Chapter 6: Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Armageddon was a feat that highlighted the tenacity of humanity. Since nature, war, as well as feral and wild animals quickly overtook much of the developed areas and cities. Humanity was forced out into the “wilds” and rugged areas of Anricha in order to survive and settle. Walls, that for so long had been obsolete, were raised in order to ward off apex predators and beast tides. 

 

Armageddon in particular, had a startling 12 metre tall, 3.5 metre thick, and 18 kilometre long wall that surrounded the town. It was a reddish and sandy color, reminiscent of the terrain that the rocks to build the wall came from. Atop the walls there were guard posts dotted about every eight metres, with armed guards either within the post or patrolling. The main road led up to a rather large and domineering gate made completely out of iron. The gate was a sliding gate, about 8 meters tall, and had the iconography of many religions, some familiar and some foreign to me.

 

Perhaps the most interesting thing so far was the guards. For each post there seemed to be people with different uniforms, and more than likely different religions. The gate guards seemed to be muslims, which is the assumption I made based on their facial hair and choice of wear. I could tell the sentries were christian due to seeing the gleaming crosses that were sown onto their uniforms. 

 

The patrolling guards were the all too familiar Hoas, I could tell due to the characteristic screaming skull looking towards the heavens. Every Hoan, after reaching their coming of age, were branded with the Mark of The Lord Of Misery. It was a painful process, the searing of one’s flesh with hot iron. However that’s exactly what’s expected within the Hoa Cult. Depending on where you decided to be Marked, would show your level of devotion to the Lord. Most Hoans’ decided to be branded on the arms or chest, but the most devoted or radical Hoans would choose a spot on their foreheads or cheeks. 

As we trodded up to the gates, we were promptly stopped by a loud shout, “YOU ARE APPROACHING ARMAGEDDON! STATE YOUR BUSINESS.”  Laten took the lead to say loudly in the old language, english is the old tongue as well as the “universal” language of Anricha, “peace be upon you brothers, I am a humble follower of The Lord of Anguish, returning from a mission outside of the holy land.” The guard snorted while mumbling, “infidel…” The other guard, unperturbed , simply lowered his gun before saying, “Then you know the rules, within the city no firearms are allowed. You will be searched and all firearms will have to be turned into your Cult’s armoury.” 

 

Denomas shouted angrily, “We aren’t a cult! We are just as legitimate as any of the Light Era Religions!” The guards looked at eachother, then burst into laughter. One of them stated with ridicule apparent in his voice, “The Light Era Religions spanned every country and continent on Earth, and held sway over billions of people! That little cult run by that scamming druggie of a prophet will never compare to the might of Allah!” These comments caused the other raiders in our party to also get riled up, and the air had become frigid.

 

Just at this moment Laten interceded, coldly saying, “Without our druggie prophet the Holy Land wouldn’t exist, and the Light Era Religions would be scattered like dust in the wind. Moreover insulting the religion and religious leaders of other factions is a clear violation of The New Commandments.”

 

The guards hearing mention of the Commandment violation broke out in a cold sweat. One of them immediately humbled himself while saying, “Apologies brother, please head to the inspection room to complete the process of entering the city.” 

 

Laten simply snorted coldly before motioning for us to follow him to a decently sized cabin that stood not too far from the main gate. Once we entered there were a few more guards, of the muslim faction, that commandeered our firearms. I looked questioningly at Laten, however he gave me a meaningful look that implied that this was the norm. Luckily I’d placed all of my newly gained weapons and wealth into my inventory space. If not I would’ve been exposed just now. Moreover, now that I know that guns aren’t allowed within the city, that means I’m one of the few people who’ve managed to get a weapon into the city. The P220 that I managed to acquire by luck will now likely become my first trump card.

 

After the inspection we were allowed to enter the city. The architecture was very… interesting, it was a mashup of western, arabic, asian, and african houses and buildings. I find it important to mention that when the world went dark the technologies that we’d accumulated over the centuries didn’t just disappear. However our ability to use and operate them did, also without the proper studying materials and equipment, it was extremely hard to properly or fully pass down the knowledge and techniques for more complicated and higher educational requirement jobs. 

 

For instance electricity was available, using the coal-fired power plant method. Coal-fired plants produce electricity by burning coal in a boiler to produce steam. The steam produced, under tremendous pressure, flows into a turbine, which spins a generator to create electricity. The steam is then cooled, condensed back into water and returned to the boiler to start the process over.

 

The process of making a coal burning power plant actually isn’t very hard. Having my years of formal higher education, as long as I had the materials I could likely build one myself! Much less the experienced professionals of one hundred years ago. To add to this, Zeland owns all of Arizona, Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico, areas known to be coal rich.

 

 The only problem is that a lot of the old power plants and mines have been reclaimed by nature, or taken over by animals or bandit and marauder groups as their bases/dens. The struggle then became finding the tools and equipment necessary to make new power plants, as well as finding and mining out coal. 

 

Since there are no longer industrious means of mining and transportation, energy output is low, and only select streets and homes have power. In most cases the ones with power are either those with massive amounts of wealth or influence within their select religion. As for the mass majority of the citizens, the day ends when the sun goes down. 

 

Since most building and manufacturing technologies were lost, it caused the architecture to take an interesting spin of an old fashioned style, mixed with modern elements.  On top of which the diversity in religion and culture also caused a melting pot of different cultures, foods, peoples, and lifestyles to mix and form a unique atmosphere. The air reverberated with the murmurings of people, the yelling and laughter of kids playing, and the sounds of food cooking. There was a strong waft of a mouth watering scent that had a hint of spiciness to it. The brick paved roads were packed with all forms of people rushing up and down, or looking at some stalls that offered small trinkets or food stuff. There were also those sitting in tea shops or small restaurants, while relaxing and chatting leisurely. There was a diversity and vitality here that I hadn’t experienced since I came to this world. 

 

Although the modern environment did shock me, the most startling thing within this city was of course the religions. There were statues and paintings of the plethora of gods, and goddesses dotted everywhere. There were many people openly praying or paying respects everywhere that you look. In the middle of the city was a large building that looked like a mix between a roman temple and an office building, yes I know, weird. While in the four corners of the city stood massive places of worship. The one in the North took a Necropolis style and had a bronze statue of a skeleton crying towards the heavens, I could assume that was the place of worship for the Hoas. In the East was a massive building with a domed roof and rather beautiful and artistic spirals, which belonged to the Muslims. In the West, there was a large Victorian style church with a large golden cross at its pinnacle, clearly the Christians. Lastly in the south there was an open area with multiple small and medium sized temples and altars, where everyone else likely gathered.

 

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From this I picked up on the fact that the Hoas, Christians, and Muslims dominated the capital city of Armageddon. And taking the center of power of Zeland as an example, it’s safe to assume that Hoa are one of the major powers within Zeland. If my assumptions are correct then I truly lucked out in being specially picked out to become a member of a clan within this religion. Unless… my stomach dropped as I thought of a possibility. What truly powerful clan leader would personally go out into the wilds and brave danger for a few quick bucks? The head of a powerful clan usually leads from the rear, directing the clan's future. That could only mean that I’ve become the servant of a 3rd rate clan! 

 

Just as I was going into shock due to high stress levels Laten began to speak. “Listen Toska, there are many things you don’t yet know about Zeland. If you are to be my daughter’s protector you’ll have to be well informed. I’ll only say all of this once so listen up.” I perked my ears and sharpened my focus, this was my chance to expand my knowledge of the world and my current predicament. 

 

Laten pulled out a silver coin, one that looked strikingly similar to the many coins that I had stol- that I’d found lying around after the leaper attack. “Have you ever seen one of these before?” He asked. I shook my head as if I was oblivious, there’s no way I’d admit to steali- discovering all that money. “This,” he said as he slid the coin to me for closer inspection, “is an Atum, it’s the universal currency of Anricha.” This piqued my curiosity, universal currency? I didn’t think the countries here could agree upon something like that, so I asked, “Atum?”

 

Laten sighed, realising he had a lot more to explain then he originally believed. Taking on a somber and mysterious attitude, Laten began speaking once more. “When the world went dark, and the Bleak Era began, there was much war and bloodshed. Many powers rose and many powers fell. After the dust settled, for the most part, the powers you see today are the ones who remained. One of the powers was the Atum Clan, their progenitor, Henry Atum, was a brilliant nuclear physicist, and his knowledge covered a broad range within the nuclear industry. He was located in North Dakota and the communities were smaller and a lot more tight knit, so the violence was drastically smaller when the Bleak Era began. He and his team of close family, friends, and coworkers, quickly set up a new electrical grid, medical facilities, and a standing militia. In exchange for seeds to continue to support their large agri-business, The Atums began trading with people from the savage lands further north (Old Canada). All in all due to The Atums swift consolidation of power, as well as the steady food and energy supply they were the only power not weak after the 100 Years Struggle of the Bleak Era. While every power was licking their wounds and trying to consolidate power, The Atums moved out in force, swiftly occupying the Capital City of every major power, including our own Zeland! However instead of conquering all of Anricha, they simply implemented some forced trade agreements, as well as their own minted coins, and bills as the universal currency, before receding back up north. However they left a warning… they had access to nuclear warheads. Many say it’s a bluff however no one is in the position to, or has the guts to find out.” 

 

Laten let out a long winded breath, “and that is why we have the Atum today, it’s convenient and universal. A copper coin is worth about 1 buck of the old currency, a silver coin would be 10, and a gold 100. After that there are bills that have exact denominations, but those are in low supply due to manufacturing technologies and costs.”

 

I sat there a bit dumbfounded by the amount of information that was dumped on me. My general knowledge of the world that was rewarded to me by the system only mentioned the overall events and not in-depth background about the powers at play. This information gave me a shock and made me realise that just because I have a system doesn’t mean I’m sure to win every battle. The waters here are deep and who knows how long these powers have had to accumulate their wealth.

 

Laten who’d seen my baffled expression chuckled lightly and said, “I know it’s a lot to take in, that’ll be all we cover today. I’ll bring you home to meet your new master, be sure to get along with her, my daughter can be a bit… unique at times.”

 

“Yes Master!” I responded, almost by instinct at this point. He smiled broadly, then led me down one of the many cramped roads of the city. 

 

What I noticed from my observations of this city so far, is that the closer you are to one of the worship areas, the higher your status. While the admin area in the center of the city was more for business and social purposes. I can't say that I was surprised when I arrived  at Laten’s home and the Miscropolis was still quite far in the distance. 

 

Since Laten was an official member of The House of Anguish, his property wasn’t too small. He had about 3 acres of land that was walled in by a 2 metre tall wall. Within the walls stood a 2-story basic house, an apt description would be two large stones placed on top of eachother with holes cut in them. There wasn’t much to see, but it was better than what most could afford in the capital.

 

Just as Laten was opening his mouth to say something we heard from behind the door of the first floor, “Father!”

 

Laten’s face broke into a wide grin and said, “prepare to meet your mistress boy.”

 

“Yes Master!” 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Message To Readers: WTWWD is now up on Royal Road!!! The reception hasn't been as great as over here but I'm working hard. On SH i'll publish the chapters as I make them, on RR I'll publish them in batches of 5. As always enjoy the chapter!

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