text: [Themes: grimdark fantasy, war]
  
  "Go get the rooms Roldan, I'll help Gerald." You say.
  "Okay." Roldan agrees and leaves.
  
  You and Gerald help the Captain Gruz up who is mumbling things the whole time.
  
  "Fucking idiots. It was perfect...who I am kidding? It was futile to begin with."
  "Just settle down sir." Gerald says trying to calm him down.
  "Or what? You'll kill me too? Hey I'm not tryin' ta put the moves on ya, you got your arm around me!"
  
  Gerald gets quiet really fast and even you start looking around.
  
  "Oh what? You think I didn't hear about that incident? Ha ha ha! Relax, ya did the right thing, fuckin' degenerate deserved it..." Gruz laughs.
  
  You're just about to get to the door and that's when you hear yelling and an explosion coming from the outside followed by screams. The force of it is enough to cause you all to fall back a bit.
  
  "Shit!" you blurt out and leave Gerald to tend to the captain.
  
  You look around and see a couple of damaged buildings, more than a few dead bodies in pieces. Your heart sinks though when you see Roldan lying on the ground in front of the damaged inn.
  
  When you rush over to him, his insides are clearly visible and one of his legs is gone. He struggles to breathe as he looks up at you. You can't do anything for him.
  
  "Fuck. Damnit..." you quietly say and kneel down towards his bloody body.
  "...tell Brenda that I love her."
  "I will."
  "That's good...that's good...hey if we're all...all siblings like Kane said...that...that doesn't make Brenda...my sister...does it?" Roldan asks with a small smile.
  "Heh, I don't think so, and even if it did so what? You found happiness with her." You smile back.
  "Yeah...you're right. You... usually were." he says and then drifts away.
  
  This time you do feel sadness at the loss of one of your own. Especially when you had just gotten to know him again. Gerald dashes over to you and even captain Gruz has sobered up a bit from this incident and is now interrogating the nearest hysterical citizen.
  
  "Who the fuck did this?! Answer me woman!" he demands and slaps her a few times, but she just pathetically cries and begs him to stop.
  "Captain! Stop it! It's obvious she doesn't know anything!" Gerald shouts.
  "Maybe not, but someone here does." You say. "Alright, listen up! I am an Eternal and the man laying dead next to me was also an Eternal! My wrath for his death shall be the likes you've never known and you don't want to know. One of you saw something, so someone better start talking or else this little town you call home is going to get a whole lot bloodier."
  
  Nobody says anything for a while and there's just dead silence, but eventually a little girl comes out from behind a barrel and speaks up.
  
  "I saw something Mr. Eternal."
  "Good, glad to see this town isn't completely infested with cowards. You're coming with me." You say and take the girl to a room at the inn and proceed to question her.
  
  The girl is still a little nervous at first, but soon opens up quite a bit. She mentions that she was walking home from the general store and she saw Roldan leaving the tavern. He was almost to the inn when she saw these two figures shimming like they were almost invisible. She then says what happened next was very quick. The figures ran up to Roldan and then these two men appeared in gray cloaks. They both stabbed him several times before he could defend himself.
  
  Despite his wounds, he managed to stab one through the neck and grabbed the other when he tried to escape. She said at this point she had been hiding behind the barrel, but saw that the man in gray produced a gas sphere plant from his cloak and he yelled something she couldn't understand. A blackish field started to emanate from the man, Roldan then fell to the ground and then the large explosion occurred killing several people that didn't have the sense that the little girl did to get the hell out of there as soon as possible.
  
  "So much for the shadows not being here." Gerald remarks.
  "Shit, I fucked up. I should've known that they might've realized that we we're coming." Captain Gruz says.
  "Doesn't matter anyway. It's obvious they're prepared for a last stand sort of fight, if they're willing to blow themselves up. No sense in depriving them of that, though I'm hoping they don't start favoring blowing themselves up. It's going to make fighting them more dangerous than it should be." You say.
  "Mmm, I know what you mean. Serving on the Felkan frontlines I had to experience several of their own explosive type weapons first hand, but from what I've heard those gas plant spheres aren't common and grow rarely even in this area. Even then, they aren't explosive on their own. The shadow probably used some sort of magic to make it explode like that. Is that right little girl?" Gerald asks to confirm, to which she nods.
  
  "Alright enough talk, we all need to get some rest before wiping the bastards out tomorrow." Captain Gruz says and lies down on his bed.
  
  At this point you send the little girl away and tell her she's served the Empire well and leave with Gerald.
  
  "Do you really think Gruz should be coming with us tomorrow? I mean with his leg and his age and all." Gerald asks.
  "If he wants to go on one last mission then I'm not going to deprive him of that. Don't worry, he'll keep up. I get the impression this is sort of personal to him."
  "Personal to him? I imagine it's personal to you a lot more."
  "True, but I'm trying to not let it."
  
  Of course that's pretty hard to do when you have to put Roldan in a casket and sent back to Brenda. Gerald writes the letter to her. You can only imagine what her reaction is going to be about this news. This makes you wonder about the whole scenario that they were in love and got married. You know you briefly spoke to Roldan about this back at the tavern, but a lot of it still baffles you. How did it first come about? What was it like? Who initiated it? Was the attraction always there, even back when you were all in training? Could something like that ever happen to you?
  
  You think about the time you were with Captain Krozer and that's the closest equivalent you have, but you know that wasn't anything like love. You did respect her though and you're pretty sure the feeling was mutual. Perhaps that's how it started, but Brenda and Roldan were just in contact with each long enough to develop it further.
  
  Eventually you dismiss all these meaningless thoughts and rest up to prepare for your mission tomorrow.
  
  The next morning, you Gerald and Gruz set off on your journey. The trip through the swamps isn't an easy one; it actually makes you long for the days of stomping through ice and snow. The whole time you're traveling you're constantly alert and feel like at anytime you could be attacked, which turns out to be true with the oversized insects and other minor hostile swamp animals dwelling here, but they aren't the enemies you're expecting.
  
  "So how many Empire troops are we going to have as back up?" Gerald asks Gruz during the trip.
  "Empire? I'm lucky I managed to get them to accept my request to go on this mission! They didn't send me anyone, not that they'd be much help anyway. Most Empire soldiers would stick out like a sore thumb and get themselves killed before they even reached the place. No, I'm relying on the ones that found these ruins to begin with. Dark elven mercs. If anyone can hide out better than the shadows, it'll be them." Gruz replies.
  
  Dark elves. You hated having to work with them back in your early years on the Rask frontier, but you can't deny their effectiveness.
  
  "Shh! Do you hear that?" you ask.
  "Probably another Sul Monkey. Those things are all over the place. Just glad it's not mating season for them, otherwise we might be in big trouble. Hey, aren't you humans related to them in some way?" Gruz asks.
  
  Gerald is about to reply, and then you hear a whizzing sound followed by a "thunk" sound. You then see Gerald with a large crossbow bolt directly in the center of his head. A single trickle of blood comes from the wound and drips off his nose.
  
  "I...been hit..." Gerald says and his eyes roll back as he falls into the soft mushy ground.
  
  "Shit!" Gruz shouts and ducks down into the mud.
  
  > hide behind a tree
  From the trajectory of the bolt, the assassin is in front and probably was trying to hit you instead of Gerald. You immediately run for the nearest tree as several more bolts whiz past you.
  
  When you reach the tree two Shadow Guards jump down from it and attempt to stab you. You kick one in the groin as hard as you can, while deflecting the blow of the other with your sword. You dodge another attack by falling to the ground and chopping the shadow at one of his legs, nearly hacking it off. When he falls in agony you finish him off with your sword.
  
  The one staggering around with damaged man part, finally recovers, but attempts to disappear again. You throw your dagger at him as he begins to turn invisible, impaling him in the stomach. Meanwhile it appears that Captain Gruz is taking care of the one who was shooting bolts at you.
  
  "Bastard!" he says with his boot on the shadow and chopping the shadow's head in two with his axe. Blood and brains splatter everywhere.
  
  You move around and scan the area cautiously and try to see if there's any more shadows lurking about, but if there were they would've either attack you by now or run off. When you're confident that none are left you walk over to Gerald who is dead already.
  
  "FUCK!" you shout while kicking a nearby piece of clumped up mud. You don't feel sadness this time so much as you feel frustration. All those years he was performing commando raids in Felkan territory and he gets killed like this? Not even in close combat! Somehow it doesn't seem right. Just like how Roldan died. You search Gerald's body and find the letter he was planning on sending Brenda about Roldan, it seems you will have to do it now. Perhaps even alter it.
  
  Captain Gruz walks over to you, he has a few bolts in him, but he doesn't seem particularly bothered by them.
  
  "Feh, I've had way worse than this." He says as he pulls them out. "Y'know we're on our own now."
  "What do you mean?" you ask.
  "I'm saying these bolts, they ain't Shadow Guard, these are dark elven quality. That fucker over there with his head cleaved in two had one of those fancy repeating dark elven crossbows too. And while I know dark elves to be treacherous bitches that'll switch sides to whoever's paying the most, they would NEVER allow anyone to use their equipment. My guess is those mercs that were going to meet us are all dead, well either that or they ran off."
  "Good, I want to kill the rest of these shadows anyway." You say and proceed on to the ruins.
  
  Your next step of your journey confirms Gruz's theory. You and he see signs of battle on your way to the ruins. Several of the bodies are dark elven, but an equal amount are Shadow Guard.
  
  "Looks like they were ambushed. Heh, pretty hard to do with dark elves. Still, it also looks like the dark elves gave the shadows a hell of a fight. Looks like those are the ruins up ahead. I'm guessing there probably aren't too many left, this should be over pretty quick."
  
  You and Gruz dispense with caution and boldly march into the ruins. You both look around as the crumbling statues of old forgotten gods loom over you. Eventually you find who you're looking for in the remains of a temple that's covered in vines and partially sinking into the swamp
  
  A single Shadow Guard stands over the bodies of several others of his kind. Near the bodies are empty flasks.
  
  "I'll be with you soon my brothers and sisters. And especially you Draven." Cyrus says looking at the bodies and ignoring you completely.
  "Aw, how sweet. Glad you decided not to pussy out like the rest of your buddies by poisoning yourself and are at least are willing to face your death like a man." Gruz replies.
  "Yes, well it still remains to be seen Gruz. Though speaking of being a man, I'm impressed that you actually showed up here. I thought that you would've continued to hide and try to keep your involvement of these events a secret as you have for all these years."
  
  This statement from Cyrus causes you to pause and look at Gruz. He looks guilty of something for a moment and then gives a toothy smile.
  
  "I wasn't hiding Cyrus. I was waiting. Waiting until the day when I could finally track you down. It wasn't my fuck up that got us into this mess. We could've been strong enough together to make a break from the Empire if you hadn't decided to backstab us at Fort Destiny to save your own skin. Hah! See how well that turned out. Look at you now."
  
  Even as jaded as you have become about the Empire, you are somewhat surprised about Captain Gruz...but in retrospect, somebody had to have some sort of input on having all those orcs transferred to Fort Defiance. Despite this revelation you're too numb to excessively care. All you know is over the past few days you've seen two of your fellow Eternals die ignobly while doing their duty for the Empire. Something these traitors have obviously disregarded a long time ago.
  
  "Well, what's it gonna be lad? You killin' me or the shadow first?" Gruz asks.
  "I think I'll stick with the original plan. We'll kill the shadow together, then you and me are going to settle up." You say calmly.
  "That's the spirit boy!" Gruz laughs and steps towards Cyrus.
  
  Cyrus makes no more small talk or last minute threats. He focuses purely on combat. You expect him to use his Shadow Guard tricks like poison or invisibility, but he doesn't.
  
  He easily dodges Gruz's powerful yet clumsy attacks and lands a few well placed strikes on him, but Gruz shrugs them off like you've seen him do the whole time you've been fighting along side him. You can only imagine what an unstoppable juggernaut he must've been back in his younger days.
  
  As for you, you match Cyrus in sword skill. Whatever he learned from the Shadow Guard won't help him in a face-to-face battle with you. All it takes is for you to take advantage of his divided concentration and you land a mortal blow, slicing his side clean open.
  
  Cyrus falls and deflects your attempt to split his head open, but he drops his sword from the force of your blow in the process. Weaponless, tired and bleeding out from a deep hole in his side, Cyrus accepts defeat.
  
  "Do it. Eternal slave of the Empire." He says coldly and then you fulfill his request by decapitating him.
  
  You quickly turn to face Gruz, who already has his axe ready.
  
  "Alright Eternal, let's finish this."
  
  You and Gruz clash weapons. As you battle, you're reminded of the times when you were still a child and how he taught you to fight.
  
  How he told you to keep a calm head in battle.
  
  How he told you to serve the Empire.
  
  How he had confidence in your skills.
  
  How he saw you as a leader.
  
  How he told you not to die for the Emperor...but to make the other dumb bastard die so that you could continue serving the Emperor
  
  How he told you that failure wasn't an option.
  
  Gruz finally succumbs to his multiple wounds and falls to one knee leaning on his axe in an effort not to completely collapse.
  
  "Damn...shit...." Gruz gasps as he breathes heavily and feels his strength completely leaving him.
  "Why?" you ask him.
  "Why? Heh heh." Chuckles a bit while at the same time coughing up some blood. "After all you've experienced in your service of the Empire, you have to ask me why? My people had already been tamed and conquered decades ago and I bought into the same bullshit you did when I was a little green snot that didn't know any better. I worked my way up the ranks and did pretty good for myself, but for what? To be a lap dog that begged for a treat every time I did something right and get slapped down because I was rising too much above my so called station? I was still holding on to an idea that was long gone or never existed to begin with. It wasn't until shortly after your training was complete that I started to seriously change my mind. The Felkan war and the conspiracy that the Shadow Guard came up with just made it easier... I think I'm gonna just lay down for a while." Gruz says as he loses his last battle with staying conscious.
  
  You step towards him with your sword ready to strike, but instead you just watch him slowly drift off and hear his last words.
  
  "I lived a lot longer than I should have. This is a good death for an orc. I've seen your new replacements Eternal. They're monsters. They'll finish off what's left of this decaying husk of an Empire, not save it. Good riddance. Heh, don't worry though; you'll probably survive the coming shit storm. You'll outlive everyone." He says and then finally dies.
  
  With the way things have been going lately, Gruz may be correct. It doesn't necessarily make you feel any better though.
  
  > Continue
  Year 35
  
  Another rebellion put down. You wipe your sword of blood and shake your head as you look around at the chaos. This is the Quala province, the very heartland of the Empire. You shouldn't have to be trying to maintain order here only a few miles away from the capital itself.
  
  "Ha ha ha! Come on bitch, give it up! I'm an Eternal, you oughta be flattered that I'm even wasting my time on your normal ass!" private Felding says as he attempts to rape a nearby girl.
  
  You briskly walk over to Felding and pull him off her. You know damn well that the rest of his kind are probably doing stuff like this all over the place, but this one is in your direct sight and under your command.
  
  "What the hell, captain? If you wanted first dibs you could've just said so! Ah look, now she's getting away!"
  "We're here to maintain order private, not create more chaos."
  "Oh yeah? Coulda fooled me by destroying the entire town like this."
  "Regrettable, but during battle only victory matters."
  "Exactly! We won! So now it's time to have our fun with these disobedient peasants. Y'know instill fear in them so they won't do it again."
  "You're not instilling fear though, you're just satisfying your own desires."
  "Hey, who says we aren't supposed to have fun while doing it?"
  
  It's like talking to a brick wall. You've had these "New Eternals" under your command for a few months now and they are some of the most undisciplined troops you've ever had. You can try to encourage them, you can try to reason with them, you can punish them, and none of it has a real effect. The only constant is that they know of your reputation and know that you're also an Eternal, which makes them just fearful of you enough that they don't attempt to directly challenge your authority like they have with so many of their other commanders.
  
  If it were up to you, you would've had them all killed for treason as soon as they murdered their first CO, but for whatever reason the Empire wants them active. You're guessing because the Empire's desperate. So they were ultimately transferred to you and unfortunately you're not allowed to kill them either...well unless they try to kill you first.
  
  You swear this must be what it's like to be a svelk.
  
  They are like children, malicious hateful little children. It's not even their suspect loyalty that baffles you; it's their complete lack of discipline. Even Kane and Cyrus who opposed you had discipline. Hell, Edgar who was arguably the most emotional and hotheaded of the group was a hundred times more disciplined than any of these new "Eternals." You remember back to your own training and there were a few of your fellows that didn't learn proper discipline either. They never made it past Mistress and the few that did, didn't survive Gruz. Whoever was in charge of their training did a horrible job and should've been executed for incompetence along with the rest of these vicious monsters. That old orc was right, they will destroy what's left of the Empire, but you doubt if they'll survive long after its downfall.
  
  You think back to all the real Eternals. You, Edgar and Brenda are the only ones left, as Warrick killed in the final days of the Felkan War. At least you assume that's what happened, his body was never found and you know he would've rather died than let himself be captured to rot in a P.O.W. Camp. Either way it's truly a loss you never ever got to talk with him again.
  
  From what you know Edgar is still stationed in the Arat province, probably trying to keep his own "eternals" in line to keep the peace there. As for poor Brenda you know she has her command in the Nalin province and probably still quietly grieving for Roldan.
  
  After all you've been through, it's come to this and you're wondering what the hell you're still fighting for. The Emperor? You haven't cared about that unknown ruler for years. For all you know he's some feeble minded inbred idiot figure head that his advisors keep locked away while they bumble around ruling things probably about as well as he would.
  
  The Empire? Perhaps at one time, but as it has lost territory, respect and apparently all resemblance of sanity over the years you've lost all faith that it can ever regain any sort of glory it might have had, if it ever had it to begin with. You've tried your best to stem back the tide of chaos, but you're only one man even if you are an Eternal.
  
  While you ponder your potential future, private Felding interrupts you.
  
  "Hey, cap? You're in a bit of a daze there. So if you're done I'm going to go now."
  "Hold on, I have one more thing to tell you."
  "(Sigh) What?" Felding says with an exasperated tone.
  "You're not a fucking Eternal. None of you little shits are." You say and run Felding through and pull up on the sword unleashing his blood and guts onto the ground. Felding makes a high pitched scream and slumps on top of his entrails after you remove the sword.
  
  "Shit! The cap just killed Felding!" another so called eternal shouts while he and his buddy have just come back from looting some farmer's home. The pair of them look like they want to run, but you make it easy on them.
  
  "Go ahead and run or stay. I don't care anymore. I'm leaving. I will tell you this though, if the Empire sends any of you unruly scum after me, know that I shall take great pleasure in not just killing you, but in drawing it out for as long as possible. Remember this."
  
  And with that last warning, you leave your service to the Empire.
  
  The question now is, where will you go? What will you do? This all feels so wrong when you think about it. You've killed so many for abandoning, opposing, or attempting to betray the Empire and here you are doing the same thing. Was it all for nothing? Was it worth it?
  
  You don't know. You always believed at the time you were right and that you were doing the right thing. Maybe you were, maybe you weren't. You just know that you can't serve something you don't believe in anymore. Especially when everyone else around you doesn't either.
  
  Speaking of not knowing, you don't know how to do anything except kill people. While you're certain that you'd be able to hire your skills out somewhere, the idea of being a mercenary is a little distasteful for you. You'd rather not push the svelk comparison that far.
  
  You could swear loyalty to another government you suppose. Perhaps the Felkan Kingdom? You're not sure they'd want you, what with all their high tech weapons and your own government once fighting against them.
  
  The only other alternative for you is to carve out your own territory and rule it as your own. While it's true you do have leadership qualities, you know nothing of actually running a government. You honestly wouldn't know where to begin.
  
  > become a mercenary
  You have no desire to serve another government that's likely to be just as corrupt and useless as the one you served. You don't really feel like carving out your own territory either, what could you gain, the petty power thrill of being another tyrant with delusions of grandeur? You've seen that story play out several times and it hasn't gotten the people who pursued it anywhere.
  
  Maybe the svelk had it right. Ultimately serve nobody, but yourself. After all you've pretty much had to do that most of the time since the Empire rarely ever saw fit to help you out in any meaningful manner. The question is where can you find work as a mercenary without needing to work for any sort of government. You then remember, Rask.
  
  The Rask territory completely broke off from the Empire and declared itself independent years ago. No attempt has been made to retake it either, as far as you know Fort Destiny was just completely abandoned. The towns there have banded together as a loose alliance for protection and trade, but nothing more than that. Despite this, they still have need for warriors and such to defend against the many monsters that lurk in the wilderness.
  
  Sounds like a perfect place for you to earn a living and you're already are quite familiar with the area. You find a nearby horse and set off for the north. Along the way you see the landscape of the Empire, which at one time was orderly and even idyllic is now burning and in tatters. Despite the chaos you don't need to do any battle, not even when passing groups of angry peasants who are taking every opportunity to get revenge on their oppressive government and its agents in all forms. You can only assume your reputation is enough to scare them off or they don't even recognize you. If it's the latter then it only confirms your belief that you weren't making that much of a difference in the Empire anyway.
  
  When you eventually make it to the Rask borders the cold chill and snow are almost welcoming to you. As bad as it was here at times, this harsh place is probably the closest you can call home now, you only hope you can still make one here without too much problem.
  
  A few miles in and you see Fort Destiny in the distance, it looks about the same. You wonder what it's being used for now, but you see several young men standing around outside, they look like guards. You approach and are stopped.
  
  "Halt, this is Kenneth's Rest. If you're here to trade then you may enter, but don't cause any trouble or you'll find yourself in more than you bargained for!" a young guard says. He's wearing a patchwork Empire uniform, all of them are. You wonder if these were young recruits that just stayed when the Empire abandoned the place. If so then there are probably others as well, in fact the name Kenneth sounds familiar, but you can't place it. In any case you could do with a small break so you decide to stop here, you also figure this would be as good a place as any to start looking for work.
  
  You tell the young man that you are not here to cause trouble, but to look for work. The young guard tells you that you might want to look for Kenneth as he usually needs various jobs done. He says he's usually found at the inn that being where he keeps his office.
  
  You enter the fort and see that it has changed quite a bit with various traders selling and buying with each other in the courtyard. It still seems to have most of its defensive siege weapons, though they look like they're in disrepair. You notice there are still guards patrolling the top walkways, though significantly less than when this place was still a military installation. It is at this time an older guard patrolling in the crowds sees you.
  
  "Hey! I know you! It's the Bane of Rask!" he shouts.
  
  With this call, everyone else now turns to you. Some of the other older guards with long memories begin to realize it's you as well and move in to advance with their halberds. The younger guards who never served under you do likewise, but from their own hesitation its apparent that stories about you have been told. One of the guards whispers to another who runs off.
  
  You take all this in stride; you figure that they believe you're here to punish them all for desertion or treason. Amusing, since at one time that would've been true, but you're actually here for the same reason.
  
  "Alright you just get off that horse slowly. We don't want any trouble, we're just trying to make a new life for ourselves."
  "I understand that, but if I have to get off my horse for any reason, I promise you it won't be in your best interest that I do so. I'm not here to cause trouble anyway. I just want to talk to Kenneth, I heard he's the one who has several jobs that need done."
  "Sounds like a trick to me." One of the younger guards says.
  "I assure you as any of the men that have served under me here can attest to, I do not trick. How about I just wait here for Kenneth and the rest of you go about your business... or continue to hold your weapons pointed at my direction if you believe it will make you any safer. That's fine too."
  
  You wait a few minutes still on your horse, hoping you don't need to turn this place into a bloodbath, and then Kenneth finally appears. That's when you suddenly remember the name.
  
  "Lieutenant Verant! I knew the name Kenneth sounded familiar. Just forgot it was your first name, never having called you by it on a regular basis and all." You remark. Kenneth looks like he's about to collapse from fear.
  
  "Oh shit. Now look sir, we can explain all this. I mean...we thought...uh..."
  
  You hold up your hand for him to stop before he has a heart attack.
  
  "Verant...Kenneth. There is nothing you can say that could possibly prevent you and everyone here executed for treason to the Empire. Fortunately for you, I am no longer in the service of the Empire."
  "You...you're not?"
  "No. I am shall we say a free agent and looking for a way to put my combat skills to use."
  "I...don't know what to say."
  "How about saying that you have some work for me?"
  
  And so your career as a mercenary begins...
  
  > Continue
  Year 45
  
  "Bastard!" you say landing a killing blow on the last auravrax.
  
  You do a double check of the cave just to make sure you've got all the beasts. It's times like this you're reminded of your kobold hunting days. Of course auravraxes are a lot furrier and stupider. Doesn't make them any less dangerous though considering they're basically balls of hair with lots of teeth and a vicious streak a mile wide. You wonder how it was you never encountered them before when you were posted up here. You can only assume that the larger creatures like ogres and wendigos kept them in check. Thanks to your depletion of such creatures other predators managed to gain better dominance. Nature is wonderful at balancing things out that way.
  
  After making a check you pile up the bodies and start skinning. You figure between the payment for this job and the sale you'll make on the pelts you'll have enough money for at least of week's worth of wine, women and song.
  
  "Nah, to hell with the song. More women." You chuckle to yourself.
  
  Thoughts about such "common" pleasures would've never entered your head decades ago. Makes you realize how much you're changed since then, but it's a good change you think. For the first time, you've actually been enjoying life rather than just going through the motions of it like a golem. Life is so much simpler and easier when you don't have anyone to answer to; especially when that "someone" doesn't even know what the fuck they're doing half of the time. Life of course still has its bad moments, but compared to your time serving the Empire, it's like a non-stop party.
  
  The Empire, now just another government resigned to the trash heap of history. All of its years of power and whatever glory it claimed it had completely gone. And of course much like Mother Nature, the smaller predators get to take their chance in the sun now that the big one is extinct. One of those smaller predators being one your old fellow Eternals, Edgar.
  
  You don't know all the details, but from the rumors you've heard he's declared himself a general and is calling the territory in his control, The Eternal Dominion. He apparently managed to get some of those chaotic eternal wannabes in some semblance of order to help him as well. When you first heard about this you could only shake your head in disappointment. Not even so much for what he's doing, but more with how he's doing it. It's almost like he's going down the same path that Kane did, but with even less planning and followers that are probably more duplicitous than Shadow Guards. You'd think that he would've learned something from that mess.
  
  Still, it's his life and you have yours. You stop reminiscing about the past and concentrate on skinning the auravraxes. When you're finished you cook up one of them to eat and then get some sleep. The next day you set off to Keplavisk with your furs.
  
  When you get to Keplavisk, the usual people acknowledge you. Some are friendly, some aren't, and others with longer memories hate your guts for your action when you were trying to maintain order here a long time ago. Just one of the things you have to put up with, after all you still have your reputation of being...
  
  "Bane of Rask! Bane of Rask! Hey wait up!" Ulivik yells.
  "(Sigh) Boy, I told you to stop calling me by that ridiculous name. In fact I told you to stop following me period!"
  "Sorry, Mr. Bane. Hey are those auravrax furs? Did you kill all of them? I bet you just went in and totally destroyed them without fear!" Ulivik says while making sword whooshing sounds.
  
  You roll your eyes at the teenager's over enthusiasm and resign yourself to him following you while you head to the town hall. For whatever reason he sees you as some sort of brave "hero" though you wish he wouldn't. You can't get too mad at him though, not his fault he's a dark elf brought up by humans. There's got to be a lot of confusion going on there.
  
  You mostly ignore Ulivik's incessant questioning until you get to the town hall where upon his guard run him off with racial slurs and threats. You enter the building and see the mayor. Mayor Stundle is sitting his fat ass at his desk doing nothing of any importance as usual.
  
  "Ah Mr. Bane, I can see by the numerous pelts you're carrying that you've taken care of the problem, I knew you would. That's why you're the best merc in the Confederation. Your payment is on the desk there."
  "Good, and my name isn't Bane you know. I keep telling people that."
  "Indeed it may not be, but that's what everyone knows you as. Can't fight fame or maybe in your case infamy. Heh heh."
  "Yeah, anyway I showed you the proof, I've got some furs to sell."
  "Got a special job for you if you want."
  "Maybe later, I'm going to enjoy myself."
  "Okay, but I can't promise you it'll be available when you get back."
  
  As you leave Mayor Stundle's office, Flog is just entering with several ogre scalps. He displays his obvious dislike of you as usual. As thorough as you were when you destroyed Fort Defiance, Flog survived because he did the smart thing of running away and hiding as soon as he saw your army approaching.
  
  "Outta da way Bane, Flog has to see fat mayor!"
  "He's all yours." You remark not really wanting to deal with his attitude today, of course in typical orc fashion, Flog feels the need to press the issue. He sees the auravrax furs and makes his move.
  "Gruh. You kill little furry things. Flog kill big ogres! More proof that Flog better merc than you!"
  "Sure Flog, whatever." You say dismissively which of course annoys Flog even more.
  "Flog gonna kill you one day Bane!" he shouts as you walk away.
  "Sure Flog, whenever you're ready." You say almost yawning. Another time and place you would've killed him for speaking to you in such a manner, but over the years you've mellowed with age. Besides he's been threatening to kill you for the last eight years. The first few times you took him seriously. Now it's just boring. If he really ever wants to try he knows where to find you, not like you're hiding.
  
  After selling your furs you make you take your money to the closest tavern where you proceed to make good on your claim of relaxing. After a couple days of carousing you're lying in bed with a couple of serving wenches and you decide that you should probably get back to work. No point in waiting around until all your coin is gone, you've had your fun now its time to get back to what you're really good at, killing stuff. You tell the girls in your room to leave and get prepared to go find some more work.
  
  You've barely stepped out of the inn and Ulivik has already found you and nearly gets himself stabbed for sneaking up on you.
  
  "Hey Mr. Bane, it's just me!" he says with a worried tone.
  "Boy, didn't I tell you to never sneak up on me like that? I could've killed you and I doubt if anyone would've blamed me for it!" you shout
  "Sorry, Mr. Bane. Hey are you going on another mission?"
  "What do you think?"
  "I think you are! But Mayor Stundle already gave out all of the jobs, you'll probably have to go to another town."
  "And how do you know this?"
  "Because I tried to sign up, but I got thrown out of the town hall and called names."
  "Sounds about right, but how did you get in there in the first place?"
  "I snuck in. I think I'm getting really good at it!"
  "Hmm, sounds like your svelk heritage is finally paying off." You say.
  "Svelk?" Ulivik asks as if you've spoken a made up word.
  "Svelk, you know it's the proper name for you dark elves, you mean you've never heard the term?"
  "No, I've been called a dark elf before, but I mostly get called a lot of other names."
  "Well life's tough kid, now you go run along..."
  "Hey why don't I come with you on your next mission!?"
  
  And there it is. You knew the day was coming where he'd start asking you to bring him with you.
  
  "Yeah, no. I work alone."
  "Aw come on! I need the experience! I try to sign up for even the easy jobs and I get thrown out! I've even tried going door to door asking if there are any monsters they need killing and they usually just say, yeah the one standing front of me! Then they slam the door in my face! It's not fair!"
  "Why do you want to be a merc anyway? I mean I know you've got a family that takes care of you. They must, if they were willing to take on the ostracizing that would come in raising a dark elf baby."
  "They do and I know they love me, but working as a hide tanner is boring! I want to be a mercenary and live a life of adventure! I mean I've heard stories of how my race is composed of nothing but mercenaries! Just think, a long proud line of brave ancestors that lived a glorious life of excitement! I should be as noble as them!"
  
  You almost laugh when hearing how Ulivik has spoken of his race. He truly is out of touch as there is absolutely nothing glorious, proud or noble about them. Even brave is debatable most of the time.
  
  "Ulivik, if you really want to be a merc, why not just go to Kenneth's Rest? He doesn't give a shit who he hires. Hell, he hires dark elves on a regular basis."
  "I would, but uh, I'm not allowed to leave the town...but I know if you were with me, my parents would let me go! So can I please come with you?!"
  
  This scenario is just so bizarre; you hardly believe that it's happening, a dark elf practically begging you to teach him to be a mercenary. The crazy thing about all this is you're actually considering it. You must finally be suffering from some of the blows you've taken to the head in the past. It's the only explanation.
  
  > take Ulivik with you
  You decide to humor the boy and agree. Chances are, he's not going to get permission from his parents anyway and when that happens he'll be less likely to bother you again. If he does get permission, well it's not that far to Kenneth's Rest and you were going there anyway. Plus you'll have given him the chance he wants and again he'll be less likely to bother you.
  
  "Alright Ulivik, you go ask your parents, but I'm taking you to Kenneth's Rest and no further. And when we get there, you're on your own, don't think that you're going to be tagging along with me anywhere else."
  "Okay! That's great! I'll be right be back...uh could you come with me, so they know I'm telling the truth?"
  "Oh fer...fine."
  
  You follow Ulivik back to his parent's store which smells heavily of leather. The pair of them are working on some sort of the hide when you both walk in.
  
  "Mom! Dad! Mr. Bane said he'd take me to Kenneth's Rest and teach me to be a mercenary! So can I go now?"
  "Hey wait I never said I'd teach..." you start to say before Ulivik's dad interjects his own comments.
  "Oh is that right? And how do you know that? How do you know he won't just rob and kill you along some lonely road?"
  "Or worse!" his mother says.
  "Hey wait a minute now..."
  "But this isn't fair! You said if I could find somebody to teach me, that you'd allow me to go!" Ulivik whines.
  "Yeah, well we didn't think you'd actually be successful, let alone get a cold hearted killer like Bane here to agree. Which makes me wonder why he did..."
  "Trust me, at this point I'm wondering the same thing." You reply.
  "Ulivik, why can't you just be interested in the family business? It's a more honorable profession than being a mercenary. It's honest work."
  "Yeah and the workin' man is a sucker! Look at where we live!"
  "Hey! We get by just fine, and this business has put food in your belly, clothes on your back and a roof over your head! So don't you dare bad mouth this proud family tradition!"
  "Yeah, well I'm not really your son anyway! And you're not my real parents! I hate this place and every here hates me!" Ulivik screams and leaves slamming the door.
  
  You're left in an awkward situation with his parents.
  
  "Okay, so I guess that settles that, I'll just be going now..." you say.
  "No, you get back here you sonofabitch." Ulivik's dad says.
  "Excuse me?"
  "I called you a sonofabitch, now if you want to kill me for that you can do it after hearing what I've got to say first."
  "Heh, okay. It's been a weird sort of day today anyway, I'll play." You say with a smile.
  "Yeah, well I ain't playing.