Anaphiel did not knock on the door. Long before she stood in front of it, she conjured a gust of air with a casual sweep. The wind blew on the heavy door which burst open inwards.
Then she stormed in as if she owned the place. It was not so, but she had her own reasons for being so at home.
When the door slammed violently against the opposite stone wall and a chilly squall swept through the building, the employee dozing behind her desk woke up with a start.
The young woman was just as tall and pretty as Anaphiel, but her pointed ears and silky, leaf-green hair told them that they had little in common. Except for their well-moisturized pale skin and their sleeveless black dresses that were almost identical as if it was not a raunchy outfit, but a uniform.
As for other things, she was about as flat as a pancake, and lacked curves, but her hazel eyes twinkling mischievously behind her black-rimmed glasses could certainly appeal to men with those kinds of kinks.
"Achoo! Geez, close the door behind y- Oh Anaphiel, it's you!" The office worker's attitude changed dramatically when she recognized the stone-faced woman. "What brings you here?"
Ikaris and his companions also entered the dimly lit antechamber and some surprise appeared on the clerk's face.
"New immigrants? If you're here... One of them has a Stele?!" The young woman immediately turned into an eager predator.
She jumped over her desk with a bang and landed in front of them performing a double front flip.
"Which one is it?" She asked feverishly as she stared at them in quick succession. "My Wynken House is willing to double any offer the other Houses have made you so far."
She came within an inch of Malia and began sniffing her clothes, and if Anaphiel hadn't interfered she probably would have started a body search.
" Don't waste your time. They have already signed their contracts with my House Morgunis." The cold beauty replied sneeringly as she unfurled one of the signed contracts right under her nose.
The office worker squinted her eyes then snatched the parchment and began to skim it. When she reached the last clause, she let out a defeated squeal with a sulky pout,
"Damn it! It's been at least a month since we had a new Stele holder in the Warring Lands... My family would have been so proud of me."
"Yeah, yeah, and my parents will be proud of me instead of yours if that makes you feel any better." Anaphiel rolled her eyes in an impatient voice.
"Ana..."
"What now, Cleome?"
"Your words do not comfort me at all!" Cleome exploded, kicking her in the shin.
CLANG!
"Aoouuch! That fucking hurts!"
Anaphiel rolled her eyes again as she saw Cleome jumping in pain while holding her swollen foot.
"I'm in a hurry. The afternoon is moving along and I want the new protégés of my House Morgunis to have their new identity papers and territory picked out by nightfall regarding you know what."
Cleome stopped fidgeting and got serious again. She returned to her desk and grabbed a puzzling device from one of its drawers with both hands.
The object looked like a perfectly circular fried egg from above. Except that the yellow had been replaced by a huge sapphire and the white by a black metal disc. There were strange inscriptions forming some kind of integrated circuit across its surface.
Cleome put her hand onto the sapphire, closing her eyes, and the lines of the integrated circuit began to give off a bright blue light, and a 3D representation of the Warring Lands filled the room. They could effortlessly make out the relief of the mountains and the distribution of forests, lakes and rivers. But the features didn't stop there.
There were also numerous markers and icons indicating any points of interest and resources that could be exploited in each region. There were also six coats of arms displayed above a good half of the regions, and Ikaris understood immediately that this represented the territory affiliation of a Lord to one of the Ruling Houses.
The symbol for House Morgunis was a black-winged angel leaning on a white falchion. The boy couldn't be sure, but strangely enough he trusted his instincts on this one.
"Who is the Stele holder?" Cleome asked businesslike as she pulled up her glasses that had slipped down her nose.
"Not one Stele holder but two." Anaphiel corrected her naughtily.
"WH- of course..." She almost choked out of frustration and jealousy but forced herself to keep smiling and exclaimed cheerfully, "Well, which one wants to choose their territory first? If you need advice and recommendations I can help yo-"
"Cough!" Anaphiel cleared her throat loudly. "I can take over from here."
Cleome glowered at her, digging her manicured nails into her own plump thighs to bottle up her grumpiness, but in the end she stepped aside with a snort and allowed her to speak. Anaphiel went back to being her stolid self and explained seriously,
"The choice of a territory is not made lightly. The Warring Lands are huge and as you can see less than half of them are currently occupied by a Lord. This has not always been the case and the number of Lords is... decreasing. This is a big concern for Tartarus Shade and the six Ruling Houses and that's why two new Stele holders like yourself are very... shall we say coveted windfalls. If you are here you are already aware of the risks and had made your decision."
Ikaris and Asselin nodded solemnly. The booklet Orym had given them already covered everything they needed to know about this. The Glenrings were not the only danger threatening the Forsaken Lands with extinction, and the Warring Lands had their own burdens.
"Well, in that case I'll speak frankly. The areas with many markers currently unoccupied are well known because they once had Lords in the past. If these territories are up for grabs again, it means that they perished or were conquered, but their conquerors didn't manage to hold on to the won territory either. Or of course, they perished in turn. The regions' risk ranges from low to high, but the expected benefits and resources are clearly documented. These lands account for about 20% of the Warring Lands."
Ikaris and Asselin had already singled out several interesting territories but hesitated after hearing her input. Anaphiel nodded approvingly and continued,
"The undocumented territories were either never occupied by a Lord or their Lords died before they could report any information. They represent about 30% of the Warring Lands. For the record, the territories with a red cross are those that briefly had a Lord in the past. The risk is high and the benefits and exploitable resources unknown. I strongly advise against choosing one of these areas.
"Undocumented territories that have never been occupied by a lord are unknown territories that can either become your final resting place or a cornucopia paving your way to success. As you can see on the map, 20% of the undocumented territories have never had a Lord. In comparison, of the 80% of territories that have been occupied in the past 49.2% are still occupied today. This is more than one out of two documented territories and that's why the risk of these unknown areas is classified as moderate, but it can be very misleading...
"I will end on a final note. The occupied territories are each under the aegis of one of the Six Ruling Houses. The black-winged angel represents House Morgunis, the white oak House Wynken, the mirror House Gemini, the red maple House Maplemoon, the golden hammer and anvil House Goldforged, and the black horned skull House Nezug. For all that, I do not recommend that you choose a region surrounded by Lords serving House Morgunis.
"Firstly because these contracts only last for 10 years and a swing of allegiance can happen at any time, but also so as not to damage your expansion potential. As long as you are under contract, the Lords serving our House cannot invade you, but you cannot attack them either. And lastly, nothing obliges them to help you in the event of an enemy invasion.
"Therefore, if your relationship is good I encourage you to choose regions not too far apart so that you can help each other without hindering your expansion."
Silence returned and the group proceeded to carefully scrutinize the huge 3D map with the exception of Malia who could not read.
Toby, who had been quiet since their arrival in Tartarus Shade, gazed at the map with a glint of ambition in his eye. He wished he had his own Stele... At that moment, a sinister gleam began to pulsate behind his pupils and a plan began to form in his mind.
