Socializing

Gorum stood out of place, spear clutched in hand whilst swiveling his head around, discreetly looking for the correct person to approach, not knowing who exactly to talk to first, since the room was jammed full of high-ranking officials galore.

Just as he was about to give up on standing in the middle of the room like a fool, opting to become a wall flower, he was interrupted by someone calling out to him.

"Brave Gorum, it's such a pleasure to see you here, as well as a surprise..." Said a soft, honeyed voice.

Gorum turned to see the one addressing him, knowing quite well who it was based only on their voice There stood a short woman dressed in a pure white dress, said dress decorated with adornments of the gods, the thinner fabrics where they were sewn in showing off bits of her pale, snow white skin. A beauty with modest, and humble curves. Long and flowing hair the color of the setting sun hanging down and stopping curtly at her hips.

"Madame Saintess, it's a pleasure to see you as well..." Gorum bowed his head, dipping his torso over in a reverential manner. Gorum would never forget his manners in front of a conduit to the gods, especially this one.

The aforementioned woman in front of Gorum that he was addressing so politely was none other than the Saintess of Communion, conduit to the collective of the gods. It was already baffling to see her without church guards accompanying her, even more so due to the place they were currently standing in. If anyone heard the Saintess came in contact with Omen's Order the ensuing chaos would be cataclysmic.

"I must say, it truly is a surprise to see you here...although, I'm assuming you're surprised I'm here as well?" said the Saintess, bowing in response to Gorum, hands sweetly folded in front of her waist after she finished curtsying the ends of her gown.

"Yes, I am. This whole situation is surprising to me..." Gorum spoke honestly, still trying not to gawk around like a fool.

"Well, it was to me in the beginning as well, but after a decade or so of cooperating with Omen's order I've come to get used to this atmosphere. But...never in my wildest dream did I expect to see you here, out of all people. I had assumed you would stay loyal to the Ugdual royal family until death." she said

Gorum let out a little grunt, processing new information. She had been cooperating with them for a full decade? The Saintess was a woman who believed in justice and fairness beyond anything else, so to know she has been cooperating with an organization like this was...strange to say the least. Of course, Gorum was also out of place here, but he only just arrived and was still on the fence.

Gorum thought about what to say next but was quickly relieved of duty when the Saintess spoke up again.

"Gorum...what made you come here? I know it's an odd question from me, since one wouldn't expect to see me here either but..."

Gorum groaned internally, not knowing how to answer truthfully to the Saintess without sounding like a fool. After all, the only two reasons were quite troubling in different ways. On one hand, he was accepting an invitation to the meet in order to slaughter Order's Omen En masse, and on the other he was here because of that strange doubtful feeling in his chest. Gorum sighed and decided upon the simple answer.

"Frankly...it's just a feeling." he said, careful to keep his original, professional intentions, secret.

"A feeling, you say? What type of feeling, if you don't mind me asking." she said, tilting her head to the side. Her bright, golden eyes staring up at Gorum with curiosity.

Gorum opened his mouth to speak, but stopped abruptly, feeling many more eyes on him than just those of the Saintess. People were watching to see his answer, he had to be careful about the way he answered, or his cover could be blown. Honestly though, Gorum didn't think about that at all, he just felt awkward being stared at. Undercover work was not his forte...

"Doubt, I suppose. I've never thought much about how the kingdom treated me; I simply served it. No one had ever brought it up to me before so when the letter came I... had to confront that feeling of doubt. As well as the way I've been treated." Gorum said, doing his best to not stumble over words; to speak clearly and respectfully.

As he finished speaking, he felt the judgmental looks that were piled upon him fade away in a moments notice. All replaced by a strange and warm feeling that made him uncomfortable in a different way from before.

"I understand what you mean about doubt Gorum, all of us high ranking individuals that are here from Ugdual had that same feeling at one point. 'Is this okay?' 'Are we truly in the right?', Thoughts like that are what drove us all to ask questions, and eventually arrive here, under Omen's Order." said the Saintess, staring up at Gorum with a warm smile on her face.

"It was a pleasure speaking to you Gorum, but I have to find a few people to discuss some plans with. However, while you're here, I suggest speaking to foreign emissaries. They may shed more light about the injustices brought on by Ugduals reign above all the other countries. I hope to speak with you more later on." The Saintess bowed as she finished speaking, leaving Gorum standing by himself, silent as ever.

Gorum hummed softly to himself for a second, contemplating what she said. 'Injustices brought on by Ugduals reign' she said, what did she mean by that he pondered? Gorum hadn't ever noticed any injustices himself, but perhaps that was expected since when he entered the kingdoms service, he never saw the streets again, especially not the streets of foreign countries. He had become accustomed to living in barracks and camps whilst at war or while alone, hunting criminals or other enemies of the state. Always hopping and jumping to the next battle whether or not he was in good condition.

Scanning the room once again, Gorum searched for foreign emissary he could speak to more nonchalantly, preferably a warrior. As luck would have it, there was such a person. Halfway across the room stood a mountain of a man with thick, burly muscles and bright red long hair. That man was The Sword King Kraig, Lord of The Savage Continent Hordana.

Hordana was full of barbarians, monsters, and valuable materials. Essentially, the people were all just a collective of tribes and had varying races in their population, resulting in a lowered amount of racism amongst the people. As well as resulting in a small army of warriors worthy of fighting an army three times its size due the individual strength of their warriors. At one point, they believed themselves to be invincible, and tried to venture off their continent in order to conquer others.

Unfortunately for them, they invaded a beach where Gorum happened to be battling on and were squashed in magnificent fashion. Since Gorum was the one to defeat their entire army, he 'negotiated' terms with their leader back on the Savage Continent. In reality though, he simply delivered a scroll containing the demands of servitude from Ugdual. Who was that leader? The Sword King Kraig, accomplished fighter and most powerful warrior on Hordana.

From what Gorum remembered, Kraig was quite reasonable back then, and spoke to Gorum as casually as one would a sibling. A perfect partner for conversation in this uncomfortable ballroom environment, to Gorum at least. Warrior to warrior conversations was where excelled in conversation!

Gorum made his way to the Sword King, shouting out to him, and raising one arm in a short wave to greet him.

"Oh, Gorum, what a pleasure! I didn't expect to see you here!" the Sword King said as he set down a plate of food and greeted Gorum with wide open arms.

"Yes, I've surprised myself by being here as well, Kraig. I'm also surprised to see an accomplished warrior like yourself here..." Gorum said, ending on a leading question to goad out some much-needed information.

"Hah! For the legendary Gorum to call me accomplished...thank you. As for me being here it's not as if I have much of a choice! Not with how Ugdual treats my country. Honestly the taxes alone are making our merchants cry themselves to sleep." Kraig said, letting out a hearty chuckle, stroking his bright red, bushy beard.

'Taxes?' Gorum thought.

"Taxes?" Gorum said.

"Yes, Ugdual putting an 85% tax on all of our import and exports was quite the economy killer, not to mention they lay claim to 70% of our natural resources." Kraig said, sighing softly as he shook his head in disapproval of the situation.

"That much!? That's ridiculous, how could your people be expected to survive that way? That amount makes no sense, surely that's a clerical error..." Gorum said in an uncharacteristic outburst, in utter disbelief of what he heard.

Those percentages were downright criminal, damning anyone under such a deal to be sucked dry until they had nothing left. Highly uncouth, to say the least. Especially of a massive kingdom like Ugdual, who had more than enough deals and treaties already providing them with money and natural resources.

"Why would you ever accept the terms of that deal?" Gorum asked, bewildered at the percentages.

"Well, Gorum, it was either accept the deal or... deal with you. It's the same for every other country under Ugduals foot. Either comply with their rotten terms or be swept away by you." Kraig said, with a dumbfound look on his face.

"Gorum... judging by your reaction, do you mean to tell me you had no knowledge of this?" he asked, eyes wide with surprise.

"None..." Gorum responded, fists clenched tight, a powerful aura exuding off of him.

"I take it that displeases you, Gorum?" A familiar, sultry voice said from behind Gorum.

Gorum turned to see Damia towering above he and Kraig, a soft grin developing on the face of the woman half of the spider.