Chapter 103 - Feralis
"A— Alright," she muttered softly, clearly not very comfortable with semi-public speaking like this. She remained quietly thoughtful for a moment, as if thinking about where to begin.
Finally, she made her decision and began, "So… First, I should mention that, while the triumvirate has a mandate to maintain peace between its three members, that doesn't mean that there's never been war within the triumvirate. We call those the great wars, and the last one was two hundred years ago."
Kane nodded to indicate he understood, and Anna continued. "Okay, so the specifics of the war aren't important, I guess, but by the end of it, all of Mother's Chosen, meaning, the lords and ladies, had died."
Before she could continue, Kane interrupted her with a slightly furrowed brow. "Wait, you say this war was between the members of the triumvirate, but weren't there any of these Mother's Chosen outside the Kingdom of Feralis?"
Anna began to fidget a little, as if unsure. "There might have been…" she eventually frowned. "But after two hundred years, most of them have probably died, as only fourth stage Mystics could live that long. Either way, they haven't made their presence known."
Although the first three Mystic stages would somewhat increase a person's lifespan, with those at the third stage living for approximately 150 years, it wasn't until forming their domain and stepping into the fourth stage, that there would be a significant increase. Fourth stage Mystics would generally live until three hundred at least.
Kane nodded slowly, "Which is the real problem, because I remember you mentioning that no one else has been blessed by the Mother since then, correct?"
"Right," Anna nodded and continued her explanation. "Before the last great war, the Kingdom of Feralis, was actually called the Mother's Union."
Suddenly, her gaze became strangely longing and wistful, "I wasn't alive for that time, obviously, but according to stories I've heard, it was a happy place back then. Corruption was low, cruelty was rare, and the government was peaceful, but strong."
Kane couldn't help but smirk a little sceptically, "Excuse me for being cynical, but that sounds like a story indeed."
An aggrieved Anna pouted slightly, but was hesitantly forced to agree. "F—Fine… maybe the stories embellish a little, I don't know, but it was definitely a better place than it is now."
Kane sighed inwardly, 'Well, I guess I can't judge without having seen the place for myself.' So, he indicated for Anna to continue, "Alright, so tell me why it was such a great place."
Immediately, Anna began to smile enthusiastically, "Because the ruling class consisted only of the Mother's chosen! Not only would the Mother never bless someone unworthy, but you can only become one by securing the freely given blood oath of a subordinate! That is why most of Mother's Chosen decided to live in the Union, and why it became the strongest beastling faction!"
For a moment Kane appeared thoughtful, but then he raised an eyebrow, "I suppose that could work… if all your leaders are determined by an uncontrollable but highly respected entity, and that entity rarely makes mistakes, then that would probably create a decent country. Although it still sounds like a bit of a fairy-tale. Surely they did have a single leader, though?"
Although the Mother's Union was already long gone, Kane still had some interest in them. Since he was a lord, he couldn't help but wonder if, first and foremost, there was any danger in this for him, but secondly, if he could leverage that into a grab for power in Feralis.
Once he'd grown stronger, of course.
Meanwhile, Anna answered his question with a bright smile and a nod, "Yeah! The king or queen ruled for life, and when they died, the next one would be chosen from among the most powerful lords and ladies, based on how many blood oaths they managed to secure. In the event of a tie, the winner was decided through combat."
Kane looked at her with a hint of amusement. "You've really romanticized this place in your head, haven't you?"
Anna's pout returned, "I just like the sound of it…"
Kane chuckled, "Fair enough," and then panned his gaze towards the other beastling outlaw, "What about you, Mira?"
The ramling shrugged casually, before providing a more practical view, "I revere the Mother as much as she does, Boss, but I think it's the Kingdom of Feralis we have to deal with now…"
Despite the cute glare Anna directed towards Mira, Kane laughed and shook his head. "I'm afraid she's right, Anna. Why don't you tell me how the Mother's Union turned into the Kingdom of Feralis?"
"Fine…" Anna sighed, but then nodded and continued explaining, "Well, after the lords and ladies all died, there was naturally a power vacuum in the Union. A time of civil war broke out where several factions fought for control, until eventually, it was the Feralis family which came out on top."
At this point, resentment shone clearly in the hareling's eyes. "At first, they promised to do no more than safeguard the country, until more of Mother's Chosen appeared."
Her expression turned sad, "But none ever did, and the Feralis family became more despotic by the year. Now, there's nothing left of the Union, the name's been changed, and they consider themselves the royal family while ruling with an iron fist."
"I see…" Kane frowned thoughtfully as he internalized this new information. After a few moments, he raised an eyebrow, "So the Feralises' are profiting from the lack of Mother's Chosen, correct? Do you think the beastlings in the Kingdom of Feralis would rise up in rebellion if one appeared?"
He looked at both Mira and Anna, as he wanted to know both their opinions. The two of them shared a look, and came to a consensus. "Probably," he both said at the same time while nodding.
Anna then explained, "The Feralis family has been subtly suppressing the countries reverence of the Mother, but they haven't had much success yet. They know they can't take more serious action, because that would absolutely lead to rebellion, whether there's a new Mother's Chosen or not."
Kane sank into thought. 'In other words, the Feralis family would almost certainly come after me if they knew my status as a Lord. But the real question is, do they have any hand in the lack of new Lords and Ladies appearing?'
His brows furrowed, while the others looked at him and wondered what he was thinking about.
'On the one hand,' he continued inwardly. 'An argument could be made for thinking that perhaps the desire shard holder is a part of the Feralis family. After all, if they subjugated the Mother like I did with Mána, they could have then simply ordered her to stop blessing anyone.'
But he wasn't entirely happy with that explanation, for one simple reason. 'The problem with that, is why wouldn't they simply order the Mother to bless whoever they liked, instead? Why stop completely? They'd have far more control over the country if they went that direction instead.'
Finally, he shook his head and spoke out loud, "Anyway, it's clear I need to keep my status as a Lord hidden for now."
The others nodded in agreement, before Kane decided to address the next talking point. "Good. Now that I know a little more about the current situation, let's talk about our future…"