Felix found himself teleported into a large square room ten meters or so across with three white walls and no windows. The last wall was like a pane of tinted glass through which he saw a large circular room with 9 evenly spaced black panels, including the one he looked through. Above each of the other panels, there was a map of Trenus as well as a name. He hadn't bothered to check the names of the other cities on his map, so this was his first time encountering them.

Looking around the room, starting with the room to his direct left, he saw The Lodge which was the city almost directly north of Atalus by thousands of kilometers, buried deep in the forest. Next was Snowvale on the north half of the arctic continent, directly east of The Lodge. Following that was Trelas, the city on the south side of the same arctic continent. After that was Orselle, the southern most city on the desert continent to the south east.

Then it was Coastwatch, on the south end of the main continent, the one Atalus was on. Just to the west of that, on the same continent was Sprouts. On the far west of that was Lav'Gur, in the desert area of the main continent. The final panel, just to Felix's right, was a panel with the name, Stormbringer, above it. It's map highlighted the entirety of the continent to the west of the main one.

Felix cringed slightly as he glanced past the panel for the Stormbringer. In his room, the one for Atalus, there was a large round table and about 15 chairs around it. Felix sat down in one of the chairs that faced outwards from the room and placed Nova on the table. They were still fast asleep and seemed completely undisturbed by the fact that they had teleported to a completely different location that was potentially on another planet. Felix waited a few minutes for Noah to show up, who sat next to him followed by Benjamin a minute later then finally Will and Alan a few minutes after that. They all took seats at the table on the same side as Felix, facing outwards, and waited a few minutes until The System displayed a screen before each of them.

World Council

Welcome to the first ever Trenus World Council meeting. There are 29 people in attendance including the owners and representatives of the 9 different factions on the planet thus far. The restricted settlement founding period is set to end at the conclusion of this meeting in 3 hours. The purpose of this meeting will be for the current council members to introduce themselves and vote on whether or not to extend the restricted period.

For the next two hours, you may choose to open or close the panel that seals your rooms by placing your palm on the wall next to it.

Agenda:

Introductions (2 hours)

Vote (1 hour)

Felix read through the screen then looked up and waited a few seconds for the others in his room to read through it as well. He and Noah looked at each-other and nodded then Felix stood from his chair and walked up to the panel. He placed his palm on the wall next to the panel and waited a few seconds before it vanished. As he stood there, the panels for Trelas, Orselle and Coastwatch opened around the same time as his. He glanced to each of the rooms one by one briefly locking eyes with the people who had opened their chambers.

In the rooms for Coastwatch and Trelas, there were only 3 people total and just 9 chairs. In the room for Orselle, there were 4 people and 12 chairs. Some quick mental math told him that all of the people who had made themselves visible would fit in his room, if they wanted to. Knowing this, he gestured for the others to join him. The man who had opened the panel for Trelas looked at the other two in his room then turned back to Felix and smiled. He walked right over and shook his hand.

[E - Common] Human (Lvl 82)

Neither he nor Felix said a word to each-other but they both nodded and smiled, acknowledging each-other. The man walked past Felix and sat next to Alan on the left side of the table. The woman that had opened the panel for Orselle seemed hesitant but eventually decided to walk over as well, though the other three in her room did not seem to agree with her decision. Felix shook her hand, smiled and nodded to her as well before she sat on the opposite side of the table, just a seat over from Noah.

[E - Common] Human (Lvl 91)

The man who had opened the panel for Coastwatch looked back at the other two in the room and seemed to be arguing with them in whispers and hushed tones. Felix waited a minute or so before shrugging and returning to his seat at the table, between Noah and Will. As soon as he did, Noah gestured towards him and said, "And this, is Felix. Our fearless leader."

Felix looked at him with a frown of shock and slight disgust which caused the woman from Orselle to giggle and cover her mouth with the back of her hand. Once she recovered, she looked up at him and introduced herself, "I am Amani, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Fearless-Felix."

Felix groaned and rolled his eyes causing her to laugh with a full belly, unable to contain herself this time. Felix, looking for a reprieve from the teasing, looked to the other newcomer at the table and introduced himself to him, "Nice to meet you, I'm Felix."

"Jack. I appreciate you hosting." He said gesturing to the room and chairs around him.

Felix just shrugged, "There were 15 people who made themselves visible, we seem to be the only ones who could host that many. I didn't really want anyone to feel left out, but it seems that may not have been necessary."

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"Well, I appreciate the consideration nonetheless. How have you all been settling in to the new planet? Any major issues or setbacks?"

Felix looked at Noah and shrugged, "Not that I'm aware of. You? How's the arctic? That definitely wouldn't have been my first choice of location to settle down."

Jack smiled and nodded, seemingly having figured something out, "It's been good. Our city in the tutorial was based in a rather wintery biome so we were ready and used to the cold already. As for how I chose the location, honestly I kind of just plopped it down as soon as I arrived."

Felix raised an eyebrow then turned back to Amani, "Was your city in the desert in your tutorial? Is that where you left from?"

"Yes. I take it you were somewhere near mountains and plains? We all ended up in the biomes we left from?"

Felix nodded then continued, "What about you Amani, any issues settling in?"

She hesitated for a moment, locking up, then gracefully recovered as if nothing had happened, "Nothing we can't handle."

"Glad to hear it."

At this point, the other two individuals from Trelas' room and one from Coastwatch's walked over and stood awkwardly near the table. They seemed unsure whether or not they were allowed to sit. Alan stood from his seat and walked over to them, getting a little closer than most people would and made some sly gestures as if showing his product in a back-alley deal. In his hand though, was a simple deck of cards which caused the new arrivals to look at each-other with wide eyes. Will rose and joined them and they all decided to head back to one of the other rooms to play.

Jack turned to Amani, "So… What do you think of this whole, Stormbringer situation?" He probed.

"Situation?" She cocked her head, "I'm not sure what you mean."

"Well… a large landmass, one might refer to as a continent, is owned by some entity that refers to themselves as ‘Stormbringer'."

"So? What is the situation? Could this not simply be a person? A man or woman? They don't seem like a threat to me. They have made no moves or declarations against any of us thus far."

Jack turned to Felix and Noah, "What about you? Any thoughts?"

Noah answered before Felix could formulate an answer, "Who cares? We've got way more than enough land as is. I see no reason to worry about things that are outside of our control."

Benjamin chimed in, "We might as well wait until something happens, trying to prepare for the unknown or assuming they are hostile would just be problematic. Maybe it's just your friendly neighborhood dragon, here to protect the planet and guide it's new residents."

Felix cringed slightly at being compared to a dragon, knowing that in any other universe, both he and Benjamin would be brutally sacrificed for the transgression.

Jack nodded and shrugged, "Any major plans in the coming months?" He addressed the whole table. Amani offered a slight shake of her head so Jack turned to the other three.

Noah looked at Benjamin and they had a silent conversation with their eyes for a few moments before Felix answered, "I think we just want to finish getting settled, make sure everyone has a home, make sure our food and water supplies are sustainable. We've set up some farms, but we would like more ideally. Once all that's done, ideally some sort of transportation is setup so people and goods can travel and trade between cities. I was thinking some sort of train, but it would be difficult to get to your two cities. I guess now that we are where we are, I should think bigger than trains, maybe portals or something."

Noah and Benjamin were looking at Felix with slightly raised eyebrows, but he either didn't notice or didn't care. Jack answered, "Not sure how to pull that one off, but we would definitely be open to the idea if you do manage to figure it out… We are in a similar boat as well, setting up food and water, making sure the shelters are warm enough and clearing out any creatures that might threaten the children."

"You have creatures that get close enough to threaten people?" Felix shot back almost immediately.

"Unfortunately. Mostly small animals, some larger creatures, some we've never heard of. So far, nothing we can't handle so hopefully that remains the case."

"If you ever need help, feel free to…" Felix started.

Jack chuckled, "Call? I appreciate the offer though nonetheless. Out of curiosity, what level are you? I can't seem to identify either of you."

Felix looked at Amani and verified her level while she responded, "Not much higher than yours, it is hidden for a reason though." She said with a slightly patronizing look.

"Fair enough." Jack said before Felix could respond, "How about this, you can both see my level I take it?" He asked. They both nodded then he continued, "Can you see her level?" He asked Felix.

Felix nodded and Jack shifted topics, having learned what he wanted to, "So your tutorials, tell me about them. Must have been rather interesting given there were so few that ended up with Major cities."

This was a topic that it turned out, they were all very open about. A combination of the shared experience of being torn from relative comfort and dropped into danger, curiosity and the fact that it was over, made everyone both open and interested.

In Jack's tutorial, his town had grown to slowly become the most prolific town which attracted immigrants from all over. The other towns began to fight each-other causing people to seek refuge in Jack's town which quickly grew to a city, which he used to defend the innocent. He also traveled with a small group and conquered the quest and combat dungeons early on. Once the warring was over, there was still a month left and he effectively owned all of the original 9 forts without having to fight for them much at all. At that point, he set his eyes on the world bosses and managed to take out three of them before the end of the tutorial.

In Amani's tutorial, she hadn't founded her settlement but rather came across it and helped develop it. She was more of a solo hunter herself and had quickly leveled and completed a handful of the dungeons. After that, she had rallied together fighters and crafters, uniting them to help bring peace to the rest of the settlements that were in constant turmoil. She traveled with a small army of mercenaries, just a hundred or so, that completed dungeons and took out a couple tyrannical leaders. Once they had completed all of the dungeons and traveled the entire map, almost everyone had decided to join their cause. Together with the best of the best, she took out all 9 of the original world bosses and set up a city where those who didn't want to fight could simply live and prosper.

Felix wouldn't have believed her, considering how much of a hero she had made herself out to be, had his earrings not indicated that she was telling the truth the entire time. Even when he lightly probed her about the tyrannical leaders ruling the settlements she had conquered and why they were evil, the earrings simply told him she was downplaying how awful they were. He was reluctant to believe it, but she seemed both genuine and kind of a badass. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .