The Ancients World

Chapter 236: Journey to the Barony of James VII

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I shake Sally awake, and she opens her eyes. "It\'s time we got a move on." I toggle my wings on as I say that and stretch them out. Sally holds out her hand, and I help her up. I kneel so she can climb on my back. Once safely on, I launch us off the ground. Sally knows the Barony of James better than I, so it\'s time I finally ask what it looks like. I\'ve been avoiding these questions because I\'m afraid it\'ll cause her pain. However, some things are unavoidable. "Mind telling me what the Barony of James looks like?" We soar through the clouds at top speed.

Sally is quiet, likely going through her memories of her time there. I feel her jerk a couple of times. I don\'t like the fact she has to go through something like this. "It\'s a territory ruled by the Barony of James. There are some outposts and castles holding troops of the king. The city is the main source of income for the family. It\'s likely much bigger than it was when I escaped all those years ago. The James family\'s personal property is located 15 miles north of the city of James." A Barony is the lowest rank among nobility. They have small lands and low amounts of troops.

I don\'t doubt that they have their own fort or castle to stay in. The city probably gives them plenty of business. Allowing a flow of willing customers to sell and buy slaves. It\'s a perfect front. Who\'s going to search an entire city? The location of their estate is close to. It lets them keep an eye on things and keep them close enough to ensure that nothing bad happens. "So, how are we going to handle this? Are we going to just charge into their property and slaughter them, or take it slow and methodical?" I want to hear what Sally wants to do. This is all for her.

There is a small silence, and I have plans running through my head along with my own question. "Every part of me wants to walk up to their property and kill them. However, we\'ll likely miss important information about the slave trade. If we can interrogate a member of their family before we kill them, we can learn more about direct allies they have in the slave business." She brings up a lot of valid points. I have two quests intertwined with each other. One is about Sally and her revenge, and the other is about the slave trade. I pull them both up to look at them.

[Fighting the Disease]

[Description: Sally wishes to find and root out all the evil and corrupted people tied to the James Barony.]

[Objective 1: Once in the land held by the James Barony, try and find connections that the Barony has to other slave traders.][In Progress]

[Objective 2: Kill or imprison all people that you find out about][In progress]

[Difficulty: Legendary]

[Rewards: Unknown]

[Note: This quest is directly tied to Sally\'s Past and meets the same condition of being at the legendary in difficulty.]

[You have no choice but to accept this quest.]

This is the quest about the actual slavery going on in the Barony of James. This quest will become a huge network of rooting out and finding enemies in the slave trade. I have a deep desire to help these people. The slave market isn\'t just women. Men get captured for illegal forced labor. By doing this, a great evil will be leaving the world. "I agree with your assessment about finding information. It\'ll help greatly in our attacks against the next people that have hurt you." I\'m sure Sally will tell me more about the men that have hurt her during her time as a slave after we are done in the Barony of James. I pull up the quest that started all this.

[Sally\'s Past]

[Description: Help Sally in her quest for vengeance against all the men that tortured and sexually assaulted her growing up. Help her punish the Elven Kingdom for their ways.]

[Objective 1: When the time comes, Sally will ask you for your direct help in this matter.][Completed]

[Objective 2: Once everything is done with your quest involving the Dryads, ask Sally what the first step in her revenge is.][Completed]

[Objective 3: Head to the Barony of James in the kingdom of Pleer][In progress]

[Rewards: Unknown]

[Difficulty: Legendary]

[Note: The great difficulty of this quest is the goals that Sally has set in revenge. If they weren\'t so great, then the difficulty wouldn\'t be so high.]

Once objective three is completed. There will be more targets after this. All of them are going to die, and nothing will stop that. "The Barony of James is a place only middle and higher-class people go to. There really isn\'t a poor population, mainly because the poor get abducted off the streets and turned into slaves. Be them men, women, children, or the elderly. We won\'t have any help from the poor because of this." That\'s valuable information. One of the best ways to get information about a place is from the poor.

I flap my wings to keep the high-speed up. "Are there any places that can help us get information regarding our targets? Surely the James family has enemies that we can use." I want to know if any people can help us. If there isn\'t, then that means the James family has complete control over the territory, which will be trouble. Another problem is going to arise once we get there too. I don\'t doubt that they know we are coming. Nobles have big mouths, and I asked many questions about The Kingdom of Pleer and the Barony of James while in Zenith at the wedding.

Sally takes a small breath as her head lay on mine. "We\'ll be completely on our own there. The only independent faction that might be willing to help is The Adventurers Guild. However, they are likely in the pockets of the James family." The Adventurers Guild is a faction I\'ll never want help from. It\'s better if we didn\'t involve them. No empire or kingdom can compete with the full power of The Adventurers Guild and their strongest members. They are a monopolistic organization that terrorizes weaker people and factions.

Monopolies aren\'t illegal here on Gaia. Back on earth, monopolies were bad for the economy. The economy here is different from earth. Its unmodernized infrastructure and stagnation in technology have allowed the existence of monopolies since they are needed for the lack of invention and innovation. "We are staying away from The Adventurers Guild. It\'ll be smart if they don\'t know were in the area once we are there. I\'d bet money they are helping the James family for a split of the profits." The Adventurers Guild is an enemy that I have no need to be involved with.

I have no doubt I can kill their strongest members and destroy their guild, but that could cause catastrophe across Gaia. The Adventurers Guild is in charge of a lot of things and protects important locations. If I destroy them, I\'d be dooming many people who have no choice but to rely on The Adventurers guild. "I\'ve heard some pretty bad things about them myself, and if that\'s your decision, then I\'ll agree to it." Sally notifies me of her agreement with not letting The Adventurers Guild know we are around once there.

I have a final question for the time being. I\'m sure I\'ll have more during the trip. "Do you think that you\'ll ever try and find your family after we are done with revenge against the slavers and elves that did this to you?" She knows next to nothing about her family. They abandoned her mother when she lost her purity when she was taken by a bandit and became pregnant with Sally. I\'d want nothing to do with them if they were my family. However, Sally might not want the same thing as I would. She might want revenge on them too.

She tightens her grip around me as she thinks about it. I\'ll support whatever decision she makes. "Give me some time to think about it... I\'ll let you know when I\'ve come to a conclusion..." That\'s all I need to hear. Now that my questions and thoughts are quelled for now I\'m going to enjoy the calming flight. This next step is going to be a big one. Sally getting her revenge is going to be the biggest quest I\'ve been a part of. Taking on an entire kingdom of elves and an underground network of vile slavers. I\'m going to enjoy killing them.