World Conquest Online

Dom and Crassus arrived in front of the family of four who were stood arguing with a Shang Legionary, a different one from earlier who had decided he would allow his Commanders to deal with the situation.

The Family head was an Elderly Man with a greying beard and a slight hunch; however, he was muscular and had an intense look in his eyes as he saw Dom approach in his armour, and Crassus beside him. The Elderly Man however was not the one arguing, and that was the younger Middle-Aged Woman beside him. She had long black hair and dark eyes, with olive skin. She seemed well fed compared to lots of the Tongpai Residents that were currently evacuating, and Dom could tell she was part of the upper circle.

Behind them both were two younger Woman, that must have been in their early teens. They both looked like the Middle-Aged Woman and Dom assumed they must be her daughters.

They were all well dressed, wearing clothes similar to that worn by those with Hellenistic backgrounds within Riverside. In front of them was a stalled Cart that was not moving as the Shang Legionary argued with them. The Cart was full of materials, and on the back of it was a large Chest that the Elderly Man had placed there.

"I heard that there have been some issues here?" Dom asked as he interjected into the conversation.

"We have supplied more than ten carts to help the forced move, all that we want is to take one chest of our belongings with us." The Middle-Aged Woman replied.

"I understand, however we have declared that you can only take personal belongings that can be carried, as we need every bit of space for those that need it or key materials." Dom replied gently, "We are trying to accommodate everyone during this difficult time."

"You don’t understand!" The Woman replied, "We lived in one Town, my husband died defending it and it was burned, we were lucky to survive. We then moved to another Town, and the same thing happened again, thankfully my Father had us leave before it became total chaos. We came here and started again, built a small network and used our funds to set up trade. Now we are having to leave again, but this time all that hard work is being taken away from us. I cannot start again."

Dom felt sorry for the woman, her story sounded hard, but they had limited carts and needed to speed up the evacuation as much as possible.

"I understand your plight." Crassus stated, "However, we must be fair to all, you will be reimbursed for your Carts, and your wealth was calculated by the Legionaries that investigated you earlier. Therefore, you will not be setting up new entirely. Can you not take what is in the Chest and carry it amongst the four of you? That would solve all the problems."

"I think." The Elderly man interjected, "That you should see what is inside, and then, you’ll understand."

He walked forwards towards the rear of the Cart and removed a key from a bag that hung around his waist. The Legionary looked at Dom and Crassus, who nodded at him to allow the Elderly Man to continue. The Chest was soon opened, and Dom and Crassus peaked inside.

Inside was a large amount of rolled parchment, neatly placed around the edges of the Chest. In the centre of the chest was a painted portrait of a man, which Dom suspected to be the Woman’s husband, and a sword like shape that was wrapped inside a red material. There was also some Jewellery and smaller boxes littered around. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

"These are my writings that I have been writing for the last few years, since I was exiled from my home, my daughter left with me and that is where we met her husband. The Painting is of her husband, and we paid a lot of gold for that to be created after his death by a painter that knew him." The Elderly Man began, "Inside is a sword that I found on my travels, that I intend to sell or gift to a person who deserves it. The rest are family jewels that have either belonged to my parents or my late wife."

"These could be carried between you." Crassus explained, "I will speak with the Legionaries to see if they can create a suitable method to protect the painting in travel."

"What have you written about?" Dom asked, interested."

"These are the histories of the Peloponnesian War." He replied.

Dom realised that this Elderly Man was probably an Elite Villager or potentially even a Hero, as not many Villagers could write, let alone as much as this man had.

"What is your name?" Crassus asked as he pulled out one of the parchments and began to read it.

"Thucydides." He replied, "I am willing to serve your Kingdom, if you allow my daughter and Granddaughters a fair start in Riverside that they deserve."

"You are all welcome in Riverside." Dom replied seriously, "We are aiming to do that for everyone from Tongpai Town, but those that can help the most will obviously have a better place."

[Congratulations on acquiring Elite Villager Thucydides]

[Thucydides

Villager Grade – S

Thucydides is known as one of the "Fathers of History", he was regarded in the Hellenistic world as the first "True Historian" As his histories were primarily written about actions by man, with little basis on the Greek Gods that were involved in many other histories of the time. His works were never completed, and it was suspected that he had a sudden death which caused this.

He was also a wealthy aristocrat of ancient Athens, with vast knowledge of being a member of the council and a renowned general. He is currently retired due to his old age and exile from his beloved home. However, if needed, he could leave retirement and be a General or a Statesmen once more.]

Dom was surprised and impressed by the development. Thucydides could potentially support with the ever-growing list of government related work that was appearing, or he could join the school and support with the education of the small number of Children that were now appearing in Riverside or would be joining from Tongpai Town.

Thucydides then unravelled the material that was covering the sword, and removed it from the chest, handing it to Dom. The Sword had a golden coloured sheath, that was engraved with the images of snakes entangled within one another. He grasped the golden handle, which had a snake head pommel and entwined snakes making up the cross guard, drawing it from the sheath. The Blade also had engraved snakes on it and was of a diamond like blue colour that shone in the high sun. The overall length of the sword was slightly longer than the Legionaries Swords and was easily held in one hand. The edge of the blade had a slight sickle like curve, which added a deadly slashing ability.

"She is called the Harpe." Thucydides explained, "The sword of Perseus, that he used to kill Medusa, or so they say. Supposedly it was gifted to him by the gods for his quests."

"How did you come to have this, Sword." Crassus asked as Dom held it in his hand comfortable, feeling the balance of the blade.

"I doubt you would believe me, but I found it, decades ago during the Peloponnesian wars, in a river!" Thucydides responded, "I have used her myself, and she is the best sword I have ever been graced to lay my eyes upon.

[Congratulations Player Lazarus for claiming a Legendary Weapon, Perseus’s Sword Harpe]

Dom was in shock, he hadn’t claimed the weapon yet, but now suspected it was a gift for hiring Thucydides. He already had a Legendary Weapon, the Rhongomyniad, also known as the Slaying Spear, that he used as his primary weapon. Claiming a second one was a huge boon for him.

[Harpe, also known as the Sword, that Castrated Uranus by the Greek God Cronus. The Sword eventually fell to his grandson Hermes, who in mythology used it to slay a many eyed giant, before giving it to his half-brother, Perseus who used it to kill both Cetus the Sea Monster and Medusa the Gorgon. It is also said that their other half brother Heracles used it to defeat the Hyrda.

There are many tales that involve the Harpe in mythology, but the arrival of it in World Conquest Online, along with other Legendary Weapons is a sign of Luck for the user.]

Dom remembered that the Slaying Spear helped him to have a calm mind when he fought, as well as improved his Spear skills by a whole level compared to before he began playing the game. He wondered what the Harpe would do for him.

[The Harpe is a Sword meant to fight against those that challenge the will of Humanity. The wielder of the Harpe will see the weaknesses in his foe’s easier, and as it will also help increase your own skills as a wielder of a slashing Sword.]

"Can I keep this?" Dom asked Thucydides seriously.

"Yes, if we can take the chest." He replied seriously. Dom could not understand the full reason behind why taking the chest was so key, especially when the items inside could all be caried, and it also put him in a hard place as he would have to bend the rules for himself. He needed this weapon, but he also couldn’t be seen to be taking a bribe in front of his men, and the people of Tongpai Town.

"You can take the chest, if we can put in some other items, such as food or materials." Crassus replied, "That way we will not be bending the rules but using it as another storage item. You can obviously move your items around inside."

Thucydides agreed, and he and his family worked with the Legionaries to do as they had been told. Crassus explained that when they arrived in Riverside that Thucydides should report to the Town Centre at his earliest convenience and Crassus would arrange him accommodation in the key area of Riverside where the other Elite Villagers, Heroes and Key members of Riverside stayed. Thucydides and his daughter were grateful, as was Dom, who had been rescued by Crassus who had seen a clean way for everyone to get what they wanted.

"Thanks Crassus." Dom said to him as the family of four had left and a couple other Carts had gone past.

"You are the Lord of Riverside; you have a reputation and a standing that is key for all our goals. I am loyal to you, this is something small, but if there are dark things that need doing, I will do them for you, so your reputation is not tarnished." Crassus replied, before smiling and walking away from Dom to continue managing the progress.

Dom stood there silently for a few seconds, before planning to move up towards the Docks and see how progress was going on there. As he began to leave however, Banas appeared on the back of her horse.

"Good news Lord Lazarus!" She said as she approached. Dom looked at her expectedly, unsure if she was talking about the evacuation, loading of boats or the scouting that was taking place.

"We have not seen the enemy within the close parts of the forest, and the boats that were sent to scout have reported that the enemy has not been seen either. One scout believed he heard the sound of wood being cut in the distance but was ordered to pull back for instructions." She replied, "We believe that they have not began their initial charge on Tongpai Town as of yet and are instead building camp. Commander Subutai believes we should have at least two more days before they attack., a day of rest and then a day of preparation. They have no reason to rush as we should be unaware, they are coming. They won’t even know that ’We’ are here."

Dom was relieved, if this was the case, they could set up Tongpai Town as a trap, and he could log back in on time to be involved.