text: You don't have much else to do at this point. You might as well go to Nalin. If you decide you don't like it there, you can always leave.
  
  "Okay, okay, I'll go with you. Just both of you stop going on about it!"
  "You will? That's wonderful! Hey would you... "
  "Calvin, I told you to shut up already!" you snap.
  
  Calvin shuts up and backs away. He starts telling his daughter that he has to stay here with most of the crew because there is still a lot of digging that needs to be done, but that he wants her to take you to Quintus right away. She nods and tells a few of the expedition crew to start loading up a few wagons to leave soon.
  
  Jennifer herself on the other hand starts walking along side you and staring a lot.
  
  "Shouldn't you be helping load up the wagons?" you say implying that you'd like her to leave you be.
  "No, they got it. Hey, so how well did you know my ancestor?" she asks ignoring or oblivious to your wishes.
  "Not as well as I thought, considering he never mentioned having a family to me."
  "Oh I do not believe he had one of his own. But from what I've seen of my father's family tree diagrams, Jacob had a couple of brothers that were just normal civil servants. Record keepers, that sort of thing. Obviously they had families though, otherwise my father and I wouldn't be here. He never mentioned siblings?"
  "Nope. Perhaps he wasn't on good terms with them. I dunno. I only interacted with him on things concerning important Empire business. He was pretty immersed in his work most the time. I suppose I can say, he was a dedicated servant of the Empire."
  
  This remark makes Jennifer display a big grin.
  
  "Hah, I knew it. We Mols have always been patriots to our nations!"
  "Hm, well he definitely would do anything to save his nation. Unfortunately that seems to have been for naught given that it no longer exists."
  
  "So... um, why were you in that magic shell?" Jennifer asks changing her line of questioning.
  "Why do you ask so many questions?"
  "Because we could've never believed that we'd discover a living person from the old Empire, yet here you are! I mean we know about the Empire only from a few tattered incomplete writings or mostly oral stories. Now we've finally got someone who lived during those glorious times! Someone who can give us the truth about what happened. I mean the cataclysm for example. All anyone knows is it was a great disaster of a magical nature that occurred five centuries ago. Nobody really knows how or why it happened. You had to have been there for that. Do you know what happened?"
  "Oh... I have an idea... " You say.
  "And?!" Jennifer asks.
  "And I'm not going to tell you." You remark.
  "What?!" Jennifer exclaims in total disbelief. She actually is at a loss for words, but unfortunately not for long.
  
  "But why aren't you going to tell me?!"
  "Don't take it personal. I'm not planning to tell anyone. It's very apparent that you folks want something from me, which I can provide. History, information, and the truth. If I just give all that shit away, who's to say you won't just toss me aside and try to have me killed after you've milked me for all of it?"
  "That... that wouldn't happen! How could you even think we'd do such a thing?"
  "How could I NOT think such a thing? Besides, I'm fairly certain you wouldn't want the real truth anyway."
  "Of course we want the truth!"
  "No, I don't believe you do. Not really, I think you just want to hear what you want to hear. You want the truth? Here's one for you. The Empire existed, and then it didn't. End of history lesson."
  
  This cynical comment causes Jennifer to again briefly shut up which you hope will send her away, but she's not going to be deterred so easily.
  
  "Look, I realize you're probably a little upset about your situation. I get that, but you don't need to take it out on me. I'm just saying you're living history. And more specifically you're a very important part of my nation's past. You could fill in so many blanks. You're more than just some old magical weapon that we found in the dirt."
  
  You snort at that last statement.
  
  "No. That's exactly what you found, an old magical weapon that was buried in the dirt. Not even buried, but sealed away. And like most old magical weapons found sealed away and buried for centuries, sometimes the smartest thing you can do is leave them alone. I would think the dead bodies of two of your crew would be a good example of that."
  
  Jennifer perceives your comment as a threat, as well she should. She makes no smart comment back; she just shuts up like her father and continues walks along side of you. Glad to see these Mols have as much sense as their ancestor did.
  
  Eventually you make it out of this dig site and into the open air. And what you see before you is severely different from what you remember.
  
  Where you once knew a great city once stood is gone. These explorers have uncovered a few pieces of it, but by and large it's gone. Even the surrounding area where you once knew farmland and even lush fields would've been is gone. Everything has been replaced by sickly undergrowth. A wasteland.
  
  Jennifer remarks to everyone needing to keep an extra eye out for orc raiders. Jennifer looks over at you briefly again, but casts her eyes down and tries to get on with packing up the front wagon. You shake your head and walk over to Jennifer.
  
  "Look, Jennifer is it? I apologize for my remarks earlier, but as you said all of this IS a shock to me. I've seen a lot during my time, but I don't think anything could've prepared me for this."
  "I can only imagine. I guess overwhelming you with questions was inconsiderate of us."
  "Well I suppose your curiosity is natural, but let's just say I'm not quite ready to discuss everything. At least not yet."
  "I understand. Your last memories of the Empire were during the cataclysm and you're only just now seeing the results. It must've been a terrible time!"
  "Yes, you could say that it was."
  
  Jennifer nods and you help her with loading the last bags on the head wagon. When you step aboard it, you're on your way. For a while there's silence between the pair of you as you ride through the wasteland, but you decide to be social and break the silence.
  
  "So orcs huh? They're a threat? I would've thought they'd all be extinct by now. There weren't even many left in the Empire during my time." you say.
  "Sadly, that is no longer the case. I imagine without the Empire around, they reverted back to their chaotic natures and they bred unchecked. Now they're all over the Qualan Badlands and elsewhere too. They probably were one of the few races to thrive during the dark ages. I'm not too worried about that happening today though now that we've got powerful Eternal travelling with us!"
  "You shouldn't be too overconfident of that. Under the right circumstances, anyone, no matter how powerful they appear to be can be brought down sometime by the humblest of things. Still, I see the reputation of the Eternals has still survived. So are there any in Nalin?"
  "Ha ha ha ha! No, of course not! Before we found you, the last one died over four hundred years ago. First Matriarch Brenda of the Nalin Dominion. She was probably the main one responsible for keeping the fledging remnants of the Empire together during the cataclysm."
  "Glad to know someone was trying to uphold order. Good for her."
  "Did you know her well?"
  'Not excessively, but we did have dealings on a few matters, like during the taming of the lands east of Nalin for example. There was another major event too, but I'd care not to discuss that at this time."
  "Understood... well anyway that was back then. Things have changed a lot since her time, our government being just one of those things, but for all intents and purposes she sort of laid the foundations for the Nalin Republic by keeping the country safe in the first place."
  "You're going to have to explain what the hell a republic is. Never heard of it before." You say causing Jennifer to smile a bit.
  
  "Well, nowadays a single leader doesn't rule our government. It's run by a senate, which consists of a group of politicians that are chosen by the people. They ultimately decide on the laws and such by discussing and debating them."
  
  You are completely baffled by this concept.
  
  "That sounds like an inefficient way of running things. How does anything get accomplished?"
  "Well, sometimes things do take time, but the citizens are a lot freer and happier by choosing their leaders."
  
  Now you're really lost.
  
  "Why the hell would people want to be free and happy? They should just be grateful for the protection and order that the government provides for their miserable lives! One strong leader to rule over them with an iron fist is only thing the citizens really need. And if they grumble too much they get executed, problem solved. Hell, it's not like slaves cost that much if they need an extra hand in the fields."
  
  Jennifer chuckles at your totalitarian views.
  
  "Yes, I imagine that it would be a bit strange to you. I'm sure it might also surprise you that we don't have slavery anymore either; it actually became less cost effective. Still, you'll see that it isn't all bad. In fact you'll probably get along with Quintus, he's a very big admirer of old Empire history and culture. He's the one been privately funding all these expeditions."
  
  Just as you're about to ask Jennifer who this Quintus is, you hear war cries and howling in the distance. It might have been five hundred years, but you know the sounds of orcs when you hear them.
  
  Not long after the general warning, you soon see them coming from the far left and the far right. They look every bit as big, mean and green as you remember them. No heavy armor, but the giant boar creatures they're riding and the willingness to use bows are new.
  
  Jennifer orders everyone to ride faster and ready their firearms. While readying the firearms is always a good idea, there is no way you're going to outpace the orcs at the speed you're going, the wagons are just not fast enough and are weighed down by equipment. There are also enough orcs that some of them are going reach you before they get shot off their pigs and that's assuming everyone in this caravan is a crack shot that can hit them in the head.
  
  Meanwhile you feel like you're a sitting kobold on your own wagon. Part of you would rather just get on one of the horses and unhook the wagon, so you've got a little more maneuverability. Of course you could just start flinging magic spells at the orcs.
  > get on one of the horses
  While it's entirely possibly that you'd come out of this thing alive, (You've certainly been through worse) there's little guarantee that anyone else will. If you're going to keep your "rescuers" alive, you'll need to be unhindered.
  
  "What're you doing?!" Jennifer asks as you leap on a horse.
  "I'm getting off this thing, and I suggest if you don't want to be a big target you will too, there's another horse here, jump on it and we'll unhitch the wagon!"
  
  Sensing that you're going to do this whether she likes it or not, she realizes that she doesn't really have a choice. She jumps on a horse and you take your sword and cut the harness. You tell Jennifer that she should order everyone else to concentrate their gunfire to the left.
  
  "Where are you going now?!"
  "I'm going to take care of the ones on the right!" you shout and ride in their direction.
  
  The orcs are so agitated about you heading directly towards them, they practically stop focusing on the caravan and begin firing arrows at you. Of course you anticipated such a thing and cast a shield to protect you and your horse. With your other hand you spray a cone of cold on the orcs closest to you, freezing them quite literally in their tracks.
  
  This feat of magic is enough to cause the orcs to attempt to rear up their boars and change direction back towards attacking the caravan. Others are undeterred and continue to head toward you with large weapons in hand. You aim your next spell at their boars, which consists of a couple fire blasts. The pigs go up in a blaze and soon so do their riders who end up dropping their weapons in an attempt to beat out the flames.
  
  You turn your attention at the orcs who decided to attack the caravan instead. At first glance the expedition crew have held their own fairly well considering none of them seem to be warriors and they seem to have fended off most of the orcs on the left side. However you see orcs getting the best of a couple of them when they close the gap and begin jumping onto the wagons.
  
  You ride back to the caravan and put your own combat skills good use. Orcs may be fierce and unrelenting fighters sometimes, but without the heavy armor that you remember they used to wear for the Empire, they get killed as easily as anyone else if you're skilled enough, and you're more than skilled enough. As you battle the orcs, the remaining expedition crew tries to help, though you're nearly shot a couple of times in the process. You end up yelling at them to stop "helping" you before you start firing at them with something a lot more accurate.
  
  Soon after you've killed your last orc after hopping from wagon to wagon, you hear Jennifer shouts to everyone that you've won and the rest have rode off. The caravan stops for a moment to take some time to clean up dead bodies on the wagons, and gather up any equipment that fell off during the fight.
  
  Jennifer comes up to you as you're cleaning off your own sword.
  
  "Well that was exciting to see a real Eternal in action! I knew we were going to be safe with you!"
  "Hmm, yeah well I almost wasn't safe with your people, because I nearly got shot a couple times!"
  "Yeah, sorry about that. Fear of the orcs actually on the wagons was probably causing higher nervousness than usual."
  "You should get some soldiers on these trips. Then at least you'd have some people who actually know how to fight when things get a little close."
  "We do have soldiers, can't you tell by the uniforms?"
  
  Honestly you hadn't really paid much attention to the fact that several of the people on this expedition crew do have similar outfits. It's just regular clothing though, none of it is proper armor, light or heavy. You also now notice that the firearms are much different too, namely they can fire multiple shots before being reloaded. A very handy improvement indeed.
  
  You realize that time has definitely marched on, it would seem that shooting someone with a rifle or pistol is the order of the day. Not much use for the old armor if that's indeed the case. Still, you're also reminded of the Felkans and their over reliance of such weapons. It would seem the Nalin Republic has the same technological disease. And these people are the supposed "successors" of the Empire.
  
  "Guns." You say shaking your head.
  "What's wrong with guns? You don't think they're honorable or something?" Jennifer asks.
  "No, I believe they are very useful and it would be foolish to not employ such weapons of fantastic destruction during battle and war. I just have a problem with the reliance of them in place of natural combat skill, because one day you're going to run out of bullets and then you see who the real soldier is."
  "How is using a gun any different from casting down lightning from your fingers or throwing fireballs around?"
  "It isn't in the scheme of things. I just said I don't have a problem with gunpowder weapons. However you also noticed I didn't just toss around magic like I had unlimited energy either. I used it when it was needed and engaged in close combat for the rest of them. I could've easily just rained down a firestorm and wiped out all of the orcs, but that would've taken out the caravan too. Something I'm sure nobody wanted. The Empire used firearms AND magic during the Felkan War, but individually the soldiers were still some of the toughest warriors you'd ever want to face. The Felkans soon learned that fatal fact. Perhaps if their soldiers still had the formidable close combat skills of an Empire soldier, they might not have lost so many battle when physical prowess was needed."
  
  Jennifer doesn't debate your views or experience, she just thanks you again for your help and you're soon underway. The rest of the journey is relatively silent.
  
  Eventually you arrive in the Nalin Republic. The landscape here is more like you remember, though it isn't until you get towards the capital of Dalt that you start seeing a resemblance to civilization, but even that's different when it comes to the architecture and such. You get a few stares from passing citizens.
  
  Jennifer and you disembark from the wagons when you arrive at Quintus' house, or rather his very large mansion, which has guards posted at the gates. Honestly it's the closest thing resembling the Empire you've seen since you got here.
  
  "You wait here, I'll have to speak with Quintus about all this first. While I'm sure he'll really want to see you, there is protocol to follow."
  "Sure, do whatever it is you have to do, I'm not going anywhere, but who is this Quintus anyway?"
  "Quintus Arillicus is one of the most influential leaders in the senate and as I've already mentioned an admirer of old Empire history, but he'll tell you more when you meet him."
  
  As Jennifer walks through the gates, you're left standing around with a few guards who give you the stares that you've come to expect from everyone. You wait for about ten minutes before you begin to wonder why you're even entertaining this again.
  
  Then you remember, it's because you don't have much else to do right now. Though you're wondering what place you're going to have in this new world. You imagine that maybe you could be a soldier again though it doesn't look like there's a war going on. Doesn't even look like this place is suffering from any discontent from the citizens, but then looks can be deceiving.
  
  Jennifer eventually comes back to the front gate and waves to come with her.
  
  "You can come in now. Quintus is very excited to see you!"
  
  At this point this Quintus better be just as impressive, because from what little you know of this guy, you're not nearly as excited to see him.
  
  You and Jennifer walk into the mansion and while it's certainly fancy and has a design style similar to Empire architecture, it isn't nearly as extraordinary as the first time you saw the Emperor's palace. Of course you're a harder sell from those old days. Jennifer and you enter what is apparently a conference room. She says that he shouldn't be long and you both take a seat at the table.
  
  Soon a middle-aged man walks into the room with some guards, but he dismisses them at the door so that you three can be alone. He's dressed in an older style suit that looks more like those you remember Empire bureaucrats wearing and carries a staff of some sort with him. He also wears several rings. You sense that they all might be magical.
  
  Either way you fail to be impressed, just as you suspected you would be. Quintus on the other hand, now that he sees you in person, he's very impressed.
  
  "I never believed in all these years... all the digging... all the research... everything. And none of what I've found compares to this! Yes! This is indeed a glorious day! A real live Eternal! Not just any Eternal either, but the one who served the Emperor himself!" Quintus exclaims as he sits down across from you.
  
  "Now let me stop you right there. I know you're all excited and shit, but for me this is going into unknown territory. Possibly even enemy territory. I have no idea WHAT exactly you want with me. I'm going to tell you right now though if you're thinking of putting me in some sort of museum or some weird aristocratic version of a sideshow like they have at the fairs peasants go to you better get that idea out of your head right now."
  
  Jennifer tries to temper your words, but Quintus raises his hands as if no offense was taken.
  
  "It's alright. Our Eternal friend is quite right to be suspicious of me, but I can honestly tell him there is no reason for him to be because I think my goals will fit his honorable ideals. I'm still sure there is much he wants to know and questions that he has, but I will say that it is my hope that he and I will change history together!"
  
  Quintus and Jennifer try to get you fully up to speed on everything first... 
  > time passes...
  After sitting here for about an hour or so listening to the sorry state the republic is in, let alone the rest of the area that used to be part of the old Empire, you've had enough of it all.
  
  "Stop. I've heard enough about your wretched country. I can already tell what YOU want. You want the Empire back."
  "Yes! I want to resurrect the Empire!" Quintus exclaims.
  "And that's a lovely thought, but sorry to tell you this, it's dead. Long buried and resigned to the trash heap of history." You remark.
  
  This comment is definitely not what Quintus expected. Jennifer on the other hand isn't quite surprised you'd say such a thing given your own cynical remarks to her.
  
  "But... you're here now... a symbol! A symbol of the old ways! Proof of honor! Proof of strength! Proof of power! You're an Eternal!"
  "And? I obviously couldn't prevent the destruction of the Empire. Am I supposed to just resurrect it with my mere presence? Am I to just kill the entire senate and establish perhaps you as an emperor? Do you think the people would accept that?"
  "Well maybe not so direct... " Quintus remarks.
  "No? Because that might be the only way to get things done around here. And what makes YOU think you'd even be a good emperor? You do not even have the support of the people."
  "I do have the support of my constituents! I even have a few allies in the senate!" Quintus protests.
  "Well you still don't have enough for what you desire. I'd say that I'd have a better chance of being accepted as an emperor before you would just due to the fear factor and raw power, and I'd still have to be looking over my shoulder constantly before I finally got run out by a complete rebellion or I destroyed so much of Nalin in the process of maintaining order. Given what you've told me of the average citizen it sounds like they're perfectly happy with the way things are. Happy with their hedonistic freedom. Do you really think they're going to listen to a relic of a time when the strong just ruled over the weak and the weak not only accepted it as a way of life, but some were even happy about it? The sheep have been let out of their pens and do not wish to return. Do you believe your people, even those that apparently keep voting for you to represent them are ready to accept a more restrictive and harsher culture? Do you believe you can foster such an environment?"
  
  Quintus remains silent and you throw up your hands at his inability to answer.
  
  "Well you see my problem with your plan. You probably thought when you dug me up; you'd have a powerful tool that would be your key to reforming a parody of the old Empire. And it would be a parody, because even if you were successful, it would NEVER be like the old Empire. You can read all the lore and books you want about the old days and nothing is stopping you from holding fantasies about such days. But make no mistake those good old days aren't EVER coming back. You're about five hundred years too late. I haven't been awake one complete day yet, and even I've come to accept that hard truth... but then I've had to accept so many hard truths. This is just another one to me."
  
  Quintus nods solemnly. The spark that was in him is gone, but you can tell he isn't completely defeated. Jennifer just tries to look away from both of you and shuffles some papers she has with her.
  
  "You... you aren't how I expected you to be... " Quintus says.
  "Nobody ever is. Another hard truth I learned a long time ago." You answer.
  "Mm... well I seem to be at a loss of what to say. Which is rare considering they often complain that I never shut up in the senate."
  
  "Look, Quintus. I won't deny that your ideals and goals aren't admirable ones. However, I had to drag you back to reality. You still have a long way to go before even bringing something resembling the Empire back. As much as it might be fun to send me to just kill the senate with a firestorm and then establish martial law across the land, it's not going to be that simple. At least not yet."
  "Yes, I suppose you're right. It's just I've read about some of your deeds, scraps of parchments really and I guess when I found out you were alive and in my house I just figured all of my country's problem were solved."
  "Well, they may still be eventually. Now despite what I've said, I will help you. Because personally, I'd like to see you succeed if only so I could live in a place that didn't seem so damn strange and it's not like I have anywhere else to go."
  "So you are going to help bring back the Empire?"
  "Well, something like it anyway. I can't promise anything, but I'll try. Now then, with me on your side, you shouldn't worry about the military side of things. I can take care of those matters when they arise, and they most certainly will. You're going to have to take the lead on the political matters obviously, but I can still advise you in this capacity. All my years of working side by side with the Emperor contributed to such skills despite being on the battlefield most of the time."
  
  Quintus seems to have that spark of life again when you agree to help him after all. He happily asks where you should get started. Jennifer at this point is glad to also see things have worked out and says she should leave you two alone to talk more and get back to the dig site. Before she leaves Quintus calls out to thank her.
  
  "And tell your father he has my thanks as well! If it weren't for you two, we would not be in the better position we are now. Expect a bonus in pay this week." Quintus says.
  "Thank you senator. I was wondering though and I hate to ask, but it just came to me. Do you think our new friend here could come back up to the dig site when he has the time? It's just that he was buried there and it might be of great help if he could at least perhaps give us a good indication on where it might be beneficial to dig."
  "Well we've got a lot to go over first, but afterwards if he wants to, I have no objections."
  
  Doesn't take you long to agree. You briefly remark that where they were digging was near the Emperor's main chambers and you'd like to see if anything survived yourself. This new revelation causes a bit of excitement from Jennifer and Quintus wondering what other magical treasures that might be of use in the coming days of change or even some scraps of history that can enlighten them more about such glorious days.
  
  You just wonder if you can find the remains of Semra. Call it curiosity; call it a sense of closure.
  
  The first thing you and Quintus talk about is the military. You explain that it is of vital importance to get them to support him the most, but it's also of great importance to get them be more vicious warriors. You say you understand that battles are probably fought a little differently nowadays, but the intense training isn't necessarily just to make them expert fighters. It's also to instill discipline and hopefully a warrior's mindset. Make it so that they want to go to war, that they long for it.
  
  Quintus says that he does already have some pull with the military. A little more than most find comfortable, but of course it's nowhere near absolute. You're glad since that cuts down on a little extra work.
  
  You tell him to track down the most spirited and skilled warriors that are in the military and have them gather somewhere secluded just outside the northern borders of Nalin. You say you need to get started on training as soon as possible, you just hope you don't have too many wash outs (or casualties). You then say you also need to get started on an outside threat.
  
  "What do you mean?"
  "I mean you need an outside threat that genuinely scares people. Makes it so people are more supportive of a strong military. Makes it so eventually people prioritize their safety so much that they're willing to give up their freedom just to be safe. I mean I know you've been warning the senate and the people about all the scary things out there and you're right, but people don't believe it until its beating down their door with a battle axe."
  "Yes, but how exactly are we going to do that?"
  "Well YOU aren't going to do anything except going about your usual business. I on the other hand am going to incite one of those threats you've told me about. Obviously one of the closest ones."
  "The usksha immigrants?" Quintus asks.
  "Heh, well maybe in due time, but that's bit more on the... political side. Plus its not a large enough threat and the follow through of invading the desert is a logistics nightmare that we are nowhere near in a position to carry out at this time. No, I was thinking something much simpler. Something much easier to incite violence in and a lot easier to get people to fear, namely orcs."
  "Oh, do you think you can do it?"
  "Encouraging an orc to attack isn't a challenge at all. Herding them to all attack in a specific direction takes a little more skill, but I can do it. It'll just take a little time and we have to make a balancing act of it. Going to have to let the orcs win a few major battles in the beginning at least. It won't be pretty, but it'll also serve to purge some of the less than skilled soldiers you have around here. Some villages on the borders are going to have to burn as well."
  "Villages? Are you sure?"
  "The problem with the Nalinites is they've never really been under a true threat for a very long time. When the people experience the loss of a couple border villages and see the bloo