Gahl couldn’t believe his eyes. The room fell silent. Except for one voice. The priest.
Where once Gahl heard a pleasant chuckle he now heard mocking laughter. The priest, ever aware of exactly what Gahl did and what consequences remained from his actions.
A fighter. How can I be a fighter - I have 1 in every damned stat that requires a smidgen of physical ability. What will I do to stop the enemies, start reciting poetry or philosophy? Tell them stories?
Stories about why you shouldn’t risk luck.
‘I suppose you now must spin the damage wheel,’ said the priest. He grinned from ear to ear.
Gahl stepped forward. He wished for force before, but now he couldn’t care.
None of it will be useful anyways.
He gave the wheel a halfhearted tug, and the sombre theme of the wind whistles stretched on. Piercing damage.
He could barely hold a sword, and couldn’t even attempt to use a more dexterous weapon like a dagger.
The silence prolonged for ever an excruciating moment longer, and the weight of Gahl’s decisions attacked him in a flurry of melancholy. It knocked him to his knees, brought him to a struggled gasp, and tied him to the floor.
So it was, after his father dragged him back across the rugged floor, Gahl sat in front of the priest yet again. He couldn’t breathe.
That… That’s it. That’s my life, completely gone. Washed down the bank into the river.
He slumped back in his chair. He saw Ana looking at him and turned to face her - even that challenged him. Her mournful expression carried through to her hands, trying to pat Gahl on the back. Gahl tried to stop her, but he could not move, and as such he just let it happen.
How can I do anything in my life, contribute to the Empire in even the smallest sense, if my stature is useless and my knowledge rendered void?
The Choice Ceremony finished enough, although Gahl assumed the priest droned on about rights and privileges of the Imperium for years, and soon they walked out. Or, his parents walked out without him, and Gahl sluggishly crept out of the building, up to where Ana stood.
The autumn noon almost blinded Gahl, and everyone looked so warm, yet chills ran through Gahl in circuits. The blood drained from his face.
Ana herself stood talking to her parents and family. They talked fast and merrily, a warm chuckle like the ones Gahl’s family shared that morning, filling the silence between speakers. When Gahl walked up, this all hushed. They stared at him, unmoving and yet unrecognising somehow. He walked on, resigned from his wishes to speak to Ana. Gahl heard them continue speaking after he left.
‘…going to go and follow him.’
‘Why?’
‘Because he’s my friend. May I not speak to my friends after my Choice Ceremony?' He heard a sigh.
‘As you wish.’
He heard Ana run up behind him, before she tapped him on the shoulder. He turned around, before falling into her.
‘Gahl, you know for a fact my strength is only 1!'
‘At least you’re not a fighter.’
‘Are you trying to kill me?’
‘I’m trying to kill me.’
‘Wow, and you say I’m depressed.’ Gahl didn't reply, and Ana quickly grew silent. Gahl wished he knew whether or not he wanted her to keep talking like that, to distract him, or not, but he didn’t.
I wish I hadn’t done any of this.
‘Do you need help?’ asked a deep voice. Out of Gahl’s peripheral vision he could see a man walking up to them. Short, yet sturdy, as soon as his hand grabbed onto Gahl he knew the man’s strength.
Torv of Hestav Human (Gavor) Fighter (worker) Bludgeoning Strength 4 Dexterity 2 Vigour 3 (+1 Stature Modifier) Knowledge 1 Wisdom 2 Charismatic Charm 1 Luck 2
They both hauled Gahl onto the green beside the temple, where they finally let Gahl’s face hit the floor. Gahl did not stir. A heavy hand turned him over.
‘Hey son, what’s wrong.’
‘Everything.’
‘Cmon, Gahl, there’s no need to be like that,’ Ana argued. ‘Also, thank you.’ The man nodded, looking at Gahl once more before walking away.
‘Of course there is,’ Gahl continued.
‘No matter what happens, you’re still alive. No need to mimic the dead.’
‘Well, am I alive if I just threw away my life.’
‘And I’m meant to be the poet.’
‘And I’m not meant to be anything other than dead.’
‘Don’t say that.’
‘Why not?’
Ana stared out from where Gahl laid. They’d managed to move him not only all the way to the grass, but under the shelter of a tree. From the cool shadow they both gazed at the centre of Pirn, the grounds just outside the temple. Families still talked and cheered, some undoubtedly talking about him. Children played in the street, climbing up walls and ducking through market stalls. They held the happiness Gahl sorely wished to have - the happiness Gahl thought, “knew”, he’d have. And yet he strayed ever further in each wallowing minute.
What am I even meant to do?
He thought this an unknown, until he heard the priest’s voice.
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‘Everybody return inside! I forgot a vital part of the Choice Ceremony, unique to this one.’
The crowd looked at him, though soon began filing back inside.
Gahl took the seat he took before, and so did his parents. They looked at him, but did not say anything.
‘Now, I already read to you the rules of citizenship within the Imperium, however there is something I forgot to really say. So let me begin a slightly altered version before I tell you what’s going on.’
The priest disappeared behind a wall to a room behind the altar, the storage for the temple. Gahl heard a tug, before two men in Imperial uniforms holding doors ran in to help. The priest appeared back out again.
‘Each man and woman of the Imperium has a right to their fair yet mighty nation. To maintain this, they are obligated to playing their part within the workings of such a vast and glorious empire.
‘Most people may choose the part they play within this intricate system, however sometimes there are gaps that need to be filled. Certain unpopular roles that require assumption.’
The entire crowd seemed to stop breathing.
‘No,’ Gahl heard his father mutter. ‘This can’t be.’
Everyone knew what it was, where this speech led.
‘When there are a lack of lumberers, we incentivise people to move to the forest where they can take of tree-felling.’
By forcing them out of their homes.
‘When we run out of people to turn the lumber into ships, we make it necessary for young craftsmen to serve building boats. When we run out of people to fill those boats’ - the soldiers appeared out from the room - ‘we refer to this.’
This wheel, carved in rugged patterns, mildly resembled an old shield. The axel jutted from the wheel, forming a quasi boss to the shield. Out of the ‘boss’ stuck spear shaped arrows. One pointing to each section, in which groups of names were emblazoned.
The most dreaded wheel in all of Halvanah. Whoever the wheel landed on had to sail away. Away from their families, away from their homes, away from their lives.
‘To serve in their loyal duty gifted to them by the Imperius!’ called the priest. ‘All must ensure there name is upon this wheel, in any of the groups, and then you must wait for the names of those conscripted to be called. If you are conscripted, I shall lead you elsewhere, both in this building and in the world.’
Gahl checked the wheel for his name.
‘Group D,’ Ana muttered. Gahl looked at the section labelled D.
Gahl of Freitfa
Ana of Sara
Yl of Hanun
Tilyhav of Cilian
Torv of Hestav
‘It is okay,’ Gahl heard Tilyhav say to his child. ‘If we are selected, we can just send a substitute.’
Of course.
‘You there!’ The priest pointed at a man. Tall, yet surprisingly pale, the man was of a good build. A good build to swing a wheel.
And so the man walked up. Gahl’s heart thumped in pace with the man’s footfalls. People shook with the chains on his boots. The warm morning felt so cold.
Resting a shaking hand upon the wheel, the man shook a tossing swing of the wheel. No wind whistles adorned this wheel. Instead Gahl and the others listened to the excruciating cries of metal on metal. Some covered their ears, others their eyes. Some held children tight to them. Perhaps a farewell.
The wheel screeched on. The howl filled Gahl’s ears, and yet his eyes affixed upon the wheel. The wheel slowed, and the howl grew into an ever louder groan. And then, with a whimper, it stopped.
‘Group D!’ called the priest. ‘Gahl of Freitfa! Ana of Sara! Yl of Hanun! Tilyhav of Cilian! Torv of Hestav!’
Cries echoed around the temple in their shrill tone, louder than any wheel. Gahl’s mother hugged him tight as the crowd parted, and yet again the priest’s glare struck him. He gasped as though the spear that pointed to his name pointed through his chest. His mother let go as Gahl stepped forward, almost hauled by fate.
This is truly a characteristically swift end to my tale. Why couldn’t it have another group? Another group who could all actually defend themselves?
‘Don’t worry,’ the priest assured the group through a smile. ‘Your strength and dexterity stat will increase with time. Now take a seat over there.’ Gahl was the first to sit down on the benches at the wall, but soon Yl arrived, followed by Torv - the man who held Gahl up - and Ana. They all sat, except for Tilyhav, who argued with the priest.
‘If I have the funds to pay for a substitution I should have every right to utilise it!’
‘And forsake your honour? The honour of your people? You must sail out now, Child of Glory, for now you are to embark upon the greatest quest one can receive.’
‘Oh, don’t give me that bull’s hind!’
‘Child of Glory, keep your honour and take a seat, lest I make a seat take you!’
Tilyhav resigned to taking a seat next to the group, his voice ripe with hushed curses.
Gahl lowered his head between his knees,
Except for Yl. Yl seemed excited.
‘If only I could share a scrap of your optimism,’ Gahl murmured.
‘Well, think about it this way. I’m an adventurer, I’ve always wanted to get away and see the world. So think of what adventures must await us.’
‘Death,’ said Torv. ‘My kids going hungry, death, and the deepest pits of Hyuna.’
‘Hyuna be damned!’ Gahl snorted at the unintentional pun. ‘We get the opportunity of a lifetime here!’
‘Do you mean by that an opportunity we will never get back?’ asked Ana. ‘Or do you mean an opportunity that will end our lifetime, because I’m pretty sure it’s none of the former and all of the latter.’ Yl gave a resigned sigh, and slumped back into his chair.
Soon the priest turned to them, stepping up to them and smiling. ‘Children of the Honourable! You will join my battalion. We leave at sunrise. You will get training on the ship.’ There goes the chances of us just getting deployed into the city or something. The others seemed to be feeling the same disappointment, except for Yl.
‘Where are we going?’ Gahl did not sense his enthusiasm build, more so the enthusiasm punched him in the face
‘Zyxix, in the Outskirts.’
‘Zyxix? The cradle of the Empire?’ Yl seemed to be close to jumping for joy for the second time that day.
‘Yes, the ancestral home of the Empire. We must reclaim it from renegade troops in the garrison who have taken control of the island.’
‘See you at sunrise!’ Yl almost screamed, dashing out of the room.
‘Wait, Child, take one of these!’ The priest gave Yl something, and before long the priest pressed a similar copy into Gahl’s hand. A badge, in which the Imperial insignia, crossed spears with a shield covering their intersection, was engraved. Yl clipped his on immediately, while the rest took their time and reluctantly pinned it to their togas.
‘Is that it?’ asked Yl.
‘Actually, no it’s not. We are yet to form your company.’
‘Haven’t we been selected already?’ groaned Ana.
‘Yes, but you have yet to join an official company. Look here.’
A screen popped up in Gahl’s peripheral vision, and he jumped.
Sarembai of High invited you to a party. Accept/Deny
‘Click on “Accept”.’
‘How?’ Yl asked
‘Just will it with your mind, or perhaps whisper it.’
Gahl stared at the screen for a long moment. He whispered the command to himself.
‘Accept.’
Name Location Status HP Mana Gahl N/A Out-of-Combat 20/20 120/120 Ana Central Pirn (1m) Out-of-Combat 20/20 50/60 Yl Central Pirn (1.5m) Out-of-Combat 60/60 20/20 Tilyhav Central Pirn (2m) Out-of-Combat 20/20 40/40 Torv Central Pirn (1.5m) Out-of-Combat 60/60 20/20
‘Wow!’ Yl cried.
‘I know, I was quite amazed when I first saw it too. With this screen you will be able to see information on each other, such as location, status, and all the others you see listed. This will help you know more about your companions as you train to fight together, as well as being able to identify important stats in the midst of battle.’
‘For example, they’ll know when the bard is dead, and where in the ditch to find her if they need more scraps,’ murmured Ana to Gahl.
’The glory of the Imperium is in your hands. You must fight for your country, make it proud. You must defend the beautiful landscapes the poets and painters of our great nation describe.’
This prompted Gahl to stare up at ’The Glory of the Imperium’. Directly beneath the cloth, he could not see the beautiful landscape, or the firm buildings, or anything whatsoever. Only the swallowing darkness of the cast shadows.