Necron: The Legend Of Rezar DeathWind

Chapter 91: Goblinshire (III): The Order of the Innkeepers

The room he was led into was not bad, but that didn't mean it was any good either. But this far into the frontier, a room like this would still be considered a luxury. There was a queen sized canopy bed, a bath tub, and then a wooden chair and tabled, along with a trunk at the foot of the bed for his belongings. Valka walked around the bed, looking back at Rezar and back at it with its soft looking sheets and spring like form.

"Say master what is this?" he asked as he gave a curious glance to it, Rezar rolled his eyes as he answered.

"That's a bed Valka, it's what people sleep on."

"But we've not been sleeping on it master, are we not people too?" Rezar raised an eyebrow, why was Valka action so dumb innocent and Nave, this bloody cat (Ahem!) lion, was the best scout he had, and he was intelligent enough to accurately tell him the amount and caliber of enemies he was fighting, but here he was acting like someone without common sense. Rezar narrowed his again. So much that it seemed as if his eyes were narrowed almost closed off versions of their selves.

"Are you done?" Rezar asked as he sat down on the bed, ignoring the mirthful laughter from his familiar as there was a knock on the door. A few seconds later, there was a serving girl in the room holding some towels in her hands.

"The Matron has asked me to come up and answer any questions you might have, or rather she's sent me here to answer the questions you already asked. Please keep any other questions till I'm done answering." Rezar raised an eyebrow, he couldn't help the feeling that he was dealing with more than just an ordinary inn keeper and a serving girl.

"The Bahrenburg frontiers are divided into four parts, there's the Land bridge duchies, which is the closest to the rest of Elysium, it covers much of what is known as the south fringe. Immediately after that are the Mirrors of a thousand lakes. Vast stretches of land that are covered with lakes, which is a little bit to the east. Next would be the charted fringe, which is currently being contested by various warlords and nobles. And then past that we have the wild lands, conveniently separated from the rest of the world by the perilous canyons of Toromont which I'm sure you would have passed on your way here.

The wild lands have as much, if not more forces contending for it than the charted fringe itself. The Major powers so far are the those of the Goblin King, who has had no qualms in expanding his civilization hoping to build and empire of monsters. Further south past the great forest of Kerwood there are open prairies and a desert that's home to the nomadic wild tribes, if there's anyone capable of properly navigating the wild lands, its them.

To the west is a serious of port towns and island settlements ran by various merchant companies, a few theocracies, and bunch of empires along with it. Far to the east is the Breone mountains, home to orcs, dwarves, and race of snow elves living in harmony with frost giants and ice wyverns. By far they have the most impressive military might in all of the wild lands which was built on an unsteady alliance. They're currently consolidating their forces and choosing to grow, however the Goblin King seems to have set his sights on them, causing the orcs to pretty much grow restless as they would want nothing more than to start a fight with the goblin king.

Kerwood forest is home to more factions, it would take too much time to name them all, so an extensive map has been made for you highlighting the locations of the factions. But apart from the goblin king, there's large coven of maenads that serve dark gods, a couple of wood elf villages, two rumored but very hidden fairy rings, sprites, magical creatures and finally you the Necromancer that just became a vampire and by far the largest threat to everyone in the wildlands."

Rezar raised an eyebrow, but instead of getting shocked he just laid back on the bed and crossed his legs whilst leaning on his arms. Valka had raised his head up, but seeing that Rezar was not even feeling threatened the Familiar laid back down, twisting his body over the soft and fluffy bed. Rezar looked up at the serving girl in front of him.

"I get the feeling that you guys are more than just simple honest workers." Rezar said as he inched his hand slowly to the scythe that was resting at the foot of the bed.

"Rest assured Lord Rezar, we mean you no harm, at least not unless you become a threat to our activities. The Order of the Innkeeper are followers of the God Hermes. We're messengers, merchants and thieves, but ultimately all we do is gather information and sell it to the highest bidder, or rather sell it to anyone who is willing to pay the right price." Even if she seemed none threatening, it didn't stop Rezar from carrying his scythe as a heavy aura seemed to suffuse the entire room.

"How much and how long have you known about me?" he asked as he took one heavy step after the other forward, but yet even with all his movements the serving girl did not seem worried or shaken by his threatening gestures.

"We've known about you from the very moment you spawned in the prison mine, all the way to the time you were trapped in a dungeon for eight months, when you came out, your march to the Leviathan's nest, your battle with the goblin king's mounted scout division and how you utterly decimated them a few days ago, and your wanton slaughter of his heavy cavalry division aces just a few hours ago.

We've been watching, and while you were never important enough to pay attention, you're now a very important facet of Elysium. The second vampire after almost sic thousand years. While many have forgotten the terror and horror your kinds had wrought upon Elysium, the order of the Innkeepers still remembers, because it is our job to remember, and it is our job to make sure that such horror is not unleashed upon the world again."

Rezar clutched his Scythe tighter, he felt cold; a chill he could not understand. It wasn't fear as that was something he was completely incapable of feeling, but rather he felt threatened, like he had been backed into a corner by the woman in front of him. But it was not a power she wielded, but rather the organization she represented, they just seemed so big and intense that for the first time ever, Rezar felt as if there was an obstacle he couldn't power through. But even with that knowledge, he wouldn't back down, neither would he slow down, it was not in his nature.

"Your measly show of power means nothing here Vampire Lord, I'm the weakest person working in this Inn, but even my lowest stat is already at tier 7. Killing you would be as easy as blinking my eyes, so calm yourself down and listen to what I have to say. So far all of your incursions has been in retaliation against people who attacked you and not because of a wanton need of expansion like the goblin king. We would like you to remain that way as an undead apocalypse, much less one led by a vampire that is almost impossible to kill is not something we would like to see.

We humbly ask that you remain passive and focus on improving your territory, in return we will not plant our seeds in you lands, and will not broadcast to the whole of Elysium that there's an undead necromancer in the Bahrenburg wild lands, a vampire at that. Your mind is not really liked, and due to all of the prejudice your kind has suffered a lot of people would be even more unwilling to see a death class holder as the lord of a territory.

Every lord from here to the Breone mountains would untie to take of the threat you pose once and for all. You can take this as a threat or as a warning we don't care, remain passive, the only thing we can assuredly say is that we won't interfere with your fight with the goblin king. He had thrown the first punch, it is within your right to retaliate and fight for your honor, as long as you keep the fight between yourself and the Goblin King and don't involve other innocent races and factions in your fight. In return we will keep our word and not sell any information about you to any party that asks. Do we have a deal?"

Rezar felt like he had eaten something bad, even when he still had Lenore hovering above him, he had never felt this helpless. He didn't expect this, this organization was dangerous. They had somehow been able to keep an eye on him right from the beginning and he never even got a single trace from them. it shocked him and it left him feeling very annoyed, but from what he could see this was not a fight he could win.

He wanted very much to just swing his scythe over her pretty little neck, not because she had done anything wrong, but because she posed a threat to him and his people. But he knew he couldn't win, and he was loathed to bend over for them, but he didn't seem to have much of a choice. But in the end a leader had to know when to move forwards and when to move backwards, you can't always null rush yourself into every situation, and this was a wakeup call for Rezar. He was forced to swallow whatever pride he seemed to have gained as in front of these people, it meant nothing.

"We have a deal, I'll take a passive stance and not aim for expansion. But I'm taking the goblin king's lands whether you like it or not he started this fight, and I'm going to make sure I end it. But passive or not, anyone who wishes me and my people harm I will destroy them and all they hold dear. Innocent or not!" Rezar said to her with gritted teeth.

"That's understandable, we asked you to be passive and not go looking for trouble, we never said you couldn't defend yourself and seek retribution for those who go against you. A dozier would be sent to you by morning containing in depth information about the Kerwood forest and the arrangements of its factions and the hotspots of important resources. If you can't grow by conquest you can at least grow by trade and alliances. We have nothing against you, we just want to avoid the creation of a monster that would make life difficult for us and the many who are here to make an honest living. Elysium is not all about the battles and the glory of bloodshed and carnage of war. I believe in time, with age and growth and wisdom, you will come to see that."

She gave him a simple bow, handing the towels over to him before she walked out of the room, leaving a very confused Rezar, but also a smarter. This world was a lot bigger than he was, and there were people with even more power in their little fingers than he had in his entire body. And it was not just their stats, classes or weapons. It was their resources, their assets and influence.

As much as he was loathed to admit it, he was far from reaching that stage, seems even with all his pursuit for freedom he was still restrained, but maybe it was better this way, the path of a leader is not always one of bloodshed and carnage.

"I don't mean to interrupt your inner monologue master, but did that woman just say you're the second vampire in six thousand years! If you're the second, then who and where the fuck is the first!" and to that question Rezar honestly had no answer as he was just as stumped and confused as lion. There was another vampire out there somewhere in Elysium, who could that be and where were they now?