Year 50

As you look at a large map of the known continent of Evigrus you realize that while its been fifteen years since you took the throne as Emperor you’ve already more than doubled the size of the original nation. You’ve also successfully managed to have your ships navigate most of its coastline as well. Even northern most Rask was mapped by your airships.

Quite frankly that’s the main problem you have right now in general you’ve conquered most of what is worthwhile already on this continent. Anything remaining isn’t exactly inhabitable or worth the time to spend on conquest and even in some of those cases, kobold citizens have slowly been making small underground communities in places where nobody above ground would want to live such as the Delerg jungle.

However there are always new lands to conquer.

To the farthest part west lies the only nation on Evigrus left besides the Empire, the Kingdom of Nakol. Nakol has had the benefit of being relatively isolated from the rest of the continent due to the great mountain range that blocked it from the Children of Tor. Your people have only recently had formal contact with it shortly after the defeat of the Torites, though even that was by ship, though now that the Torites are no longer a true threat, small passes through the mountains have been found (Though they’re not exactly safe and Nakol certainly keeps their side very well guarded).

The nation isn’t quite as large as the Empire, but its still bigger than the old Felkan Kingdom and certainly big enough to defend itself to make aggression very costly, so far however the limited contact you’ve had with said nation hasn’t been hostile. Oddly enough he’s wanted to meet you as he has heard so much about the “Great Emperor of the East” and very much wants to visit the Empire.

Normally you probably wouldn’t consider such diplomatic meetings as it has never been your style, however this ruler is also known as the “Immortal Sorcerer King” and that is something that has gotten your attention.

In any event, there are other matters that require your attention and this is where the “other land” to conquer comes in…

Last year your ships finally found a large landmass to the east. Up until then, only a few islands of little worth had been discovered. This new territory from what you’ve been told is similar to Delerg in some ways as there are large portions of jungle. However there are several primitive civilizations living on this land mass. While they are similar to humans in some ways, they have features that certainly aren’t such as having four arms and multiple sets of eyes like an insect. Even their language is a bit insect like as you’ve been told it’s more a “chittering” sound. The most prominent of these groups are known as the Iznac.

The Iznac like most that seem to inhabit this world before the Empire enlightens them are a superstitious lot that worship their backwards gods by sacrificing others to them. Sometimes this is their own people, but most of the time its captives of the weaker tribes that live on the same continent. Barbarians they may be, they have built cities where their temples seem to be the biggest and most important buildings in them. It would appear they are a theocracy.

The Iznac so far have been actively hostile towards your people though perhaps wise enough not to attack them outright. Your own people have not made much progress towards the inner part of the new continent due to this fact and they don’t have enough manpower to do so anyway. The only thing they can do is hold up in the newly built outpost and hope they aren’t attacked by an overwhelming number of Iznac (or any other tribe since it isn’t as if the frog like people called the Glip that also inhabit the continent are any friendlier)

You might be inclined to leave this new continent and its inhabitants alone until you can focus more attention on them, however it’s also been reported that the continent has a seriously unexploited resource potential of valuable minerals and that’s something you could always use more of especially if you’re going to have to fund another war with Nakol in the near future.

There is also the matter of the orc and kobold population to think about. Both are becoming a problem. The orcs have finally increased their numbers to a point where they can become a viable fighting unit like they were in old days. In fact you planned for that to happen anyway. What you didn’t plan for is that you’d have a period of peace with no major wars to fight! Reports of increased orc criminals or just general chaotic misconduct in Rask are becoming more common. You need to start giving them something to go fight.

The kobolds aren’t so much of a problem as they tend to live underground and generally stay out of the way due to that fact. But with no war to whittle down their numbers they’re breeding at a rate that’s starting to worry your human subjects. You admit that with as many as the little bastards around they could become a serious threat if they ever became rebellious. Fortunately they’re actually less of a problem than any of your other subjects so you’re actually not worried about them yet.

Still, it seems like a logical solution to start sending large portions of both populations to tame this new continent. Of course if events dictate that you need to war with Nakol soon, then that leaves you with less soldiers on the home front and you’re also fighting a two front war.

There’s also another factor to consider that the new Eternals will be ready next year. Brenda’s training has ensured that most of them survived and they are already displaying the eagerness to serve the Empire. Elam’s also been working with the gnomes to perfect the automatons.

You make your decision that with these other factors in play that you’re relatively safe in sending your orcs and kobolds to this new continent. However, you’re going to need disciplined leaders though for this task.

For the orcs you look for the highest ranked and most respected by his people. The only name that catches your attention when looking through the records is Flog. Flog apparently served most of his military career in Rask fighting ogres, giants and the old barbarian tribes even during the Felkan War. He also served under Kane and was spoken highly of in a few old reports. Kane mentioned that besides Captain Gruz he never encountered an orc almost as intelligent. Apparently he’s been doing a lot of breeding after the Felkan War. He has many children.

As for kobolds, the records are much sketchier. Kobolds may be loyal and contributing members of Empire society, but none of them really seem to stand out much and if they do, they all died in battle. Plus due to their numbers they probably have many of their kind that could be considered “leaders” within various circles. Eventually you settle on one that distinguished herself during the Tor War. Snilkez’ka managed to take out a manticore all by herself and lead a successful underground sneak attack against a band of minotaurs with only a few casualties. Given the size difference in both cases not to mention that even human officers had problems accomplishing such things, its safe to say that she comes the closest to being a hero among her people. In fact you’re wondering why she was never brought to your attention before.

Of course you can’t just send these two races out on ships to a new continent, which you barely have any control over so you’re going to need at least one company of “normal” humans to keep a semblance of order or rather someone better than a human.

The only choice would be Decena. She’s a well-respected leader by all and more than proven herself. While not having Decena immediately available here will be something you’ll have to compensate for, you’ll at least have confidence that she’ll keep things orderly on this new continent.

Having made your decision you meet up with the three to explain the situation, their reactions are varied.

“Flog will serve all powerful Emperor, but not fooled by intentions. You trying to get rid of orcs again, just like in Felkan War.” Flog says.
“Flog if I was trying to get rid of the orcs, I’d just have you all strung up and be done with it. I’m sure you’re aware that’s within my power to do so. I’m not even sending all of the orcs anyway, just most of them. I need tough soldiers that can withstand this harsher continent and its equally harsh inhabitants. I already sent humans and you see how well that worked out. Quite frankly I think your people would be best suited for this type of thing. You get to prove just how orcly you actually are. You are an orc aren’t you? Are you not looking forward to the possibility of killing several enemies or dying in a glorious battle?” you say.
“Killing enemies yes, dying not so much. It is a misconception that orcs deliberately seek death in battle. Flog however is getting old, so death is close anyway. Either death in battle, death by children who will inevitably challenge Flog, or death by old age. The last is the least preferable, so perhaps this will be an opportunity. Not sure about the little scaly runts you’re sending. Never fought along side them before, but Flog has heard of their great viciousness in battle. Also heard many glorious things of General Decena and her many victories. Will be an honor to fight along side her.”

At this point the kobold leader, Snilkez’ka makes a small hissing growl like sound at Flog, probably due to his runt comment.

“Don’t worry about us orc. Small we may be, but we’ll be here long after the enemy has already butchered your old greenskin ass.” Snilkez’ka remarks, which causes a chuckle from Flog who merely states that perhaps he’ll enjoy fighting alongside her people after all.

Snilkez’ka doesn’t look as amused, but says nothing else other than to directly address you and say that she will make sure that she will bring the fear of the Empire into the hearts of the enemy. You nod and say you know that she will. Always nice to have loyalty and enthusiasm. She’s very well spoken for a kobold.

The latter one of those traits seems to be lost on your last leader, Decena who isn’t saying anything and only succeeds in looking slightly troubled by her new assignment.

“Decena, is there anything you’d like to say? You’re going to be in charge of this campaign.” You ask.
“No. Nothing except I look forward to leading the Empire into victory and claiming this new continent in your name, my Emperor.”

That sounded very… formal. Granted that’s a good thing, especially in front of the other two leaders to keep it professional. Still, you know something is wrong and you know it has something to do with your past relationship. If you were the cautious sort you’d just leave it be, but if something is going to be a major problem you need to know now.

“Good, you’ll all be shipping out in about a week. Everyone is dismissed, though I want to speak to you Decena about something.” You say calmly and wait for the other two leave.

Now it’s just you and Decena alone in the room. This hasn’t occurred in years, and this situation is very different. Decena however maintains a very formal stance and does not falter from it.

“I sense something is wrong.” You say.
“There is nothing wrong my Emperor.” Decena remarks.
“Okay stop with the stiff soldier act, it’s just us here.”

This remark breaks Decena’s facade of being “okay.”

“I don’t understand what you want from me my Emperor. You told me we were to remain just subordinate and master. I am carrying out this order to the best of my abilities.”
“Oh no, do not attempt to play word games, you know what I mean. You’re obviously upset about this assignment.”
“…I’m obeying orders aren’t I? Isn’t that all that is required of me?” Decena says with an exasperated tone.
“For you? No. I need you to do more than just obey, I need you to be thrilled with this assignment. Like you USED to be. Remember?”
“Apologies, but I don’t think I can given the situation.”
“What situation? Us? Look Decena I know you’re still upset about that, but you’re going to have to be an Eternal and get over it.”
“Oh yes, I’m an Eternal alright, at least until next year. Might as well sweep me away to a far off land now and be done with it.” Decena remarks.
“What are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about the new Eternals that are scheduled to be ready next year! They’ll be the new thing and I’ll just be old news off in some forsaken land surrounded by scalies and green skinned idiots. In the meantime perhaps you’ll even find another young girl like I was and take her under your guidance too…”
“Decena…”
“Well I suppose at least she’ll be happy for a few years even if she’ll be a naïve fool the entire time.”

“Decena STOP! Just stop right now!” you say.

Decena does so, but her eyes say it all. You knew she was probably going to be upset for a while, but it’s turned into bitterness.

You pace a bit and exhale rubbing your hand over your face.

“Decena, your beliefs that you’re going to be somehow replaced next year are far from the truth. First of all, I’m not giving any of them any extra training because obviously I’m a lousy teacher given what happened between us.”

Decena stays silent.

“Second of all I picked you for this mission because you’re the only one I trust to carry it out. Just like I trusted you to continue your battles against the Torites and you saw to their practical extinction. I know you can get this job done and you’re not going to be over there forever you know. I anticipate war with the Nakol Kingdom at some point and when that happens who do you think is going to have to lead all the baby eternals into battle? You of course. For now though I need you where you’re going to be the most invaluable and that’s in this new land.”

You reach out to Decena and lift her face up to look into her eyes.

“I need you for this just like I’m always going to need you. You will never be replaced.”

Decena’s expression turns back to one of sorrow. Her eyes water, but she does not cry out.

“I…I’m sorry my Emperor…I shouldn’t…have…”
“Forget it Decena you don’t need to apologize. (Sigh) If anything I should be apologizing to you. As I said, I still feel you’re the best person for this mission, but if you wish, you may decline this mission and I will find someone else. And there is no need to worry, this will not be a bad reflection on you in any way. If it’s going to make you happier to stay here, then I’d rather you be happy since it’ll make you a better leader. Won’t do anyone any good if you don’t have the best mindset.”

Decena shakes her head.

“No, I’ll go. For the good of the Empire I’ll go. Staying here would serve no purpose for what I really want is not to be no matter what the situation. I suppose I just overreacted. And you weren’t a lousy teacher. Anyone would be lucky to learn under you. I was.” Decena says.
“Yes, well as I said, nobody ever will again. You were my first and last pupil. You’ll always be special in that regard. Now are you absolutely sure, you’re going to be okay with this assignment?” you ask.
“I will my Emperor. And I will bring glory to the Empire.” Decena remarks.
“Good. I knew you were strong enough to see this through and I know you’ll do the Empire and me proud.”

You end you comment with a small kiss to her cheek. It’s only a shadow of what she really desires, but it’ll be enough to get her through this.

After Decena leaves, you think about how you’ve permanently damaged that girl due to your poor judgment and lack of willpower all those years ago. You then think about how easy it is to convince her into anything due to that same lack of willpower years ago. She still worships and loves you and probably always will no matter what. Despite everything, your conditioning was successful.

By the end of the week your fleet to the new continent (you’re calling it Nyttrus) is on its way to properly claim it for the Empire. You don’t know how long the Iznac are going to be able to stand up against your forces, but hopefully if your people break them, the other tribes will fall in line.
> You eternals United (Year 51)
Year 51

You stand with Brenda and Warrick in front of hundreds of third generation Eternals. The day has finally come. They’re trained and ready for war. Whether that means they’ll get sent to Nyttrus or sent to attack the Nakol Kingdom that still remains to be seen, but wherever it is, you’re sure they’ll be a formidable force.

You give a rousing speech that encourages and reinforces the sort of loyalty that has already been drummed into their heads since they were born. They probably don’t need it, but words directly from their Emperor are never a bad thing.

“This is way things should be.” Brenda says.
“What’s that, Brenda?” Warrick asks.
“This. You, me, the Emperor and all these new Eternals standing together united as a single force. I can’t wait to train the next generation.” Brenda says.
“Well you’ll definitely get that chance Brenda. As I’ve said before, you did an excellent job with these.” You say.
“We Eternals are the true rulers and defenders of this great Empire. And while I hold nothing but repsect to our former Emperor, I have to say that I feel that YOU have already proven that Eternals are the future. (Sigh) If there were only more of us…”
“There will be eventually.” Warrick says.
“Oh I know. I just wish Roldan was here to see this.” Brenda says.
“Mm, he would’ve certainly approved. I think Kane would have too.” Warrick remarks.
“Yes, to fallen siblings and to reunited ones who spent too long angry at one another.” Brenda says and looks at Warrick. The pair of them hug for a moment.

You remain silent at their display of affection. Seemed almost unbelievable at one time, you’re just glad they get along now.

With the new Eternals dispersing and on their way to their assignments, you just sort of start off into the distance until Warrick and Brenda cease their hugging to ask you what’s going on with you.

“Is there something wrong my Emperor?”
“Oh, nothing really wrong. I was just thinking, not every Eternal is here in this grand unification. Decena’s still over in Nyttrus.” You say.
“Oh yes, that’s correct. I can’t believe I forgot about her.” Warrick says.
“Yeah well, Decena’s always felt like a bit of an outsider in some ways I think.”
“What? That’s silly.” Brenda says.
“Is it? Think about it, there never were a bunch of us to begin with, but there are still three of us first ones. Then there are these third gens. Hundreds. And the fourth gens and beyond will probably be in the hundreds as well. But Decena? She’s the only second gen left. All her siblings were killed. Most by a mad derro and a few of them even by me when I got tested against them.”

Warrick and Brenda continue to listen.

“I dunno, I was just thinking of something she was worried about before I sent her to Nyttrus. Her concerns that she was somehow obsolete. Of course I explained that she wasn’t, but still sometimes in her letters I detect a bit of lonesomeness in tone.”
“Emperor, Decena was trained by you. I think she’s probably the luckiest Eternal since…well since you got the chance to be trained by the former Emperor.” Brenda remarks.

“Hrm. Yes, lucky.” You say nearly snorting at both of those conclusions. Brenda and Warrick still don’t know the whole story and you hope for their sake they never have to learn the truth.

“Well I have to go attend to a rather mundane matter that I can’t just assign to Kivan. I trust you both can handle the rest of the matters here?”
“Of course, my Emperor.” Warrick says.

You nod at Brenda and Warrick and return to your private quarters in the palace. You sit down at your desk and spend the rest of the night writing an encouraging letter to have sent to Decena in Nyttrus.

Maybe she couldn’t be here for the “Eternal unification” but you still want her to know that in your eyes she is the most cherished of all of them.


The fact remains; the full capabilities of New Dessle are still unknown and taking this mountain city would be extremely costly for the Empire, so you’re not going to dismiss Klemto’s stipulations yet, but you are going to come back with one of your own.

“Very well, your terms are somewhat reasonable though we’re still going to have to hammer out some details, however I do want one thing from you right now.” You say.
“Oh? What’s that?”
“You will assist in attacking the Confederacy of the Free Cities.”
“...so you would call on our service already eh? Fine. We will assist, just let us know what exactly you want from us.”
“Nothing elaborate, I just want another army south of the cities in case some of the svelk try to escape that way. I don’t want a single one of them to get away. They’re a threat to the Empire and their constant manipulations need to cease being a thorn in my side. Too long they’ve gone unpunished for their treachery. Maybe I won’t be getting all of them on the world. But rest assured I WILL be getting ALL of them in this area.”
“I see. While you may not have any hatred for my race, you obviously do for the dark elves. It would seem the more things change, the more they stay same…(Sigh) Well better the svelk than us I suppose.” Klemto says.
“Glad you see the pragmatic side of this.”
“Oh I suspect I’ll be seeing the pragmatic side a lot in the future. Not how I wanted to spend the remainder of my years, but then this is really the only way. I’ve long since learned that opposing the Empire is futile. While it may eventually fall to internal or external forces, it probably isn’t going to be in my lifetime and I’m going to do everything within that time to make sure the gnomes stay out of harm’s way. If that means swallowing what little pride we might have left and willingly becoming the subjects of a nation that once enslaved us and then tried to systematically exterminate us, then that is what we will do.”

Klemto finishes his little speech with another puff of his pipe. He looks defeated even though he’s come out fairly okay on this deal. Well at least you think so, obviously he feels differently.

“You’ll be remembered as a savior to your people Klemto.” You say before you leave.
“I’ll probably be remembered as a collaborator, but I’m fine with it as long as they live to keep telling the tale of Klemto the traitor long after I’m dead.”

At this point you and Warrick take your leave, the next time you look back, Klemto is gone and the mountain “windows” have all closed up as if everything was normal again.

“You really think you can trust the gnomes?” Warrick asks.
“I trust them more now that we have a way in. I want as many Eyes as you can spare in that mountain. Perhaps over time we can pull some out if the gnomes do prove to be loyal and don’t complain too much, but we definitely want to at least gather every single bit of information we can on that place just in case the gnomes DO try to betray us in the future.”
“I’ll get on that, as soon as we return to the Empire. I shouldn’t have had the doubt, but I really thought this plan was going to go bad.”
“Don’t worry, I had the same feeling, but sometimes you just have to throw caution to the wind and attempt new strategies.”
“Well maybe I didn’t see any battle, but I was still glad to get out behind that desk. I thank you for that.” Warrick says.
“If you’d like we could always go try to take out one of the city states by ourselves. Has to be easier than an entire mountain.”

You and Warrick laugh at this idea and head back to the Empire.

A month passes and the war against the Confederacy of Free Cities is well underway. The odds are severely in your favor especially with the help of the gnomes who show up and you get a small indication of what exactly they have been working on.

Some sort of powerful battle machine they call automatons. The best way to describe them is they’re golems except work under the power of steam, gears and technology rather than magic. A single automaton is an incredibly destructive force blowing holes in walls with their mounted cannons or just smashing them down with a hammer fist.

The gnomes also bring out their lightning cannons that you remember during the Felkan War. It was a relatively new invention towards the end of that conflict, but it looks like the gnomes have perfected it their power. Your own inventors never could figure out how to create them though. (Even Elam was at a loss on how they did it without the use of magic)

You’re sort of surprised they never created their own airships, but apparently they were in the process of doing so. In any case, whatever they’ve created and will create are yours to use now.

The Confederacy of Free Cities doesn’t stand a chance and half of them are in ruins after it’s all said and done. That wasn’t the original intent, but at this point you’re not really concerned with conquering a few measly cities. You can always have new ones built now that you own the territory. What matters more is the eradication of the svelk menace.

“We got her Emperor!” a soldier says running up to you in the middle of the burning ruins of Ryglik.
“Are you sure its her?” you ask
“Yes, Emperor. It’s Domina Eldolith. She was captured by the kobolds attempting to escape through a system of tunnels, she killed quite a few of them, but the little scalies managed to subdue her. She’s been yelling about being the grand domina of the free cities and a bunch of other stuff. Mostly demanding to be treated with the respect that a captured enemy of her stature deserves.”
“Unbelievable. Defiant and arrogant to the end. Wouldn’t be the svelk way otherwise. Well take me to her.” You say.

You are lead to the former city hall and down into the basement where several kobolds are proding a bound Eldolith with sharp objects and laughing while she swears and curses at them. They see you and bow in reverence while excitedly looking for approval of their deed.

“Capturr blak elf! For Emp! For Emp!” one of them says.
“Yes, and I will make sure you are awarded appropriately for your deeds. All of you, now leave I want to speak with this one alone. And do not interrupt me, no matter what you may hear. I will leave here when I’m ready.”

The kobolds leave via the trapdoor in the floor, your human soldiers nearby head back upstairs. Eldolith looks at you as you approach her. It’s been a while since you’ve seen her, but she’s not looking her best right now. Her clothes are torn and wet, she’s covered in dirt and grime. She smells like she’s been running through a sewer. Superficial wounds are on her face and body. Her eyes are burning through you with an absolute hatred.

And you love every moment of it.

“If you think I’m going to beg for my life you’re sadly mistaken. I will NEVER give you that satisfaction. I am a svelk! My people…”

You backhand Eldolith shutting her up.

“Are dead. And if they aren’t, the ones we captured soon will be. You can stop playing the arrogant svelk Eldy. You’re scared of what is going to happen next. And you should be, because I’m going to revisit some old techniques your mother showed me once.”

At this point Eldolith’s eyes widen and she tries to edge away when your hands start to touch her body. Suddenly you grip her throat.

“Don’t move away from me bitch.” You say and look into her eyes. Gone is the hatred. Now you see the fear.

“Now then, if you’re concerned that I meant a physical violation, I hate the break your dreams, but that won’t be happening. For one thing, your current stench is enough to give an orc pause. However after I’m done today, you will be wishing that I was displaying such a kindness to you. Begging. In fact I believe your earlier boast about not begging for your life was correct. You won’t be. You’ll be begging for your death. Now let us begin…”

You pull out a small set of tools you brought for this occasion. To be honest you weren’t sure if you’d be lucky enough to capture Eldolith alive, but fortune smiled on you this day.

You begin a brutal session of torture on Eldolith. You occasionally ask her for more information on where other svelk may be, but these are met with pathetic moans of denial of knowledge.

“I DON’T KNOW ANYTHING!” Eldolith screams as another finger is cut off.
“At this point I actually believe you, but I don’t really care because this is amusing to me. Torturing a svelk. Not just any svelk though. One that tried to have me fucking assassinated on several occasions. Come on Eldy, you really can’t be surprised by my actions here. You svelk pride yourself on showing no mercy and revel in cruelty, I’d think you’d understand all this.”
“Who told you this? My mother?! And you believed her? What makes you think she wasn’t responsible and just put the blame on me?!”
“Well for one thing, your mother is a lot smarter than you and if she was planning to have me killed, I have to admit, she might’ve been successful. Fortunately that crazy bitch is obsessed with me, for some unknown reason…”

At this point Eldolith starts coughing up blood while trying to laugh.

“Something amusing? Have you finally gone mad from the pain?” you ask.
“Ha ha, (cough) you wish I was her right now. (cough) You’ll never get that satisfaction, she’s played you like a cheap lute since you’ve been born Eternal. Even now you’re doing her bidding. She just…”

At this point Eldolith vomits a mixture of blood and bile on the floor. Some of it getting on your boots.

“You were saying?” you ask, but Eldolith just breathes heavily not answering.

“Well, you don’t really need this eye to tell me the rest of your thoughts.” You say and approach her again with a knife…

By the time dawn comes, Eldolith is barely alive. She’s blind, missing an entire hand, her skin partially flayed, missing most of her teeth, she’s a bloody mess and her face doesn’t even resemble that of a svelk anymore. She’s long since proven your prediction correct and begged for death, which you’ve denied her. But even you have to move on some time.

“I have to admit Eldy, I thought you would’ve been long dead by now. For someone begging for death, your body’s will to survive is strong. The funny thing is, I could easily heal most of you up and do this all over again, but honestly I think I’ve made my point. Besides I’d hate to shorten my own lifespan just for a little bit of amusement, which is getting boring now. Any last words?”

Eldolith makes no sound, just shallow breathing.

“Right then.” You say and put your mithral dagger to her throat.

“You brought this on yourself.” You whisper in Eldolith’s hacked off ear and slash her throat at last putting her out of her living hell.

When you exit the building, several officers say they’ve been wanting to speak with you about important matters of the aftermath of the war and similar matters concerning the newly acquired cities. Also the gnomes are wondering what your next orders are now since the enemy has been thoroughly eliminated.
While you certainly feel good about your victory and your recent indulgence, you can’t help but wonder now if Eldolith was just a convenient scapegoat. Eldolith and her sect of svelk obviously still had to die and you’re more than certain that she was involved in trying to have you killed, but who is to say that it wasn’t Semra pulling the strings all along?

In any event, looks like playtime is over. Back to business as usual.
> The Grand Tour (Inside New Dessel)
As you walk through the halls of New Dessel with Klemto, you have to admit to being impressed with the place. The gnomes have once again succeeded in the face of adversity. This city inside a mountain not only has comfortable living arrangements and external defense measures, but is also self sufficient in food and other resources.

It helps that the mountain had a large system of natural caverns already inside which allowed the gnomes to take advantage of the layout. Edible fungus and an underground water source were definitely bonuses. Klemto remarks that they probably would not have put that much effort into making the mountain into a “city” had none of these things been available.

Now that you’ve gotten a good look at the inside of the place, it’s a very good thing you didn’t attack this place like Kivan suggested. You might’ve very well gotten fried on the spot. Besides their numerous cannons mounted in the rock to defend New Dessel, the gnomes have what can only be described as a giant metal lightning rod except they can shoot lightning from it AND direct its attack. It runs from the bottom of a water source, which has some sort of strange machine in it (It generates “electricity” as Klemto calls it) and the pole goes all the way up to the top of mountain peak where it can direct a blast of lightning powerful enough to probably destroy one of your airships.

Definitely very useful though Klemto says its really only good for nearby defense as they can’t hit something, as far away as say where the former City State Confederacy was located. This puts you at ease since you did wonder if such a weapon could hit your capital!

The gnomes have also managed to create something else you lack in the Empire. Lighting without any sort of fire.

“How do you produce light like that with no fire? It seems similar to the lightning that comes from the sky or from magic spells.” You ask.
“Oh yes. Electricity again. We were trying to harness that into something less destructive even during the last days of the Felkan War when we were using our lightning guns. In fact had the war not come about the Felkans might’ve had electrical lighting by now. Well, at least we solved the mystery I guess.” Klemto says.
“Hrm.” You answer.
“Erm, I suppose you probably would like your own engineers to implement such things in the Empire. We can certainly give the method on how to do it.”
“Eh. Perhaps in time. To be quite honest it isn’t a pressing concern, I’d rather they learn the methods on how to create those lightning guns of yours, and those things.” You say pointing at an automaton being fixed by a group of gnomes.

“Oh yes, I imagine your interests do place military matters first. Well of course we’ll be willing to oblige. As I said great Emperor, New Dessel is at your service.”
“Indeed.” You respond.

Just as you are about to bring up the subject of stationing Eyes in New Dessel to Klemto a young girl with red hair comes running up to him. She looks to be a teenager and is dressed in a slightly dirty work uniform.

“Uncle Klemto! Uncle Klemto! The lightning has gone out in section eight again! Can I go assist this time?” she says which causes Klemto to look very embarrassed.
“Zana! I told you not to disturb me today! This is the Emperor I’m speaking with right now and his time is very precious!”
“Oh. Well can I go help fix the lighting then? I’ll be out of your hair!” She says thinking nothing more of Klemto’s words causing him even more concern that you’re getting angry.

You aren’t really angry so much as you’re intrigued. To your knowledge only gnomes live in New Dessel, so you’re wondering how this human got here. And calling Klemto uncle no less.

“Zana! If you’re going to interrupt my important meeting the least you can do is show the proper respect for the Emperor. OUR Emperor. We’re part of the Empire now as I mentioned to you, remember?” Klemto says.
“Oh. Okay.” Zana turns to you and raises a dirty hand for you to shake. “Hello Mr. Emperor.”

Klemto is cringing the entire time, but you return her attempt at being friendly by shaking her hand.

“Zana, you can go help with fixing the lighting in section eight, just get out of here!” Klemto orders.
“Alright! Thank you uncle!” Zana beams and gives the old gnome a little peck on the cheek before running off.

At this point Klemto is as red as a tomato which is actually making you chuckle a bit at this point.

“Klemto, relax. I’m not the unreasonable head-chopping tyrant everyone thinks I am. I do have to ask though, how is it that a human came to be here and calls you uncle no less?”

Klemto does relax a little, but only a little.

“Heh, oh that. Well during our…evacuation of the Felkan Kingdom, a group of us travelled through one of the many ruined Felkan towns. As we travelled through, I heard the mewling of a baby. I investigated and sure enough I found one. The house was in shambles and I had already passed the body of a man and woman in the room before I found the baby. I can only guess it was the baby’s mother and father. Several of my fellow gnomes told me I should just leave it as we had enough to worry about, without a baby possibly giving away our position, but I just didn’t feel right doing such a thing. So I took her, named her Zana and over the years I raised as if she was my own.”
“Hrm, that’s unusual.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well the Empire was fairly thorough about going through towns. Seems odd that a crying baby would’ve been missed. Oh and contrary to popular belief we didn’t always kill everything in sight if we razed a town. Sometimes children and infants were taken to be wards of the Empire. Still, if you were on the run, I imagine you had to at least be going through the area where General Alison Krozer was stationed with her army. One of the best I have ever known, as were those under her command. I mean I suppose its possible something like that was missed but…”

Klemto quickly interrupts you.

“Well uh, the gnolls were a problem on that side of the Felkan Kingdom too remember? Probably was gnolls.”
“Well that seems even less likely then.” You answer.
“Why?”
“Well for one thing Alison had pretty much taken care of the separate gnoll invaders by the time you lot start seeing that the Felkan Kingdom was dying and start abandoning it. I mean sure there were still some here and there, but they weren’t really focusing their attacks on Felkans anymore, they were focusing on Empire forts and our patrols. Besides, these are gnolls we’re talking about. Those savages used to steal everything they thought valuable and destroy the rest. A crying baby? They probably would’ve eaten such a thing while it was still in its crib! They’re worse than svelk when it comes to stuff like that.” You say.
“Yeah…uh well whoever it was I guess she was just…lucky?”
“I guess so. Well in any event you’re certainly to be commended on raising a child that learned the importance of serving the good of her community.” You answer though you feel like something about Klemto’s story doesn’t add up.

“Yes, well I thank you for your kind words my Emperor. Shall we get back to your proposal on your Eyes? As I said before, you can station as many as you feel are needed here!” Klemto says almost eager to stop discussing his adopted daughter.
“Sure, let’s get back to that.” You respond.


Year 42

While you doubt this is going to be your last battle with the Torites, you’re at least hoping it’s going to be the one to break their spirit to the point where they become less of a problem.

Still, the fact that they’ve finally unified their forces into armies shows you that they realize you aren’t going to just go away and their hit and run tactics and attempts to win through attrition aren’t going to succeed. It shows you that this is a concentrated effort to get rid of you once and for all. It won’t work either and really works to your benefit. It allows you the opportunity to kill a bunch of them in one large grouping now.

Maybe there will always be pockets of Torites lurking in the untamed wilderness but one thing is certain. The territory WILL be the Empire’s and the Torites can either submit and see the light like the kobolds eventually did or slowly be driven into extinction like the gnolls.

But that’s in the future, right now you’re drawing up the plans for this impeding battle. Considering how large the Torite horde is, you’ve combined your available forces with Decena’s army. It was quite the happy day for her seeing as she hasn’t seen you for five years. You still aren’t quite sure how you exactly feel about her, but she’s definitely been winning you over as far as her victories have been concerned. She remains professional always in front of everyone, but the first time she got you alone, she literally jumped on you and wrapped her legs around your waist, planting a kiss on you.

But again, you can sort out your possible complications with Decena later. Now is the time to make sure the both of you come out of this alive.

“We should have the second airship here before we begin our assault. Hopefully that will take some of the pressure off of the Storm to deal with the harpies.” You remark.
“Its isn’t just the bird bitches that flap about though. Don’t forget, there are still those manticores and those chimeras.” General Ackerson remarks.
“Yes, I’m well aware of both, Ackerson. Thank you for pointing out the obvious. However, I’m more inclined to believe the Torites will be relying on those beasts to attack our people on the ground. The beasts aren’t the most graceful of fliers and would most likely just be big target, which they will be for us anyway, but they’ll still do more damage to a group of soldiers on foot and horseback rather than a flying fortress before going down.” You remark.
“Those chimera things don’t even fly very high. The wings are almost so small that they’re just for show. Never had one swoop down on us.” Decena adds.
“Wouldn’t be best to have us mages together so that we can join our energy and create a shield for the majority of the army?” Galen remarks. He isn’t complaining, but he’s definitely trying to find a loop hole to possibly make himself safer and not have to do as much work.”
“Galen, you know that the Torites attempt to target spell slingers as soon as possible. If they actually get you in a group and strike lucky, well there goes a powerful chunk of our fighting force. It’ll make things harder for them if you’re all spread out. Besides, you’re personally going to be hiding behind a small contingent of golems and backed up by Captain Flevas’ men. You couldn’t be any safer.”
“Huh. So my backup lies in the hands of an elf? Might as well kill me now and get it over with.” Galen remarks. You just shake your head and ignore his last comment; he’s too valuable to punish right now.

After hammering out the plan, you and the rest start setting things in motion and preparing everyone. You know the Torite horde is on the move not too far from your location. But they aren’t here yet and won’t be for at least a half-day’s time. It gives you a bit of time to at least get some rest since you’ve been running around attempting to take care of everything and haven’t slept. You didn’t even realize how tired you were until you lie down on your sleeping bag.

Just as you lie down and close your eyes, someone enters your tent and you instinctively grab your sword.

“No point in that, I’m not really here you know.” You hear a familiar voice whisper.

You sit up and see Semra standing before you, or rather the image of her. She’s no doubt using the same kind of magic she did when she tried to convince you to kill Casimir. She’s probably nearby somewhere though.

“I thought you said we weren’t going to see each other again.” You say.
“I didn’t think we would. I truly believed you would die on Mortos. I suppose I underestimated your ability to survive even there. Quite impressive and it’s no surprise that you assumed Casimir’s throne soon after. Everything worked out for you, but tell me how did you accomplish such a feat?”
“Just luck I guess. Look, if you came here to kill me, you’ll need to get behind the long line of Torites marching towards this place.” You say while lying back down and shutting your eyes.
“My, you’re quite confident to stay in such a vulnerable position if you really believe I’m here to kill you.” Semra says.
“No, I know this is just grand standing. If you were really going to kill me you’d have your underlings conspiring with little plots in the shadows.”
“Yes, I’m aware of the troubles you’ve been having lately and while I’m flattered you believe it to me, I’m actually here to clear my good name.”
“Hah!” you snort.
“Okay so just my name. In any event. I’m here to tell you that it isn’t me, though you do have enemies of the svelk persuasion.”
“I’ve got enemies of every persuasion and that’s not a very convincing argument that you’re somehow innocent.”
“Okay how about this then? It’s not me because I’ve been keeping an eye on you and so far you haven’t warranted anything that needs me to stop you yet. My daughter on the other hand disagrees. She claims that my…past with you is clouding my judgment.”
“We never had a past Semra. I don’t know what YOU think it is, but WE were and never will be an item.”
“Oh yes, that’s right. You’ve got that vicious little young thing on your dick now. Decena is her name? She is quite the warrior. Lot of those moves are familiar, they’re all the ones I taught you. Hey have you taught her any of my other moves when you’re bedding her?”

At this point you sit back up, annoyed with Semra’s remark.

“Is this going anywhere because I have a shitload of beast men to slaughter tomorrow and you’re keeping me awake!” You snap.
“Oooh! Struck a nerve did I? Haven’t been able to do that for quite awhile, I really missed it. Tell me though; is it very serious with this one like it was with Alison? Didn’t think you’d get over her so quickly. Really though I don’t know why you pick any of these females. This new one is just likely to wind up dead, if not by the sword then by age. Her youthful appearance with eventually wither and fade like it does with all of those lesser born.”

At this point you lie back down and close your eyes again. You’re not playing this game.

“You done already? Disappointed, you used to be so much more fun. Very well, just listen then Eternal. I know you have a hard time with that, but maybe you’ll actually heed what I have to say for once. I am not your enemy. As I have said, my daughter is your enemy and she makes her base of operations in a city-state called Ryglik and lies south of the former Broki Kingdom. Of course that whole area consists of several city-states and she may very well move around, but that’s the main one she’s operating from.

You remain silent while Semra continues to talk.

“Well I’ll take your silence that you’re at least taking it under consideration. Oh and while you’re at it, you still might want to consider giving up all this foolish nonsense. Perhaps you’re a better Emperor than Casimir ever was, but you’re still mindlessly following a path that you think has been laid out for you. It’s almost like Casimir is still barking orders at you.”
“I guarantee Casimir’s not saying much of anything anymore.” You answer.
“Be that as it may, I’d hate to see you follow in his horribly misguided footsteps and make the same mistakes he did.”
“Well, I don’t have you as an advisor, I’d say that already puts me ahead of the game.”
“Pfft, you’d be lucky to have me by your side. Not my fault you can’t see and accept the truth. Anyway, I’ll take my leave now. Perhaps we’ll see each other, perhaps we won’t. Perhaps we’ll even see each other in the flesh again, wouldn’t that be fun?”
“Sure would, I could give you your dagger back.” You remark.
“Mmmm, I bet you would. Well if that day ever comes, you make sure you give me a long hard kiss as you’re sticking it in me. Oh one last thing, your General Ackerson is planning to betray you at some point during tomorrow’s battle. Not sure when and how, but he’s got quite a few soldiers willing to work with him on it. More of my daughter’s work no doubt.”

With those final words, you cease hearing Semra’s voice. You briefly open your eyes and find that her image is gone as well.

“Fucking bitch.” You mutter, as now you’re never going to be able to sleep with this last bit of information she just gave you.

The big problem is she may very well be telling the truth, because for the most part Semra has never really lied to you. You didn’t believe her at the time, but she told you the complete truth about Casimir and his intentions. She didn’t have Alison killed either. As usual in her own fucked up way that you still don’t understand she has attempted to help you.

Of course that was in the past, she could be lying about everything right now. While she has confirmed your own beliefs that it’s been the svelk working against you, she’s also trying to put the blame all on her daughter. Granted you know they probably don’t get along, but still.

There also has never been any evidence that Ackerson has shown signs of being a potential traitor. Doesn’t even make sense, but then again you can’t trust anyone nowadays.

Now you have to play a guessing game to as whether or not someone on your own side is going to kill you in the middle of battle. You miss the days when all you ever concerned yourself with were the people on the other side trying to kill you.
> You dismiss the accusation
There is no proof and indeed it would be incredibly stupid even for a traitor to attempt to kill you while there’s a rampaging army of beastmen that could very well kill everyone if you weren’t around.

You roll over and salvage some sleep.

Despite everything that went on last night, you miraculously actually manage to get a little sleep before the arrival of the Torites. You’re still a little tired, but you think when you get into the thick of battle the thrill of it will kick in and you’ll be invigorated. You usually are.

It seems word of what happened spread fairly quickly to the rest of the camps, even to Decena’s army. You imagine that will at least have to put Galen in a good mood, maybe he’ll whine less now.

When the Torites arrive they certainly look like a chaotic rabble, but it’s no mistake that they mean business. The number of harpies fills the sky to the point where you hope that the Storm can take care of such a flock. The second airship is in far distance behind you. Hopefully by the time it gets to engage in battle it won’t be replacing the Storm so much that it’ll be supporting the Storm.

The cannons and rifles fire as soon as the Torites are within range. Their centaurs return fire with their accurate arrows. The saytr wizards up the ante by casting their elemental magic which rips solid chunks of rock and earth out of the ground and goes flying at your army. It can’t be said that the Torites are any less dangerous just because they’re less technologically advanced.

High above you the Storm takes on the harpy warriors. Even from here, it looks like a swarm of locusts descending on a single blade of wheat. Looks pretty damn grim for the Storm, you just hope if the crew does get overwhelmed they can keep the ship from crashing near your location.

The bull creatures lead the charge along side their horse beast brethren. Another volley of shots takes out some, but they remain relentless in their charge. The satyr rank and file advance steadily behind. They WILL arrive and there will certainly be enough of them left to give your army a good fight.

Your own cavalry meets them and while they have the best training, they can’t overcome the sheer savagery of the minotaurs and as for the centaurs, their very bodies are half horse. They already have the advantage over your own cavalry as far as maneuverability.

Breaks in the Torite army form as they allow their war beasts participate in the charge. Several manticores and chimera of the largest size make their way straight towards you. At their pace, they’re going to be the first ones your people will have to fight. A cannon blast rips through one of the chimera and fireball from one of your mages brings down another, but before you know it, a manticore is shredding apart your front line with its talons and impaling others with its spike tail.

What comes next is utter mayhem. Swords and axes cutting and stabbing. Fangs and claws tearing and biting. Magic on both sides destroying several lives in the blink of an eye. It’s all very glorious.

Decena’s army is holding its own on her front, but then you never had any doubt about that. The only problem they do have is the blasted satyr magic manages to turn the golems against them. Hopefully, Flevas managed to get Galen’s ass out of there before they crushed him. General Ackerson seems to be struggling a bit, but is hanging in there.

Still, the battle is far from over yet. The fact that you’re simultaneously facing down three bullheads by yourself and a chimera closing in is a great reminder.

You cast a lightning blast at the bulls, which fells two of them, but the third fights through the pain of having his body fried from the inside out. You dodge his axe and follow up with your own sword swing to his meaty leg. The beast roars, but is still undeterred.

Two nearby soldiers from General Ackerson’s army see you and they both pull out their pistols. At first you think they’re just trying to shoot the chimera, but then you realize they’re going to shoot you. You mutter a curse about Semra being right.

While you manage to block the shots with a quick force shield, you are also being attacked by a very vicious chimera, which takes advantage of your distraction. You feel a large singer impaling you through the leg followed up by the chimera’s goat head breathing poisonous gas in your face.

Disoriented, hobbled and half blind, you don’t even see the minotaur that you temporarily fried with your lightning blast come at you with a great axe, cleaving half of head off.


Year 40

“I thought the plan was to keep them in the tanks until the sixteenth year.” Brenda says.
“No, those were Marik’s original plans for the last Eternals he worked on. We’re doing things differently. From Elam’s earlier calculations, and my own magic theories on this project we both came to the conclusion long ago that keeping them in the tanks for as long as Marik did is asking for trouble in the long term. While it certainly accelerates their skills and abilities there’s a risk for it to have a terrible affect on the mind. In fact it’s probably just as well that Marik killed them all, otherwise we might’ve had hundreds of mental cases.” You reply.

“But Decena seems okay. I mean from what I know of the girl.” Brenda says.
“Decena’s an exception, but I’m not going to tempt fate with this group. Five years seems like a good stopping point.”
“So are you going to be training the rest of them?”
“No, you are.” You say to Brenda who is speechless for a second.

“What?” Brenda says.
“You’re going to be responsible for these new Eternals Brenda. I know you’re going to need assistants, but it’s going to be chiefly your responsibility to train them and to make sure they become the best of the best. What Eternals should be. What WE are.”
“But, why me? I mean I’ve never been on the frontlines like the rest of us were.”
“True, but I know you’re no stranger to battle and you’re the only one I can trust with this task. Warrick’s job is to be the head of internal security and to directly oversee the Eyes, so he can’t do it. And I feel it would be best if another Eternal should be fully in charge of training these new ones. That leaves you and I know you to be an honorable woman who upholds the ideals of the Empire. Who could possibly be better?”
“You?” Brenda says.
“Heh, well it was a rhetorical question. But besides being too busy myself, I actually don’t believe I’d be the best trainer. I think due to our own experiences of how we were trained as well as our personalities, you will make a better teacher.”
“But we both had the same training up to our twelfth year.”
“Yes, and then our next four I guarantee was vastly different. And even during our twelve years together in Semra’s class, MY training experience was very different from yours. I think you’d agree.”

Brenda nods, probably remembering that Semra took every opportunity to single you out in the class and subjecting you to the harshest punishments when it struck her fancy.

“You had Captain Gruz as a teacher and from what I heard, he taught you all to fight as a team and to have a shared respect for each other and he did it without resorting to excessive measures. I know the common belief is that I’m cruel by nature, but I’m actually not. Ruthless perhaps, but not needlessly cruel. And because I’m not cruel, that’s why I’d rather have a more even-tempered person with at least a less hellish childhood experience than I train these children. They may be Eternals, but they’re still children that will have to be molded into good productive soldiers for the Empire with minimal problems to their mental state. I know you’ll be tough, but fair.”

“Well, I don’t know what to say, except I appreciate your confidence in me in all this and I’ll do my best to carry out this task successfully. However, while I do understand that you don’t really have the time to train the new Eternals I’m still slightly puzzled to as why you believe you’d be a rotten teacher. I mean you trained Decena and from what I’ve heard she’s fanatically loyal as well as a great warrior bringing glory to the Empire.”

“That’s right, I did. And she is.” You answer and don’t give any more elaboration, which prompts Brenda to just leave it alone.

“Okay.” She responds.

There’s a brief pause before Brenda decides to break up the silence by changing the subject.

“So, what’s next on your agenda?”
“Me? Well after I go inspect the new airship that Elam is supposed to be finished with, I’m going back on the battlefield. I think its time; most of the internal reorganization and major projects have been dealt with and don’t require my immediate watchful eye anymore. I’m sure if any problems crop up, someone won’t hesitate to inform me. Besides, the Torites are causing all sorts of problem on Ackerson’s front. And I think he may even be having issues with that petty kingdom he recently made contact with. I don’t even remember what its name is, and if I have anything to say about it, neither will anyone else.”
“Well I’d tell you to be careful or wish you luck, but I know you’ll be fine. You always are. Are you going to stay for the grand opening though?” Brenda asks and points at the rows and rows of tanks.

“No. Probably best if they don’t see me immediately. Keep me a semi-mysterious unapproachable figure for awhile.” You reply.
“Oh like what they told us?” Brenda says.
“Worked didn’t it? Still, when you’ve sufficiently got that idea into their heads, then I suppose I’ll make my appearance to them, most likely unannounced. I’ll want them to actually believe that I may very well pop up at any time. It’ll keep them on their toes.”
“Ha ha, that’s probably even more frightening than never seeing such a figure as I have to admit even at times I wondered if the Emperor was actually watching me all the time, though Roldan certainly thought so.”

Brenda at this point temporarily spins off into a pleasant memory she has of Roldan. You’ve never told her it was actually Casimir that had Roldan assassinated for his own reasons. You’ve pondered if you should tell her the truth, but ultimately decided it wouldn’t do any good save for perhaps destroying her faith in the Empire, which you don’t want.

You know Brenda is prone to bouts of depression ever since Roldan’s died, telling her that the government and its ruler that she served was directly involved in her husband’s death might push her into hopelessness. Maybe even suicide. As it stands, you’ve been working to try to keep her spirits up.

Which is another reason why you picked her to train these new Eternals. Perhaps it will give her a better sense of purpose.

“Sorry, I rambled a bit there. I guess I just still miss Roldan.” Brenda says.
“No need to apologize, I completely understand. Roldan was a dedicated soldier of the Empire and if he were here today he’d be proud of your accomplishments. Anyway, I have to go; if I’m lucky Elam hasn’t blown up this new machine he just built yet. I trust you have this?”
“Yes I do.”

You leave Brenda to her task and make your way to your next stop, which should be very different…

You look at the brand new airship you’ve poured money into. It certainly is as large as you thought it might be, though it is still strange to see such a machine that was only picture on a piece of parchment a few years ago. Elam is visibly anxious about what you’ll think about it. He’s surprisingly quiet though, which might be a good sign that he’s learned to not run off at the mouth all the time.

“Hrm, its impressive looking, but does it actually work?” you ask Elam.
“Oh yes! We have tested its flight capabilities and it certainly works according to all the notes and plans Marik left. Had to make some adjustments of course, but I believe now that we’ve made one, we can easily improve upon it and make more.” Elam says.

“Good, glad to hear it. What about weapons?”
“We’ve equipped it with the latest cannons and the prototype repeater. There are also firebombs that can be dropped from the sky.” Elam answers.
“Excellent work as always Elam.”
“Thank you, my Emperor. Will you be boarding it?”
“Boarding it? Hmm, hadn’t actually given it much thought. I mean is this final product? You don’t need to do anymore testing on it?”
“Well we were just going to do some weapons testing while it flying it, but the airship itself is fully operational. It won’t go crashing into the ground or anything like that.”

While you prefer keeping your feet firmly on the ground, you have to admit you do like the idea of potentially floating through the sky towering over your enemies and all those that might oppose you.

“Very well, but I still want you to go through a weapons test like you planned, before I get on it. Do another safety check as well.”
“As you wish, so about a week?” Elam asks.
“Fine, but no more than that.” You reply and leave.

Seeing as you have a few more days to kick around before the airship is ready, you return to the mundane duties of rulership. A couple days later you decide to check up on Warrick to see if there is anything he’s uncovered that needs your attention.

The Eye Headquarters is probably the safest place in the Empire other than the palace itself. The Eyes may not be Eternals, but they’re the next best thing and Warrick being both is certainly one of the best warriors at your command.

That’s probably why he looks so bored behind his desk when you meet him. In fact your visit is probably the most exciting thing that’s happened in his life lately.

“Emperor! Didn’t realize you were coming, I was just busy going through all these population lists. You know like who is a potential trouble maker, who is a loyal citizen, that sort of thing.” Warrick says getting up when you enter his office.
“Anything interesting I should know about?” you ask.
“Not really. I mean there are still some grumbles from citizens about when we took babies from some families for the Eternal Project and the free elven population is always unsatisfied with the way things are, but I’m not seeing any uprising material. Unless you want to have some dissenters whisked away in the night just to be safe.” Warrick says.
“I don’t think that’ll be necessary. They can’t all be kobolds.” You reply.
“Heh, got that right. Still can’t get over how Brenda was so successful in assimilating them the way she did. I still remember during our first major assignment in Nalin we had to wipe out caves of those vicious little bastards.”
“I just saw her a few days ago actually, she’s going to be in charge of the new Eternals, training and such.”
“Is that right? Well she’s probably the best candidate. I mean with you busy ruling and me busy being in charge of the Eyes and all. Um, is she still pissed at me?”
“She didn’t really say anything about you, but I imagine you’re still not her favorite person.”
“(Sigh) That’s a shame. You know I don’t harbor any ill will against her and if I could’ve I would’ve had even tighter security that fateful day. I mean I just…”

You stop Warrick

“Warrick, you don’t need to explain. You did everything you could that day. We all did. I mean hell even I didn’t see a shadow assassination coming. A dead one that I killed no less. Just don’t worry about it. Brenda will probably get over it one day, and if she doesn’t, well it’s still not your fault.”

This reassuring statement seems to make Warrick calmer. You’ve obviously never told him the real truth about the assassination either and again you see no reason to stir up trouble by doing so.

You and Warrick talk for a while, some it about the present, some of it about the future, and some of it about the past. During your conversation, it suddenly occurs to you that maybe you could hand a small honor over to Warrick for all his hard work. He certainly could use a break in the mundane paper work that he primarily does nowadays.

You wonder if you should let him take command of the new airship and see some frontline combat.
> You take command of the airship yourself
Everyone’s got his or her place and Warrick is needed where he is. Perhaps another time.

You bid Warrick goodbye and in a week you make your way over to Elam’s factory where you can board the new airship.

It does look rather impressive. Just looking at all the cannons stick out of the sides, makes you wonder how the hell it lifts off the ground with all that weight, but then someone probably also wondered how the hell a regular ship can float with the same amount of weight on it at one time too.

“This is a minor thing my Emperor, but I was wondering what did you want to name this ship? I figured you’d want the honor of doing that.” Elam asks.
“Name? Oh yes, I suppose a name would come in handy. Let’s see…call it the Storm I guess. Raining down destruction on our enemies and all that. Sounds good to me.” You reply to which Elam agrees.

You board the Storm with Elam and meet the crew who will be flying this thing. All of them stand at attention when you arrive. a man dressed in a standard Empire engineer uniform walks up to you and salutes. It looks like his uniform has been crudely altered.

“Emperor on deck! It is an honor to meet you in person! My name is Tavis…” he starts to say before you interrupt.
“Why the hell do you have small metal cogs on your shoulders?” you ask.
“Oh…yeah that well when we started this project nobody knew anything about flying so Elam picked me for a lot of first tests. It was dangerous, but exhilarating at the same time! In time I became the most proficient at commandeering this technological marvel, so Elam made me captain.”
“Glad to see Elam’s taken it upon himself to completely ignore all military protocol and just arbitrarily assign ranks and such. So I’m guessing those little cogs you put on yourself are supposed to represent your new status?”
“Erm...uh…yes my Emperor. I meant no offense!”
“Calm down, I don’t care that much. In the future though, assuming this turns out well. We really need to get you proper uniforms for airship crew rather than this poor attempt of altering old ones. Anyway, take me on the grand tour before we lift off.”

Elam and Tavis both take you to various parts of the airship and explain various things mostly involving technical talk, eventually you grow bored and decide you just want to get on with getting this thing to the battlefield where you can see its destructive capabilities.

“Alright I get the picture, let’s get this thing to the front lines and blow up some Torites.” You say.
“As you wish my Emperor, I’ll leave you in the hands of Captain Tavis here, uh he’s still a captain isn’t he?”
“Yes, since it’s as good as a designation as any for now. If he proves competent, he may very well keep the rank.” You respond.

Elam and some of the other engineers that were testing the safety of the airship soon leave it so that the rest of you can get on your way. The airship takes a moment to warm up, but soon you’re lifting off and high in the air. The experience isn’t that bad and a fairly smooth ride. You honestly half thought you’d go crashing down to the ground, but it really looks like your engineers came through. You give some praising comments which seems to put the crew and Tavis in good spirits.

You explain you’ll be head towards the south where General Ackerson’s command is located. You figure you can meet up and see what the situation is and have the Storm assist accordingly.

Along the way one of the lookouts see a group of the centaur Torites galloping across the plains. There are actually quite a few of them. Enough to be a raiding party probably. When asked if the Storm should try to take them out, you say of course.

“We’re too far away to use bombs and the cannons aren’t angled in a position to fire at them yet. We could use the repeater prototype though. It’s located over there and it has terrific range! Would you like to do the honors my Emperor?” Tavis asks.
“Well I don’t usually use firearms and I could probably hit some of those horse beasts from here with a few fireballs, but what the hell.” You say and walk over to the repeater prototype.

You turn the mounted gun towards the centaurs who are now quite away that the “big machine” in the sky is heading toward them and means to do them harm. They begin to scatter and you press the trigger…

And the gun promptly explodes spectacularly. Enough so that it sets a large part of the ship on fire which then in turn causes more minor explosions.

As the surviving crew runs around attempting to put out fires and move away gunpowder, you find that you are several feet away from your original location and your arms have become bloody stumps. Your body is in bad condition as well considering you can see out of your one remaining eye that your organs are exposed to the air now.

Healing magic wouldn’t be of too much help even if you could concentrate to use it. The explosions aboard the airship are deafening and you’re barely conscious as it is. Someone goes over to help you and then you pass out.

You are not awake to experience the Storm’s fiery crash to the ground.


This adventure has drained you physically, mentally and even emotionally. Attacking a powerful necromancer in his homeland might not be the best idea right now. Another day perhaps…

You approach the portal and give one last look at Nicodemus who stands by watching you. You can't figure him out. A lot of what he said was very condescending yet he seemed to pity you rather than be angry. He was also very nihilistic in his views on how achievements don't matter, not even life, though at the same he seemed to be trying to give you advice and help you in some strange way.

You step into the portal and find yourself transported back to the Emperor’s chambers. Chambers that seem so empty now. Empty as you feel. Something is bothering you and it’s a strange thing to worry about considering it would’ve lead to your death, but you can’t shake it.

Why did the Emperor’s ritual fail? Nicodemus said you were not a suitable vessel for the transference spell, but if you weren’t, what does that mean? Would one of the other Eternals been a better choice, or was the plan always destined to fail?

You believe there have to be some notes on the subject of your alterations somewhere. Jacob probably has several papers about the Eternal Project in his office, but you search the Emperor’s rooms first.

After hours of searching you manage to find several bits of private writings about various subjects. You don’t have time to read all of them now, but you focus on anything to the Eternal Project.

One of the major things you discover is that the pregnant mothers had a specific ritual cast over them while the Eternals to be were still in the womb. This ritual, while elaborate and probably quite frightening to the woman in question didn’t harm her in any way; it was more of a “prep” spell. (You also read that it took several attempts to get this ritual “right” too. The number of dead pregnant women is quite sizable)

Apparently this initial ritual was a big key in whether or not the final ritual was going to be successful. You can’t find any other information besides how the Emperor was REALLY betting everything on this plan as he’d run out of ideas on to extend his life any further short of going back to Mortos and apologizing to Nicodemus for his behavior.

Still wanting more information you go search through Jacob’s office. It is actually easy to find everything since he kept everything in immaculate order. Naturally he had everything locked, but you easily remove such annoyances. Nothing is going to stop you from seeking out your origins.

And after hours more searching you find more than you ever wanted to know in Jacob’s journal…

I can’t believe those idiots! Trent and Stravid grabbed the wrong fucking infant! We only found out just yesterday when I found their list on the floor of the privy room covered in piss!

I went back to check the Empire nursery numbers hoping that MAYBE they grabbed the correct child anyway, but no such luck. The infant that was supposed to be selected was already disposed of as a rejected candidate. Meanwhile the wrong infant is already going through his magical alterations.

I’m not exactly on the Emperor’s good side at the best of times, and I’m not getting into fucking trouble for this. Those two morons are going to be executed. As for the baby I’m going to have to grovel to get that svelk bitch to help me with this. She can probably perform the same ritual over this new brat so the Emperor won’t be able to detect anything is amiss with it. I don’t understand why the Emperor doesn’t just perform this ritual in person rather than relying on the svelk to do it anyway.

And HOPEFULLY that will work. It has to work. Maybe I’m worrying about this too much, what are the chances that this kid will live through training and meet the Emperor anyway?

And there it is, your “origins.” You weren’t even meant to be an Eternal. You were a clerical mistake, a bureaucratic mishap, and the Emperor’s death was caused by it. Hell, it’s almost like you went through with Jacob and Semra’s plan to assassinate the Emperor anyway.

One might think something like this would cause you to doubt the meaning of your entire existence and drive you into depression. Possibly even suicide. An end to this life of misplaced duty, obedience and blind devotion to ultimately an ungrateful master.

Just like Nicodemus said.

But you don’t really think about any of that. Instead you start to laugh. You laugh for a very long time.

“He…he didn’t even know I wasn’t originally chosen! What a fool! Why the hell did I ever follow this man? Because I’m an even bigger fool!” you say to yourself in between the guffaws.

Perhaps you’re still being a fool. Casimir lied to you and deep down never really cared save for what he thought you were, but none of that nor his death invalidate your beliefs in the Empire. His idea that the world needs order, that the masses need to be kept in line, that some elements are better off exterminated for the overall good.

Maybe part of you still can’t quite shake being the “dutiful” son, but you fully intend on continuing in your “father’s footsteps.” Of course the difference now being that your life is truly your own now. Since destiny has conspired to thrust you into the position of a ruler, you will play the role that it would have you play.

Now you just have to convince everyone else.

Within the week you call for a meeting of the most important leaders of the Empire. Ranging from generals to economists to advisors and other infrastructure types you’ve had little to no contact with before. Everyone is told to gather in the throne room, which is a room that hasn’t been used in centuries; or rather Casmir stopped using it after he decided to become a recluse.

You won’t be doing that. You’ll be leading from the front rather than hiding in the shadows causing people to wonder if you exist at all. This is your time now.

When everyone finally arrives they naturally all wonder what’s going on, you get right to the point.

"The Emperor as most of us knew him has moved on from this world. As his only logical successor I will be taking his place. If anyone has a problem with this we can have a civilized discussion about it on the battlefield which I have no doubt I will be seeing a lot of when several pretenders, dissidents and outright anarchists attempt to dethrone me. They will fail. The Empire will not fall today or anytime soon. This is just a new era for it and one I fully intend on making successful. The Empire currently is doing well, but I'm confident that with your loyalty and obedience we can make it even stronger."

You take a pause in your speech and scan your audience. None of them are interrupting. They all seem to be captivated, of course maybe some are just planning on trying to assassinate you later, but for now you’ll take their attention as a positive sign.

"Join me and the Empire will live forever. YOU will live forever! Who's with me?"

No sooner have you finished your statement, several of the advisors bend their knee and bow towards you. The soldiers draw their weapons and raise them in air pledging their loyalty.

"Hail to the new Emperor!"
"Long live the Empire!"

Well that went better than you expected.

The only “important” person that didn’t attend your meeting was Marik though you didn’t really expect him to being a derro and all. Not to mention you didn’t invite him anyway and had planned on meeting with him personally.

You have no idea how he’s going to react to the news and he’s erratic at the best of times. You and he weren’t exactly getting along the last time you saw him, so for all you know he may just attack you. Part of you hopes he does, just so you never have to deal with him anymore. Besides Semra, Marik was the next one you never liked dealing with just because his demeanor irritated you.

When you get to his personal factory, it’s as silent and as empty as it was when you had to clean out those escaped trolls. You hope that isn’t the damn problem again. On your guard, you cautiously walk through the factory and make your way down to the underground portion and continue to find nobody around.

“Marik! If this is an ambush, let’s just get this over with now because I don’t have time for it!” you shout.

You see the door to the tank baby room open up, but it isn’t Marik, it’s a young girl. In fact it’s the tank baby that you spared before your trip to Mortos. She looks like she’s been healing well.

“He…he’s not here sir. I mean my Emperor. I apologize for not addressing you properly.” She remarks nervously.
“That’s fine…so word of my ascension has reached down here eh? Wasn’t sure if it did, so where’s Marik? In fact where is everyone? I know there’s still usually a skeleton crew that works in the factory above and there are usually derro guards wandering around down here. In fact shouldn’t there be more of you tank babies running around training?” you ask.
“Marik killed them all. He shut down the machine that was keeping the rest alive inside the tanks. Said if the Emperor was gone then his debt was paid and he wasn’t going to spend the remainder of his years toiling for the likes of you and called you a…uh…um…”
“Oh just say it, I’m pretty sure it isn’t going to surprise me.”

“He called you a svelk fucker.”
“Is that all?”
“Well then he sort of ranted. He said that you had a svelk lover that would strap on a…uh…sexual device and made you bend over like a woman when you would have relations.”
“Sheesh. Can’t say Marik didn’t have a colorful imagination.” You remark shaking your head.
“Then he said the pair of you fellated kobolds and ate the dung of…”
“Okay, I think I got the idea.” You say holding up your hand.
“He was very angry at you my Emperor.”
“Mmh, sounds like. So why did he kill all you tankies?”
“Oh, well he also said he wasn’t going to waste any more of his genius for you to use, so he decided to kill all of us in the tanks. He tried to kill me as well by having his men shoot at me and lob several firebombs at me.” She says and points over to a partially collapsed bit of the room where blacked equipment and fallen rock now lays.
“Guessing it didn’t work.”
“I managed to duck under one of the desks and made a blood curdling scream as the explosions went off and the rocks fell down around me. After they let up, I heard Marik laugh at how I feared death in my final moments and after a few minutes I heard them leave at which point I started digging myself out of the rubble.”
“Hrm, I see faking your own death actually worked for you this time, good. You shouldn’t disregard a tactic just because it fails in one instance.” You say as you glance over a pile of papers lying on another table in the room.

“Marik was brilliant in some ways, but he was an idiot in others. The fool left all his notes behind. I can easily restart all the work he did.” You add.
“You’re going to restart the Eternal Project? But I thought you didn’t like…tankies as you call us.”
“Well, I was in a different state of mind at the time. Now that I’m Emperor, I’m thinking that I’m going to need dedicated loyal soldiers to help in the expansion of the Empire in the future. Just need to rebuild the factory, get some babies, throw them into the tanks and grow my new army. Of course I’ll be overseeing it and making my own alterations to whatever Marik’s original design was.”
“What about me, my Emperor?” The tank baby asks.

“Yes, what about you? Well considering you managed to survive not one, but two major attempts on your life within weeks of being out of your little tank, I suppose you deserve a place somewhere. To be honest, I did spare you in the first place because you showed more promise and strength than your siblings by merely surviving my assault. You know I was singled out too, on several occasions. I grew stronger from the challenges. You will have the same opportunity I did and I’m going to personally train you. Then depending on how well you do, I’ll decide where you’re best needed.” You tell her.
“You’re…you’re too kind my Emperor.” She says with a gratuitous expression on her face.

You start laughing.

“You won’t be thinking that when we actually start training. Let’s go. By the way it’ll be useful to have something to call you other than tank baby, so what’s your name?”
“Name? I don’t have one, my Emperor. Marik never saw fit to give me one. I do have a number though. Ten.”
“No, I’m not going to call you ten. That’s silly, especially since there’s only one of you now. Let’s see…I’ll call you… Decena. You like that name?”
“I don’t have any objections to it, my Emperor.”
“Good. Let us be on our way.”

With this last bit of business out of the way, you feel you’re getting off on a good start as the Empire’s new Emperor.

You just wish Alison were here to share it with you.
> You tilda Zookwinkle (Casimir's dark secret)
You must have spent a lot of your down time searching through Casimir’s libraries and personal items in an attempt to possibly find some sort of magic or treasure or secret that could increase your own power, but you haven’t had much luck in that regard. Most of Casimir’s power came from his own magic strength along with his mind and had little reason to have such trinkets lying around.

Surprisingly most of his notes and journals are of the more mundane sort. You don’t find the discovery of some powerful spell he didn’t teach you or anything. Again, such things would’ve probably been locked up in his own mind, which of course is inaccessible now.

Still, one thing that you found stands out and it’s something that completely surprised you.

Dearest Tilda,

In all my years, I have never met a woman that makes me feel the way you do and I’ve met many in my travels. Never did I think that I would find paradise in the arms of a gnome woman.

It’s like you’ve known me all my life, I don’t need to explain myself to you. You just know and understand. If I didn’t know better I’d swear you were some sort of trickster demon. Of course I know that cannot be the case, because you have such a kind and gentle spirit despite also being grounded in realism.

I am not ashamed to tell you that I love you. I never thought I could experience such a wonderful emotion. I know your people are not magical by nature, but I cannot help think that you must’ve cast a powerful spell over me!

I vow from here on out, that you will always be major factor in my future goals. I want to share everything with you.

You find several, no a multitude of these sorts of love letters. Apparently Casimir once loved a gnome woman by the name of Tilda. Many of these letters were obviously sent and read, but you wonder how he got them back.

After scanning through a few more of them, you find one letter that answers more questions to this mystery. It’s not Casimir’s writing, its Tilda’s.

Casimir,

When you find this letter, it will be on my dead body and hopefully most of my people will have escaped your bloody purge. You are a man of unspeakable evil, I always knew this, but within these last few months you proved it tenfold when you committed genocide on our Halfling cousins.

Why? They wanted nothing more than equality, yet you would rather kill them all rather than grant that tiny bit of dignity. There will be a day of reckoning for all your evil, mark my words and when that day comes, I shall be watching and laughing at your downfall in the afterlife.

You claimed that you loved me with all your heart, but you proved time and time again that you have no heart. You did not truly love me. You wished to possess me as a favored toy. Someone to pat you on the head whenever you whined about how the people just “don’t understand” why you have to do the terrible things you do. You’re pathetic, and I curse the day your eyes set their sights on me.

Do you know how much I rolled my eyes at your sorry attempts of writing me love letters?

Do you know how it made my skin crawl every time I had to lay with you?

Do you know how much I utterly hated you from the moment you enslaved my people? Yes, ENSLAVED. No matter how “favored” our position we were still SLAVES. And you made me your personal one.

I go to my grave happily knowing that I did everything I could to distract you from realizing the truth of our exodus before you could act in time. Know how a simple gnome woman fooled the mighty Emperor.

And if by some bizarre twist that you actually did have genuine feelings of love for me in that black heart of yours, then my revenge is even sweeter. Live with a broken heart, and may it hurt as much as all the pain you’ve ever inflicted onto others.

You will also find all the worthless letters you wrote to me. Take them back, and keep them as a reminder of your utter failure.

Tilda Zookwinkle: Proud gnome woman

Wow. This letter isn’t even addressed to you and you can feel the viciousness dripping from it. Good enough to rival the cruel ruthlessness of a svelk you think. It’s very apparent now why Casimir hated gnomes so much. You always knew it had to be more than what he told you.

She obviously was still having an effect on him for centuries as he kept his grudge and the letters rather than destroying them. Makes you think back to when he was trying to tell you that he knew about love and loss and how he was trying to guide you away from such things.

Of course you know the main reason was due to his own agenda, but now upon reading these letters, you can’t help but think a small portion was truthful and him speaking from this experience.

Casimir certainly kept his promise in one of his letters though; he did say Tilda would always be a major factor in his future goals. While Tilda may have gotten a little revenge, she didn’t exactly do her people any favors given what happened.

You wonder if she knew what lengths Casimir would ultimately go to utterly destroy her people, would she have done it anyway?