A Guide to Kingdom Building

The wet ground felt cold and sticky as the dwarf moved his toes underneath the muddy puddle. The same puddle that he made as he stood his ground while the elf, the beastman and him slowly let their new-found friend descend into the well.

He rubbed his hands together as he sat down by a slab of rock while leaning on the well. His eyes were looking at the far distant blue sky, as he muttered his prayers. He asked for the benevolent goddess Oyue to protect his friend, Servus 132-X from whatever monsters he might encounter while he was down there.

Just in front of him, around ten footlings away, was a makeshift tent the knights erected to serve as a command center for the current exploration. The silver-haired general was there, massaging the bridge of his nose while he kept on staring at the crystal ball.

He could see how Lord Prestonheim's face contorted in anxiety as he waited anxiously for Servus 132-X to make another report. It has been a while since 132-X reported. The last time he did, he stated crawling into another opening.

The dwarf was anxious too, he wouldn't just show it, but he continuously wriggled his toes in the mud to put his mind at ease.

Thinking about it made him remember of his first ambush against a small group of knights. It was a cold rainy afternoon. His squad of 6, saw a small Principalia encampment near a clearing inside the Virdia Forest. His heart raced as the anxiety and cold weather tried to take over his body. He couldn't cease his shaking hands and make it go steady.

As both fear and excitement for death started to overcome him. Their time of operation was about to begin, his brother-in-arms, Twargoriar tried to calm him down by asking him to take a deep breath while wriggling his toes inside his boots—it worked for him.

The tension was rising, and he could feel it. Lord Prestonheim paced around the table as Servus 132-X was still silent. Suddenly a loud scratching noise disrupted them in their brooding.

"Lord Prestonheim…" the dwarf heard his friend's voice. "My Lord, I found something here. A huge wall made of white stone." Servus 132-X reported.

"Should we be interested with that?" Lord Prestonheim asked.

"I just need to take some—" A booming sound echoed.

The dwarf's heart dropped as his friend went silent. The old, silver-head general tried calling his name a few times but there was no reply. He hurriedly rose from his seat, leaned over into the well, and shouted.

He tried calling out his friend. When that didn't work, he asked the worried elf and beastman to stay and guard the rope as he ran towards the tent where Lord Prestonheim was. He has decided the night before that in any event that the expedition goes awry, he would personally volunteer to rescue his friend. It was the least that he could do to a comrade that had gave his everything for them.

If he's alive, then at least he got him out that hellhole. If he's dead, then at least he could give him a proper burial. To him, nothing was worse than dying in an unknown place, buried by dirt or eaten by animals. His brother-in-arms died like that during the great rebellion, afraid, forgotten and usually devoured by the beast in the land.

He regretted every moment of it. He failed all of them! He and the surviving rebels had no time to retrieve their dead, let alone give them a proper dwarven burial and to this day he regretted every moment of it.

"M'Lord! M'Lord!" He cried out as some of the knights blocked his way towards the Commander.

"Let him through." The Lord commanded his knights not to stand on his way. "Yes, Servus 023-D?" Lord Prestonheim asked.

"M'Lord, I heard a blast from the crystal! I can—" The dwarf tried to volunteer descending to help his friend.

Suddenly, another scratching noise echoed from the crystal ball. On the other end, they could hear him breathing laboriously as if winded. Someone or something might have attacked Servus 132-X, they waited in batted breath for him to report.

Lord Prestonheim called 132-X once again, but all they could hear was static.

"ZZssttt…I-I'm here, my Lord." Servus 132-X finally answered.

"I heard a thud earlier. What happened?" asked the concerned Commander.

"T-the white stone…Zssstt… seemed to have some sort of Zsssttt…--agic." He answered, "I tried to strike it, but I was repelled and thrown away by its energy." He added.

"Hmm…Interesting. What about aetherium? Have you found any?" The Commander was curious with the discovery but wanted to stick to the main reason for the expedition.

"I think…ZZsssttt… the veins in the stone are, but …Zsssstt… cannot take it out." Servus 132-X's connection became riddled with more static noises.

"Just take note of that stone, but for now, find another proof of aetherium deposits." Lord Prestonheim commanded.

Servus 132-X answered back to the Commander, "Yes, my Lord."

There was silence after that short interaction they had with Servus 132-X whom they presume was currently at the inner chamber of the cave. The dwarf broke the silence by asking to have a private conversation with the commander.

"M'Lord, might I ask ta 'ave a word with ya?" He asked Lord Prestonheim directly.

His request raised a few eyebrows inside the tent. The guards and the Commander's attendants immediately shut him down, by chastising him for his conduct. In a normal setting, no slaves can talk or let alone, ask for their master's time. He was reminded of that inside there.

"Don't you ever think that Lord Prestonheim would speak with the likes of you! Dwarf!" one of the knights guarding the tent said.

"You are out of your line, Ser Knight!" The commander chastised the knight instead. "All of you, take a leave. I need to talk with him."

The knight's face went pale, they hurriedly left the tent and left them there.

Lord Commander Prestonheim offered him a stool for him to sit on. The dwarf sat on it, moving his buttocks around to comfortably get into a good position. The Lord Commander didn't seem to mind his weird sitting ritual, instead he stared blankly at the nothingness trying to think of something.

The Lord Commander sighed as he faced the dwarf. "First of all, I apologize on how my men treated you. These youngbloods still have a lot of disciplining to do." Lord Prestonheim scratched his head.

"I don't blame ya. It's just da way it is, I guess." He smiled at him. "But it's nay da reason why I asked for this M'Lord."

Lord Prestonheim looked at him straight in the eyes. "What's on your mind, Servus 023-D?" He asked.

The Lord didn't waste much of his time to ask him. He liked it! He wasn't one of those chatty ones, the ones who give you sweet words without any weight into them. The dwarf cleared his throat and asked Lord Prestonheim.

"I wanna join 132-X down 'ere, M'Lord. He seemed tah need back-up." The dwarf straight-forwardly said.

Lord Prestonheim nodded at him, but it wasn't a nod of approval. It was more of thinking nod. It took a while for the Commander to answer his request. There was complete silence. Lord Prestonheim sat there, massaging the bridge of his nose, contemplating for the best action plan.

"I would have to decline that." He finally answered.

"But M'Lord he is—" He looked at Lord Prestonheim's eyes and understood.

The commander's eyes reflected his message. We cannot lose you too. Servus 132-X signed his own death when he volunteered for the expedition. It was strategically sound for a Commander to find someone willing enough to pave the way for them. It just so happened that the one who volunteered was a close friend of his.

"By Oyue's name, I pray he comes back alive. If not, would ya grant me the order in retrieving his corpse? I would like to give 'em a proper burial." The dwarf sighed.

Lord Prestonheim nodded with a stoic look on his face. "I will grant you that request. However, I do hope he survives this ordeal. Gods be praised."

The dwarf went down from the stool and bowed to the Lord. He took his leave and went back to the well, with the Commander's eyes in mind. Lord Prestonheim was worried, but from his eyes, the Commander was conflicted.

On one hand, he wanted to agree with the proposal. On the hand, he did not want to risk the rest of them. One soul was enough to take a glance at the hellhole the monsters burrowed from the earth. Risking two at once would be a huge toll on them.

The Lord's eyes also told another story. He didn't want to lose his men. Regardless of how important Aetherium was, he couldn't let his men risk it, not without properly knowing what the place would be like. It was a sad reality that the dwarf already knew about, but Servus 132-X was very persistent and optimistic that he wasn't able to disagree with his plan.

The dwarf cursed in silence as he went back to the well. He knew both parties were stuck in between a rock and a hard place, and only Servus 132-X could get them out of there. He wiggled his toes again before meeting back with the beastman and elf, who worriedly paced around the burrow, glancing at the hole every now and again.

"Lady Oyue, I hope you hear our prayers…" He whispered. "…we really need a miracle right now."