"A detailed look into House Aurellions history and a unanimous sentiment held by both allies and enemies alike is that one of the most terrifying things about the noble house is how it manipulates information allowing others to come to conclusions themselves."
"Because they come to the conclusions themselves, they do not realise that these are the conclusions that House Aurellion want them to come to."
"The leaders of House Aurellion leave breadcrumbs of information and subtly suggest or imply information through their actions and speech that lead to an enemy thinking in a direction that benefits them."
"Through this, they control the actions of others who unknowingly make terrible mistakes which lead to dire consequences feeding their enemies logical potential theories and actions which only ever ends beneficially for House Aurellion.
Levath Rammat, Historian in the Kingdom of Athurus
….
"Wasn't an offer you knew would be refused pointless to make."
Leon asked, confused over the strange request he was given in the morning by Lucius that if for any reason he thought he would not be able to kill Bardornus, then Leon was to make an offer to Bardornus to give the Kingdom of Pluerus concessions in exchange for their capitulation to Chavaria.
The sun had almost set, turning the once blazing-hot steppe into a cold plain, the dark night bringing the promise of blood.
"Thanks to the excellent way you handled the Plurians in the cavalry battle today, that offer being shouted for all to hear will be far more effective than I originally intended."
Lucius said, a vicious smile appearing on his face while he laughed slightly when he saw Leon's head turn slightly to the side in confusion, his friend obviously having no idea what Lucius was planning.
"I will explain the importance of what you did later. But I need you to answer one question…."
Lucius said, his face turning serious and his gaze hardening, making Leon feel slightly uncomfortable as he asked a question which only continued to confuse the Chavarian vice general.
"Simple or elaborate?"
Lucius asked in a relaxed manner, his calm voice contrasting the apparent fire in the Chavarian general's eyes, who yawned slightly after having what he saw as a hard day of commanding, oblivious to his soldiers who were currently sleeping in their tents after being sapped of all strength by their demanding commander who demanded them to fight with all their strength when Lucius mostly just sat on his horse and gave commands.
"Err, simple general. Normally a simple plan that everyone understands and is flexible goes better than an elaborate one that only one person understands.
Leon said, thinking that Lucius was talking about what kind of tactics and battle formations the Chavarians would use the next day, unaware of the scheming Chavarian general's intentions.
"Simple works! If I make it too elaborate, it may backfire. We are dealing with orcs, after all. Thanks for your help."
"Do we have any Plurian flair guns around?"
Lucius asked, not needing them for the plan he had in mind, but it would increase the chance of success.
"Yes, we have a few. Some of the Plurians we killed had them on them…."
"Do you need them for something?"
Leon asked, getting more questions than answers from Lucius
"You can leave now, get those flair guns and some ammunition for them and tell that pompous asshole Lindorus to come to the command tent. There are a few things we need to talk about."
"Yes, general!"
Leon replied, wondering why Lucius was only talking about dealing with the orcs instead of the Plurian army, who were far harder to deal with but quickly brushed it aside, saluted and exited the tent to find Lindorus.
'A simple finish, ay.'
Lucius thought, interlocking his fingers while a villainous smile appeared on his face, all his machinations in place as the Spider of Chavaria looked forward to seeing the end of his web of schemes. It was then that he was shocked by a system notification that appeared in front of him.
[Dynasty History Side Quest created 'Battlefield Conspiracy.]
[Congratulations to player Rising Pelican of Loyalty for being the third player to create a quest in Dynasties Online.]
[A reward for this will be given if the player's dynasty can survive through the Dynasty History System]
….
Kingdom of Otrua Camp.
A fiery light emanated from the Otruian camp. The orcs who sat around the fires cooked various types of meat, from venison to mutton meats of all sizes and types were devoured by the hungry orcs, the large pieces of meat stuffed into their gaping maws dripping with fat and bursting with juices.
The orcs, as shown in the battle where they bested the Chavarian heavy infantry, managed to keep their casualties lower by almost double had better physical attributes than their human counterparts allowing them to fight for longer and overpower their opponents easier, but this also means they need to eat more to keep up their strong physiques.
Orcs, due to their excellent physical attributes, have the potential to become a mighty race and some of the world's best fighters in this world, where anti-magic crystals restricted magic in large-scale conflicts like wars. However, their single-minded focus on strength means that the orcish economy is underdeveloped compared to other countries if being nice.
To put it bluntly, it is absolute dogshite, and while the more intelligent orcs have made great strides in this crucial aspect of statecraft, it is still nowhere near the level of many other races.
Because of this, even though orcs are excellent fighters, they are bogged down with logistical issues to the point where if it were not for the Plurians promising to help feed the army sent to help them, even if the orcs gathered 200,000 soldiers because of supply constraints, they would have to retreat within a few weeks maybe lasting a month if they can scavenge and forage food.
Due to this, times like this, where they can fight and eat to their heart's content like now, are the best. It is also why there are many orcish mercenary companies in the world, as the orcs can eat and gain vast amounts of money from the many warring nations of the world while indulging in their love for fighting, but of course, this takes talent away from orcish countries who sourly need it which is why orc nations are not that prevalent in the world even though orcs have both martial might and a good fertility rate.
"FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!"
A crowd of orcs shouted, making a ring around two other orcs who were fighting each other, their axes ringing as the iron blades crashed against each other, the ring of metal striking metal resounding through the camp.
"Lugdu! Makresh! Stop bloody fighting! What's the problem here?
The two orcs who were fighting each other, suddenly stopped when they heard Wurgoth shout at them and grumbled about each other, each orc complaining that the other took his food and how there was no alcohol in the camp, which then started a fight the other orcs treated the meat in their hands like popcorn and enjoyed watching the battle of the two as if they were at a cinema.
Wurgoth could only sigh and shake his head in disappointment deciding that if this Dynasty disappeared, then he was going to choose another race as every night he has had to go around stopping fights between the soldiers under his command for stupid reasons such as 'he insulted me' was making Wurgoth feel like he was looking after children and not elite soldiers who had so nearly crushed the Chavarian lines.
He also reasoned that this was why orc nations were not prevalent in Dynasties Online. There were so many problems with just 70,000 orcs being in one place, let alone a country which could contain millions of orcs and multiple tribes and factions.
The only good part was that if there was an orc with enough strength, then he could use the strength-based culture to quickly be able to unify the orcs by beating their leaders one by one and subjugating them; however, once this leader died, unless his designated successor, whether related to him by blood or not, was a not strong or charismatic enough to keep the orcs together then they would disintegrate into independent tribes breaking up the nation or fight civil wars that could go for many years.
"Who got to the venison first?"
Wurgoth asked, his voice laced with killing intent that scared the two miscreant orcs. The orcish general was annoyed that while he should be thinking about his strategy going forward or the unexpected quest that had appeared in the last few minutes, instead, he was mediating conflicts between muscleheads over a piece of bloody meat.
Wurgoth also remembered the one time he had asked his number 2 Mulush to settle a dispute because he was tired. It had led to the big orc letting the two orcs involved duel until one died, even making an event of it to entertain the men making a tidy sum for himself from setting up a betting pool betting on the outcome of the duel leading to the death of one of the orcs who did not know when to give in. Since then, Wurgoth decided it was better to deal with these problems himself or who knew how many soldiers he would lose to Mulush's 'entertainment events.'
"I did!"
Lugdu, the slightly more muscled orc, said the only redeeming quality of most orcs is that they were very straightforward, allowing Wurgoth to settle disputes quickly.
"Right, so you keep it then! How about this? I'll get you a nice piece of meat from my tent Makresh, and then we can end this fiasco."
Wurgoth said, the orcish general's tone making the offer of reconciliation an order. After getting a satisfied acknowledgement from both parties, the incident ended there before Wurgoth began walking back to his tent to ponder as he left some threatening words behind him.
"The next stupid fool to start an incident will be personally beheaded by me personally, understand!"
Wurgoth shouted, angry that he had to constantly deal with the problems in camp stemming from the indiscipline within the orcish.
After beheading the next orc to start an incident, the camp quickly quieted down under Wurgoths tyranny, the usually lively orcs caring more about their lives than having fun as they quietly grumbled about their temperamental general.
'Peace at last!'
Wurgoth thought, running a cloth over the bloodied blade of his steel axe, which was stained with the blood of the orc he had just beheaded as he entered the orcish command tent, which was made out of the furs of many beasts that his character had killed this was also common amongst orcs who liked to show off their hunting prowess by making part of their tents out of the furs of the many animals they had killed.
He relaxed for 5 minutes taking in the sounds of nature. The large orc's eyes were closed as he relaxed his mind and body, listening to the chirps of the birds who flew overhead for a short period.
After those 5 minutes, the orc player began to think more clearly and finally had time to look at the new quest that had appeared on his quest list and the system notification that had appeared not long ago.
[Dynasty History, Linked Side Quest, received 'Battlefield Conspiracy.']
[Battlefield Conspiracy]
Linked Quest: The Battle of Brunag
Difficulty Level: Unknown
While fighting in the battle of Brunag, you have become made aware of a potential betrayal that could come from your ally in the battle, The Kingdom of Pluerus.
To win the Battle of Brunag, you must find out the truth of these rumours so you can make effective plans to win the battle.
Quest Clear Conditions: Find out the truth of the rumours regarding the potential defection of The Kingdom of Pluerus to the Chavarian side.
Quest Clear Reward: Higher chance of winning the battle.
Quest Failure Penalty: High chance of failure in the linked quest 'The Battle of Brunag' leading to the eradication of your dynasty.
The quest only confused Wurgoth more, as it seemed that the rumours might be more if a quest was involved, so the orcish player decided to ask the ever-so-nice Friend System for help.
'Friend System, what the hell is this quest, and why is there an unknown difficulty rating.'
Wurgoth shouted in his mind, surprised that he got a reply so quickly, as it seemed that the situation was abnormal enough to get the typically aloof Friend Systems' attention.
'It is a quest that is linked to your current one. These are normally ones that can have a large effect on the success of the quest it is linked to and usually leads to players gaining greater rewards for completing them, whether the reward is in the form of fame, a skill or a material good.'
'But do not take every linked quest as confirming one suspicion or another. Coming to a conclusion too quickly can lead to catastrophic consequences though sometimes there is no choice but to make a quick decision.'
'As for the unknown difficulty of the quest, you need to figure it out for yourself. Just think of DO as another world, and the answer will come, but to give players a hint, I can tell you that part of it has to do with the amount of information you currently have on hand.'
'Can't have people saying I never helped them.'
The friend system added at the end of its rather lacklustre explanation. It would later become an existence that the players both loved, hated and feared, the fear mainly coming from its indulgence in sadism.
'So if I know more information, then I can know the difficulty of a quest. For example, if I know the strength of a bandit chief and his subordinates, I can know the difficulty of a quest?'
'In theory.'
The Friend System replied to Wurgoth calmly, not giving a direct response.
'What do you mean by in theory? Can't you just say a yes or no answer?'
The orc asked angrily but never got a reply from the Friend System, which seemed just to have disappeared suddenly without warning. Players, over time, would become accustomed to the eccentric and slightly sadistic friend system. How it would only confirm something if a player had experienced it themselves or had a prerequisite piece of information, but once they did, it was surprisingly helpful in explaining the intricacies of something also, like in this case, the Friend System was happy to give players a hint in the right direction.
Because of this, it forced players to gather information themselves. This is because the game wanted to reward people who sought out adventure or information by allowing them to use it as they wished, giving the players who got it an advantage.
There were some good Samaritans who posted this information online, but most kept to themselves, not wanting to give their advantages to others as one must remember that because one could gain real-world goods and currency from the game, every advantage and piece of information was jealously guarded by people whom all wanted to change their fates by succeeding in the game.
This forced players to gather information themselves or buy it from a broker though due to the many scammers trying to make a quick buck, you had to be careful with whom you dealt with all large factions and player-built nations in the future, either having strong intelligence networks themselves or patronising one of the expensive trustworthy information brokers.
A call from outside the tent then rocked Wurgoth out of his stupor.
"General! Gerindin is outside of the camp and is requesting a meeting with you. He says it is urgent."
An orc called from outside of the tent, making Wurgoths eyes light up as he thanked the gods for sending someone to help him come to a conclusion and was glad that he had contacted and worked with that arrogant noble Lindorus, who had helped him in the past by giving him not only the time of the Chavarian night raid but also the weakness in their formation in the battle he had just fought with the Chavarian army nearly leading to its collapse.
If anyone were going to give him the information he needed, it would be him as even if Bardornus said there was nothing to the rumours because he would reply that way, whether they were true or not meant that Wurgoth could not just ask Bardornus about a potential deal with Lucius.
He also has not known the Plurian general for long enough to pick up on any tells of lying or abnormal conduct. As such, he had to find another way of finding the truth, and Gerindin was just what he needed.
"Send him in!"
Regaining his composure and pushing down the excitement in his heart, the Wurgoth called for Gerindin to be called into the tent.