Chapter 2: Through His Nightmare, Darkly
Washington D.C., the true capital city of the United States, well not really according to half of the country. But regardless, a beautiful city, with wide boulevards, classical-inspired architecture, and distinct landmarks, many of which were covered in the blood and broken glass of last night's riot. Still, with the dust just beginning to settle, the sun rose on the horizon, signaling the start of a new day.
Secretary of State William Seward was worried. Not just about the riots, those at least had a clear cause, and well, clear effects that he could see. It wasn't even the general worry that had accompanied his increased stress caused by the war. No, this worry was rooted in the telegram sitting front of him. The delivery boy, Seward couldn't remember his name, had given him the note with the qualification that:
"You might want to sit down for this Mr. Seward."
To which Seward replied:
"I will decide as to my own seating arrangements."
The boy had quickly left, and Seward had quickly forgotten him, so fixated was he on the contents of the telegram:
WILLIAM H. SEWARD
WASHINGTON, D.C.
WE HAVE DISCOVERED A COMPLICATION IN THE WAR EFFORT STOP THE CONFEDERATES HAVE DISCOVERED A WAY TO ACCESS ANOTHER WORLD STOP THEY ARE INVESTIGATING IT AS YOU READ THIS STOP WE MAY ASSUME THAT THE CONFEDERATES WILL TRY TO GAIN ASSISTANCE FROM THE INHABITANTS OF THE OTHER WORLD STOP ME AND THE PRESIDENT WILL MEET WITH YOU AS SOON AS POSSIBLE TO DISCUSS THE DETAILS
EDWIN MCMASTERS STANTON
SECRETARY OF WAR
This was a situation that no one could have expected, and it had the potential to seriously complicate things. So far, the diplomatic maneuverings of the Confederacy had been limited to various attempts by Judah Benjamin to convince the Europeans, especially the British and French, to help the Confederate cause. These attempts made sense. Hell, Seward would have tried them if he was in Judah's position. But these new developments were entirely alien, unforeseen, and unaccountable in the traditional logic of diplomacy. How did one deal with the appearance of an entirely new world? How did one establish diplomatic relations with countries, if that, that likely had entirely different, or even nonexistent political systems? And most importantly, how would this affect the war? The only development of any similarity in Seward's experience was the situation of the Indian, but Seward of course regarded that as a separate matter, that was mostly resolved. Seward pondered the situation for what felt to him like hours, occasionally writing notes as he waited for the President to call him to the meeting. Finally, another messenger came to him, this time telling him to meet with the President. Seward immediately rushed over to his office.
Seward had an interesting history with Lincoln. At first, he had been under the wing of the political boss Thurlow Weed, as a member of the Whig party, much like Lincoln. He soon rose to become a governor of New York, advancing abolitionist points of view in a way still uncommon in the antebellum north. Then, in 1855, with the collapse of the Whig party, he switched his party registration to the Republicans, much like Lincoln did. In 1860, he found himself competing with Lincoln to be the nominee of the Republican party. At the convention, Seward initially had the most delegates, but moderates eventually backed Lincoln, whose more conservative views on slavery and immigration were seen as a better fit to win the election. Seward eventually campaigned for Lincoln, and secured a seat in his cabinet as Secretary of State.
However, Seward was thinking of the present as he waited for Lincoln to arrive. After several tense minutes for the Secretary, the President strode in, accompanied by his Secretary of War, Edwin Stanton.
Seward had initially disliked Stanton due to his political inclinations. However Seward, as with many aspects of his life, had used his diplomatic skills to work together with the former Democrat, most of the time anyway.
"Mr. President," Seward said, as he rose from his chair.
"Mr. Seward," the President said, "we have a situation on our hands that we haven't seen since the events of Fort Sumter. I have some intelligence to discuss, but I'll let Mr. Stanton give you some background information."
"Of course," Stanton said.
"As you know, I receive regular reports from spies all around the Confederacy. Recently, they'd been hearing rumors of a Confederate military weapon, with, and I don't take this lightly, potentially war-winning capabilities. Well we had no idea what it was, but we sent out our spies to gather more information, armed with Federal dollars, and recently one of them, Samuel Jacobson I believe, claimed to have engaged in a conversation with an army officer who had witnessed the 'weapon.' According to him, Samuel I mean, the 'weapon' was in fact not a traditional weapon at all! It was instead a 'doorway' as he called it to a completely different world."
Lincoln interjected, "Thank you, Mr. Stanton. I believe I'll continue from here. Our spy eventually snuck into where the 'doorway' was supposedly located, and gave us a description, which we have here now." Lincoln took a piece of paper out of his suit, and slapped it down on the table.
Please excuse the late arrival of this message. It is imperative that it not fall into enemy hands. I can confirm that the doorway I reported on before does exist, as evidenced by the testimony of my own eyes. Posing as a Confederate newspaper reporter, with some generous bribes along the way, sufficed enough good will to get a brief look at it. The doorway is located inside an unassuming tent, within the Northern Virginia army camp. It is around the size of a regular doorway, about 6 feet high, and three wide, enough for an army to pass through single-file. On the other side was a large marsh, with what looked like wooden huts in the distance. That brief look was all I was able get in the brief time I was allowed. Talking to another soldier, I learned that Davis had been sending small numbers of troops through the doorway. When I asked if they had anything from the other side, he directed me to one of the partakers of the reconnaissance missions. Enclosed is the object that I was able to glean from that soldier, supposedly from the other side of the doorway. I believe it to be genuine, and to serve as more direct proof of my descriptions.
-SJ
Finished reading the letter, Seward dryly commented:
"So will we see the proof of this magical doorway?"
"Yes, I believe that we've had quite enough background," the President said.
He pulled out another object from his suit. "A Brief History of the Empire, the Completed Works," read the cover.
"Here it is."
Seward snatched the book from Lincoln and started flipping through it. The book seemed to recount the history of "The Empire," mostly under the rule of the "Septim" dynasty. "The Empire" seemed to be made up of at least eight administrative entities: Skyrim, Hammerfell, High Rock, Elsweyr, Black Marsh, Valenwood, the Summurset Isle, and Morrowind. After he finished, Seward handed the book back to Lincoln. He wasn't entirely sure of what to make of it, but Seward was damned if he wasn't going to get in a word before Stanton.
"Well, I'll give you my verdict," said Seward.
"And that is?" said Lincoln.
"We have here in our possession, a book that is either a very good fake, meaning that we have been led on by a Confederate plot, or that it is genuine, in which case we have a worse situation on our hands." Seward glanced out the window.
"I can't say that it wouldn't be risky, but I would advise a fact finding mission to the other side of the 'doorway,' to find out just what in god's name is out there, and what we should do about it."
The morning sun glinted off the damaged buildings of the city, lending the conversation an uneasy backdrop.
"I'll certainly take that under consideration Mr. Seward, but Mr. Stanton, what are your thoughts on the military ramifications of this?" said Lincoln.
"Again, we'd have to find out more information about what's on the other side of this thing, but the Confederates are sure to try and take advantage of absolutely anything that could help them win this war. I concur with Seward; we have to approach this cautiously. In fact, should such a mission be approved, I could even recommend some good people for the job..."
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," interjected Lincoln.
"We're going to have to think this through carefully and completely. I know you, Mr. Stanton. You want to handle this yourself, but we can't have a repeat of our previous failures now can we."
"Of course not, Mr. President," said Stanton.
"Mr. Seward, do you have any more ideas?" said Lincoln.
"Well now that I'm thinking about it, Stanton's right—we won't be able to use "SJ" again. He would almost certainly come under suspicion if he attempted to access the 'doorway,' and that's if he isn't being watched already. We'll need to get someone completely new for this endeavor," said Seward.
"They do say that I have an eye for detail," said Stanton.
"At least this time Mr. Stanton," said Lincoln.
"How about you both draw up a list of candidates, and we'll chose the likely lad."
Both of the Secretaries nodded in agreement.
"Good," said Lincoln. "I look forward to the inevitable battle."
As Seward walked out of the room, he began to think up some likely candidates, quite a few came to mind.
Don't worry, Seward won't be narrating this whole story. In fact, the next chapter will return to Morrowind.