Law of Consequences- Chapter 7 (Patreon)

Chapter 7- Vassal State

Everyone grew quiet for a moment and all eyes were on me. I took my time and walked into the bar. I might as well sit down and have a drink if I was going to talk, and the reality was that I wanted to make them wait a bit. Maybe I’d missed my calling in show business because I was definitely trying to build it up.

I reached out to Josie and telepathically said, “Great job again. Keep your eyes open. I wouldn’t put it past some of these idiots to react badly.”

“As if any of them could hurt you. The stronger I get the more I realize just how far you’ve climbed.”

“Only because of you, but we can pat each other on the back later.”

“I’ve got some other places I’d rather you patted me.” She gave me a wink as she sent that last telepathic message, but then we were inside and the bar was quickly filling up. My ploy to get their attention had clearly worked.

I noticed that the teams we had fought were all coming in too, so either they wanted a chance at revenge or fighting without killing them, well other than for one-eye, had worked out. That was good. There’d need to be some strong people here if they were going to take the next step and I wasn’t going to waste the strength of Yonderton on them until they’d proven themselves.

I paid for a drink and then sat down. Finally someone said, “Well are you gonna talk or just drink?”

“Waiting for everyone to get here that wants to listen.”

The bar owner said, “Not many more can fit in. Besides, whatever you have to say the word will spread.”

I smiled. I was still making some of this up as I went, but I had a good feeling for it. My enhanced Soul Projection combined with my expanded senses gave me a sense of where everyone stood, not just physically but also in terms of openness to what I was going to say.

There was a general sense of receptivity to whatever I was going to say, although there was also a measure of confusion. The reality was that here in the Untamed Lands like everywhere else on Olimero, strength was respected.

“Okay, so you’ve seen a little bit of what I can do and a bit more of what my wife can do. I don’t want this to start with a threat, but I guess I sorta am going to. Despite what you just saw, that is only a fraction of the power I possess. I have several more wives, and each is powerful in their own way.

“But like I said, I don’t want to threaten you. I want to offer you something. I don’t care which god you follow or no god at all. All I care is that you agree to two things. First, you agree to respect the four laws. That is a deal breaker. If you can’t do that, then we can’t co-exist. Truthfully, though I think that some of you have a better understanding of what the laws of strength and freedom mean more than anyone else in Olimero.

“You want to live your own lives and do so by your own might. I respect that. You also have to give credence to the law of family because without family we have nothing. You might enjoy living the solitary life, but without families the worlds gonna come to an end.”

Someone in back called out, “What about the law of blood?”

“Glad you asked. I will be instituting it here because there have to be consequences. That brings me to the truest law of all, a law which even the gods have to answer to, the law of consequences.”

“Ain’t never heard of that,” a foxkin hunter said.

A wolfkin woman said, “You’re just looking for a way to rule us with the power of fear from the law of blood.”

I let them vent. A few more people spoke up, but I just let it go. Finally, when it simmered down, I said, “I can destroy you all if I want right now. That is fear of what sort.”

“But the law of blood kills the soul, not just the body,” the bar owner said.

“So it does, but do you think a god needs the law of blood to destroy your soul?”

He shook his head and the foxkin hunter in the front snorted, “So now you’re saying you’re a god?”

“No, but the next closest thing and trust me, I can destroy a soul without the law of blood. As for what the law of consequences means, it’s simple. All of our actions have consequences. We may be strong, and you might say the law of strength lets you live the way you want to, but when you alienate everyone around you, then you struggle to make a living because no one will do business with you.

“There’s always a price to pay. So, here is the second part of my proposal.”

I gave it a moment so there would be silence and I’d be sure that everyone was listening to me. “I will allow you to decide how the Untamed Lands will be governed in most matters, although I’d recommend a council or something. I won’t send deputies here other than periodically to check up and make sure the four laws are being followed. You can live your lives the way that you want to. But in turn you’ll all agree to become a vassal state to Yonderton. You’ll pay taxes to Yonderton and you’ll support Yonderton if it comes to an all out war.

“In exchange, I’ll provide you with markets for all your goods. You’ll get better prices and be able to move more goods. You’ll also have access to all of our shops which will provide you a better quality of life. I will protect you against any threats which are beyond you and you’ll be able to send one representative to sit on a council which will advise me.”

Then the last part came out. It was something I’d been pondering, but hadn’t even realized that I’d come to a conclusion about. “Yonderton is going to expand. It has to. The aerie to the north, the Untamed Lands, Westerton, and likely Centrum all have to become part of a new state all under my rule. There is war in the east and refugees coming to us. Bizarre unliving enemies are headed this way. There is no sitting out. So either I have to do away with the threat to my west or I gain a new ally.”

As expected, a number of the hunters wanted to talk. They asked me a few questions about just what I envisioned it would mean for them to fall under the banner of Yonderton. I answered the questions as bluntly as possible. It would be better to avoid misunderstandings later on and I took these people for the type who respected just saying things plainly.

Josie and I ended up taking a walk around the outpost. A few times we were stopped. We looked but there wasn’t anything we needed to buy here and I wasn’t going to spend gold just to make friends. In the end, we were called back to the bar after about an hour.

“I hope they accept your offer. I’d hate to have to destroy all of them after going to all this trouble,” Josie said.

“They already have.”

She glanced at me with an arched eyebrow.

“Just trust me. I can perceive a lot more than I could before.”

The mumbled over her breath, “This could become annoying.”

I grinned but didn’t reply.

Inside the bar, we found the elf, wolfkin, and a hawkkin, sitting at a table with the bar owner. They represented the three parties which had fought against us. Each of them had some power, so I could respect that. I didn’t say a word, but instead went and sat down. Josie took up a position behind me.

Finally, the bar owner said, “We can’t exactly rule over everyone here, but we’ll agree to let you know about any troublemakers. In return, we expect to be allowed to come into Yonderton to buy goods and find merchant caravans so we can ship out the monster parts we hunt.”

The wolfkin added, “If we can get a better price for our goods and not have to take them east ourselves, that will go a long way.”

The others nodded.

“I’ll do better than that. I’ll make sure that we set up caravans just for your materials, that is what we don’t buy ourselves. Several of my wives have high level crafting skills and may have use for many of your materials.”

The hawkkin shrugged, “Doesn’t matter to us as long as you pay a fair price.”

“Always. No reason to go to all this trouble if I didn’t want to do business.”

The elf asked, “The only thing we aren’t certain about is what it means that we have to follow the four laws.”

“It’s pretty simple. Don’t infringe on other people’s family or freedom. Support the community. I know you compete against other hunters. That’s fine. Keep it up. But if there is a threat to the community, I expect you to work together. If you can’t handle it, then send for help. We’ll come up with a magical means for you to quickly reach out to me, but for now you’ll just have to send someone.

“The biggest thing is, that if you spot any signs of slavery or groups trafficking in people, like some of the gangs were in Yonderton, then you let us know and help us put it down.”

The elf nodded. The others looked at one another. It was the bar owner who spoke up first. “What about any people around here who might have servants who weren’t exactly willing when it began?”

“I’ll grant amnesty to anyone who comes forward. Then some of my people will determine if the slave or servant or employee or whatever other term is being used want to stay here or want to leave. If they want their freedom, then it’ll be granted.”

“What about if their wives to some of the hunters?”

I pinched the bridge of my nose between my finger and thumb. I’d known this was coming. “I’m not here to try to break up families, but a family that was created based on slavery can’t have the same protections. So we’ll handle it on a case-by-case basis, but don’t think you’ll be able to deceive the people I send. They will have the ability to read minds or detect truth.”

While the mind reading thing might not be exactly true, I didn’t doubt that Nimeera would be able to get to the bottom of this.

We discussed a few more concerns, then ultimately, set a date in a week for me to come back and accept oaths of loyalty from anyone who was going to keep working out of this outpost. They let me know about two other smaller outposts and said they’d spread the word. I’d just have to make quick stops there when I returned.

I grabbed Josie before using Blink Body to travel back to town in an instant. Overall, this had gone about as well as I could have hoped for. They weren’t exactly our friends, but hopefully, I wouldn’t have to worry about a threat to the west for a while. Who knew, if things worked out, we might soon be sending crews from Yonderton to upgrade this outpost. It would need a name, but that was a future issue.