World Conquest Online

The Evening Entertainment continued long in to the night. Gu Kaizhi and the dancers performances were followed by some wrestling by a collection of different Warriors. The wrestling matches brought large shouts of encouragement from the crowd. The competition had been fierce and Dom had been impressed, having noticed that there was no intention to harm each other, but more of a show of skill. The Legionaries that had taken part were the most impressive, followed by the Spartans that had been trained since a young age, easily out skilling the more powerful Celtic Mercenaries and using their own weight against them.

This was followed by some singing and more music, whilst food and drinks were spread across the crowd. The joyful atmosphere was addicting and Dom hadn’t experienced anything like it in either his real life or in any other game. There were then some other minor performances from other members of Riverside, before they finished with Tomoe who hadn’t been sat with most of the Heroes. She performed an elegant sword dance with her two blades, whilst wearing a flowing dress, showing both her beauty and deadliness, which brought on the loudest cheer from the crowd when she finished and bowed towards Dom.

As Tomoe finished she handed her weapons to one of the Forbidden Guards that were placed across the Amphitheatre, who took them and headed towards the small buildings behind the stage. She then headed towards the female Heroes and sat beside Tomyris who had a space waiting for her. As she sat, she smiled at Meritamen, giving her a signal that Dom didn’t understand. Meritamen however did and stood up and headed to the stage herself.

She was soon joined by Lucius, Subutai and Shang Yang, the three heads of the different areas of Riverside. Dom watched happily, aware that this was Meritamen’s moment to shine as the four of them would be leading Riverside for the next couple of weeks without him.

"Residents of Riverside, have you had a good time?" Meritamen exclaimed loudly, her charisma flowing as a loud cheer erupted from the crowd in response. Some of the Warriors began to stamp their feet loudly, which was followed by other member of the crowd.

"Good!" She replied to them, "We have some recognition to give out to some Warriors and Civilians who have performed deeds that merit recognition. I won’t stand on ceremony, firstly please step forwards, Wang Shu!"

Wang Shu, the Head Builder who had joined Riverside in the earliest of days blushed uncontrollably as his name was shouted. He was sat in the fourth row and was thankfully near the stairs. He made his way around his wife and three sons, pulling in his large belly so as to not catch them, before heading down the stairs and gingerly walking to the stage towards Meritamen.

"Wang Shu is the reason we have housing, his family have worked tirelessly to create a welcome home for every resident on Riverside. As we grow, we know that this task will become harder and harder. For now though, please take this reward for your service." She announced. A Forbidden Guard handed Meritamen a package, that she then unrolled and handed to Wang Shu. His face dropped as he held the handle of a short dagger with a Sabre Tooth Tiger head pommel. He bowed in gratitude before leaving the stage. The short dagger had been made by Ou Yezi’s apprentice, and all of the winners would receive one.

"The next person, is Lars the Lumberjack." Lucius announced from beside Meritamen. Lars proudly stood up, having consumed a fair amount of alcohol during the last hours and walked past his three sons, one of which was wearing a winners crown from earlier, and then his three daughters including Aase the Head Carpenter at the Shipyard.

"Without Lars and everything that his family have done, we would have no wood to build our homes, or our ships, or light our fires at night. The Lumberjacks are also our first line of defence at the forest edge and without them, we wouldn’t be what we are today." Lucius continued, before handing him an identical dagger to Wang Shu.

A few more Civilians were rewarded, including the Chef from the Benoit family that had set up the feeding area and the routine for all of the new arrivals, especially those from Tongpai Town. They then moved on to the Military rewards. Subutai had been sensible when he had agreed these with Meritamen, not wanting to reward outwardly to much from the Assault on Tongpai Town in public, but more for the Defence against the Type 3 Humans. Some of those that had performed exceptionally in the Assault on Tongpai Town would be rewarded personally in the following days, specifically those that opened the gates of Tongpai Town and those that were part of the initial assault on the Military Fort.

"This reward is for Leon and Erastus, who in the early days of Riverside, caught and tracked down the Red Hare Horses that you all now see around Riverside, both used by the Military and Civilians." Subutai began as he began to hand out rewards to the different members of Riverside’s Military.

The rewards continued and Subutai had made sure that all of those that were part of Gu Kaizhi’s plan were rewarded, except for Gu Kaizhi and Hua Rong who were Heroes and were thanked instead, their rewards would come in financial benefits and other long term favours. They also awarded some of the Warriors who were at the West Gate with Abubakar, as they had dealt the most damage apart from the fire. Shang Yang handed most of these rewards out, as Lucius had with the earlier segment.

"For all of those in the Military, we will be reorganising and conducting some internal promotions in the coming weeks." Subutai announced after the final rewards had been given. "We expect that this reorganising and restructure will last us for a long period of time as we expand with our new long term plan. Before I hand you back to Meritamen, I also have some exciting news to share that I haven’t shared with anyone yet."

Dom was aware of the awards, and the restructure, which would include some promotions to Centurion ranks as well as moving the now large number of Warriors in to proper Legions that reflected their different Commanders. He wasn’t however aware of the exciting news that Subutai had to share.

"Cunomoltus, the leader of our Celtic Mercenaries that joined Riverside recently, was severely injured in our defence of Tongpai Town." The residents all cheered Cunomoltus when he was mentioned, even those from Tongpai Town, unaware that he had actually been injured when taking the Military Fort. His face beamed in pride at the cheers at his name. Subutai then continued. "He has recovered and agreed to work alongside Centurion Pullo in the Training Camp of the Ninth Legion. This also means that the Mercenaries will be permanently joining Riverside."

The crowd cheered loudly as the Mercenaries that were sat around shared different looks, most were surprised by the news, having not been informed by Cunomoltus themselves, but the majority of them looked happy. Riverside had welcomed them and treated them the same as their home Warriors. They had also seen the wonders that kept happening and the horrors of the new types of enemies they would face. Being part of a growing Kingdom and having a family here was better than being the Vanguard for uncaring Hirers, with no knowing of what their long term future would be. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

"This also means that the capacity for Riverside’s Training Camp has grown, therefore if there are any Citizens that wish to try out and join the Legionaries, you now have the opportunity to do so." Subutai finished, before turning to Dom for him to come to the stage and say something. Dom walked up, the crowd cheering louder and louder as he reached the stage, the sound deafening as the amphitheatre reverberated.

"All, thank you for everything you have done to help us grow. Those that are new, I thank you in advance." Dom began. "Today’s organised celebrations are now over, but the Market, Tavern and Gambling Hall are open until late. We shall do this again soon, when we grow to the next stage. Once again, Thank you."

Everyone cheered whilst Dom left the stage and headed straight through the tunnel under the stairs and out of the Amphitheatre. He was flanked by Meritamen and some of the Forbidden Guard as they left and headed directly for the Town Centre. Meritamen had explained that there may be reluctance to leave the Amphitheatre or continue celebrating if Dom had stayed.

"I think that has been a successful day." Meritamen announced proudly as they entered the Town Centre.

"It’s been a long day!" Dom agreed, "You did well, the games and the entertainment were both great."

"I had some good support." Meritamen laughed as she latched herself to Dom’s arm. "I think there are some exciting times ahead for us, have you decided on a Kingdom name yet?"

"No I haven’t." Dom replied seriously, "I feel when we have the borders drawn and all of the towns in place, we’ll have a better idea."

"You need to get thinking, as the sooner we start referring to ourselves by that name, the sooner it will stick." Meritamen explained, "It will be much easier to negotiate and trade with others if we have a name, currently we just use our Capitals name."

"I promise I’ll think on it." Dom agreed, understanding her point.

"Good. So what do you think of the new Heroes?" Meritamen asked as they headed upstairs to the middle floor of the Town Centre.

"I think that Xiao Qiao and her Father will be good assets, She can assist Xun You and he could potentially manage one of our new towns." Dom replied, "I am looking forward to speaking with Sun Ce, he is an excellent warrior, but he will need a strong strategist to support him and stop him from rushing too far ahead."

"What about Artemisia?" Meritamen questioned as they reached the bottom of the stairs to Dom’s floor.

"She is an intriguing woman." Dom laughed, himself unsure on how to respond to that question "She seems intelligent, but dangerous."

"Very dangerous." Meritamen agreed, "I think she will be an excellent asset, she should head to the Sea city. She can train our new ships when they are built, as we can send them there to her."

"That is a very good idea, the Shimmering Sea is calm and there is a lot more safe space to train than in the River." Dom nodded as he headed up the stairs.

"She will also intrigue anyone that visits." Meritamen continued as she followed Dom up. "But, she can’t be alone, she’ll need someone trustworthy to lead her, whilst she can be the support. Have you decided who?"

"I am torn." Dom stated as he unbuckled his belt and placed his sword on the rack, before heading to the bed and sitting on it. "I don’t really have anyone I want to move their, as everyone is too important."

"It’s not far, half a day by ship, a full day on horseback once the roads are finished." Meritamen countered, unclipping her hair. "As we grow, more of our core will need to be spread out, but they don’t need to meet daily, monthly will be enough in the future. We can do weekly for now as we are much smaller."

"That makes sense, I’ll sleep on it." Dom agreed as he watched Meritamen, a slight redness appearing on his cheeks. "I need to decide who will come with me in the morning to build these new towns. Are you not heading out to finish celebrating?"

"You have your role in Riverside, and I have mine." She replied seriously, her face staring at Dom’s. "And mine, as Shang Yang has reminded me often, is to create Heirs who can rule Riverside when we are gone."