I wandered over to Meadran's isnd, so that he be there when I used my tokens. The Hero Token in particur was a cause for , and my thinking was that he would be able to help me talk to whoever showed up. 'Meadran which do you think I should use first, the Theme token or the Hero token?' I holy wanted his input because I was really worried this would derail some of my pns.

  'A new faight allow for a broader sele of heroes. Though there is no guarahat is true either way. There is always the ce that you'll receive a Hero from an uheme. However, I ot foresee anything you do making much differe this stage. Always remember, to the pany, rules are more like suggestions.' As calm and peaceful as always, even when introdug a troubling idea. It was a good thing to have someone so grounded for advice.

  Hmm. I reached into my pocket and just grabbed the first thing that I could. That turned out to be the Theme token. If it just adds a new fa why is it called a "theme" token? Also how do I use it? The smooth and shiny Token, seemed to vibrate gently between my fingers.

  [ Do you wish to use Theme token? Y/N ]

  "Yes."

  [ Rolli... ]

  [ You have obtaihe Theme Warcraft's fa, Lordaeron ]

  "Who or what the hell is Lordaeron? For that matter, what the fuck is Warcraft?"

  'Ah, Warcraft is something I've heard members of the pany use to refer to versions of my world, Azeroth. It was a world that was home to many iing creatures, such as the Kaldorei. As to the fa, they were... ' He paused as if to search his vast memory, 'Hmm yes, a fa of humans that lived across the sea on another ti. I vaguely remember them as being somewhat haughty and rude, also ter they were one of the first kingdoms broken uhe might of the Legion.' His pain was immense, I could feel the burning of Felfire and smell the scorched remains of my... his kin. He felt of terrible deep sadness.

  "I'm so sorry Meadran." I tried to send thoughts of pead fort.

  'It is alright, Young Ohe past ot easily nor safely be ged. Which is even more troubling once you realize that somewhere, there are versions of my world that repelled the Burning Legion. Also versions of me exist, that still rest their roots in the slopes of Mount Hyjal. Of course, there are even versions of my world, where I did at all.' An image of giant winged lizards, ht, those would be dragons, with sandy colored scales. The feeling that they had pyed with forces they shouldn't have, ooo many times.

  There was now a box, resting on the ground in front of us. It was 2' cubed and seemed to be made of a smooth grey stone.

  [ Please pce box in desired location to start using this fa. ]

  "So how does this help us? Will these Lordaeronians be useful?" Would they be magical Humans, perhaps. I really wahat to be true. I could use some more magical instru, or hell even someoo spitball ideas with.

  'I'm uain what we will gain from them, but I do remember they had priests and mages. They also built well with stone and wood, though perhaps not as well as the Dwarves. But I worry that you won't be able to use them at all, since we seem uo summon the Kaldorei or the Khai.' Doubt filled his mental voice.

  "They build with stone and wood, so probably low tech then?" I shook my head, o be a dick. "Well, there might be some advantages with that. We'd be less likely to be detected, while w, for ohing. Huh, wouldn't we be able to arm them with modern... no Khai ons and armor? Hmm." Well no sense in ting my chis before they hatched. I might get nothing useful out of this new fa.

  My hand reached bato my pocket to grab the Hero token. It began to buzz in my hand.

  [ Do you wish to use Hero token? Y/N ]

  "Yes."

  [ You have obtaihe Hero, James Eugene Raynor ]

  "Howdy, ander." He just appeared, a stocky well built guy, a little shorter than myself, with dark hair and eyes. His face was worn and rugged. Older than me, but I couldn't tell by how much. He was dressed in pin, simple looking clothes. He also had some type of armor ying beside him, which was o a long ass, futuristic rifle of some kind. He was holding out his hand. I shook it.

  "Call me Ryan, I don't feel like much of a ander." Plus, I really don't like being in charge.

  He nodded, "Takes a big man to admit it. The name's James Raynor. Call me Jim." I could tell he didn't smile much, and that this man had seen some serious shit in his lifetime.

  "Well, Jim, I don't know what info you have about our situation, but how about I give you the rundown and maybe you tell me how you help?" Please be a hyper petent badass, so that no one needs me anymore. Yeah, right.

  "Ha. Sounds like a pn." He almost grinned. Very grim seemihis Raynor. I started in on our story. I figured it was best to hold nothing back, his ass would be on the lioo. He just listeone faced for the hour and a half it took me to get through everything. He'd lit up a cigarette at one point, and started puffin'. I had no clue where he'd gotten it from and it looked hand rolled. Holy, I couldn't tell a damhing about what he was thinking.

  When I was done he asked, "So this is Terra... Earth, or a version of it anyway?" He seemed amused. Perhaps a bit fused as well, I think. That damned bnk expression of his was throwing off my ability to read him.

  "Yeah, a pretty shitty version, but yes." I nodded. Wait, did that imply what I thought it did?

  "Imagihat. hought I'd step foot on the ol' homeworld of Humanity." He almost chuckled. "Way I see it, I help with raiding and keeping any troops you have in line. I might have some idea about defenses, once I've seen them. Lastly Hoss, I tell you I've been there, but you ain't alone in this fight, not anymore." That was nice of him. Though a bit troubling that I seemed that out of my depth.

  Also, I should probably be freaking out that he was araterrestrial human. I thought that was so fug cool. He would ter disabuse me of that notion. Life in his Sector had been harsh and violent.

  My BTC started shaking.

  [ You have been awarded a gift. Do you accept? Y/N ]

  "Uh, yes?"

  [ You have received the Power, Mana Sink. ]

  Mana Sink ower that let me ground hostile spells, or excessive magiergies. That seemed... really pointless. At least fht now. Me, Lumi, Meadran, Faergin and the Wisps were the only users of magic. All of the magi this p came from here. Why would I o ground out hostile spells? This gift was a dud, I guess. I tried not to be too disappointed, after all I didn't have any powers at all a moment ago. Something's better than nothing right?

  I spent another few hours showing Jim around the Valley. "Well, the Protoss tech looks something like the stuff Tassadar used, which was different from what Artanis's army used. I never did learn too much about either one. So I 't help you much there, and the magid nature shit flies right over my head. But I tell, that you need an army fast, and the Protoss don't do fast, leastways not with building. So I'd say it was time to to see what this other fa... What did you say their name was, right, Lordaeron looks like."

  The only problem with that was there was no more room in the Valley. The new forest covered every bit of avaible ground. Hmm. Maybe it was time to start building outside the valley.

  We exited the cave and Jim looked upon the Badnds for the first time. He was unimpressed. I'd brought Jitters and Buzz and a dozen other Probes, whose data stores had been updated with the schematics for the new Pylons. I was hauling the stone box myself. I was nervous about using it. I'd no idea what trouble it might bring down on us.

  I'd spotted something going on, far off in the distance, involving lots of vehicles. Well, mostly I saw the dust they were kig up. I wondered what it could mean. As long as they stayed way over there, it robably nothing for us to worry about. Staring at the dust up, Raynor actually chuckled, "This pce doesn't look too different from the Diamondback Wastends. Spittin' imagine of a dozen tired old frontier ps. The more you see, the more things seem the same." Yeah, he'd really been around the block.

  I had the Probes, start ing in some of the new Pylons. Then I handed Raynor a brass bracelet embedded with crystal circuits, this would let friendly units operate ihe Pylon's stealth field without being tricked by it themselves. Though for some reason, I didn't yet uand, I didn't need a bracelet. But I didn't want to take the ce that Raynor would.

  About half way down the mountain, I id the box down on a gentle slope just to the side of the northern outflow al. It would be somewhat close to the Valley entrance, and had a good view of the bridge area. There was also plenty of room to add buildings around it ter, I hoped.

  [ Do you want to use box taining Town Hall? Y/N ]

  "Yes."

  A rge transparent image of a building appeared in front of me. I could trol the image freely with my mind. ! I pyed with it for a while before settling on a final pt. The building itself rested on a raised foundation of stone blocks. Stoeps led up to the mairance, which I had face the west. There was a tall clock tower was tucked io the entra was made of stoh almost decorative wooden brags. The small windows I could see were made of thick low quality gss, with heavy oaken shutters. The front door was thick iron reinforced wood. Iing. Everything about this building spoke of durability and basic security.

  After seeing Night City, the Town Hall was a breath of fresh air. It's simple design was calming and spoke of stability.

  An armored man walked out of the building. He had brown hair in a kind of fttop with a mustache and a strip of a beard. He looked battle-hardened, a fact emphasized by that heavy armor, which was some form of pte mail. He was also carrying an oversized spiked mace. His blue and yellow, likely supposed to be gold, tabard was embzoned with a heavily stylized letter. Supposedly an "L" but it really didn't look like oo me. This man looked around bewildered.

  "Where the devil am I? Where did everyone go? Probably some cursed Mage pying a prank again." His voice was rough from years of yelling out orders. His standicated that he was more than ready to use that giant mace.

  ht, I guess the Pylons had finished while I ying around with the building's pt. "Here take this bracelet." Waving one of the brass rings at him. Which, of course, didn't work. That proved that the cloaking field mitigated sound. Good to know. I quickly spped the bracelet on him before he could react. He had no particur speed. Which was good, because my shield ended up defleg his brutal mace's head upwards after he struck at me. He was left blinking in fusion. A state that caused him to stare at us for a whole minute, sopped out all over his forehead. Then he k. "Sorry, My Lord! I didn't see you there!"

  "It's alright. That's the point. Please stand up. I'm Ryan, and you are?" I waved his attack away. After all no harm, no foul, right?

  "I'm Marshal Dughan formerly of Stormwind, now in service to Lordaeron and yourself, Lord Ryan." He performed a quick salute with his right fist smashing over his heart. His arm with the impact.

  "Do you know your purpose here Marshal?" He was way too uptight, and his mannerisms would likely get old quick.

  He went still for a few minutes. "My lord, I am to assist in the running of this town, ao it's defense." So he already came with a basic idea of what he o do. I could work with that.

  "Yeah, that's exactly what I need you to do. Wele aboard, Dughan. We have a lot of work to get done." I then walked over and touched the Town Hall.

  My BTC shook.

  [ Adjusting... ]

  [ Town Hall has been added to the Great Tree work.

  Options:

  Choose Css

  Raise Level

  Summon Peasant (Builder)

  Summon Peasant (Farmer)

  Summon Peasant (Laborer) ]

  I immediately queued up one of each type of Peasant. Not only to have more hands to help with work, but because I was starting to realize I needed people I could trust near at hand. Some deeper instine that these people would never betray me. A few mier three people came out of the Town Hall. Two men and one woman. They wore simple homespun clothes dyed in muted shades of blue. I had Buzz put bracelets ohis time. They were shortly looking around in fusion and wohen they saw me

  They k low to the ground, which made me deeply unfortable. "Milord. We are here to work." I sighed. Who'd ever wahis shit? I had things that o get done. What I didn't need eople fawning all over me.

  "Stand please. It's good to see such capable folk arrive. We o build a town, starting with farms. Tell me what we o get them ready." They bowed. That was really going to get old quick. I could hear Raynor actually ughing behind me somewhere.

  "We would need much wood and stone, milord." One man said.

  "Large stocks of seed and livestoimals, milord." The woman said.

  "A warehouse for ste, and then several quarries and lumbermills, milord." The other man spoke up.

  Then Jim took the opportunity to step forward, "Ryan how 'bout you let me hahis. I've worked a few farms in my day. Even worked oing a settlement or two up and running. You mosey over to that store you mentioned earlier a buy seed stock as well as some animals and feed. Oh, and bring a few more of those bracelets." Thanks Jim, that's a big help. He was already making himself indispensable.

  "Alright, better thating in the way. Jim, I'll leave them in your hands. Marshal Dughan, please take dires from Jim when I'm not around." Yeah, I'd have to learn about everything they were doing ter. But fht now, I was sick of being lordified. Is that a word? Well, I say it is now.

  Dughan gave me another ringing salute, "As you wish, My Lord." He turteowards Raynor. While I was walking away, I heard them already chatting like old army buddies. Was it an soldier thing?

  As I tihe long trek back to the pany Store, I couldn't help but wonder what csses the Town Hall would give me.