New Midian

The two recent deaths prompted me to review all the character sheets of everyone within New Midian, including my own.

I had 34 kills towards my 160-goal. Realistically, I was looking at maybe another decade or more before I achieve my next level. The others, however, were developing better, with Rodriguez only three kills away from his next level.

July continued to pass, and things were still tense out in the Pacific.

September arrived, and I knew that the weather would soon change. So far, summer has been holding on with a firm grip, but that will change eventually. It would be too long until the farmer appeared to harvest the crops on the other side of the river. When that happened, many animals began preparing for hibernation, while birds started their migration.

I found it amusing that I had become so in tune with the rhythm of the world around me. From what impression I got of my life as a human, I was not such a person, but being stuck for 27 years watching the world pass by had forced me to learn these rhythms.

The second day of September brought an interesting news story of an expedition to the Arctic launched by a Swedish explorer. His name was S.A. Andree, and he launched his expedition using a balloon to carry them across the ice fields. The success of this expedition had increased the interest in balloon technology. In the interview, he thanked several German engineers from the Zeppelin company who had come and advised him on alterations to the building's design. He stated that if they had not had unforeseen problems during the expedition, it could have led to disaster.

Across the world, there were the usual moves of empires. The Pacific remained tense, with the Spanish pulling back even further as the Filipino guerrillas gained ground. The Germans were threatening to intervene, while the French were working to support their allies. Britain was not getting involved as it had sold issues in India with the Afghan Indian border flaring up with numerous clashes between the Raj's forces and the Afghans.

A US Navy Squadron visited the British Pacific naval base in Hawaii on a goodwill tour. From there, they went on to Japan, then China, and then returned to the US. This is part of President Mayfair's initiatives to improve the United States of America's standing on the global stage. Many of his opponents criticise it as a waste of money.

The Empire of Brazil forces crushed the last pro-democracy strongholds in the north of the country, bringing a period of instability there to an end.

In Europe, the conflict between Greece and Turkey finally came to an end on the 28th day of the month. Most claim that Turkey was the victor but has suffered far worse than it should have during the war. This only added to the impression that many held of the Turkish Empire as the "sick man" of Europe.

October started with rain. Several storms swept through during the first week, and I began to see the change in the leaves in the forest all around New Midian. My hunters were now gathering up the last of their needed supplies for winter, as soon the weather would make it far too difficult.

Harrington had been stomping around these last few months, deeply unhappy. His sword cane blade was too severely damaged to be repaired. Blackstone had looked it over and given him a grunt of no for fixing it. This left him despondent until I reminded him that I had several spare swords that he could use. He was unhappy about wanting his sword back, but he relented in the end, knowing he needed a weapon. He had been out practising with his new sword, which was a cavalry blade. It was heavier than he was used to, but he seemed to be getting the hang of it.

This distracted me until later in the month, when two events in the Pacific shifted the world's focus. The first was that the last vestiges of the Korean state were absorbed into the new Japanese Empire. The second was that the German Empire chose to intervene in the Filipino rebellion.

This occurred after the Filipino guerrillas won a decisive battle against the Spaniards and were poised to take control of the entire island chain. The Spaniards had been driven back to a series of fortified positions in the major population centres. The guerrillas had overrun the rest of the country.

The Germans had prepared for this far more than anyone realised. They had reinforced their Pacific squadrons with warships and a sizeable contingent force of troops. They sailed and secured the southern parts of the Philippine island chain before anyone realised what was going on.

Their speed of action caught the French and Spanish forces completely by surprise. But not the Japanese. As the Japanese secured Korea, they had prepared an expedition force in Formosa, also known as Taiwan, as I knew it.

The Spanish Squadron assigned to the islands was trying to prevent the German landings but was massively outnumbered in both quality and tonnage by the Imperial German Pacific Squadron.

It was during this distraction that the Japanese landed in the North. The Spaniards quickly protested the landings, but the Japanese ambassador in Madrid offered them a deal. It wasn't until later that this became apparent, but the Japanese offered to administer the islands on behalf of the Spaniards and receive a small share of the taxes collected. The Japanese were quick to point out that they could continue and lose the islands either to the Filipino guerrillas or the Germans, or take the deal. With the French agreement, they took the deal.

This led to a tense standoff as both factions vied to claim as much of the islands as possible. The Filipino guerrillas became trapped between both armies and the Spanish garrison. For several weeks, chaos reigned on the islands.

November arrived while I read with great interest the news reports coming out of the Philippines. The Imperial Japanese Navy and the Imperial German Navy were taking great pains to avoid each other. The American Squadron continued its crossing, and I just reached Japan. President Mayfair announced to the American people that the squadron would go out of its way to avoid travelling near the Philippines so as not to be entangled in any naval engagements by accident.

Looking out across the world, a few days later, I expected that this would mark the end of any real visitors to my domain. I watched a rider approach and realised I was wrong.

The weather was heavily overcast as the storm had just passed. It was late in the day, and the sunlight was weak. I suspect that the sum will be set sometime in the next two hours. I was willing to bet that this might be a Challenger because of the time of year and the day of the rider's arrival.

The rider was slowed on his approach by a combination of mud and the rotten leaves that now covered the area. He dismounted his horse, tied it up, and approached the gates. Watching him do this and looking over closely as he came, I'm sure now he was not a challenger. The rifle he was carrying told me that before anything else.

He was a man in his mid-20s, dressed for the weather. He had a lot of mud covering him from the journey, but he seemed to be unbothered by it. He crossed the gates and entered the courtyard. He walked from the courtyard following the northern pathway.

[Alert! Intruder is not recognised as a Challenger.]

He was carrying a pack containing a shovel and a lantern. He appeared to be a treasure hunter. I wondered if the story of the hidden gold in New Midian was drawing them here.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Blackstone now covered this part of the graveyard. I could sense the Hunters moving from their lairs. Blackstone was not the fastest mover, but he was a constant. The intruder was making good time and was moving into the graveyard by cutting through the gravestones and mausoleums. He seemed eager to reach the church, but he was ignoring the pathway. Unfortunately for him, this led directly to Blackstone.

My Hunter was coming up the other way. The intruder turned the corner around a mausoleum and came face-to-face with Blackstone. He was surprised by the sudden appearance of my Hunter, but my Hunter's reactions were faster.

He wielded his hammer one-handed at the intruder. The man was desperately trying to protect himself, throwing up his rifle, gripping it with both hands, trying to block the hammer. The hammerheads struck it straight, warping and bending the barrel with the force of the impact. The force of the impact knocked the intruder to the ground.

Blackstone didn't give the intruder time to recover and began swinging again. The rifle was used to block again, but this time it did not survive, with the stock breaking. The stock broke with a nasty, sharp crack. The intruder tried to scramble away, but Blackstone did not stop.

The hammer fell again, this time catching the intruder on one of his knees, and there was a sickly snap with a scream of pain as the hammer blow crushed the knee. This was the start of his pain. The other knee was crushed, which only increased his screaming. The intruder was now writhing in pain and unable to escape.

Blackstone stood forward again, this time standing over the intruder, and then brought his hammer down in one powerful double-handed blow, and the intruder stopped screaming. His head was shattered and exploded like a melon.

[A Hunter has made a Kill.]

The intruder was now a bloody mess with his goal caved in. Blood, bone, and brain matter were splattered across the ground and my Hunter. I left Blackstone to clean up the mess.

The year was soon to be over, and I waited for it to end.

The Philippines was the global focus as the Japanese and German armies raced to control the islands. The local guerrilla force was fighting on both sides, and the Spanish were allowing the Japanese to move more quickly. By the end of December, the islands were split almost equally between the two powers. Throughout this period, tensions in Europe remained high, as many feared that the situation would escalate into a full-blown war.

The winter has been mild so far, but the snow eventually came.

1898 arrived with rain. The winter remained mild, and contact stayed open with the rest of the world.

Tensions remained high in the Pacific and Europe.

Mud with rotten leaves covered everything. The forest was bare, with little wildlife visible only occasionally. Traffic did not cease on the road as people continued to move in and out of the town. In the distance, the smokestacks of the trains were visible against the grey clouds. Usually, the smoke was not visible, but it was in this weather.

Nationally, New York City annexed surrounding land, splitting it into five boroughs.

The rest of the month passed with no activity within New Midian.

February came along with tensions still high in Europe and the Pacific.

This time of year, things were quiet. Winter is not a time of year that people want to be out and about in Idaho. Normally, snow would be heavy on the ground in thick drifts. This year's mild winter had changed that; instead of snow, there was a lot of mush and mud. The river was heavy and swollen with water and dirt that was running off the land into it. Herbert couldn't cross it right now, as even the bridge that was built across the ford was considered to be at risk.

This proved to be prophetic, as a few days later, after another heavy deluge, the bridge gave way in the floodwaters, and I was swept away. The banks had broken in many areas, and the road running alongside it, next to the forest, was submerged. Herbert's house was built further from the river on a slightly higher elevation and was spared. The forest itself was also on a somewhat higher elevation, but the outer trees were affected. Several were swept away.

By March, the flood waters had receded. I learned through Herbert that the town council in Crossway had decided to rebuild the bridge. They had secured state funding for a larger and sturdier construction.

It was mid-March when this began. I was a bit surprised by the speed at which the bridge was being rebuilt. I suspected that most trade would flow through the rail line, but Herbert informed me that the road was an essential means of communication with communities to the south. The bridge had sat on a major trade route that needed to be restored.

The town council had been planning to replace the bridge anyway and had already drawn up plans. This meant that when the old bridge was swept away in the storms, they could quickly set about building the new one. As for the materials used to build the bridge, most of it was sourced locally, allowing for it to be constructed quickly.

There was little happening, so I got to watch the bridge being built from the top of my spatial bubble. It was quite a different experience for me watching the men working quickly and efficiently to put up the new bridge. It gave me several weeks of something new to watch. This took me into April, and spring was starting to take effect.

Out in the Pacific, things were starting to stabilise with the new reality of the Philippines being split between the Imperial Japanese Empire and the Imperial German Empire. This marked the effective end of the Spanish Empire.

By the end of April, construction of the new bridge had been completed, and I could tell that the men who made up the workforce were wrapping up the project. During these weeks, I had noticed the pattern had developed amongst the workforce. Only a short distance away, there was a significant source of lumber that could be used in the construction, but none of them made any move to come and collect it. I knew that this was partly because the land was privately owned and they needed permission. I learned from Herbert that the forest's reputation was also a factor. Or to be more precise, what lay within it.

I had been using both Herbert and Joshua to gather more rumours about New Midian and the forest. It quickly became clear that the forest is only seen as a means of hiding the danger lurking within it. What caught my attention was the growing number of stories about the hidden treasure located within the Devil's Graveyard, as this place was known.

What was driving this?

I checked my character sheet and found no alterations to the section covering my level of notoriety. Was this another effect of the change from last year? It was a possibility I had to contemplate.

[Alert! Infamy (National) changed from Unknown > Whispers.]

The alert message came several days later, which was a surprise and yet strangely expected. This caused a new bout of unease as I tried to figure out why this had happened.

The answer came from an unexpected source.

Later that day, Senior Ahmed made an appearance.

He and his group crossed the new bridge. There were a handful of workmen still hanging around, cleaning up their camp and construction area, as the last few also finished work on different sections of the bridge.

Traffic had been flown across it for a few days now as the men wrapped up what needed to be done. I was surprised that there was no official ceremony to open the bridge, but it seemed that they were eager to publicise it too much. There was a little piece in the local paper, but there was nothing beyond that. It did come with a pretty nice photograph. This photograph also inadvertently revealed something that I had suspected for a long time. From the angle it was taken, you could see the bridge and the forest in the distance. It took me getting a magnifying glass to see it. You can see the distortion in the photograph, which shows the location of my spatial bubble. It looked like some form of error in the negative, but if you knew what you were looking at, you realised it was something else instead.

Confirmation that my spatial bubble could be recorded by photography and, most likely, later recording devices meant that I had to start making plans for the future now. The discovery of my location by the authorities would most likely be done by aerial or satellite imagery.

It took a bit longer to reach the open section before the gates. This is a combination of my neglect in sending Hunters out to clear the path and the fact that they did not need to advertise that they were making the turn up to New Midian. The construction crew workers would often talk, especially when they were in the bar, and I doubted that it was something Senior Ahmed and his people would like advertised.

The five riders eventually appeared through the trees. The forest was once again turning into the usual sea of green, and the local wildlife was out and about. Some would be here soon, and things would be as vibrant as usual.

Senior Ahmed dismounted his horse and walked towards the gates as he usually did, calling out when he reached them for a meeting. I noticed the frown and look of concern on his features, which were quite different from his norm.

I summoned my avatar.

"Keeper, thank you for this meeting. I come bearing bad tidings and seek insights into recent events." He spoke in a sombre tone.

I feared some of what he was going to say.