Gaius pan Tracchus had never been a good man. In his youth, he had been a great athlete. As a young man, he had been an outstanding soldier who achieved the rank of praetorian general at the abnormally young age of 29. Surprisingly, Gaius was also a good father. He doted upon his only son Bastion with all of the care he wished his own father had given him. Bastion took after his father too much, though, and died an early death fighting on foreign shores. It was not Bastion’s death that made Gaius a monster. Gaius would never learn the nature of his own condition, but the crimes he committed in Goldcrest were not his own. If he had known this, he would have died a much happier man.

Gaius sat upon the shingled roof of the tallest building in the little town of Acorn. His mind threatened to burst with the cacophony of conflicting values that roiled within. For reasons beyond his comprehension, he had become the right hand of anarchy. He had never felt great respect for the value of human life, but the wanton violence he had committed over the past forty eight hours was beyond his comprehension. The explanation he gave to the rapists and reavers he had collected from the UnderDark prison block was this -

Regardless of what was to come, the strong would survive. As far as history was concerned, everyone else was already dead. While the world of man sorted itself out, there was only one thing to do - whatever you bloody damn want.

By virtue of his genetic build and aristocratic upbringing, Gaius was a public speaker of the highest quality. It had not been difficult to build a cult to fly the banner of anarchy. It had not been difficult to seize the little town of Acorn. As he peered down at Acorn’s main street from the top of Mayor Sackary’s house, Gaius wished he could end his own life. Unfortunately for him, his reinforced skeleton was far too durable to break should he happen to fall from this roof. Gaius thought of his son. Bastion had believed in his father. Gaius jumped.

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

Gaius didn’t bother to roll when he hit the ground. Instead, he absorbed the three story fall with his knees and ankles alone. He landed beside one of his subordinates, a bank robber called Dextros. A cigar flew from Dextros’ mouth as he yelped in panic. Gaius caught the cigar.

“Will you do something for me, Dextros?”

Dextros snapped to attention.

“Go to the half men in the South Tower. Tell them to bring me wine.”

Dextrose struggled with the idiocy of this request. He knew full well that an encampment of proud Xotical warriors would not deign to speak with him, much less bring him wine. He also knew refusal wasn’t an option, so he did the only thing he could do. He saluted Gaius with all of the bravado he could muster, and then he went off to collect his things. He would have to try his luck elsewhere in the valley. His prospects were not good, for he had already been judged a criminal by the people of Goldcrest Metropolis, but any prison cell would beat what Gaius would do to him if he failed. First Gaius would publically interrogate him, and his shortcomings would be illuminated. Second, Gaius would offer him a chance at redemption - a duel to the death with a man he could not beat. He would either take this opportunity and be killed, or decline and be allowed to run. There was nowhere he could hide from the hunting party that would set out after him. One way or another, his death would be a great sporting event. If he left now, he had a chance of escape. There was one thing, however, that he had to do before he left. It was the reason he had joined Gaius’ Elites in the first place.