group of mages though’ ta end da war by delvin in ta dark magics. Dey went to Dakyun an’ unleashed a spell of death dat da whole planet withered and died. Da wrath of da dragons was fierce. Da khorduuarven had ta pull back a bit from da other planets. Other races sensing weakness fought and fully drove dem away to der home world Durin. Da dragons wanting to wipe away the khorduuarven fought to the death pushing the khorduuarven dedeeper inta der cities. King Beleriand seeing da end of his people ordered a portal to an unknown world opened. Da khorduuarven fled ta my homeworld Nogrod. Da las group ta leave were da mages and fur spite unleashed da forbidden death spell once more and fled.“ Looking up to me I could see tears in Balrams eyes has he described the fall of his ancestors.

Turning and slowly walking back to the fires he continued. “Der was a split in da khorduuarven da light and da dark. A civil war broke out and dey nearly finished destroying dem selves. Fur centuries dey fought splitting inta groups known as da dwarves and da duergar. So much knowledge was lost. Portal magic and where Durin was, was lost. Millenia’s passed and da System integrated us. Da was over 9,000 years ago.”

Walking back the rest of the way to the camp was somber, yet with just a hint of excitement. Getting to the newly cleaned and set up campsite Balram walked to the middle fire and looked at the other dwarves who had concerned looks on their faces seeing the serious face on Belram. Spreading his hands a bit and in a bit of shaky voice he said “Raylia is Durin..”

Looking around everyone is shocked, some excited mumblings, some are just stupefied. I kept looking expectantly and…nothing. A little exasperated I blurt out, “Seriously everyone knows what Durin is?!”

A human in the back clears his throat. I look over and concentrate a bit and get the notification.

Wes McCabe

Lvl 14 Human

Slave/Bard

Wes looks around a bit and starts, “Well it’s a famous story. You’re talking about 2 races fighting to the point of almost mutual extinction. Not to mention two worlds that were utterly wiped of life. Millions of sentient lives were snuffed out not to mention all the flora and fauna.”

One of the other humans spoke up. I got her notification as she spoke.

Carolina Ferreira

Lvl 10 Human

Slave/Tanner

“Wow, Wes. That was really well stated. When you’re not being s total troll, you really can speak intelligently.”

Wes looking at Carolina and giving a bit of a smirk, chuckled and said. “For you my dear I’ll act any way you want.”

Just shaking her head, Carolina couldn’t hold back the “Ughhh.”

Still the only one standing besides Balram. I’m even a bit more confused. “If Raylia is Durin and Durin was utterly destroyed of life how is Raylia like it is now? Also, are there still dragons around? And if this place is so hidden and forgotten how the hell did a bunch of hobgoblins find it?”

Balram patting my shoulder directed me to sit. “A’right lad, ye be havin some good questions, less see if I canna help answer dem. Your friend Wick would be a bit o help now but see wha’ we can do. Da end of da war wit da dragons had ta be over 11,000 years ago lad. Da System integrated Raylia abou’ four millennia ago. It was a bit of a sparse world ta start but da System can speed growth up a bit, as well as addin’ flora/fauna/dungeons etc. Der be dragons still, a few hundred thousand or so, dey be long lived, a few hundred on a couple thousand planets or so. As us dwarves made a come back so did da dragons. Though dey be hunted a bit. As fur the hobs knowin’ abou’ here. Sorry lad I dunna know. Da shaman may have known but he be dead now. Da hob leader should know and da is gunna be your second problem.”

Digesting what Balram was saying I pause then say, “wait my second problem, what is my first problem?”

“Well lad, you be soul bound as owner of here City. When word gets out dat Raylia be Durin and it will. Dwarves an’ Duergar be comin’ here, na ta mention all da adventurers da be lookin’ fur lost cities like Kham Faldihr. Da only was to become an owner of da City is ta claim it. It canna be sold or traded. Der be a difference between a city and a City. Like a town or village people can live tagether have walls an’ da be a city. A City be one da has a city core. City cores be rare lad, dey can be made wit billions of mana focused on a rare spell and a willin soul da soul mus’ be willin. Can also be made wit’ dungeon cores lad. Two dungeon cores be needed fur a town, three more fur a village an’ ten more afta dat fur a city.”

“Wick was telling me the difference between an instance dungeon and a dungeon with a core, and that the cores are rare too.”

“Aye lad, dey be rare. New planets start off as dungeon planets, so your old planet should be getting’ lots of dungeons an’ adventures seeking em out.”

“Well that won’t happen, my old planet blew up, hence why I’m here.”

“Ahhhh lad I be sorry. Now I know why you dunna know your arse fur your elbow.”

“It’s ok, there were about a thousand of us sent here to Raylia. I don’t know how many from Earth were saved or if any of my friends or family were.”

A quiet somber mood spread over the camp. After a few minutes Balram looked up and asked one question very tentatively. “Lad…if any of us earn enough credits ta free ourselves, will ya free us?”

Looking around the campfires every eye looked up and bore into me, curious as to what I was going to say. The uncertainty was laid bare at my feet. “I swear to any and all the gods that I Thoren Parker swear to release each and everyone of you as soon as you have the credit to do so.” **BOOM**

Fybemis, god of Justice; takes notice of your oath.

Reward for completion : Unknown

Failure to honor oath : Unknown (recommend NOT finding out)

“What the fu….” Everyone just stared out my eyes wide and mouths agape.

Balram just shook his head in bewilderment. “Lad, you be daft, you ju’ made an oath to da gods.”

“Well I meant every word of it. As far as I’m concerned, you’re all free now. Whatever it takes to make it official with the System we’ll do as soon as we can.”

Feeling the mood shift, Balram smiled and looked at me. “Lad, we be your family now, we’ll help ya find those ya lost but till death we be here for ya.” Looking around at everyone else they smiled and nodded and stated their agreement.

Feeling a bit better about my situation I took a breath. “Balram how much danger are we in right now? How long till the hobs come back?”

“Hmmmm we should be alright for a day or two. Da chief be waitin for da integration an fur us ta clean up da city.”

“Ok, in that case lets eat I’m starving. Then let’s get some sleep. My inner greedy hamster is curious about the loot but I’m just too damn tired and hungry right now to care.”

Laughing a bit Balram nodded his head, “fair enough lad we all be hungry and tired, lets see what we got.”

There was a pile of travel rations, five barrels of disgusting looking water and then the grilled rat that Ashley was cooking which just smelled divine. Looking at the water I just felt nauseated just thinking about drinking it. “Hey Wes, is this the only water we have. Have you really been drinking this?”

“Yup, that’s it. It only gets really bad when you have to chew it a bit.”

Barely keeping the limited amount of contents currently in my stomach down. I remembered one of my gifts. Reaching into my bag I pull out the beer stein. Dipping the stein into the water I pull it up and looking into the dirty water I close my eyes thinking about an ice-cold amber ale I loved at home. Opening my eyes I look down at the frothy head, taking a sip the beer tasted better than anything I ever had. Feeling a bit of loss for home I take another sip. Closing my eyes smiling I take a moment to thank Oemis.

“Hey Wes, come here and try this.”

Walking over Wes saw what I had in my hands. “What is that?” Where the hell did you get it?”

Handing the stein over to Wes I said, “It’s one of the gifts I got from the gods. Oemis appreciated my ummmm fortitude and offered this up as a toast.” Wes took a sip and let out a long “ahhhhhhhh!” Then proceeded to gulp the rest of it down.

“That was by far the best beer I’ve ever had!”

Smiling I called out to everyone. “Hey if you’re thirsty and don’t want to drink this nasty water come on over!” People started walking over to see what I was shouting about. Constantly refilling the stein with different kinds of beer that people may like. Everyone dinking their full laughing a bit, for at least the moment forgetting where we were and just enjoying ourselves. Filling up the stein with a nice cold wheat beer I walked over to Ashely who say quietly taking care of the dinner for us. I handed her the stein and she smiled and thanked me. At first, she took a few sips then with a giant grin started to drink down the cold beer spilling more than a bit down herself. Smiling up at me she said, “I haven’t had a beer like that since I left home. What kind of beer can it make?”

“Well pretty much any, ciders too if you like.”

“That’s great! We can use some to cook the meat next time. Well at least when we get more meat.”

“You just tell me what you want, and I’ll be more than happy to get it for you.” Getting up I walked back to the barrels. Seeing that we had emptied little over one of the barrels, I used a bit of beer to wash out the barrel and then scoop after scoop I refilled it with the amber ale. Doing the same with the new empty barrel I washed it out then refilled it from another barrel with a nice dark stout. Leaving the other barrels for later or in case we actually needed water.

I walked back to the fires sat down with everyone. Ashley passed around the cooked rat and we all ate and talked for a few hours. Getting to know each other a bit more. A rotation was set up for a watch just in case while the rest of us when to sleep. Ready to take our turn when the time came.