“Despite their obvious importance in a wartorn era, professional soldiers who had dedicated their whole lives to fighting and killing often had the hardest time in adjusting to a peaceful era, even if that peace was one they fought hard to obtain. Where others rejoiced in the newfound peace, these people found themselves lost.

Often they lacked direction and no longer knew what to do with themselves in a world where their sole talent was no longer in need. Some of these individuals fell into depression and crimes, while others sought after an outlet where they could make use of their skills. More often than not, mercenary work became such an outlet for these unfortunates, trapped in the cycle of violence.” - Thaddeus Ihanev, psychiatrist from Dvergarder, circa 308 FP.

“So… what do you think, Njeri?” asked Alvaro with obvious consternation on his expression. The whole idea of being allowed to choose for himself was… something he had never considered. He had been so used to simply doing as he was told, as was his lot in life, be it by his parents when he was still helping them out in the farm, or his mentors during the Warforged training, or his commanders after that.

The idea of being his own master legitimately worried and scared him.

He was at least fortunate in that he wasn’t alone in the predicament. Many of the others had similar worries, especially amongst those who had higher positions than just laborers and possessed other talents. Their captors – nay, their new lords – had outlined several choices for them to choose from, and many were undecided on what to do.

They could go out to pioneer uninhabited land, with the land itself as the reward for their hard work. It was a scenario that sounded too good to be true to many, but had not prevented many former farm laborers from flocking at the opportunity all the same. The allure of being able to own land for themselves was too great for many to resist.

Those slaves who had been employed in administrative and intellectual tasks were also offered similar work as befitted their former occupation in their new home, and most had similarly flocked at the offer. Even a representative from the army had gone on stage and called for able-bodied men and women to join the army and defend their home together.

Many of the Warforged had leapt at the offer, though some, like Alvaro and Njeri, were undetermined.

The main reason for what was because after the representative from the army, several representative from the mercenaries that fought with them were also given the chance to attempt to recruit some of the former slaves. Most of them elicited no real response from the slaves, except for one which instantly caught Alvaro’s eyes amongst others.

He couldn’t fail to recognize the bestial figure on stage, even if he barely caught a glimpse of them during the previous battle. It was one of the mercenaries responsible for breaking their formation apart, apparently their leader to boot. Seeing the bestial man on stage ignited Alvaro’s competitive spirit in many ways.

During the Warforged training, they had been encouraged to compete against each other, with only the best ones making the cut to full Warforged status. That they, the Warforged, had been bested in battle inadvertently attracted him to those who defeated them. He had no chance to meet said people during the march to Algenverr, but now, that opportunity was dangled before him.

It was what laid on the minds of many other Warforged as well, and the topic of their conversation.

Njeri herself had been fortunate, as she had been next to Alvaro when he was felled by the flying corpse and met with the same fate, the corpse knocking her unconscious which led to her being captured alive. She had been talking with many of the other captured Warforged who were of the same thought, even as Alvaro was busied by his own circumstances.

“Many of the others had agreed. It would be no shame to join those who had proven themselves better than us in battle,” replied Njeri with a serious nod. “It would be a more difficult life, the mercenaries gave no guarantees like the lord had, but they were open and honest about it instead of hiding it, which appealed to us. What about you? Have you talked things over with your family?”

“I have. They chose to… leave the decision in my hands,” replied Alvaro to his long-time friend and compatriot. He knew that Njeri had no such obligations, as from what he could tell, she was either an orphan, or had separated from her family under particularly bad terms, though she never elaborated on the matter further. “I personally wish to join the ranks of those who have bested us and proven themselves our betters, but I am uncertain if that would be a good option for my parents and sister as well.”

“Then why dither like a fool? They left a man in charge of recruitment right over there,” said Njeri as she pointed towards their front, where some men and women were busily taking notes as they sorted the former slaves based on the occupation they chose to pursue in Algenverr. A few were notably less busy by the sides, representatives from the mercenary companies, who naturally attracted less people.

A large majority of the former slaves had chosen to pioneer new lands for Algenverr, the temptation of land ownership far too great for those who had lived their whole lives working lands that belonged to other people. Another sizable group registered themselves based on their previous administrative experiences, or were youths and healthy adults who wished to join the army.

Very few people – less than a couple hundred – had chosen to use the freedom they had been given to return to Kolitschei, to the only life they had known, but they were a very notable minority. If anything, the fact that their new lord allowed those people to return unopposed spoke highly of the value of his words. He said they had their freedom to choose, and even when they chose something the lord disliked, he let them go unmolested nonetheless.

As such, a couple hours later, the representative recruiter from the Free Lances was surprised to find a group of nearly two hundred former slaves, nearly half of them former Warforged, approach his station to ask him questions and express their desire to join the Company.