World Conquest Online

The car departed Craik Forest, with Captain Stirling still snoring slightly in the front. Hector hummed to himself, whilst Dom watched out of the windows to see the hidden figures of the Peak Members that were hidden amongst the thick trees. Jessica opposite Dom was reading some paper from one of the big folders that she had beside her.

"This one is yours." She said kindly, as she pointed at the larger of the two folders. "Captain Stirling placed them here before he got in the front. How was your chat this morning?"

"Enlightening." Dom replied with a sigh, "Just some additional things I need to consider as we travel to Central University. What is in these folders?"

"Just some light reading!" Jessica laughed, "It seems that the Peaks knows what I want to learn the most, so have given me some reading for my return trip. I suspect yours will be similarly focused for you."

"I would much rather log in to World Conquest Online for a few hours than read." Dom replied with a smile as he leant over and grabbed his heavy folder.

"I can agree with that." She laughed again, "but this is a long drive, so this will have to be the next best thing."

"Is my company not the next best thing?" Dom teased, a grin returning to his face.

"You wish!" She laughed back at him, before turning the page she was reading and putting her head down to it.

Dom did the same thing, opening the heavy folder and reading the contents page. His eyes popping open as he did so.

[Dominic Lazarus - Private Information

Part 1 - A Summary of Ancient Roman History

Part 2 - A Summary of Ancient Greece and Surrounding Areas History

Part 3 - A Summary of Ancient Chinese History

Part 4 - A Summary of Ancient Indian History

Part 5 - A Summary of...]

Dom could see that there were many pages that covered key part of history, something that was Key for Dom’s development of Riverside and his other Cities. He was able to read a fair amount online, and the back knowledge that World Conquest Online gave him was good, but these small dossiers could give him even more detailed information that could help him direct forwards.

[...

Part 12 - Sword Styles prepared for Dominic Lazarus

Part 13 - Spear Styles prepared for Dominic Lazarus

Part 14 - How to Act in High Society

Part 15 - How to Implement a Basic Intelligence Network

....]

The next part of the folder covered things that could help Dom in both real life and game life. He understood the Sword styles pages, Camilla or Captain Stirling had written some information on different types of swords and some initial stances were drawn on how to stand, defend and attack with them. He was more surprised by the inclusion of the Spear Styles, as that had been Dom’s preferred weapon and he didn’t think that he’d be directed to continue with that by members of the Sword Peaks.

[....

Part 19 - Fashion of the High Society

Part 20 - Private Folder

.....]

Dom turned to part twenty, wondering what was hidden in the Private Folder section as it’s title didn’t allude to what was included from the contents page. He flipped to the first page and began to read it.

[Dead Dom,

Inside are the profiles for all of the potential candidates for your Fiancée. These have been streamlined from my team for those that seem to meet the criteria that both I think is necessary and what has been calculated to be your best match based on your attitude during your time at the Military Academy.

Please choose a minimum of three people, there is no guarantee that they will be a match. Once they have been selected, I will speak with their families and arrange a face to face for you both to meet. I will brief you before hand as this will be the most important first impression of your life.

Once you have arrived at the Mainland, Lady Annabel will remove the first Nineteen Parts from you for safe keeping, You will be able to refer to them once you have settled in to your accommodation at the Central University. However you can maintain the Dossier on your future Fiancée’s if you so wish, but keep it close as some may be fellow students at the University.

Deepest Regards,

Your Aunt,

Camilla Mordred]

Dom flipped to the next page with apprehension, before being surprised by the page’s style. It looked like someone’s stats sheet, with an image in the top right corner of the person, with information on their age, family background and career or academic achievements. It felt very professional and definitely not the way to choose a future wife.

The first woman was twenty four, a few years older than Dom. She had black hair and brown eyes, with a tanned olive face. She was from the Jimenez family, an ancient family from the south of the Western Kingdoms. Her family were former royalty that had risen again over the last couple hundred years. She had graduated from Central University and was working as an advisor in her family, which were a supplier of weapons and materials to the Military.

She had a passion for wine, music and reading. Whilst being talented on horse back and an adept user of the whip. It had also been noted down that she was playing World Conquest Online as an Advisor type player and someone had noted on the Dossier that she was a good match on looks and had strong matriarchal tendencies.

Dom closed the folder heavily, deciding he would look over the rest of them later. He looked out of the window and saw that they were on the large road they had used to travel north from Glossop, they must have been travelling for a couple of hours by now as the sun had changed it’s position and Dom seemed to have read much more than he expected. He turned to Jessica, and saw that she had looked up at him at a similar time. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

"Did you find something you didn’t like in your folder?" Jessica asked with a smile as she closed her own, much gentler than Dom did.

"Just some interesting reading that I wasn’t expecting to be reading." Dom lied badly, his face slightly red from the thought of the whip wielding Lady Jimenez.

"Sure." Jessica replied with a raised eyebrow. "I need a break anyway, tell me about your Town on World Conquest Online."

Dom did as she asked, telling her about Riverside, without telling her the key details. He also explained the same Heroes he had to Stephen and Roger on the journey to the Hundred Peaks. She listened, asking some small questions here and there. When she seemed content, it was Dom’s turn.

"What’s it like being an Advisor to a Kingdom in game?" Dom asked her innocently.

"Difficult, challenging, exhilarating." She replied passionately, her face lightening up. "At first it was hard, I’m a woman in a Kingdom that thinks women should stay at home and do minor roles. Only those of a senior family are really deemed as a person, every one else is just a number. In the limited time we have played, I am no longer a number, but a person those senior families are beginning to respect."

"That sounds difficult." Dom agreed, "Do you have to constantly watch your back against these families?"

"Constantly!" She grinned, "It’s a constant battle of intrigue and intelligence. Whilst at the same time, the Emperor is giving me power to help grow his Empire across the World Map."

"Where are you based?" Dom asked seriously, "I’ll need to make sure to avoid you!"

"Don’t worry, I doubt we are close." She laughed, "Even if we were, I’m sure I could help you out."

....

They drove for a few more hours, Dom had split his time between reading the many documents and speaking with Jessica. Captain Stirling had slept for most of the way, and Hector had seemed content driving at his own pace.

The history dossiers had been interesting, having given him some more detailed information on both the wider back stories of his characters. There was a surprising amount of information on Crassus in the Roman section, as his death had been a key contributor in to Julius Caesar’s eventual rise as a Dictator, before his death and the Civil War that created the Roman Empire. Lucius was also mentioned in this section, but he was more of a footnote than anything in depth, the summary of him similar to what Dom already knew.

There was also a lot of information about Subutai, and Dom realised even more so just how lucky he was to have one of, if not the best general in the history of the World. He felt that he was currently restricting him with the limited numbers of Warriors and after reading about players such as RisingMoonQueen in Golden Sun’s Blog, he realised that he needed to expand his Military even more.

There was little information on some of his other Heroes, Xun Yu, Xun You, Sun Ce and Gan Ning all had a mention in condensed summary of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms in the Ancient China part, which Dom decided he needed to find in the Library at the Central University at his earliest opportunity. There was even mention of Hua Tou in this section and Dom wondered if his lead Doctor would become a minor Civilian Hero in the future.

There was also mention of Hatshepsut in a section about the History of Ancient Egypt, but there was no mention of Meritamen, however her father did take up a large section, which included the Battle of Kadesh.

Many of his other Heroes weren’t mentioned at all, or were mentioned in passing like Artemisia and Shang Yang. He realised how important knowledge of History could be, especially when fighting against enemies in the future who may be mentioned in the many pages in front of him. Part of him wondered if he could recruit someone like Roger who had a wide history knowledge. He also wondered what impacts if would have on the game direction, if he let people like Xun Yu or Gan Ning know how they died.

Eventually, after driving for what seemed like most of the day, Dom decided he would brave the last part of the file again. Flicking past his Aunt’s intro and the file on Lady Jimenez.

The next page was a blonde woman with blue eyes from the North of the Western Kingdoms, she was slim, tall and strong. Her parents were Lord’s of the North and owned a large ship building company. She also was an excellent craftswoman and played World Conquest Online as a Warrior. There was a note saying that her family owed a big favour to his Aunt, and she was a good match. Dom found her attractive, and placed her in his mental maybe pile. Still unsure how he felt about doing this exercise, he then turned again.

This time it was a brunette with brown eyes and pale skin, she seemed to have heritage from the Southern Empires rather than the Western Kingdoms. What surprised Dom was that it wasn’t just heritage, she was from an offshoot of a Royal Family from the Southern Empires that had settled in the Western Kingdoms. She was a poet and had a love of all things musical. Dom found her attractive, but was surprised that she had been included in the list. She also played World Conquest Online and was playing as a Civilian Musician Class. There was a note that this family needed a match to historic Western Kingdom blood to cement themselves in to Kingdom’s permanently. Dom wasn’t sure if he was the correct Blood for that, and he felt that the pressure was a bit high. He decided he would think about this one more, and turned to the next page.

He instantly recognised the face, someone that he had spoken to recently and someone that was an intimidating person in their own way. Elizabeth Medici, a Princess of the Western Kingdoms. Also playing as a Lord Class, but Dom didn’t need to read much more as he knew her enough already. He wondered if she knew that Dom was Camilla’s nephew, she must have. Maybe she knew a lot more than she had ever let on to Dom over the years they had studied together. Maybe it wasn’t Dom’s clumsiness that her brother hated, but the fact that he knew that there was a possibility they could be linked together permanently in this way. There was a note that said that this was a perfect combination, but he would have to prove himself to the King if he wanted to take away one of the princesses. Dom decided that he would rather turn the page than get drawn in to this chaos. Dom thought that maybe he should just ignore his Aunt’s idea and choose his own future, in the future.