Chief Cassil, Chief Tappi, and five other similarly robed rabbits sat around one side of the large table is Harehill. Myself, Graham, Nick, Theresa, and Cain sat around the other half. The twelve of us looked at a map of the territory. Of the 7 rabbit settlements, 4 were located in Shackleford. Harehill was in the south-east, by Moran. Softpaw was in the west, closer to Abilene. Whispercreek was just shy of being inside of Stephens County and was north of most. The newest addition was Lilyfort, a small village a few miles North of Albany. In addition, Junktail was located just outside of Shackleford County in Jones County, Cradlepaw was located along Hubbard Creek Lake in Stephens County, and Swiftpaw Village was located just south of Shackleford and north of I-20 in Callahan County.
The assortment of villages had populations as follows.
Harehill 102 Rabbits Softpaw 85 Rabbits Whispercreek 76 Rabbits Swiftpaw 45 Rabbits Junktail 43 Rabbits Cradlepaw 39 Rabbits Lilyfort 24 Rabbits
All in all, a total of 414 Rabbitfolk encompassed the Commonwealth along with the 77 human players we had adopted at one town or another in some role or another. We calculated that around 10% of the Rabbitfolk were guard-rabbits and around 25% of the human players had some interest in being fighters. That put our defense force at around 42 guard-rabbits and 20 humans. Additionally, we had the 12 members of the Hunter’s Alliance for the time being. It wasn’t much, but it was something.
“I thank you all for coming here.” I tried to speak with authority, and I was hoping that my [Diplomacy] skill would kick in where I was lacking. This was a big attempt to make, but it was our best shot in my eyes.
Chief Jallo from Junktail gave a grunt. “I was told I didn’t have much of a choice.”
I shrugged. “We are not forcing anything on any of you.”
Chief Cassil gave a smile. “So…are you finally going to ask the big question?” He looked at me as if he was expecting me to propose. It was good to at least have one on board.
“Yes…I believe I am. We all know of the threat that the Red Liberty pose to all of us. Our records show that, at best, the Rabbitfolk villages they have come across have been ransacked and ignored. Those that resisted were destroyed. The Liberty have no interest in the survival and growth of your people.”
The rabbits all gave a nod. Even those that weren’t the biggest fans of the humans could admit that the trade caravans had led to an economic boom in prosperity for the villages and towns in the area. Chief Tappi of Softpaw spoke first. “Why would we accept this proposal?”
I shrugged. “If you don’t…and by you I mean everyone here…we will die. The Liberty will overwhelm the villages one by one, just like they’ve done to the rest of Texas. They will continue to harass the wagons, if not preventing them entirely. You will go from the trade network we have worked hard to establish over the last half-year back to being isolated pockets of potential. Those pockets will be overran, conquered, and exploited.”
“Is this not exploitation as well?” Chief Cherry of Lilyfort spoke her accusatory words with the sweetest tone one could imagine.
“It’s not exploitation if we all need the same things. We are simply guiding development and procedure.”
Jallo scoffed. “This appears to be exploitation to me. You want us to send our rabbits to die for Harehill?”
“Harehill is by far the largest and strongest town of the bunch. We have the strongest walls here. If we have a chance anywhere, we have a chance here.”
Cherry frowned. “If we sign on to this, the Liberty will consider us enemies.”
“They already consider you enemies. They don’t want to adapt to this new world. They want to return it to what it once was. They want you eradicated, Chieftain.” I was both thankful and annoyed that the rest of my council had elected me to be the sole speaker for this. On one hand, I didn’t have to deal with any conflicting statements or any other opinions on the matter. They trusted me to handle this. On the other hand, I had no verbal support. It was 1 vs. 7.
Cassil nodded. “You all saw our gates as you came in. We have grown so swiftly and so well since the humans arrived. They are our friends. I would be glad to assist where I can.”
Chief Molly of Cradlepaw shook her head. “We know where you stand, Cassil. If the humans asked you to hop, you’d ask them ‘how high?’”
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Cassil gave a grin. “Of course I would. They’ve done me no wrong.”
“Yet.” Jallo looked at the map. “Would this be permanent?”
“I’d like it to be, yes. Even after the war, there are lots of advantages to us working together. Rabbits and humans alike can level up and advance their crafts with a free trade and movement agreement. When level shifts occur, the defense pact will secure the towns most in danger. We will all be safer, wealthier, and happier.”
Molly frowned. “You’d be the executive decision maker?”
I shruggged. “Not quite. I propose a parliamentary procedure with an executive veto system. Either a majority of the Rabbitfolk, or myself, can put forth a motion. I will be restricted by my human council. If either one of us does not like the motion put forth, a majority is required to override it. For example, if I put forth a motion that you all despise, 4 chiefs will be enough to cancel my motion. In the reverse, you will require 4 chiefs to succeed in a motion that I veto.”
“This seems like a lot of power in your hands, Jeremiah.” Chief Tappi was concerned.
“It’s the best system I can arrive at.”
The rabbits talked amongst themselves for several minutes. Cassil was firmly onboard, but the rest wavered from probably on board to unlikely to be. In the end, a vote was taken.
Chief Cassil cast the first vote. “Yay.”
Chief Tappi cast the second vote. “Yay.”
Chief Colper of Whispercreek cast the third. “Yay.”
Chief Bawkitt of Swiftpaw cast the fourth. “Yay.”
Chief Jallo cast the fifth. “Yay.”
Chief Molly cast the sixth. “Yay.”
Chief Cherry cast the seventh. “Yay.”
I looked over at Graham who smiled back at me. I turned to the table and gave a wide grin. “With a unanimous vote, the Harehill Articles are passed. From this time forward, both Rabbits and Humans are all members of the Harehill Commonwealth.” I checked my menu and the accompanying map to see a large swath of green territory that held the golden words of “Harehill Commonwealth” across it. We were official.
[Diplomacy] has been advanced to Level 5!
I was beaming as the streets of Harehill began to become overrun with celebration. Rabbits of all shapes and sizes danced and drank alongside the humans. The nationalization party was in full swing. We were officially a faction and I knew that the Liberty were going to at least have a fight on their hands. We may not win, but we were going to do some damage.
——————
The crack of Klein’s whip on the back of Dr. Williams filled the air. She had been stripped bare and tied to a post in the middle of town. Klein reeled his arm back and launched the lash forward once more, leaving a red stripe down her shoulder blades.
Danny winced at each strike. He looked over to see that even Dr. Riley was not have a fun time at this event. Danny whispered to him. “You have to stop this.”
Riley shook his head. “You don’t understand how this works. He outranks me by several orders of magnitude. He could demand to screw my wife and I’d be obliged to not only allow it, but assist it. I don’t like this anymore than you do, Danny-boy.”
Riley, who had seemed so arrogant and cruel upon arrival, looked like nothing more than a bored bureaucrat next to Commander Klein. It took Danny a minute to realize that that was probably closer to the truth than anything else. Riley was just a man doing a job. Klein was using the situation of the system to his advantage. The sadism in his eyes finally had a chance to be utilized. Whilst most of the Liberty men that Dan had met had seemed to have many sides to their moral character, this one didn’t. For the first time, Dan felt like he was really looking at pure evil.
Dan stared at the public act of cruelty in front of him. Sherri had tried to escape after being given orders to head to the battlefield in two days with the rest of the soldiers. She had been ordered to play the doctor for the siege on Harehill. It was a rather pointless decision as Sherri had little training in the system. She hadn’t even reached Level 4 yet, and she was still being asked to go to a damn war zone. It seemed purely to be for amusement of the Liberty Commander.
Klein chuckled, his short grey hair began to sparkle with specks of crimson blood. “The best part about this new…” The crack of the whip slashed her back once more. “…system is that I don’t have to wonder how many times I can strike you without killing you. Your health bar is evident for us all to see. I have a good feeling I can keep going for…” Sherri screamed in pain at another strike. “…quite a while. You understand where you’ll go next right? Oil Camp 4 has been just absolutely…” Another strike. “…dying for some more workers.”
Danny looked around, desperate to see a way to stop this situation. Klein was a Level 28 compared to Danny’s meager 20. Danny had no chance of beating Klein himself. The battalion of 305 men at his beck and call didn’t help matters. Eastland had been turned into a war camp and there wasn’t any escaping from this. Danny had no idea how things had gotten this bad, but he had to fix this. It was all his fault.
Klein finally put the whip down after what felt like an eternity. He moved forward and unchained the doctor, letting her collapse to the dust on the field. He bent down, muttering something only she could hear before giving the signal for several of his men to take her away. “I’d be concerned about not having a medic, but we didn’t really need her anyways.”
Danny clenched his fist. This was wrong. He gave a nod to his dad. Pastor Gabriel had spent the last week leveling in the dead of night to reach Level 5 and be able to select a class and first skill. He had chosen Shifter and [Shift Raven] for his first skill. They had come up with an emergency plan. If things got bad enough that Dan was finally ready to risk everything, his dad was there to help. Gabriel gave Danny a smile and backed away into an alley. All Danny saw next was a small black bird leaving the town and heading north.
Klein gave a wide grin. “I’m getting quite bored here. Luckily, we ride soon.” Klein turned to his men, all holding instruments of war as they crowded around what very nearly became a public execution. “Get ready, men! We’re at war!”
Danny looked up at the sky and hoped his dad could fly fast enough. If they were going to be successful, they had to do it now. They were running out of time and the premier fighting force of the Liberty’s 2nd Battalion was right on the doorstep of Harehill. Dan may not have been the biggest fan of Jeremiah, but he hated those that had conquered his town even more. Danny was finally going to do something right, even if it cost him his life.