Kingdom Gone

THE COUNCIL OF ELDERS

"Very disappointing." Was the first words to come out of Jason's mouth.

The chamber was brightly lit by an ornate chandelier hanging 30 feet above the center of the room. Intricate rugs littered the floor of the huge space, which looked more like an art museum than a temple. Remarkable paintings hung between columns of bronze and silver, the styles ranging from landscapes to bowls of fruits. Hanging high on the back wall of the room was an enormous portrait of an old man carrying a blue katana and his dog lying beside him, standing among dozens of dead bodies covering the forest floor.

Situated below the light fixture stood a raised set of tables arranged in a C shape, the opening facing the door Circe and Jason had just walked through.

Jason must've realized that there were no guards in here the same time Circe did, because he walked right up to the nearest Elder and sat on her desk.

"I kinda imagined the Council of Elders to be a bit more. . . official, I guess."

She was an older woman, grey streaks cutting through her wavy black hair. Her dress was informal, as if she'd just been picking fruit before arriving to the temple. The lady looked up at Jason with mild discontent.

"No, seriously. You call yourselves elders?" Jason points at a guy sitting at the desk across from the woman's. "I mean look at that guy! He can't be more than 5 years older than me."

"This council was not formed out of happenstance, son." A man with a deep voice, deeper than Chang's, and a long white beard spoke from the desk farthest from the door. He pointed at the portrait hanging above his head. "When The Founder, as many called him, died a few years back, the people of Arcadia democratically elected the members of this council to govern the town in his absence."

Jason stood, waltzing over to the man. "I feel like you're the leader here."

The older man chuckled. "I am Chief Elder Lao. The young man at the end there is Marco, graduated top of his class, now runs the only school in Arcadia." The kid waved awkwardly. The Chief pointed to the man to his right. "This is Maverick, the town's head mechanic." Maverick was a middle aged man in oil stained overalls, the very image of what one would picture a head mechanic to look like. Lao gestured to the two women sitting to his left. "Susanna is our chief medical doctor, and the woman who's desk you sat on is Mrs. Crawford, she organizes the town's militia." Susanna waved cheerfully while Mrs. Crawford glared at Jason. Circe had a sneaking suspicion she didn't like him very much.

Circe walked up to the desks and stood beside Jason, looking up at the portrait. "The Founder must've loved that dog to fight beside him. What was his name?"

"Indeed, he loved that dog like it was his own kin. Some even believe he taught him to understand english! His name was Arcadus. You should've seen those two back in the day, The Founder swinging his sword in one hand, using a whistle to command his dog with the other. Remarkable." Maverick said.

"Wait what?" Jason looked at the painting. "Are you saying this temple, this entire town, was named after this guy's dog?"

The Chief chuckled. "Over a decade ago, the eastern fields of the Sixth Kingdom were ravaged by raiders, menacing gangs, and other scum. But The Founder, along with his dog, arrived to this area from the north, and armed with nothing but a sword, freed the lowly farmers of the fields from their grasp and founded Arcadia."

Wow. That's quite the origin story. Is it real?" Jason asked, leaning on Susanna's desk.

"Indeed it is. I was The Founder's right hand man up to his death."

Jason looked at the Chief. "You say death, not passing. Was The Founder killed?"

The council looked at each other before Mrs. Crawford spoke. "Yes, he was. A drifter came into town a few years back, stayed for a few days. And one night he snuck into the temple and stabbed The Founder in his sleep. The town was a peaceful one back then, so security was minimal, but in the end the only line of defense was Arcadus, who always slept at the foot of his bed."