The Fire and The Storm - The Nexus of Kellaran #2 novel Chapter 91

Part 15

“Before we get to that, we should fill you in on some of the other major developments in The Game of Status.” Visinniria put in.

“Three days after you entered the time-bubble, Zarkog appeared in the Hall of The Just Alliance. No one, god or mortal, knows how he learned its location, or how he evaded all of its security measures. He swore the oaths of The Game of Status on the Truthstone, and left before anyone could question him.

“Four hours later, Zwak Deathbringer announced that he was no longer Prince of The Sylvan Nation, he was now second in command in that nation and second in the standings of The Game of Status, and that Zarkog was now Prince of The Sylvan Nation and first in the game. The fact that Zarkog is not a Sylvan seems to be irrelevant to everyone involved. Our investigation revealed that Zarkog had done nothing to earn the position beyond asking for it while being extremely intimidating. He’d spent a couple of hours intimidating his way up the ranks of the top league before he did so, just to solidify his position.

“He then delegated all of his duties to Zwak, and returned to astronomy. He’s been watching the demons as closely as possible, and has provided us with excellent observations. You might think he could achieve no more than the gods in this regard, but the fact is that the gods are no more intellectually creative than mortals, and we often tend to become very set in our ways and in our thinking over the eons, and that diminishes our creativity even more. While Zarkog is proving to be a very creative and capable astronomer indeed, and is constantly inventing new techniques, despite being the eldest living mortal and being quite set in his own ways in many aspects of his behavior.

“Then last week, the positions of Prince of The Sylvan Nation and first in The Game of Status were taken by one Kovink Seg Mivtz, a fourteen-year-old gnome. Zarkog and Zwak both publicly acknowledged this change in status, and they are now second and third. Kovink also delegated all of the administrative duties of Prince of The Sylvan Nation back to Zwak, and the new Prince immediately returned to further increasing his status as quickly as possible, mostly in the form of increased wealth.

“It’s almost unbelievable that Zarkog and Zwak were so thoroughly bested by a fourteen-year-old-gnome. This sequence of events was so astounding that I investigated as thoroughly as I could without breaking the law or invading anyone’s privacy. I still don’t know how it was done specifically, but I know generally. Little Kovink Seg Mivtz has a brilliant and evil mind, but that’s not what allowed him to gain so much so fast. His true stroke of genius was to appeal to the racial pride of the gnomes, and to ask them for their help in his efforts to be first in the game. In order to ensure that one of their own sits atop the standings, almost all of the gnomes are helping him.

“By this I mean all the gnomes who are not registered players of The Game of Status, almost two billion of them. Though they aren’t playing, they still send him every nasty idea and evil plan that they think of, and he has a staff of hundreds to sort through all the submissions and categorize them and prioritize them for him. They also help him in every legal manner, from gifts and contributions to low-interest loans and information of every kind. Most of the other gnomes who are registered players work for him directly, almost ninety thousand of them.

“He also has a unique perspective on the game. He has no dealings with non-players other than to accept the help of the gnomes, but he does deal with players in the nine lower leagues of the game. He’s never been caught doing anything illegal to them, so he’s still within the rules, but he uses his money and power against them in every legal way. In this way he is quickly amassing everything that was formerly owned by every other player of the game, leaving them on the edge of poverty. He then makes sure they at least have a bed in a barracks and enough food to stay healthy, so he cannot be charged with causing dissent in the ranks or diminishing the effectiveness of the military.