"I see, so that's what troubles you." Felldir concluded as they all sat around the giant pot eating.
"Yes, I only wish for my people to live in peace and grow, rather than participating in the continuous wars the Central Continent takes part in." King Marco said deflated, but hope was there as he spoke to these Immortals that have taken refuge in his mountain, especially the wise looking old Felldir.
"What's there to think about, friend? Just raise your banners and crush the opposing forces before settling down, peace is only possible if you take the first step and rise victorious." Hakon stated.
"I agree!" Gormlaith raised her drink to Hakon's statement.
King Marco shook his head, not liking that idea one bit, of course he knew that war is unavoidable sometimes but he was hoping for a more peaceful solution.
"How often do conflicts occur?" Felldir asked.
"Every decade, the majority of the kingdoms in the Central Continent take part in the struggle for power. Some kingdoms fall and some are conquered, while some of the powerful kingdoms in the past tried to rule all the factions but they never succeeded. It's a never ending cycle, the weak get trampled while the strong never make it to the peak of power."
"I believe…" King Marco paused, not sure if he should say his thoughts.
"Go on." Felldir urged.
"…I believe the factions on the outer continent have influence in the Central Continent."
The Outer Continent is a term used for those in the Central Continent of Hunari, referring to the Southern, Western, Northern and Eastern sides of Hunari.
The Outer Continents have the strongest factions among the humans, while the Central Continent have mid to low factions in power, and King Marco believed that these Outer Factions use the Central Factions as an equalizer of sorts, to make sure other factions don't get too much power.
It would explain why the strongest factions in the Central Continent fall before they can reach an equal footing with those Outer Factions.
"You believe some of the kingdoms have connections to the factions in the Outer Continent?"
"I do…"
"Hmmm."
"That's why I believe it's better for Ladon to stay away from all the conflicts and instead grow into a great kingdom for ourselves."
"How strong are those in the Outer Continent?" Gormlaith questioned excitedly, hoping for a challenge.
"Those factions are the strongest humanity has, they basically protect us from the other Demi-Humans from the outside Continent."
"Have you thought of any ideas yet?" Felldir asked, bringing the topic back.
"I…I thought about declaring neutrality for Ladon, but it might do worse than us participating in the conflicts." King Marco said exasperatedly.
Declaring neutrality can cause disruption in the economy since they rely heavily on trades with other kingdoms, past alliances, diplomatic issues and consequences for Ladon's standing in the international community, not to mention that just because they wish to remain neutral it does not mean other kingdoms would not bother them.
And if what he suspects is correct then the Outer Continents Factions might deem Ladon useless in their little game and get rid of them.
"That it might." Felldir thought the same. "Perhaps delaying your decisions while you grow stronger might be a good option."
"Delay…?"
"Yes, sometimes doing nothing can be the wisest choice, although strangely often the most difficult."
••••••••••••••••••
While Felldir, Hakon, Gormlaith, King Marco and Cupcake are having their meals, Nathaniel stands in front of the collapsed wooden building with his arms crossed, looking unamused.
In front of him, Arniel Gane, stood apologetically.
"This is the second time this week, Arniel." Nathaniel huffed out.
"I know, but it's fascinating!" Arniel started with a mad look in his eyes. "Everything is so different, yet similar. We, my lord, We are like anomalies in this world, like celestial beings in a world of fragility!"
"Back in Nirn, we are simple beings, every law and every part of Nirn worked as they should like fishes in water, but here we are like sea serpents! The laws here are only fit for those who belong here, unlike us who are from a higher realm, it's almost as if…"
As the balding mad-researcher kept on, Nathaniel couldn't help stopping the annoyed twitches on his brows.
Arniel Gane, a resident in Skyrims College of Winterhold, from what he can remember he wasn't a teacher.
He was a researcher on…various things.
But Nathaniel remembered the spell, [Arniel's Shade]. A spell that summons a ghost-like appearance of Arniel Gane, but currently he is not one, just as Gormlaith, Felldir and Hakon aren't summoned as ghosts.
There were a lot of things different with the spells he has, they are much stronger than they usually are in the game.
After testing how many summons he can use, he discovered that there was no limit, hence the presence of the three Sovngarde legends, the flaming familiar and Arniel Gane himself.
Currently he has been leaving them to their own things to see if there is a time limit to their presence, but it's been more than a week and none of them have disappeared out of the blue, yet.
He thought Arniel, as the mad researcher he is, would be able to find some answers for them about their existence in this world.
But the balding man tends to ramble on about everything else but the point, but at least there's progress.
"Enough." Nathaniel stopped the mage's ramble. "You will be cleaning this up and putting it back together."
"Why of course, how else can I have my own place of research."
"Let's get something for our stomachs for now." Nathaniel said as he walked towards the others followed by Arniel.
Arniel, seeing the new arrival, asked. "Who's that?"
"The man who rules the land we stay in, go greet him."
"Ahh! Perfect, I need more of those books he brought you."
After a simple greeting, Arniel decided to satisfy his curiosity by asking King Marco questions, too many for King Marco to absorb.
But Nathaniel put a stop to it and to leave those talks for later, King Marco didn't seem to mind and also gave Arniel access to his Royal library.
After all, Arniel might be the key to figuring out where they stand in this world in rankings as well as the differences.
It was then that Felldir brought up the previous topic they had with King Marco.
"Hmm, a peaceful solution." He started, he wasn't great in political ideas but he does know a few things from earth. "I might have something in mind…"
"Do you? Please, advise me." King Marco found hope.
"Gather an alliance."
"Alliance…?" The king's brow frowned slightly, he was hoping for something more but there is already an alliance.
Even now Ladon is aligned with a few other kingdoms to fight off bigger foes altogether.
"Yes, but not for potential conflicts, rather for peace agreements and support."
"…how is that any different from what we already have?" King Marco asked carefully, he didn't wanna make it look like he was questioning Nathaniel's solutions.
"Well for one, you're stronger than before right? So you have a better chance against the other leaders from what you told me. Second, you'll only gather those factions that don't want any conflicts, and you will help each other grow to the point where no other will seek trouble from you."
"That's…" King Marco paused to think, there isn't much of a difference with what Nathaniel suggested and what they have now, the only difference is that a lot of the powerful kingdoms in the alliance seek conflict and ambitions against others.
"I know it's confusing considering I'm suggesting something that's oddly familiar with the current alliance you have with the others, but this time you have us." Nathaniel smirked.
"Some of the powerful factions in the Central Continent might have connections to the Outer Continent Factions, so you can't do much against them but we will help."
"We will?!" Hakon and Gormlaith's ears perked, excitedly.
The same can't be said for Lucien though.
"Yes, go visit all the factions you think will fit your description for the non-conflict alliance, after that we'll talk about what's next."
"Very well, I know four small kingdoms just as big as ours that would join." King Marco stated. He decided to just follow Nathaniel's suggestions and see how it turns out.
••••••••••••••••
The next day, Arniel was in the royal library of the palace, drowning in books of history and such.
Of course, he had to ask permission from Nathaniel first.
That was another thing they discovered, they had to have Nathaniel's say so if they had any thoughts of moving too far from him, which makes some sense in the concepts of the game. Though Arniel and the others simply thought that their connections to Nathaniel prevented them from deserting their servitude towards him.
Gormlaith had been spending her time hunting in the mountains and forests.
Hakon started visiting the royal blacksmith of the kingdom, trying to compare what he knows as an inhabitant of Nirn with Terren.
Lucien was rarely seen unless he was called by Nathaniel, as he mostly kept to the shadows.
Felldir had taken it upon himself to learn about this world through the people instead of the books.
It is turning into a regular occurence to see Nathaniel, Hakon and Felldir mingling with the Ladonians.
It occurred more so when Arniel made —forced— to make a certain relic with Nathaniel to weaken their powerful leaking energies.
Just Like today.
As the Ladonians are building new homes in the North side of the city, King Marco, his children and royal guards have arrived to help.
But they didn't expect the trio to be there mingling and laboring with the others.
King Marco and his group stood there watching a sight they would consider rare, for those powerful like Nathaniel, Hakon and Felldir.
Children's laughter rang out around the area, while the women went around with food or sat down catching up on the recent events.
Felldir went around pouring tea for the workers and others, a drink he prided himself as he made it.
Hakon has been guiding a very hesitant man, the head builder, in constructing and designing the foundation of the new homes.
Of course, the head builder had his own way of doing things, but here in this situation a burly beaming man came to find him specifically before offering his expertise in the world of architecture, but who is he to say otherwise.
Nathaniel on the other hand helped out the laborers by carrying wood and all sorts of components used for the construction.
But while doing that, a few children floated around him giggling.
"Uncle, that way! That way!"
"Higher! Higher! Make me go higher!"
But while he did so, a few laborers who saw that grumbled, wondering why he wouldn't just move the entirety of everything to its needed space with his [Telekinesis].
"Ah, King Marco." Nathaniel greeted.
"Nathaniel, what's…going on?" King Marco can obviously see what's going on, but maybe voicing it out would let him believe it.
"We are lending a hand out to our neighbors." Nathaniel said before he closed in and whispered. "Plus, some of them have no homes thanks to me."
"Ah…" King Marco chuckled, he couldn't help but like these Immortals more as time went on. Makes him glad he gave them the right to stay in the Sky Mountain.
And he was right, he will come to realize time and again what a great decision it was to give these people a home in the mountains.