Feeling something pull you through your head by your testicles is one of the worst ways to travel. For Ozmandias Hargrave, it was the worst possible way to travel from his grandmother's funeral. One moment you’re bemoaning the loss of a beloved family member, the air filled with the grand solemnity of a passing soul.

The next moment he was brought into existence in a chaotic and dust-filled location, next to a giant glowing blue orb.

“Whaaaaat the FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCKKKKKKKK!” screamed the ghostly blue spiritual body of Ozymandias. “What the fuck, what the fuck, what the fuck!!!” he repeated as he examined his now see-through blue body and dusty, rocky, rumbling surroundings.

“P- put my h *cough* hand on the stone” coughed out a red-robed figure a scant few inches from the altar the blue stone sat on. A crushed amulet in his hand

“HOLY SHIT! I did not see you there bro,” said Ozymandias. Even as his body moved to comply with the order.

However, what happened next was unexpected for both parties, but more so for Ozymandias, because the next thing he knew his body was automatically moving to occupy the body of the red-robed figure. Then the two simultaneously moved to put a hand on the stone.

The resulting explosion rocked the world, and more importantly the room they were occupying, in a cacophony of noise, light and tremendous force. Luckily for other occupants

of the building which contained the room, and other denizens of the planet, the explosion did not occur on the material plane, instead, it occurred on an often unused plane of existence and the only people truly bothered by it were the gods. Not even Gods, just gods.

Of course, there was some overflow into the material plane, but it was a minor rumble that broke earth and scattered dust everywhere. Compared to the primary explosion the overflow was barely enough to kill a few hundred people.

Shouts rang out in the room as a squad of soldiers in heavily damaged plate armour burst in. They were closely followed by an elf and an elve in what could only be described as the garb of the insanely rich or the mentally insane. Or quite possibly both.

They both possessed the sun-kissed skin, angular face, slender limbs, striking curly yellow-blond hair and short but pointed ears common to Elves. To be very specific, they were Sun-Elves as evidenced by their colouration and bright orange eyes.

“Pantu I’m going to beat you to an inch of your life if you run ahead like that ever again. You’re grounded for the next 50 years, and I’m taking away your steed. No more rides to the hold for you, you’re staying on the grounds. You’re 150 years old for god's sake.” screamed

the elve as she ran up to the boy and grabbed him. Her voice moving high enough that had there been any crystal still whole in the room, it would have shattered.

The father meanwhile was already slapping his face as he tried to wake him up. “Pacchi! Wake up Pacchi!” his voice barely staying an even-keeled tenor, contrary to his usual baritone.

If they had been less focused on the boy she might have noticed that his hand was still attached to the glowing blue orb. At least until a subtle cough was heard from behind them.

One of the soldiers pointed to the blue orb “My liege, Lord Axel is still in contact with the Landston.

The two elves who were presumably the boy’s parents finally noticed that the body was still attached to a now dim blue orb.

“He actually did it…” muttered the father, before he reached up and wrenched the hand from the orb with some strength.

This was when Ozmandias started to wake up. He groaned as he felt his entire body ache with a deep pain that made no sense. How was it possible that every inch of his body felt like a small child had run over it without abandon.

His eyes fluttered awake to the concerned faces of the two elves who noticed him come awake with a look of concern that was quickly shifting back to anger.

“Who-” he managed to get out before they began to shake him.

“FREDO HOW DARE YOU RUN AHEAD LIKE THAT! YOU COULD HAVE DIED! DO YOU KNOW HOW WORRIED WE WERE-” started the elf even as the elve yelled alongside him “YOU’RE NEVER LEAVING HOME, YOU’RE NEVER STEPPING FOOT OUTSIDE YOUR ROOM, YOU HEAR ME! YOU’RE GOING TO BE WRITING LINES UNTIL YOUR 500 FOR THIS-” the simultaneous shouting continued for a good five minutes before their voices died down enough for Ozymandias to be heard.

“STOP! Who are you people?! Stop yelling at me! Where am I!?” screamed Ozymandias.

This gave the two elves a pause. A chance to take a breath and gather themselves as their faces began to turn purple from anger. “TRYING TO PULL THE AMNESIA TRICK HUH! AS IF WE’D FALL FOR THAT! YOU’RE NOT GETTING-” this round of yelling continued for another five minutes before finally, their energy flagged and they stopped.

By now Ozmandias had been mentally reduced to pulp and was considering taking whatever punishment was due quietly, just to avoid any more yelling.

He held his hands up in front of his face to block the two yelling people and managed to get out “please, I was just at my grandma’s funeral and then I was here and a guy asked me to put his hand on the stone and then I wooshed in-” unfortunately he never got the chance to finish his story as all eyes were focused upon his open left hand where the crushed amulet which had been imprinted into his palm from pure pressure was slowly falling away and to the ground.

“You crushed the amulet!” asked the elf interrupting Ozymandias.

“Huh?!” answered Ozymandias before starting to ramble. “I didn’t do anything. I was brought here somehow and this guy had it in his hand and told me to put his hand on the orb and then I couldn’t control myself and somehow whooshed into his body and-”

For the second time, Ozymandias was interrupted as the squad of soldiers raised their swords and shields and gathered in a defensive position. The lead soldier's voice rang out “That’s not Lord Axel, it appears to be a spirit possession. Get behind us, quickly!”

The two elves scurried behind the line of soldiers, even as they peeked over their shoulders at the boy on the ground.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! I don’t know what’s happening but I would really like to not be stabbed” said Ozymandias as he raised his hands above his head.

“What are you doing spirit!” asked the lead soldier, raising his sword a little higher, tip pointed at the boy.

“Nothing, I’m not doing anything. I’m putting my hands up. I’m not a threat. Please don’t stab me.” said Ozymandias, a small quiver entering his voice.

“What is your name?” asked the lead soldier.

“Ozymandias sir.” came the reply.

“Grab him, have the maester look at him.” said the elf from behind the line of soldiers.

“I would recommend a quick thrust to the heart, my Lord. It is a surefire way to release a spirit.” said the soldier as he edged forward.

“Uhm, no! No staby, no staby!” said Ozymandias as he edged backwards towards the pedestal.

“You are not stabbing my son!” screeched the elve from the back, as she started to move towards the advancing soldier.

“It’s not your son right now my lady!” said the soldier, even as he edged forward.

“Regardless, [Knight] Vantner, you will apprehend it and bring it above to the maester. Perhaps there is a way to end the possession.” said the elf.

Ozymandias finally crawled back far enough that he knocked into the pedestal. Which was unfortunate because the formerly glowing blue orb which was upon the pedestal fell from it and on to the boy’s head. Unlike what everyone expected, which was a mild concussion or comedic knock, the orb disappeared into the boy's head as if it had never existed in the first place.

Everyone paused for a moment, even as Ozymandias looked about frantically, wondering what had happened.

The lead knight put his sword away. “Get him,” he said.

The next few minutes were a chaotic tumble as the soldiers tried to grab Ozymandias by the arms and legs. Ozymandias tried to avoid being grabbed and the elven parents hovered between a combination of encouraging the capture and yelling at the soldiers for hurting their son’s body.

Eventually, it was an odd formation that left the crumbling underground room. The soldiers in front, with two of their number carrying Ozymandias like a stuck pig between two of them. The worried parents followed closely behind the troop, and Ozymandias occupying the body of their son, yelling any combination of appeals and curses that might release him from his captured state.

So it was with some surprise that Ozymandias shut his mouth immediately upon being transported up from the room to what he realized was ground level. Around the hole from whence they emerged the ground was broken and fractured in a ripple formation. Upturned soil releasing multiple fleeing critters he could not identify. The ground was dotted with broken stone, rubble and what looked like shell fragments

Far in the distance, he saw what looked like a forest of purple and green trees, while the sky offered a blue that was a little darker than he was used to. The sun appeared to be somewhat larger as well, dominating a larger portion of the sky, with nary a cloud in sight.

The biggest surprise, however, was the bustling camp that was being set up outside of the hole. A reasonably orderly camp was forming with large tents occupying the central region.

As he was transported through the camp he noticed that the majority of the population looked similar to the elfish looking people in the gaudy robes. There were several individuals who looked like animal men that occupied a variety of roles, there was even one that looked like a squid although its head was covered in a strange skin-tight water film, so he wasn’t sure if it was a squid or something else.

It was slowly starting to sink in that he wasn’t in Kansas anymore. The people looked like a combination of medieval peasants, archaic magical figures and farm style ranch hands.

He also saw another group of soldiers marching across the camp. This set had a larger group but worse equipment. A sword, shield and metal helmet, but no metal armor, only cloth or leather stuff. It made him think that the people carrying him were knights or a higher rank of soldier, and that those people were regular soldiers.

The soldiers even did a weird salute, a fist over their chest when the elves in robes walked by.

Despite the variety of people, everyone was moving around with a sense of purpose and pride.

As they got closer to the centre of the camp the people began to show the trappings of wealth. They also began to give him strange looks. In the beginning, he had ignored them but eventually, he began to glare back at them. Daring them to say something.

Despite the unusual sight of the group, it appeared that no one was willing to halt the progress of the two gaudily dressed elves.

The group quickly arrived at a sombre yellow tent which upon entry was found to contain cabinets, tables and bookshelves all containing a variety of scrolls. One elderly man was hunched over in the corner quietly muttering to himself as he poured over a scroll.

Ozymandias’s unique angle from being carried upside down by his arms and legs allowed him to dip below a normal person’s eye line to see the scroll from below the old man’s arm. To his surprise, it appeared to be a drawing of a nude woman! “Hey, is he looking at a naked picture?!” shouted Ozymandias.

The group craned their necks to look at the old man, even as the old man furled up the scroll and turned around with a small cough. Everyone could quickly see that the light-skinned old man was quickly blushing to the tips of his ears. His long grey hair barely hid his eyes as he quickly stowed the scroll and bowed at the waist.

“How may I assist you, my lord and lady?” he asked, with only the hint of a quaver in his voice.

Ozymandias was unceremoniously dumped on one of the few uncovered tables in the tent, even as his hands and legs were held in place.

“Maester, my son summoned a spirit using a talisman, and now the spirit is occupying his body. Do you have a method to remove the spirit and return my son to us?” asked the elve, her face sporting a slight look of disgust at the elderly Maester.

“Hmm, perhaps, perhaps,” said the maester as he held his arms behind his back and moved to examine the boy. Although everyone was wondering what the point was for this perverted old man to pretend austerity at this point.

“Was the talisman produced by a [Kekkaishi], [Oneiromancer] or [Shaman]?” asked the Maester to the couple, as held Ozymandias’s eyes open to take a look at them.

“Is it a bad time for me to mention that I need to take a shit?” asked Ozymandias. “Or perhaps to ask if one of these fine gentlemen could scratch my right testicle?”

The elve looked to the elf with a raised eyebrow, who muttered a slight curse at the sky before replying to the question, “It was procured from an [Archbishop], specifically, His Holiness of the 4th Circle.”

The Maester paused his examination of the body for a moment. “Ah, I see.” He then placed his hands on Ozymandias’s forehead and heart for a few moments before releasing them.

“Right then, so, your son’s spirit has been pushed out and the current spirit has occupied his body. This disconnect between spirit and body has caused what is essentially spiritual inflammation. Luckily, this means that spirit and body have not fully combined, which means we can switch them back with sufficient tools. I shall need the talisman that summoned the spirit as well as Bogdens incense and a mid-level [Ritualist].”

“Well?! Hop to it Vantner! Procure what the Maester requires.” commanded the elf.

“Yes my Lord” responded Vantner, leading a few of the knights who weren’t busy holding Ozymandias down out of the tent.

Once the knights, some of whom were actual [Knights], headed to complete their task the tent descended into an awkward silence.

“So...no one is going to let me go take a shit.” asked Ozymandias.

“Silence spirit, your part in this is almost over.” admonished the elve.

“Ya, but how much more funny would it be if your son came back to his body and he had soiled himself.” said Ozymandias with a grin.

The elf sighed and put a hand to his face. “Men, take the spirit to the latrine and bring him back.

The tent now contained only the maester and the two gaudily dressed elves. The maester continued to putter about the tent, organizing scrolls

The elf briefly stuck his head outside of the tent to yell at someone to bring them chairs, but outside of that the mood settled into one of an employee working in his office while his boss was there. Slightly tense but mundane.

This mood was broken by a loud shout coming from the direction of the latrines “WHAAAAAAAAAT THE FUUUUUUUUUCK, WHAT THE FUCK, WHAT THE FUCK, WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON!! OH GOD, I’M DEAD, I’M A SPIRIT, WHAT THE FUCK WHAT THE FUCK, WHAT THE FUCK! HHHNNNNNNNNNNnnnn….”

The sound faded as the person stopped shouting but the listeners were sure that whoever had made that noise was probably fully weeping by now.

The maester briefly looked over to the couple, “spirits who are not dismissed sometimes have a difficult time readjusting to the world of the living.''

The glare sent by both elves at the maester could have frozen a lake.

In time, Ozymandias was carried back by the Knights, his eyes slightly red.

“So….you’re a king or something?” he asked the elf.

“My wife is the Duchess of Xerath, and I am the Earl of Xerath, however as far as you are concerned I might as well be a god.” said the elf.

“Right….so is there any real reason for these guys to keep holding my arms and legs, or do they just get their jollies from touching dude flesh?” asked Ozymandias.

One of the knights growled in anger, “silence curr, or you will be silenced.”

“So, what happens to me once you do your voodoo.” asked Ozymandias.

The maester halted his work momentarily to address him, “you return to whence you came spirit. You will no longer be tied to the mortal plane.”

“So I get sent back to my body. OH, that’s fine then. I thought you guys were going to kill me or something. Never mind, the sooner you send me back the better. I don’t need my family freaking and thinking I died or something.” said Ozymandias, relaxing for the first time.

This gave the maester pause as he raised an eyebrow. “Back to your body….spirit, even if you have recently returned to the mortal plane, you should remember your death. You are not alive and will certainly not return to your body.”

Ozymandias shot up as much as the knights allowed him, “WHAT! No, I’m not dead. I remember it very clearly. I was at my grandmother’s funeral. Then I was pulled here, which, by the way, was a very painful experience.”

The maester’s face grew confused. “You were pulled from a mortal body. That’s impossi….” his words trailed off as he looked at the Lord and Lady.

“It is most certainly a talisman of spirit summoning, it wouldn’t be capable of pulling a living person’s spirit.” said the elf dismissively.

The maester thought for a few moments before he voiced a counter argument. “That would be true if the talisman was broken on the mortal plane. However, it was broken in the Landston hallway.”

“HOld up, so am I returning to my body or not?” asked Ozymandias, his voice tinged with worry.

“It shouldn’t make a difference, however, the quicker we do this the better. A living spirit has a much stronger tie to the mortal plane than that of a dead person.” said the maester with a furrowed brow.

Suddenly the Lord and Lady looked a little more worried. This was compounded when [Knight] Vantner ran into the tent yelling “My Lord, my Lady. The inconceivable has happened! The hallway has disappeared. A [Geomancer] tried moving the dirt but there’s nothing where it used to be, just dirt!!”

“That’s impossible” shouted the Lord standing up quickly, with an incredulous look on his face.

The maester was stunned as well but recovered quickly, “A Landston hall doesn’t disappear for no reason. They’re a creation of the Gods, the only way they disappear is if someone claims the title and then absorbs the Landston. What disloyal idiot would dare absorb the Landston when the enti…..” and he trailed off as everyone turned to look at Ozymandias who was still being held down on the table.

“What?!”

Needless to say, a small scuffle broke out as the two parents tried to beat Ozymandias out of his new body. The Knights attempted to keep both parties apart even as the maester yelled at everyone to calm down and stop wrecking his scrolls.

“Do I need to call more soldiers in, or is everyone settled now?” asked the maester, his hair ruffled and his left sleeve torn.

Ozymandias was tied down with rope to a table, granted he now had enough slack to sit up. The Lord and Lady were sitting in two chairs that had been brought in from them, breathing heavy from exertion, or rage, and smoothing down their clothes and hair.

“So, what does this mean?” asked Ozymandias.

The maester stroked his beard for a few moments before addressing the question. “There are two issues here. The first, is that the talisman has been lost in a disappeared Landston space. That means the only way to find it now would be with the assistance of a God or a few gods.”

The Lord and Lady looked morose at this statement. The Lady even began to sob slightly.

“The second issue is that you have claimed the Landston. Once your spirit settles into the body, and you start receiving mana, you will be the leader of this settlement, by divine writ. While your body is that of a royal lord, your spirit is that of an outworlder. This means that legally speaking, you are a foreign claimant to the settlement. This means that the Kingdom of Monravia can attack the settlement, kill you and claim it for themselves.” the maester stopped at this point to consider the young man with troubled eyes.

His face looked just like the young Lord, yet it was clear that it wasn’t. The set of the shoulders, the vocal tone, even something about his eyes. The longer you looked the more apparent it was that this was not the young Lord.

“Wait, can’t I just transfer ownership to someone. Ask one of these gods or something?” asked Ozymandias.

“Of course not you imbecile. A God wouldn’t deign to interfere in a matter as low as this, and there is a reason that the Landston is held within a separate hall, underground, it is preventing the unworthy from obtaining it.” said the Lord.

“So what. You’re going to kill me? That will release my spirit from this body right? Can you send me back if that happens?” asked Ozymandias.

The maester shook his head no. “I’m afraid not, without the talisman I don’t have any method to send you back. Rather, I could send you somewhere, but you would probably end up in the afterlife for spirits from this mortal plane rather than back to your body. Without the talisman to act as a positioner your spirit could be sent to a lot of different places.”

“Shit, so what’s the plan?” asked Ozymandias.

After a few moments of worried silence, the maester motioned for all of the knights except for Vantner to leave the tent. He then grabbed a talisman from his desk, which set up a field blocking sound in his tent.

“I believe that the best course of action would be to leave you here as the leader of the settlement.” said the maester.

Three loud “WHAT!!” resounded from the other members of the tent.

“The Duchess and the Earl need to return to their holdings and begin mobilizing an effort to convince a God or gods to locate or deliver the talisman. Once they have it we can attempt a reversal.” said the maester.

“There’s no way I can pull off pretending to be their kid and lead a settlement. That’s impossible. I’m not a good actor, I don’t even know anything about this world.” said Ozymandias.

“That is evident, he would be found out immediately. Anyone who interacts with him would recognize him for the low born he is.” said the Earl.

“I realize that. We shall have to state that when we arrived we found that another Sun Elf had already claimed the settlement and decided to set up an independent location. The two of you will have to convince your peers not to attack immediately, and make them realize that this is a best case scenario. Someone else will build up a settlement out here, and the kingdom can slowly build up a relationship as the settlement develops and perhaps offer a marriage proposal that will bring the settlement in line with the kingdom.” said the maester.

“Uh...what now?” asked Ozymandias. “Wait, why can’t I just come back to wherever with you guys, why do I have to stay here?”

“You absorbed the Landston, your life is inexorably tied to the land here. Stray too far and you’ll die.” said the maester.

“Uh...WHAT NOW?!” shouted Ozymandias.

“That..could work. It would keep his body here where most people wouldn’t recognize him, but wouldn’t the spirit settle into the body by then. It will take us over a year to return back to our lands, then we have to try to convince a God or gods to return the talisman, then we have to come back which will take another year.” said the Duchess.

“The spirit will have settled into the body, but I should be able to use the talisman to call back the young Lord’s spirit. As long as we have the young Lord’s body and the spirit, the talisman should still have a connection between all of them. If we lose the spirit, or the young Lord’s body then there is no hope of using the talisman to resummon the young Lord’s body. Once the young Lord’s spirit is summoned then the spirit then just needs to order the young Lord’s spirit to occupy the body and then a switch should occur as it did the first time.” it will be painful, and the young Lord will suffer some of the effects that the spirit is going through right now, but it should be possible. Assuming the spirit cooperates.” said the maester.

“Hey man, I just want to go home and get back to my body. A couple of years is a long time though, isn’t there anything quicker? Won’t my body die by that time.” asked Ozymandias.

“That is a risk….you mentioned you were at your grandmother’s funeral, correct? Your body will have entered into a mindless state, would your family continue feeding you even if your body had no mind?” asked the maester.

Ozymandias imagined his mother, looking over his comatose body, feeding tubes in his body. “I think so...probably.” he said.

“Then there is hope,” said the maester. “It could also occur quicker since the return trip won’t feature as large a procession as this time. A small group focusing on speed will be able to reach here in under a year.”

“We will announce that we are returning. The people won’t be happy but it is simply what must be done. Some of the commoners may choose to stay though, they were intending to start a new life and many will not wish to go back.” said the Earl.

“Hold on, you guys brought the huge army for a reason I assume. Won’t I need soldiers or whatever to defend people from animals or people or whatever is out here.” asked Ozymandias. “Maybe one of you should stay with half the people and the other could go back with the other half.”

“Impossible!” exclaimed the Earl. “Granted there are manaborn about and you will need some soldiers, but we need the army to ensure safe passage through the Glangorn mountain range, anything less would be suicide. Besides, there isn’t enough food to sustain this many people. On the march we can pull from the countryside and supplement our stores. Staying in one region, we would wither away the surrounding area long before sustainable food production could be established. No, staying was never in the plan and it isn’t possible.”

“You will have to develop a good settlement. Upon our return, the other nobles will send their own people to examine your settlement. If it seems that you are building a weak town they will heavily push for an invasion. You are lucky, this place is in the far wilderness and there is little of value here. As long as you don’t muck up the job completely you may keep your head.” said the Duchess.

“Why did you guys even travel a whole year to come here if this place sucks?” asked Ozymandias.

The Earl and the Duchess gave each other a look before responding in unison, “none of your business.”

The maester gave him a look that said we will talk about this later.

“Wait, why do I even need to lead this settlement? Couldn’t someone else do it, and I just wait until you guys figure this stuff out? And really, couldn’t one of you stay?” asked Ozymandias.

The Earl got up in a huff, “Maester, explain things to it, I’d rather not be here for this. We have to start preparations to depart, the sooner we leave, the better.”

The Earl and Duchess left the tent in a flurry of robes, leaving Ozymandias alone with the maester.

Ozymandias turned his attention to the maester who also regarded him with scrutiny. “So, can I get out of these ropes now?”

--

“Feudal society, but based on these [Classes] and power that you mentioned rather than bloodline. Although a bloodline does mean that you are more likely to receive a strong class either due to unique knowledge or class abilities that allow inheritance. Do I have that right?” asked Ozymandias.

“Mostly. Bloodline is important as long as it results in ability. There are some [Classes] or even rare mana manipulation techniques that only work with a certain physique. For example, one of the Sovokor couldn’t be expected to use the same mana manipulation technique as one of Solomon’s children.” said the maester.

The two had moved to the maester’s desk with the maester trying to teach Ozymandias the basics necessary to operate around other people.

“Who are those groups again?” asked Ozymandias.

The maester sighed and rubbed his forehead. He wasn’t the worst student that he had taught, at least he was interested. But damned if information seemed to pour in one ear and out the other.

“The Sovokor are those with yellow fur, large manes of hair, and clawed hands. [Knight] Vantner is one. Solomon’s children are our species, commonly called Sun Elves. Solomon comes from the old Achtung meaning ‘Man of Sun’.” said the maester.

“Right, but none of this really explains the mana and why I have to lead the settlement,” said Ozymandias.

“I’m getting to that. Every settlement is founded by someone, that someone is the person who claims the Landston, and the person who absorbs the Landston. If two seperate people perform those actions then one will have to kill the other before a settlement can become active.” said the maester.

“I get that, but why does that mean I have to actually lead? Can’t someone else issue orders and dictate what happens?” asked Ozymandias.

“Not at all. The health of a settlement and its ability to facilitate the growth of its people, the growth of crops as well as its ability to repel disease and monsters is based on the strength of the settlement leader. In this world, if you’re not growing, you’re shrinking. If you’re not performing actions befitting a settlement leader, then your class will stagnate, clean mana will grow weaker in this region and eventually the settlement will break. That means you have to do the actual leading. Since the royals will likely be taking most of the army, that means that if the settlement falls, you’ll most likely die.” answered the maester.

“Shiiiiiiitttttt.” hissed Ozymandias. “Ok, but if the other nobles are going to send people to spy on the settlement, won’t they realize that I look like the Earl and Duchess’s kid? Won’t that cause issues? Also, I have to marry into the kingdom? How long do I have to fake a marriage for?”

“You won’t realize it now but as your spirit continues to settle into the body, your form will change slightly to match it. So you’ll look less like a close relative and more like what you used to look in your body. It won’t be a pleasant experience, it will be something similar to puberty. Assuming your world had puberty.” said the maester.

“I have other work to do as well, so here, read through this book on new settlements in your tent. I’ll have one of the knights show you the way.” said the maester, passing Ozymandias the book. “Knight Heckram! Show Mr. Ozymandias to his tent.”

“Hold on, how can I even read the book?” asked Ozymandias.

“Mr. Ozymandias, you now occupy the body of the young Lord. Even if your spirit is unfamiliar with the language, your body should know it, the same should be true of any capability possessed by the young Lord. It is why you can understand me even though I’m sure we are not speaking whatever tongue you use. As your spirit settles you will find that you possess a predilection for riding horses, a preference for certain foods, and even a change in what you find attractive. You may be occupying the body now but it is still the young Lord’s body and as you affect the body, the body will affect you. Now please, go to your tent.” said the maester, issuing him out.

Ozymandias was in a daze as he followed the knight through the camp towards his tent. He affected the body, but the body would affect him. It seemed that his possession would bring about some unexpected side effects.

The remainder of the day and night proceed in a daze as he read through the book. His mind was not truly on the material as he spent most of the time wondering how much of his thoughts were his own and how much was the body’s.

It felt strange, knowing that the brain he thought with wasn’t his, or that the rough woolen blanket he was feeling was being felt by skin that wasn’t his, by a brain that wasn’t his.

In a strange way, the abrupt manner in which he had been ripped from his old life and put into this new one helped the process. The grief at the loss of a family member, the worries and responsibilities he used to have, they all felt like the problems of another person. It was with an almost manic sense of self destruction that he separated from his old life. After all, this could just be a delusion brought about by the dying spasms of his brain, or a coma, or some sort of mental break. But the truth remained that this was his new reality, and you couldn’t go through life not believing in reality.

Soon enough it was early morning, there was no rooster to greet the day, just the first streaks of sunlight hitting the tent, and a candle clock.

Ozymandias stepped out of the tent to see soldiers running through the camp. Not too many other people were up and moving about, although he did see what appeared to be a mess tent was already in operation. Feeling a little hungry from his long night, Ozymandias headed towards it.

The soldiers gave him a few weird looks but no one stopped him. As he approached the mess tent, he saw that there were only four or five people actually cooking. The rest were packing tools and busily preparing for departure.

“Excuse me, I don’t suppose I could get some food.” asked Ozymandias.

The cooks paused for a moment to look up. “Young Lord!! Of course! Right away! Prepare his highnesses repast!!!”

Quickly all of the cooks began to move into action to prepare food. “Hold on, hold on, hold. I’m not a young anything. You can call me Ozzy, I’m just looking for some food.” said Ozzy.

The staff halted and stared at him for several seconds as he grinned at them. Finally the large otter person looking cook who was stirring the large pot spoke up, “Truly, you’re not the young Lord? This isn’t a joke? What am I saying, of course you’re the young Lord. Stop joking, you’ll befuddle us poor common folk.”

“I’m dead serious, I’m not a lord or whatever. I’m just a guy, scouts honor.” said Ozzy putting his hand over his heart. “Now seriously, do you guys have anything to eat? I haven’t eaten in a day and I could really go for some grub.”

The posture of the cooks changed as they realized that despite the physical resemblance, the person in front of them wasn’t the young Lord. “Back to work ya louts, no slacking.” growled the cook who had been stirring. “Well then your majesty you’ll have to wait just like everyone else for your morning repast.”

“Aww, c’mon. I’m super hungry. Please!!” whined Ozzy.

“Scram brat!” shouted the cook as she brandished the large wooden spoon. “Unless you want a thumping.”

“Alright, alright. Sheesh.” said Ozzy as he backed away with his hands up.

Ozzy left the mess tent and began walking around the camp trying to find the Lord and Lady or even the Maester. As he began walking around he began to realize the size of the camp. As he crested a hill and looked upon the entirety of the encampment in the lower fields he realized that what he had imagined to be a small camp of a few hundred people was in fact a large army of several thousand people.

The hill he was on was situated next to a mighty river, its boundaries serving as a natural border for the encampment. A forest farther down the length of the river hemmed in the lower end of the encampment, the rest of the tents, carts and people had spread out into the wide open plains to the left of where he stood.

The entire area bore signs of having been a battle ground quite recently. Large sections of the ground had been torn up and patches of grass and plant life looked like they had been burned away.

Yet despite that the encampment was situated right on top of the presumed battlefield.

Confused by this, Ozzy departed from the top of the hill and returned to the encampment area on the hill to continue his search. He began to notice that people were giving him strange looks. Assuming it was from his appearance he tugged down the hood on his red robes to hide his face.

Eventually he found his way back to the maesters tent, it was still being guarded by two of the knights who had held him down against the table.

“Morning boys, keep up the good work. Maybe next time I can tie one of you up instead. Some light whip work, a ball gag, something. We’ll work it out.” said Ozzy as he walked into the tent with an easy grin.

The knight's faces wrinkled in distaste as he entered the tent.

The maester was sitting in a chair reading from a scroll when Ozzy walked in.

“Looking at more pictures of naked women, old man?” asked Ozzy in a teasing tone.

“I’m sure I have no idea what you’re talking about spirit.” Said the old man as he crossed his legs. “Now, what forces you to intrude into my quarters at this early hour?”

“I read through that settlement report...ish, but there’s one thing that I still don’t understand. Why do they exist? What’s the advantage?” asked Ozzy.

“That is a complex question. The reality is that you can build a community outside of settlement zones. You can even get [Classes] to lead those locations as well. The difference is in two minor regions. The first is the mana quality. If you take in mana from a non-settlement area, over time a type of filth accumulates. Not within the body, but within the spirit. This filth has to be removed through extended meditation, otherwise it prevents further absorption of mana and eventually leaves a person unable to use it. Mana produced within a settlement is cleansed.” said the maester.

“Wait what is mana then?” asked Ozzy.

“Mana is both meaning and energy. Now stop interrupting me. The second reason is that over time a settlement develops in a fashion unique to its leader. These unique developments allow a settlement to be more successful compared to a non-settlement village or town. These developments can range from unique classes, the occurrence of unique materials, enhanced fertility rates, or as different as new species generation.” explained the maester.

“What the fuck, how does that make sense? New species and new materials just appear?” said Ozzy, incredulous.

“You already forgot what I said about mana. Mana affects the material, immaterial, it affects everything, and it carries both meaning and energy. All changes are possible through it.” said the maester.

“Ah, that brings me to the next thing-” started Ozzy.

“Stop right there. I know you have many questions but frankly, I cannot answer them for you. Return to your tent, and I’ll send a guard along a little later to guide you to the royal tent. You will have your morning repast with us and we will discuss what shall transpire in the future.” said the maester.

“Oh, alright. Uh..bye I guess.” said Ozzy as he left the tent.

Ozzy made his way back to his assigned tent, noting that unlike when he left, there were now guards near the entrance. Not the knights that guarded the maester or the royalty, but some of the regular soldiers he had seen running around.

A short while later a voice called him out of his tent and he was led by a page to a gaudy tent. He entered it to find the maester, the Lord, the Lady, as well as an unknown woman in a set of shirt and pants rather than robes like the rest. The woman was a Sun Elf, or one of Solomon’s Children as they were officially called. Her hair was more yellow than the platinum blond of the nobility. Her visage was scarred with small abrasions and her body was rougher somehow. Her eyes were a light brown and she still retained the high cheek bones and tight face common to her race though.

A variety of pages and servants surrounded the edges of the tent, bringing forth platters of meat, bowls of porridge and various plants and cheese.

“Morning all, how was everyone’s sleep?” asked Ozzy in a cheerful manner.

The unknown woman raised her eyebrow and looked towards the Lord and Lady. The Lady drawled to the woman, “We told you. Complete possession and it has no manners.”

“Oh, I don’t know about that, I at least have the good graces to not talk about people like I’m not there, or to call them it.” retorted Ozzy.

“Impudence” said [Knight] Vantner, pulling out his sword and putting it against Ozzy’s neck.

“Go ahead, take a quick swing. Or take a stab. Not my body, not my problem.” said Ozzy, with an easy smile.

“Put your sword down now! You are not damaging my son’s body, is that understood?” asked the Lord, rising from his seat.

“Yes my Lord.” said Vantner, schooling his features into impassivity, as he returned his sword to its sheathe.

“Good boy” said Ozzy as he strode past to the open chair. “So, the maester mentioned we would be discussing the future.”

“Yes, all of you, leave us.” said the Duchess, motioning for all of the staff to exit the tent.

A short bustle later and only the maester, the unknown woman, Vantner, the Lord, the Lady and Ozzy remained.

Ozzy quickly began filling his plate with food and began eating.

“A decision has been made. A contingent of around 200 of the commoners will remain here, the rest are unwilling to stay with an unknown settlement leader. We will also leave behind a squad of soldiers led by Knight Culroy. Also, a variety of the mercenaries have chosen to stay with their families here, around 2 dozen. Although I find it unlikely they will continue their soldiering out here. Still, if under attack they should be able to put up a fight.” said the Lord.

“Right….you really think this is going to work? I mean, tell me the truth. What are the odds that someone won’t come along and kill me before this place has a chance to really start growing?” asked Ozzy. “Heck, what’s stopping someone here from killing me and claiming the settlement?”

The tent grew somewhat somber at these words. “We accounted for that, Journeyman Caldura here is someone trusted by our family, she is aware of your situation and is knowledgeable on a variety of matters. She will stay to ensure that you are not disposed of too early.” said the Lady.

“Oh, that’s comforting.” said Ozzy as he put his hand out for a handshake. “Pleasure to meet you.”

Caldura looked from his hand to his face. “Do you expect me to kiss your hand? You are no Lord, even if you wear the body of one.”

“What?” asked Ozzy, pulling his hand back. “Who wants their hand to be kissed? You guys don’t shake hands around here? It’s a customary greeting where I’m from.”

“I see that I’ll have a lot of work to do in the coming days.” said Caldura icily, before returning to her meal.

“Journeyman Caldura was also our son’s tutor, she will be teaching you what you need to know to maintain your role as settlement leader, and has agreed to stay behind to assist you with your duties.” said the Lord.

“Cool, why do you guys keep saying Journeyman as if it means something?” asked Ozzy, reaching for an orange.

“The Journeyman title indicates her proficiency of manipulating her element, which in her case is earth-” the maester stopped replying to Ozzy’s inquiry as the orange he had been holding slipped from his hand and dropped to the table.

Ozzy frowned at his hand for a moment before reaching for the orange again. Only to drop it once again.

“How long have you had trouble holding things?” asked the maester.

“I don’t know. It just started maybe.” said Ozzy. The Lord and Lady sat up sharply, shooting the maester a look.

The maester moved over to Ozzy, pried his eyes open, checked his pulse and cast a skill of some sort upon the body.

“Did you sleep last night?” asked the maester.

“No, I was reading that scroll and..I dunno, I didn’t feel sleepy.” said Ozzy, uncomfortable from the prodding.

“I thought as much. I assumed that since you were eating and processing your other bodily functions normally that there was no problem, but it seems I was wrong. It often happens in the case of spirit possession that the spirit and body are not aligned. Usually this shows up in immediately apparent ways such as an inability to speak, or an inability to move, feel etc. In some cases it will be something like an inability to feel hunger or emotions. In your case, it appears to be an inability to sleep.” said the maester.

“Cool. So I don’t have to sleep. Wait, how does that stop me from picking up oranges.” asked Ozzy.

“You still have to sleep, or rather, your body requires it. Your body is still experiencing all of the fatigue that the young Lord accumulated prior to entering the Landston hallway as well as everything you went through afterwards.” said the maester.

“How the heck am I supposed to sleep if I can’t sleep? Heck, I was just reading last night, shouldn’t that count as rest?” asked Ozzy.

“No, the body generates the mind. If the mind is active you are still accumulating fatigue.” said the maester as he moved back to his own chair to continue eating.

“So what’s the fix doc?” asked Ozzy.

“I don’t know what a dock has to do with it, but you will need to meditate for four hours every night until a normal sensation of sleep returns to you. Journeyman Caldura should be able to guide you through the process.” said the maester.

“Great, I have a body that now may collapse because I can’t feel sleepy.” said Ozzy with a roll of his eyes.

“Spirit, you will maintain my son’s body or so help me, I will flay your immortal soul.” said the Lady.

“Ohhh noooooo. Colour me scared.” said Ozzy. “You people really need to stop making threats when you’re in no position to be making them.”

“Do you think I would hesitate to do so spirit?” asked the Lady, her tone icy.

“How about I don’t hesitate to not sleep and your son’s body dies in a few days.” said Ozzy. “I’m sure you’re a big shot in your own duchy but here we have a mutual need and you are in no position to issue threats or demands.”

The Lady sat back, her nostrils flaring and teeth clenched in anger.

Both the Lord, maester and Caldura sat back too, slight shock showing on their faces. The Duchess was the true backbone of the family, and the highest ranked noble. She had won her position against male heirs by force of arms and political prowess. It was rare for her to take a step back.

“Good. That being said. Thank you for your assistance. I am not ungrateful and I will not harm your son’s body unnecessarily. Although it could use a little bit more muscle in my opinion.” said Ozzy.

The Lord ended up laughing slightly at the last comment which ended up earning him an angry glare from his wife. The room’s atmosphere shifted back to one of ease with that exchange.

“Your first task will be to introduce yourself as the settlement leader, the Lord and Lady can issue a few directives to begin establishing the settlement prior to their departure.. Afterwards we should meet and prepare a plan on what you’ll be doing.” said Caldura, primly wiping away a few crumbs from her face.

What followed was a profoundly boring event where Ozzy was introduced to the populace as the settlement leader with the populace expressing very little enthusiasm. To have an unknown stranger suddenly established as the settlement leader was very disquieting for the commoners.

“Hello everyone. It’s wonderful to see all of you who have decided to move forward with developing a community here. I know some of you may feel some trepidation that someone other than a member of your expedition has claimed this settlement. Good! You should feel worried. I am not a [Lord] raised to lead a settlement, I am not a [King]’s son, or from an exalted bloodline. I am just like you, a person brought to this frontier by circumstance, some of it beyond my control, who claimed this settlement and now has to do their best to work with all of you to build a life here.” started Ozzy. If not for the impeccable social training the nobility went through the Earl and the Duchess may have covered their faces in shame at what was in their humble opinion, a terrible speech.

“I will make mistakes, I will not be perfect, but I promise you all that I will work every bit as hard as you to make this community a bountiful one. A community built on fairness of law, equality of treatment, and an open and welcoming heart. Once you’ve all seen off your fellow expedition members I’ll join you to start our first community planning session.” said Ozzy, waving his hands at the crowd as he stepped away back to the nobles and maester.

If he was being honest, the faces in the crowd didn’t hold the most interested or excited faces. But at the very least they now looked less worried than they had when he first stepped up to talk to them.

“Well, you lost them at trepidation, but it wasn’t the worst speech I’ve ever heard.” said the maester with a smile that held a hint of worry.

“What the hell was that?!” asked the Lord, grabbing Ozzy by his shoulders.

“What? You asked me to give a speech to unite them and so they would follow me.” said Ozzy perplexed.

“You set yourself as their equal, then you promised them equality and a bunch of other crap. What kind of anti-monarchy talk is that!! The [King] is going to send an army to crush you into the dirt if he hears that.” yelled the Lord. “You’re trying to stay out of his notice, not incite the peasants. Get back up there, and tell them that you won’t be changing the ruling system or you’ll soon have anarchy on your hands!”

“Holy shit, alright, damn!” said Ozzy, putting his hands up to knock away the Lord’s hands before returning to the front.

“Slight addendum. I didn't mean to imply that the system of government would change. It’s business as usual, I just meant that in matters of the law, and opportunity and things like that, I won’t be treating a cobbler different from a blacksmith. I hope that clears things up. I didn’t mean to cause any worry.” said Ozzy.

If anything the crowd looked more disgruntled than they had before. Their faces screamed “we messed up if this is our settlement leader.”

Ozzy turned back around to look at the nobles and this time the Duchess really did put her face in her palms in an effort not to scream.

Ozzy shrugged before moving over to Caldura who was taking notes on parchment. “After the [Earl] and [Duchess] are done with their set up orders, do you mind going around and grouping people by trade. Then have them select a group representative to come talk to us. These positions are temporary until we set up a formal system, but we need something in place now since most of the people who would have been in charge are leaving.”

Caldura raised an eyebrow. “It’s a surprisingly smart decision. I would have recommended doing so after we spoke privately but it seems you have actually read the settlement leader guide given by the maester.”

“Hey, I’m more than a pretty face. Let’s meet in my tent once everyone leaves.” said Ozzy with an easy smile, as he moved away to his tent. He had received a variety of parchments from the maester all containing information about the group of people he had been left with. If he was going to fake his way through being a settlement leader, he needed more information than he had now.

--

Caldura poked her head into Ozzy’s tent to let him know the group was here. From her left she heard a screech “AAAhhhhh, I’m naked, get out, get out GET OUT!”

She stepped back in embarrassment. Her cheeks turned dark brown from the blood rushing to them. A few of the peasants behind her tittered and she heard a few chuckles coming from inside the tent before she realized that she had been tricked.

“Wait, here.” she said to the peasants before striding into the tent in a rage.

“Wow, knows that I’m naked but walked in anyway, Very cheeky.” said Ozzy, nude as a skylark and reaching for his robe and undergarments. He had been in the left corner of the room near the tent entrance but was now moving towards the center of the room where his clothing lay on a chair.

This time Caldura yelped much louder before running out. “You pervert, why are you NAKED!”

“Because I was doing some stretches. Who walks in when they know someone is inside naked. I mean the first time I get, that was an accident, but the second time was on purpose, what’s wrong with you?” yelled Ozzy.

“I..I...shut up!! Don’t make this my fault, this is your fault!!!” yelled Caldura.

By now even the soldiers who had been acting as guards were having trouble maintaining their composure.

“MY FAULT?!! Who in the world just barges into another person’s living space without announcing themselves! Heck, who BARGES BACK IN FOR A SECOND LOOK AND THEN ACTS SHOCKED THAT I’M STILL NAKED 2 SECONDS LATER!!” yelled Ozzy.

By now the peasants had abandoned all attempts at their facade and were openly laughing. The guards were twitching every so slightly from trying not to laugh. Their faces contorted from trying not to smile.

Caldura’s eyes narrowed as she looked at the guards. “Oh, is something funny Lockheed?” she asked.

“No ma’am, nothing funny at all. Just unused to guard duty. I’ll get used to it in a few days. Nothing to concern yourself about.” said the guard, stiffening his posture.

“Ok, I’m dressed. You can come in now, you animal!” said Ozzy.

Caldura walked into the tent in a huff, the peasants following behind still giggling slightly.

“Settlement leader Ozymandias, since you are now decent. With me are representatives from the [Builders], [Foresters], [Hunters], [Miners], [Cooks], and other material producers,” said Caldura. Each of the peasants bowed slightly to Ozzy.

They looked around the room at their settlement leader’s tent. It was larger than many of their own and consisted of a bed in one corner, a few shelves to hold parchment or books, a chest for clothing, a table and chair, as well as a smaller table which held a pitcher of water, a basin of water to wash hands, as well as some linens.

“Hello, a pleasure to meet you all. Although I wish my first impression was slightly better.” said Ozymandias raising an eyebrow towards Caldura. “Please introduce yourself with your name and profession, as well as what group you represent. Also, Caldura, how come there is no one from the guards or soldiers?”

“I thought it best to discuss military matters at a later meeting, there is no need for the peasants to know about what the soldiers do.” said Caldura, implying with her eyes that Ozymandias should follow along.

“Fine, fine. Please, let’s start with you.” said Ozymandias, motioning to the large, heavily muscled, woman who was still wearing an apron. From what he could tell, she was one of the many races that resembled what he commonly thought of as beastmen. In this case, her appearance was somewhat similar to that of an otter. A large, heavily muscled, light brown furred, otter. Ozzy had learned from the maester that the term beastmen wasn’t used as they

didn’t use humans as the baseline. But for Ozzy it was still a new experience to meet a species such as this.

“Hello, settlement leader, I apologize for my earlier treatment, I didn’t realize who you were-” started the woman.

“No problem, it’s all in the past.” said Ozzy, waving her onward.

“My name is Sumeila Balsingham. My friends call me Sumi. I was one of the [Cook]’s at the Duchess’s manor. I represent the [Cooks], the [Butchers], and the [Servers].” said Sumeila.

“Hello settlement leader.” started the second person. He was one of Solomon’s Children and unlike the rest of his species he had dark black hair which suggested mixed ancestry. Otherwise he retained the slender frame, and high cheekbones prevalent in their species. “My name is Braxton and I represent the [Miners] which also includes, the [Forgers], and the [Inscribers].”

“[Inscribers] as well? Really. It was my understanding that they were relatively rare.” said Ozzy. It was one of the items mentioned by the maester that most settlements had difficulty developing due to the lack of [Inscribers].

“Yes sir, there is a family of [Inscribers] that decided to stay. Two adults and a child who is an apprentice to their craft.” said Braxton, before stepping back.

“And what do you do Braxton?” asked Ozzy.

“I’m a blacksmith by trade and a [Forger] by class sir.” said Braxton.

“Right, next.” said Ozzy.

“Hullo, I’m Frederickson, a [Scout], I represent the [Hunters], [Scouts] and some of the [Archers]. Frederickson was probably the tallest member of Solomon’s Children that Ozzy had seen. His lanky body and long face lent him a morose appearance. Although this was broken up by the sparkling orange eyes which showed a mischievous nature.

“My name is Tomar, I’m a [Forester], and I represent the [Foresters], [Gatherers], [Farmers], some of the [Diggers], the [Fishermen] and [Woodsmen]. Tomar was an older member of Solomon’s Children. His pale yellow hair was starting to turn grey at the temples and his face was starting to gain wrinkles where it wasn’t scarred.

“That’s quite a few groups you’re the representative of.” said Ozzy, stroking his chin as he placed his elbows on the desk in front of him.

“Yes sir, we all talked it over and decided that we all usually have the same requests or even similar requests, so we thought it best to only have one representative for all of us.” replied Tomar.

Ozzy nodded his head indicating that the last person should introduce themselves.

The last person was also a Child of Solomon. Unlike the rest of her brethren she sported a darker complexion and her hair was almost pure white. Furthermore, unlike the others who came in normal peasant garb of trousers and shirts, she wore a vest with a belt over her clothes.

“Hello, my name’s Sheila, I’m a [Foreman], and I represent the [Builders], [Carpenters], [Stonemasons], [Thatchers], the rest of the [Diggers], and [Dowsers].

“Most of the leaders for these groups left with the Lord and Lady, the only one who stayed is Sheila. She was meant to lead the [Builders] and decided to stay. The rest are all new.” said Caldura.

“Well, like I said, it’s a pleasure to meet you all. Let’s get down to business.” said Ozzy, trying his hardest not to say it in song. “Thank you all for rising to the occasion and volunteering to represent your groups, as I mentioned, these are temporary positions. If you choose to relinquish your role then please let Caldura know and give us appropriate time to find a replacement.

Surprisingly the group talked late into the night, with Ozymandias learning in detail the current state of the settlement. The resources that had been left behind, the plans that had initially been made for the settlement and discussing the adjustments that would have to be made.

--

The new day found Ozzy with a group of people from Tomar’s group heading towards the woods that he now knew was located south of the settlement. While there was some light conversation occurring within the group, they were relatively quiet. A lifetime of operating in forests had taught them all the value of silence.

Tomar himself was quiet, even though he was walking with Ozzy.

Ozzy in stark incongruity with the rest of the group was singing “It’s raining men” reworded so that instead of men it was elves while holding an axe over his shoulders. Unlike previous days where he had to wear the red robes of nobility, today he was wearing something from his new wardrobe that had been left behind by the Lord and Lady. It was a robe but in an undyed grey colour.

Arrival at the forest edge confirmed what Ozzy had thought when viewing it from a distance. The trees were HUGE. Californian Redwoods huge. Yet unlike those woods where people could walk around the trees due to the space between them, this forest hosted shrubbery, plants and smaller trees which choked off a path of easy traversal. The purple coloration shared by some of the plant life also threw off his expectations about the forest.

Putting his axe on the ground, Ozzy turned to Tomar.

“So, what’s the plan?” he asked.

Tomar turned to him with a slight twitch of his left eye. “My plan was for you to stay in the settlement while we inspected the trees and determined where to start cutting. Since my plan has already been broken, the new plan is that you’ll stay here while we examine the edge of the forest for a good spot to start chopping.”

“That’s boring man, can’t we just start here with this one?” asked Ozzy, walking up and putting a hand to one of the trees.

This was followed by the most unusual gust of wind that any of them had ever seen. The wind whipped through the group before swirling in an unusual pattern. Slowly, it began to pick up bits of grass, leaves and small stones. As the wind swirled it grew to resemble the shape of a person, composed entirely of moving pieces of nature.

“So, what is this, some kind of nature spirit Tomar?” asked Ozzy, uncertain about how to proceed. He wasn’t sure if this was a normal occurrence at every forest or if something unique was happening.

Silence greeted his question. “Tomar? Tomar?” he asked turning around, only to see that some of the foresters had run away and the rest were slowly inching back.

“Uh oh.” said Ozzy, turning back to face the creature while slowly backing up like the others seemed to be doing.

“You remember us, as we once were.” said the strange person made of swirling wind while pointing at Ozzy. Its voice was a strange disjointed product of rustling leaves and clacking stones.

“Uh...what!? I think I’d remember a swirling leaf man if I met them.” said Ozzy.

“You remember us as we once were, when we were Tuatha De Dannan.” said the creature. Its features shifting to show sadness.

“OH shit…..a faerie? Tomar, run back to the settlement and bring back some honeyed milk and pastries ok? Everyone else, just calm down and take a seat in the grass, don’t move.” said Ozzy.

Without turning around he heard a set of footsteps running back to the settlement.

“No offence, but you don’t look like a faerie. They were people of substance and you seem to be made of air.” said Ozzy.

“We are but a memory of those who once lived in these lands. We once roamed across these sidhe and played with the young races. But we were banished to the Otherworld and forced to leave this place.” said the man made of wind.

“But you’re still here.” said Ozzy, raising an eyebrow.

“Merely an impression of those who once were. We are not the same. An impression that was left in the world with their departure, that filled when they left. We are Aon Dar. We woke when we realized that one who remembers us once again walked these lands.” said the man made of wind.

“Ok…..a lot of backstory there. Are you living in these woods?” asked Ozzy.

“No, for we have no sidhe. When they left, they closed their halls and the Gods used them to host their own halls. We can no longer enter and when the young races forgot us, we faded. Until you remembered us once again.” said the man made of wind. “I can see it, you have claimed the old sidhe and built your own hall.”

It was then that Tomar returned with a pot full of honeyed milk and a bowl full of sweet dishes.

“Thank you Tomar.” whispered Ozzy.

“I informed Caldura, and the guard should be here with her soon.” whispered back Tomar.

“No, don’t. When they get here, tell the guard to stay back. Do not approach with cold iron.” said Ozzy.

Tomar looked at him incredulously. “Sir, that thing is likely a manaborn monster, we need to kill it. I don’t know how you’ve managed to keep it entranced but these things are a menace that needs to be exterminated.”

“No, and that’s an order. It is not a monster. Tell the guards to stay back when they arrive.” ordered Ozzy.

“Yes settlement leader.” said Tomar, with a sullen tone.

Ozzy turned back to the wind spirit holding the pot of milk and bowl of sweets. “As a guest of our fair settlement, I offer you these so that you may quench your thirst and ease your hunger.”

“With gratitude I accept your offer, and in the same spirit I offer you this advice.” said the strange man made of wind. “In times past we dined with the young races in their halls. It was a mark of esteem for them to host those of our court. Yet we grew vain and haughty. We forsook their halls and held ourselves apart. In our arrogance we forgot that the young live such short lives and without anyone to remember us we faded away. Remember young ruler, remember our arrogance and learn humility.”

“Thank you for the tale.” said Ozzy, bowing solemnly.

Ozzy then heard Caldura’s voice from behind him. “Ozymandias, sir. May I speak to you for a moment?”

“Please excuse me, I shall return shortly.” said Ozzy, bowing once more to the creature before turning around in the direction of the voice. The man made of wind nodded his head in acceptance.

He saw that most of the group was now huddled behind the squad of guards that had arrived. In front of them stood Caldura, her arms crossed and a scowl visible on her face. Tomar stood to her side, his worried face a stark contrast to Caldura’s.

“Yes Caldura, what is it?” asked Ozzy once out of earshot of the man.

“WHAT are you doing, approaching an unknown manaborn monster!” whisper shouted Caldura. “You could have gotten yourself and everyone else killed. Manaborn monsters are dangerous!”

“It’s fine. I don’t think it’s a monster or whatever. It says it’s one of the Aon Dar. Some sort of remnant of the Tuatha De Dannan. Fairies. As long as we are polite, we are not in any danger.” said Ozzy.

A beat passed as everyone looked at Ozzy, even the guards lost some of their alert state to pull off a quick look.

“What?” asked Ozzy.

“What are you talking about? Toothy whata? That’s not a thing. That’s a manaborn monster, just like every other manaborn monster. This one just somehow looks like a wind guy, it’s not the craziest shape I’ve seen one become. We’re killing it.” said Caldura, motioning for the soldiers to move forward.

“No no no no no, I’m telling you. It’s safe. How have you not heard of fairies? You know, fairies. This thing is like one of them. DO NOT kill it. That’s an order!” said Ozzy.

Strangely, this time his words seemed to carry more weight and everyone stopped.

Ozzy could hear Caldura grinding her teeth as she glared at him. For a moment he thought that perhaps she would ignore his order and continue anyway. “Fine, but we’ll need to talk in detail after this.”

Ozzy turned around and walked back to the man made of wind with a wave of his hand.

“Sorry about that, matters of state.Well then, it has been a pleasure to meet you and if you need anything please, do let me know.” said Ozzy. Polite necessities done, Ozzy prepared to leave back to the group.

“There is one matter I would wish to address with you. My people have no hall, we would subject ourselves to yours. I speak plainly when I say, if no one remembers us, we will fade once again, and while your memory may awaken us, more will be required to maintain us. So I ask you, as a member of the Court, to allow us into your hall.” said the man made of wind.

“You are your own people, why would you subject yourself to me? Especially now that other people know about you. Surely all of their memories should sustain you and allow you to rebuild your civilization?” asked Ozymandias.

“They do not remember us, not truly, not as we were, and neither of you know us as we are now. But our request is self serving, for we seek your protection. Left alone, we would be hunted as monsters. Under your hall we are less likely to be killed before we arise.” said the man made of wind.

“True, but you could still develop an independent camp separate from mine. It is very strange that you would trust me so quickly, to subject your people to my rule so suddenly, it is very suspicious.” said Ozymandias.

“It is because you are a kindred spirit, one like us. We were born to this world from the mana of this plane and the memory of beings from another plane. We are a being of two worlds. We sensed that you too were a being of two worlds. We once fell prey to our arrogance which led our people to our decline. This time we shall express humility and hope for our resurgence.” said the man made of wind.

Ozzy looked back at the group behind him, especially Caldura who was glaring at him with such force that he was surprised he wasn’t combusting.

He then turned to the creature. Here was something out of legend. A story from childhood brought to life. Not exactly as it had been on Earth, but at least a fragment of it. He was being asked for shelter, and if it was just him, he would have said yes. But he did have a whole settlement to think about as well. What did these things eat, where would they live, would he get in trouble for doing this.

It was strange, it wasn’t like the world stood still and held its breath for him to make a decision. But he did know that this was one of those decisions. When he turned 12, his father had sat him down to have a discussion. He had been expecting the standard talk and was dreading talking to his father about anything remotely personal, but the conversation had been definitive in its formation of Ozzy’s personality.

--

A young Ozymandias Hargrave sat on a plush recliner in his father’s study. He had just turned 12 yesterday and had been called to have a talk with his father. Young Ozzy’s feet kicked at the recliner’s footrest as he waited for his father to finish his phone call. Even at a young age the resemblance could be seen between the two.

They both had soft dark hair, on the older Hargrave it was neatly combed over and on the younger one it lay in light messy curls. They both possessed the sharp jaw common to his father’s family, and their lips, nose and eyes, all possessed a sharp angle that wouldn’t have been out of place on an archetypical British villain.

Where they differed was in the cheeks and ears. Ozzy possessed the rounded chubby cheeks and swept back ears of his mother, as well as earl lobes which connected to his face. Unlike his father, these features softened his face into something approachable.

“Thank you Tom, I’ll talk to you later. Goodbye.” said Hargrave senior, as he put his phone down. “Stop kicking the chair Ozymandias, it’s very unbecoming. Now, pay attention. I’m going to talk to you about something very important. My own father had this talk with me at your age, and it’s high time that you had it as well.”

“Yes father.” said young Ozzy as he shifted in his chair, trying to feel comfortable about the uncomfortable conversation he was about to have.

The dark oak bookshelves and wood panelling of his father’s study did not help to dismiss the formal mood that had settled.

“What kind of person do you want to be, Ozymandias?” asked his father.

“What?” asked Ozzy.

“It is a simple question, what kind of person do you want to be? Do you want to be smart? Kind? Courageous? Resourceful? Cutthroat? Greedy? The options are endless, but what kind of person do you want to be?” asked his father. Before steepling his fingers and focusing on his son.

Ozzy thought about it for a while before replying. “I’m not sure. I think I want to be a nice person, but not a pushover. Smart, I guess. I don’t know.”

“I see. It is to be expected, you wouldn’t have defined ideas about exactly what type of person you want to be. But it is important that you start thinking about it in general. What I wanted to talk to you about however is how you determine what type of person you end up as. Ultimately, it comes down to your decisions. There are regular decisions, people make decisions every day. They decide not to tip at a restaurant, they decide to spend money on candy rather than saving it, they decide to give money to a homeless man out of charity. Our days are filled with regular decisions. Do you understand?” asked his father.

“Yes sir.” said young Ozzy.

“Good. These largely don’t matter. They occur almost unconsciously, and they don’t require a great deal of thought. They are largely guided by what type of person you are. However, there is a second type of decision. This one is an important decision. There are certain points in life that determine your character, where you have to decide what type of person you want to be. Should you finish off a fallen foe or spare him, should you accept a challenging task if it will take you away from a place of comfort, should you accept to serve something greater or will you serve yourself. These decisions matter. These decisions dictate the type of person you will develop into. Understand?” asked his father.

The young Ozzy looked at his father with a face that implied constipation. “I think so. But, can’t I go back. What if I make a wrong decision and decide I don’t want to be a certain type of person. Does it matter if I can just change my mind later. Cause’ momma always says that people can change.”

His father sighed softly. “It’s true that people can change, but the big decisions, the important ones. They stain the soul Ozymandias, they colour your mentality, they shift the fulcrum of your life. Yes, you could change, yes you could work in opposition to your decision. But then you are burdened, burdened with guilt, burdened with the knowledge that you made a wrong choice, that you made a wrong decision. That is why it is so important that when such a decision presents itself to you, you think very carefully. Don’t make it on a whim, think about that type of person you wish to be. Think very hard, and then move forward. This will ensure that you don’t live with regrets, that you can make the correct choice based on the type of person you want to be.

--

Ozzy took a deep breath. What kind of person did he want to be? Would this be foolish? Unkind? Trusting? Naive? What kind of person would he be after this decision? Which would he regret?

Ozzy closed his eyes and thought about accepting the Aon Dar for a few minutes. When he opened his eyes, they weren’t plagued by hesitation.

“I accept. As long as your people pledge allegiance to me and follow my rules, then they are welcome in my settlement with all of the rights, privileges and protections that entails.” declared Ozzy. He held his hand out for a handshake.

The man made of wind looked down at the hand, he paused unsure, before bending down on one knee and kissing the hand. “Our people follow you now, by the land, the light, and the water over stone, we follow you.” said the man made of wind.

Ozzy looked confused for a moment, he wasn’t sure what he had felt but seemed like some bit of the wind which composed the creature had touched him. “Dude, I was going for a handshake.” he said, flustered.

“A handshake?” asked the man made of wind.

“Never mind, let’s head to the settlement, the people will have to be informed about what’s happening.” said Ozzy, turning back to Caldura and the rest of the group.

He was surprised to find that they were staring at him in shock, some had their jaws dropped, but all of them were wide eyed.

He walked towards them with a representative of the Aon Dar. “So, what should I call you? Do you have a name?” asked Ozzy.

“You can call us Pick, and we are well versed in court matters.” replied Pick.

“Court matters?” asked Ozzy.

“We are able to speak the language of the young. Many of our number will not be able to, or perhaps they may not be proficient enough to do so.” said Pick.

As they approached the group Ozzy noticed that the leaves, stones and grass that defined the edge of Pick’s body were dropping away. Instead it seemed to be composed of coloured wind for lack of a better term. As the items fell away they revealed that the edge of Pick’s body was defined by a slight green glow that moved as the wind composing it’s body did.

“pleASE TELL ME THAT I DIDN’T SEE WHAT I JUST SAW!” said Caldura, her voice growing louder as they approached the group.

“What?” asked Ozzy.

“Tell me you didn’t just accept this monster’s pledge of fealty!!” said Caldura.

“Of course not, don’t be crazy.” said Ozzy.

“We’ll talk about this later, but thank go-” started Caldura

“I accepted fealty from their people, they’ll be joining our settlement.” said Ozzy.

“WHAT!!”

--

“Ok, is everyone up to speed? No one kill our new citizens. We need all the help we’re going to get to establish a settlement, now we wasted most of today dealing with this but that’s ok. Tomorrow we’re back to normal. I’m sure your group leaders will tell you about what to do in the morning. In the meantime, please, take the time to get to know our new citizens and try really hard not to freak out too much. If any of you are truly uncomfortable about the new citizens, my policy about equality in the settlement or the direction this community is taking, you are more than welcome to leave tomorrow morning. I’m sure you’ll be able to catch up to the main group from yesterday in no time.” said Ozzy, concluding the half hour long speech he had given to the populace.

The gathered people stayed still for a while, all showing faces that said this is a bad idea, but eventually started to disperse, breaking into smaller groups. None of them made a move towards the group of two hundred or so spirits that were gathered next to them, but they didn’t try to kill them either, which was an improvement in Ozzy’s book.

“You gonna be ok big guy?” Ozzy asked the largest member of the Aon Dar who had sat down on the ground near where Ozzy had been giving the speech. This individual member of the Aon Dar was around the size of a two story house. Its body composed of the strange coloured wind that Pick was made up of, the difference was it appeared to have the body of a large faun whose face had rotted away to only show skull.

The giant nodded from where it sat. When it had first appeared from the forest there had been a large commotion and panic amongst the soldiers, one of them had even pissed themselves from fear. But its silent and docile nature appeared to have put some people at ease.

Ozzy watched as the air filled with a light thrum, and the form of the giant appeared to grow fainter as the wind pulled at its colored form, and before long the space where the giant had been was empty.

The rest of the Aon Dar were human sized and varied in shape from fauns and sprites to human or even gnomish. It was an eclectic mix that had joined the human camp and their strange appearance was the least of Ozzy’s worries.

He turned back to the group of people standing behind him, composed of the representatives of the groups, Caldura, Pick, and an unknown soldier, dressed in the martial robes that soldiers often wore when off duty.

“Ok, let’s head to my tent and we can discuss this.” said Ozzy as he forced a smile.

“Sir, shouldn’t it be just us at this meeting? This creature shouldn’t be included.” said the unknown soldier.

“Huh. And who are you?’ asked Ozzy.

“Sir?” asked the soldier, with a puzzled look.

“Right, I forgot. This is Roderick Harkonen, he is the Senior Sergeant that is in command of the platoon of soldiers at the settlement, as a result of Knight Culroy expressing his extreme dissatisfaction at remaining behind to command the soldiers. We were supposed to have a meeting with him today but it was pushed back….” said Caldura.

“Senior Sergeant huh? That’s too low a rank to lead a platoon isn’t it?” asked Ozzy.

“Yes sir. However the rest of the senior staff chose to leave with the Lord and Lady, putting me in charge.” said Sgt. Harkonen. “The point remains, this involves the security of the settlement and I don’t believe it is in our best interest to involve this...being, in the meeting.”

“Sergeant, could your soldiers kill Big Bob in a fight?” asked Ozzy.

“Big Bob sir?” asked the Sergeant.

“The big fella, that was sitting right here before he pulled a disappearing act. Could you take him in a fight?” asked Ozzy, gesturing to where the giant had been sitting.

“Uh, that, I would-” said the Sergeant.

“Let me confirm for you then, you couldn’t. Big Bob is a sweetheart, but it would take a, what did you call it Pick? Oh yeah, it would take a Finster class fighter, which Caldura assures me is an ancient term meaning Adept. While I’m sure that your soldiers are more than capable of defending the settlement from common threats, trust me when I say that if the Aon Dar wanted to kill us, they would have very little trouble doing so. Like I said, they are just looking for a home. One that I am happy to provide, so Pick will join us as a representative as the Aon Dar, am I clear?” asked Ozzy.

Everyone heard the Sergeant grind his teeth before finally acquiescing, “Yes sir”.

--

“This tent is starting to get a little crowded, we have to find a better place to meet,” said Ozzy, looking around as everyone piled in.

“I’ll add it to my list of priorities.” said Caldura with a worn look on her face.

“So, let’s start it off with Sheila. What’ve you got?” asked Ozzy.

“Where will we house these Aindr? The plan I made would have had everyone in some sort of temporary longhouse before winter came. With two hundred of these folks joining us that’s not enough time. Especially if we need to build something big enough to hold the big’un.” said Sheila.

“It’s Aon Dar Sheila. As for the question of housing, Pick, do the Aon Dar require housing? If so, what kind.” asked Ozzy.

“No master Ozymandias. My people are not mortal in the same fashion as the young races. We do not require tombs of wood and stone to hold us, although some of our people may enjoy occupying one as a lark. The protection of your ha- sorry, settlement, is all we require. It is both sustenance and home, although access to the sidhe would be beneficial to our stay.” said Pick.

“Put a pin in that sidhe thing Pick, we’ll circle around to that. But there you go Sheila, no need to worry about building any extra houses. And as you can see from Big Bobo's disappearing act, they don’t occupy a lot of space if they don’t want to. Alrighty, next, Tomar!” said Ozzy. “I can see that you’ve been itching to talk for a while.”

Tomar stepped forward with a sharp scowl on his face. “What do we do about wood, if these Aon Dar live in the woods then how will we be safe chopping wood? If one of them attacks, are we allowed to defend ourselves or will we be punished for defending our God given lives?” asked Tomar with a sneer. Since the incident at the treeline it was obvious he had grown increasingly dismissive of Ozzy.

“Well, all of the Aon Dar live here, so I don’t think there’s any issue with chopping down trees is there Pick?” asked Ozzy.

“No master Ozymandias, with the arrival of your settlement all of the Aon Dar within the woods have moved here. The woods are empty of Aon Dar, however there are monsters such as Raskhasha or Flir beetles deeper in.” said Pick.

“There you go, no need to worry about your logging plan. Also, the Aon Dar are my subjects. If they break a rule, they are subject to the same penalties and punishments that everyone else would be. No more, no less.” said Ozzy.

“And you trust them, you trust their word? They’re fuckin’ monsters and you’re believing them? You-” spewed Tomar

“That’s enough! If they break their word and endanger their fellow folk, then that says something about them. But if I fail to trust a person, if I fail to give someone a fair chance based on their appearance, their race, or their circumstance, then that says something about me!” said Ozzy, his voice icy.

“We would not break our word. We are not like the young folk, we have drank your milk, ate your food and sheltered in your home, we are our word and our word is us.” said Pick.

“So you say.” said Tomar with a sneer, before stepping back, with his arms crossed.

“Right, Sumeila. You look like you have something to ask.” said Ozzy.

“Yes, will they require food? Or rather, will they require space and material to prepare food. I don’t know what air people eat but I imagine you’ll need it.” said Sumeila.

“We are not mortal creatures of flesh and blood, we have no need for sustenance beyond that which you call mana.” said Pick, a smile beginning to form across his face.

“In that case, can you help? We have too few [Cooks] as it is and some extra hands would be welcome.” said Sumeila.

“What, you’d let those things touch our food! I must protest, who knows what-” said Tomar.

“Tomar, restrain yourself!” said Ozzy. “You’ll have your opportunity to speak once Sumeila is done.”

“It’s alright Master Ozymandias. He doesn’t mean anything by it.” said Sumeila, shooting Tomar a warning glare to back off.

“We are creatures of wind and air, therefore we are as dirty or as clean as the air. I can offer no assurance beyond that.” said Pick with an inclination of his head towards Tomar, who turned away with a ‘hmph’. “Some of our number may be willing to assist with food preparation. My people do not think in the days or years that your people think in, we consider action in decades at a time. So even if one of them agrees to assist you shortly, their concept of soon will differ from yours.”

“So, does anyone else have any more concerns? Anything important that needs to be addressed right now, that can’t wait until tomorrow morning?” asked Ozzy, filling up a glass of water from a pitcher on his desk “Because I gotta tell ya, it has been a long day and I am looking forward to not talking for a while.”

The group looked around at each other. They all clearly had more to say but it was also clear that they were all beginning to get tired and didn’t want to stick around. It was then that Pick spoke up. “Master Ozymandias, I would like to speak to you in private if possible.”

Ozzy turned to give Pick a look. He wasn’t sure how to read an Aon Dar’s face and had no option but to take his request at face value. “Sure Pick, anyone else?”

The remainder shook their heads no and the various representatives began to make their way out of the tent.

“Oh, and Sergeant, we can have our meeting first thing tomorrow morning. Whenever you’re available. Coordinate with Caldura to decide on a mutually agreeable time.” said Ozzy.

The Sergeant stopped his exit and turned around. “Sir, soldiers wake up relatively early. I’m sure I can meet whenever you are ready.” Ozzy couldn’t tell if he was trying to be helpful or just upset at the suggestion that a settlement leader would wake up before a soldier.

“I don’t think you understand Sergeant. I don’t sleep. I believe the current time is around 11pm? That means I’ll be ready for a meeting at 3am. I doubt you’ll be available to meet then. So please, discuss a time with Caldura and we shall meet then.” said Ozzy.

Even the representatives who were leaving paused and turned around to look at Ozzy when he mentioned that.

It was Tomar who had the courage to speak up. “You don’t sleep? What?” he asked, incredulous.

“A side effect of the process which led to me becoming a settlement leader, don’t worry about it. Although it does mean that if anyone needs me urgently, I’m always available.” said Ozzy with a cheesy grin.

There was a look exchanged between the various representatives before they began to exit once again.

Ozzy wasn’t sure what that was about but he was sure that it wasn’t good. Still, he wasn’t too worried. He was sure of his life here as long as the Lord and Lady needed this body, and Caldura would ensure his safety.

As the group left Ozzy turned to observe Pick and Caldura, who had remained behind.

“I would recommend that what I have to say remain private Master Ozymandias.” said Pick with a pointed look at Caldura.

“I assure you Pick, whatever you have to say you can say in front of Caldura. My fate is inextricably tied with hers.” said Ozzy with a smile to Caldura before taking a drink.

“Very well sir.” said Pick, drawing himself up. “I notice that you appear to be suffering from a deviation of spirit. There is very little mana flowing between you and your body, the mana flow around you is very turbulent as a result.”

Ozzy and Caldura visibly stiffened, even as Pick continued speaking. “I don’t know what malady you suffer from to have caused such a deviation, but if you would like I can attempt to alleviate the situation.”

Caldura moved in blur, faster than Ozzy had ever seen her move. “Creature, you will keep this knowledge silent or I swear I will end your miserable life.” she whispered to Pick’s face as she held him up by the neck.

Ozzy was surprised at how quickly the situation had escalated and he could only respond by asking “how are you holding him?”.

They both turned to look at him.

“What?” asked Caldura.

“How are you holding him? He’s made of wind. That’s...what?” asked Ozzy, his face shifting from shock to wonder.

“That’s what you’re concerned about? Gods above, preserve me from imbeciles.” said Caldura dropping Pick from the neck grab and turning to face Ozzy.

“You’re the one behaving like a lunatic.” said Ozzy as he gathered his thoughts. “Pick specifically asked everyone else to leave and even offered to help with the issue. When hearing this you decided to do a Vader style death grip.”

“Vader what?” asked Caldura. Although it was obvious that she was starting to realize that her reaction had been extreme and was now looking to change topics.

“Ignore that, but I think you owe Pick an apology.” said Ozzy crossing his arms and leaning back in his seat.

Caldura paused for a second before turning and bowing to Pick. “My apologies. I acted out of turn.”

Pick turned to Ozzy before saying. “The apology is accepted. However, the right to self defence is requested. If this is the treatment the Aon Dar can expect then we shall need it.”

Ozzy grinned for a moment before replying, “Let’s follow the golden rule. Do unto others as they do unto you. I’ll permit a reasonably equivalent reaction to the intent or execution of the action. Nothing excessive.”

“Thank you Master Ozymandias.” said Pick before bowing. “As stated, the need for secrecy is recognized but if requested I may be able to alleviate the issue.”

“Right, let me consult with my advisor.” said Ozzy before turning his towards Caldura. “So, my wise and capable advisor, placed here to guide me on this path so that I don’t cause any monumental blunders like attacking and instigating war with a group of people we have recently invited into our settlement. What do you think?”

Ozzy suspected that if it was allowed she would have chopped his head off rather than maintain the blush on her cheeks for another second. Her face twitched briefly before gritting her teeth and responding. “Matters of the spirit are truly dangerous. I would recommend that you let the issue resolve naturally rather than attempting an unknown method.”

“Thank you for the advice.” said Ozzy. “Pick, let’s do it.”

“WHAT?” shouted Caldura.

“Yes Master Ozymandias.” said Pick, before taking a step forward and placing his hands on Ozzy.

The next sensation Ozzy felt was unlike any that he had felt before. It was like hearing the sound of a piano as expressed by sentient lasagna in a three verse poem. He knew something had changed, but it was quite impossible to tell what had changed, or even how it had changed.

“What just-” started Ozzy before he felt a second sensation and this time he knew exactly what it felt like. It was like when your underwear un-wedgies itself, or when you finally get that popcorn kernel out of your teeth, or when you throw a jacket only for it to land perfectly on a hook.

“Whoa” said Ozzy. Pausing for a moment as he felt a new piece of information, not in his head, but somewhere else for the first time. [Settlement Leader unlocked]. [Conditions met for class consolidation]. [Settlement Leader lost]. [Patrician unlocked]. [Title unlocked: Conqueror]. [Skill unlocked: Beacon Call].

“Uh…….” said Ozzy as fragments of information entered his head. His eyes darting back and forth as if trying to see the knowledge that was moving. It was strange, he couldn’t quite focus on it, but he knew he was getting something, but it seemed to flit through as he tried to hold on to it.

“Oh great, you’ve reduced him to a drooling idiot.” said Caldura snappishly.

“Quite the contrary. It is as if a dessert has encountered a stream. A spirit such as Master Ozymandias’s has never been encountered. Quite curious.” said Pick, stepping back from Ozzy’s body.

“Pick, it’s alright, I think it worked. I just need a moment is all.” said Ozzy, his eyes stopping their frantic motion.

“Very well Master Ozymandias, we are at your command if needed.” said Pick before exiting the tent.

“Well?” asked Caldura, unable to entirely mask the concern she felt.

“I have a [Class], I think, and a [Title] which I didn’t know about, and a [Skill]. Whatever he did I think it worked, I’m getting mana.” said Ozzy, straightening his slumped posture.

“How are you receiving this information? Is there a screen? Are you hearing a voice?” asked Caldura.

“Uh nope, none of that. I’m just...knowing it I guess. Why?” asked Ozzy.

“Crap. Because how you receive the information is a sign of how much mana your spirit is exchanging with the world. Sight is very complex, only a select few who have cleared their spirits are able to observe the information within mana in such a fashion. Sound is more common. Most people in the world interact with mana in this manner. They are unable to clear their spirits and thus cannot view that information. The third is for those who have been crippled by a defect in the spirit. The deaf, the blind, the mute, the mentally infirm. They are able to receive such information but only as knowledge. Their spirits are disjointed from their bodies and the mana is unable to properly move within them. Without a spiritual adjustment by a Grandmaster level practitioner, they are stuck.” said Caldura.

“Huh, that seems strange. I mean, just knowing stuff seems awesome. Why would, how I receive information matter.” asked Ozzy.

“Because it also affects how much information you receive. If your spirit is clear, you would be able to see a description of your class, its purpose, and actions which are governed by it. Even if your spirit was clouded, you would be able to hear a brief description of what your [Class], [Skill], or [Title] do. As you are, all you will know are the names.” said Caldura.

“Huh. I don’t suppose that we have a very useful compendium of some sort hanging around do we?” asked Ozzy, his concern growing.

“I don’t know, I will have to check the materials the maester left behind. I believe he left behind several guides which may be useful.” said Caldura, running her hands through her hair.

“Oh yeah, he did leave behind that settlement guide, I have it around here somewhere.” said Ozzy as he took a look around his tent.

“I shall look through the materials and see if I can find anything useful, we can meet tomorrow morning and discuss our findings.” said Caldura.

“Don’t I have to meet with that Sargeant tomorrow morning?” asked Ozzy.

“Yes, of course. We can meet before then. With your condition, I assume it won’t be an issue to meet early?” asked Caldura.

“Of course.” said Ozzy, as he sat back and closed his eyes for his nightly mediation.

The surroundings lost their sound as people drifted off to sleep and Ozzy realized that his meditation process was somewhat different than it had been previously. Initially it had felt like it always did, he let his mind be open and listened to his breathing as a guide.

Unlike the previous time he meditated, this time he felt something stir in his body. It wasn’t the air he was breathing, but something was shifting. Whenever he tried to grasp on to the feeling it seemed to shift away from his control. It was very unusual.

The meditation time quickly passed and once the candle clock clattered indicating that four hours had passed, Ozzy got up to read the book given to him by the maester.

After a few hours of reading interspersed with snack breaks, he heard a throat loudly clear outside the tent. “Is it safe to enter? May I come in?” asked Caldura.

“Yes, please enter.” said Ozzy.

Caldura stepped inside while holding several thick tomes. Her clothing had changed, losing the practical clothes she had worn the night before for a grey robe.

“Hey, out of curiosity, all I have are robes, could I get some trousers made for me?” asked Ozzy.

“Err, I suppose, although trousers are for soldiers and fighters, leaders such as yourself wouldn’t lower themselves to wear such things.” said Caldura.

“Huh, alright, when in Rome I guess.” said Ozzy with a shrug.

“What?” asked Caldura.

“Nothing, nevermind. Just idioms, ignore it.” said Ozzy as he waved his hands in dismissal. “So, find anything useful? Because I know that I have found something troubling.”

“What did you find that was troubling?” asked Caldura.

“I was reading through the guide book the maester left and I found out something about Settlements. The Landston absorbed by the settlement leader is used to generate a mana field around the settlement. It is this field which rejects manaborn monsters. Normally this happens automatically, but apparently some guy called the Marquis de Fauntillion, was once spiritually poisoned and they noticed that as a result this field was not generated within his holdings. This meant that manaborn were able to approach the settlement. My situation while not the same is similar, I don’t think I’m putting out any sort of manafield, which means that manaborn are going to become a problem soon.” said Ozzy.

“I had assumed that the lack of mana density was because this was a young settlement, I didn’t realize that it was a result of your spiritual deviation.” said Caldura, frowning from her seat. “I have a few points that may address that.”

“Before that, what did you find?” asked Ozzy, curious about his class and skill.

“Right, there were a few books regarding classes and skills within the several the maester left behind. Within one of them there is mention of a [Patrician] class. It was only mentioned in passing a few times but it appears to be a non-noble ruling [Class]. Something similar to [Aristocratic Classes]. Your [Skills] may include a combination of [Noble] skills and general [Administrative] skills.” said Caldura.

“Interesting. I wouldn’t think that it would be the best class for a new place such as this. Wouldn’t some sort of Camp leader, or maybe a founder class or something be better.” asked Ozzy.

“Perhaps.But-” started Cladura when Ozzy interrupted her.

“Wait, it first said that I had the [Settlement Leader] class, but then that I had a consolidation, and then [Patrician] was unlocked.” said Ozzy. “Does that make a difference?”

“That likely occurred as a result of your achievements, or perhaps the title, or maybe you were about to receive a second class but it got consolidated into your first one. It’s hard to say, it could be anything from the size of the settlement, to gaining the recognition of foreign heads of state, or about establishing a settlement in a foreign land, or that you contested for a Landston. There are too many reasons why it could have occured, although I do agree. Classes like [Village Head] or even the basic [Settlement Leader] may have developed early skills which would be relevant for us. I am uncertain what [Patrician] will produce.” said Caldura.

“Cool, as if we weren’t starting a step behind.” said Ozzy, as he shook his head.

“The other bit of information is about the skill [Beacons Call]. According to what I read, it appears to be something that new settlement leaders often get when they don’t have access to an immigrant population. It puts out a call via mana that draws in new settlers. The problem is that it doesn’t differentiate too well on what it counts as a settler. So we could get anything from a roving group of bandits to an undiscovered new species.” said Caldura, snapping her book closed.

“Cool, so anything about the title?” asked Ozzy.

“Nope.” replied Caldura.

“Wait, really? Wh-” said Ozzy.

“Because most [Settlement Leaders] don’t get a title like [Conqueror]. It’s not in any of the books. There’s stuff like [Homesteader], [Barnraiser], [Trailblazer], even [Founder], but nothing on [Conqueror]. I’m assuming that most people that start a settlement are already part of a Kingdom, there’s nothing for them to go conquer.” said Caldura.

“Hold on, there’s a [Founder] title and a [Founder] class. How does that make sense?” asked Ozzy.

“How do you not know, it’s basic-, right, yes, titles and classes are not mutually exclusive. Titles are given to one time achievements or occurrences, while classes are reflections of a sustained endeavor. Conquer something once, and you get the title [Conqueror], devote your life to being a conqueror and you may get the class [Conqueror]. Titles are easy to get in the beginning, babies and children get tons, but lose them as they get older. Adults find it more difficult to get titles. There are also unique titles. Children usually get the title [Loved], but there is no class called [Loved], the closest is [Lover] but even that isn’t analogous.” said Caldura and rubbed the bridge of her nose in consternation.

“Wait, how did I get the class [Patrician] then, I haven’t devoted my life to that.” asked Ozzy.

“How long have you been here?” asked Caldura.

“Like a week. Five days? I’m not sure. I don’t know.” said Ozzy.

“You’ve been here for four days. Of those four days you’ve been the settlement leader for all four. You’re an adult. As far as the God of Knowledge is concerned, you’ve dedicated your life to being a leader.” said Caldura.

“Wait, God of Knowledge. There’s an actual God of Knowledge, and it determines classes?” asked Ozzy. “How does that make sense?”

Caldura rubbed the bridge of her nose before shifting and trying to get more comfortable on her chair. “Yes, the God of Knowledge is the holder of all knowledge, or at least all knowledge that has been discovered. Which means that the God categorizes everything in existence, from people to plants and rocks. When you receive a [Class] you’re essentially being labelled as that [Class] and the God of Knowledge gifts you knowledge on how to manipulate mana to achieve a certain result, which are labeled as [Skills]. Don’t ask me why those names, or the difference, or anything, I’m not a priest of the God of Knowledge.”

“That doesn’t make sense. What’s a level then? Degrees of [Class]? How can I be more [Patrician] than I was yesterday?” asked Ozzy.

“Listen, I don’t know. You’d have to talk to a [Priest], or [Nun], or [Abbess], of the God of Knowledge about that stuff. I’m just telling you how it works.” said Caldura.

“How do you not know?!! This is like a basic building block of how the world works, it’s one of the cruxes of your society!! This-this is-” spluttered Ozzy.

“HEY! It isn’t necessary to know how something works as long as it does work. Unless you were a scholar in your world, I doubt you know how every aspect of the structure of your world works.” said Caldura.

Ozzy sat back a little smug. “Well, I don’t know about every aspect, but we were taught most of the basics in school”

“Oh, then how does your world determine [Classes] and [Levels]?”asked Caldura.

“We don’t have them.” said Ozzy.

“You-, you don’t have [Classes]? Then what does your God of Knowledge do?” asked Caldura.

“We don’t have one, we may have a God, although no one is sure. There’s no mana. My, what was the word the maester used…., right, my mortal plane is different from yours.” said Ozzy.

“Fine, then if there are no [Classes], how are your leaders selected.” asked Caldura.

“Uh, well, there are a few different systems but my country had elections. People vote and a leader is selected.” said Ozzy.

“Oh, so each person gets a vote and the majority wins?” asked Caldura.

“Well, not exactly, it’s based on electoral districts I think. You vote for a representative for your area, and the group that has the largest number of representatives selects a leader from their group and they lead. I think.” said Ozzy.

“You think? This is a fundamental crux of your world and you don’t know how it works?” asked Caldura with a snide tone.

“Well, it’s complicated. And, and...fine. Ok. you don’t need to know exactly how something works. Fine.” said Ozzy, raising his arms in surrender.

“Thank you!” said Caldura, sitting back smugly.

“Wait, all of the stuff I just said. Will the God of Knowledge know all of that now? Does it have all of the knowledge I know?” asked Ozzy, worried about what he may have just introduced to the world.

“Did you discover it?” asked Caldura.

“No, I mean, technically I did I guess, since some of the knowledge I have is probably not present here.” said Ozzy.

“Yes, but did you discover it? Are you the generator of the knowledge, have you discovered an aspect of the natural or constructed world that hadn’t been conceived before, or did you just read it somewhere? Did you think of the concepts yourself or were they told to you?” asked Caldura.

“Well, no, but-”

“Then no, the God of Knowledge doesn’t know it. Besides, most of it is probably useless. If your world didn’t have mana then it probably won’t apply here.” said Caldura, cutting him off.

“That’s not necessarily true. I mean basic physics, like the basic rules of reality apply here. After all, things like gravity are still here.” said Ozzy.

“What do you think causes gravity?” asked Caldura.

“It’s a property of matter. All matter feels an attraction towards all other matter and-” started Ozzy.

“Wrong.” interrupted Caldura. “Gravity is a result of the God of Earth pulling mana towards him. The mana pushes all things towards him as a result.”

“That...what?! The God of Earth is in the center of the world and pulling mana? Why? What? That doesn’t explain other things like the sun and the moon and stuff.” said Ozzy, incredulously.

“Why would it need to explain other things? Besides, one of the gods went to the moon, said there wasn’t any gravity there.” said Caldura with a raised eyebrow.

“Well, it may have been weak, but there-” started Ozzy.

“No, it’s a god, they would know. There’s no gravity on the moon. Or anywhere else.” said Caldura, firmly.

“Then why is it round? How does that make sense.” asked Ozzy.

“Because that’s how the Gods made them. The sun is round because the Sun God made it round.” said Caldura.

Ozzy sat back as he contemplated all that he had learned. It was easy to accept a new world when it was so similar to his own. But when faced with the fact that even the fundamental things he knew from his world were different here, he was feeling flummoxed.

“Ok, teach me. Teach me everything. Starting with the difference between a god and God and why I can tell the difference between them when there’s no difference in how I hear them.” said Ozzy.

Caldura leaned forward and placed her head in her hands. She knew to expect some of this, but it was one thing to agree to this in the presence of the Duchess and another to live through it. It was going to be a long morning.

--

“Hello Sergeant. Ready for the meeting?” asked Ozzy as he entered the Command Tent.

“Yes sir. Please, I have a few documents here which will go over our military supplies as well as potential deployment strategies.” said Sergeant Harkonen.

“You have a lot of paper, huh?” said Ozzy, as he sat down at the makeshift table made from what appeared to be a repurposed cart. .

“Yes sir, all of the supplies not needed for the return trip were left here by the Lord. It means we have an excess of stationary, linens, and such, but a lack of food, oil, and arms.” said the Sergeant.

“Ok Sergeant, so how do things stand with our lineup of soldiers?” asked Ozzy.

“Well sir, we have one platoon of dedicated soldiers, that’s seventy five men, with a few dozen of the mercenary fighters who have returned to their regular trades.” replied the Sergeant.

“Ok, I assume that the initial expedition performed some sort of survey of the region upon arrival. What threats are we likely to face, and what do you recommend in terms of deployment and defences.” asked Ozzy.

“Yes sir. Well, to put it bluntly, we’re buggered. Journeyman Caldura can verify or expand on some of this but essentially we are in an area with a variety of medium to high threat manaborn. This information is based upon our own scouting and what the Aon Dar tell us. That means each manaborn is equal to a level 25 warrior or above. Our average level in combat capable classes is 15. During our initial arrival these manaborn would have been scared away by our large numbers, noise and presence. With the army’s departure they will be returning to the area. In fact, there was a new type of shelled manaborn that had occupied the settlement area which we had to kill to secure the region. It took the entirety of the army half a day to secure the area.” said the Sergeant.

“I can confirm this. Furthermore, the only reason we were able to combat these manaborn monsters was due to the presence of a few of our higher levelled officers and due to the Lord and Lady. A few of their high level skills were used to minimize damage and maximize our attack.” said Caldura.

“Ok, what’s the standard tactic for fighting manaborn monsters?” asked Ozzy.

“Normally we surround individual monsters, separate them with our numbers, and attack from multiple areas within the circle. Shield warriors rotate within the circle to catch monster attacks and we slowly bleed them down. 22 of the soldiers are [Shield Warriors] or an analogous class.” said the Sergeant.

“And how many manaborn are you expecting to refill the area around our settlement?” asked Ozzy.

“Hard to say sir. But we should expect at least one or two pack types, ten to twenty of the medium level threats and a handful of high level threats. As we start scouting farther away from the settlement we will get a better idea. The settlement itself will be fine because of the settlement mana field, but the folk working the land outside will need to be protected. Not to mention the fields the [Farmers] will be plowing.” said the Sergeant.

“Ha ha, yea….the settlement mana field.” said Ozzy, with a look at Caldura.

Caldura scowled at him before addressing Sergeant Harkonen. “We may not be able to rely on the mana field as much as we thought, Sergeant. As a result of some complications the settlement mana field is slightly weaker than expected. It may not be able to dissuade the threats you describe.”

“WHAT?! BUT, MA’AM, WITH ALL DUE RESPECT, THAT’S!” shouted Sergeant Harkonen.

“QUIET SERGEANT, I understand that this is surprising, but please, do lower your voice.” said Caldura.

“Yes ma’am, but even with your assistance I doubt we would be able to deal with the kind of threats that are in the area. We should immediately send a runner to request additional forces return to the settlement if we are to have any hope of defending the region. Our forces remaining here were based on the understanding that the settlement would have a mana field that would keep away the worst of the monsters.” said Sergeant Harkonen.

“Hold on, don’t we have the Aon Dar. I mean, they’re basically invulnerable and they can defend the settlement. So, aren’t we fine?” asked Ozzy.

Both the Sergeant and Caldura turned to look at Ozzy, their faces slowly changing from worried to incredulous.

“I admit, I had forgotten about them. I’ll send a runner to grab that representative of theirs.” said Sergeant Harkonen.

“No need, I am here.” said Pick, from outside of the tent.

“WHAT THE FUCK!!” shouted Ozzy, turning in his chair in surprise, even as the other two within the tent jumped in shock.

“Permission to enter the tent.” said Pick.

“Sure, why not.” muttered Ozzy, turning back around in his seat to face Caldura and the Sergeant. Pick entered the tent with a swing of his arms.

He looked slightly different from how he had by the forest. Slightly more defined. His face was showing greater definition than his body and resembled a faun from Earth. Small windy horns poked out of his forehead, which was definitely new. He also had identifiable clothes composed of the same windy material he was. A fancy, decorated jacket with lapels and a variety of accoutrements occupied his upper half. His lower half was still ill defined, although Ozzy could swear that he was starting to develop hooves.

“Pick, did you get an upgrade or something?” asked Ozzy.

“Yes Master Ozymandias, our acceptance into your ha-, settlement, has given us access to a source of mana once again. My people were on the verge of dissolution, and now we are recovering quite quickly.” said Pick with a bow.

“Are these things responsible for our mana shortage? Sir, a settlement is largely valuable because of the mana field, without it we lose a lot of the advantages we would normally have.” said Sergeant Harkonen, in an accusatory fashion.

“I’m right here Sergeant, you can address questions to me. And no. We are not responsible for the mana shortage. We obtain mana directly from the sidhe, the settlement is mainly a connection. While we may pull a small amount of mana from the settlement, it isn’t any more than anyone else.” said Pick.

“There you go, and don’t worry Sergeant, we are working on the mana issue. Right Caldura?” said Ozzy with a look to Caldura who nodded back. “More importantly, Pick, you’re using first person language now. No more we’s. What’s going on?” asked Ozzy.

“I updated my knowledge of the local language. Some changes have occurred since I last spoke it, I’m still not caught up on idioms but as I said, my people and I will recover their old skills in time as our recovery continues.” said Pick.

“More importantly, how were you able to hear us? Have you been spying on us in some capacity?” asked Caldura with her eyes narrowing in concern.

“Ah, that is a little more difficult to explain. If we are not focusing on maintaining a form, we are spread out so to speak. We exist in a potentate state within the settlement. Normally it’s akin to standing in a crowded room where everyone is talking. Although if you call out a name then naturally it attracts attention.” said Pick, as he moved to stand opposite Caldura.

“I assume I was summoned for more questions?” asked Pick, raising an eyebrow.

“Yes, we were wondering to what extent the Aon Dar could assist with settlement defence? Our situation is a little precarious and we need to be aware of what capabilities we can bring to bear in any given situation.” said Ozzy.

“I’m more concerned about this ability to hear everything in the settlement ability. People aren’t going to like being spied on at all times.” said Caldura, while glaring at Pick.

“Tell me, can you hear the sound of a drop of water splashing on a rock at the river from here?” asked Pick.

“No.” said Caldura.

“But can you hear the river?” asked Pick.

“Yes.” said Caldura.

“That is what it’s like for us. Being unfocused in form means being unfocused in sense as well. However, there are certain things like our name that cut through the background noise. Happy?” asked Pick.

Caldura still looked suspicious.

Pick sighed in exasperation. “Believe me, don’t believe me. That’s your choice. As to the question of combat capabilities, many of our number served in combat positions in our youth. I’m sure we can assist with the defence of the settlements, especially since it is tied to our survival. However, we cannot stray from the settlement. If we do, our forms will begin to fray and we will dissipate. We are once again tied to a sidhe and leaving it would be death. I shall ask, but approximately twenty three of our number should be willing to fight at the moment.” said Pick.

“Twenty three ain’t much.” said the Sergeant. A look of worry upon his face.

“Please remember, we cannot be hurt by physical means, and we are able to cut through most things.” said Pick.

“That’s not true, Caldura grabbed you like fresh fruit.” said Ozzy.

“As I said Master Ozymandias, we cannot be hurt by physical means. Mana however, is able to harm us.” said Pick, inclining his head.

“Huh” said Ozzy, as he raised an eyebrow to look at Caldura.

“We can talk about it later.” Caldura said to Ozzy. “Ok, I believe that is all the input we need from you Pick, thank you.”

“Very well, will you be needing anything else Master Ozymandias?” asked Pick. Clearly ignoring Caldura’s implied dismissal.

Ozzy smiled slightly, he definitely preferred this sassier version of Pick. “Yes Pick, that will be all, thank you!”

Pick dissipated back into the air after a slight bow of his head to Ozzy.

“Right then, so our immediate survival ability is largely undiminished. We don’t have a super strong mana field, but we have the Aon Dar to cover our butts. Which brings us back to the monsters in the perimeter. What do you suggest in terms of deployment?” asked Ozzy.

“Well sir, standard tactics would be to move in platoon formation in a circular fashion, with a few [Messengers] to relay information to the extra squads and to direct them to where they are needed.” said the Sergeant.

“You don’t sound confident in this tactic Sergeant. Also, extra squads?” said Ozzy.

“No sir. With a full [Century] or [Battalion] of soldiers, that would be reasonable, but with just a Platoon, it is unlikely.” said Sergeant Harkonen, glumly. “As for the extra squads, it’s based upon the Kingdom’s army unit sizes. A squad is a group of eight. A squadron is a group of twenty five or three squads and one officer. A platoon is a group of fifty, meaning two squadrons, and the next highest would be a century. Technically we have a platoon and a squadron, but in terms of military organization we would just be a platoon. A large platoon but a platoon nevertheless.

“What was that?” asked Ozzy.

“Sir?” asked Sergeant Harkonen.

“When you said Century, it came out as [Century]. Are there classes for groups?” asked Ozzy.

“Uh, not exactly sir. But it is a designation. There are certain effects or abilities that are only usable with those designations. You need an accompanying officer to lead them to effectively utilize those capabilities.” said Sergeant Harkonen.

“So why can’t we do that for us? Make some official [Squads] or a [Platoon] and get some advantages.” asked Ozzy.

“Well sir, we are officially part of the Kingdom of Monravia’s [Army], while with the expedition group we were part of official [Squads], [Squadrons], [Platoons] and [Century] formations, but the current collection are just volunteers pulled from different groups. I don’t have the authority as a Sergeant to assign a new [Squad] or [Platoon] designation.” said Sergeant Harkonen.

“Then the solution is obvious. Why don’t I do it? I assume that as a [Patrician], I would be able to assign those designations?” asked Ozzy.

“Normally sir, yes. But even though the civilians have officially left the [Kingdom] to become citizens of this [Settlement], us soldiers are officially still part of the [Kingdom’s Army], and are still citizens of the Kingdom of Monravio, you are not part of its command structure, so you can’t give us those designations. The Lord and Lady were very clear about it, we are simply here on a temporary basis and that after a few years we would be rotated out or replaced by local soldiers.” said Sergeant Harkonen, his face growing morose as he thought about his current situation.

“Ok, so, you are essentially here in a capacity as a mercenary force. You are being lent from an allied force for a temporary period of time. Does that mean that I can give you temporary designations in my capacity as a temporary commander?” asked Ozzy.

“I...I’m not certain sir. I’ve never heard of a mercenary army as you describe, or at least where they are given temporary designations. Usually allied nations work in concert but the troops are commanded by people from their own countries and such. Journeyman Caldura, have you heard of such a thing?” asked Sergeant Harkonen.

“I have not, then again, I am not privy to the inner workings of military matters.” said Caldura.

“Cool, let’s try it. I am temporarily assigning the seventy five soldiers as the [75th Platoon], with Harkonen as the Commanding Officer.” said Ozzy.

“Wait-” “NO STOP-” came the rushed voices of both Caldura and Sergeant Harkonen but they were both too late as Ozzy uttered those fateful words.

In the aftermath of the proclamation all was quiet before all three of them began to hear a large amount of raised voices from outside the tent.

“Shit!” shouted Harkonen rising to his seat and preparing to run out, before pausing. “Sir, permission to calm the men and explain to them what just happened.”

“Sure, go ahead.” said Ozzy, as his face shifted to one of guilt as he began to gather that perhaps he had been a little premature with his proclamation.

As Harkonen left the tent to speak to the soldiers, Ozzy turned to face Caldura who had her head in her hands.

“What?” asked Ozzy.

After a deep breath in, Caldura lifted her head to face Ozzy once more. The unsettling aspect was that she was now smiling and giggling slightly on occasion.

“Ok, now you’re scaring me a little.” said Ozzy.

“Good, because you don’t seem to realize the position you are in, and if things like this keep happening I’m going to have to learn to either laugh my way into madness or cry my way into despair. I’m done feeling frustrated. I thought that Lord Axel had been as bad a student as any, but you take the cake. I thought you had learned your lesson after impulsively accepting the Aon Dar into the settlement. YOUR ACTIONS AND WORDS AFFECT ALL OF US!!! STOP DOING THINGS WITHOUT THINKING THEM THROUGH!!” shouted Caldura.

“What? We discussed it. We said it was possible, so I tried it out. Either it works or it doesn’t and now we know. What’s the big deal?” asked Ozzy.

“The big deal is that we weren’t done discussing it. The soldiers have a say in this you know! Do they want to be part of a platoon for this settlement? What sort of negative side effects could there be to being given temporary designations? Did Sergeant Harkonen even want to be the leader? Maybe he would have liked to give the position to someone else? We could have tried it out on a smaller scale. Not to mention, it was a very imprecise proclamation. You just said seventy five soldiers, how do you know how many people have the [Soldier] class in this settlement? There are plenty of people who have a few levels in that class but are practicing a different trade. What if one of them got dragged into the [Platoon] but one of the active soldiers didn’t? There are so many things that could have gone wrong and you jumped ahead without thinking for a second!” said Caldura angrily.