Hello, hello, hello, what's happenin' readers?
Chapter 3 has arrived! You may ask why I have posted this chapter by itself, but I feel that it serves as a very important introduction to a certain key character. I hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Jagex, RuneScape, or any of the RuneScape characters. All I own is the plot of this fanfiction and some of the characters in the story. I am not making a financial profit from this story.
Chapter 3: King David's Speech
I hissed and fell over as an excruciating pain filled my left foot. I rubbed my foot to try and stop the pain. Eventually the pain subsided and I stood up, eyeing the hammer which fell on my foot with faint distaste. I picked up the hammer and I continued working.
At that moment I was building a flat-pack wardrobe to sell on the Grand Exchange. Making furniture to sell was a favourite pastime of mine because not only did it give me something to do, but it gave me construction experience and it gave me some money.
I considered recent events. The robbery of the Wizard's Guild had given me many sleepless nights due to fear of what the mysterious attacker would do with the God Rune. My stomach lurched every time I thought about what Master Samuel did when he had it in his possession. He destroyed the White Knight Castle with a flick of his hand. I just hoped that the robber's intentions weren't as evil as Master Samuel's.
I also considered the death of Madrey1. I'd informed Amy11, Osrie1, and my friends in Falador and Varrock who knew of him about his defeat, and they were all pleased and proud that I'd managed to overcome an old foe. Even though he'd done terrible things and had caused a great deal of suffering, he'd been a part of my life in RuneScape ever since I first arrived in Lumbridge and his death made me feel curiously empty, as if a part of my roots had been ripped from me. But I soon realised that it was for the best.
I was distracted by a clatter from the mailbox. I abandoned my work to check out my mail. My newspaper had arrived. I opened it up, and I raised my eyebrow as I read the headline.
Lumbridge Paper 2gp
KING DAVID'S BIG RETURN!
King David, after several years of staying mostly hidden, has returned to the public eye after he announced that he would be making a series of speeches.
"I haven't been sitting on my backside doing nothing for these years," he told a crowd in Ardougne. "I've been busy working on some plans and ideas I have. I will explain them in greater detail during my speeches."
All of his speeches will be made mid-afternoon. Below is a list of where he will be making his speeches and on what days.
I read through the list thoughtfully. My eyes widened as I saw that he would be making a speech in Varrock today. It was early afternoon now; I still had a chance of attending the speech. I decided that it would be best to leave now. I put away my construction work and tools, said farewell to Eek, and left the house.
I appeared in Port Sarim. I sighed softly as I smelled the sea breeze that I'd grown to love. I wondered where Osrie1 would be. I considered visiting his house, but I realised at this time he was probably eating lunch in The Rusty Anchor (a small bar that catered to seamen and locals and didn't offer rooms to rent). I walked towards it, and I entered. The bar was slightly cramped and reeked of smoke, sweat, and sea, but it felt homely now that I'd been living in Port Sarim and eating in the bar for about three years.
I found Osrie1 by the bar, eating meat pies (his favourite food) and drinking ale. It wasn't very hard to miss him; he had messy orange hair and a freckly face. I tapped him on the shoulder, and he greeted me cordially. I informed him of King David's speech, and he told me that he wanted to come. I asked where Amy11 was, and he told me that she was currently in the food shop. He downed his ale. He picked up his meat pie and he left the bar with me.
We walked through Port Sarim towards the food shop and we saw Amy11 further up, holding a bag full of what I assumed to be food. Amy11 was practically the first female I befriended, and had travelled with me ever since. She had long blond hair, and blue eyes that twinkled like mine. I had always liked her and I held feelings for her which seemed mutual, although neither of us had ever talked about it. She greeted us with her usual hugs. We explained the situation to her and she gladly agreed to accompany us to the speech. We cast the 'teleport to Varrock' spell, and we all disappeared.
I hate the feeling of teleportation, I grumbled. Teleportation was very convenient, but you always felt compressed while teleporting, similar to being squeezed through a pipe. We reappeared in the centre of the bustling town of Varrock after a few seconds. Varrock was a glorious city, filled with a large array of shops. The centre was especially beautiful, with its tall fountain spouting crystal-clear water. The palace, home to King Roald, was even more magnificent. The centre was even more busy than usual, due to the imminent speech of King David. A crowd was forming next to a small makeshift stage. We joined the crowd.
We must have waited half an hour, and by then the centre was absolutely packed. Eventually, King David walked onto the stage, accompanied by strange-looking bodyguards, clad in big, heavy silver. Suddenly, the crowd burst out cheering.
King David was a man who held himself in a certain way that exuded authority. In other words, he looked like a king. He had one brown eye and one green eye. He grinned, revealing perfect teeth. He waved a hand, and the crowd fell silent instantly.
"Welcome, Varrock," he said, looking at everybody with amused eyes. "I am King David, and I am back! I haven't been in the public eye for several years because I've been quite inactive. I've given small speeches, but if I did so they were for good reasons, for example, my speech at Falador to warn about the terrible murders of the period. Apart from those, however, I haven't given any bigger speeches. However, I haven't spent the last few years doing nothing.
"Certain votes were made several years ago that put me in a position of greater power than before, and this power allowed me to work on some ideas, try to turn them into realities, confer with other kings of different cities (including your very own King Roald), and generally bide my time. After years of doing this I feel it's time to announce some of my plans and speak to the people once more. I once spoke of great dreams to try and cure the world, and now I present to you several possibilities that would help accomplish these dreams.
"Firstly, poverty is growing out of hand, and this is one of the sources of the problems we face today. It is a great shame to walk through Varrock and see great parts of it fall into disrepair because of lack of money, and lack of work. I feel that if we controlled the economy better by controlling money and reducing the amount of power merchants hold over it, we could eventually reduce the overall prices of goods. We should also invest greater resources into charity; by starting organisations and arranging activities to create money for the homeless, we could fight poverty and bring back to life the broken areas of Varrock, and even other cities with poverty problems.
"Another problem we should combat is the gigantic problem of crime. Thieves are absolutely everywhere. We can inspire fear into these people by investing into greater weaponry for guards and knights, and strengthen the guards and knights themselves. Attacking and pickpocketing guards has become quite a pastime for some people and we should stop that by investing in greater training for the guards, so they are stronger than ever and can easily defeat anybody who dares attack them or try to steal their money. Thieving has grown into a skill and even has its own cape. We should destroy the capes and stop thieving as a skill so people don't aim to do crime and make it something to boast about.
"I have another plan that could be put into motion. If we are to stop thievery, we should invest into an army… but not any conventional army. We should create… create an army through the means of magic and potion-making. An army of super-soldiers would be the perfect thing to stop crime. How, you may ask? What magic is advanced enough to actually create an army? Well, let me remind you of the Black Guard of old. If we could re-create such an army, we could overcome large-scale crime problems with ease. It won't be easy, and currently it isn't a possibility, but if you support me and vote for me in future votes, I could gain enough power to create such an army! I can accomplish the impossible; I could change RuneScape and make it a better place if you vote for me!"
Several people clapped and cheered, but King David opened his mouth to signify that he wasn't finished. While he babbled on about some of his other plans and ideas, I thought about what he had said involving the Black Guard. This had hit a nerve with me, because of how Master Samuel had acquired them and abused their strength. I shuddered as I remembered the destruction they caused and how difficult they were to defeat. I looked at King David and at that moment if he really was serious about his super soldier idea.
I'd always had my suspicions about him because it was him that was responsible for the capture and death of Gypsy Aris because he accused her of 'treason' and made her wanted. I suspected Master Samuel had a part in it by convincing King David to make her wanted (possibly by slipping coins into his pocket) so he could acquire her crystal ball and use the mist inside (partly because the mist was a part of his terrible potion). But now I felt even more uncertain. A loud cheer tore me from my thoughts and back to what King David was saying.
"So now I've presented some of my ideas to you!" he yelled. "If you support me and vote for me, I could accomplish what I've spoken of, and more besides!" Everybody applauded, and King David marched off the stage, accompanied by his bodyguards.
The crowd dispersed, and I discussed my concerns with Amy11 and Osrie1. They both nodded seriously.
"I'm no expert in economics," Amy11 said. "But I do know that controlling money so tightly could be very tricky and may not improve the situation."
"I agree with you about the super-soldiers idea," Osrie1 chipped in. "It sounds horribly similar to the Black Guard, and if the super-soldiers were actually created it could yield some nasty results. Playing with life that way isn't right and could actually create a new menace. Although the Black Guard's numbers are decreasing due to how much Master Samuel used them, they're still problematic, and creating new super-soldiers could complicate the situation more." We all nodded.
"We should consult some wiser people," I suggested. "Let's go visit Aubury's rune shop and speak with him and perhaps the commanders if they're there and able to talk." We all agreed on that, and we set off.
We walked into the rune shop cautiously, and I saw a Glory Trooper by the desk. The Glory Trooper must have recognised us, because he ran through the door behind him, and he returned accompanied by Aubury. Aubury greeted us happily, and invited us into the back.
He took us into the familiar cramped kitchen. I stared fondly around me. The place meant quite a lot to me because I lived there for several months, during the Silverlight wars.
Sitting there was Haldir6, Slinky, and Creator. We all greeted each other, and Slinky greeted us in an even friendlier manner, because she travelled with us to Falador. Following the battle in Falador she decided to return to the Glory Troopers because she heard of the situation. She wasn't a commander any more, but she was still ranked very high and was treated like a commander. The current commanders were Creator, Haldir6 and Haru Axe-man (who was doing business in Lumbridge at that moment).
We began discussing the speech and I voiced my worries. There was quite a mixed bag of opinions; Slinky and Haldir6 agreed with me, Creator believed that the idea was good in the essence but a safer alternative was probably better, while Aubury felt that the super-soldier idea was good, as long as they were made differently to the Black Guard. A discussion began, and Aubury made some tea and buttered bread for us to enjoy. Despite the different opinions, I still felt very insecure about the idea. I was very unsure about King David. He had charisma and his ability to inspire crowds was remarkable, but could he be trusted? Was he corrupt? What were his true intentions? While the discussion continued onto other subjects (including Operation Bug-Crush and my defeat over Madrey1), all these questions and more continued to plague me.
I hope that was to your liking. My question to you is, what are your opinions on King David's ideas? Do you believe that, if his plans are put into motion, they will be beneficial or problematic?
Next time... Mainiac97 begins a classic RuneScape quest.
Until next time, toodles!
