Also an unexpected visitor.

Ulal finds Tang and his four followers where he has left them, outside of the roundtable room. To the Demonmagus it is already a good sign that they waited there for the time he was gone. They are standing there talking quietly with minimal gestures. Their stance is that of a farmer but there is potential there. “Sorry to keep you waiting I wanted to speak to you and…where is Alratha?” Tang answers after a short pause. “If you mean the creepy woman she left.”

‘Right, I sent her off to Brikstrat’ Ulal remembers. ‘Oh well, one thing after another then.’ “So, come with me I will show you around.” Ulal waves at them as he turns on his heels. “First thing first, none of you can read, yes?” “Yes.” Tang says, “That is one of the first things we will have to fix. From tomorrow onwards, you will come to the roundtable in the morning. If I find the time I will teach you. Every other day you will spend with tasks I will give you. Next, show me your nails.”

The former farmers obey the unorthodox request. Glenn obviously gave them the opportunity to bath but their nails are still dirty and brittle at the edges. “Teeth.” The farmers obey with some confusion in their eyes. A few of the teeth are missing and the rest are either skewed or of unappetizing colour. Also the smell is disgusting. As expected from a diet consisting mostly of gruel.

Ulal sighs, indeed even though their bodies are impressively build they are still farmers, their dirty brown clothes only underline that. “Are you familiar with the three pillars of the state described in Archiana’s book of the same name?” Ulal asks. Of course Tang shakes his head and with the rest being his henchmen Ulal can safely assume his answer to stand for the rest. It was more of a rhetorical question after all so there is no surprise here.

“Warriors, Scholars and Farmers.” Ulal explains. “That is the gist of it. The Warriors defend the country, the Scholars develop the country and the Farmers keep the country running. Depending on what kind of society you want to build, you need to weigh how much power you delegate to which pillar.” Ulal sees mild understanding from his small crowd, but that is not enough, he needs them to be taken by his ideals. “Take Acrae as an example.” He continues his explanation. “It is a theology. Warriors are Templars, Scholars are priests and farmers are farmers, they always are. If you want to keep the religious order who do you delegate the most power to?”

Finally he sees some gears turning. “The Priests.” Tang answers, “Elaborate.” Ulal demands. “Warriors are no good preachers and farmers are believers.” A bit of a short answer but Ulal is happy with it. “Next Zarima. In Zarima everything follows the normal principle. However, it has a much stronger neighbour, Estara, which is not exactly happy with the way they treat their men because it makes their own population jealous. Who do you delegate the most power to?”

“The farmers.” Tang answers, Ulal smiles, “Correct. Elaborate.” “Zarima can’t fight Estara. But if the population doesn’t want to work with the conquerors they can’t hold the land.” Ulal nods, “Yes, exactly. Now for Estara itself. Warriors here are knights, Scholars are nobles, farmers still farmers. You are the strongest country in the world and are surrounded by other much weaker nations. Who do you delegate the most power too?”

“The Nobles.” “Elaborate?” “You are not in danger, why focus on the military.” Ulal shakes his head, “And this is where you are wrong. The right answer is the military. Queen Lydia the Second decreed that the knight is and always will be the highest honour in the country and as such Estara is able to hold itself in power. You answer is not wrong from a logic point of view but you have to keep this in mind: The second Estara shows weakness the other countries are likely to ally and try to destroy it.” Ulal opens a door and they leave the tower and step unto the plaza in front of it. “After all who wants to live under another countries boot for all time? Now for my own society. I want to build an authoritarian state with me at the top that focuses on science and research. Warriors will be Elite Soldiers and Mages, Scholars will be researchers and farmers will always be farmers. Who do I delegate the most power to?”

“The Warriors. If you want to stay in power you need a loyal military first.” Ulal stops in his tracks and proudly puts his hand on Tangs shoulder. It is a bit of an odd scene as Ulal has to stand on his toes to do so without stretching his arm in an uncomfortable angle. “Exactly. Now, why did I ask about your teeth?” Tang shrugs. “If the strongest pillar in my state is supposed to be the military that in turn means that being in the military must be the hardest thing to be achieved. Privileges, after all, have to be earned. Everyone in the military must be exactly what my state stands for and the higher up the ranks you are the closer you must come to perfection. You will be my elite, the first among the core of my society. You will have to be perfect in the image of my state.”

Ulal spreads out his arms. “Now look around. This is a luxurious city with automated waterways and canalisation, with clean streets. There is a complete district dedicated to crafting, another one for magic and a third one for alchemy. The streets follow a generalized pattern and houses all have the same exterior design philosophy. Do you think my elite is supposed to be illiterate, dirty, missing some teeth and generally look like a field after two years of neglect?”

The former farmers only now realize the true extend of Ulal’s requirements into them. “You are older than I would prefer but I will work with what I can get. You will learn to read and write perfectly, you will learn to fight properly, you will be clean and presentable, you will have perfect manners and most of all you will be loyal. If you fail to deliver in one of these aspects you can forget about serving in my elite but maybe I will find use in you as my foot soldiers. Understand?”

“Yes, Lord Ulal.” Tang says without hesitation. “Your fellow recruits seem to be a bit less enthused.” Ulal points out. Indeed of the other four three look less convinced. “No offense ya lordship, but what ya ask I’ impossible.” One of them slurs in a farmers dialect. “If you think so leave. I have no usage for those without ambition in my army, I am sure Glenn will find a normal line of work for you.”

The man takes a bow and leaves. Another one follows him closely after. Of the remaining three one looks not sure, Ulal guesses that he will give up in the coming days. Tang and the other one however look deadly determined to please Ulal.

“Good, first we need to train you until you reach peak physical potential. Every day before you meet me I want you to run all the way to the city gate and back. Do the same before you go to sleep.” The distance he is describing is several kilometres. “By tomorrow I will prepare training weapons, we will go over basic stances and attack patterns.” This a thing that would have been impossible for Uklag, the warlock never had any experience in melee combat. But with Jalkal’s aeons of experience Ulal is more than suited to teach the recruits one or two things.

“I will also prepare new clothes for you. I will only give you provisory uniforms at first. Once I am sure you will remain in my elite you will be equipped with clothes befitting of your new status and then.” Ulal grins and thinks about the rest of Dragonbone he has hidden in his chambers. “Then I will augment you to become stronger than any human can dream off. I will also give you new teeth while I am at it and correct the current ones. You look awful.

To put it all short: You will be drilled excessively, you will meet my standards in mannerism and hygiene, and if you do so I will reward you. Are the conditions of our contract clear?”

Tang and the other man answer with a resounding, “Yes, Lord Ulal.” While the third one answers only after a slight delay. “Good, you have your orders. You can do whatever you want today but if you want to hear my advice, take a first run and another bath, I will inspect you again tomorrow. You may take any room in the west wing.” Ulal points at the lines of windows above them. “I realize that the higher floors look tempting because of the view but keep in mind the stairs. Your legs might not be able to carry you up there when I am through with you tomorrow.” On that sobering note Ulal walks off. Before he enters the tower he turns to look at the trio one more time. He sees Tang speaking to the other two. Then they start jogging towards the city centre.

“I don’t know about the other two.” He muses as he closes the side entrance behind him. “But that Tang guy will make a wonderful soldier.” “I agree.” Ulal freezes. One of the side chambers is shrouded in darkness, the magical lights turned off. ‘Odd, they should operate at least another week before the energy is depleted.’ Ulal thinks. What is even stranger is that he does not know whose voice this is. “Who is there?”

Out of the side chamber walks a naked young man. His skin is of a dark complexion and glistens in the magical light like he is oiled up. Ulal feels strangely attracted by this dark haired fellow and crosses his arms. “Hans.” The Arch-Demon bursts into laughter. “They way you say that with a completely straight face. Priceless.” He wipes away the tears of laughter. “I had expected a bit more on the fire and electricity side as my hello.” Hans says and chuckles as he thinks about the scene in written words.

“Are you having fun?”

“Who are you talking to?” Ulal asks as the demon turns his head back from the wall. “I am just keeping in mind the possibility of onlookers. So, why not attack me right now?” Ulal grits his teeth, “Because in the end you still kinda won. It pains me to no end but I feel that attacking you is against my very being.” He gives the Incubus an angry look as he laughs mischievously. “You just wait until I surpass you.” Ulal says and narrows his eyes. “I look forward to that. I really do. It has been a while since a Demon has ascended to anything even resembling a threat to the current order. For a trickster like me that is ludicrously boring.”

Ulal walks towards and then right by the Incubus. “So what do you want?” He asks, “I can’t imagine you just coming by for a visit because you wanted to tease me….Actually scratch that I can totally imagine that.” Hans walks after him, “Mhm, yeah, I could do that. Normally I would but I have my mind elsewhere as well so I can’t play with you all the time, little desert fox.”

Ulal shudders as the incubus sensually gives him a nickname. “The only way you and me will even share a sexual act is if you get Shaja involved, so stop with the jokes and get to the point.” Hans sighs, “Fine you mood killer. I wanted to talk to you about my Cult.” Ulal stops and looks at the Arch-Incubus, “Now you have my attention.”

Hans smiles lusciously, “I guessed so. First do you know how the cult is organized?” “Barely. I know that every branch has a Leader that must be able to summon a demon to keep contact with the other Leaders, besides that I know that there is a number of bishops.” Ulal answers.

“Well, it is very easy beyond that. There is a total of five bishops, each representing an Arch-Demon. The one representing me is the Supreme Bishop and has the highest authority.” “And that Bishop is on the way here. As per your orders.” Ulal guesses, “Why?”

“Because, Ulal, even though you might not want to work directly for us our goals still align. Do you think I like a female dominated society? I mean I have nothing against dominant women but whole states of them? The amount of blue balls break my heart….If I had one. On top of that that Vakanth has started wiggling his head again and I would hate it if his influence grew bigger than mine.” Ulal holds his head as the imagines appear again. Teeth ram into his neck and bite out a chunk of flesh, his wings break as he is thrown through the air, his axe lands a few feet away from him on another winged body, torn apart by…

He feels nauseous and is pulled back into reality. “What is Vakanth?” Ulal asks. Hans looks confused, then a grin filled with schadenfreude spreads on his face. “Still not done comprehending Jalkal’s memories? I will not ruin his surprise, for old times’ sake.” “Also because you get off on annoying me.” “Unbelievably.” Hans affirms and playfully moans. “With that out of the way I bid you adieu. We will meet again.” The form of the black skinned man becomes black mist and disappears into the floor. Ulal looks at the point where he was just standing for a bit. Suddenly Hans head pokes back out. “Oh, I also gave your circuit a bit of power as a gift. Check it out.” Then he is gone again.

Ulal runs to the closest window. The Arch-Incubus didn’t lie, at the heart of the city the fountain has activated and the canals are slowly filling with water. “You might be fucking annoying, Hans.” Ulal mumbles and walks away from the window and towards his laboratory. “But this is genuinely helpful.”