6: The United Hanul Syndicate

[Awesome, most of you have got your races and opened your chests. Now, let's talk about empires and kingdoms. If you don't want to have your camp flattened by a passing ruffian, you should probably claim the land. Here, let me show you how...]. (ATTENTION: The category ' Alliances ' has been unlocked). Marlon inspected the new category in his menu.

•••

{[Create an Alliance]}

Alliance Name: [None]

Alliance Members: 0/10

Alliance Land: 0/5

Alliance Culture: [None]

Rank: [None]

Land: 0/ -

Empire Info:

Houses: 0/ -

Empire Inhabitants: 0/ -

Resource Buildings: 0/ -

Population Loyalty: - /100

Population Belief: - /100

Population Mood: [N/A]

(Notice: Updates will be provided during your progression.)

•••

Marlon raised his eyebrows. This was becoming so much more like a video game. Even so, this was interesting. He closely examined each statistic, and determined which ones were important. 'Hey, I have a question' he thought into the help section. [And I'm here to answer them! What's up?] 'What's the difference between empire members and inhabitants?' [Ah, a good query. You see, empire members are contestants such as yourself, whereas inhabitants are... how should I put this... what you people used to call NPC's. I think that is the best way of putting it.] 'Thanks.' Marlon thought in a deadpan tone. He turned back to the menu and began to size up the possibilities.

"H-hey..." Freya nudged him gently. "D-do you know what this alliance thing is about?". Marlon quickly explained it to her, and she nodded. "The kid in the sky seems to want us to work together... maybe we should team up..?" Marlon considered the many outcomes. Of course, their fighting power and resilience would be maximised with teamwork. But that did mean that they would need twice as much food, twice as many weapons, twice as much accomodation. The factors were near limitless. "I- I don't mind if you refuse, but... It's just... I'm...". Her sentence trailed off halfway, but it was barely enough to push Marlon over the edge. "Sure, we can work together.". He shrugged it off as no biggie, but the look of relief on her face managed to soften his hard exterior.

'Alright, how do you ally up with someone?' Marlon thought into the help section. [Alrighty, you have to go into the alliance section like so...]. To Marlon's great suprise, the child manipulated his menu with ease. Marlon knew that this being had a different level of power. [Then, you have to create an Alliance, and decide on a name, description, and banner.]. Marlon thought for a moment and then the entered a name: [The United Hanul Syndicate]. He then quickly picked a banner. It was a red background with a black dagger, and Marlon was rather proud of it. 'Can I do the description later?' he thought. [Sure! You can only edit and alliance name and banner once a month, but the description can be changed any time!]. A mental thanks sent, Marlon finished the alliance creation, and then took a double take as new additions to his menu popped up left right and centre.

There were a lot of new features, but Marlon immediately clicked on [Invite Member]. His vision turned green, and there were boxes around his fellow contestants. He turned to Freya, and selected her. [Invite successfully sent!] the sky baby said, taking the form of the system. Freya blinked a few times, and her face contorted into an expression of concentration. [Attention: 'Freya' has accepted your alliance invitation!]. "T-thanks." Freya said, her voice quiet, but easy to find and distinguish over the crowd. Marlon guessed it was a feature of being in an alliance. "What did you get from your chest?" he asked her. "I-I haven't opened it yet... I'll do it now."

Freya opened her inventory, and to Marlon's suprise, he realised he could see her menu. He mentioned this to her, and she sighed in relief. "Th-that's good. It shows a kind of trust, don't you think? Also, you can help me with things I don't understand." Marlon, impatient to see her result, nodded and walked to stand beside her. She took a deep breath, and opened the race chest.