Envoy: Part 1

Hell and Lethe apparently heard about my dragon taming, so they showed up afterwards asking for pet dragons. I pretended to try and give them access, but "failed". Maybe I'd give them dragons when the plateau started producing more. Not until then, though. They were probably capable of taming a dragon that had just hatched out of the egg on their own.

After that, it was just more of the same. The continent needed to be explored. The teleport pads needed to be found. Villages conquered. Unaffiliated players converted or exterminated. And it all needed to happen as fast as possible, but Hell and Lethe decided to come congratulate me. What a waste of time.

As rushed as I was to take the whole continent, apparently I was the only one in a hurry. Six months after I'd taken all of the cities, and there was no sign of any invasion forces. Not even a scouting party of goblins coming out of their holes. Taming a dragon probably had a lot to do with it, but I'd done my best to hide that I'd done that. No telling if I succeeded, though. The World Chat hadn't mentioned it, but that didn't mean much. After all this time, I expected something. Anything. I was starting to think I should start to conquer their cities, but I could never get over the idea that their silence was a trap.

It took two more years for my spies and pets to explore the whole continent. I found all of the dragon roosts, each the peak of the tallest mountain for hundreds of miles whether they were located in a plain or a mountain range that scratched at the heavens. Literally. The sky had a hard limit and some dragons couldn't stretch over their roost for fear of hitting the fluffy ceiling. 

I found all of the dungeons. Those were dangerous places. Underground lairs of monsters that didn't go deep enough to reach the true underground, but where all of the most dangerous monsters lived, were not to be underestimated. Nothing that roamed the surface was over level one hundred, probably in fear of dragon territory. All of the stronger monsters lived in the dungeons. Except for the uber-monster panthers that roamed around Zezhria, they seemed to be the exception for a number of rules. It seemed to be a common thread among uber-monsters. Dragons had their own areas and rules as well.

Even with everything explored, having perfect awareness of everywhere was impossible. I'd need innumerable pets to keep the entire world real time on my map, and even then it was such a massive map that keeping an eye on all of it at the same time was impossible. Unfortunately, that meant that those who happened to rebel were perfectly capable of hiding.

I still couldn't find more than half a dozen rebel camps, even after two years of hunting them. Four of those camps had been in the first two months after I united the continent. Vyktor's spies had been the ones to find them in each case, but the enemy had caught on to his games. The last one had stopped welcoming newcomers altogether. All of their presence on the forum was in private chats.

Occasionally one of my pets would wander onto one of their bases and die, which would bring my fury down on them like a hurricane, but it was a rare occurrence and never resulted in anything. They knew they were compromised before I knew one of my pets had died, so I never got there fast enough. They learned to keep themselves hidden from the random search patterns of my pets and the ordered searches of Vyktor's teams, a truly impressive feat. Or they were all dead. That was a possibility, but I didn't let my guard down. I'd tried to avenge one of my pets more recently than Vyktor had revealed the location of a base.

I hadn't left Zezhria in the last year, but I knew I still had enemies. Vyktor's shadow standing in front of me was proof. It spoke with his voice, "My Master, the forums are buzzing. The other empires have matured. Every player-based city is owned by one empire or another. However, there is fear of the heavenly and hellish forces. The players know that the developers were going to make them the primary enemy of the players, but we haven't seen more than a few bands of brigands. They're worried that they might be building an army to attack the middle kingdoms. Another problem is that the underground empires have completely reinforced the entrances to their realm. Each tunnel that goes that deep has been turned into a bunker. Without massive casualties or revealing just how many undead we control, we can't enter the underground empires." That was a problem. Unless we fortified as well. If we couldn't get in, they couldn't get out.

"Commission the construction of a city around each bunker. The immediate area surrounding the bunker will be full of pasture, so they have nothing to use against us. Make sure the wall goes deep. Some of the monsters down there are burrowers. They won't be able to make tunnels without warning us, but they could attack us from the other side if our walls don't penetrate the earth. If they've figured out how the pet system works." If anyone had, they weren't sharing it over the forum. It could also be seen as unnecessary, as my army of pets and undead was well known. Maybe they thought I was doing something they couldn't, though. "Or they'd just undermine the walls themselves. If they commission new tunnels made, we'll hear about it from the bank." 

That should solve that problem. But then, the goblins below the surface had never worried me. Their empire was a third the size of mine. Their players tended toward the rogue and melee classes, so they'd be magically weak. Better than the dwarves, which hardly ever chose a mage class, but not by much. The real threat was across the ocean. None of the pets I'd sent into the ocean had come back with more than fish. I needed a fearsome navy as well as a land force. I was building ships, but I knew the others had a head start on that front. The humans were born with a powerful navy docked at the cities of Vendeece, Nightwatch, and Victory. And those three fleets together probably didn't match the fleet docked at Allstaria. Orcs despised water, pixies couldn't build crystal boats so they didn't see the point, and the elves were all landlocked. I had a few fishing towns with an armada of tiny boats, but against any war ship they'd be crushed. They were able to keep watch over the border effectively, but anything more than scouting was beyond their capability. I needed one of the dreaded uber-monsters that roamed the deeps, but they avoided my packs of pets. I still got reports of them eating my fleet of fishing boats, but they wouldn't attack anything strong enough to fight back for even a second, and they'd never stay still long enough after killing my assets for me to get there. Maybe they could feel my dragons' power, which made it annoying since my dragons couldn't sense them at all.

All thirteen of my dragons were fully grown, at this point. The babies had only gotten to level one seventy five, but they were as large as my skeletal monstrosity. He was curled up in the pasture of Zezhria at the moment. He couldn't fit in a city, so that was the only real option. He would go out occasionally to eat something, but he usually sat around. I wasn't sure what to do with him. It wasn't like I could have him raise his level or stats any higher than they already were. I'd let all of the players know that anyone who leaked the existence of my pet army onto the forums would be executed. Since they all belonged to my guild, I could track any of them down if I had a reason. Since he was still unknown to the forums, according to Vyktor, I had to assume that none of the rebel camps had seen him or any of my other dragons. Or they just hadn't looked close enough at the cursor to realize they belonged to me.

"Master, there is one more thing." And what was that? He seemed to be fidgeting, as if I would kill him for this bit of information. Maybe I would. He was a tough adversary, but I would do so if I really needed to. "The other empires are setting up a meeting. Trying to, anyway. The underground races are fighting all of the neutral locations suggested by the central empire." That was indeed worrying. I could fight off the goblins or the central empire, I couldn't fight off both of them at once. Not yet.

"Have you figured out their guild names yet?" oddly enough, nobody in the actual guilds ever spoke on the forums. They always used intermediaries as if they wanted their guild to remain a secret. And everyone else went along with it. It was very annoying. I'd thought that it was something like my gag orders, but they talked enough trash about the guilds without mentioning their names that it was unlikely.

"I have, Master. The dwarves are the Hammers of Ragnarok. The goblins are the Badass Mofos. The central empire is ruled by the Knights of the Round Table. Apparently, they've renamed the human capitol of Pellon. It's now Camelot." I busted up laughing. I couldn't help it. I was going to kill King Arthur! And maybe I'd get to kill Thor or Odin, too. Hammers of Ragnarok. My coming would be the Fall of the Fifth Sun, not Ragnarok. My shadow would be slavery instead of destruction, but it was much more similar than a war that ended in mutual obliteration. Hopefully. King Arthur wouldn't pose enough of a threat to make it Ragnarok. "Master, I find nothing humorous in this situation. They are undoubtedly gathering their forces to attack us!"

"Obviously. Or to set up an alliance so when I do eventually attack someone they all attack me at once. Maybe teach each other to use teleport pads so they can respond faster, if that's possible. They're scared of Heaven and Hell, remember?" I was still sniggering at King Arthur's arrogance. Or maybe it was King Mordred. That would be funny. The Knights of the Round Table led by the legendary figure that had betrayed and killed the founder. "Give them the location of the island we found directly between our continent and the central one. It is quite remote. And empty. A spit of sand with no life a hundred meters in diameter. Very neutral." And since it was being held on a bit of sand I'd discovered, I had an automatic invitation. "I'll join in their little conference. If they refuse, it means they're planning on moving against me. If they agree it means they're worried about the monstrous empires. Either way, we'll be out of this miserable waiting phase."

Vyktor's eyes blanked out for a second, showing that he had just added my word to the forum. The first Black Hole Knight to enter a word into that gossip column. Black Hole Denizens and Knights of the Black Hole used it often, but Black Hole Knights were better than that. Seeing someone so high up on the food chain showed that I was serious. If they responded by proxy, it would make them seem like they were afraid of me. Vyktor chuckled. "I have never seen a forum go so dead. Complete silence." I doubted it would last long.

Even a second of silence was indeed a rare occurrence, though. Gamers liked to talk to each other. Bragging and trash talking other classes, mostly. Some of their conversations were fairly interesting, but most of it was total bullshit. Or spreading rumors. It was like the ultimate gossip column. Mental links inside each and every player's mind. Everyone who hadn't muted the World Chat, at least.

Vyktor gasped. That wasn't a good sound, generally. "Master, King Arthur has replied. He wanted an open conference with you before they agree. I presume they were in communication on a private channel." Of course they were.

I grinned as I shifted through my menu until I found the forum list. It was a screen I'd never used before. I was so used to using the menu that understanding all of the functions took all of a second. I pulled into the forum completely so it was a full chat. King Arthur probably wanted a private chat, but there was no need for that. I created a replica of my throne and sat down. I could see points of light like stars appear around me in the thousands. Each second, more popped into existence. I'd be in the center of a solid matte of stars soon. Then a man in pristine white armor appeared in front of me. His cursor identified him as King Arthur. Guild Master of the Knights of the Round Table. His icon was a blue circle with six gold sword blades pointing toward the center. The gold crown floating above it proved he was the actual Guild Master. Lame design, if I did say so myself. "King Arthur. Good to finally meet you. Give or take."

He chuckled confidently. He wanted to appear in control, but I could feel the nerves radiating off of him. So he was a more experienced player. Good. He had enough political bullshit going on in his empire that I could beat him. He still thought this was a game, not a superior reality. "Emperor Void. Can't say I agree. What's the purpose of your offer?" he created a simple throne to oppose my throne that looked like it was made from a steel breed of briar hedge. "I have to say it was very…unexpected."

"You wouldn't go underground. They didn't want to come up into your territory, so I provided a location that nobody owns. Nobody can own it, actually. No habitable areas and it's not big enough to found a city on it. Perfect for a meeting between kings that don't trust each other." And it showed that I was exploring the ocean that separated us. And gave me an invitation to their little council. "The underground races can commission a tunnel, so they don't have to take a single step into either of our territory. And we don't take a step into theirs either. I assume they'll collapse the tunnel behind them, destroying the little beach. I doubt we'll be needing a second meeting, so I don't mind the destruction of the neutral ground." Or…could I commission an island to be built? It would probably be expensive even for me, but the bank was a true eldritch being, who knew what it was capable of?

"I assume you have terms you'd like us to agree to. Let's hear them." He got right to business. I liked this guy. He would be a good enemy. A worthy foe. Since it was a chat, our class and level information was blocked, but he was wearing the classic English knight plate, complete with a frogmouth helm with a crown welded on top of it. When looking through the material of your armor was an option, it really made frogmouths viable. That had to be the human crown gear. Quite plain, but the humans were all about effect over appearance. In this game, at least. It was the developers nodding to historical accuracy with the armor, allowing the other races to go full "rule of cool".

"Not too many. I just want to make sure you know the rules of a good council. No armies. No bodyguards. No envoys. Just the four of us, meeting on a remote island. Obviously, you can't swim in that armor, so you can bring a boat. No more than twenty sailors, all under level fifty. Unless you want to row yourself, I suppose." Arthur didn't twitch. Didn't fidget. He appeared calm, but I couldn't see his face. Maybe he was scared shitless. I wouldn't know. My emotional sensing abilities were limited to fear and pain. Nerves were right on the edge of my ability. Anything else, and I was as clueless as a normal person. "The bottom feeders will have a tunnel, so they can walk."

Two more players appeared. Both looked pissed. The goblin, High Senator Feeler, was wearing silver chain mail with very ornate pieces of plate mixed in haphazardly. If you looked close you could see that every circle had a bladed spike on it, but you had to look really close. His helm was set up like a Roman helm. The dwarf, King Norse, was wearing block-like, golden plate. His face was open, so I could see the rage on it. "Who are you to call us bottom feeders?" Norse bellowed.

"I don't remember being informed that this was a group session." As if I wasn't hosting the chat. I just didn't want to have the full conversation in this chat. They may be willing to have it with an audience of millions, but I was not. "I thought it was just me and you, Arthur. I hope our actual conference goes better. Until a year and a half from today, gentlemen." And I exited the full dive chat. I became one of the innumerable stars watching the three kings look at each other. Feeler pulled off her helmet as if she wanted me to see that she was confused. Norse was pissed, but reigning it in. Arthur hadn't removed his helmet.

"That went well." Norse grumbled. His anger had been an act. He started laughing. "If only he'd taken off his helmet so I could see the look on his face!"

Arthur shook his head. He didn't like how things had gone. "He was so…in control. It was like he doesn't fear us at all. Didn't you notice?" Arthur's voice had changed. It sounded more feminine. Was King Arthur a girl? Was my worthy adversary actually Queen Arthur?

"Relax. You have a bigger and stronger empire than he does, Arthur. Combined, me and Norse have a bigger empire than he does. Of course he's scared. If any of us unite, we'll destroy him." Feeler giggled. Strange that my first impression of her was male. The armor and limited ability to see her face probably had something to do with that, but I was usually able to guess. I wouldn't even have known her sub-race if it wasn't for the metallic glint on her bronze skin. A bit odd for the "traitor" to become the queen, but stranger things had happened. She was smaller than most dwarves, but there was a lot of variation in size in a game where everyone was what they wanted to be. "He's scared blind."

Arthur shook his, or her, head. "There was something about him…I recognize him. Something familiar that I can't place. It's getting annoying." The odds of that…impossible. It would be better for me, though. If Arthur knew me in real life…he'd underestimate me. That was a definite advantage on my side. I had no idea how he could possibly know me, though. Even if he did know me in real life, I acted entirely different now. Few vestiges of who I'd been remained in my mannerisms. I'd tried really hard to kill off every vestige of…whatever my human name had been. "Don't underestimate him." Damn. "He enslaved the whole continent. He owns all of his cities more assertively than we do. He would need something powerful to do that. Something we're missing. Don't forget that. Our armies might be bigger, but his method is something we can't understand. Until we do…we can't be sure we'd win that war."

Why were they still on an open channel? Didn't they realize they were telling their own subjects that they weren't sure of their victory despite the power of their empires? Were they not concerned about morale at all? They weren't acting like leaders at all. Unless…could they be acting this out because it was on an open channel? Did they want to make me look scary for the crowd? Or maybe, they were acting for me? Did they guess that I'd be watching? Did they want me to think they were this weak? Or were they just caught up in the moment? Could they be that stupid? Or maybe…they were figureheads. That would make sense. It was a game. People could give each other all of their money. If someone did that, then I needed to figure out who was really running the empire. They continued talking, but I was sure they were just playing for someone else at this point, so I didn't bother listening to their meaningless conversation.