After a well-deserved night's rest and a bit of hunting for Nigels and foraging for some berries, I learned a few things. First, you should never store food here, as it will either disappear due to scavengers or go rotten in a matter of days—so there's no point. Also, I discovered a very, very large ant colony. I mean, it's huge! It covers an entire forest, with hundreds of millions of ants. Never go back there; it's near the tundra, but really close to the desert. It's quite interesting, sitting right in the middle, not exactly in the desert or the tundra.
Anyway, I continued to map the place. I even started mapping out the Sunward Order, and they let me look inside so I could draw. Okay, fine, I lied. I told them I wanted to have a better look inside and that I was just drawing because I was bored, but it's not like they cared. Imagine how much money I could make from mapping out this place! Maybe I can map out the Ashen Blades clan after that.
Once I was done with that, I decided to put my idea of mapping out the other clan to the test. When I walked outside the Sunward Order, I looked at the other clan's wall and saw their leader. I assumed he was the leader because he was wearing a crown and red and black armor that shone with a mysterious purple glow. I heard him speak with a majestic voice, saying, "Fetch me his soul." Suddenly, a double door with a bolt opened with ferocity, leaving a trail of dust behind.
From within, I heard the sounds of what could only be described as monsters—the stomping, the yelling, the growling. Suddenly, a spear came hurling toward me. I did my best to dodge it, but it scraped my ear. As I continued to run, I saw arrows raining down from the sky—thousands of spears and arrows, even a sword came flying at me. I ran for my life, hearing the stomping, screaming, and battle cries behind me. When I turned around, I saw hundreds, even thousands, of men chasing me like animals—some on all fours, some armored, some barely clothed, even women and children. Was that a goblin?
I sprinted for dear life, terrified. Before I knew it, some of them grabbed me. They all tried to rip my limbs apart, stole my armor, and even my clothes. They didn't take my underwear, but they dragged me into their base. A man tied me to a chair and kept asking, "What are you? What is your business?" They repeated the same question over and over, not allowing me to speak.
"State your business! State your business!" they shouted as they walked around me, repeating the phrase every time I tried to open my mouth. Finally, another man entered and shoved the first guy away. I asked him, "What day is it?" He replied, "That does not concern you. Why were you meeting with the precious stupidity clan?"
I told him they said I should trade or they would steal my base. "Sounds like those bastards," I said. "They're so poor they don't even have anything. They also said you guys are brainless—those damn bastards. They're so stupid they don't even know how to do anything correctly."
"Well," he said, "you're probably right. You have the most advanced tech." Just then, a man with a broken spear, literally made of stone, walked into the room. "Sir, currently, the people are not happy. The child ate an apple. He will be torn apart."
"Yes, people are much smarter than those from the other clan. Most of them couldn't even speak at all."
"Well, serves them right, those idiots. We're going to destroy them and steal their base."
"Sounds like a great plan to me," I replied.
"Would you like to join our clan?"
"Let me think about it."
"Okay, anyway, would you like to see the hanging of a child?"
"What?"
"Oh, come on, it will be fun!" He dragged me to what seemed like a theater. A crowd was laughing as a four-year-old child stood on stage with a crank and four ropes around him. They forced his mother to watch as a man with an apple cart stood by. The child was crying as the man executing him said, "Child stole an apple. Child bad."
The child couldn't say anything as they tied the ropes around him, and then they started cranking until the child was torn apart. Everyone laughed like it was a comedy show. I stared, dumbfounded, at the brutality. I nearly cried, but I knew if I showed any emotion, they would probably put me on that stage next. So I held it in until they finally released me.
"I'd like to go back now," I said. "I'll give you all my resources. I know the second I leave, I'm never coming back, and I'm never going to find my place either. I mean, they're not smart enough to send a spy after me. They can barely talk."
After a cleanup crew came in to tidy up the mess, the guy finally released me, and I ran for my life. Thankfully, they didn't send anyone after me, so I started to pack up, praying to God that no one would find me. As one guy said, "This place is really not made for our kind of people."