The leaders of the Talon sat in the meeting hall eyeing each other, trying to decide how to break the silence after everything that had happened. Finally, it was Lanek that broke the silence.
“I’m sorry that I was acting so paranoid and angry. You guys were fully justified in your reactions. However, I hope we can move past the whole ‘Put Lanek in chains’ thing, I don’t know why it affects me so much, but I can’t promise that it won’t end in blood if you try. Even thinking about it makes me unreasonably angry and I can’t figure out why. I know you’ve spoken to the Hordefather and he vouched for my identity.”
“Thank you for the apology, Lanek. In turn, I would like to apologize for how Ograch and I treated you as well. You gave us an alternative to come here and ask Nerek to verify your identity without coming inside with us. In that situation, you wouldn’t have posed any threat, but I was just so angry that I didn’t think that a foe would most likely have done anything to get inside the monastery one way or the other.” Liv said, walking around to hold her hand out to Lanek, Ograch close behind. With a smile, Lanek clasped arms with the both of them before facing the rest of the room.
“Shel. You can stop hiding behind Khurzag, I’m not going to do anything. Tempers were flaring all around, I know that we don’t like each other that much, but that doesn’t mean we can’t work together.” Lanek called to the orc shaman.
“I don’t have a problem with you, Lanek. I just wish that you would respect me and the authority given to me by the Hordefather.” Shel said, a touch of indignation in her voice.
“Child, are you serious?” Nerek said, almost growling in anger. “As a Khan of the Hordefather, he has more authority from our god than either of us. And, judging from the aura I feel from him, the Hordefather has joined his support to Eldros when it comes to Lanek’s Chosen status.”
Seeing Lanek’s nod, Nerek continued. “On top of all of that, what makes you think that being a shaman of the Hordefather naturally gives you any authority? You are one of several of his shamans in this building. Additionally, not everyone in this building worships the Hordefather. This is not a tribe or temple in his name.”
“But isn’t it our duty to make it so?” Shel said in protest, looking around the room at the orcs and hobgoblins. “The followers of the Hordefather make up the vast majority of the manpower of the Talon.”
Lanek made to speak, but a glance from Nerek and Talwarg told him that they would handle this. He relaxed and waited to see how this would play out.
“Oh? Does that mean that you would force Liv and Ivan to convert to his worship? What about Liv’s kin when they arrive? Will you expect them to abandon the worship of the Great Bear or treat them differently for following their own god? What about Lanek? Care to try and force him to convert?” Shel’s mouth worked angrily as she tried to respond to Nerek’s barrage of questions, finally latching onto one.
“That’s nonsense, Lanek already follows the Hordefather. As a Chosen and Khan of the Hordefather, he should support this becoming a center of worship for the Hordefather.” Shel said, thinking that she had found the answer to this argument.
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Silently apologizing to Nerek, Lanek spoke up. “You are mistaken. I am helping Wurgoth.” He deliberately emphasized the demigod’s name rather than his title, causing Shel to look at him in shock. “I serve Eldros. This will not become a theocracy. When I decided to try and make this city into a sanctuary from the invasions and monsters, I meant to make it one for everyone as long as they were not enemies actively attempting to sabotage us. If we are successful, then be prepared to see followers of many gods and religions, and watch me stop every single one of their attempts to make any given one ascendant. And don’t think I will be pushing the worship of Eldros either, he couldn’t give the slightest shit about mortal worshippers, which is great because I’m not the proselytizing type. However, don’t get me wrong, as long as you don’t force conversion by withholding aid or with threats, I will not object in the slightest if people convert to the worship of other gods or abandon their religions entirely.”
Lanek took a deep breath before continuing, having come to a decision. “Thank you for making me realize something. If other factions come into this place, I cannot appear to favor any one group over another. So, while I am going to help you fortify this place, I will not be living with you. I will be sending people I encounter here and I expect you to live and work alongside one another, but I will be living elsewhere in the city.”
“You don’t need to do that!” Talwarg objected, panic in his voice.
“I think that I do. The Chosen title holds a lot of weight, so me simply sharing a home with a specific group would naturally come across as a tacit endorsement of that group and make any newcomers feel like they would have to defer to them. Don’t worry, I am not planning on disappearing and forcing you to be in charge. I will be nearby and you will still be seeing me frequently. However, I am going to need to operate independently at times to do my duties, not the least of which is getting more bodies to prepare for whatever the System saw that made it bestow this title on me.” Seeing the understanding dawn on many of their faces, Lanek continued. “Here’s what I would like to do for now. I want you to decide, without me and with everyone in this building, on a council. I would advise not making it too large, but that’s really up to you. After that, I want you to choose a leader of that council that will be the one interacting with me on major decisions and plans. The reason for this is that Caelis is a big city, and until we get the dungeon contained or destroyed, we are likely going to end up with enclaves around the city by necessity. At the very least, we’ll likely end up with strongholds near each gate so we can manage the gaunt problem. Because of the danger, each enclave will need to be able to make decisions quickly, which necessitates each one having their own council. With all of these councils, I damn well refuse to be flooded with dozens of voices whenever a decision needs to be made, which is why I want each one to have a nominated leader that will meet with me. If and when the city is reclaimed and secure, I want those leaders to form the ruling council of the city while the various enclave councils are disbanded. The city council will then choose a leader as well and we can follow this pattern if we end up venturing out and reclaiming other cities and expanding our territory.”
Ivan looked thoughtful for a moment before smiling. “And by having all the newcomers arrive here, we can make sure that each enclave ends up having a mixture of races and beliefs. That way, no one enclave will be dominated by a single faction, which also means that when the city is whole, every neighborhood will be quite diverse. I like it.”
“Exactly. So, I’m going to go to my quarters and take a bath. Relax a bit in a nice comfortable bed and wait for your decision. I’ll probably stay in there until your decisions are made since I don’t need to be involved and you guys have done perfectly fine without me here.” As he stood to leave, he paused and approached Shel. “I am sorry for the insults earlier, I do hope we can both learn from this.” After Shel stared at him for a few long moments, she nodded and took his hand.
“Thank you. For what it’s worth, I think you have potential and the Hordefather must believe so as well considering you are still here alongside Nerek. Especially since I’m almost positive that Nerek is the strongest of his remaining worshippers.” Her eyes widened, mouth dropping open. “I mean it, none of the gods have the influence they once had, thanks to the sorry state of the world. We’re all going to need to work together to survive what is coming, and that includes the gods. Well, those that haven’t fallen already.”
With those final words, Lanek left the room and entered his quarters for the first time since Eldros revived him. Taking in the comfortable bed and familiar surroundings, Lanek felt a bit sad that he would soon need to find a new home and that it might take a while to find something as comfortable as this. As he set his pack down, he nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard a quiet voice coming from the far corner of the room.
“We need to talk.”