World Conquest Online

They began to drive up a long and windy road, their sides surrounded by further farmlands, where as at the top of the windy road was the outer wall of what was the City of Glossop.

"I have heard about Glossop." Jessica stated as they drove up, "It’s supposed to be an intimidating place for outsiders."

"You could say that." Camilla replied with a smile, "The City of Glossop has a strange layout and an even stranger population. Originally many small towns were situated around key travel routes across the spine of the north of the country, as well as beside an abundance of water reservoirs and farmland. During the years that followed the floods and the following wars, the towns here banded together and created a defensive position that is central now to the Isles. Glossop was the largest town and became the centre of what is now the City of Glossop."

"Why is the population strange?" Kish asked as two large gates opened as they drove up the road. Dom had expected more traffic, but it seemed oddly quiet.

"There was a large influx of refugees from the western coast, and the original people of this area had to work together to help them as much as possible, we are only around six miles now from the port of Hyde, but originally there was another ten miles or so of land after the floods." Camilla explained, "There was a lot of pain, and with pain there is a lot of pushing that pain elsewhere. So the people of this area struggled with rioting, looting and starvation due to the large population of refugees. Martial law was imposed, and the situation was relieved, however they decided to shut their borders to anyone else joining and became a secluded area to outsiders."

"Are they still secluded now?" Diane asked, as they passed through the gates and were greeted by stunning green scenery in front of them. Perfectly lined fields separated the inner city from the outer wall, where traditional houses and complex structures were based. There was a large man made River that also separated the two, and further up it linked to one of the many reservoirs.

"They are, which is why they are seemed as strange." Camilla laughed, "They still speak old English, their accent broad. It is very hard to marry in to the City of Glossop, as over ninety percent of it’s residents are direct descendants from the original towns people or the refugees that settled here."

They soon drove over a small bridge that connected in to the city, and drove towards a large park that was based centrally. There was a small stone outpost, where a man in similar clothes to the other Guards they had seen so far was sat. He was relaxed on a chair, drinking from a metal flask and hiding his eyes under hit cap. He was muscular, with a small black beard with specks of grey in it.

They pulled up beside him, and Hector the Driver disembarked and headed towards him. The two spoke, with the guard getting up from his chair in a frustrated manner. He turned and shouted in to the outpost, before getting in the passenger seat beside Hector.

"Have you had a good few days of relaxation Captain Stirling?" Camilla asked with a cheerful tone, one that Dom hadn’t heard her use yet, not even when she told him about the family connection.

"Not overly." Captain Stirling replied in a broad tone, compared to all of the rest that Dom had met so far, this Captain didn’t act in the same professional manner, and reminded him of the way Gan Ning acted.

"How was your mother? Did you pass on my best wishes." Camilla asked again, ignoring Captain Stirling’s tone.

"I did and she’s fine, still moaning as always. Your father didn’t do this, your father hasn’t done that." Captain Stirling replied, his accent thick and his speech fast. "I didn’t have the heart to remind her that he’s dead."

"He’s not dead. You just don’t like him very much and wish that he was." Camilla teased Captain Stirling, who just grunted in response. She then leaned in to the four students and whispered. "I told you, those from Glossop are strange."

...

They were soon on the way again, traveling the gruelling trip from Glossop to the Craik Forest. Camilla has introduced the group to Captain Stirling, who had taken a second longer looking at Dom than he did the rest, before he ignored them the rest of the journey, unless Lady Camilla asked him to reply to a question.

Many more questions were asked, most about the different types of Peaks, as well as more about the history. However, Dom had tuned a lot of it out. His mind still thinking back to Camilla’s earlier words about how the Victors had wrote history and that they now policed the world. Lady Camilla was supposed to be one of the most influential women in the Western Kingdoms, having been the Chief Advisor. Yet, her second role was to support in the policing of the Worlds Rules. Dom couldn’t understand how she had allowed the death of so much of her family to happen and accept it as just a number within the agreed rules of engagement.

Camilla seemed to celebrate the changes in the world, how the Isles of Britainy had ended further escalation of destruction of the leading countries, by executing millions of innocent lives to strike fear in to every one else. Dom didn’t agree with it, it wasn’t right. He looked around the car as they travelled, Kish and Diane easily swayed by her words and agreeing with her thoughts, where as Jessica seemed to understand the reasoning behind it, and didn’t offer an alternate solution.

Dom felt there had to be an alternate solution, it was the past and nothing could be done to change it now, but he didn’t think it was something to celebrate. He thought back to how she explained that inventors who develop new technologies that aren’t deemed as safe may disappear, it didn’t feel like policing to him but something much worse. For the first time, he wasn’t sure if he had made the right choice joining the Hundred Peaks. He did however have family again, but she was very different compared to Dom.

The rest of the long drive was relatively quiet, some parts of the roads were busy, where as others were empty. At one point Dom fell asleep, or he believed so as the sun had changed its location in the sky and they seemed to be much closer now than they had in the past.

"We should arrive at the Craik Forest in around ten minutes my Lady." Hector announced from the front, interrupting Dom’s thoughts.

.....

The Forest was huge, full of tall trees, some of which were over five hundred years old. It had supposedly spread out over it’s last few hundred years, taking over it’s local towns that were now ruins within. Their was a single road that took them through, the canopy of trees above them blocking most of what remained of the sun.

There was a sudden clearing, the visible sun catching them off guard as it flooded the cabin of the car. In front of them in the clearing was a large manor house, something that Dom imagined would be home to some form of Nobility.

"Welcome to the Ninety Ninth Peak." Camilla said excitedly as the car pulled up outside the lush entranceway. The Manor was picturesque and Dom couldn’t believe something so impressive could be hidden in the thick forest, secluded from everyone else. "As you can see, she isn’t a Military Peak like the rest, we have no need for stone walls here, we have the forest instead."

As they departed the car, Dom could see small groups of swordsmen stood at different corners of the building, as well as by the entrance doorway. He continued to look around, trying to count how many he could see as the rest of them also climbed out of the car.

"You are missing the ones at that tree line over there." Captain Stirling whispered to him, before pointing to another tree line, "And the ones there as well."

Dom followed his hands, seeing the dark silhouettes of people hidden amongst the forest that surrounded them. There clothes helping them blend in to their surroundings.

"Why so many?" Jessica asked as she appeared beside them guessing what they were talking about. "I doubt there is anyone that would attack here."

"That’s very well observed Miss Moon." Captain Stirling replied sarcastically, "However, they aren’t here to defend the Ninety Ninth Peak from external foes."

Captain Stirling walked off, heading straight in to the building, where as Dom and Jessica shared a look of confusion. If they weren’t defending the peaks from external foes, then what were they defending it from.

They followed Camilla inside where they were greeted by a large open foyer. Dom’s eyes pinged open as he entered, as it felt like he was entering a small museum. To his left were rows upon rows of knights armour and a variety of cold weapons, in the centre were three raised platforms, each with the bones of giant creatures. To the right was a long line of ancient artworks, before the end where their was a large reception desk with a suited woman stood behind it.

"I will go speak with the receptionist, please have a look, but do not touch anything." Camilla offered to the group as she walked off. Diane and Kish seemed to partner up and headed towards the artwork straight away, where as Jessica smiled at Dom, before walking towards the armour and weapons.

Dom instead headed towards the platforms, the first had a large fossilised skeleton of a creature that was around ten metres long. There was a plaque underneath that explained that it was the fossilised remains of a dinosaur from the late Jurassic or early cretaceous period called an Iguanodon, that would have originally lived on these islands when they were part of the bigger continents. The second fossil was of a similar length, with intimidating claws and a crocodile like mouth, this one was labelled as a Baryonyx that supposedly fed primarily of fish, which Dom wasn’t too sure about. The final one was raised, with metal wires dangling from the ceiling to keep it raised. It was dolphin shaped dinosaur that was named an Ichthyosaur, a species that seemed to have lived throughout most of the period of the dinosaurs. Dom didn’t want to meet any of them in person and was happy they were extinct.

After seeing them all, he noticed that Camilla was still talking to the receptionist, so decided to head towards Jessica who was looking at some of the armour. She was currently looking at a full piece of chain mail that had been maintained and kept as a private collection piece since before the great floods. She noticed Dom’s arrival and smiled at him.

"It’s an impressive collection." She commented, "There are a range of weapons from across history further down the wall. I am tempted to see if I can learn about how they were made."

"Are you interested in weapons?" Dom asked, surprised as she had come across as more academic.

"Slightly, but if I can learn how they are made, I can bring that concept to the Kingdom I am based in on World Conquest Online." She replied excitedly, making Dom realise that maybe he could do the same thing and develop Riverside’s future with technologies from outside of the game. Just as Dom was going to ask some questions, Camilla shouted them over.