"World announcements."
"They are rare and are only used for one of two things."
"The first is the most common use, which is to announce the progress of the leading players and their interaction with various important parts or milestones of the game."
"Those who first encounter important milestones, such as a grandmaster-level plot that could change a nation dramatically."
"The second and much rarer use is to announce an event that has worldwide consequences."
"This includes the rise of a new superpower or other important event."
"And can also include events that happen and have a large effect on the real world."
Theodore Felond, CEO of Felonds Fashionable Goods and head of House Forlond.
….
15th of June, mid-afternoon, 4009 ASA (after species awakening)
Railius was still in somewhat of a daze as he made his way out of the Nathian royal palace. His loyal Pelican Guards, waiting outside, rushed over as soon as they saw him step out of the imposing fortress-like gate.
To say the meeting with the king did not go as the young player expected would be a gross understatement.
For King Luther Kendari seemed to be far more terrifying than he expected.
Just thinking about the small amount of information he had about the Nathian kings' machinations sent chills down Railius' spine, making him shudder.
This would be the last time that he underestimated someone purely based on their reputation.
Otherwise, next time he may not be able to get out of the predicament alive.
It was Jordis who took him out of his seemingly morose state.
"My lord, are you okay? Did something happen? Is the king planning to make a move against you?"
Railius' childhood friend said, worried, as it had been a while since he had ever seen his lord so serious and broody.
He was only like this when he needed to ponder his next move carefully.
"Everything's fine if King Luther wanted to make a move against me, he would have dealt with me while I was in the palace and under his power."
"Let's just say that the king is worthy of his throne."
Railius said quietly after sighing, not giving much away, as if the terrifying Nathian king thought for even a second that the young lord of House Aurellion had leaked any of his dealings, then he would not live long.
It was only then that Railius' attention returned to the system notifications that he had ignored until now, as until now his mind had been preoccupied with surviving the Nathian king's interrogation.
[Congratulations to the player Rising Pelican Of Loyalty for being the first player to detect a grandmaster-level political plot.]
[Would you like your name to be broadcast in the world system announcement? Y/N]
To be completely honest, Railius was wondering why the system wanted to make world announcements now of all times, as it had not made any except to tell people about patches and game updates.
All the other announcements were either regional or nationwide.
Perhaps it was related to player progression, as discovering grandmaster-level plots and storylines would significantly impact players' progression and, occasionally, even the game's overall progression, as no quest is set in stone, so changing a kingdom's fate can have massive consequences both in and out of the game.
But no matter the reason, it was irrelevant to Railius, as only a fool would paint such a target on their back and for Railius, who for the start of the next war at least wanted to stay low key, even revealing his player name was a risk.
So, of course, our lazy lord Aurellion, who wanted to avoid anything that was even slightly inconvenient for him, there was really only one option for him to choose.
He decisively selected the no option.
[World system announcement]
[Congratulations to player **** for being the first player to detect a grandmaster-level political plot.]
After dealing with this minor inconvenience, Railius, who had unknowingly stirred up another storm amongst the playerbase, finally had a chance to look at his other unexpected gains from the meeting, as who would have thought that one meeting with a powerful NPC would be able to upgrade one's character so much.
….
Insight (Expert) (Passive):
Description: Insight represents one's ability to see into someone's emotions and intentions. This can help a player in many ways, from predicting someone's plans to figuring out whether they are lying; there are many benefits to having a high insight skill.
Effect: All skills below expert grade will not affect a player's judgment of a person or their intentions.
A small chance exists that one may feel something is off when facing a master or someone with a higher-level skill.
Can be combined with other skills to help the player understand the world around them.
….
Politics (Expert) (Passive):
Description: The politics skill helps a player to navigate the murky world of politics, allowing one with a high enough insight to see even the most minor political ripples running through a nation's upper echelons and people.
It also aids in constructing political plots against opponents and in developing policies that are widely accepted by a nation's people.
Effect: increases the chance that any political policy the player puts forward will be readily or reluctantly accepted.
Increases the chance of the player detecting political schemes planned against them.
Increases the difficulty of others detecting your plots and secret movements.
….
While the increase in his skill levels was helpful, it was the Inheritable Dynasty Trait that he was rewarded with that really helped Railius and his Dynasty.
While having a character become skilled in many skills can help in the short term, and a player can use their experiences to help their heir level up quickly, it will still take a few in-game years to get them back up to the level of your previous character if they managed to live to an old age.
Inheritable Dynasty Traits and the bonus you get for them, however, are never lost, and every member of the dynasty, whether a player or NPC plays it, will have access to them. This is especially important for NPCs because, unlike players, who can rely on their innate intelligence and skills in the real world to perform at a skill level above that given by the system, NPCs are limited by their skill level in a particular skill.
For example, a master of martial arts in the real world may be able to hold off or even defeat a master fighter in the game using their experiences in the real world, despite not being at the master level himself, while an NPC would struggle far more to do such a thing.
Typically, it is only when someone is on the verge of a breakthrough to a higher level that they can perform above their usual skill level. There could also be other reasons, but the most common reason an expert beats or holds off a master fighter is that they have recently been promoted to that rank during the fight and managed to pull off an upset.
While uncommon, such phenomena do happen, especially if someone is in an emotionally charged state.
Even a baby can get benefits from Inheritable Dynasty Traits. However, most of these effects will only manifest if they manage to make it to adulthood and follow the path to activate them.
For example, suppose a Dynasty member in a Dynasty focusing on martial might suddenly decides not to train with the sword as a child. In that case, even the best inheritable Dynasty Trait will not be activated or show its effects.
After all, nothing in the game is inviolable.
….
Political Sensitivity: (Inheritable Dynasty Trait) (Passive)
Description: Your dynasty has experience with political affairs and has developed an innate feeling when a political situation is going awry.
This could be an ally trying to betray you, or something unexpected happening that is either beneficial or harmful to your dynasty.
This allows you to make moves that benefit your dynasty more and avoid calamities.
Effect: Members of this dynasty will feel when something is not right, giving you a chance to counter a potential move or plot made against your noble house, no matter the political plot's level.
Members of this dynasty will have an innate understanding of its surrounding political atmosphere and people's positions, allowing them to seamlessly advance and retreat when necessary.
All political plots made by members of this dynasty will be harder to detect.
….
This inheritable dynasty trait is extremely powerful, and any noble house would be blessed to have it.
It is a trait that will allow Railius and even any NPC dynasty members to feel when something is not right. This will help them to avoid or at least detect plots made against them, which can be from assassination attempts to attempts to remove them from their positions or frame them for a crime they did not commit.
For a noble house, this is essential when dealing with the political ploys that usually take place in a kingdom where everyone is jockeying for more, whether that is power, money or position.
Even the most loyal vassal is likely to rebel or feel some sort of resentment towards a lord who infringes on their core interests.
After all, people are not robots, and even the most loyal subordinate can be influenced to betray for one reason or another.
After looking over his new skill and Inheritable Dynasty Trait, Railius went to his next planned stop.
The crown prince's residence.
The reason was simple, so on edge was Railius during his meeting with the Nathian king that the young lord forgot entirely to get his help in forging yet another false identity for him so that he could smoothly enter Ranier Lantier's army and directly join the war effort.
While Leon was responsible for carrying out a plot hatched by Railius to help set fire in Chavaria's backyard, Railius himself would take what men he could spare and directly join the main battlefield at Nartook Fortress.
This way, he had two ways of making contributions to the war and helping to fend off the Chavarian advance, which was likely to be led by Archtorius Shadowspire, a man with a deeply entrenched history with House Aurellion.
If Railius could make him or his men hesitate for a second by making an appearance at a crucial moment, then it would be worth it.
After all, it was he who stabbed a sword into Lucius Aurellion's back, killing him and allowing Prince Flavius, no now he should be called Emperor Flavius, to take the position of crown prince and frame the loyal Chavarian general with his own crimes.
He had personally killed a man whom he had looked up to as a teacher and an almost-father-like figure.
So, having to fight and kill that man's son would affect even the most cold-hearted man, even if the reason for your betrayal was to protect your own family.
It would be better if he could gain the Chavarians' attention and think that he had brought all of his available forces to help the Nathians defend Nartook Fortress, as it would make Leon's more covert operation have a higher chance of success.
It did not take long for Railius to get an audience with the crown prince, as it appeared that Kodjis Kendari, much like his father, Luther, had been keeping tabs on him, which is not surprising considering all the trouble House Aurellion had stirred up over the last 2 and a half to 3 years.
The very least such shenanigans deserved was a government and royal family that kept an eye on them.
Otherwise, they would not know when the next crisis caused by Railius would suddenly appear, taking them off guard.
As the young lord of House Aurellion did not have the habit of asking before acting as he saw fit.
The last crisis required both the crown prince and the king to work together to solve, showing that the magnitude of the earthquakes that Railius and his subordinates can conjure is of a higher magnitude than that of your typical noble house.
"What do you want, Railius?"
"What trouble have you or your fanatical followers stirred up this time?"
"Honestly, your Pelican Guards give even the most fanatical of the gods' followers a run for their money."
"And that is no easy feat, Railius."
The crown prince said from behind his ornate desk in an exhausted tone, letting out a long, deep sigh.
It was the same desk and room where he had met with Winston when Railius' men decided to kick up a storm in response to his assassination attempt.
Being the crown prince was not an easy position to begin with, and it is even harder when half the ministers and nobles at court support someone else.
After all, his brother has attracted many people to his cause, especially when those in the royal court realised which of the two was easier to manipulate.
Many gods favoured had also joined Prince Ralhans' faction for some unknown reason to him, though this was the simple fact that players would be able to gain far more under Rahlan than they could under the crown prince.
This is because the crown prince would make the kingdom stronger.
And a strong nation is not easy for players to infiltrate or gain power in, while a weak and corrupted nation was, and if that nation eventually falls to rebellion.
Well….
That would just plant the seeds for a player-led nation to arise.
And unlike NPCs, other players were far more likely to see things their way, let alone the businesses that would much rather monopolise the player resources within a nation they controlled.
That's right, players have become resources to these companies, people who spend money on their products rather than their competitors.
Players especially those who only see NPCs as pieces of code instead of people will always want more whether that is power land or wealth they will want more.
Especially because that wealth can be turned into real money in the real world.
Who hasn't dreamed of living in a mansion, waited on day and night?
Or dreamed of owning a pool that you can enter and leave as you wish.
As long as you do well in the game and get your hands on enough money and land in-game, you can achieve all your dreams in real life.
And have a real chance of joining the upper echelon of society, something that for so long has been out of reach of even the most talented of commoners, as mobility between classes began to stagnate.
You would have thought that having the two grand dukes on the crown prince's side, with one of them being one of the best generals in the world, would lead to more players supporting Kodjis, and while the smarter ones realised the power these two key figures wielded, others did not.
Instead, all they saw was two grand duchies and other loyalist land for them to gobble up and take for themselves.
The result of this is that Kodjis, who Railius noted seemed to have no idea of his father's plans, feels that he is fighting alone in the royal court, with only the most honourable noble and loyal couriers and nobles taking his side.
Seeing the state of the crown prince, Railius decided to try to cheer him up a bit.
"Oh, who ever said I came because I wanted something?"
"Surely I can come just to show my support to Your Highness in these troubled times."
"Everyone needs the help and support of a friend once in a while."
Railius said his voice filled with mirth.
"Uh huh."
The crown prince scoffed, raising one unamused eyebrow at Railius' antics.
It was clear that Kodjis didn't believe the young, lazy Lord Aurellion in the slightest.
Though as long as Railius was here, Kodjis may as well get as much out of him as possible, as an impromptu visit from Railius was a rare thing these days.
Especially when you had something that he wanted, like the Nathian crown prince did.
"What did you talk to my father about?"
The crown prince asked, though he knew the reason.
No matter how mediocre his father was, he would want an explanation from Railius for the actions his men took.
"The incident nearly two years ago."
Railius said, deciding to tell the truth, he didn't lie, he just omitted the critical bits of the conversation he had with the king.
The more confidential parts that could not be leaked for any reason.
After all, Railius much liked his head and would like to see it on his shoulders a bit longer.
Kodjis just nodded.
That was what he had expected them to talk about, but now he wanted Railius' take on Chavarias' recent actions.
"What are your thoughts on Chavaria's recent actions?"
Kodjis asked, his voice turning from exhausted to serious.
"Chavaria is preparing for war, specifically against Nathia."
Railius said confidently because if he wasn't sure, he wouldn't have mobilised Leon in advance and attracted attention towards himself.
"Because of the grain being shipped in large quantities south?"
"Because of the grain being shipped in large quantities down south."
Railius nodded, confirming Kodji's suspicions.
It was so much easier to talk to an intelligent person, as you didn't need to use many words at all to get all your meaning across.
"Who do you think will lead the Chavarian army, Archtorius?"
Kodjis asked because, although the crown prince had information on Chavaria and its army, he might not be aware of any hidden powerhouses or pieces that Railius might have as the successor to its previous commanding general, who had built it up together with Drusus Dardinius.
"That is the most likely candidate, but with Emperor Cassius now dead, there is another possibility."
"A man hidden in the shadows and remembered only by a few old monsters."
"And I really hope he doesn't come forward, or we will not have a good chance of winning this war."
Railius said his eyes gleaming with intelligence, his gaze and demeanour often casual and unworried, turned as serious and depressed as the crown prince's previous mood.
It even seemed a little scared.
"Who?"
Kodjis asked with urgency, as it was rare to see Railius ever show fear when mentioning someone.
"Amulius Lunaris, the Chavarian Minister of War."
Railius said, his tone turning dark.
"A minister?"
"Why would a minister leading an army be so frightening?"
The crown prince asked, confused, being too young to recognise the name of the monster who had been hidden so deeply by Chavaria for nearly 40 years.
"Because that minister is a grandmaster strategist who helped the first emperor, Cassius Crestier, destroy two kingdoms, as he was the one who made all the plans during the unification wars alongside my father and Drusus.
Railius answered, making the crown prince shocked, as everyone was under the impression that Drusus made all the plans and couldn't imagine that there was another monster behind them.
Though it does make the Chavarian Empire's rise a bit more believable, as having two grandmaster strategists would make destroying two kingdoms within a decade or two more palatable to the world.
Silence lingered for a few minutes, with only the sound of Kodji's fingers tapping rhythmically against the table filling the void.
"Now, what's the reason that you have come to see me, as you don't normally do social calls?"
The crown prince asked, changing the subject.
"I would like to request another fake ID and help to get me and my men into your father-in-law's army."
"You want to fight on the front lines? If that is so, why did Leon take the bulk of your forces out of the kingdom?"
The crown prince asked, wondering what wizardry Railius used to get his most stalwart protector to leave the kingdom while he went to the battlefield. After all, he killed a landed noble for daring to try to kill his lord, even if it was not intentional.
Thinking about it more, Kodjis imagined Railius didn't tell Leon at all about his direct participation in the war.
And he would be right.
Railius gave Leon his mission, omitting the fact that he would be directly fighting on the front lines of the upcoming war with Chavaria.
All to put his chess pieces in the right place and get the maximum benefit, as he was well aware that his former regent would never leave for Chavaria otherwise.
Railius never imagined that it would be his men's near absolute and fanatical loyalty that would begin to give him countless headaches.
"I do, and to do so, I need the help of Your Royal Highness."
Railius said his voice was as firm as steel.