Rokalla stirred from the bed and yawned. He rubbed her eyes and smacked his lips before climbing over his lovers and moving to the center of the room. He then changed into a pair of pants and a simple sleeveless top before he stretched his shoulders. He then started her yoga routine, Mountain pose, plank, hero, both Warrior poses, tree, and child for his final pose. He then went into the bathroom to get himself ready. His lovers soon woke up and joined him. They went through the whole Orc hygiene routine, shower, deodorant, and teeth, especially the tusks. Despite the messy appearance of their hair, Orcs are very hygiene conscious. This was drilled into their society when they founded Realmgate City. When the first soldiers tried out showers, they felt better about themselves and could fight more effectively, without worrying about any other bodily baggage. That became part of their philosophy really quick and they soon became the standard bearers for good grooming, even going so far as to be as clean as the Over-realm’s Vorkath. After their routine, the Orcs began dressing themselves. They heard a knock on the door. “Yes?” called Rokalla.
“Breakfast is being served in the main dining hall,” replied a butler.
“Be there in a second!” declared Rokalla as he adjusted his pauldrons. He then heard a grunting from Jamula.
“Come…on!” she growled as she tried to fasten her top.
“Allow me,” offered Herksher. He then fastened the top for her. She then adjusted it so she could breathe.
“There we go,” she sighed happily. “Thank you, Master!”
“Anything for you, Sweet Tusk,” replied Herksher. The Orcs then left the room and followed the butler to the main dining hall. Everyone sat down and were served their breakfast.
“My word, this is delicious!” chuckled Ufnamfa. “It’s actually more so than yesterday!”
“Well, Dumarith recovered from his cold,” replied Elgrad, “so it’s back to the husband and wife cooking routine for him and Domesta.”
“I still can’t believe it,” mused Rokalla. “Two Genies as a married couple.”
“Where IS the happy couple?” asked Olmarfa.
“Right here,” replied Domesta’s voice as she and Dumarith floated in with their own plates of food.
“You look good today, Dumarith,” observed Hanako.
“I FEEL good, Your Majesty,” declared Dumarith as he helped Domesta to her seat. He then sat down as Bermak arched an eyebrow. Orbak observed that.
“What?” he asked. “It’s not uncommon for staff members to share their meals with us Royals.”
“Really?” asked Bermak.
“Really,” confirmed Emfam. “We’re all appreciative of them, so why not have them join us?”
“I guess I never saw the staff outside of a banquet,” mused Bermak. Elgrad then got a good look at Orbak’s face and gasped.
“You didn’t?!” he yelped as he pointed to Orbak’s lip. Endram followed the finger and gasped.
“That thing’s more trouble than it’s worth!” answered Orbak as he ran his face down his bare face.
“Honestly, he looks better without facial hair,” remarked Elmpam appreciatively.
“You see?” asked Orbak as he beamed with pride. Hanako and the Over-realm Queens then looked at their Kings.
“…Oh no, you don’t!” yelped Elgrad as he shielded his beard.
“Mine’s staying!” snapped Endram.
“Oh well, girls,” sighed Jeefef. “We tried.”
“Hey, Foresna,” called Elgrad, changing the subject, “when are you going to your sister’s wedding?”
“After lunch,” answered Foresna. “Gonna help a bit before the big day tomorrow.”
“Make sure you tell us all about it when you come back,” advised Arsha.
“Don’t worry, I will,” promised Foresna.
After breakfast, Jamula and her masters went clothes-shopping for her. There was a store that sold harem outfits and could make alterations for any other outfits. After getting her clothes altered to fit her, she got a few new outfits. She was skipping out of the tailor’s shop, giggling in happiness. She wasn’t going to give up her outfits just yet. “No cares in your head?” asked Rokalla teasingly.
“Not at the moment, no,” replied Jamula. “I’m sure the Final War’s far off, anyway. They’d have to be stupid to attack us now!”
“Careful,” warned Prormerk. “That could be our downfall.”
“You are such a gloomy guy, Prormerk!” remarked Bermak. “Look, if we stay optimistic, that could give us an edge in morale and fighting spirit!”
“He has a point,” remarked Rokalla.
When the Orcs returned and had lunch with everyone, the Royals and Rokalla returned to the Conference Hall. Everyone announced that they were in attendance and Rokalla began recording. “Yesterday, before adjourning,” reminded Elgrad, “we had a bit of trouble in figuring out how to help people out to keep their spirits up. I trust we all have ideas?” Everyone gave noises of confirmation. “Then each of us will put an idea forward and we can plan around it. We’ll go in order of when we announced our attendance. Feymay, please start us off.”
“We should get into agriculture more,” she suggested. “The farmers will understand that we want to know how hard growing food is. It might teach us all some valuable skills.”
“I was thinking,” offered Emfam, “we should build up historical sites. The people want to know more about history.”
“The citizens need to know that soldiers are people just like them,” suggested Lardeth. “Maybe affordable, secure tours of a base would help.”
“The people also want to have some form of escape from their toils,” called Roomef. “Why not teach people how to entertain?”
“If there are any who need help in organizing their lives,” offered Jeefef, “then helping them on that front will do so.”
“There are people who feel like they can’t make it in entertainment,” remarked Olmarfa, “because they’re not good singers or speakers. I was thinking of helping people gain confidence through their movements.”
“Railways are always in need of people, especially heritage railways,” called Ufnamfa. “We should help out on local heritage railways.”
“The Live-streamers always look up games people like,” recalled Teefmanam. “Maybe we should do some live-streaming ourselves. I can certainly help you guys out on that front.”
“Local museums are as eager for volunteers as heritage railways,” offered Pofomofo. “Maybe we can assist in maintaining artefacts.”
“There’s also the homeless villages,” replied Endram. “We need to make sure the people living there have actual roofs over their heads. Perhaps aiding in home improvements will make sure they’re living comfortably.”
“There’s also people who can’t get a job, despite their best efforts,” reminded Elgrad. “We need to make sure they aren’t turned away simply because they’re homeless, so educating the public in that regard will help.”
“The people also want to see how a skyship functions, despite not wanting to join Realmfleet,” mused Arsha. “I’d say a secure skyship tour will help in that regard.”
“Our citizens will be scared if we tighten security,” observed Hanako. “We need to assure them that it’s for their protection in ways that won’t go too far. Need I remind you all of the Great Criminal Scare? Our predecessors went nearly totalitarian.”
“I may have a solution to that,” called Orbak. “We need to show the people that law enforcement IS on their side, so we need to encourage our officers to be more at ease when off-duty and get them to work at the other suggestions made here.”
“I’m saying this because I’m surprised Feymay didn’t,” mused Malnar. “We should also encourage art forms of all types, painting, writing, drawing, speaking, all that stuff needs more funding. If we give an image to Dr. Borg that our people still find pleasure despite a threat looming, she’s sure to make a mistake in anger.”
“And, as someone who’s an All-Priestess,” finished Elmpam, “I suggest we encourage people to find faith in the suggestions here. The Divine Ones encourage us to always branch out, so we must do so in their name.”
“That…wow,” muttered Rokalla. “That’s a lot of suggestions.”
“Upon further observation,” called Lardeth, “it looks like there are a few categories that can group multiple suggestions together. The only reason I objected to helping people yesterday is because I thought that would paint a target on our backs, but it seems I needed to learn that there are multiple ways to help and pursuing those avenues would actually spread her forces too thin.”
“My thinking exactly,” remarked Orbak. “You know, now that I think about it, those suggestions can easily apply to war’s end if we win.”
“WHEN we win,” corrected Arsha. “If the Final War starts now, I’m gonna do everything in my power to make sure we win, as I know the rest of us do.”
“That’s my girl!” praised Elgrad.
As the Royals talked in the Mid-realm, Yamta poured over the plans of the Narvens’ castle again. For someone with minimal security, there were a lot of traps to avoid that assassination didn’t seem to cut it. As she looked again to find something, ANYTHING to exploit, a notification appeared on her computer. She checked it and read the news article that was sent to her. As she read it, her eyes went wide. When she finished…she grinned! Her attempt just became a lot easier and it would help her kill two birds with one stone.