Chapter 4.29 - The Calm

Serin was impressed by what he saw. The first ones through the gate were three elderly men. Following behind the elderly men were neat rows of marching young adults. All of them in a pristine uniform of dark greys and black. The materials of which were like the silk fibers he knew of but thicker. Each person had a pack of goods and they were all wearing a large brimmed hat to shade them from the setting sun.

Their appearance was uniform as well. All of them were pale skinned with dark red eyes the color of blood. Their ears were slightly pointed and their hair was black as obsidian. From there there were slight differentiations in facial features, height, stature, and build, but overall they were all the same.

The first elderly man walked up to Jericho, standing next to Serin. The elderly man bowed to Jericho and smiled, revealing a perfect set of white teeth which included a set of very obvious fangs where the canine tooth was on humans.

The elder spoke to Jericho, "Greetings. I am the last voice of Danika Colony, Master Restin. Are you the leader of this place?"

Jericho smiled, "It is good to meet you Mast Restin. My name is Jericho and I am one of three representatives for the human race here in this city. I am not, however, the Lord of this land. He is." Jericho motioned to Serin. Serin smiled, and replied "My name is Serin, and I am the Sovereign of these lands."

Master Restin looked confused, "Peculiar. I have never known of one so young to be a lord. But this is a strange place. It is nice to meet you Lord Serin." Master Restin then saw that a large portion of the table was partitioned with cooked meat. "If you can forgive my brazon request, but I see there is a banquet table adorned with food. My people have not eaten in three days, and its been a very long time since we have had such a feast prepared. Would you mind if our conversation took place over a pleasant meal together?"

Serin was genuinely surprised by the extremely formal nature of this elderly man, but looking at the refugees he could see it. They showed signs of starvation, and their uniforms were all baggy.

Serin nodded, "Let your people know that the food is available to them and should they need more they need only ask."

***

After the Dhamphir had gotten plates for dinner, they all rested on their packs and listened to Elder Restin tell the story of their people's fall.

"So you see, Lord Serin, after the birth of a star in our solar system, our world of twilight had died. Our colony was the last to survive, although truly had you not opened your gate for us, we would have perished."

Most of the Dhamphir had removed their hats as it was now nighttime and the light of the full moon shone brightly in the night sky. Master Restin continued their story. "While most colonies focused on trying to live on their world, our colony focused on leaving. And due to the great sacrifice, we were able to survive much longer than the other colonies."

Serin listened to their story. Like the other refugees, they were the last of their kind, but unlike the others these refugees had made the desperate choice to kill off 98% of their last colony's population to survive.

Master Restin continued, "We are glad that you have opened the way for us. Finding a planet that has developed to sustain life in darkness like yours has was impossible."

Serin looked embarrassed as he explained, "you are half right. This world is dark now, yes. But we have a cycle that repeats every 24 hours. Half of the cycle is the bright light of a sun. the other half is darkness. We are willing to help accommodate your people, as this town is a haven for refugees. However there is an orientation we have prepared to explain what living here is like."

***

Serin had explained about the refugee gates. He also explained about the other 5 races, humans, Demis, Changelings, Planetouched, and Gole, introducing each one as he spoke. He gave a brief overview of each race and how they were different, and then he explained how the town functioned, the representative government, the resources, and the available amenities.

In all the Dhamphir were accepting of citizenship. When Serin came to explain about the protectorate, he was met with apprehensiveness.

Master Restin explained, "The Dhamphir believe that all sentient life is sacred. We would be at odds joining an army intent on killing other sentient races."

Serin replied, "I understand that position. However because you simply look different, there are many people in this world that would have you branded as a 'monster' and hunted down. The protectorate's primary duty is to protect the people of this nation to ensure our various species continue. However it is not mandatory, so if you choose you can decide to not join."

Master Restin smiled, "I am glad for your understanding. I think for now we will get settled into our new home. I am aware that a large influx of citizens can cause issues and we wish not to be a burden. If there is any work we can take up that is not soldiering our people stand ready to earn our keep. "

***

Serin was pleasantly surprised. Instead of trying to house all of the 163 Dhamphir in separate rooms, they had already paired off. Their pair was decided after the lottery due to the diversity of lineage to ensure no inbreeding. So other than the 3 Masters of the Dhamphir who chose to reside in the government housing to work with Elder Merrin, only 80 residences were needed. This worked out in their favor.

As for how the town's housing fared, it was far ahead. Lord Koni had been mostly autonomous with city planning. The city overall was built out from the town center and ensured access to a main thoroughfare. Large trees were left undisturbed and the entire town was built to ensure small gardens were available to each home. The town was divided into districts spanning from the center in a circle. Each district had a park, a sustainment greenhouse, and its own line to the waterworks. This ensured the city did not have a single point of failure in its infrastructure. Each home was also built as three stories above ground, with another floor built underneath. As each floor followed a similar architectural plan, it made sense to include a small bathroom on the subfloor in case there were possible issues with overcrowding. Lord Koni had not predicted that these subfloors, with their lack of natural light, would make for adequate dwellings for any of the previous refugees, but these basement apartments made for perfect dwellings for the Dhamphir.

On the downside, the Dhamphir were extremely light sensitive. After a few tests, their skin was easily sunburned within minutes of being outside in the full sun, and anything beyond torchlight temporarily blinded them. So while they were of almost no use during the day, they were able to assist during the nocturnal hours. The Dhamphir quickly embedded themselves in most of the unwanted jobs. Night time dungeon raid teamsters, night time patrols, nighttime staff of the few all hours restaurants and shops, and apprentice workers under the various groups.

And as the market corrected itself, the need for meat out of the dungeon increased, as the dhamphir were carnivores, unable to subsist on a herbaceous diet.

***