Virion stormed through the streets of the stronghold, his mind clouded over with frustration. The senate was so unbearably slow and indecisive that it was agonizing to him. His feet fell heavily on the cobbled streets as he entered the older, more sophisticatedly built part of the stronghold. He followed the same path he had taken in the morning, through the cobbled streets lined with small makeshift homes on either side.
Before the invasion, the stronghold had been an open, beautiful city. Built on the eastern coast of the continent of Merthal, Port City, as the stronghold used to be called, was the main trading hub for the perabels. It happened to be the only area along the South-Eastern coast within perabel territory that did not end in sheer cliffs. However, the South-Western side of perabel territory was not exactly a comfortable area to construct a trading hub as the perilous Kolbidt forest occupied most of the coast.
Before the warlocks had begun occupying perabel and elf territory in their conquest, the continent of Merthal was split three ways between the three races. The great river Merane ran down from the North-West region of Merthal and its tributaries provided the territorial markings.
The elves occupied the South, their dominion in the North direction ending at Strand Desert and towards the East at Suril River, one of the tributaries of the great river Merane. East of Suril river was Kolbidt forest, which marked the beginning of perabel territory. The forest became home to a specific tribe of elves and perabels, who spread out into several small forest-dwelling towns throughout the forest - the first victims of the warlock invasion.
The warlocks had discreetly arrived in Kolbidt forest by riding another tributary of River Merane, Kolbidt River, which broke off from the main river in warlock territory and flowed through Kolbidt forest before ending in Kolbidt Delta at the coast. The final tributary of the River Merane ran through the center of perabel territory and was known as River Tiedow. The confluence of River Tiedow with River Merane marked the end of perabel territory towards the West and the remaining North-West portion of Merthal was warlock territory.
Port City was converted into a stronghold as the perabels had realized that it would become their last line of defense against the warlocks. Having already wiped out the elves, the warlocks knew that the perabels would have nowhere to turn to for help and were almost assured victory.
But the perabels did have one option remaining. An option Virion had been pushing the senate to take ever since he was allowed to share his opinions in the daily meetings. The sprites of Dragoncrest. Dragoncrest was another continent located South of Merthal past the great Merthal Ocean. It was known to be largely wild with several dangerous beasts roaming freely. Perabel, elf, and warlock adventurers had written detailed accounts of the perils of Dragoncrest which contained beasts the likes of which could not be found on Merthal.
According to the adventurers and travelers who had returned from Dragoncrest alive, the very landscape of the continent was extremely strange. One could find mountains bent in odd directions or large craters that would be present with no explanation. The race which persevered and thrived in such harsh conditions was the sprites. Not much was known of the sprites.
They had been welcoming to travelers and adventurers, providing a safe haven for them before they ventured out into the perilous wilds of the continent. The sprites were described as a mostly primitive race with tribal nomadic tendencies, yet they would always stay near the coast. They spoke a different language from what was widespread in Merthal but there were some who could converse with the visitors.
Requesting the sprites for help was truly a last resort option and Virion was aware of this. He clenched his teeth as he continued to march towards the central square of the stronghold. Many perabels around him noticed his presence and some of their faces lit up as he passed them.
To these perabels, Virion was a beacon of hope. The elves were known to be very powerful on the field of battle and Virion had survived the warlock attack on his home. As a result, many of the perabels seemed to hold the irrational hope that Virion could solve the grim situation and prevent the perabel population from being wiped out.
Virion knew that the only chances they had of survival were if they either brought back the powerful forces of the Sprites, battle-hardened by their generations of surviving the harsh conditions on Dragoncrest, or if they abandoned the continent of Merthal altogether and escaped to Dragoncrest with the entire population.
Virion reached the central square. Before him loomed the two largest buildings in the stronghold, the Senate Hall and the library. His destination was neither of those, however as he turned left and entered a small building directly opposite to the Senate Hall within the central square.
The building was constructed of a similar type of stone as most of the buildings within the stronghold, a pale and textured indigenous stone found in the nearby hills and shaped with perabel material sciences. The door was light yet sturdy and opened into a dimly lit room with a counter extremely close to the entrance. The rest of the room was covered and only accessible to the one who sat at the counter through a small door against the wall of the room, at one end of the long counter.
The perabel sitting at the counter perked up as Virion entered. He had short, spiky brown hair and a round head. One of his earlobes was slightly chipped, presumably from a sword wound. He had rippling muscles on his arms along with several battle scars. This perabel was a warrior.
'Here for the usual, Mr. Salor?', he said with an accent-affected voice. The perabels from the central regions of the perabel territory, those who lived along the banks of the River Tiedow, spoke with a slightly different accent and speech patterns.
'Yes Alvan, thank you...', said Virion hoarsely, his mind preoccupied with his frustration over the senate's decisions. In the next senate meeting, he would give those old perabels a piece of his mind.
The perabel at the counter, Alvan, reached behind him and pulled out a carefully packaged portion of rations. The exact divisions of these rations were decided by the senate to ensure that every single perabel living within the walls of the stronghold would get an equal amount.
'Come by the trainin’ ground some time, Mr. Salor', Alvan said as he held out the paper package.
'Ah yes, you had mentioned that earlier. Does the stronghold have a large combative force?', asked Virion, accepting the package from Alvan. The perabel's face fell as he brought his hands together on the counter.
'Not really no. My brother and I are doin' all we can ta keep the lads trainin'. Would be a real confidence booster if ya came by. Showed 'em a thing or two.'
Virion locked eyes with the perabel who had on a grim expression. The perabels largely prioritized education and learning over physical ability. As such, warriors were quite rare in perabel communities. In such a hopeless situation, it was only natural that the stronghold would struggle to maintain a substantial force of warriors.
'I'll make sure to do that, Alvan. It'll be a great change of pace for me as well.', said Virion as he turned to leave.
'Great! I'll expect ya sometime soon then!', Alvan called after him as Virion swung open the door to the building, waving back at Alvan as he left. Virion set off through the streets of the stronghold, treading back through the route he had just traversed as the sun began to set behind him, bathing the city in a golden glow. Speaking to Alvan had distracted him from his frustration for the moment. He nodded at some of the perabels who greeted him as he walked back through the stronghold towards elder Symonticus' home.
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