Chapter 83: An Unexpected Offer. (Bonus Chapter)
"It is a shame that a difference in ideology prevented me from joining The Free Brothers."
"For a kingdom that passes from father to son is the only way to ensure that you can legitimately and reliably stay in power after the death of a ruler."
"And for a player whose success in real life depends on his success in this game."
"Ensuring long-lasting prosperity for yourself and your dynasty takes precedence over everything."
Reginald Coulan, creator and head of House Aurellion in dynasties online.
….
"Do we have an agreement?"
Boreas said, looking at Railius like a demon as the young boy saw not a wise chieftain but a devil, one that was dangling a delicious deal in front of him, wanting him to sign a forbidden contract that would sell his soul away.
Minutes slowly ticked on by as Railius just stood there in deep thought. Finally, after two long Dynasty History Events, he had finally been cornered by an enemy, but instead of pressing his now-cornered foe, Boreas just sat on his throne patiently, an expectant smile on his face because he knew that there was little else the young lord of Aurellion could offer him that he wanted.
The problem with this proposal was that Railius felt uncomfortable giving this cunning chieftain of The Free Brothers a blank check! Who knew when he would cash this in for a promise like this could be as easy as giving him 100 gold or as hard as providing him with an army or military assistance in the future!
Imagine if, just as Railius got comfortable and was finally peacefully building up his newly acquired fief this favour was suddenly called in and had to march months away from his newly acquired territory all because of a promise he made before the game even officially started! Who knew how much money it would cost to deploy an army for that long and in a foreign land no less which would make supply lines a nightmare as DO was not a game in which you can casually walk an army halfway across the world without needing to worry about how to feed or pay it!
What's worse, because he can expose the alliance between himself and Ancel. Not only does Railius have to do what Boreas wants, but the cunning bastard will probably use this to get something from Ancel, as this bloody avian would have a metaphorical Sword of Damocles that he could drop on the good Duke of Plantaria's head at any time. Just by sitting in his hall peacefully, he had somehow managed to arguably gain the most from Chavaria's deadly internal conflict that had cost thousands of people's lives and would affect millions in the years to come.
'The terms are vague and so can be used to both our advantage.'
The small scheming boy thought that as long as the request was not detailed, then help could be interpreted in many ways. For example, say Boreas requested military support but did not stipulate what that would actually entail; then, in that case, even 500 Pelican Guards counted as military support even if the Beastman Chieftain was experiencing a much larger commitment from House Aurellion.
Of course, the old cunning white feathered bipedal bird before him would make sure the request was specific, leaving Railius no room to manoeuvre, but what about Boreas' successor?
Would Boreas' successor be as wise as him or even remember a promise made between a small boy with an uncertain future and the mighty Free Brothers?
Also, by the time Railius was even in a position to be of any help to The Free Brothers, it was likely the old bastard of a bird would be dead, which means that it would be his successor whom the young player would have to deal with and not the political powerhouse that was casually lounging on his throne.
With little choice and a sigh of resignation, Railius agreed to Boreas' demands.
"Fine, but in return, both myself, my men, and their families can pass through your lands unmolested to Nathia."
Railius said, putting down his innocent act and getting serious, which put a smile on Boreas' wrinkled face, who now knew he was dealing with the boy who managed to get Ancel on his side.
"Sounds good, so Nathia is where you plan to set up a base. A good choice, especially for an exiled Chavarian noble, but that is not the only path you could take."
Boreas said with a smile, interested in how the young lord of Aurellion would react to his next offer.
"And what other path would you recommend?"
"You could always join us, my good lord. Join The Free Brothers. We are all a bunch of ex-exiles, not so unlike yourself, and so would accept you with open arms, unlike Nathia. I won't stop you from leaving if that Is what you truly desire, but think about it for a bit."
Boreas said, his eyes looking at Leon, full of greed and desire. It was evident that it was primarily the presence of this loyal grandmaster that led to this offer to join them in the first place, as skilled experts like Leon were precisely what the Free Brothers lacked at the moment.
"Oh, and what would be the problem with Nathia?"
Railius asked, wanting to know as much as he could about the place that would be his future base and likely home.
"The kingdom is ancient and still somewhat powerful, being a major power in its region, but the king is mediocre. If it were not for Ranier Lantier Crestiers Bane, then they would have fallen to the empire long ago, but thanks to the rise of that young strategic genius and the strength of Nartook Fortresses walls, the empire has been unable to break through to conquer the 2000-year-old country."
"The Chavarian Empire is a superpower, after all, and has been putting its full might into taking down Nathia. I would also not be surprised if they can even influence the northern part of the continent, something that no nation in the southern part of the continent has ever been able to do before."
Boreas said, giving an introduction to this mysterious kingdom, though Railius already knew of Chavaria's ambitions to conquer the Kingdom of Nathia as it was for this exact reason that he knew that he would be safe there as the emperor had mobilised many troops and his full diplomatic weight to ensure that his path to his mother's homeland was blocked being the only place that would be the only guaranteed haven for the now fallen noble house.
"That may be so…. But doesn't their conflict mean that it will be safe there and that they should even welcome me with open arms?"
Railius argued back, still not understanding the issue that the cunning avian obviously knew about.
"Usually, yes, but many of the nobles in Nathia have fallen into corruption, their morals decayed by years of privilege and decadent living. While the grand dukes and a few others have managed to keep their integrity and loyalty intact. Time has ground the integrity of many to dust, making it a place heavily infected with the stench of corruption whose slow rot is slowly draining the nation of its strength."
"Many nobles also have become very pompous, looking down on those of low birth. The only reason that it is not a place mired in racism like other nations based on a singular race is because it was formed by many races, meaning that there are Dwarves, Beastman and I heard even Iraviens and Elves have managed to gain noble titles in the past."
"It is also because of its mesh of cultures that it has managed to last so long, showing what is possible when the successful integration of many species forges a kingdom. But in recent years, various supremacist movements and factions have been founded wanting to take more land and resources for themselves, their greed never being sated."
"Gaining power in such a kingdom would be a problem though your noble birth should at least give you some sort of stepping stone, but your imperial lineage makes even that…. Problematic."
"So what do you say, Lord Aurellion? Want to join The Free Brothers?"
Boreas said, making his pitch to Railius as he saw both a chance to gain a grandmaster and a potential political strategist for the future. It was even possible for this boy to be his successor if, at a young age, he could hold up against him in a negotiation. After hearing Boreas' offer, a window appeared in front of Railius.
[You have been invited to join 'The Free Brothers' faction by the faction leader Boreas Brightfeather. Would you like to accept?]
[Accepting will make the promise made to help The Free Brothers in the future null and void as your fates and prosperity will be linked together and give your noble house a safe haven from which to grow.]
Railius stared at the window in front of him in deep contemplation as he weighed up the pros and cons of the offer.
The pros would be that he would be safe and close to his ally, Duke Ancel, allowing them to work together and for his forces to reunite easier, but in Railius' opinion, the cons were far worse than these pros, which appear to give him what he wanted.
The first thing that would be sacrificed was his freedom of choice. While he was planning to eventually join a nation to build up his noble house there, he didn't think that either the Beastman United States was his best option, with The Free Brothers being a terrible choice even amongst the other clans and tribes within it.
The main reason for this was their difference in political ideology, or at least Railius' political ideology in the game, which was opposite to that of The Free Brothers.
Railius wanted to build up a traditional medieval noble house, one that was loyal to his character and his successors, whom Reginald, the player behind Railius, would also play, and this was impossible as part of The Free Brothers, who vote for their leaders in an election-like format.
This means the nation the young player wanted to build would be an autocratic regime where power was centralised to the king or lord, who would be one of his dynasty members.
If any unexpected event occurred, like an assassination or his death in war while his character was young while he was part of The Free Brothers, his next dynastic heir, the character that Reginald would play next, would likely be a child or a character not of age and a character like that would not even be considered for Chief of The Free Brothers.
But this was different if he was a lord or king of a kingdom, as his child heir would take the throne as ruler and have a regent maintaining his dynasty's power. Even if actual power was in the hands of the regent governing body for a short time, it was perfectly possible for Railius to seize it back once he came of age.
He also had his loyal Pelican Guards that would help to protect any child ruler from a coup or rebellion that could occur due to any instability from having a child ruler, and if his regent didn't want to give up power, would be instrumental in arresting the now traitorous regent giving power back to House Aurellion.
To confirm it for himself, he decided to go into his player encyclopaedia and find the article about the DO inheritance system and how it worked. This encyclopaedia was something that chronicled all the information that his dynasty had gathered about the game world and its systems. It could be accessed through the same drop-down menu that housed the logout button, dynasty information and other game functions both discovered and undiscovered.
This encyclopaedia was unique to each player as each player would know different things. This could be secret techniques and training manuals or even secrets and information about the various nations of DO, allowing one who specialises in a few things to be very valuable as powerful people would pay well for their expertise and knowledge.
Simply put, it was a nice, easy player's handbook that a player could use to quickly find any information about what they had learnt about in the past or game systems they had encountered while playing the game.
After finding the entry for the inheritance system, he had a much better understanding of it than before. When a character dies in DO, they do not resurrect like in other VRMMORPGs. Instead, you will play as your character's dynastic heir. If your character has children, then you must play as one of those, but if not, then you can choose any other character that has your bloodline and family name.
As long as one character with your bloodline and family's last name remains alive in the game, then your dynasty is not extinct, and you can choose to continue as this last character, keeping your dynasty's inheritable traits, which are lost once your dynasty is abandoned or becomes extinct alongside units and anything else related to it.
This does not mean, however, that you will inherit your father's power. For example, The Free Brothers had an elective system where a vote selects the Chieftain, so your new character must win this election if a player wishes to maintain their position of power over The Free Brothers. Even if you were the rightful heir to the throne of a kingdom, you could be couped or overthrown by angered commoners or nobles or even your old character's brother, forcing your new character to death.
It was even common for a kingdom made by players to be in upheaval as ambitious ones tried to take over their faction and nation from a ruling dynasty once their authority over the country was in flux due to a respected ruler dying and a new younger ruler taking his place.
It was for these reasons that Railius was reluctant to accept Boreas' offer and why an autocratic system where power passes from a father to a son or daughter was so popular in DO because there was little other way to ensure that you can keep control of your lands and power which your real lives could depend on for income!
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
LaziestDragon
LaziestDragon Thank you for reading and for your continued support this is one of the two bonus chapters that have been accumulated over the past 2 weeks.
The next chapter should be out tomorrow as it is a regular release date.
As always there are 10 chapters available on Patreon for differing tiers if you want them.
With that said see you tomorrow hopefully.
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