A friendly visit, and a look to the future...

The great hall of Leopold flickered with torchlight, shadows dancing upon its relatively new walls. He decided to climb up the narrow staircase to stand atop the highest tower of his newly relocated castle, gazing over the unfamiliar landscape of K465. The shifting of the WAR alliance strongholds was no small task, but necessity had dictated the move— their place on K221 had apparently become too exposed to forces beyond his control. He had not fully comprehended all the reasons why, but as the other lords and ladies decided to move to face the challenges of a new realm, he went along with them, steadfast as ever when he had committed to a team. Here, the land was rougher, the winds sharper, but the defenses stronger.

The stone walls, freshly fortified, carried the scent of wet mortar and wariness. The banners of his house fluttered against the warm gusts that came from the Narrow Sea, near the capital of King’s Landing where Leopold’s new home stood. He sighed, folding his arms, watching the horizon. His thoughts drifted to Wundertweek.

It had been several months since they’d last met in person, years of exchanged ravens and battles fought in distant lands. In the chaos of war and tumult, including an encounter on the fields of Alliance Conquest, their friendship had remained an unshaken pillar. Wundertweek had sent word that he would visit today, and the anticipation hung in the air, as with such a visit one never knew what to expect.

Would he find his friend changed? Would Wundertweek see Leopold, the same man, or a lord hardened by loss and duty? The castle itself had moved, as had the circumstances of their lives. Perhaps they, too, had shifted in ways yet unknown.

A rider approached from the distant hills, their figure barely more than a silhouette against the fading daylight. Leopold squinted in wonder. Had the wait ended sooner than expected? As the figure came closer, it was clear that Wunder had arrived, alone and without any fear or concern, as always. That bode well – given that there was no need for a retinue, it was sure to just be a friendly visit, and Leopold has already instructed his men to bring his friend up to the high chamber as soon as he arrived.

They did, and the old friends reunited with a warm embrace. “So this is what the 400-series kingdoms look like,” Wundertweek said. “Looks the same, but feels different somehow. Less crowded I suppose. How in the name of the Seven Kingdoms did you end up all the way over here?”

“Same way most people do. We moved to K465 from K221..."

"Oh, moving is such a pain...some come along, so many decide to stay behind…so much fracturing of alliances. Why'd they do it?"

“You know, I didn’t really get a straight answer when I asked.” Leopold tilted his head down pensively. “It wasn’t even actually clear to me who was leading the way. I just got a message from Vlad Tepes who was asking everyone if they had enough scrolls to move, giving the usual advice on how to temporarily look weaker to facilitate, that sort of thing…”

Wundertweek nodded understandingly. “It always comes down to some sort of strange little things, or a few of them that just build up over time.” He looked out the window at the other castles, casting shadows against the horizon. “Is there someone nearby we can ask? I’m always curious about these sorts of moves.” He chuckled softly, continuing, “I’ve been through more than my share with Belladonna and BWF.”

Leopold laughed uproariously at that. “More than your share? I lost count of how many times I got dragged around with them. We’ve likely been in more kingdoms than we haven’t.” He paused and looked out the window as well. “Let me send a messenger. Perhaps I can see if Scarebears will give us an answer. He’s just across the way.”

Leopold rang the nearby bell and called down to one of the waiting guards. “Send a messenger to invite Scarebears over for some drinks.”

The guard below nodded his assent and went to carry out his task.

"So I imagine you're one of the top players, I bet."

Leopold made a bit of a face, remembering the days from a few weeks ago. "I was...tried to hit some people for merit on the way out. It didn’t go so well, so I’m rebuilding the armies again."

Wundertweek shrugged. "It happens. You can’t build without losing from time to time. It happened to you before, I did remind you to be more careful when going hunting." He took another long sip from his cup. “Some days are quiet, but so often it seems that there is so much to do with new events and occurrences…he have White Walkers approaching the Wall right now – seems to be under control, but we have to pay heed - and also need to pay attention all that’s happening in the All-Out War field.”

“Indeed. So many things requiring attention.” Leopold paused for a moment. “is that why you wanted to come here? Some event on your mind?”

“Well, I actually did want to come and see the new kingdom. I’m at the point where my armies have grown a bit tired and bored and I do have to seek out some new, if only temporary challenges.” Another long sip. “But I was thinking, that this new Arena of Honor thing might be something we should try together.”  

 Leopold set his goblet down and leaned forward. “Oh, yes, that’s coming again soon…seems like it goes by very quickly though, doesn’t it?”

Wundertweek nodded. “Yes, and just doing it with random lords you’ll never see again isn’t terribly interesting to me. Maybe it will actually be better if we go in side by side. After all, we’re doing that shared Adventure Quest together and that’s going very well.”

Leopold laughed, raising his goblet again. "I’m with you. It’s almost poetic and will be great."

There was a knock at the door. “He’s here. Come in, come in, Scarebears, have a seat. This is my longtime friend Wundertweek, from K73”

“Pleasure to meet you. I’ve never been to those older kingdoms….”

Wundertweek smiled. “Well, perhaps you should visit one day. Nice and quiet, I find it.”

“I’m sure. Perhaps some day I’ll have the pleasure.” Scarebears accepted the drink Leopold poured for him and sat down. “So, Leopold. While I’m very pleased to meet your friend, I imagine that’s not the whole reason you asked me to visit?”

“Yes, you’re right. I never really got the full story about moving here…we seemed to be doing fine where we were. What happened?”

“It seemed fine to you? Maybe you weren’t really paying enough attention!”, Scarebears replied with a it of an edge to his voice.

“My friend, if you knew how much Tweek and I had been embroiled in alliance drama…you’ve heard of BWF, right?”

The look on Scarebears’ face changed, as his voice softened somewhat. “Everyone has.”

“We’ve both been in the middle of so many of their…travels. Right in the middle of them. The whole reason I came and joined WAR was because they didn’t like who I was friends with.”

Wundertweek nodded quietly along with Leopold’s words, his silence speaking volumes. Scarebears looked between the two, murmuring, “Oh, really? I didn’t know that…”

“I didn’t expect you to. We know all about what happens when strong leaders take themselves too seriously and send the wrong message to others.”

“I see that now.” Scarebears paused again. “Well, this wasn’t quite the same. The leadership on K221 wasn’t serious enough. There was the other alliance – DOW I think it was, where the communication broke down very badly. Everyone was pointing fingers about how we were always losing Kingdom Wars, lack of participation at some times, too many powerful players making it impossible for others to get ahead by just empowering their own, that sort of thing.”

He rose and paced around the room for a bit. “We didn’t have anyone willing to lay down and enforce rules, either. We set the usual guidelines for gathering and events, and all of that stuff – you know the deal, every kingdom does that – but it just became more lawless and people were just unhappy. Even getting the leaders to set up times for events became nearly impossible.”

Looking out the window at the bright afternoon sun, he continued. “We’re here now, the ones who really wanted a better place. Certainly it was not without risks, we knew that some would stay behind and our power would be lessened. But we are standing on our own, and in this place the power we still have carries more weight. Many of the other alliances are fairly new, and are willing to make things better for all of us.”

“Some of the leaders from an alliance called KON contacted me. I discussed things with a few of the others such as Vlad, Robson, and Lagertha…they were quite excited to hear about the possibility of getting a fresh start. The old leaders couldn’t even really be bothered to participate in the discussions, so I decided to take the reins and we forged an agreement to merge. It’s worked out quite well so far, I think. Dr Russel is a fine addition to our ranks, and there are so many others who show the right level of seriousness. I asked Vlad to make sure that others were able and willing to move – many were, as you see, some were not, of course – and here we are. There is an HWS alliance which is steadily growing and we have a pact with them for mutual advancement.”

Scarebears took a deep breath, his eyes gleaming with determination as he looked back at Leopold and Wundertweek. " I like it here. I think we will do we well, once things settle.Our alliance has faced many challenges, but this new kingdom presents an opportunity like no other. We must be strategic, united, and relentless."

Leopold nodded, his face serious. "What is our first move?"

Scarebears smiled. "Well, we have that blasted vexation Wanheda sitting on our doorstep…”

Leopold was a bit surprised by that. “He followed us here? I didn’t notice.”

Scarebears pointed out the window. “Over yonder, some ten leagues away. Just sitting there…waiting for an opportunity, I suppose. What he hopes to achieve by just being a nuisance is beyond me, his armies are at a major disadvantage being here. But It’s no matter. We are more powerful than the rest of this kingdom put together. We will secure our borders and establish strongholds in key locations. Our spies will gather intelligence on potential threats, and our diplomats will forge alliances with neighboring factions. We must be prepared for anything."

Wundertweek, always the optimist, added, "And you’ll show them the strength of your unity. It’s a good plan, such as we executed in the Quokka alliance. Together, we are unstoppable. I wish the same for you."

As the three looked out over the vast, untamed lands of the new kingdom, they felt a surge of hope and excitement. The future was uncertain, but with their combined strength and unwavering resolve, they knew they could face any challenge that came their way.