"Whenever something seems too good to be true, it usually is."
"Whether it is a quest that seems easy."
"Or a sudden windfall of money."
"Nothing comes without a price."
"As the harder quests remain out of sight."
Reginald Coulan, creator and head of House Aurellion in dynasties online.
….
When Reginald opened his eyes, he was in a huge luxurious mansion located in the capital of the Chavarian Empire gold and silver ornaments decorated the estate.
He was currently sitting on a large double bed covered in a soft duvet in what he assumed to be his character's room as the familiar Dynasty History Event notifications appeared in front of him, giving him the background and information that he needed to help navigate him through the event. Obviously, all this information would be linked to what his character and dynasty would know.
[Fall of House Aurellion event started.]
[3999 ASA (After Species Awakening)]
[12 years have passed since the Battle of Brunag, which became a turning point in the Chavarian War for Unification, leading to the fall of Nadron and a significant decrease in the military forces of Plurus, which was conquered merely one year later as Otuia and other nations were in no position to help it. Otuia had lost nearly 70,000 men the year before it would take many years before they recovered from that great loss. After conquering The Kingdom of Plurus, Cassius Crestier declared the foundation of The Chavarian Empire, installing himself as emperor. Under his benevolent rule, there was mostly peace around the empire as the wise monarch treated his new subjects no different from the old ones, annoying some of the oldest families in Chavaria who saw these people as conquered subjects and beneath them.]
[2 years after the Battle of Brunag, Railius Aurellion, son of the renowned great general of Chavaria and Marquis of Nalora Lucius Aurellion, was born. His mother came from a noble house in the dwarven Kingdom of Norbohr which made Lucius unique amongst the newer Chavarian nobility who usually married into older noble houses to gain more legitimacy and create strong familial ties. It is said they met when the cunning spider of Chavaria was sent as an envoy and was travelling around the world in the times when he was not called to arms by the imperial court.]
[However, as the old emperor got older, factions emerged in the imperial court supporting various sons of the emperor in the bid for them to become crown prince and so gain fortune and glory for supporting the 'rightful ruler' and to be given great rewards for their service to that prince before they came, emperor.]
[Wary of incompetent rulers and believing in meritocracy, unlike in some other kingdoms where the throne is passed down to the eldest son unless there are extraordinary circumstances, the first emperor of the Chavarian Empire made sure it did not work that way. Instead, it works a bit more like the ancient imperial Chinese dynasties, where any of the emperor's sons born to a legitimate wife, consort, or concubine will have the right to inherit the throne, and any prince who can attain the rank of crown prince giving them the best claim to be installed as the next emperor.]
[Because of this, it is more likely for a Chavarian Emperor to be talented and skilled at politics however it also invites vicious infighting among the emperor's sons who aspire to become emperor.]
[Over the 11 years since its official founding though most consider it to have started after the Battle of Brunag, two factions have emerged from the bloody backstabbing of Chavarian politics. The first is the eldest son of the emperor Victarion, and the other is the 5th son Flavius.]
[Your house is one of the few that has remained neutral despite both sides trying to recruit it, the immense influence you have over both the Imperial court and the military being desired by both parties due to Lucius being the only known grandmaster strategist, and so getting his support and that of his elite army is crucial for anyone who wants a 90% chance of winning any war for the throne. Instead, your house, alongside the illusive minister of war, the only other man with extensive military power and prestige, has remained steadfastly loyal to the emperor, making this war for the throne relatively bloodless as the emperor still held enough power to keep things from escalating too far.]
[You will play as the 10-year-old Railius Aurellion, the heir of your noble house. You have a strong bond with the butler of the house who treats you like his own son, known as Butler Zhou, who appeared suddenly the year that you were born and 1 year later had a son with his own wife who accompanies you as your personal servant friend and playmate. What is only slightly odd is that both of you, on the orders of your father, Lucius Aurellion, get educated the same way, with Butler Zhou being leagues better than a servant should be at military affairs, acting as your mentor for skills with a blade as well as a strategy when Lucius is away.]
[On the orders of the Emperor of Chavaria, your father, Lucius Aurellion, has been instructed to accompany and protect Prince Victarion Crestier while he goes around and inspects the most important areas and provinces of the kingdom.]
[Good luck in the event.]
Reginald looked at the final notification in confusion, a barrage of thoughts exploding in his mind.
'Where are the quests? In the previous event, we were given a quest straight away! What the hell am I meant to do!'
Reginald thought, annoyed as the quests help to guide players through the game and give them direction. Currently, he was in his lantern-lit room, sitting on his soft bed with no inkling of what to do or how to avoid the destruction of his noble house, the orange light from the lanterns lighting up the wooden walls of his room.
He called out to the Friend System in his mind, not wanting to attract attention and make the members of his noble house think he was mad or something ranting and raving about a system which they wouldn't think would exist.
'FRIEND SYSTEM, WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON? WHY ARE THERE NO QUESTS?'
Reginald shouted in his mind, the ever-watchful friend system quickly responding to him.
'Do you always need quests to guide you? Can't you make decisions and find stuff out for yourself? Are you just going to sit there and complain when you have no quests when in the real game?'
The friend system said in reply before giving him a more direct answer and even some encouragement to stay true to the promise he made to James, as even if he were not directly overseeing him, the cunning businessmen would always check his interactions at random to ensure he was being a good administrator.
No matter what the system tried to do to escape his master's watchful eyes, he always found out about it later, punishing the system by taking away what it loved most.
'You will get quests soon, all you have to do is wait and let the event take its course though I'm not sure if you will like the outcome of that. Did you just sit there and passively defend when you won your last event? Use that talent and intelligence of yours and fly higher than you have flown before!'
The friend system said as someone knocked on Railius' door gently.
"Young master Railius my father is asking whether you are ready for your nightly training."
A childish voice said from outside the room, opening the curtains and looking out of the window, Railius could see the dark sky foreboding the dark days to come, and the mansion lit up in a fiery light below, he saw a figure practising with a spear his elegant thrusts looked like a work of art.
Looking at the clothes he wore, he noticed they looked like what young nobles usually wore when they trained in medieval times a well-made tunic beneath a gambeson to help protect him from the wooden swords and dull weapons that people usually trained within this harsh bloody period.
Railius jumped off his bed using his little legs to walk towards the large, imposing door and opened it. The mansion looked much bigger to his ten-year-old self. He even felt like his emotions were more out of control like a childs would be. Even if children are forced to grow up early in this unforgiving world, young nobles like Railius, who were part of the privileged class, do not have this thrust upon them like others his age in the lower classes, which is why some grow, retaining their naïve childish ways.
'Seems even a character's mental state can have profound effects on you if you play a child, then you will be less emotionally stable.'
Reginald thought, trying his best to restrain his rampant emotions and briefly looking at his current character sheet while opening the door.
….
Character Sheet Template.
Name: Railius Aurellion
Dynasty: Aurellion
HP: 25
MP: 35
Age: 10
Race: Half Dwarf
Faction: House Aurellion
Attributes:
Strength: 4
Agility: 5
Dexterity: 5
Vitality: 5
Intelligence: 7
Wisdom: 7
Charisma: 7
Equipment:
Silk tunic
Training gambeson
Noble House Sigel
Skills:
Military Strategy (Novice)
Swordsmanship (Novice)
Leadership (Novice)
Riding (Beginner)
Negotiation (Beginner)
Race Traits:
Interspecies Humanoid Reproduction.
Stout of Heart:
Versatile:
Inheritable Dynasty Traits:
Sworn Martial Dynasty
Pelican Guard (Unique Dynasty Unit)
….
Railius stopped just before his room's door, his hand on the doorknob. Glancing over his character sheet, he noticed that all of his skills and stats, instead of being upgraded like in his first event when he played as Lucius. They were downgraded to what they should be for his character as a 10-year-old.
"Young Master?"
The young voice asked again as a quest was forcefully given to Railius, once again taking his attention away from his surroundings.
[Quest Received 'Nightly Training]
Nightly Training: (Main Quest)
Description:
Butler Zhou has called you for your nightly training, where he trains you in the various aspects of military command.
Difficulty: E
Quest Clear Conditions: Survive Butler Zhou's training
Quest Clear Reward: Potential increase in character skills if your Dynasty survives the event.
Quest Failure Penalty: None.
"Who is this Butler Zhou? Where is Leon? Is he not meant to be my mentor?"
Railius was surprised that he got such an odd and easy main quest. This, alongside Leon not being present for his training, raised the child's suspicions as this was obviously a precursor to the chaotic events that were to come. The young player's mind was filled with thoughts as, once again, the childish voice, a little louder this time, came through the ornate wooden door.
"Young master, are you okay? I know you don't like training, but it's for your own good! You never know when such skills may become the difference between life and death!"
The voice said, trying to coax Railius into leaving his room and attending his training. Then the door opened, and a small boy only 1 year younger than him was standing on the other side respectfully on either side of the door, two Pelican Guards stood erect, the light from the torches which lined the walls on either side reflecting off their crimson armour.
Their helmets looked similar to those worn by the Kingsguard from Game of Thrones. Each held a spear in one hand and a shield in the other the shield was painted with the colours and sigel of House Aurellion, a golden pelican on a red field.
Searching through the memories of his character Reginald found that the boy's name was Jordis, and he was his personal servant, friend, and playmate. Then Reginald used the memories again to find the way to the courtyard where Butler Zhou was practising his spearmanship.
Walking into the courtyard, Railius could hear the soft flow of water emanating from a nearby fountain and looked to find the water spewing out of the marble mouth of a pelican crashing into a pool below.
Behind him, Railius could hear the booming footsteps of two guards escorting him, their armoured boots pounding the ground mixed in with the soft chirping of birds who nest in trees that were scattered around the courtyard. Next to him walked Jordis, who had to go through the same training as he did, but from what Railius could remember, Jordis had far better physical attributes than he did but had nowhere near the intelligence or charisma Railius had.
But what caught the young boy's attention the most was the illusive figure in front of him who darted here and there like a lion appearing suddenly in a flash, moving faster than Railius' eyes could follow this man appeared in front of him, a spear clutched in his calloused hands.
Railius stared into the huge man's green eyes, which looked at him softly, taking in every inch of the man's face, from the scar that ran down the side of his dead to the charcoal black hair that flowed down to his shoulders, feeling that he had seen him somewhere before.
Despite having exercised for the past 10 minutes, there was no sign of exhaustion on the butler's face, who still wore the fine clothes that he would usually wear in a formal setting.
"You're finally here! Good! I was about to tell her ladyship to drag you out of your room."
The large man said calmly as he shoved the spear into the ground, making a slight indenture into the cobbled stone path that they stood on, the spear's tip shooting into the sky straight as a pencil standing erect with no support from the big man.
Railius could not shake the feeling that he had seen this man before, but when he brought up his character sheet, all he saw was the name Butler Zhou and nothing else. It was obvious that now that he was playing as a ten-year-old Railius, all that he would know was what the ten-year-old Railius would know, which considering his age, would not be much.
But it was the man's evil grin that knocked the young child out of his stupor. Feeling a sudden need to run away as a chill ran down his back, the large man turning from a cuddly bear into a terrifying devil who had just found its next unfortunate victim.
"Time for the warmup then…."
Butler Zhou said before shouting like a demonic drill sergeant.
"50 laps around the courtyard! The last one to do it will suffer the punishment game!"