The Guard Captain sat across the wooden table from the black-haired man in the iron armor. "Mornin' E.P." The man spoke, smiling. "What can I do ya for today?"<br/><br/>"You know the drill, Pipe. What happened last night?" Pipe smiled and shrugged.<br/><br/>"Same shit different night, you know? They came, we drove them off... nothing earth-shattering to report, ma'am." A beat. "Oh, Charles did over-extend his arm tonight, but he got a nice kill from it. Things even out."<br/><br/>"I'll have a look at it. I'm sure it's minor." She stood and nodded to him. "Castle still stands, everyone still breathes. Damn fine work tonight, Pipe. You and the others get some sleep." He gave a loose salute and a 'yes, ma'am' before turning back to his dinner.<br/><br/>Erizen left the Dining Hall, watching the citizens of the castle wake up slowly, going about their daily routines, whatever that may be. Erizen stretched. That was the first night in a while she's had a decent night's sleep, and she loved it, pity she had to spend it alone.<br/><br/>"Guard Captain!" Came a voice, a blue-haired girl sprinting towards her, waving frantically. Erizen smiled as she arrived.<br/><br/>"Lorianne." She gave the girl a hug. "What's new to report?"<br/><br/>"A few of the normal complaints, ma'am..."<br/><br/>"Please. You don't have to be so formal. Erizen is fine. I only require<em>that</em>kind of respect from the guard." The people of the castle looked up to Erizen. She was the one who too the reigns on that first night... organized and oversaw the castle's construction. People view Erizen as the castle's mother, even if Lorianne was more in-tune with the people.<br/><br/>"Normal complaints, Erizen, the gong..." She sighed. "...being my chief complaint."<br/><br/>"If you're hearing it, you're alive." It was her typical response, which Lorianne took.<br/><br/>"I know... I know... but I don't like being disturbed." The castle's blacksmith had built the gong, but it was rather useless. Until, of course, Nadia discovered that the strange red dust that was found underground carried an electric charge. With this knowledge, she could create a variety of wonderful devices. She rigged the gong up to a twelve-hour circuit. It rang every morning at six AM (Ish. No one had a watch here, so they went by the rising sun, calling that six AM) to herald the morning, and once at six PM to warn everyone to get back in. Nadia was a real useful girl, when she wasn't getting sleep deprived, of course. "That's all, ma'am."<br/><br/>"Good." Erizen nodded. "Carry on." She, herself, went about her morning routine, finding Dominic giving the miners the usual 'work safe, work smart, work in pairs' speech he gave them every morning, giving him a confirmatory nod as she walked towards Nadia's quarters. Knocking on the wooden door, she peeked her head in. "Nadia? You awake?"