101 Chapter 6.22 - Vassal State pt. 1

Birds chirped, snows thawed, and the biting cold of winter was replaced with the cool breezes of an early spring.

Although life continued as normal for most of Haven, there was a specific group that had been busy throughout the winter. Some called them breeders, slaves, and undesirables. Some thought their only purpose was to produce more meat for the grinder, flak for the warmachine that was the GWA. But they were people. Albeit, an angered, vengeful people, their animosity for their previous captors was only outweighed by their devotion to the peoples of Haven.

Serin had sat with the leader of the refugees. Stem by name, he was too old to be of much use without serious boosts to his stats. In fact, other than a few retired soldiers, most of the group was commoner classes like weaver, cook, smith, etc. Although in shorter supply in Haven, Serin could not let these peoples' fighting capability be on par with what was considered a lower tier 'commoner'.

Serin did not want weak allies. A weak ally was as dangerous as a strong enemy. For the months prior to the final snow, Serin had worked with his protectorate to up their stats. He did not increase Luck. but he created quests to increase the other stats up to 50 for each and every refugee from the GWA. This made each commoner refugee more powerful than the average soldier of the GWA.

And the plan paid off. Serin spread his skills and spells out throughout the entire group. Each day he went to each of the 572 GWA refugees and gave them each a skill or spell. Being from the GWA spells were much less useful, as the mana bank for their generation would be greatly limited. Serin hoped in a generation or two this would change. But for now, he filled them with a variety of spells and skills, everything from his vast repertoire. Many of which he had forgotten he had or had just never used.

Serin remembered that the perks available to a new nation were directly related to what skills and abilities were available between all their members, as well as the laws and traits of the people included.

He had discussed with the leader Stem several times. He did not care which was chosen.

Now was the time. With the backing of Haven, Stem created a guild and had the entire refugee group join.

Then, activating the same manual of Foundation that Serin kept in storage, Stem looked through the options. "It seems that the location of the region adjoining yours has a warning next to it, saying that starting our nation there may hamper our growth since it is in close proximity to your own." Stem smiled and selected it.

Unlike when Serin took his region, this region was not as greatly protected by the wilds, and claiming it was no effort whatsoever.

When Stem went to parlay with Guide of the Divines, Serin saw the telltale long stare of someone meeting the divines. Stem spoke with Serin. "I met with the divines. They said 'thank you for passing the message.' and told me the book has earned a place in your nation now, and would be enroute."

Serin then asked, "What about a perk? Did you choose one?"

Stem smiled, "We know you would want your neighbor and ally to be strong. We also know you would want something that complemented your nation. Your nation has almost everything, It is proud, powerful, and excited, but it is a noisy nation. We will aim to be a balance to that, and thanks to the large amounts of stealth related skills, as well as the general feeling of vengeance felt by the populace of our people, we were able to select the perk 'knife in the dark'. All of our citizens gain access to assassin class skills, and learn them the same rate as someone classed assassin. If someone already has the skills as part of their class, the effect is doubled. Additionally, three random plated citizens became the 'first knife', the 'first shadow', and the 'first tongue', granting them perfect understanding of the dagger, stealth, and persuasion skill respectively. "

Serin stood in surprise. "What will you do now? We ensured that the infrastructure and additional instruction would allow you to be self sufficient, but with skills like that i don't think you plan on staying in your region."

Stem smiled, "I think we will follow Haven's example and found a school. We have experts in a field where it is hard to find a master."

Serin smiled, "I think the passage of knowledge from one to another is a beautiful thing. What about your new Nation. Did you choose a name?"

Stem nodded, "Due to the proximity of the nation to yours, we had to forgo formal announcement rites. But we were given the right to create a name. Since we probably won't expand past this region we have decided on the name of 'The Corvid Society'."

Serin looked quizzically. Stem shook his head. "We have no need for geo-politics. Our strength will be from our export, which will be in the killing arts. And with our added funds, we will use those to slowly weaken, and then destroy, any nation that uses slavery."

Serin nodded at this determination. He also knew that his nation would surround the Corvid on all sides, effectively protecting them from outside incursion.

Smart but limiting. Serin commented. "At our current technology, each region can at best support roughly 10,000 people without ecological impact. What will you do when your people hit that number?"

Stem smiled, "I wouldn't worry about it. This world already has too many humans."

With that Stem was formally invited as a Vassal member to Haven's council meetings, as well as becoming the fourth member of Haven's Alliance. Stem, politely declined these matters, and said in the future he would assign a formal proxy for the councils. "I will lend my ear and my aid, but I will leave it to a younger generation to shape our future."

With the songbirds calling for the start of spring, Serin's Alliance grew stronger, and the future looked a bit brighter.

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