The Fleet has finally reached solid land.
And I'm telling you, Making sure that thousands of soldiers over hundreds of ships are all accounted for after four days over the ocean is a stressful task.
Luckily everything is still here and nobody is missing.
After I made sure of that, I had everybody split into groups.
One Large group made of my army, active soldiers and combatants. The main Army itself.
One smaller group made of officers from before the OSK started the war effort and Storm Creatures that can read and write. My future government agents.
One group was comprised of scholars and researchers, Those who have a higher education than most and are curious to the mysteries and knowledge this world can provide. My Future Teachers and Scientist
And a final group for cooks builders and medics. Those that make sure that everyone and everything else can stay alive and well. Be it a Soldier or an Airship. The Backbone of the Army.
After Giving each group a set of jobs to do until we next lift off, such as start making food and setting up a Small base of operations.
The Plan here is to leave a Ship with a few members of every group at several bases we will be building, Those bases will be in charge of the villages in the Area which will be recruited into the Storm Kingdom, and will report any progress to me.
These groups will make sure the influence of the Storm Kingdom is felt around the continent.
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Right Now, While the first Base of Operations, For now named Kings Landing, Is being built. Strife and I have taken a small squad comprised of each group to the nearest Village.
As we walk in the direction of the village, I start small talk with my people.
"You, Researcher, What is your name?" I ask a meek looking Storm Creature, He carries with him a cloth bag with a Pen, Ink and paper.
"Oh, M-m-my name is Gary your highnes-" I quickly cut him off, "Your Majesty."
"Oh, e-excuse me your Majesty, I didn't mean to o-o-offend you in any w-way, I I I promise!" Gary cries out and bows his head quickly, pulling the attention of the rest of the group to him.
I Bend my back so that my height is only slightly above Gary, "Gary, I know you didn't mean to offend me," I place a calming hand on his shoulder, He looks up at me, his eyes glimmering with admiration.
I squeeze my hand on his shoulder and as I see Gary squirming uncomfortably under my hand, I continue with a calm tone of voice, "It's just that, Your Highness is addressed to Princes and Princesses. And I am not a prince, am I?" I squeeze slightly harder.
"O-Of course not Your Majesty, Y-your are not a prince at a-all, You are a KING!" He yelled out that last part as He felt my claws dig into his shoulder.
I let go of him. The Message has been sent. I might be approachable and nice to my subjects, But I am still a King.
And I shall be addressed as such.
Now what just happened is called a character moment, What I just did was seem nice to the small group that I brought with me. I might be a conqueror king to them, But I am just as approachable as any Tom, Dick or Harry. And while Gary felt the approachable aspect of the character, As I started Small talk under the guise of being curious as to what my subjects are doing, I also reminded him that I am a King.
I might be nice, I might be friendly, You might feel like you can have a drink with me, But I am still your king.
I am not a Highness I am a Majesty.
And they better remember that.
Word of this will spread as rumors to the others back at camp, Likely by the guards I brought with me talking about this with their friend, about how the king was kind enough to remember a lowly subjects name, Or other such tripe.
The Rest of the walk happened in silence.
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As we walk into the village, I see that All the people living here are hiding, If the white and brown quills peeking behind doors and windows is anything to go by.
Everybody is hiding, Everybody but one Hedgehog in the middle of the road, Directly in front of me.
"I see the Hyena sent another collector, Well guess what! We have nothing left to give you, Leave us alone! Haven't you taken enough from us?" The Hedgehog is brown with dark Garnet quills on her back. Her eyes a deep, Emerald green. She seems to stand on two stubby back legs, pointing to the hedgehogs being a Bipedal species.
She wears what seems to be a belt around her waist, Likely to distinguish herself from the other Hedgehogs in town.
"I Think we have a misunderstanding here-" I start as I approach the Hedgehog. "We are not with this 'Hyena' Person you speak of. May you please introduce yourself to me?" I stop three meters in front of her. If this Village was built in the desert and if it was the middle of the day, I'm sure a tumbleweed would pass through the town before we both pulled out a sixshooter and dueled.
"And why the hell should I introduce myself to you huh? And how do I know you really aren't with Hyena?!" She points at me and crouches into a position ready to fight. I bring my hand toward a nearby Storm Creature carrying a bag and they pass me a small parchment.
I really need a better name to call them than just Storm Creature, Anyway.
"I am not with Hyena for the simple reason of that I do not know who they are. And the reason you should introduce yourself is because I am a King" I pull my hand back and throw the piece of Parchment into the air.
Thankfully, Following the rules of cartoon logic, The Rule of Cool kicks in, and as the Parchment is slowly floating down, a small gust of wind comes in and pushes it towards the Hedgehog.
She grabs the parchment and reads whats on it.
"The Storm King wants YOU to join the Empire! By Joining the empire you shall be granted protection and citizenship. You will be able to have many jobs and opportunities for your future.
Join The Empire Today! Head to your nearest Storm Base for more information" Is what was written.
Exactly! This is a recruitment ad for The Empire™, By Passing these Parchment around, We will have people willingly join my growing Empire.
We will send these to all the villages we come across.
"You, You're an actual King?" The now flabbergasted Hedgehog looks at me with wide eyes.
Before I can answer, She bows her body and begs, "Please! Please Save us from The Hyena, We will join your empire! We will do anything! But please, Please Help us!" She starts crying.
And as she cries I hear Murmurs coming from the buildings around me.
"Is he really a king" "Are we safe now?" "Is something good finally happening?" "Will Mommy be coming back?" "An actual King..." And so much more.
I look back at Strife and he looks back at me with his eyes darting around at all the hedgehogs exiting their homes.
It seems we have found ourselves in a very interesting situation...