Though you're so close to the queen, her forces have never managed to take this city. The Halyards, the human resistance movement, have always managed to hold her back, fighting valiantly in the miles of farmland to the north of the city. Surrounded by a wall and a shallow moat, the city has the strategic advantage against the queen's shambling clankers.

Still, the people of Ridgebank grew nervous with so few free cities nearby and the constant warring just beyond the walls. Growing up, adults would tell you that the people of Ridgebank must always be vigilant.

"She'll come for us someday," they'd say in hushed tones, "and then we'll, all of us, be in this fight. Just you wait."

The queen just never really crossed your mind. After all, there was nothing you could do to stop her. When the time came, the Halyards who kept watch from the high batteries of Ridgebank's walls would drive her back. They were the heroes, not you.

When the children in Ridgebank would play at being tin men and soldiers, chasing each other around in the town square, you would sit it out. You just couldn't imagine playing much of a role in the war against the queen.

You hoped she'd never come for Ridgebank, and you'd never have to fight her.

And She Never Has