A good piece overall, with a well-realized viewpoint character. I think you might have addressed the theme a little better by presenting a character with actual intelligence, rather than one who only believes himself to be the smartest person in any room he's in. :) I enjoyed the interplay between the three factions and their different interests (or total lack of interest!) in the macguffin. I felt this placed the story nicely in the world, which I appreciated.
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Thanks so much for the compliments!
I tried my best to make a character who showed some actual smarts, but who just couldn’t prevail against the strength of his opponent (the Macguffin), so I’m glad somebody thinks I did decently at that!
Here I was going: “Let’s see, a spear already broke and hurt my arm, obviously I need to try to use a spear again” Woof, character needs smart.