World Conquest Online

Dom was now sat back in the Tongpai Town’s, Town Centre’s Office, the room had been cleared of the dead bodies and was much more pleasing on the senses without the imposter Lord or any of the other bodies inside it. The captives downstairs had now also been moved to some guarded rooms, separated by gender and seniority, based on the information they had provided when the Legionaries had questioned them. The Legionaries themselves and other Riverside Warriors across the Military Camp and Tongpai Town itself were now resting from the long day and were sleeping in shifts.

Gan Ning had taken Da Qiao upstairs from the basement, and she had been escorted by him and some of the female horse archers, led by Banas to an area where she could be cleaned and fed. Gan Ning said he would get some sleep once he knew she had been rested for the night, and then prepare the ships for what ever was needed from them at first light.

Most of the Commanders had also disappeared from the Town Centre with their own tasks or for rest, except for Subutai who was stood by Dom’s shoulder as they gazed upon the prisoner who was sat in front of them. Dom recognised Bagoas from earlier, a Prisoner that had walked past him when he was heading towards the room he was now sat in. If it wasn’t for him declaring himself, it was quite possible that none of them would have discovered who he was.

Dom and Subutai stared at Bagoas for a short period of time after he had been escorted in to the room by one of Dom’s Forbidden Guards. The silence was deafening, but Dom didn’t really know how to approach the person in front of him. Bagoas has been the cause of everything that had happened with Tongpai Town recently.

The attack on Banas’s Nomadic Tribe had been Bagoas’s plan, the infiltration and poisoning of the chief and the tribesmen was his plan, as was the follow up attack by the Tongpai Shang Warriors. If it wasn’t for Riverside’s discovery of the tribe and their involvement, the tribe would have been destroyed. Dom couldn’t totally blame Bagoas for it however, all of the Towns, Tribes and Kingdoms of World Conquest Online had their own plans, and Dom had taken towns himself. However as Banas’s tribe had merged in to Riverside, he had to look out for her people’s interests.

It was similar with what he had done with Tongpai Town, for some reason he had betrayed his leader and taken it for himself, putting in a fake leader and controlling it from behind the scenes. Dom wondered why he had done what he had done, but again he couldn’t entirely blame him for what he had done. The issue was, Da Qiao was someone Gan Ning knew and cared about, and he had to look out for his Commanders interests as well.

Dom wasn’t sure what Subutai’s thoughts were, but he was an intimidating person when he wanted to be, and the years of commanding thousands of Warriors on battlefields was evident from the aura he was emitting. Bagoas looked uncomfortable at the silence, but he was also a seasoned leader who had manoeuvred this meeting himself.

"Shall I go first?" Bagoas said, breaking the silence finally. Dom was about to reply, but Subutai touched him slightly, as if to signify he should maintain silence. Dom realised why, they had given Bagoas the initiative, and they had to show that they had control of the discussion. Dom and Subutai continued to stare at Bagoas for a few more long seconds, before Dom finally decided to speak.

"No." Dom replied sternly, "I will ask questions, and you will answer."

"Very well." Bagoas replied politely, but Dom could see that there was a slight look of contempt in his eyes.

"Why did you announce your presence?" Dom asked, wanting the break the ice, but keep control.

"Well, it was either I announced who I was, or one of your men would have dispatched me." Bagoas replied with a shrug, "I wanted to watch you and your leadership a bit more first before approaching, but my mistakes have taken that decision our of my hands."

"My men are good like that." Dom agreed, before asking a question he felt he knew the answer to already, "Why was you going downstairs?"

"Honestly, I could say I wanted to hide some of the gold to escape and set up a new life." Bagoas started, "But that would be a lie, and we both know that. I was going to get rid of a loose end so that my back would be covered. I obviously didn’t succeed in time and this is the second best option."

"To kill the real Lord of Tongpai Town?" Dom questioned.

"Yes, to kill Da Qiao." Bagoas agreed, "I thought I could argue that she was lying or some other reason, but looking at how the fake Lord acted, you would have doubted us from the beginning. Then I saw how your Commander was acting when you brought her upstairs and I knew that you believed her."

"Commander Gan Ning is an old friend of Lady Da Qiao." Dom replied, giving Bagoas a reason to understand that his honesty was the best option. "He recognised her instantly. Tell me more about the imposter."

"She was just a merchants wife." Bagoas replied, "Her husband died, and I decided she would be a good imposter who I could control. I would do what I wanted with Tongpai Town and she would be the figure head. If things went wrong, I could always blame her. However she had some twisted ideas and it seemed some of the Commanders of Tongpai Town agreed with her."

"Aelfred?" Dom asked, thinking back to the Commander that had cut his arm.

"Yes, Zuberi and Guthrem were both mine, which is why they were external Commanders, but Aelfred had other ideas and saw internal opportunities." Bagoas replied, "When Guthrem didn’t return from the Nomadic Camp, I assumed he met his end somehow or had decided he wanted a fresh start. I couldn’t risk sending Zuberi away to investigate as then I would have no one I could trust here."

"Zuberi is dead, he died fighting to defend the fort from my Warriors, I heard he fought fiercely." Dom replied, "As is Guthrem, we dealt with him and his men at the Nomadic Camp."

"I can understand that, after looking at the quality of your warriors." Bagoas replied, eyeing up the Forbidden Guards that stood at the door. "Guthrem was a good man, it’s a shame he is gone. It’s not a shame though about Aelfred and the Imposter Lord. But I do feel some guilt towards the Warriors who died fighting and not knowing why."

"You feel guilt?" Dom asked with a raised eyebrow, as did Subutai who was stood behind him with a menacing presence.

"I do, they were part of my wider plans and it’s a waste of valuable resource." Bagoas replied seriously, before moving the conversation on. "I saw your Hoplite Warriors outside, and the tactics your Shield Warriors used to take down the Town Centre quickly. From the moment you entered the Town to taking the Centre was quick and you obviously have good Commanders fighting for you."

"My Commanders are good." Dom agreed. "But I feel you still haven’t declared why you wanted to watch us and then approach us?"

"Recruitment." Bagoas announced, "I think I could add levels of subterfuge to your Kingdom and help it grow from where it is now to something much larger. You obviously have talented Commanders, but I can bring my own set of skills."

"What skills would you bring to the Table?" Dom asked, as he heard Subutai grunt in disapproval from behind him at Bagoas’s humbleness.

"I can plan things behind the scenes, help infiltrate enemies and move people in to the right positions. I have a good eye for people." Bagoas proudly boasted, feeling like he had advantage of the meeting. As Dom was about to reply, Tomoe appeared at the door, the Guards letting her through as she was part of Dom’s leadership.

"What’s up Tomoe?" Dom asked, leaving Bagoas caught off guard as he was ignored and not replied to as he expected. Tomoe looked tired, but she still wore her full armour as she had travelled around the town.

"We need to sort out the buildings and resource plans." She replied, casting an eye at Bagoas who was sat in the seat opposite Dom, "I have tallied the buildings as discussed."

"Great, let’s get this sorted and then get some sleep." Dom replied, before turning to the guards and Bagoas. "Please escort Mr Bagoas to a room for the night. We’ll make a decision on what to do with him in the morning."

The Guards nodded their heads as walked towards Bagoas, who stood from his chair, whilst Tomoe walked past him and sat on the edge of the desk again.

"Then I shall take my leave." Bagoas replied with a bow, as he was escorted out of the room by the Guards. He didn’t turn back and kept his head held high and walked ahead of the guards, as if he was the one in control.

"What are your thoughts on him?" Subutai asked Dom as he walked from behind him to in front of him.

"Weak and not much to look at." Tomoe replied, "I don’t think he would last long on the battlefield. Plus he’s a Eunuch, and you can never trust a Eunuch." 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

"I wasn’t asking you." Subutai replied with a laugh, not disagreeing with her assessment of the physicality of Bagoas.

"He could bring a lot of skills to Riverside, but I do not trust him at all." Dom replied seriously. "I doubt Gan Ning or the remnants of Banas’s Tribe would be happy if we took him on either."

"I agree, he is to dangerous to keep, both for morale but also personal safety. He took over Tongpai Town easily, and he has a reputation of using poison." Subutai stated, "But he is too dangerous to let go."

"Then what are my options?" Dom asked, "Do we execute him? That’s not something I am comfortable with, we could imprison him, or we send him to hard labour to make amends?"

"He wouldn’t last long at hard labour." Tomoe replied seriously, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand.

"Nor could we trust him there." Subutai agreed, "And permanent imprisonment is a waste of resource."

"I don’t mind executing him." Tomoe said with a shrug.

"I’ll sleep on it and make a decision in the morning." Dom replied, even though it was a game, he still felt uncomfortable with the thought of executing someone who hadn’t committed a crime against him. Dom decided to move the conversation on to the more important things. "What buildings do we have?"

"Based on what you had outlined, I looked for key buildings that we need and those that weren’t basic shops or houses." She began, "Obviously there is the Town Centre, but there was also the Docks and a Merchant Shipyard reported by those by the Lakeside. We have also found a Blacksmiths, Market, Potters, Wood Workshop and a Lumber Camp close to the forest. There are also two Warehouses, and there are also two mines. I am not sure if we can move all of these buildings, but I will leave that to you. The other interesting buildings are the Shang Swordsmen Warriors Hall and the Tavern."

"That’s a lot of information gathered in a small window!" Dom replied surprised, but happy with the number of new buildings they could potentially take. Most of them were buildings they already had, but it was always good to have more.

"I had a lot of help from the Horse Archers that had been spread about, Xun You had already asked them to keep an eye out. There may be more but we’ll have to wait until morning for that." She replied with a yawn.

"Thanks Tomoe, get yourself to sleep." Dom replied kindly.

"That’s a very good idea." She tiredly replied, before walking past Dom in to the Imposter Lord’s bedroom and lying down, face first, fully dressed, on the Imposter Lord’s bed.

"I don’t think you are sleeping here tonight then." Subutai stated with a grin.

"I’m sure I’ll find somewhere!" Dom replied, "First though, I need to claim the Town Centre so at least we have control of further spawns!"

"That would be ideal." Subutai agreed.

Soon Dom heard the familiar voice from the game system.

[Would you like to claim, relocate or absorb the Town Centre of Tongpai Town?]