After arranging to meet the following day, Subutai and Xun You both departed towards their office in the Town Centre. They both had orders to prepare to recall Tomoe and Sun Ce, whilst also moving units around and preparing for both Nakbe and the upcoming Golden Ticket Quest.
Dom himself headed back to the Palace, to a surprised Meritamen who hadn't expected him back until the sun had settled. He dropped his weapons on a weapons rack that had been placed near the door, an expectation that either himself or someone would take them up to his room later. She led him in to the downstairs dining space and ordered someone to bring them some food as Dom explained their findings at Mountview Fort.
"I had expected it to be a relaxed day." She said with a sadness in her voice. "I only said to take your spear just in case, but it seems that you will be needing it soon. I just don't understand the madness of this World. We haven't met anyone that is normal yet, everywhere has some darkness taking place."
"The San and the Trade City to the North have both been positive so far." Dom countered, not disagreeing with her though, they hadn't come across a simple peaceful town as of yet.
"So you are here tomorrow, and then you will be gone for a day. When you return you will be heading to Mountview Fort for battle? Or will you be taking a different route?" She questioned as she tried to work out the logistics.
"I may stay at Mountview Fort tomorrow night, so that when I return I can head straight to battle with Tomyris or Gan Ning. Sun Ce and Subutai will need to depart before I return if we want to clear Nakbe immediately." Dom replied, trying to work out the logistics himself.
"So you leave me for a month and I only have you for two days before you run off again." Meritamen teased with faked pain.
"I suppose that is the case." Dom agreed with a laugh.
They planned to spend the rest of the evening together, however Shang Yang, Crassus, Xun Yu, Cicero and Umako joined them for some food in the evening. Whilst they were mid eating, Xun You and Subutai also joined them, bringing along Xun Yan the Capital's Defence General with them.. Subutai had expressed some slight frustration that they hadn't been invited, before laughing at Dom's apologetic face telling him he didn't really mind. The two new heroes had settled in well and were both enjoying the possibilities of the new Kingdom they were creating.
"Have you decided on a name for the Kingdom yet?" Umako asked as they ate, "It will give us more power when negotiating if it is from the Kingdom, rather than the City State. Unless you intend to name the Kingdom after your Capital."
"It hasn't been decided yet." Dom replied honestly, "There are many ideas, but I am unsure. My naming sense isn't the best and I don't have much trust in some of our generals for it either."
"I take that personally." Subutai laughed, understanding what Dom was talking about, having discussed some of the names that Dom had discovered on their journey to Mountview. Xun Yan didn't understand the insult towards the Generals but took it in good measure.
"Rome was known as the name of ours." Crassus countered, "A strong enough city can become the centre of an empire, let alone a kingdom."
"So name the Kingdom Riverside, after it's Capital like Umako offered?" Subutai asked. "Or the Riversidian Kingdom?"
"It could be named after a Dynasty." Xun Yu added, bypassing Subutai and Crassus's options. "Your Dynasty."
"The Lazarus Kingdom?" Xun You asked, "For the Lazarus Dynasty? or the Kingdom of Lazarus."
"The Calm River is central to the Kingdom we are building." Cicero commented, trying a different route. "Maybe it should be named around that, such as the Calm River Republic."
"We aren't a republic." Countered Crassus, "How about the Calm River Imperium."
"I don't think we are based on conquest either are we?" Cicero countered back.
"I think the word Calm also doesn't describe us very well." Meritamen added with a laugh, so far it had been anything but calm. "There are other Geographical things that surround us, the Silver Forest and the Red Woods are both large entities."
"But, they are not central." Lucius countered, "We could also base it on our current flag, the Sabre Tooth Tiger? The Sabre Kingdom?"
"Then everyone will believe we have an army of Sabre users." Shang Yang commented. "We need something that the Civilians can believe in, our allies to admire and our enemies to fear."
"Sabre Tooth Dominion?" Crassus offered, before instantly going quiet again as he realised his thought had left his mouth.
"There are many that are based around a religion, with the King as the centre of that." Meritamen commented.
"There are a lot of options." Umako agreed, "I would propose that we agree this soon so that the rest of your ambitions can take place."
"I will think on it some more." Dom accepted. "If you can draw up a list of options, we can agree it once we have dealt with the Cove and agreed a plan with the San."
They continued to eat for a while, before everyone departed one by one, leaving Dom and Meritamen alone in the Palace again. After yawning and finishing his drink, they both headed back to Dom's room on the top floor.
...
Dom awoke to the sun entering his room through the open balcony doors, a slight breeze blowing refreshing air in to the warm room. Today he would spend around Riverside, enjoying the sights and to do some training at the Legionary Training Camp beside the Ninth Legion Warriors Hall. In the evening he would head back to Mountview, where he would log out until the battle of Nakbe.
He decided to wear comfortable clothes for now, taking his armour and spear with him to Mountview later in the day. For now, he strapped his sword to his waist and headed down stairs. When he reached the middle floor, he saw that Meritamen was sat on one of the chairs in her area, her face pale and Hua Xia, the daughter of the Doctor Hua Tau beside her.
"You should have woken me." Dom smiled as he entered, normally the room would be empty and he wanted to talk to her before he left the Palace.
"You were sleeping very peacefully and I felt that you needed the rest." Meritamen smiled back at him, her smile forced and sweat on her brow.
"Are you feeling alright?" Dom asked her, worried.
"Just a little unwell." She replied honestly. "Nothing to worry about!"
"Is she telling the truth?" Dom asked Hua Xia, not disagreeing with Meritamen, but worrying for her. Meritamen turned to Hua Xia and nodded her head.
"The Lady has been feeling rather sickly so I have come to check on her." Hua Xia said politely, "I suspect it is nothing to worry about."
"It is probably something that I have ate." Meritamen explained, slightly appeasing to Dom's worry. Dom was mainly worried, because an illness was something that couldn't easily be managed in ancient times. If Meritamen was ill, or others, then Riverside could have a huge problem. However, if it was food related then it was easier to resolve. As Dom was planning to respond, a notification appeared in front of him.
[Congratulations Player BiscuitLover212 for Completing a Hidden Quest and Launching - World Conquest Battle Map 1]
[All Players will be invited to a regional World Conquest Map Battle related to the Hidden Quest]
[The Quest is Not Mandatory]
[World Conquest Battle will begin in Twenty Days. Please Prepare.]
"A World Conquest Battle?" Dom exclaimed out loud, surprising Meritamen and Hua Xia. His mind thinking if this would be similar to the Golden Token Missions he had completed so far. The line of the quest not being mandatory also surprised him, did that mean some quests would be.
[South East Region Notification - Regional World Conquest Map Battle - Battle of Plataea/Battle of Mycale]
[During the end of the Second Persian Invasion of Greece, two Battles happened Simultaneously. The Land Battle of Plataea, between the Greek Alliance led by Pausanias and the Achaemenid Empire led by Mardonius. As well as the Sea and Land Battle of Mycale, between the Greek Alliance led by Leotychides and the Achaemenid Empire led by Artayntes.]
[All Players in the South East will be joining the side of Greek Alliance.]
Dom breathed a sigh of relief as he read the notifications, he had a lot of Greek Warriors and Elite Villagers who he could speak to and hopefully get more information about these battles from direct sources, that may be better than anything he could read online. He was confident that Artemisia would have some good information for him, as she had fought alongside the Persians during this period of History. However he wouldn't have the opportunity to speak with her during this log in, and he suspected most of his next log in would be at Nakbe.
"I'll need to order her back to Riverside as well." Dom pondered, hoping that they could meet after Nakbe was dealt with. What ever Artemisia said to him would most likely be changed in a battle of this scale. If all players were given twenty days to prepare, he suspected that there would be a lot of strategies being worked on that could impact both battles. However, they could only impact the battle if they had a reasonable amount of troops.
[All Lord Players and Guild Leaders in the South East will be allowed to take two hundred Warriors or Civilians with them, either Players or Not, if they join Pausanias, and one full Ships worth of Warriors and related Crew if they join Leotychides.]
[All Solo Warrior Class Players will join alone. Non Warrior Class Players can also join, however they will join the related Cities for non combat support.]
This surprised Dom as well, Guild Leaders could bring along the same number of Warriors as a Lord, however if they had a large guild they could only bring their top two hundred players. Where as Lord's didn't have as much of an issue as most of their members would be non-players. He felt that there was a lot of opportunities for all players. Warriors could earn rewards for partaking, and non combatants could potentially build relationships and get items from the Cities that no other players could ever access.
The other option, depending on where Lord Class Players chose, was that they could use the opportunity to try and hire historical characters from the map, or recruit Warriors to join them afterwards. Like Dom had on all of his Golden Token missions so far. There also wasn't confirmation if other Regions would be joining the Greeks or if they would join the Persians. There also wasn't confirmation if this was the only battle taking place. If all of the Regions were in this battle, what could have been a medium sized battle could have millions on each side.
The two Battle choices was also interesting, he could take two hundred to the Battle of Plataea or a whole Ships worth to Mycale. If he filled his ship with Warriors, he could potentially have four hundred with him. He could have his Hoplite train on one of the Trireme as rowers, whilst bringing along an elite force to act as marines. However there was also much different stakes at each battle, so he would need to research first. Based on the information provided, the Battle of Plataea would be a land battle, where as the Battle of Mycale would be a Naval Battle. He suspected that most Players would join the Battle of Plataea, where as some Lords or Guilds could potentially have ships and join Battle of Mycale.
"If only I had a Greek Warrior Hero from this time period that fought in land battles." Dom lamented. If he did, he could have used his General Order Token and potentially claimed some of these Warriors for himself. He did have Artemisia and could take her with his Ship however, if he chose Naval Battle. He then realised another use for the Token, if he had a Persian General from that period, he could potentially use it on his enemy, turning the tide of the Battle by having some join his side. He decided he would speak with Artemisia about it, as some Greek States had joined the Persians in the war.
"Are you ok Lord?" Meritamen asked, as Hua Xia continued to check her over to make sure she hadn't had an injury or something that could be leading to her sickness. If she had cut herself and an infection spread, she could quickly deteriorate.
"I am Meritamen, sorry something came up." He replied, before realising something about the Battles. These were to huge Land Battles, it would be a huge risk for a lot of Players to join them and potentially die. "System, what would happen if someone dies during the Battles?"
[Unlike normal Quests, if a Player dies in a World Conquest Battle, they will receive a log out death penalty and then return to normal upon their next log in, rather than a new character upon their next log in. All equipped items will be lost though and they will enter a period of weakness.]
"What about non-players?" Dom asked, believing that it was a fair penalty. He would however think more on if he would take his Legendary Weapons with him to these types of battles.
[They will return, however they will be injured and in a state of weakness. If you do not have adequate medical facilities then there is a risk to their lives. Any items or equipment will be lost in the Battle Map. This includes everything, such as; Weapons, Horses, Ships, Carts and Supplies.]
"Will there be a cap on how many Players can choose to join?" Dom asked, worried about the scope of the battle. If Thousands or Millions did join, then the Battle wouldn't be worth joining.
[Player Limits and Balancing will take place. Other Battlefields may also be created for excess Players]
Dom wasn't sure what that meant, but he knew that this World Conquest Battle Map would bring some chaos and he looked forward to seeing what that chaos would be.