“How do you know this? We’ve all been very respectful of the Lord and Ladies instructions and we tip toed around this until now but screw it. I’m not a coward like the rest of you. Who the hell are you? Where are you from? The ancient wind spirit having this knowledge is understandable but how do you know this?” asked Tomar.

Ozzy froze for a moment. He had thought that the matter of his history had slipped by everyone in the tumultuous period when they first established this settlement. He took another moment to compose himself before speaking.

“Well Tomar, I’m from a country that does not exist on this mortal plane. It does not exist in form, function, name or in people. I am the only one. I came to this land by means tumultuous and painful, and stumbled upon the Landston, which I inadvertently claimed. Yadda yadda yadda, I was found by the [Earl] and [Duchess] who very kindly allowed me to keep my head in exchange for leading the people who wanted to build a settlement here. Happy? Or would you like to hear stories about how I lost my virginity too?” said Ozzy.

“No I’m not happy. You don’t sleep, you know knowledge that no one in Monravia knows, you tamed carugars, and now you speak about a dead country, what are you!” demanded Tomar who didn’t for a moment believe what Ozzy had just said.

“The sleep I explained already, it’s a side effect of what happened to me during the process where I claimed this settlement. As for the knowledge, everything I know and can do, I learned from the schools that are present in my country. I was just a regular working class person before I claimed this settlement, and yes, my country isn’t here anymore and frankly, I don’t want to talk about it.” said Ozzy, imbuing a sense of anger into his voice.

Many of the people in the tent sympathized with Ozzy, as they filled in the blanks as to why the country he was from wasn’t around anymore. Of course the scenario they generated in their heads was far from the truth, but putting a tragic backstory to their strange leaders life filled in the blanks for now.

“That still-”

“Tomar!” exclaimed Sumeila, sharply cutting him off.

Tomar seethed, he wasn’t satisfied, not one bit. But he wasn't willing to start an arguement now about it.

“Right then, let’s get to it and make the new arrivals feel welcome. Sheila, could I get you to set up tents for the new people and make sure that they are squared away. Sumeila, make sure they have some food in them, I doubt they had a chance to eat a good meal while travelling and I’m sure whatever you can whip up will knock them off their feet. Caldura, could I get you to do a quick tally of the arrivals, tomorrow morning we can start assigning them to work groups based on their specialty. Pick, introduce yourself and the Aon Dar, no need for any accidental stabbings.” ordered Ozzy.

The group nodded at him. “Good, alright then people, let’s get to it.” said Ozzy with a clap of his hands.

As Ozzy sat back in his chair he noted that the fabric composing the foldable chair was growing thinner as he felt it give a little. His rumination halted by a slight *ding* in his head which heralded knowledge being transmitted to him, [Patrician level 7] [Skill unlocked: Linguistic Purity].

--

Artiom wandered towards the food tent in a meandering lope. His time in the new pack had taught him much, and one of those was that as long as he didn’t make an intentional approach the first eaters wouldn’t know he was coming.

It was knowledge he had shared with his brothers and sisters, who had appropriately begun coordinating their approaches. After all, sneaking bites of a kill was expected of every kit.

Several low subsonic “hrrfs” and “rreows” rumbled out of Artiom’s chest. He wasn’t sure why his hunting companion didn’t use them, or respond to them, but for his fellow pack members, it worked just fine.

Around the tent where [Butchers], [Carvers], [Choppers], and [Slicers], worked eight shadows lurked. Each a carugar that began working with practiced ease to move from tent to tent, between barrels and boxes to get as close as possible.

Artiom guided them from the front, approaching with a quick dash a ways away from where a large haunch of Rukotar hung from a hook.

Lescason looked up as his [Impending Theft] skill pinged. He almost got a warning out in time as the pack made its move.

Two ran out at a large Dik Dik that was being worked on, but were kept at bay by two people nearby.

A few others ran at high speed to cause confusion amongst the workers. Artiom, after dashing forward at great speed used the darkness near a few sacks of salt to hide from the workers. His fellow kits were executing a a beautiful display of hunting tactics. Constant lunges and swipes near valued pieces of meat to pull the workers out of place, creating a gap that Artiom could use to get to the real prey.

Finally Lescason moved away from his table when one of the kits grabbed a nearby cup of his, causing him to chase around to the other side of the table to snatch it back.

That was when Artiom dashed out of his hiding place with the fluidity of a striking snake.

All of this led to a successful hunt as Artiom snagged the Rukotar haunch and ran back to their safe spot by the [Hunters].

The rest of the pack soon broke off and scattered amongst the tents, even as a large ruckus developed in the [Butchers] tent.

A successful hunt. The pack regrouped at their spot and Artiom let the rest of the pack join him in tearing into the haunch. Blood ran down their faces and they revelled in the joy of success.

The bloody scene quickly devolved into a tussle as kits competed for more of the meat until Artiom brought them back into line with a quick bark. The rest of the pack, even the ones that were faster, stronger, and older than Artiom followed his order.

A biologist from Earth, [Beast Tamers] and [Breeders], would all have found this behavior unusual. Usually, it was the largest member of a pack that was the leader. Especially in a pack like this where they were taken from the wilds and brought to a new place like the [settlement], they should have gathered behind the biggest and strongest.

Instead, they all followed Artiom, and that was for a simple reason. Artiom had a title. What no one realized was that even though beasts like carugar couldn’t get classes, they could still be assigned [titles].

The [Queen] of Perspecias had a three eyed raven which had a [Title], [Minister of Wisdom]. The [Republic] of Vuciavic had once had a [Tsar] who had given his favorite horse the [title] of [Most Beautiful]. There was a dog given the [Title] [His Royal Highness the Duke of Feshire].The examples were numerous. The effects were varied.

The raven was slightly more wise and could sometimes spot things that people couldn’t, but it was still a raven and what it spotted was usually never useful to people so no one ever noticed anything. The horse…..the less that is said about the horse, the better. The dog was known for his photogenic ability.

For Artiom, he had one of the most unique [titles] in the world. Artiom was [The Royal Prince of Fluffiness], [Protector of the Nine Realms], and [Plenipotentiary to Ozymandias]. How he achieved these titles was no mystery.

Ozzy in his time playing with Artiom had called him a variety of pet names, some of them real, some of them strange just to piss Caldura off, neither of them realizing that he could assign titles to beasts.

This led to the unique situation that Artiom could use some of Ozzy’s authority in his capacity as someone holding the [Title] [Plenipotentiary], which in this case extended to [skills] such as [Commanding Aura]. A [skill] which Artiom had used unconsciously to win control of his pack.

Normally these [titles] would wear off as time wore on, but Ozzy kept using them in ignorance, and that had caused them to stick to some degree. What would happen as a result of Ozzy’s continued application of [titles] to Artiom was unknown.

But for now, Artiom strolled down the pathway back towards his sleeping tent as people unknowingly stepped out of the way for the carugar, for he was a [Titled] [Prince, Protector and Plenipotentiary] and whether they knew it or not, that demanded respect.

--

“-JOSEPH CANTURI! DISMISSED!” shouted Lt. Harkonen, which prompted the fireteam to exit the command tent.

The group uniformly sighed as they exited the tent. “Well, if I ever get hearing back in my left ear I’ll consider it a miracle.” said Emery.

“At least you weren’t busted back to Private.” said Fierro, “I mean, I’m only a level 12 [Pathfinder], of course a level 26 [War Merchant] has abilities that I can’t catch on to.”

“I didn’t think it was possible but I think Harkonen has somehow become louder now that he’s an [Acting Lieutenant].” said Minnie.

“Enough griping guys, let’s get stowed away and get some chow. Besides, they moved through Ersatz and Ibilis team’s areas too, so we’re not the only ones getting torn a new one.” said Joseph, leading his team through the encampment.

“Still, what bad luck. First we get stuck dragging that [Cartographer] around, and now we mess up on short range patrols. I think we need to trade Emery away.” joked Minnie.

“What the hell, how does that help? And why me?” asked Emery.

“Well, it can’t hurt.” said Minnie with a teasing grin.

“Well, when the night demon comes for you I’ll be sure to stay as far away as possible.” taunted Emery.

“The night demon?” asked Joseph.

“You haven’t heard the rumour Sarge? Everyone says there’s some sort of night demon that runs around the training area at night. Every morning they find a set of tracks and a used spear at the training field. No one knows who it is, and it never happens at the same time. Sometimes it doesn’t happen for days at a time. It’s one of the mysteries.” said Emery.

“Really? Night demon? And what do you mean, one of the mysteries?” said Fierro.

“The other ones are the shredded training dummy, and the mysterious shit left in front of [Corporal] Blackwell’s tent every night.” said Emery, which prompted a snort of laughter from the group.

“I think I can solve both mysteries. It’s that damn carugar the [Patrician] keeps around.” said Joseph.

“Maybe, maybe, but it’s nice to have a few mysteries in the settlement right?” said Emery. “Although that would make sense, I heard a rumor that the [Patrician] is a manaborn and that’s why he’s able to control carugars, and if I could control carugars I would probably make them shit in front of Blackwell’s tent too.”

“Shut that kind of talk down private.” ordered Joseph. “You don’t speak ill of a commanding officer where I can hear you, got it?”

“Aww, c’mon sarge, I didn't mean anything by it. Besides, even you have to admit that the guy is weird. Maybe Tomar is right.” said Emery.

“I don’t mind Privates and Corporals gossiping Emery, but I won’t allow it in my presence. Clear?” asked Joseph.

“Yes sir.” said Emery, schooling his face into impassivity.

The group parted ways as they approached their respective tents and set about changing out of their combat gear into their off duty clothing. The [Tailors] had started to prepare clothing from beast hides and the soldiers had all been given a few extra pairs of clothing as a result.

The team grouped together a half hour later after cleaning their equipment to head out for dinner. They made their way to the mess tent, a spring in their step at the thought of hot food after two days of dried meat while on patrol.

The tent was as busy as ever, an ever rotating group of the people in the settlement were sitting at long tables after getting served at the long counter set to one side of the tent.

Fierro breathed in deep upon entering, “Smells like spiced noodles.” he said, mouth beginning to water.

After a wait that felt far longer than they were used to, the team sat down at a table next to Janqua Temilade’s team, who were already engaged in a loud discussion.

“I’m just saying. [Hunters] use bows, why don’t we? No offense, but I love the idea of stabbing someone from a range that they can’t stab me from.” said Chappie.

“You’re an idiot. That’s why we have [Pyromancers] and [Aeromancers], long range attacks.” said Lula.

“I’m just saying, it wouldn’t hurt if we had archers. It always seemed weird to me, we have cavalry and infantry, but no archers.” said Chappie.

“Most Kingdoms don’t have archers. I think it’s the mana cost. Long range [skills] are harder to maintain and they don’t have a lot of utility.” said Preka.

“Hey Joseph” said Janqua in greeting.

“Hey Janqua, you’ve been around for the past few days right? How are the new people?” asked Joseph.

The rest of his team began leaning in to hear as they too were interested about the new additions to the settlement.