Brutal was the tundra, but with what fate conspired, even it felt more warm than the capital these days.
Masses of people were crammed into what homes could be found and constructed in the lands of Drixagh. Whether you were hopeful, forlorn, or simply mad, the days demanded the same of everyone. Noble were they all, for the tribesmen and settlers alike worked together rather than against one another for survival.
Returning from a hunt, the navy he commanded becoming a glorified fishing and shipping company, news was brought to Virathus that shook him to his core; The Undercrown and his Kommandant had been slaughtered by Elves. He received the news in stunned silence, his mouth still agape whence he dismissed the bearers of bad news.
As the people gathered to partake in preparing the bounty of the hunt, they looked to the shook Krupp man, his optimism clearly overshadowed by grief. They bid him say something - but what could he say that would not be pretentious amongst his concerns? That he might not be a Lieutenant-Admiral in the coming days? That he doubted his prospects for nobility without a mighty patron and friend? He gazed back upon them in silence, his composure asserting itself like an undertow against his swimming thoughts:
"Good people, in light of the loss of our Undercrown, I must return to the Crown Isle and see what is to come of my command and efforts. You will not toil without me for long; genuinely, in these times, I feel safer out here where I know I may look to my left and see only brothers and sisters. There, I know now ambition will not be tempered by order, and no matter what I do or have done, I know not if I will return here anything but another Calemberger trying to start a new life... But I will return. Your insurmountable will, your courage, your strength - to have just witnessed has made me stronger, and I know now that my home is here.
But the Empire has lost two of its finest men, and I must do them justice by returning for their funeral rites. Johann gave me the ambition to be great, and Charles afforded me the opportunity to do so. I must lend my voice to reason there, and know the peace may last long enough for our own wounds to heal. May each hunt bring more bounty than the last, and each net pull more fish from the ocean until I return. Spirit keep you all."
On that note, he would quickly set off towards the docked ships, making his way back to the Crown Isle. Virathus Krupp had few friends, and the best of them had perished. His face would be marked with a paint to symbolize his sorrow as he returned, his head and heart heavy with grief and insecurity.
If there was anything this young Bastion knew though, it was that fortitude was the trait of the greatest men. He thanked the heavens for having met Johann and Charles, and prepared for the storm ahead.
