[ - Author's Note - ]
I'd love to report on view count, but FFDotNet at the moment is acting up at the moment and isn't showing any new views; which is kind of a pain. The site had been around since 1998, so that's likely part of the problem; sheer age. Even so it's still the most popular site to use and while I like AO3 it's not the easiest to search through.
Oh well.
So what do we have for this one?
Well, a brief rundown of the history of the Unitum Imperium that's been used as lore for quite sometime and what it really was might come as a surprise. An overview of the territories of Jetra, Harcal and Faircas as we've yet to visit any of them. A little time between Claudia and James, a bit with Beardsley and a couple others we haven't seen for a bit. So without further ado...
Let us begin.
[ - Act II - Interlude: An Imperial Mess - ]
Hearing you have a desire to learn more of the Unitum Imperium and it's history I searched for a good introduction to the subject, but found multiple, conflicting histories of the subject. Finally I inquired to the Historian's Guild about the best primer and I was pointed to chapter seven of Dominic James Pencraft's Sererus: A Collection of History and Powers. It seems to be a good overview and explains much of the confusion of the Imperium's history. I hope this is useful to you, M'Lord.
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The Unitum Imperium is the largest known empire in known history with a legacy left in the construction, language and culture in it's wake. The current concept of military force, divisions and operations began here as did the current systems of commerce and government. It was also one of the first to take detailed notes of what was going on, keeping and assembling a recorded history. Clearly, to a historian such as myself, this is of great interest. However it also this history that has caused issues, namely how it was kept and told.
The Historians Guild has a motto; The truth as is be it foul or fair, must be told naked and bare. What it means is you must record the truth as it is, or at least as you know it to be. Evidence and testimony may change the context of an event or reveal a background detail that brings certain decisions to a new light. The Imperium, however, ended up with two histories; one recorded and backed with factual evidence, testimony from individuals and neutral sources for the purpose of understanding previous events and know how things came to be and a second one crafted and forged to elevate a political position, a line of emperors and attempt to show them in a single, flattering light. These two positions are often called the Legacy History and the Kaiser History and vary greatly.
As always we start with the beginning. Dynatós Patéras was a scholar of moderate note in what was called the Primia City State, now known as Primus City of Geofu. The Age of Discovery was a boon period to men like Patéras. While not the foremost magical pioneer he was among the first to combine spell and sword in a single combat art but he is best known as a philosopher and one of the few Dragonborne of this age known to us. Indeed, the event that would spur him onto forming the empire occurred when he was over two hundred years old. The event would come via Allannia Grassfoot, a high elf and one of the reincarnations of the Goddess Larentia; specifically the Wanderer. Dynatós and Allannia would form a quick friendship and even a love affair resulting in a child. However it was this child that would come to end Allannia; the Goddess Reborn would die in childbirth... But not before sharing with Dynatós a vision she had before she went into labor. Records of what she said exactly are lost, but what we do know is she saw the conquest of Primia and six other city states by an evil, malevolent force.
Unsure of what the danger was or what direction it would come, or even when, he decided he needed to act. Rather then act in haste he waited five years and raised his daughter as best he could. Sofí Mitéra, a capable commander of note, would come into his life at this time and he would fall in love a second time with her becoming a step-mother to his child. During this time he planned and put thought to what he was going to do before beginning the groundwork of his empire.
This is where the Legacy and Kaiser histories begin to disagree on a major basis. If you listen to the Kaiser History this is where Dynatós and Sofí raised an army from the people in and around Primia and began a march, conquering city after city, state after state, each a feather in his cap as he grew his land outwards. The Legions of the Imperium conquered all who they came upon and set torch to those who refused, their fists of iron grabbing power and glory!
The Legacy version is less exciting. It was not by waging war but by waging peace that The Unitum Imperium grew it's initial size. It was by appealing to other city state leaders and negotiation that he brought them in. Indeed, the Imperium was initially designed as a defensive pact to deal with the Aberrant and possible, future Dark Elf attacks first and whatever future threat loomed over them, as well as combining them with trade and economic deals. Over the course of twenty three years he slowly, by degrees brought people under his banner where individual states held much autonomy and freedom under a central government that concerned itself with being an arbiter and coordinator above all else. In fact only the Armadan/Hallaca/Urgon Alliance of City States (Now central and southern Rycall) refused to join by peace. Now Emperor Dynatós was content to leave them be, but the alliance coveted the lands of modern day Northern Rycall and Southern Ken, Rad, Ansur and Thorn.
These were the first, last and only conquests of Dynatós' reign. Indeed, after the conquests he appointed new leaders from within these city states and made an offer; that they would join the Imperium for seven years and if dissatisfied with their place they could leave so long as they agreed to pursue no more aggression. In the end they decided they were happy in their new place within the empire and opted to remain. Sofí would give birth to four more of his children before she passed of old age, but he was not so fortunate to see the end of his own years by age.
In 95 IY (Imperial Year, some two and a half to three thousand years ago. The destruction in the First Age of Conflict makes placing the exact date difficult) he was killed by Sofí's eldest grandson, who was planning to take his crown. His half-elf daughter with Allannia, Sofia Patéras Victoria (Now newly married), would kill him in turn and for a decade rule as regent. She refused the title of empress, declaring that the rule of the empire should go to the most suited not to the eldest child of the last ruler. Finally once sure her father's legacy was safeguarded and renaming Primia to Primus City she would crown Alexander Luxrex, a general turned senator, as the second emperor. Alexander and Sofia would further expand the Empire, reaching the north and south coasts of Sererus in this time. Once more the Kaiser telling of this story speaks of conquest by war, but it was a conquest by peace and negotiation. There was the odd conquest by the blade here and there, to be sure, but like Dynatós they did their best to ensure no ill feelings remained after all was said and done.
In 151 IY the third emperor, Victor von Blitzpferd, took the crown. He would direct his attentions to the west; modern day Camafran, Roxford and most of Eastern Dominious would be brought under the Imperium's sway in this time. It was in this period that they bumped into the Doxfan Kingdom, modern day Western Dominious. Unlike other states Doxfan did not join with nor wage war upon the Imperium and so Victor mostly left them be; offering a trade deal which, after some consideration, was accepted and he moved on. Sadly Victor would fall ill in 177 IY and was bedridden in 180 IY. He would pass the crown to his generals for safekeeping and appointed Sofia Patéras Victoria Potens (Now married to her second husband) to find a worthy head for the crown to rest on. She would appoint Alexis Vanderborne to the position in 183 IY as it's forth ruler and first empress. Empress Alexis would focus on the east, bringing in modern day Wereagell and Nyaru and reaching the borders of the Eastern nations. While there was a skirmish and a war in which the country of Wabika was conquered and offered the usual offer of seven years. After seven years Wabika left the empire, although some of it's citizens would move westward into parts of a mostly unoccupied segment near modern day Nyaru.
This is where the Kaiser History once more disagrees with the Legacy History; while Wabika was simply the first to leave after the usual seven year offer they painted it as her losing the territory due to weakness; an unwillingness to sacrifice her men to suppress rebellion. Even in that era, with the truth widely known it was seen as a point against their empress until her sudden passing in 212 IY; we have no good records on the cause of death, it should be noted. Sofia Patéras Victoria Potens Dulcerisus (Now on husband three) was charged with finding yet another leader of the empire. And this is where Viturin Kaiser enters the picture.
A young man in this period he rose up to a commander in the Imperial Army and had ambitions on the crown. He had a taste of true combat and conquest in Wabika and wanted more glory for himself. He petitioned for the crown to be laid on his head, but Sofia noted his war hungry manner and declined his wants; she would set it upon the head of the Imperium's fifth ruler and second empress, Hecate Silens; a younger scholar and Priestess of Larentia in 214 IY.
On that subject, many believe that Larentia worship was uncommon or suppressed in this time but as one might have guessed by that Dynatós' first lover was a fragment of the goddess it wasn't just commonplace but the State Religion. Indeed, it was other sects like the Followers of the Nine that was suppressed, although not be imperial decree but by normal citizens and the church that they followed. While he ordered no building larger then a standard church be built in Her name these churches were everywhere. Viturin, as you might have guessed, followed the Nine although in secret. Indeed, the Followers of the Nine while oppressed bore a sizable presence in the shadows of the Imperium and would have their time to impact the crown soon.
Silens' reign would be undermined by the Followers of the Nine; an advisor giving her short-sighted ideas on taxation, shuffling a part of the budget from infrastructure to the military and attempting to turn major supporters against her while turning them to Viturin's side. By 221 IY he was ready to make his move; the first of which was the death of Hecate Silens via a sniper. Blame was placed upon agents of Wabika but Sofia Patéras Victoria Potens Dulcerisus Heri (On husband number four) took command as regent and ordered a full investigation as she resumed a new search for a new leader. Sadly she did not have the chance; she died on July 3rd, 222 IY under 'suspicious circumstances'. Sadly despite my best efforts I've been unable to find a true cause of death; by what I can tell she fell to her death but impacted a cloth overhang and then a impacted a table that collapsed, limiting the impact. Despite that most doctors said the fall, given the height, was not likely to kill her and no physical damage showing a cause of death was found. Poison is a possibility but if anyone attempted to discover if she was poisoned or not no records show them. Magical causes were also not searched for. All that can be said for certain is that she died and would be named as a Saint by the Larentian Church.
With the regent now dead the duty of crowning an emperor fell to the senate. A senate that boasted a quarter of it's number as Followers of the Nine or allies of Viturin. While it might sound unlikely they could get Viturin crowned you must understand that there were nine other candidates for the position at that time. Through negotiation and perhaps means such as bribery and blackmail they managed to convince enough of the senate to select Viturin Kaiser as the new Emperor in 223 IY and it's sixth ruler.
Thus the Age of Kaiser came.
Slowly he moved to replace the senate with more and more of his supporters before he directed the Imperium to conquer Wabika once more. This time no offer to let them leave was on the table. Unlike other emperors and empresses, Kaiser conquered more of the realm by force. Parades of the military through major cities were common and the ranks swelled. He also pressed to have history rewritten in his benefit; by this telling Sofia selected him just before her untimely death to Wabika assassins and his conquest of their lands was justified and that Empresses Vanderborne and Silens were weak, ineffective rulers. In addition he ended the domination of Larentia Worship as the state religion, declaring a freedom of religion in the empire and raising the Nine in the eyes of the public.
One may wonder if the empire had a reputation for oppressing Larentian Church why did he not ban them outright once he had power? While I do not know if he hated the Church or not the answer is simple; pragmatism. Banning Larentian Worship in a majority Larentian realm was all but guaranteed to spark rebellion. This move he could spin as simply 'freeing other faiths from oppression'.
He would rule until 267 IY and pass his crown to his son Victor Kaiser as the empire's seventh ruler with senate approval. Victor felt much like his father in terms of rule, although he committed no conquests preferring to improve his holdings and build better infrastructure. Indeed he was known as Victor the Builder for this improvement process. For an overview of the Imperium Victor's reign is almost forgettable; he was the bridge between the two men who impacted the realm the most in this time. In 301 IY he passed his crown to his own son and eighth ruler of the Imperium, Dominic Kaiser.
Better known as Dominic the Destroyer.
While his grandfather showed restraint in his efforts and his father showed a desire to improve the realm Dominic wanted to make his mark as a conqueror. The conqueror even. He would, starting in 303 IY until 321 IY, conquer massive parts of the continent. Doxfan, Girgal, Voxson and Taikaze all came into the Imperium in this time. In addition he took his brothers and four of the most notable scribes of his court and rewrote all of the Imperium's history once more, creating the Kaiser History in full. Indeed, he tried to burn all records of the Legacy History of the Imperium. Thankfully the Historiae Custodes squirreled away much of these records into private vaults or kept officials from burning the records. Indeed, the Historiae Custodes would evolve into the modern day Historian Guild and these events are why we are so set of preserving the truth.
While Dominic was obsessed with retelling tales of Dynatós Patéras and Sofí Mitéra as conquerors to justify his own conquests and was more then happy to slay those who opposed him it was in 333 IY that things started to change. Rebellions broke out, first over in the fringes of the empire; Doxfan, Voxson and Taikaze namely. Armies were sent and put them down by force with the emperor's son, Dominic the Second, leading the charge in the northwest territories. His daughters Kala and Andrea, over his objections, marched down into the southern territories to 'keep the peace' there. For the next ten years this was the state of things; rebellions on the fringes and armies stamping them down. In 335 IY, however, a major event kick started the real problems of the empire; Dominic the First died. Not to an assassin or an illness; he merely slipped in the bathtub, banged his head hard enough to black out and ended up face down in his own bathwater. An oddly amusing death for such a powerful man.
The sudden, unexpected power vacuum left the crown up for grabs and all three of Dominic I's children moved to claim it. Dominic II would emerge the winner, raping both of his sisters for their defiance against him.
Rumors that they birthed him children are unfounded, but not impossible.
Dominic the Second would rewrite history even further and by the time of 361 IY the Legacy and Kaiser versions of history were more like parallel timelines then anything else. In 372 IY Dominic the Second would die, but he had named his son, Victor the Second, as his successor. Many of his other children were in prominent places to govern territory and this would prove a major point in what was to come. Victor II decided to make the Nine the state religion and rewrote history (Once more) and banned Larentian Churches, often converting them to Churches for the Nine. More over any worship of her was punishable by death, enslavement or imprisonment. Indeed, slavery as an institution began here. Unless of course you read the Kaiser accounts; then slavery was a proud, major part of their culture since Dynatós Patéras.
Things began to fall apart in 381 IY as the people chaffed more and more and Victor II's siblings saw a chance for power to be claimed. Victor II would die in this year to... Something. We know he was poisoned, shot with a crossbow bolt, clubbed in the head, fell out a window and was driven over by a carriage. What was amazing is that none of this killed the man as he managed to get up, stagger some thirty odd feet before collapsing and then dying. No joke. And no, we don't know who is responsible for any of that.
By this time Victor II had borne five sons, three daughters, seven grandsons of age, nine granddaughters of age and another twelve grandchildren not of age. What came made the the brief civil war that saw Dominic II crowned look like a slap fight between children.
The empire was fractured in this time. Dominic the Third would take most of the northwest at first calling it the Dominion of the Imperium but overtime it would be called Dominious. Kala II would end up forming the Princedom of Baskar in modern day Balanar. Victoria the Blade would break off a sizable chunk of the northeast, employing wolfmen into her forces and, unknowingly, setting the seeds of Wereagell. Much of the modern countries were formed in this time; most emerging from the ashes of ruined ones as the First Age of Conflict began in earnest as nations broke from the Imperium fully only to attack the Imperium, other nations, break into civil war amongst themselves, collapse in on themselves for unrelated reasons and just suffer horribly.
This is where reporting on anything becomes difficult at best. Records were often ruined in this time, when they were kept anyway. And accurate records were rare to start with. Samson Kaiser would emerge as the one who commanded the Imperium formally in this time as he struggled with rebellions and escaping kingdoms in all directions of him. His son, Viturin II, would take over and carry on the fight. His son in turn, Dynarex Kaiser would oversee the signing of the Mygther Accords in 1 AW (After War, around 510 to 520 IY; the war was so bad which year it was could be forgotten. No, I am not joking). Even most educated people in the realm don't fully understand what in the hell happened in this era because it was such a mess. Most people don't even know the age of the Imperium or when it started as some claim it started three and a half thousand years ago while other sources say twenty four hundred. I would estimate, based on my own research, that it was about twenty seven hundred years ago that the empire was founded, but I digress. This is much of why many of the false, rewritten Kaiser History tends to be taken at face value; they survived more often the Legacy Accounts or any other accounts. If anything these twin histories makes figuring out a timeline harder.
By this time the surviving Imperium's territory was quite small compared to it's peak; it included the modern day states of the Dominion of Geofu, Counties of Faircas and Alterun, Baronies of Sual, Tyn and Hakla, the Duchy of Anvil and parts of Southern Ferra. Forestglade, what would become Forestside, was also part of the Imperium at first but left on mostly peaceful terms and remained an Imperium ally afterwards in 9 AW. Dynarex had the unenviable task of trying to repair the shattered remains of the Imperium. Over most of another hundred years things stabilized, mostly. They would lose what would become Anvil to rebellion and the piece of Ferra they had would be taken by the fledgling Kingdom of Ferion but their borders would shrink no more as a line of emperors made an effort to rebuild. By 232 AW Empress Griselda von Blitz-Kaiser took the crown and seemed ready to try a new tact to rebuild the Imperium; waging peace. Ironically, her solution was what brought the Imperium to greatness before it was written out of history. On March 17th, 235 AW she began to lay the ground work for what was to come. Sadly she barley laid the foundations when they were razed to ashes from under her; I believe Allannia Grassfoot's prophecy had finally come true.
A mercenary warlord named Gottes Verlangen had made a literal deal with a devil and came, sword in hand and army in tow, hungry for conquest and took aim at the Imperium as his first target. Despite outnumbering the warlord five to one Empress Griselda's armies faltered before Verlangen and his might; as the man was functionally invincible he made quite the force on the battlefield and left an impression. Indeed, much of her forces deserted her and the Imperium and joined with him. Primus City would be conquered after a three day siege and made the seat of his new empire, at least until founding a new capital in Verlangen City (Modern Day Skycrown City) and engaging a new string of conquests. He ended the Unitum Imperium after an estimated seven hundred years of life and on it's ashes formed the Brazen Empire. As a final, dramatic nail in the coffin he publicly raped former Empress Griselda in the town square of Prinus City for six hours straight, not caring if she passed out during it although he made sure she was awake when he removed all of her limbs and had her wounds mended without replacing them, leaving her as a 'public use toy'.
Someone slit her throat the next day as an act of mercy, infuriating the new emperor.
And thus ended the Imperium. A long, long tale of conquests of peace, usurpation, conquests of war and a fragmentation of it's territory. Ironically an empire built to defend against a powerful foe fell... As that foe feasted on the weakened remains of that same empire. Assuming, of course, it was Verlangen that was the threat that was foreseen.
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As requested My Lord I have reports on Geofu at the ready. Harcal's, Faircas' and Jetra's are ready for your viewing. The rest will be coming soon. To start, excerpts of Dominic James Pencraft's Eostia Historia will give a brief but useful overview of each region.
On the County of Jetra
Pictured on the top of the page is the Emblem of House Zigmund of Jetra
The shield is a knight's shield that has half the top raised slightly. It boasts a thick, deep gold outline with a white background. Inside of the shield is a large, purple 'Z' with a purple broadsword driven down the top of it; under the top and bottom of it and over the middle. Two, small wings are set either side of the sword's cross-guard. The wings, Z and sword all boast a purple outline.
Jetra is the territory at the north of Geofu and borders Garan's province of Onyxcloak making them a battleground whenever the Dark Elves decided it's time for bloodshed. Despite this they've done a good job of resisting them, thanks in part to the leadership of House Zigmund. One of the most notable landmarks in the County is Fortress Indomitable; the largest Fortress in the known world; boasting a wall fifty feet high and half a mile wide and armed to the teeth. The sheer size has made it difficult to fully man in a siege but has never fallen since it's completion. Indeed, most Garan assaults try and bypass the stronghold outright allowing Indomitable's troops to harass or attack them from a mostly safe base of operations. Additionally the stronghold acts as an anchor point for all logistics in the region. That said more then a few generals have displayed plans on how the massive Fortress could fall; mostly by finding ways to split the defensive forces over the long, long walls.
Outside of the conflict of Garan Jetra is known best as part of the Great Slave Chain as a Limited State. Interestingly it was founded as a state that neither allowed nor disallowed slavery and it was sometime before their Limited status was established. Despite pressure from the Slave States of Elddale and Caul on either side of it Jetra remains as a limited state as many of their closest allies in Geofu are the Abolitionist Alterun and Tyn, in addition to having good relations with Ferra and Arndale of Ur and Ken respectfully. That said, Jetra still maintains a relationship with Ur's Elddale, Ken's Caul and Smol and Rad's Albia. Indeed, House Zigmund often acts as a middleman between Abolitionist and Traditionalist factions to focus on the greater needs of Eostia as a whole.
Whatever issues the County of Jetra and House Zigmund have they have acted as a loyal shield of the Dominion of Geofu and are one of the most ready to assault the Legion and their Dark Elves masters when war comes.
~Dominic James Pencraft, The Eostia Historia
On the County of Faircas
Pictured on the top of the page is the Emblem of House Caesarea of Faircas
The shape of the shield is a long, six pointed diamond with large circles at the top and bottom points with a thin, deep gold outline and deep blue background. The top and bottom are mirrored; when spun one hundred and eighty degrees it will look the same. In the circles is a golden circle with a thin, black outline with a single, thin, red chevron in it, pointing up.
Under it is a spartan style helmet facing to the right with a red plume over it. Under it is a curved xiphos with a lion shaped pommel and handle colored in gold with a light gray blade.
Sitting to the southwest of the Dominion sits Faircas. It was, in fact, a founding member of the Unitum Imperium and entrusted to a loyal General with a civilian Governor under his command to help with economic matters. As time wore on House Azon would rule the region for it's rise and even until it's fall. As the First Age of Conflict came House Azon was overthrown by Fredrick Azon who planned to establish his own kingdom. He was able to conquer most of what is now Harcal but the Imperium was able to crush his uprising. Sadly it wasn't until near the end of the era when new leadership, House Usa, was able to firmly establish itself. This House would rule until the arrival of Gottes Verlangen.
Faircas would prove to be, at least for half a year, a major roadblock until Unitum City fell. So angered was Verlangen by this defiance that he had every member of House Usa and everyone who might have shared their blood burned at the stake. Unitum City, a historic and ancient city, was torched to the foundations; even it's castle was torn down and leveled. Only the city walls was left with it's gate removed; a monument to cruelty. The capital of the region was moved to Mossrock City during his reign, however Faircas would prove to be a home for rebellion. Indeed, one of the surviving lords of the Imperium, Kinray Caesarea, would rally rebels to the cause. His grandson, Victor Caesarea, would be at the Battle of Arndale and assist with the end of the Brazen Empire and become the Count of Faircas.
One of his first orders of business was to move the capital back to Unitum City, renaming it as Novus Unitum City as the rebuilding began. What could be repaired and restored was. What couldn't be they worked to replace. While they willingly joined the new Seven Shields Alliance as part of Geofu they have one of the strongest Imperium based cultures in Eostia; although an often romanticized one. Indeed, the gladiator arena in Novus Unitum City, the Steel Pits, is one of the few active ones outside of slave territories and they've no lack of men and women seeking to make a name for themselves on their sands.
~Dominic James Pencraft, The Eostia Historia
On the Barony of Harcal
Pictured on the top of the page is the Emblem of House Rexvenandi of Harcal
The shape is a knight's shield with two, circular notches in the upper corners. It boast thick, brown borders and a green background. On the bottom of the shield is a trio of arrows crossed over each other, points facing upwards. Covering the middle and top is a yellow, Celtic circle with a golden outline. Inside of it is a brown circle with a purple center. Inside of it is a fox's head, facing to the left with the ears and a length of fur extending out into the Celtic circle.
With a series of rich forests and plains of tall grass, The Barony of Harcal is proud of it's hunting traditions. Indeed; many establishments, homes and even barracks boasts at least one, mounted head of some animal. Deer is the most common but bears, boars and wild bulls are prized as well. In addition some, odd parts of the regions prizes Aberrant heads, mounted in a likewise manner; although these are often militarized groups such as mercenary orders.
This tradition is so ingrained that House Rexcenandi's heirs are expected to hunt, on their own, a bear and bring it down single handed before taking the Barony. This is a tradition that they didn't invent, rather they adopted it from the former Lords of Harcal, House Fletchshine who adopted it from their predecessors in House Heartland. Fishing in the river is also popular, doubly when the trout's breeding season comes.
In addition to large amounts of meat the Barony produces large amounts of fur and leather for clothing and gambeson. Wood is cut into bows and crossbows for both hunting weapons and weapons of war as well as spears. Indeed, Harcal is well known for their archers and they are often backed by light infantry and light cavalry. In addition horse archers are semi-commonly deployed by the barony. While often among the last forces to arrive when Garan attacks they none the less join the fight with vigor when called.
~Dominic James Pencraft, The Eostia Historia
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I was unsurprised by the current results of my spar, but even so I couldn't help but feel frustrated. My usual 'Weekly Spars for XP' was here and my opponent was Claudia; for better or for worse. For the worse it was clear; she was so far above my level that I couldn't win and, thus, I only got three thousand experience for it; aka the bare minimum (Post Dark Horse Bonus). Still, it was more then I had before hand. I also took my four Regular Stat Points and split them between Accuracy and Mana Capacity bringing them up to seventy three each. Crawling my way up to the class upgrade, little by little.
For better I did learn quite a bit; Claudia was well seasoned and gave me quite a few tips on how to improve my skills. I even showed off a few tricks I had used to good effect on various foes before; icing the ground, the flash illusion, foot-casted spells and so on. She gave good bits of advice on how to time them, how to prepare for potential counters and other suggestions for tricks.
That said she was still kicking my ass. Hard.
We were in the training room of Erotique Manor which was well made and bore a sand covered floor... A floor which I became rather familiar with. I was right now under the effects of both Tailwind and Reflex Boost to try and flank and strike at her with the training foil in my hand as she fought with a wooden sword. Despite my best efforts I couldn't get into her defenses; she would turn, deflect with her blade or her off hand's bracer before moving in to slash or stab at me. I was keeping my distance as best as able and launching a spell here and there to mix it up but the difference in ability was staggering. I would launch Magic Missiles at her only for her to dodge, leaning away from them or even just backhanding them out of the air. Yikes!
I had also taken the chance to liberally use Arc of Steel; a Combat Art that she had taught me that made a mana blade extension to my sword; when using it my thrusts and swings had a two foot additional reach. Claudia's version reached further, but she also had a lot more time to learn how to use it. Still, new skill is good skill... It just wasn't helping much here...
I decided on a new tactic then, pulling mana to my left hand as Claudia slid back, sword before her in a ready position, held in both hands. She was clearly letting me take the stance of the aggressor at the moment, so I took it, charging in. I would throw an Arctic Orb at her feet and she simply adjusted her stance. Her balance was good enough to not slip and I think her Mana Armor might have had an anti-slip enchantment added to it (Wouldn't surprise me, at least), but I wasn't aiming to slip her up. Rather I made sure Tailwind was still up as I used Reflex Boost once more and I used both Heroic Leap and Physical Boost for a few moments to increase my speed as much as I could before jumping into a baseball slide, to her surprise, as I slid between her legs as I slashed at one of her legs which she lifted up. I turned and moved to one knee before thrusting my blade up towards her back...
Only for her to move her blade over her shoulder, holding it over her back and blocked my stab.
Keep in mind, I'm using a foil with a rounded but small point and she's blocking with a blade that was two inches wide without really being able to see that well because I'm behind her.
Well... Shit.
I used the shield in my glove to block as she spun and swung for me; the mana shield cracking on swing one.
Double shit...
I used Heroic Leap to jump away, back flipping away and using a quickly casted Flamethrower from my mouth (Yes, you can do that) to try and make her keep her distance but a swing of the flat of her blade made enough of a gale (Either with the help of a Combat Art or mana) to shove the flames aside as she closed in. I was able to put up Steel Skin just before her fist met my solar plexus... And sent me flying eight feet back onto the ground as I lot the grip on my weapons, hearing it scattering away. I coughed and groaned on the ground, blinking as Claudia walked over to me. There was no need for me to yield or her to ask me to; it was clear who won.
Stat Up!
+1 Con, Mnc & Lck
Oh hey... More stats! And ones I need too. Nice. Well, I don't need luck, really, but I'll take it anyway.
Claudia smiled and extended a hand and I took it as she pulled me to my feet. Her other hand had a healing spell at the ready as she set it to me. "Well done. It's been awhile since someone challenged me like that."
"Oh bloody hells... I wouldn't say I challenged you here." I said as she chuckled and gestured to a table. She walked over and I walked/hobbled over as I regained my breath, both of us sitting down. A pitcher of berry juice was set there already and she filled two glasses. The training room was on the second floor with a good view of the garden in the back from the windows.
"Oh, I don't mean that. I mean most of my opponents are very... straight forwards." She said with a giggle. "Take Alicia, as an example. She has strong fundamentals, is skilled, has the right instincts and knows how to feint and such but she's not creative or inventive with the approach. Even if she could spell cast she'd never think to use an ice spell to slide behind someone like that." She said, reaching out and patting my hand in a motherly way. "Everyone needs the fundamentals, but they also need to know when to break form them; that is the difference between a master and a grand master." She said as she moved her hand to take her glass and sip her drink as I did the same, although deeper then she did.
"Mmm. Fair." I said as I leaned on the table, thinking. "I guess it's a case that I seem to face foes that are stronger then I am; it's either get very clever... or get very dead..." I said as I sighed. Really, looking back that seemed like the story of my life; starting with Blood Maker, the Semen Slime (Ughhh!), the Slime Queen, Mandeville's mercs, Wesland, Halbert, Blood Caller... Really, those at or below my level seems to be the exception. "Blood Caller was just the latest."
"Indeed... By the sounds of it he would give me a run..." Claudia said with a thoughtful frown. There was no doubt that Claudia would have trounced Caller in the end if such a match happened but she would need to take him seriously to do so. "I'm still surprised we ran into both a Blighted Hobgoblin and a Black Troll in the same band."
"That's rare?"
"Normally when an Aberrant becomes powerful enough they either challenge for the position of leader or go off and form their own band." Claudia explained as she sipped her drink once more. "One reason the Legion is so dangerous is that the Dark Elves are able to keep them in line, at least in line enough to keep powerful Aberrant together in the same army. If I had to guess being Blighted or a Hobgoblin inspired more loyalty to Blood Caller. Of course something else could be at play; there are intricacies to Aberrant culture we do not fully understand; perhaps not even partially."
"To be fair, men living next to them is rare; we just get the odd one living with us." I said, sighing as I sipped my drink once more. "Mmm. Well, whatever. Sadly until we deal with Garan, one way or the other, we'll have trouble pushing out the Aberrant fully. If that's even possible."
"One can hope. By the way..." Claudia asked as she looked over to me. "I brought her up briefly, but what do you think of Alicia?" She asked as I sipped my drink once more before looking up in thought.
"Well..." I began, squirming a bit in my seat to get comfortable and settle in. "She's loyal to her friends, honest and noble... If annoyingly headstrong and stubborn, sometimes. She's a good knight and in combat seems to be a good leader, but I'm not sure how well she can handle diplomacy or economics. I think she can be a great Queen, but only if she has the right support under her."
"Well, all that's fair, but that's not what I mean." Claudia said as I raised an eyebrow at her. "You described her as a friend and as a warrior... What about as a woman?"
"...Are you trying to set me up with Alicia?" I asked, tilting my head to one side as she smiled, giggled and refilled our glasses.
"Well, 'setting up' might be a bit much." She said with a softer smile. "I am more curious if you would consider a woman like her in a capacity as a lover or even wife and if her strength makes her more or less appealing. I... I sometimes feel lucky to have Klaus..." She said with a sigh. "... I've met too many men who value strength of arms or strength of magic, thinking they would impress me with how strong they could hit something or how big of a fireball they could throw. Even Father is guilty of this, to a degree. But I always wanted a man strong of heart. Strong of mind. Klaus... Klaus fit that. In a lot of ways, so do you really. I suppose I am... I am just worried that Alicia will not find a love, such as I have. That she will drown in men who overvalue strength in arms or spells and not enough of those who value heart and mind." That... was a risk, I would admit.
Also, there was a risk of drowning in men who wanted her for power and position, but I left that unsaid.
"I see... If it helps, I think she'd be fine. If you found Klaus she'll find someone." I said, chuckling. "The only issue I see is I'm not sure how well she'd react to someone giving her an 'I Love You', to be honest. Or how well she'd sort her own feelings..."
"That's true; Alicia is honest with others, but not always honest with herself." Claudia mused as she leaned back in her seat and sighed. "Hmmm... On the other hand maybe I should set you up with her... You are a catch!"
I sighed softly as she gave off a motherly smile.
Hoo boy...
[-]
Kingdom of Feoh, Fortress Feoh
Office of Albert Arcturus
Albert folded his hands before himself as he poured over his reports, extending his thumbs and resting his chin upon them. While he had his doubts on Beardsley's guilt he began his investigations regardless once he returned to Feoh. Of course given his position he couldn't just do the leg work himself; his face was too well known and he was wise enough to know that stealth was not his forte. As such he entrusted it to a few members of Feoh's intelligence agency that he knew he could trust beyond doubt. At first the reports were mundane and hopeful; nothing beyond the ordinary aside from a trip to the Barony of Tyn which was normal for someone like the Prime Minister. The only other thing of note was the pair of pig men merchants he was working with; but that was also normal. At first it seemed his fears were unfounded; just nothing more then paranoia and nothing else.
Then someone followed the money.
Paper trails were few but there seemed to be gaps in regards to the treasury; gold spent on things that couldn't be accounted for, records of 'missing' items that were never ordered or commissioned, money funneled to blacksmiths for reasons he had yet to know. That was worrying; few had access to the treasury and fewer would be in a position to make those records. And Beardsley should have noted the problem. The man was to finance and economics as Albert was to combat and war. How had he not noticed this?
As more reports came in he noted a few more oddities. Weapons and armor shipped off to militias that were much smaller then the amount sent would require, more sent well before that equipment would be worn down and yet no proof of those weapons arriving where they were meant to. It raised questions. But...
But he had no hard evidence of wrong doing; at least not yet. He could prove things were going on that Beardsley should have known about and should have led an investigation into, or at least should have appointed someone to do so in his stead. And yet there was no sign he was doing so, no word he was doing so, no reports that he was doing so...
And Beardsley was in the perfect position to forge those reports himself and make them just credible enough to pass inspection of anyone who wasn't being careful; a tired, bored accountant would likely not care and skip over it.
"Should I tell my brother?" He mused quietly to himself... "Hmmm... No... No, not until I have enough evidence to end any doubt."
Beardsley was well trusted by his brother (And himself, previous to this) and Alicia called him 'Uncle' as she felt he was as close as one. Indeed, Beardsley was more or less family in all but name and blood. If he brought it before them now there would be too much doubt, too many questions, too many possible lies as explanations. And there was still a chance that someone else was to blame...
And so the hunt continued... "Let's see, last reports say he's riding off towards-"
[-]
County of Alterun
Lumiere Sacree City
Silver Soap Bathhouse, Noble District
Two, expensive looking carriages moved to the bathhouse and parked in it's stables off to the side of the building, one boasting the emblem of House Beardsley and one the emblem of House Blitzhaus. The bathhouse was a circular building with a series of pillars extending up to hold up the roof; the building wasn't a left over of the Imperium but rather built to look like it came from the era. Stepping out of the vehicles came Razon Beardsley from one and both Arnold and Victor von Blitzhaus from the other. Greetings was given to one another before they walked into the bathhouse as one; four bodyguards from each carriage following them in. Once inside they would ask the receptionist, ensuring no one was in ear shot, for the 'tub with the golden crown.' She would, in turn ask who would ask for such a tub only to be told 'those seeking the true heir'. She would nod once and tell them the tub would be readied. All three men would moved down the hall with their guard and, once sure none were watching, moved into one of the private baths... In time to see the water finish draining and the bath's bottom slide to one side, stairs revealed to them to a deeper level.
The three men would keep going down, their men following them. The bodyguards would be dismissed to go to a sitting room nearby and rest; spell-enforced loyalty or not there were things to be said that would be best if they didn't hear. Unlocking another room they would step inside. "Gentlemen." Beardsley let off as he looked about.
The room was large; eighty feet by sixty feet with a two story high ceiling. Books lined one side of the room filled with records, references, tomes and more. Another was filled with everything one needed to work with magic; potions, elixirs, regents, spell chalk and more. The means to condense mana to liquid and even crystal form was with in, time consuming as such tasks could be. The hidden lab was something the Cloaked Crowns had built during their reformation after Celestine rose to the High Throne and decimated their organization; they could no longer afford to do their magical experiments in their own, private labs where some maid (Or a Black Watch agent disguised as a maid) could stumble over their works and needed one hidden from view. Thankfully beyond a single scare the lab had gone unnoticed.
For now. Things could always change, of course.
Three, blue robed mages were at the central table speaking about something as two others supervised; Count Arron DeSagesse and another mage in shorter, red robes with black pants and boots. "Bearsley, Victor, Arnold. Good. You're arrived just in time." Arron said as he saw them, giving a grin to all three men.
"Mmm? We came to ask for an update, but you have something to show us?" Arnold let off as he stopped before the table, crossing his arms as he overlooked the mages. The red robed one spoke to them.
"Indeed M'Lord, we're ready for the test of our first prototype." He said, as he gestured to a pair of items on the table, resting on a brass platter. "We're still months from understanding it if all goes well; we think we separated the right spell elements but we won't know for sure until we try it." The items he gestured two were a pair of simple, brass bars that was about five inches long and an inch wide with two spell stones set to it; one half an inch from the top and one an inch and a half from the top. The red robed mage picked one up and held it up. "It should work like the original. The lab is isolated enough that the signal shouldn't get out, so no worries about alerting your rival." He said extending the item towards Victor.
"Works like the original huh?" Victor said with a grin as the Red Robed Mage picked up the other and stepped back.
"Indeed. My name is Terrace; call me and see what it does." Victor grinned wider. He almost chuckled as he looked to his father who gave his own grin and a nod as he lifted the item up.
'Silly little Noxdecus fool...' Victor thought to himself as he savored the moment. 'You thought you made something that couldn't be copied, did you? Something that would raise your house above mine! Ha! No, never! You're about to learn a fucking lesson, you twat! That you can't beat House Blitzhaus and our allies! That's right, someday your realm will fall to us and I'll bounce Prim on my cock having her howl my name as I position myself to become Grand Duke! Just you wait!'
"Call Terrace." He said as the upper stone of the bar lit up, showing the face of Terrace before him. "Victory!" He let off! This was it! They won! They copied that asshole's device and would soon impro-
Never gonna give you up!
Never gonna let you down!
"What!?" Victor let off as both of the copy voxluxses images swapped to show Victor's face and giving off his voice... as it sang a strange, strange song. "What the fuck!?"
Never gonna run around and desert you!
Never gonna make you cry!
"What is this!?" Beardsley let off as Terrace gawked and Arnold scowled before looking to his son for a moment.
Never gonna say goodbye!
Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you!
"I've no idea! It must be one of the device's defenses!" The mage let off as he tried to manipulate the device with his magic. "It won't turn off!"
We've known each other for so long!
Your heart's been aching but you're too shy to say it!
"Turn it off!" Arron demanded, slamming a fist to the table before him.
"I can't!" Terrace repeated in frustration.
Inside we both know what's been going on!
We know the game and we're gonna play it!
"How is this happening!?" Beardsley let off as Terrace growled.
"Get the box! Get the box!" The mage let off, two of the blue robed mages rushing over to get something off a shelf; a foot long, six inch wide, four inch tall metal box; not steel or mythril at a look but gray.
And if you ask me how I'm feeling!
Don't tell me you're too blind to see!
"Goddess damn it!" Terrace let off as the box was opened up, taking both of the copy voxluxes and threw them inside the box.
Never gonna give you up!
Never gonna let-
SLAM!
The singing continued inside of the box but muffled enough the men in the room could ignore it once the lid was closed. Victor shook as he glared at the box, lifting a fist up; many people noting his face turning red in his anger as Arnold gave his son a firm, hard look. "What in the name of the Goddess, the Nine, the Triad and all the various gods was that!?" He let off. That close to watching the beginning of the humiliation of James Noxdecus... and once more he was the embarrassed one.
At least he wasn't poisoned this time...
"The box is titanium; the spell stones will deactivate before long." Count Arron said with a sigh. "I expected formidable defenses but not this."
"What happened?" Arnold let off calmly as he gave his son a final firm look. Understanding his father Victor took in a deep breath and settled down, standing up straight and looking to Arron as he crossed his arms.
"I'm not entirely sure..." Terrace said with a sigh, resting his palms on the table as he looked to the box. "But if I had to guess he has a part of his spell matrix looking for other parts and will trigger something if it can't find it or it's out of place. That means we have to figure out what part of the spell matrix triggers this effect or what it's seeking." He let off a deep, long sigh. "What a set back... I apologize, but saying 'months away from understanding this' was... optimistic, it seems."
"Can you do it still?" Beardsley asked as the mage sighed once more.
"Well... Yes... given enough time to pour over it... But we might be looking at over a year now, assuming we don't make a breakthrough."
"And assuming we don't run into more defenses." Arron let off with a snort. "I've a feeling this is far from the only defense it has..."
"Tsk... Blast and bother..." Beardsley let off before stroking his chin. "Still... We knew this would be neither fast nor simple. We can still attempt to copy it or determine a means to recreate it."
"Can't we copy it wholesale?" Victor asked as Terrace shook his head.
"No. Understand; this is like rewriting an entire chapter from memory from a novel." He began to explain. "Normally as long as you hit all the major points you're good and add the right fluff. That 'fluff' obscures what makes it all work. But because he can somehow make perfect, identical copies we cannot use differences in that 'fluff' to identify the major points and in this case if the wrong fluff is in the wrong place it all falls apart. I'd have an easier time carving a statue of Celestine while blindfolded as someone is describing a halfling in my ear then be able to remake this in full." He said, throwing up his hands. "If he wasn't able to just... stamp it so it would be much, much easier. The uniformity is our biggest obstacle, in truth."
"Frustrating, but understandable." Arnold let off with a sigh. "Carry on your work. The Crowns have moved for two thousand years; what's a couple more for this task?" He said before looking to his son. "Come Victor; I'd like a word." He said before moving off towards a side room. What it was used for the Count didn't know or care; it would serve his purposes however. After a soft 'tsk' Victor would follow him over.
The room they would enter was a storage room; many more regents, magical tools, items and even weapons were set on shelves or hung on walls. Once closer to the center of the room Arnold turned to face his son. "I understand your frustrations my son, however you must control your outbursts. It is unbecoming of a leader of men."
"I... Yes, but you do understand that-"
"No." Arnold let off in a firm, deep voice as Victor went quiet. "No excuses. Understand that as rulers, as the superiors of the common man we must maintain composure. This is not simply because we are better but because it is needed." He said as he crossed his arms over his chest. "To our allies a calm voice and collected leader is someone to rally about. To a political rival a stoic face is a shield to avoid your weaknesses and flaws from coming to the fore and avoid them from becoming targets. And to enemies a focused foe is intimidating and harder to predict and understand." He spoke moving his hands to Victor's shoulders, holding them firmly. "Outbursts of anger while, in the moment, can be a means of easing your own stress and at times could be useful will, in the longer term, reveal your soft points to an enemy or rival. Imagine if word got out that this happened and every time the younger Noxdecus saw you he hummed or whistled or even under his breath sang that song."
"Tsk... Yes, that would be quite annoying..." He admitted, a fist clenching hard.
"Exactly." Arnold said with a firm nod. "Be it in war, politics and even love you must always have control." He told his son, letting his shoulders go and pointing to him with one hand. "Those you let that mask of control slip can only be friends, family and allies you can trust absolutely. Now, the meeting of the Council of Lords is upcoming and you will join me there; both to learn what it is you'll be dealing with and to see the faces of your foes, your allies and those you must woo to your side. Come my son, let us rejoin them and discuss what we'll do from here."
[-]
Western Dominious, Port of Zeldagrad
The Frigate DIS Urdane, in Dry-dock
Captain's Quarters
"Ohh, I'll need to do something about the decor..." Captain Dax Chernyy Parus let off as he was sat down at the desk finishing his paperwork. He and what few marines he had left after his mission in Cauldona managed to find a friendly ship and returned to Zeldagrad, if in failure. In the end when asked to answer for that failure he reported on everything that had happened; down to how they were outplayed from the start. In the end blame was set upon the spy for failing to capture Brend von Harmon and Dax was commended on his efforts, after all he did destroy a pirate ship... Even if his former command was handed over to them instead. Thankfully he was given a new command; the DIS Urdane. Even better the Eostians returned the crew of the Zelda the Third to them, so his old crew was with him as well in a stroke of luck.
Due to the ongoing civil war a lot of the naval personnel had been pulled into the fighting in the army. That meant there was a half dozen or so ships in dry-dock without captains or crew so transferring to one was mostly simple. The Urdane was the same class as the Zelda the Third and bore an additional two cannons but he still missed his old quarters...
Why couldn't shag carpet be standard on ships?
A knock sounded on the door as he jumped in his seat, setting his quill into it's well. "Enter." He called out as he looked to the door as it opened. Stepping in was a tall, six foot six man. He wore a suit of black, Dominious Naval gambeson and a deep red long coat over it and a matching naval cap on his head. The man was powerfully built with a long, black beard tied into three braids, matching the mid-back length one his hair was tied back into. His right eye bore a long scar over it and that eye was removed for a black spell stone. "Admiral Zwartebaard!" The captain let off, standing up and saluting the man.
"At ease." Admiral Koen Zwartebaard said as he walked in, taking his cap off and hanging it on a hook by the door before walking in. "Ya got something in here to wet the whistle, my boy?" He said as he walked to the desk, grabbing a chair to sit across from it as Dax nodded, moving to a cupboard. Pulling out two glasses and a bottle he brought it over.
"Thankfully the drinks came stocked." He said, setting two glasses down before opening the bottle. The vodka chosen was flavored with blackberries and even took on a light, purple tinge. Filling both glasses the Admiral would smile and pick up his glass and take a long sip of it.
"Ahhh... Trust you to find something better then the low grade water some captains keep in stock." Koen let off, chuckling. "I'm glad to see you back from your adventure. For the moment we'll have need of you; reports are Camafran ships are eyeing our shores more and more."
"Hmm... They might still be upset over Burning River..." Dax said as he sipped his own drink in thought, Koen nodding.
"Aye, sounds about the right of it. The old Manifest of the Empire isn't looking so good, is it?" The older admiral said with a sigh as Dax sighed himself.
The Manifest of the Empire came about when Dominious was formed as the Unitum Imperium fell apart, back when it was called the Dominion of the Imperium. Adopting more of the cultures and tactics of the locals with Imperium tactics and equipment Dominic the Third declared that his empire had the right to conquer all of Eos, which comprised most of central Sererus, and establish itself as the true heir of the Imperium and the rulers of all men. In order to meet this 'right' they would need to conquer modern day Camafran, Roxford, Balanar, Rycall, Garan and of course Eostia; a nation that takes it's own name from Eos.
Sadly things had never gone Dominious' way in that matter. They had conquered many other territories to gain the strength for such a push and conquered good parts of Roxford and Camafran but the initial push into Eostia had met with failures. Then came the Razing War and their attempt at conquest backfired on the Empire. Roxford and Camafran would rise up to fight back and other territories rebelled while a crisis of leadership decided to start up. Indeed, repairing the damage was enough of a chore that by the time the strength to try again returned Garan has risen. Dominious, of course, attempted an invasion by sea only to slam into the so-called Dread Field and be forced back.
Since then Dominious had focused it's efforts elsewhere; Garan was not something they could deal with yet and a conquest of Eostia meant dealing with them. That wasn't to say there were no skirmishes or combat between the Empire of the Fist and the Seven Shields Alliance; ships of Feoh's riverside territories managed to turn the tide in Camafran's favor in the Burning River War and while they didn't deploy regulars the effect was they gave Camafran enough breathing room to push back.
Coupled with Hilda the First's health starting to fail then it was decided to focus on maintaining current borders as opposed to expanding them... And then she died and everything turned to shit.
"No sir... I would even go so far to say that the dead is manifest... ... I mean the manifest is dead." Dax let off with a sigh as he took a deeper sip his of drink as Koen chuckled.
"Still got that odd tic of yours, eh?" Koen said before he laughter faded. "But aye, aye. I think both Larion and Hilda are being supplied by outside forces. Salara is losing ground, but her terrain is defensible to keep her about for awhile. Peter, meanwhile, is a bit of a wild card. He might keep fighting, but he also might join someone in an alliance. Hard to say. But..."
Dax sighed as he moved to refill the glasses. "That 'but' sounds ominous..."
"But there's a chance we might not have a winner. I hate to say it..." Koen said with a long sigh. "But there's a strong chance that Dominious will be split into two or even three parts."
"Either that or everyone keeps fighting until the winner is crowned on a mountain of broken bodies." Dax sighed as he swirled his glass for a moment. "That would be worse though... Can you imagine the state of the empire at that point? We have enough enemies who would likely attempt to see us dead."
"Mmm... True. By reports Roxford and Camafran are too occupied to attack us right now in earnest... But in a year's time, who knows..." The admiral let off. "If nothing changes soon the Empire will be too exhausted to mount a sizable enough defense. It falls to the navy to keep the nation safe until it decides who's in charge."
"Enough on that subject..." Dax said as he leaned back, sipping his drink once more. "Any news on those Eostian communicators? Can we copy them for our use?"
"So far? No." Koen let off with a snort. "The Conclave of Magic is looking into them now, but apparently they're having issues with working out how to bypass it's defenses. Worse, they're not in any rush." Dax snorted at that. The Conclave of Magic was to Dominious what the Guild of Spellcraft was to Eostia except only those approved by the empire could learn magic under their direction. However the Conclave declared neutrality in the conflict; they claimed that they wanted to avoid damage to their knowledge base. Whether that was truth or a shield for cowardice he didn't know; the Conclave boasted enough influence and power to enforce that neutrality however and no one wanted them to join another faction.
"I suppose it was too much to ask." Dax said with a sigh. "Well, at least we have our health."
"Ha! Keep pouring the drinks, boy, and we'll see what we can do about that!" Koen said as Dax shook his head... And kept pouring them vodka.
[-]
Unknown Location
Barony of Longroad
Hidden Cave Base of the Freebirds
Thunk.
Thunk.
Thunk.
"Tsk." Anaya let off as she fired off another arrow to the target, a painted wooden one. It was just... off. The loss of her eye was throwing off her aim just enough to matter. It was the difference between a kill and a wound and in the heat of a moment a wounded man was still quite dangerous. She would pull another arrow from her quiver and draw it to full, focusing on the target, focusing on the bulls-eye, focusing on her accura-
-on the strong, unyielding finger pressing into her skull, plucking her eye free-
Her right hand, holding the arrow, began to shiver as her lone eye narrowed to see her target, only her target and just her targ-
-her sneering face, the duchess holding her drink high as she was dropped over a knee-
A cold sweat came to her as she started to pant, her whole body shivering. No! No, she wasn't going to focus on that! She would focus on improving her aim, focus on taking her revenge, focus on the freedom of all peop-
-on the crunching of her spine, it's shifting and the loss of feeling, the loss of the ability to walk, the loss of her usefulness-
Twack!
She winced, seeing her arrow miss the target by three feet and smack into the cave wall, bouncing off and clattering to the ground. She sighed deeply as her shoulders slumped... Only to see her right hand was still quivering. She glared at it as she did all she could to swallow her fears once more, memories swelling once more...
And cutting out as a smaller hand took her own. "Anaya..." She gasped and turned to see the toned form of their halfling leader, Lolek. He pulled and despite wanting to protest she followed without a word, moving to a series of crates used as seats and sitting her down. She reached up with a hand to rub at her missing eye under the patch she now wore. "You'll pull through. You're tough."
"I'm maimed." She said with a snort. Thankfully her spine was repaired. Her first steps after her return were painful, rough and shaky but soon she was able to move normally and without pain. But anytime she looked in the mirror she could see the eye-patch she now wore. The thing hiding her missing eye... If there was a weakness she had before this had happened she knew what it was; vanity. She was a beautiful girl, she knew it. A fine piece of ass, even. Hell, one of her biggest uses to the Freebirds was that she could seduce targets, loosen lips and all with a smile and a wink.
What man wanted a broken girl, though? One missing an eye?
"You've seem my body, right?" Lolek countered with a soft grin as she winced. Indeed, the halfling's back and arms bore more scars then she could count. She never found them ugly, per say, but they weren't pretty either. Manly, if she was to put a word to it.
"I care more about my looks then you do, you know?" She said, crossing her arms as he climbed onto the crates and moved to hug her from the side, kissing her cheek.
"And you're still beautiful... Not as many men are so shallow as to not see that." He replied as she blushed and squirmed a bit.
"... Thank you..." She still didn't believe him, not fully, but it was good to hear. He let go and nodded before moving to sit next to her.
"Listen, I'm looking into getting a spell stone eye for you, but we don't have the resources for it yet." Left unsaid was finding an enchanter to even help with that, but that was a future problem. "For now we need you to scout things out. There's supposed to be a large slave convoy coming up from Bongal but it's not that secretive. I'm worried it'll be a trap." He explained. "If your up to it I need to know if it's bait or a real convoy."
"If it is a real one?" She asked turning her head to look down to him.
"It'll be too large to take head on, but if we play our cards right we can use the cover of night to get the job done." He replied. "After all, once on the road they'll have trouble hiding from us."
Indeed; there was a reason why the Freebirds operated mostly out of Longroad. As more and more states of Eostia turned to abolition that left fewer and fewer slave states and limited states. The bulk of those states collected along the borders of Garan in the north and Rycall in the south, with the Duchy of South Point being next to Balanar giving the Duchy of Anvil and Barony of Delconna access to South Point through the Kingdom of the Red Bear. However at the moment the north and south were separated by a wealth of abolitionist states with only one, single link between them; the Limited State of the Barony of Longroad.
A thin but long territory it bordered the slave states of Maros in the north and Alcanth in the south as well as the limited state of Bongal in the south. On top of that, the Longroad/Maros border was small and easily watched; not by the Freebirds but rather their allies in the Longroad guard and citizenry. Indeed, Longroad was the easiest place to free slaves transported along the Great Slave Chain; if the larger guards the convoys were receiving were any clue they were having an effect. Still, there were slave merchants who didn't spend much on guards and were vulnerable to them.
Curiously the Longroad Regulars didn't seem to be interested in finding them; patrols were increased but that was it. Once he was leading a convoy of slaves to a safe house and stumbled over a patrol. That they had liberated slaves (Stolen merchandise, some would say) was clear as day, yet the patrol merely stopped them, made a show of interrogating them, informed them of rumors of slave hunters in the region and bid them a good day.
It was possible the Baron himself was on their side; or at least content to ignore their actions. Given what he knew of Longroad's history that made sense. At the very least as long as no one was watching them then Longroad's guards were content to leave them be and Lolek wasn't going to question it; no sense to look a gift horse in the mouth. After all, it could have bad breath...
"Right. I'm on it." Anaya let off as she shouldered her bow finally as she stood up.
"Don't push yourself too hard, remember. You're valuable to us..." She heard Lolek say... Before planing a firm smack on her ass and make her jump slightly. "And not just for your fine ass!" She gave him a long look before smiling and giggling.
"Halfling horndog." She spat out with a laugh before walking off as Lolek stayed on his seat, smiling back. It only faded once she was on her way as he sighed.
"Alundra van Bludhorn... There will be a reckoning someday, I assure you." He said before pushing off the crate and standing up. He started to walk off deeper into the system. Thankfully there was a pool of water there that was fed fresh water from an underground creek and spilled into another. It was useful for bathing and keeping clean; even if the water was a bit chilly. They of course got drinking water further upstream.
For now the Freebirds still flew towards the dawn, bent feathers and all...
Whatever the future may bring.
[ - Author's Note - ]
Well, there we go. I've had the Imperium part of this written up for awhile, but I'm glad I can finally share it. So, the various players are moving about the board here and there. James is improving his skills, little by little, and we've a brief insight into both Dominious and the Freebirds. All in all a good taste of what is to come.
I'm still not sure how I can use Dax down the line, not yet anyway, but he was a good viewpoint to see how the Dominious Empire is faring. While it's in the background the state of Dominious is a concern to the people of Eostia so I felt it was right to touch on it briefly. Also, I just enjoy writing Dax.
Aside from that the attempt to copy the voxlux gets Rick Rolled by James' defenses. I did say he had something up his sleeve, didn't I?
And Anaya is recovered... Physically, anyway. I was aiming to have her having a bit of PTSD but I'm no expert on the subject. With luck it'll be close enough for people. And a little more of Lolek; most people have a good guess on who he is but I'll stay quiet on that for now. And Albert is also putting in work; good man.
New poll is up: Favorite Banner of Geofu, up at strawpoll(dot com)(slash)polls(slash)poy9RVMBpnJ for your pleasure. For FFDotNet viewers the full link will be on the AO3 version for easier copy/pasting.
So then, next time we enter Ken proper, meet a king then meet our favorite High Queen and then James had to deal with... politics.
Be afraid...
Be very afraid...
~Eostian Scribe