Dom awoke in his large comfortable bed on the top floor of the small Palace in Riverside. The light was coming through the windows and Dom realised that he must have let time get the better of him in reality and he had logged in late. Whilst this could have been a benefit for him having longer to play, he knew that he would still have to get up at the same time in reality as they had plans for the day.
Frustrated at his own time keeping, he climbed out of bed and changed in to a clean outfit that had been prepared for him, he also grabbed his Zhan Lu and strapped it to his waist. After changing, he headed towards the balcony at the end of his room, looking down at the bustling and growing city beneath him. Not much had changed since he had last logged out, but to the south he could see the Riverside port was busy with Merchant and Transport Ships docking or heading up or down the Calm River.
"Supplies going to Noctus, Jia or The Cove." Meritamen's voice explained to him from behind, he didn't know when she had appeared, but she walked beside him and leant on the railings to look below with him. "A lot of wood has also been sent south for the temporary forts that are being erected, as well as the crucifixion line that is being built. I am happy I don't have to see it."
"It won't be pretty." Sun Shangxiang's voice echoed, as she also stepped to the other side of him, similarly leaning on the railing, with the Harpe strapped to her waist. "But it was agreed as necessary. Ling Tong has also reluctantly sent one of his Trireme to Gan Ning's fleet, as well as the recently constructed two ships that were meant for Su Fei's Renatus fleet. The two for the Renatus fleet aren't well trained, whilst Ling Tong's crew are getting to grips with sea faring."
"Have we heard anything further of the people of Papaver?" Dom asked his two wives, surprised by their arrival.
"Nothing as of yet, according to Gan Ning's last report, there has been no sightings of their ships, but if they are four days away, we probably won't hear anything until after the Battle Map." Meritamen commented, before looking at him with a smile. "We can always tell when you are back and have something on your mind, you walk very heavily and your footsteps can be heard below."
"I should probably be quieter to surprise you next time!" Dom replied with a smile, "We definitely need to increase our naval crews, I am hoping that Crassus has success with purchasing slaves we can free and train, or hiring naval crews. We have expanded quickly, but I am happy we have or we would be unaware of these new enemies."
"Subutai and Xun You have been heard having heated discussions about reallocating our forces, they are spread too thin for any large invasion. Xun You wants to find ways of expanding our forces faster, whilst Subutai wants to maintain an elite force and says our forces are already diluted." Sun Shangxiang commented.
"And what are your thoughts?" Dom asked her, his new wife having taken on her role within the Kingdom quickly. She had both Meritamen and Shang Yang guiding her and Dom felt more relaxed when he logged out now that he had so many experienced Heroes around.
"We need both, we just need to make sure that the elite forces can be moved quickly to support." She put forwards after some thought, she had spoken to her brother and Zhou Yu about it, and whilst Sun Ce was quite passionate about expansion, Zhou Yu was more measured.
"How have our guests from the San been?" Dom asked them as he headed away from the balcony and towards the stairs that headed downwards, he could happily spend a few hours talking with his wives, but he had plenty to do.
"Amazed, Shang Yang took them on a tour, introducing them to the knowledge in the Library, the medical care under Hua Tou and the shipyards under Himilco. They enjoy their way of life and Shang Yang has been explaining the benefits of finding a middle ground." Meritamen smiled in response, "I am confident that when they return home, they'll be talking about joining us, as long as they have some freedoms."
"They would bring much needed population and additional trainable warriors to the south if they did." Sun Shangxiang agreed, "Elder Kabbo is extremely friendly, whilst Chieftain Kung seems to get along with my brother Sun Ce very well."
"Shouldn't Sun Ce be in the north with Cheng Pu?" Dom asked her, knowing that Sun Ce was working tirelessly with Su Fei in Renatus and Cheng Pu to secure their northern border and monitor the other Towns on the extremely large Tongpai Lake.
"Subutai recalled him after meeting their Chieftain, he felt he would be a good military diplomat." Meritamen explained, whilst Sun Shangxiang just looked embarrassed.
"They have spent the evening in the Arena and the Tavern." Sun Shangxiang added, not overly impressed with her brother.
"If he can't win them over with his personality, then I doubt anyone can." Dom agreed as they reached the bottom floor of the Palace. "Is there anything important for me today?"
"Subutai and Xun You want to talk to you about Centurion Hector's exploration, whilst Shang Yang, Xun Yu and Hatshepsut want to talk to you about our current discoveries from the initial findings in the Cove and the first Excavated Town." Meritamen explained, "So nothing much today, but I expect it will be a busy few days with little chance of you running off to a battle."
"I was hoping to avoid a battle for a few days." Dom agreed with a laugh as he left his two wives to their own duties. Sun Shangxiang had planned to visit the training ground at the Ninth Legion Warriors Hall, whilst Meritamen was travelling to Jia to meet with Lady Xu and their wider subterfuge department.
.....
Outside the Palace, Dom was greeted by the familiar sight of Gregorios and Trojan. The two armoured Hoplite were in mid conversation when Dom appeared, with them both going quiet at his sight. Trojan looked happy with himself, whilst Gregorios had a more disappointed look. Dom was a big fan of these two guards, and whilst they only accompanied him around Riverside now, they were both excellent Warriors who had been with him since day one.
"You can keep talking you know." Dom commented as he began heading towards the Military District where he had been told Subutai would most likely be from Meritamen. Meritamen was very much his proxy in his absence and even though Sun Shangxiang had arrived, he didn't see that changing from the outlook of his other Heroes.
"It wasn't anything important Lord Lazarus." Gregorios replied with a straight face as he walked beside Dom.
"It's an embarrassing subject for him." Trojan teased in response.
"Rejected again?" Dom asked Gregorios, whose face blushed slightly in response. As they walked, people as usual gazed in his direction. Dom was more used to it now, but it was still a surreal experience.
"She wants to take things slow." Gregorios explained with a long exhale, she wants to make sure that we are the right match before we progress things further.
"She's just head about your reputation." Trojan laughed, the two having only met upon arrival at Riverside but had formed a friendship of brotherhood.
"Or lack off." Dom replied, causing his Guard to shake his head, whilst Trojan laughed even more.
"You would think that being the guard of the Lord would bring it's privileges with women, but it seems that Actumerus gets all of those instead." Gregorios explained, trying to defend himself.
"He is a tall barbarian, of course he does!" Trojan joked, "If you are really struggling to find love, I heard the Thebians are recruiting."
"Do not get me started on the Thebians!" Gregorios barked back, as Dom laughed as well. He just hoped that Centurion Philip of the Sacred Band of Thebes wasn't nearby.
They soon reached the Military District, where Warriors could be seen running with stones tied to their backs from one side to another. Others were doing different forms of exercise as well, with the training ground seemingly having expanded throughout the whole district. Huang Zhong could be seen stood nearby as he shouted orders to continue training, with his Hittite assistant Uriah stood beside him. Huang Zhong noticed Dom's arrival and instead of having the Warriors stop to pay respects to their Lord, he instead ordered them to increase the pace so as to not disappoint him instead.
"He is amazing isn't he!" Subutai laughed as he appeared from one of the Warriors Halls and headed towards him, Xun You beside him and Xiao Qiao behind them with a role of parchment in her hand.
"I'm happy I'm the Lord and not training with them." Dom replied in agreement as the two most Senior people in his Military came to him.
"I'm sure we can arrange for you to join in?" Xun You teased, whilst Gregorios behind Dom struggled to hold a laugh of his own in.
"I should be fine thanks, but I think Gregorios may have some free time." Dom commented, as he looked at his guard.
"Unfortunately Lord Lazarus my duty is to be by your side in these troubling times." Gregorios explained enthusiastically, whilst the rest of them all kept a straight face and tried to hold in their grins. Trojan struggled the most and had to turn away from the group.
"My wives said that you Centurion Hector had given an update?" Dom asked them as they directed him towards the north of the Military District where the Female Horse Archer Barracks and the Beast Halls were located.
"He followed the underwater tunnel from the Cove, through to the Ancient Underground City Number Two through to the original Ancient Underground City." Xun You explained as they walked, a large smile on his face. "The Tunnel was hidden near the lake and they had to spend a small section totally underwater which is why it hadn't been discovered by our crews at the Ancient Underground City."
"We need to come up with better names for these, especially the one we are using as our refuge locations." Dom commented, with both Subutai and Xun You nodding in agreement.
"I agree, however there is more. Centurion Hector realised that if the tunnel went that far, could there be a further one." Xun You teased, before pausing dramatically for a second. No one seemed to react and in disappointment he continued. "Near the entrance to the Vault at the Original Ancient Underground City, he found patterns that matched others he had seen, they found another access point and headed further north, before finding a third Underground City."
"We believe this one is underneath the other Ancient Town that is being excavated." Subutai explained, "Which would make some sense as we did find the Mausoleum above the original, I am no expect but it feels like an expansion in the future."
"Or different time periods for the same sub-species." Xun You added, "He hasn't began excavation but he is working with Thucydides and Zenodotus to expand the effort."
"Did he do any initial searching inside?" Dom asked, interested to find out more about this large human species with tusks.
"Unfortunately not as there was a lot of debris and the team were exhausted. There is a lot to be searched for, especially why the two Vaults linked together." Xun You replied, "They seem very old, so maybe the movements of the land has changed their original layout."
"Centurion Hector did find some rest rooms along the tunnel route, they are clearly different to those made in our northern half by what we suspect to have been done by the Type Three's." Subutai explained, "So that is a slight relief, but we will remain vigilant."
"That is something we need to do with Papaver to the south!" Dom agreed, before looking to Xiao Qiao and her parchment. "I'm sure there is a reason we are discussing this here, and not at the Palace?"
"There is a lot of possibilities from finding new locations, but the main one is rewards." Subutai grinned as Xiao Qiao began speaking.
"Prime Minister Shang Yang will discuss the main findings with you later as part of his own plans, however whilst both The Cove and First Excavated Towns have brought a lot of benefits to the soon to be Kingdom of Lazarus, there was some success in the new Ancient Underground Town." Xiao Qiao began.