Within the luxorious home of Gorius and Vanya Mildenhall, the shrieks of a mother in labor along with the cries of a new born Dwarven baby rang through the halls. With the support of a hired team of at home doctors and midwives, the crew carefully delivered the gem of the Mildenhall family into the world. Vanya was expected to make a full recovery. His father has been present for the birth, although he was swamped with paperwork. He wished to be present for the birth of their new son as he would be inheriting the family's riches. The boy was bestowed with the name Giddeon, the choice of name was after a famous politician who had helped secure the Mildenhall's rights to unionship within the province of Silverwood. An extravagant party was held in honor of the birth of the new Mildenhall. All members of The Blackwood Accord were invited to attend, of which all invited did. The party celebrated the new era of the Accord and what new promising business the boy could usher. As Giddeon ages through his childhood, he had been placed in private schooling. His parents enrolled him in the best ranking private school Silverwood had to offer. At first, a young Giddeon got along well with his peers. He made friends quite easily, he was considered to be funny and quirky. For Gorius and Vanya, their boy was turning out well. Difficulty came when Giddeon's quirkiness split over into the political life of his parents. Giddeon wanted to bond with his parents, not the sitters they had hired to care for him. His annoyance in the matter frustrated his parents, to the point where they cave and brought him along to their important meetings. However, because of Giddeon playing during the meetings, his parents found that his inability to behave to be tarnishing the political power they held over the Accord. Giddeon was often ridiculed for being a child. His parents didn't account for how much raising came with having a child. Giddeon wasn't sure how to understand the effects he had on his parents. All he knew was he didn't like being berated so he found himself becoming compliant with their demands. Schooling for Giddeon is his teens came to an abrupt halt. During lunch, he was found getting jumped by a kid name Edwin Forthlon. Edwin was the son of the Chancellor of Silverwood. Edwin had been bullying Giddeon for years, picking on him for just about anything he could make the dwarf feel bad about. Curled up on the floor in the fetal position, being relentlessly kicked by Edwin and his friends. Giddeon felt something in his mind crack. A physical explosion in his head, a booming headache that followed. Through the abuse he managed to stand back up and take a hard swing at Edwin. Edwin stumbled back, losing one of his front teeth. A teacher broke the fight up. Giddeon was ushered to the deans office where he was promptly expelled. The school had a zero tolerance fighting policy. They had believed tomorrow's future should be vouching for peace, not war. Those words rung through Giddeon's head. Spending the next few years as a disgrace to his parents, Gorius and Vanya decided to extend the olive branch to Giddeon one more time. Now a young adult, Giddeon was invited to attend meetings with the Accord, offered to shadow his parents in the work they performed with the Accord, as well as watched his mother handle the unions finances. The Accord's members are made up of morticians and undertakers from across the Silverwood province. These members paid regular dues. As a group, the Accord held vast political power within the provinces confines. The Accord often bargained for government subsidiaries to support businesses within its ranks who didn't receive as much work as others, protections to their gravesites from grave robbers, as well as the purchase of land in order to process and dispose of the dead. Giddeon spent a great portion of his time being introduced to each member, learning about the functions of their business, and discovering ways he could help them. He found being an apprentice to his parents was far greater of an education compared to what he was receiving in private school. News of a plague spread across the Silverwood province. The plague had been killing those within several days of contraction. Violent fluid heavy coughing rang through many villages. The disease was targeting the lungs of many of its victims to keep the plague airborne, as well as to quickly shut down their bodies. Many commoners did not know how to handle such a disease. The members of the Accord were unprepared. The City of Silverwood quickly became ground zero for this unnamed illness. The Sovereignty within Silverwood became overwhelmed with the deceased. Cart loads of bodies were being hauled off from the city center to outer towns for processing. Gorius and Vanya spent most of their days fighting fires at each morgue, helping where they could. Each body needed to be sorted for who's family they belonged to, shipped off to the correct graveyard, have their families contacted to see if they could afford to bury their dead, hosting funerals, cremating the unpaid. The plague created a logistical nightmare. Countless days and nights were spent bargaining with the Sovereignty to secure more funds for disposing of the dead and ensuring each morgue was properly staffed. The sovereignty showed no remorse for the Accord. They only wanted the bodies dealt with as their funds were tied up with keeping the city protected during the chaos. The Accord's members were deeply upset with how the Mildenhall's were managing their funds and the lack of support they couldn't guarantee from the sovereignty. The working conditions, the non stop hours, the lack of pay. The members banded together. Outside his bedroom window, Giddeon could heard the playing of funeral bagpipes growing in the distance. Confused, he peered out the window and saw a large mob of people with torches and swords. He has recognized most of the faces in the crowd and they were not happy. Giddeon scrambled, physically climbing the wall to hide within the rafters of his bedroom. Downstairs, he heard the front door kicked down. What followed would haunt Giddeon for the rest of his life. The cries of his mother and the angered yelling of his father, followed by the roar of the crowd. As the crowd dispersed, some stayed behind to loot the home. Giddeon was shaking in the rafters and didn't make any plans to escape. He kept quiet the best he could, the way he trained himself like when he was younger. He didn't move. Once nightfall came around, he slowly climbed down. The stragglers finally disappeared. Within his front lawn were the headless bodies of his mother and father. Giddeon has seen countless bodies in his life but seeing his parents made him sick. War was never the answer, peace was needed to fix the issues in the world. That is something that has resonated with Giddeon as he stumbled around aimlessly. The Accord members that slaughtered his parents each tried to arise to power, to take mantle of the Accord. Each failed miserably. No one knew how to quell the plague. More bodies piled up, countless lives were being lost to the plague. Giddeon, with the backing of some pro Mildenhall Accord members, began writing letters. The letters were mailed out to each Accord member. A meeting was to be hosted in the living room of the Mildenhall residence. Many members who received the letter thought a meeting held in the home of a politician was highly inappropriate. Only half of the Accord's members attended the meeting. Here, Giddeon made his announcement. Giddeon was assuming lead chairman of The Blackwood Accord. Giddeon was also dispersing his families riches amongst those who stood with him, financially supporting those in these trying times. He offered to fight tooth and nail with the Sovereignty to get what the Accord needed to do their jobs, even if it meant physical altercations. Lastly, he addressed the reality of the situation. He could not make the plague disappear, he couldn't pay someone to make it go away. He could use what powers he has to make it more tolerable while they wait out the plague. The members who attended were on board. Giddeon's plan made sense and it was accommodating to everyone. Those who did not attend were sent letters requesting their allegiance, otherwise their morgues and graveyards would be forcefully seized. Giddeon began employing mercenaries amongst the ranks of the Accord. He guaranteed them financial compensation for keeping them as retainers. However, if they were called to fight, they must show up. Giddeon uses his retainers to seize the property of the ex-Accord members who defied him. The property was redistributed within the Accord. Giddeon spoke freely and with great eloquence. He quickly gained power within the Accord as he gained power for the Accord. He earned the respect of those undernearh him as he showed compassion and care for each of their needs. He never ridiculed those loyal to him. He was what his parents never were. Years later the plague had dispersed. With a lack of carriers, low reproductions rates, and bad harvests the plague couldn't continue. Without the extra work the plague brought, the Accord would see a financial decrease in the coming years. This scared the members within as they wouldn't have enough money to pay for food and taxes. Giddeon, rife with confidence, assured it wouldn't be a problem. Giddeon attended the Silverwood Gala. He was made aware that the new Chancellor of Silverwood would be announced that night. To which of Giddeon's dismay, he found out that Edwin Forthlon was made Chancellor. This infuriated Giddeon. All those years of repressed memories flooded back into his conscious. Him laying on the floor getting kicked by a group of his friends, him getting expelled because of a fight he didn't insinuate. Giddeon stormed out of the Gala and went home to take a long bubble bath. He spent the time at home relaxing, trying to keep his mind calm. Finding out that Giddeon would need to bargain with Edwin was a nightmare come true. It could have been anyone but him. Now Giddeon needed to face his fears. Although negotiations didn't start right away, Giddeon had a feeling that Edwin had no idea who was running the Accord. Current deals remained intact between the Accord and the sovereignty. Years had gone by and nothing had changed. Giddeon felt relieved in a way, but still on edge that one day, Edwin would wake up. Times were prosperous for Giddeon. The retainers he had were often put to work in eliminating targets to acquire more land for the Accord. The bodies of the families were processed by Accord members. Giddeon even began offering extra services to grieving families, meaning your plot would be held for a monthly fee up until you died. Afterwards, your family would pay a decreased fee in order to keep your remains buried there. This new plan generated plenty of revenue for the Accord. Giddeon quickly made back the initial generational wealth he dispersed in order to buy back Accord members all those years prior. The Accord was self reliant. Giddeon was now in a time of his life where he could breathe. He began to live for himself, embracing his inner self. Giddeon hosted lavish parties, went on many dates to find love, and even made plenty of charitable donations to those who needed it. As time grew on, Giddeon felt as if everything he did was pointless. He was a smart man and realized all the fun he was having was only temporary. Nothing meaningful came from the dates he attended. The people whom he gave money to didn't know if him prior. All those parties hosted and not even a single thank you came from them. He felt little. The loneliness he suffered ate at him. In combination of his loneliness, the fear of Edwin's wrath loomed over his mind. Giddeon wasn't sure what to do. No amount of money could fix these two problems. A mercenary named Oscar had been raising a child. Oscar was a renowned cutthroat within the Accord's retainers. Giddeon considered him to be one of his few friends as Oscar spent many nights with Giddeon hanging about an outdoor fire pit, shooting the shit. Giddeon learned of a secret Oscar had kept. For the last 20 years he had been raising an elven woman and teaching her to be an assassin just like himself. He has adopted the girl after she was left to him. Giddeon wished to meet this lady Oscar had raised. Within the following week, Oscar had brought along the short and slender elven woman. Gina had bright glowing purple orbs for eyes, medium length flowing blonde hair, and an inviting facial expression. Giddeon adored the woman, she was funny, energetic, and explosive. She was looking for work as Oscar was departing from his own life. Giddeon quickly offered her a job as his retainer. Most of the work Giddeon tasked Gina with had been recruitment. Going to new morgues and gravesites to recruit those who had been working them. One of the recruits stood out to Giddeon. One of Gina's friends and now a fellow member of the Accord, Tera, stuck out amongst everyone else in the Accord. The Elven woman was absolutely stunning. She carried herself with confidence, yet she was quiet and reserved. She only spoke when she needed to. Giddeon adored her black hair and white orbs for eyes. Tera kept herself prim and proper as she dealt with a lot of deals within her own business. Giddeon found that Tera took a liking to him over time. It wasn't easy, not like it had been before with previous relationships Giddeon had. However, the attraction Giddeon had for her felt genuine, more so than anything prior. Tera quickly ascended the ranks within the Accord, gaining popularity for her level headed approach to tasks. Giddeon vouched for her the best he could. Dates became a weekly occurrence between Giddeon and Tera. The dwarf often took her to extravagant restaurants, bought her many gifts, and spent many hours hanging out with her at her home in Lakeshire. The relationship that had sputtered out over the years. Giddeon wasn't sure why the love he gave Tera wasn't being reciprocated well by her. She continued to egg him on but Giddeon had a pit in his gut that said she had lost interest. Eventually, Tera cut off the romantic ties with Giddeon. The reason was is that she was scared, she didn't elaborate further. Giddeon felt horrible and dove into a depressive spiral. As time marched on, Giddeon now realized with expanding membership, he would need to barter for more subsidiaries and land from the sovereignty. He was not excited to speak to Edwin but he had to if he wanted to keep his head on his shoulders. He quickly had appearance with Edwin. Edwin, even after all these years remembered Giddeon. How weak the man was, how easy he was to toy with. Edwin had the tooth Giddeon knocked out replaced with a gold one. Edwin decided to make Giddeon's life miserable after learning he was the soul survivor of the Mildenhall clan and in charge of the Accord. Instead of funds being increased, the subsidiaries were cut in half and a third of the land were to be returned back to the sovereignty immediately. To Giddeon, this was an act of war. He had set up his retainers to protect the lands that were being repossessed. To Giddeon's dismay, he discovered that Edwin began offering deals to the Accord members directly, sidestepping any bargaining the sovereignty had to make with the Accord directly. More and more members began aligning their allegiance with the Sovereignty as that was where the money was. Giddeon felt like his entire empire was crumbling down around him. There was a new proclamation made by the Chancellor that outlawed unions within the Silverwood province. With this proclamation came an arrest warrant for Giddeon. During the night, Giddeon was in the middle of taking one of his habitual bubble baths when he heard the door to his home kicked in. Multiple armor clad men rushed in, yelling, looking for Giddeon. Giddeon was now dragged from his bath tub in front of his home. The only thing maintaining his decency was a thin layer of bubbles around his waist. Giddeon had been kicking and screaming, not wanting to be paraded through the streets naked and chained. Giddeon felt a familiar crack in his mind, almost like an explosion. A headache overcame him. His mind processed the next few moments in short bursts. The sight of a candle holder bashing in the skull of a guard. Him deflecting blows from a sword using a metal chest piece he has torn off of a different guard. Him running naked through the woods, covered in blood that wasn't his own. Nothing made sense to him, it was like he was autonomously carrying his own body and actions. His thoughts becoming reality as he took every stride in the psychosis he endured. He knocked on the door of Tera. Out of all he lost trust with, he knew that he could trust Tera despite their romantic fallout. Tera quickly ushered Giddeon into her home. From there, she had taken care of him. Bathing the blood from his body, assessing the minor cuts and bruises he endured. She helped put his mind at ease. Together, the two of them demised a plan. Giddeon had enacted his plan. He walked into the City of Silverwood and turned himself in. It wasn't long for him to await a trial. The trial came within the same day as Edwin wished to make a fool out of Giddeon in public, as well as to flex his authority over the denizens of Silverwood. The trial began, though the impending sentence was already lingering in the air. Edwin made a quick speech about how foolish it was of the Accord to siphon the funds of the sovereignty. He taunted Giddeon with his defeat. Edwin encroached. He sentenced Giddeon to a public execution. Giddeon, being much older now, feigned hearing loss and asked Edwin to repeat himself. As Edwin stood a mere few inches away from Giddeon and repeated the sentence, Giddeon broke the chains that held him. His physical strength was greatly underestimated from years of professional lifting to impress women. From the rafters of the courthouse, Gina dropped a metal mace. Giddeon caught the mace midair. He swung it around and caved in the skull of Edwin. Breaking him like how the sovereignty original used the Accord to break his family. The Chancellor was now dead. Tera, using a horse and buggy parked out front, helped Giddeon and Gina escape the city. Once out of the city the three returned to Tera's home and laid low. Giddeon flex the power of the Accord over the sovereignty. Days later he made a public appearance within the city. He made declarations that a new Chancellor would be chosen by the Accord. Voted in fairly by its members. The sovereignty were to present multiple contenders for the position. This act of courageousness from Giddeon ensures the survival of his organization as well as its members. The chancellors original plans were to ream the poached members once under the sovereignty's rule, not to actually pay them better. Even with this glorious victory under his belt, he felt incomplete.