A Distant Cousin

Dom appeared in the game lobby and noted that Game Support was sat reading again, this time she was reading a historical novel written about ancient China during the late Northern Song Dynasty called Water Margin. She looked up at him as he appeared and smiled, before turning her head back to her book.

"Good Morning Lord Lazarus." She asked, "Are you ready to play?"

"I am." He said, before asking her, "What are you reading today?"

"An interesting book about a group of outlaws that band together and fight against the ruling state." She replied, "There are some interesting characters with some strong individual tales, you should read it some time."

"I will if I get the chance!" Dom said, taking any words from Game Support to have a deeper meaning.

"Well, if you ever bump in to any of the outlaws of Mount Liang, think carefully on which of the spirits you are speaking with." She stated, before waving goodbye to him as he faded in to light and appeared back in his room.

Dom awoke in his room, completely perplexed from what Game Support had said to him before him and having no idea what she meant by it. He thought back to some of their other conversations and just felt that she used random statements to make the loading part more entertaining.

He was happy to see that he was lay on his bed and not stood at the entranceway as he had been when he logged out, he wondered if he logged out anywhere else within Riverside if the same thing would happen. He sat up and was grateful to see that he was alone. Quickly he jumped out of bed and got himself dressed, putting on his clothing and his armour, he also grabbed his sword and dagger, but left the Slaying Spear behind for now, hoping that he wouldn't need it.

He headed towards the large window that was at the edge of his room and that overlooked Riverside, nervous at what he would see. He looked down and could see that it was busy and full of life as usual, with people busy on their daily tasks. He could see that a large white stone wall was still being constructed and the outlines of figures that were stood around it. With relief, he came away from it and headed towards the stairs so that he could go and check on the situation.

Heading down the stairs, he saw that Meritamen was sat on a chair in front of the fire, her legs raised and resting on a small foot stool in front of her. She was reading some papyrus and seemed to be in deep thought, until she heard the creek of the stairs and quickly turned in shock to see that Dom was walking down the stairs.

"So you have returned?" She teased, putting her papers down beside her and sitting up. She was wearing a tight fitting dress and her hair was loose.

"I am, how has everything been?" Dom asked her, worried about the situation.

"Quiet." She replied as she stood up and walked towards him, "There has been no further signs of any enemies, Tomyris and Tomoe have been directing the forest search, whilst Subutai has been building up a network of Watchtowers surrounding Riverside. Gan Ning has headed to explore the cave that Tomoe had found the enemy within, with some of the more elite troops and he is due back later today to feedback on his findings."

She reached Dom and put her arm on his shoulder, untying his shoulder strap and then lifting his armour a bit higher, before retying it. She then walked around him and looked over the rest of his armour, tutting here and there, before gently tapping him on the rear, causing Dom to blush. She returned to his front and looked up at him.

"You are a Lord, check with me before you leave, you need to look pristine. I shall speak with the Blacksmiths on making you some better armour, something like the Legionaries rather than the Hoplite." She said, "I can't believe that you disappeared on me like that."

"I am sorry for that." Dom replied, "I had to leave, has Lucius explained it to you?"

"It was a shock when you went, but I am used to your surprises by now." She replied, before winking at him, "You can always make it up to me later."

"I shall try." Dom blushed, wondering how he should deal with the situation.

"Yes, you shall." She said sternly, "But for now, I believe you have a growing kingdom to inspect. I am currently reading up some notes that myself and Crassus pulled together before he departed yesterday, he is due back in four days but he has taken a large amount of gold and jewels with him and a large contingent of guards. I have a few more notes to read and then I have some meetings with some of the family heads, Lucius has left me with some of the management whilst he deals with some more major things. I expect he'll be at the Doctors Clinic with Hua Tou if you get chance"

Dom agreed with her statement and thanked her for her hard work whilst he had been gone. He realised that she may be young, but she was very intelligent and was a huge asset to Riverside. He headed downstairs to the hall, noting that there was a small plate of food waiting for him at his chair. He grabbed the bread and fruits and ate them as he walked out of the Town Centre.

Outside he was greeted by the smiles of Gregorios and Trojan, who seemed grateful at his arrival. They both had their shields on their arms, and their spears in their hands. The motif of the Sabre Tooth Tiger now adorning both of their shields.

"Good morning, Lord Lazarus!" Gregorios greeted, "Mayor Lucius is with Doctor Hua Tou at the Doctors Clinic, he has asked us to send you to him at your earliest convenience. Advisor Shang Yang is overseeing the Wall Construction and also asked us to send you his way when you got chance. Commander Subutai is currently with shipbuilder Himilco and has also asked for your presence when you have chance."

"So a busy morning ahead then." Dom lamented.

"Very much so Lord." Trojan replied, "However, yesterday was a productive day and our defences have increased by another level. Centurion Pullo has returned to training the recruits in batches and our new arrivals have quickly got involved. Every day that passes we are stronger."

"Let's head towards Mayor Lucius first." Dom stated, as he walked towards the Merchant District where the Doctors and the Shipyard were based. "Has there been any issues whilst I have been gone?"

"Nothing Lord." Gregorios replied, "There have been no signs of enemies and we have also removed all of the bodies and buried them. We do not believe it will stay like this for long though."

"What are your thoughts?" Dom asked Gregorios, trusting his loyal Hoplite guard.

"Personally, I think we need to finish excavating the Ancient Underground City." He replied openly, "We may find further clues to our new foes and maybe ways to defeat them. I want to bring my family to Riverside, but I want this threat gone first."

As he said this, a couple of the Hittite children ran passed, chasing a ball made from vines that had been made for them. Dom, Gregorios and Trojan all stopped and watched the children play for a couple of minutes before continuing to walk. He looked around and saw that more and more houses were being built around the edges of the available space, most of which was temporary to place the constant arrival of new Villagers until permanent housing could be found. There plans for creating a noble area on hold whilst the concentration was on defence rather than growth.

"The Children being here makes this situation much more serious." Trojan stated, "But we'll get through it, I have trust in that."

Dom agreed as they arrived at the Doctors Clinic, pushing the door open and heading inside. He noticed that Hua Tau's wife, Lady Wu, as well as his daughter Hua Xiu were busy dealing with a small group of Warriors that were sat inside, unarmed and not wearing any armour either. Dom recognised these as the group who had returned with Tomoe and noted that Deimos was sat near the front.

"Good Morning Deimos." Dom stated, "What's going on?"

"We have all been asked to come every morning for a check up, to make sure our wounds are clean and there is no risk of infection." Deimos replied, "I'm not used to being treated this way, but I am grateful for the care. Most of us have been discharged and we haven't received any more losses."

"What about those that have not been discharged?" Dom asked.

"They are ok, just needing lots of rest." Deimos stated, "Hopefully they will be back with us and fighting in no time. We are currently on rest duty and not allowed to fight unless we are under attack, I am hoping to have sign off from Doctor Phoebe today so I can return to active duty."

Dom was impressed with how the Doctors had treated the situation, and also in the way that the Warriors had reacted, he felt that having a strong medical backbone to Riverside could only be a huge advantage as they grew. He also noticed a couple of new faces in the clinic, and assumed these were Hittites or new members that Hua Tou and Phoebe had taken through their medical knowledge. Hua Xiu headed over to Dom when she noticed that he had arrived, a small smile on her face.

"Good Morning Lord Lazarus, my father and Mayor Lucius are in the backroom if you would like to head through." She said kindly.

"Thank you Hua Xiu, and thank your mother as well for all of your hard work!" He replied seriously.

"We are just doing what we need to do." She said, "I will warn you however, that what my father has to show you isn't the most pleasant."

Dom wondered what she meant as he headed down the corridor, reaching the final room which was used as one of the main surgery rooms. He wondered what he would find inside as he pushed the doors open. Inside he saw that Lucius and Hua Tou were gathered around a body on the table, both looking up as Dom entered.

"You need to see this." Hua Tou said as he saw that it was Dom, a refreshing comment as he hadn't started with Dom's titles like most people did. Dom had a lot of respect for Hua Tou and was grateful that the man treated Dom as a friend rather than a leader.

Dom headed towards the table and saw that it was the headless corpse of the creature that had been killed by Tomoe. The body was cut open and several organs were placed on small trays that were placed around the room. It's head lay on another table, having also been cut open and it's insides exposed, with it's brain separate from the rest of the head.

"What's going on here?" Dom asked as he looked around, trying to hold in the need to be sick as the smell in the room was quite strong.

"I am doing what you call an autopsy." Hua Tou stated, "I am trying to understand the fabric of this creature, so that you can be best prepared on ways to combat it. It's been an interesting experience."

"Have we noted anything?" Dom asked, turning to Lucius who was looking at some drawings that Hua Tou had drawn on some paper nearby. The Mayor seemingly in deep thought at what ever he was looking at.

"Oh, so much." Hua Tou said, "It's like I am looking at a distant cousin of ourselves."