Year 55

You and Brenda now rule the nation of Nalin as a married couple. There has been some issue on what your official titles are now. The simplest choices would be emperor and empress or king and queen. Eventually Brenda settled for imperatrix, which would officially make you imperator, though you still go by general for the most part.

In any case life has been good. You don’t even mind that things have been slow since you conquered all those tribals in the east. You’ve been taking a slightly more active role in running the nation from an administrative point of view, but sometimes you still long for the day of a good battle. When that day comes you’ve also tried to keep up on the changing times of changing warfare. While the days of close combat are far from over, if the Eternal Dominion is starting to slowly incorporate firearms into their ranks, then you better do likewise if only to maintain a show of strength.

The ED isn’t hostile though and you maintain a good trading relationship with them. Edgar still hopes you’re going to join him one day, especially since you know he’s got designs on going to war with the Felkan Kingdom (You gave him some friendly advice to not bother with invading Rask).

He’d probably like you to at least be involved in a joint military operation with him, but you think he’s over extending himself and the Felkan Kingdom is no pushover. It’s not exactly like you’re near the Felkan Kingdom as far as location is concerned either. All you’d be doing is having soldiers die in a war that doesn’t even directly benefit your nation.

That being said, Nalin hasn’t sided with the Felkan Kingdom either in any way. Again, due to your location, you’ve had minimal contact with them. Brenda thought about allying with them in the past, but that was never seriously considered (Good thing too). Somehow though you imagine you’re going to get dragged into this saber rattling between the Eternal Dominion and the Felkan Kingdom.

Funny how that feeling turns out to be true.

Late one night you and Brenda are awakened from your sleep. Some envoy from the Felkan Kingdom has sudden decided to show up in the middle of the night. Demanding to see the pair of you and claiming it’s very urgent. You and Brenda don’t get much sleep as it is, so you’re inclined to tell your soldiers to just shoot him and go back to bed, but you’ve got a good idea of who it is.

“You really think it’s him?” Brenda ask.
“You really think it isn’t? It was only a matter of time. Ugh, I guess we better get this over with.”

You shout at the guard behind the door to hold the envoy in the meeting room and keep a close eye on him until you and Brenda get there. After grumbling and getting dress you and Brenda head to the meeting room where you see a familiar face. He’s missing an eye, all of his hair and his face has a few more winkles and scars on it now, but you still recognize him.

“Warrick, you better have a damn good reason for waking us up in the middle of the night.” You say.
“…you aren’t surprised it’s me?”
“Not really, I actually thought you’d show up sooner, and how the hell did you manage to join the Felkan Kingdom anyway?”
“It’s a long story…but well anyway, I’m glad to see you both. I was surprised to hear about your marriage. Didn’t think that…”
“Warrick, I’m tired as well. It’s not easy running a nation and I’ve been doing it even longer than my husband has, so get to the damn point of the visit or let this wait until tomorrow.” Brenda demands rubbing one of her eyes.

Warrick looks a little hurt by your remarks, but he gets on with it.

“Very well, to business. The Felkan Kingdom wants an alliance with you.”
“Yeah sort of figured that. Anything else?” you ask.
“Erm, no, but…”
“Okay then, the answer is no. We can talk more about old times tomorrow, if you want. Good night.” Brenda says starting to turn around to go back to bed.
“Hey wait! No? Just like that?! You don’t even want to consider the benefits?” Warrick asks.
“What benefits? If we ally with the Felkan Kingdom, all it’s going to do is piss off the Eternal Dominion who we have a good relationship with diplomatically and tradewise. What is the Felkan Kingdom going to offer?” Brenda replies.
“How the fact that we’re more likely to leave you alone after the war with the Eternal Dominion is over?”
“Warrick…Warrick…you should know threats aren’t going to sway us.” You remark.
“What?! NO! I meant, argh look. What I’m saying is if the unfortunate should happen and the Eternal Dominion wins don’t you think that they’ll try to invade you next?”
“I suppose it’s possible yes.”
“Whereas if the Felkan Kingdom wins, we have no intention on even expanding our borders.”
“Probably true, but that still doesn’t help us during the war. A war that is really between you and the ED.”
“I can’t believe I’m trying to convince YOU of all people to go to war. I would’ve thought you would’ve jumped at this chance!” Warrick says in a raised tone.
“Things change Warrick, and just because I’m not jumping through your hoops doesn’t mean I’ve lost a taste for battle. But I’m thinking on a grander scale now. Going to war with the Eternal Dominion doesn’t do us or Nalin any good. It’s just going to result in dead soldiers at best. We’ve found that our continued expansion eastward is much better in building up the country. Maximum gain with minimum losses.” You say.

Warrick paces a bit and sputters. He obviously thought this was going to go better.

“So that’s it then huh? You just take Edgar’s side over mine. I thought you didn’t like him anyway.”
“Warrick, it’s not about taking sides. If you haven’t noticed we’re not exactly allied with the ED either. We trade with them and are on friendly terms, but that’s out of convenience more than anything. Trust me, Edgar’s been trying to get us to join for years. I don’t know what you’re even worried about, the Eternal Dominion is formidable I’m sure, but the Felkan Kingdom survived a war with the Empire. I’m guessing you should be able to handle the ED.”
“I don’t know if we can.” He calmly states.

There’s a moment of silence where you weren’t expecting him to say such a thing so blatantly like that.

“Look, I didn’t want to say anything. The Felkan Kingdom is what I serve now and I serve it to the best of my abilities as I did the Empire. To do anything less would be a failure as an Eternal on my part.”
“But?”
“But I see the weaknesses that we have and I can’t ignore them. It’s not public knowledge to anyone outside the kingdom, but we’re also suffering a large gnoll invasion from the west. It caught us completely by surprise. The Felkan Kingdom is a mighty nation, but right now it’s straining its resources just to stay alive. A war with the ED…and we all know it’s coming, could break us. The funny thing is I feel like I’m in the Empire all over again. You know during the bad times.”
“I think they were ALL bad times Warrick. We just made the best of them.” Brenda says.
“Perhaps. (sigh) I guess I can’t convince you ally with us, I mean you’ve got a good thing going on here and you shouldn’t wreck it. I’m glad. Glad that some of us are doing well. But couldn’t you at least break off your trade routes? I mean that would at least cause Edgar’s attention to be diverted. He might suspect you’re up to something and not attack the Felkan Kingdom. At least not right away. It might be enough time for us to put up a better defense.”
“Yeah and he might also attack us instead.” Brenda remarks.
“I don’t think he will, because then he has to divert his own soldiers and resources and then he’ll be worried that we will attack. He can’t fight a two front war, even Edgar’s smart enough not to risk that. And that’s if he dares fighting you in the first place.”
“That’s a big if, there Warrick.” You say.

You and Brenda tell Warrick you’ll both discuss this in a little more detail outside. He says he understands and will await your decision.

You and Brenda don’t have too much to talk about really, since it’s basically coming down to helping out a former comrade in arms and starting a possible war with another one or avoiding the situation entirely. Brenda is for staying neutral; oddly you’re actually of two minds of this.
> You convince Brenda to help Warrick
Maybe it isn’t the most tactically sound decision, but he’s still an Eternal and you feel like you should give him a fighting chance. It takes some convincing, but Brenda eventually agrees with you, but she still thinks this isn’t one of your better ideas. You both go back inside to tell Warrick the news.

“Okay, Warrick after talking it over, we’ll help you indirectly by breaking trade with the Eternal Dominion.”

Warrick’s face doesn’t show a great degree of happiness, but one more of relief..

“Thank you. Thank you both, my friends. This might not seem like much, but it still helps. I’ll never forget what you’ve done here.”
“Yeah, yeah, you better go before I change my mind.” Brenda says.

Warrick, not wishing to wear out his welcome he bids you both goodbye and takes his leave. Brenda remarks again that she sees no good coming of this, but what’s done is done and you’ve all made your choices now. The pair of you go back to bed and try to get some sleep.

Year 56

“Great that’s all we need a war with the Eternal Dominion while we have a fucking epidemic going on right now!” Brenda shouts throwing a paperweight against the wall in frustration.

When the trade routes were broken with the Eternal Dominion, Edgar did not take it well, and while it was always a risk, you didn’t think he’d actually wage a two front war over it. He immediately suspected you both were in league with each other and declared war on you both.

You would probably fare better against the ED, but a terrible plague has hit Nalin pretty hard around the same time. Nobody knows exactly where it came from or how it spread, but the common thought is that the Eternal Dominion has something to do with it. You on the other hand entertain another idea, one that you’d rather not believe and that’s Warrick had something to do with it.

Destabilize your country and weaken it to a point where the Eternal Dominion can destroy it completely while they also waste their own manpower at the same time. Possibly even spread the plague to their own lands too. It’s a good plan.

If that really is the case, you question your judgment and beginning to wonder if you’re even fit to command anything anymore. You know Brenda has been a little distant towards you lately, however to her credit she has not blamed you for the current situation. Though she wouldn’t since she’d only blame herself as well for agreeing to break trade with the ED to begin with.

In any case, right now is not really the time to second guess or lament possible past mistakes, a serious situation rears it’s ugly head right now and it must be take care of.

“Well, the plague hasn’t hit eastern Nalin yet and we’ve drafted every healer, medic and hedge wizard we can find to help cure this blight. We’ve managed to quarantine the towns and cities that have been hit the hardest. The problem with that though is we’ve had to redistribute soldiers to those places where we could desperately use them on the northern borders.” You explain.
“Yes, I’m aware of the situation, what’s your solution?” Brenda demands.
“Kill everyone in the quarantine and cleanse it with fire. No more people, no more plague and we can focus on the war.”

Brenda chuckles.

“Figures you’d suggest something like that.”
“Well I’m coming up with the most efficient plan, waiting around for the docs to come up with a cure isn’t really time we can afford.” You say.
“And massacring entire settlements isn’t going to endear us to anyone. You know what? To hell with it, I’m leaving this up to you, I’m sick of running this fucking country anyway…” Brenda says and walks out the room.

You aren’t exactly sure of what to make of that response, but you go through with your cleansing plan since you can’t afford to wait around for some cure that may never come.

Killing everyone has worked for you on several occasions in the past, no reason to change tactic now. First thing you do is get every remaining “old guard” officer that’s still serving since the days of the Empire and have them put in charge of this operation. You know they won’t even question this command coming from you. Then you tell them to go through their personnel rosters to see who is going to be up for this grim task. You personally suggest including all of those elves you made into orphans years ago. While they may all be good indoctrinated soldiers now, you think they wouldn’t hesitate at a chance to kill some humans and would be good candidates for this job. Besides, elves seem to be more resistant to the plague anyway.

Three entire towns are put to the sword, gun and torch until there is nothing left, but burned corpses and hollowed out buildings. In keeping with non-humans being seemingly less affected by the plague, you have kobolds remove the bodies and clean out what they can. They’re more than happy to do this as they get the chance to loot some stuff for their own impoverished reservation you’ve set aside for them.

This action causes a great outcry and you even have to execute several soldiers who took up arms against you during the cleansing. Many Nalin citizens aren’t happy with the fact that you’ve implemented several non-humans in helping with this massacre as well. Indeed some begin calling you their inhuman “Eternal overlords” and wonder if they aren’t already under the rule of the Eternal Dominion.

As far as the plague goes, you did successfully wipe it out from being an ongoing danger. Medics, healers and the like are able to focus their attentions on the places where it’s less of a problem and eventually it is gone completely.

As for everything else, western Nalin, is in horrible condition and soldiers from eastern Nalin have to be brought in to reinforce the northern borders which have now changed hands a bit as the ED army has pushed you back. Eastern Nalin is in good shape as it was spared the plague and isn’t in any immediate danger from the fighting, but there are rumors of the population aren’t happy.

With the plague gone though, you dig in ready to focus on the Eternal Dominion invasion.
>
Year 60

“Fort Glory has fallen sir.” A disheveled messenger tells you while you look over a map of Nalin in your tent.
“Doesn’t matter, it was no longer a priority anymore.” You say not looking up.
“So you’re still going through with the plan involving the kobold sappers?”
“Yes. I figure it’ll take a few days for those eternals get settled in their new conquest and then that fort crumbles right underneath them. A shame, I used to like that fort, but this is war.”
“Sir, I don’t mean to question your orders, but how can you trust those little scaley bastards? They’re little more than animals.”
“That may be, but they’re animals that are more scared of me than anything else, and that’s all that’s important. Speaking of which how do things fare in eastern Nalin?”
“All major settlements are under martial law, lots of structures destroyed, several dissidents executed and there are reports of rebels in the wilderness, but most of it is still under our control.”
“Good enough for now I suppose. Tell Captain Yasil, that I want her to mount an attack on Camp Conquest in a tomorrow. We’re going to make our major offensive soon and I want her to weaken that camp as much as possible.”
“…you mean that large eternal camp in northern Nalin? The main one? That’s suicide! Her company is only at half strength from the last mission you sent her on!” the messenger exclaims.
“Her sacrifice will be remembered. That will be all.” You say still not looking up.

The messenger sounds like he would like to say something else, but realizes he better not and just leaves. Smart move on his part. You would’ve killed him. You have little patience for hesitation nowadays, especially since you’ve got nothing left to lose.

You rub your eyes and stop looking at the map of Nalin and sit down to take a short break. You’re tired, but you don’t remember the last time you had a good night’s sleep. You look over at a portrait you had made of Brenda a long time ago before this war ever broke out. An image of her in happier times.

You often speak to the portrait, during times like this and tonight is no different.

“You were right, shouldn’t have broken that trade agreement with the ED (Sigh) just wish I would’ve been the one that paid for that mistake instead of you. Though I suppose I paid for it, when some suicidal asshole shot you in the head two years ago.”

You focus more attention on the portrait

“Maybe you’re better off…I mean you were getting increasingly unhappy. Heh, who knows maybe you would’ve just left altogether. You were right about ruling not being any fun too, I’ve been trying to do your job and mine, but I find myself just not caring about much lately. I’m half ready to just get up and leave it all behind, but I still feel the need to control and regain what has been lost. Maybe it’s that old Empire syndrome popping up again. I dunno. Recently I’ve just been focusing on the war. It’s about the only slight pleasure I get anymore. Sometimes I wade into battles, bones creaking, joints aching and five times slower and weaker than I once was, yet do it anyway. I guess I’m hoping to at least die a warrior’s death, but somehow I still manage to survive. The war’s not over yet though, so maybe there’s still time right?”

You pick up the portrait and look directly into Brenda’s face.

“I don’t know if you still loved me near the end of everything, but I still loved you. Still do. Maybe I’ll be with you soon.” You say.

You put down the portrait and lie down on your bed. You won’t get a good night’s sleep, but you don’t need it. You just need a quick recharge before you go back to the business of war.

The next couple of day pass and you’re ready for your final push. You have no idea if you’ll actually succeed in driving out the Eternal Dominion, but you’re ready to put an end to this one way or another. You lead the battalions to the north.

When you arrive to the frontlines, you receive a report that Fort Glory completely collapsed and killed a couple of companies of eternals that were planning their next move from there. Kobolds took advantage of the chaos and finished off the wounded. Captain Yasil’s mission was also somewhat successful, you see the smoke in the distance from the main ED camp. The smell of gunpowder from the cannons lingers in the air; hundreds of trenches are filled with the living and the dead on both sides.

You heard that this is how the battlefield looked when the Empire fought the Felkan Kingdom, seems like this is going to be standard for war, until something else changes in the way people kill others. You remember when things were much simpler though. The funny thing is that the Felkan Kingdom is despite being accustomed to this sort of fighting and more technologically advanced, they’re apparently having a much worse time holding off the Eternal Dominion than you have, though you imagine that they’re getting more of the brunt of the combat.

You are approached by several of your officers; they say their respective companies are ready to advance, if you give the word. You nod and tell them the attack will commence.

You watch as thousands of your soldiers run forward to kill and die for you. If there has always been one consistency with you, is you ability is muster up a shitload of people to do that, even when you’re not popular. And you’re REALLY not popular with the average Nalin citizen right now.

But ungratefulness is something you’re used to. You experience the same thing in Rask, after you destroyed all the barbarian tribes. Peasants complain and know nothing of real sacrifice. Not like you do.

The battle is going strong and a cannon ball from the other side even crashes a few feet away from you. One of your majors advises that you should step further back from the battle so you stay out of harm’s way.

But maybe you don’t want to; in fact maybe you want to just end it all right now.
> You walk into the battle
You look out at the battlefield from your horse and get off of it. This is it. The time is right. The major is screaming at you to take cover and asking you what do you think you’re doing walking forward into the battlefield like you’re doing, but you ignore him.

No sooner have you taken number of steps forward and large explosion occurs behind you causing you to fall forward. You push yourself up and look behind to see a small crater where the major and your horse once stood. Your head hurts and seems to be bleeding, but you shake off the cobwebs and crawl into the nearest trench.

The stench of death fills your nose immediately. You see several dead soldiers with various fatal wounds. A few living ones are looking for their next opportunity to crawl forward to the next trench. They see you and are quite surprised.

“Gen..general?” one of them says.
“What are you lot waiting for? There’s a great big war out there just dying to be won!”
“Uh, well the enemy cannons are…”
“No excuses! Come on, follow me! I’ll lead you to fucking victory!” you shout excitedly and crawl out of the trench.

The soldiers are a little reluctant to follow you at first, but they do so anyway. Explosions and gunfire are all around you as you crawl forward. The danger you’ve put yourself in right now is giving you a rush. You make your way to the next trench where you encounter even more of your soldiers who are in close combat with the enemy eternals. You help out with your own superior swordsmanship.

“That’s how you do it!” you shout as you run your sword through the neck of an enemy. “Eternals my fucking ass! Back in my day, a single eternal could’ve killed the lot of you! And that Eternal would’ve been me!” you tell your men who are a little unnerved by your remarks.

“But fortunately I’m helping!” you shout with a slight giggle and motion them to follow you forward.

You crawl from trench to trench through mud, blood, guts, bodies, and all around nastiness and you love every moment of it. The soldiers you’ve “picked up” along the way believe you’ve gone completely mad, but they continue to follow since you’re actually making progress and your combat abilities still surpass their own.

You don’t even know how many eternals and “regular” soldiers you’ve killed so far, but you aren’t keeping track. All that you do know is that you still haven’t reached your goal. Along with completely disregarding your safety, you start to become a little delusional as well, you end up shouting at your men that they need to watch out for possible wendigos in the area confusing the hell out of them.

“Why isn’t there snow? There’s usually snow in Rask.” You mumble to yourself.

You see the enemy camp in sight and there is already some fighting going on there, but by the Emperor, you are NOT going to miss this fight!

“For the Empire!” you shout, which at this point your soldier aren’t even surprised by whatever you yell about now. They’re too busy thanking their gods that you managed to lead them to the enemy camp with no losses.

Camp Conquest is in chaos. There is fighting everywhere and you jump right in the middle of it. You proceed with your bloodthirsty adrenaline crusade. You suffer several wounds that probably would’ve stopped a normal man your age in their tracks and even you’re starting to feel the effects. Fortunately you’ve still got your small personal troop behind you to take up the slack.

“Look general there’s the commander’s tent!” one of them shouts. It would appear your enthusiasm has finally rubbed off.

With sword cuts across your face, a bleeding gash on your left arm, your armor half destroyed and a bullet in one of your legs, you continue forward. You’re starting to feel a little wobbly though.

“These Eternals will pay for their betrayal of the Emperor!” you mutter.

The enemy commander with some of his own staff stands around several dead bodies and upon seeing you he pats his mace in his hand waiting for you to arrive. As you get closer, there’s something somewhat familiar about him. Like you knew him, but he’s older now.

He bashes the face in of one of your soldiers before clashing with you. He starts to babble about how he’s wanted revenge on you for killing his friend twenty-five years ago. He kicks you to the ground and tries to crush your skull, but you roll out of the way.

Your head is really starting to hurt, and you’re feeling a little dizzy. Images of the past and present begin to mix together and you have a moment of clarity of where you are, and it isn’t Rask and you aren’t serving the Empire.

The bleeding from the back of your head was actually caused by shrapnel from the explosive cannon ball that nearly killed you at the beginning of the battlefield. You’ve been suffering from a mild brain injury the entire time, hence your delusions. This fool that’s trying to kill you now is one of those eternals that was under your command when you left the Empire and killed private Felding in the process.

You dodge another mace swing as you try to regain your wits. You’re stating to feel your strength really ebb. This is what reality feels like and it sucks, you were enjoying yourself up until this point.

You don’t know if you’re actually going to survive this, but you’ll be damned if you’re going to give this asshole the satisfaction of getting his revenge. You hack at his foot causing him to fall to one knee. You then strike out against one of his soldiers trying to sneak attack you. Before the commander to get back up, you hack his arm off at the shoulder. Blood spews from the stump and he screams in agony. He stops screaming when you kick his teeth in and sever his head from his body.

You look around and see that your soldiers are winning the day. You know that the Eternal Dominion presence is still in Nalin, but it has now been greatly reduced with this victory. The war isn’t over yet, but maybe it is for you.

You stagger to the asshole’s tent you just killed and lie down on his bedroll. You head hurts something fierce and you’re starting to feel like you’re about to pass out. One of your soldiers says he’ll go find a medic or healer, but really you don’t care anymore.

You’re going to die here and that’s okay. You’ve had your last win and really even if you did survive to see final victory; you’d rather not go through the drudgery of ruling alone anymore. You’re too old and too tired and now that Brenda’s gone, you just don’t have the motivation anymore.

“Brenda, I’m coming to join you.” You say and close your eyes.

You never wake up.


Year 60

“Fort Glory has fallen sir.” A disheveled messenger tells you while you look over a map of Nalin in your tent.
“Doesn’t matter, it was no longer a priority anymore.” You say not looking up.
“So you’re still going through with the plan involving the kobold sappers?”
“Yes. I figure it’ll take a few days for those eternals get settled in their new conquest and then that fort crumbles right underneath them. A shame, I used to like that fort, but this is war.”
“Sir, I don’t mean to question your orders, but how can you trust those little scaley bastards? They’re little more than animals.”
“That may be, but they’re animals that are more scared of me than anything else, and that’s all that’s important. Speaking of which how do things fare in eastern Nalin?”
“All major settlements are under martial law, lots of structures destroyed, several dissidents executed and there are reports of rebels in the wilderness, but most of it is still under our control.”
“Good enough for now I suppose. Tell Captain Yasil, that I want her to mount an attack on Camp Conquest in a tomorrow. We’re going to make our major offensive soon and I want her to weaken that camp as much as possible.”
“…you mean that large eternal camp in northern Nalin? The main one? That’s suicide! Her company is only at half strength from the last mission you sent her on!” the messenger exclaims.
“Her sacrifice will be remembered. That will be all.” You say still not looking up.

The messenger sounds like he would like to say something else, but realizes he better not and just leaves. Smart move on his part. You would’ve killed him. You have little patience for hesitation nowadays, especially since you’ve got nothing left to lose.

You rub your eyes and stop looking at the map of Nalin and sit down to take a short break. You’re tired, but you don’t remember the last time you had a good night’s sleep. You look over at a portrait you had made of Brenda a long time ago before this war ever broke out. An image of her in happier times.

You often speak to the portrait, during times like this and tonight is no different.

“You were right, shouldn’t have broken that trade agreement with the ED (Sigh) just wish I would’ve been the one that paid for that mistake instead of you. Though I suppose I paid for it, when some suicidal asshole shot you in the head two years ago.”

You focus more attention on the portrait

“Maybe you’re better off…I mean you were getting increasingly unhappy. Heh, who knows maybe you would’ve just left altogether. You were right about ruling not being any fun too, I’ve been trying to do your job and mine, but I find myself just not caring about much lately. I’m half ready to just get up and leave it all behind, but I still feel the need to control and regain what has been lost. Maybe it’s that old Empire syndrome popping up again. I dunno. Recently I’ve just been focusing on the war. It’s about the only slight pleasure I get anymore. Sometimes I wade into battles, bones creaking, joints aching and five times slower and weaker than I once was, yet do it anyway. I guess I’m hoping to at least die a warrior’s death, but somehow I still manage to survive. The war’s not over yet though, so maybe there’s still time right?”

You pick up the portrait and look directly into Brenda’s face.

“I don’t know if you still loved me near the end of everything, but I still loved you. Still do. Maybe I’ll be with you soon.” You say.

You put down the portrait and lie down on your bed. You won’t get a good night’s sleep, but you don’t need it. You just need a quick recharge before you go back to the business of war.

The next couple of day pass and you’re ready for your final push. You have no idea if you’ll actually succeed in driving out the Eternal Dominion, but you’re ready to put an end to this one way or another. You lead the battalions to the north.

When you arrive to the frontlines, you receive a report that Fort Glory completely collapsed and killed a couple of companies of eternals that were planning their next move from there. Kobolds took advantage of the chaos and finished off the wounded. Captain Yasil’s mission was also somewhat successful, you see the smoke in the distance from the main ED camp. The smell of gunpowder from the cannons lingers in the air; hundreds of trenches are filled with the living and the dead on both sides.

You heard that this is how the battlefield looked when the Empire fought the Felkan Kingdom, seems like this is going to be standard for war, until something else changes in the way people kill others. You remember when things were much simpler though. The funny thing is that the Felkan Kingdom is despite being accustomed to this sort of fighting and more technologically advanced, they’re apparently having a much worse time holding off the Eternal Dominion than you have, though you imagine that they’re getting more of the brunt of the combat.

You are approached by several of your officers; they say their respective companies are ready to advance, if you give the word. You nod and tell them the attack will commence.

You watch as thousands of your soldiers run forward to kill and die for you. If there has always been one consistency with you, is you ability is muster up a shitload of people to do that, even when you’re not popular. And you’re REALLY not popular with the average Nalin citizen right now.

But ungratefulness is something you’re used to. You experience the same thing in Rask, after you destroyed all the barbarian tribes. Peasants complain and know nothing of real sacrifice. Not like you do.

The battle is going strong and a cannon ball from the other side even crashes a few feet away from you. One of your majors advises that you should step further back from the battle so you stay out of harm’s way.

But maybe you don’t want to; in fact maybe you want to just end it all right now.
> You stay where you are
You tell you subordinate to fuck off and state that you’re not going to run away and cower in some tent. You’re going to observe and give assistance when necessary like a general should. He pleads with you once more, but you merely tell him that if he doesn’t get out of your face you’re going to kill him yourself.

No sooner have you said that, a nearby explosion knocks you off your horse, which ends up falling on top of you as well. You feel a sharp numbness in your right leg, which is under the horse.

You look over at the major who was speaking to you and half of his face has been blown off. You can’t hear a thing as the explosion has made you completely deaf though your hearing wasn’t the greatest with only one ear and all.

Using all your strength you pull yourself out from underneath your horse, which is quite dead. A couple of your other officers see you and come to help pull you out and you see that your leg is broken to the point where the bone is coming through the skin. One of your lieutenants goes to stop the bleeding and she’s obviously yelling at others to get help, but you still can’t hear a thing.

You can make out her saying something to you, probably that she’s going to put the bone back in place. You just nod quickly and shout at her to do it. She does and it’s one of the most excruciating things you’ve felt in a long time and you’ve had more than your share of wounds. It’s only through your own will power that you don’t scream out.

While the lieutenant wraps up your leg with a splint, two others come with a stretcher. You don’t want to be helped up, but you are any way. “Standing up” straight you decline being put on the stretcher and insist that you’ll hop to the nearest horse if you have to. The female lieutenant says something to you while she continues to help prop you up, but you’re still deaf and can’t hear anything she’s saying. You can only guess it’s something about doing it for your own good.

You aren’t going to be told what to do and you push her away, only to fall down. You curse and yell at your weakness and begin to crawl away. You can only assume the rest of your staff is yelling at you back, but you can’t see their faces, your eyes are staring at dirt right now.

You crawl for a moment and that’s when you start to hear something again.

“Gen……..mu….now! C… on!”

You feel several hands turn you around and your staff is intent on forcibly putting you on the stretcher. You don’t bother struggling because that’s when through your damaged hearing that you hear a distinct whistling sound.

“Brenda, I...” You say before the explosive cannon ball wipes you all out.


“Kill these fucking deserters and get me to the medic.” You say.

The screams of the belzak deserters begging for their lives and death squeals fall on deaf ears…or rather ear as the case may be now.

Eventually you manage to make it to the medic who immediately starts administering an antidote to you. You’re out of commission and very sick for a couple of days, but after which time you’re at least able to stand without feeling ill anymore. Your chewed off ear isn’t an excessive problem as you can still hear relatively well, still you do feel a sense of “loss.”

In any event the expansionist eastern campaign is over. All the tribes have been either wiped out or subdued to the point of submissiveness. Brenda will be relieved to hear it, as you know she was always concerned about having most of the veteran troops there instead of the northern borders. She’ll also be pleased that there weren’t many losses overall.

You’re satisfied with the results, though now you’re just wondering what you’re going to do with yourself again.

Year 50

“Our defenses are strong in the north. Have been for years. No need to be concerned about that.” You say.
“I know, but this is a big thing. I mean after all these years now Edgar wants to speak with us?” Brenda asks.
“My reports say he’s gotten a lot more organized and isn’t dealing with anarchy in his ranks anymore. He even re-conquered the old core lands of the Empire. It could be that he wants to see how strong we really are. His message said he’s coming alone without anyone else.”
“Well, maybe that’s a good sign. Maybe he just wants to talk.”
“Or maybe he wants to kill us both to a great show of strength so Nalin will capitulate with minimum fuss.” You point out.
“Yeah…there is that tactic. (sigh) Well I guess we all knew this day was coming. Guess I better practice my combat skills., which sadly have probably declined from lack of use. Would you spar with me?”
“Of course. Don’t worry, I’m sure you’re not that out of practice.” You remark.

You and Brenda go to her personal training room where you and her prepare to spar. Brenda makes a few remarks about this being like the old days when Mistress made you fight each other. Brenda mentions the time when you broke Gerald’s arm and Kane’s nose when she pit them both against you.

“Yeah, I remember that. That was my first match. Mistress had it in for me after I begged for my life. I was always pretty aggressive after that, well at least until Gruz told me I should master my anger better, and I did…anyway let’s get on with this.” You say not really wanting to think about those days or any of the names mentioned.

Brenda isn’t quite as skilled as you remember her to be and she has indeed let her talents decline. Then again as you remember she always was more skilled with the bow. Something you never quite got the hang of yourself. You begin to get more in a “drill instructor mode” and shout commands at her to watch her techniques.

“Alright, alright, I told you I was out of practice.” She shouts back.
“Well you shouldn’t have let it get this bad in the first place.” You say.

After this remark, Brenda begins to get a little annoyed, which of course means she makes even more mistakes.

“Brenda, come on I know you’re better than this! Focus!”
“I am!”
“Well prove it!”
“Well, I’m sorry I’m not the fucking lord of war that you are!”
“You don’t need to be me, you just need to be an Eternal!”
“What the hell for? The Empire is fucking dead and we’ve just been upkeeping a parody of it for the past fifteen years! I don’t even know what I’m doing trying to run this fucking country anymore! I never wanted this! I…I just wanted…to spend the rest of my…(sob) life with Roldan…(sob)”

At this point Brenda sits down on the floor and completely breaks down in tears. You can honestly say you weren’t expecting this.

“Brenda…”
“I’m sorry, but I can’t be the Eternal you are. I can’t even be the Eternal that Edgar is. I lost that edge when I fell in love. I wasn’t supposed to and neither was Roldan! If we hadn’t been so weak, he’d still be alive and…”
“Dammit Brenda, you can’t keep blaming yourself for his death! Your relationship and whatever feelings you had for each other had nothing to do with some insane asshole blowing him up. What’s bringing this all on? Edgar? I think you’re worrying about him more than you need to. I mean for all we know he just wants play catch up and even if he doesn’t we’re going to be ready for him and his army of half assed Eternals…”

Brenda shakes her head and tries to compose herself.
“No, it’s not Edgar. It’s you.”
“Me? What do you mean? Out with it.”
“I…I think I’ve developed the same kind of feelings for you that I did for Roldan.” Brenda says.

Another surprise for you today, not exactly the best timing with all that’s coming up soon.

“…Uh…I don’t know what to say…I guess…I mean…are you sure?” you ask.
“I think I’d know. It’s been building up slowly over time. At first I was just happy to have you around, another Eternal to talk to. Sure you weren’t Roldan, and you’re certainly less fun loving than he could be, but there was that familiar bond. Then when you were so instrumental in helping to keep order in this place, I remembered why we all admired and respected you as a leader so much back in the day. It also began to remind me of how Roldan and I complimented each other in keeping order here during the days of the Empire. You were bringing the memories of those good old days back and making them reality again.”
“You probably just still miss him and are transferring those feelings.”
“I thought so too, which is why I didn’t do anything before. In fact I was feeling guilty about it, I thought I was dishonoring Roldan’s memory. Wasn’t until I heard about your close call with death during your campaign in the east that I knew it was more than mere transference. I was so happy that you were still alive, I nearly told you how I felt when you came back. I just didn’t think you suffered from such weaknesses and I wanted to remain strong because your respect was more important than my silly attractions.”

You don’t have much experience with any of this, but you need to say or do something make Brenda feel better.

“Brenda, you’ll always have my respect. As for anything between us, I never thought about it because I figured you’d always be carrying a torch for Roldan. I’m not opposed to the idea however. I mean we do have much in common and contrary to popular belief, I’m not quite the unfeeling golem that most consider me to be. I do have feelings, even if I don’t show them a lot and I would’ve thought you knew that.”
“I know you do, but you’re in control of them or you at least direct them better. I worry that if by some chance something would to occur between us, that you would lose your edge. I don’t want you to become weaker or distracted because of me. You’re needed as you are now.”

You’re about to reply, and then there’s a knock on the door.

“Sorry to disturb your training, but I’ve been told that the leader of the Eternal Dominion has been spotted at the northern border. He’s on a horse by himself, and several soldiers are already escorting him to Fort Glory. Did you want to meet him there or did you want us to escort him all the way to the capital?” a voice asks from behind the door.

The pair of you didn’t expect him this soon, let alone be in the middle of the discussion you’re having now. You’d probably both like to wrap this up before having to focus on Edgar, though the question is if you’d have enough time to do it anyway.
> You let the soldiers escort Edgar to the capital
Edgar can wait, you need to wrap this up now, or at least get some sort of temporary closure on this situation.

“Bring Edgar here, it won’t hurt him to ride a little longer!” you yell before turning your attention back to Brenda.

“Okay, we’ve got a little more time and that’s all I need. Stop worrying about me, I’m not going to suddenly turn into some love sick idiot that can’t think things through if we have a deeper relationship! My question is, do you want one with me? Do you genuinely feel that strongly for me?”
“Yes, I do.” Brenda says.
“Then we shouldn’t avoid how we feel.” You reply and kiss Brenda.

Brenda kisses you back and the pair of you give in to your physical desires. You’re both at it so long you lose track of time and you’re interrupted again with another knock at the door.

“Erm, I hate to disturb you again, but I’ve just received word that general Edgar was attacked on the road by fanatics opposing our talks with the Eternal Dominion. We don’t even know what’s happened to him and soldiers are…”
“WHAT?!” you shout. “Fuck, hold on!”

In exasperation you get dressed as fast as you can and Brenda does likewise. You’re cursing the entire time, Brenda says nothing, but you can imagine that she’s already starting to blame herself for this.

You question the advisor on what he’s heard and he mentions that Edgar and his escort were ambushed near the village of Helas. Apparently nobody even saw it coming, the guards that were assigned to escort had several crossbow bolts in their bodies. Edgar must’ve put up a fight since there were some of the assassins found dead at the scene, though no sign of him. There was a blood trail, but it disappeared after a half of mile or so. So far none of the villagers from Helas have been incredibly helpful, which pretty much indicates that most of them must’ve known about it.

Brenda orders a complete search of the area, while you press forward to interrogating the entire village of Helas. You don’t have too much success and just find out how much the inhabitants really don’t like the idea Nalin becoming friendly with the Eternal Dominion. They assume if that happens then you’ll start lording it over them like the Eternals do in the Dominion (as opposed to the “nice” way you do it now)

After executing half of the village, you proceed with the search, but you still can’t find any trace of Edgar. You suspect that he’s covering his tracks and making his way back home. You can’t allow that to happen, because if he does, he’s going to declare war on you probably believing this to be a set up, and while that may happen anyway, you’d at least like to try to convince him that it wasn’t. Or failing that, depriving the Eternal Dominion of their leader…

You order double the amount of troops along the northern borders; you’re going to need them there regardless of what happens. Brenda and you have a long argument about how your feelings lead to this situation. Brenda of course says that it just proves her right and that you need to put an end to the relationship. You get to the point where you’re too frustrated with her to argue anymore and perhaps in some small way she has a point so you ultimately agree and say it’s business from here on out.

A couple months pass and still no word on Edgar either. You aren’t exactly ready to declare him dead, but if he was still alive and managed to make it back to the Eternal Dominion, it really seems like he would’ve declared war on you by now. As it stands you haven’t heard a word from them. They haven’t even sent any threatening messengers asking about their leader (you assume he told them he was going to visit you). You chalk it up to whatever selfish power grab they probably got going on. Still there’s always the possibility they could attack even with disorganized leadership. However it isn’t really Edgar or the ED that you’re worried about, things are obviously strained with Brenda. Brenda and you barely even meet in person anymore and you mainly stay at Fort Glory. She’s been delegating a lot of responsibility to her staff and become increasingly withdrawn. You attempt to reach out to her, but she doesn’t respond positively and just requests that you leave her alone. From what her advisors tell you, she spends most of her time staring and talking to a portrait of Roldan a lot and constantly re-reading love letters he wrote to her. Mostly apologizing for straying from him and being responsible for his death.

You step in to take up the slack of rulership, and there aren’t too many objections though things in Nalin haven’t exactly been the most calm as far as civil obedience goes lately.

Year 51

“…and so I’m sorry. I’m sorry that my weakness diminished your strength. Even though we didn’t go through with a closer relationship, I know you were continuing to worry about me. I couldn’t let you be distracted with lesser concerns. I saw that happen with Roldan, and I wouldn’t let it happen to you too.

I think this will be for the best. I feel like I’ve just been walking through a parody of life ever since Roldan died and I think you know that I was growing weary of rulership anyway.

Assuming Edgar is indeed dead, I guess this will make you the last of the original Eternals. I guess what you once told me what Captain Gruz’s last words were are true. You outlived everyone.

Thank you for your company and making the last fifteen years much more bearable, I wish you well in whatever your future plans are, but I’m going to be with my beloved Roldan now.

May you always remain the paragon of the Empire that you are.

Love Brenda

You knew it was only a matter of time and you suspected it was coming, but perhaps this is the only way it could’ve been. Apparently she hadn’t been happy for a long time, still, you wish that things could’ve been different. Maybe you didn’t exactly have a relationship with Brenda like Roldan did, but you did have one of sorts for the past fifteen years and now you definitely feel a great sense of loss because she’s gone.

However, life goes on. After shedding a few tears in private and composing yourself, you fold the letter and put it with the rest of your personal belongings. You then make arrangements for her funeral, which is a small one. You have her body burned outside Fort Glory since you know that she had Roldan’s body burned outside the fort as well. It only seems fitting.

You officially take over as sole ruler of Nalin unsure of what the future may hold.
>
Year 56

“Sir, you want us to completely wipe out all settlements with the plague?” Colonel Gemma asks.
“That’s what I said isn’t it? I’ve already assigned all the medics, healers and hedge wizards in the land to focus on the less affected areas. As for those places really bad off kill all the people, cleanse the area with fire, no more problem.”
“But, you’re going to have mass riots! The people will protest, even soldiers! I mean some of their families are in the quarantined areas!”
“Well I guess you better have those soldiers executed then if you think they’ll be a problem. In fact I’m surprised to hear you balk from these orders, I remember you when you were a young soldier wiping out Belzak women and children without hesitation.”
“I…I’m not sir, I’m just concerned about the repercussions of potentially losing more of our army.”
“You let me worry about the repercussions! Look here’s what you do, gather up all the old guard such as yourself to carry out this plan. In fact get those elves I made into orphans during the tribal wars. I’m guessing they should be good and obedient soldiers by now, but they probably won’t hesitate to murder some defenseless humans. The plague doesn’t seem to be affecting non-humans as much anyway, so they’re probably more resistant. In fact gather some of those kobolds too; they can clear out the bodies. Those little bastards seem to be immune altogether. That’s all for now.”

Gemma nods and takes her leave.

You have more concerns today, but you’re delegating them to the advisors as usual. If it isn’t a problem that can be solved by force, you’re not very interested in it. Brenda was right; ruling is a pain in the ass. When she was alive, you still had the “fun” part to focus on, now you have to do it all. This latest plague is probably the most exciting thing that’s happened in years. Still can’t figure out how and where it originated from though. A passing thought was it might be saboteurs from the Eternal Dominion, but they’ve been fighting amongst themselves ever since Edgar died. Never did find his body. You still wonder exactly what it was he wanted to discuss with you and Brenda. An alliance perhaps? A threat to submit? You’ll never know.

The nation of Nalin has become a lot more totalitarian under your rule. You’ve actually made it even more “Empire like” than it already was mostly because it’s what you know, but also because it makes you at least feel like things are how they “should be”. Lately though even that hasn’t helped your mindset. You’ve become increasingly bored with just plain ruling, and after this plague nonsense is taken care of, you’re thinking of doing something to shake things up a bit.

The obvious idea is to expand again, specifically aggressive expansion into Eternal Dominion territory. It’s been too long since you’ve experienced a good fight.

The other idea you’ve had is one you probably wouldn’t have considered again, but at this point any change would be welcome. You’ve thought about just leaving. Leaving everything behind and the region entirely.
> You expand
You left the Empire behind because you no longer believed in it. Nalin has become a kind of substitute for it though and ever since Brenda died, you’ve tried to make it even more like the Empire. This may be the closest you’re going to get back to the “good old days” and with age ever creeping up on you, you need to make the best of things and not wallow in indecision or hesitation. You’re the last of the real Eternals and you’re going to act as such.

Nalin WILL become the new Empire.

After a few months of putting out some of the backlash of how you handled the plague, you make your plans for expansion. You also fully intend overseeing it personally.

The first round of conquests go well. The disorganized Eternals and their slaves don’t give you too much trouble; indeed some of the population welcomes your intervention. Most of the new generations of Eternals have been so excessively cruel that their subjects are willing to accept any other tyrant as an improvement, even if it’s another Eternal.

Eventually you do hit a brick wall of sorts, the remaining Eternals realize they need to unite against you. The Eternal Dominion is more advanced technology wise (having stolen ideas and equipment from the Felkan Kingdom), though through your initial conquests, you’ve made steps to try to close the gap in the availability of gunpower-based weapons for your own soldiers.

Still, even with the current stand off with the Eternal Dominion, you victories restore some of the appreciation of your citizens in Nalin who are probably just glad your violence is focused on others for a change.

The balance of power has been shifted enough for the Felkan Kingdom to take greater notice of you too, especially since now your territory borders some of their own. They send one of their own to speak to you, while you’re currently at a conquered ED Fort making plans for your next attack. To your surprise one of their own, is also one of your own too, or as least was at one time.

“Warrick?” you ask. He’s obviously older, has a missing eye and no hair, but you still recognize him despite your near disbelief.
“Yes, it’s me…see you’re missing a few body parts as well.” He says causing you to touch where your ear used to be. Sometimes you even forget that it’s missing.

“Well you know how it is…but I thought you were dead! I mean I’d heard…how is it that you’re working for the Felkan Kingdom now?”
“That’s a long story, but let’s just say I found my own path, like I see you found yours. Which is sort of why I’m here.”

Warrick mentions to you that the Felkan Kingdom has been expecting an attack from the Eternal Dominion for more than a decade, even after the disappearance of their leader Edgar. However, now that the ED seems to be no longer a potential threat they’re worried about Nalin invading, perhaps even more so since you seem to be a more organized potential threat.

“Well, you can tell your king or whoever, that I’m not interested in the Felkan Kingdom. The Nalin Empire isn’t in a position to attack such a powerful nation at this time.”
“At this time…that implies that you might later.”
“Heh, well you might be right, just as I might believe that you’re planning on attack us.”
“True, and while you probably will rightfully remain suspicious, the Felkan Kingdom has no interest in conquest. Especially not right now. I probably shouldn’t tell you this, but we’re still dealing with a massive gnoll invasion that hit our land years ago. Fighting another war isn’t something we want right now.”
“Hmm, you’re right, you shouldn’t be giving vital intelligence away like that. This new information gives me an advantage. Knowing that you aren’t as powerful as I once thought, I may very well attack you now.”
“Well I suppose you’ll do what you have to then, but if you’re still the leader I know you to be, you won’t. You don’t want to fight a war on two fronts either.” Warrick says in an unconcerned tone.
“Ha ha! And you would be correct! But enough about power struggles, let’s talk for a moment just as Eternals.”

Warrick’s tale of how he came to be in the service of the Felkan Kingdom is a little sketchy. He mentions that during the last days of the Empire he was still under orders to perform his usual sabotaging missions. He says that he managed to integrate himself in their favor by rescuing some of the royal family who were apparently in the wrong place at the wrong time. Children actually. He says he doesn’t remember all of it exactly though except there was a big explosion and the next thing he knew when he woke up is that he was missing an eye and was given a job. Already knowing how the Empire was beginning to crumble he accepted.

You proceed to tell Warrick about your time since the Empire fell. He listens intently as you go on about the various thoughts you’ve gone through since that time. You mention Edgar to him, which interests him greatly. He says the Felkan government assumed that he was killed by one of his own men in a power struggle. He asks if you ever found his body or any evidence of his death. You tell him you never did, for all you know he still got killed by one of his own men, assuming he had managed to get back to the Eternal Dominion.

You also mention Brenda. Warrick displays a bit of sadness when he hears the whole story, and you sort of relive some of that sadness as well. It hasn’t been that long since she died after all.

“So, we’re really the last two left then?” Warrick says.
“Looks that way, though to be honest I thought you’d been dead for years. Glad to see you’re still around.”
“Even if we may be enemies one day?”
“We’re Eternals. The originals. We’ll always have a bond that nobody else will and if we should end up on opposite ends of the battlefield it still doesn’t change that. Assuming that day ever comes and we’re both still in fighting condition, seek me out as I shall seek you out and we’ll settle things in the only way they can be.”

Warrick nods at your proposal and is silent for a moment as if deep in thought. He then eventually gets up and tells you he has to leave. He mentions that he’ll tell his superiors that the Nalin Empire has no hostile intentions towards the Felkan Kingdom at this time.

The pair of you shake hands and part company, possibly knowing if you ever do see each other again, it won’t be on friendly terms. Still, there is a small bit of you that was happy to see an old comrade again.

You return to the business of waging war on the pathetic remains of the Eternal Dominion.

Year 65

“Sir, you are incredibly lucky that the sword didn’t hit any vital organs and just pierced the top layer of muscle.” Lieutenant Davis says as he applies a mixture of some salve to the wound.
“Agh! Yeah, lucky me. Just patch me up, I want to finish off these wannabes once and for all.” You say wincing at the burning sensation of the ointment working to seal the wound.
“General, victory is assured, is it really necessary for you personally be involved in the combat? Your military expertise is better served as the mind. Colonel Gemma says she’s got a handle on things.”
“Yeah, well if she’s got such a handle on things, why did I have to save her ass at the Battle of Julk Pass? And what’s this shit about my military expertise is better served with my mind? You’re lucky I don’t have you executed for saying shit like that! I was killing werebeasts, orcs and other shit you ain’t even heard about before you were even a twinkle in your parent’s eyes! I’m still every bit of a warrior as I… ah shit! My fucking head!” you suddenly shout and lie back down on the table.

A couple of other medical types apply something cold to your head saying that you need to rest. The plate they put in your head from the bullet wound needs to be “adjusted.” You grudgingly comply and close your eyes.

You hate this weakness. Old age, the only enemy you can’t outmaneuver, regardless of how hard you try. Death isn’t something you’ve ever been afraid of, indeed part of you never expected to even live this long. But death by old age? Natural causes? That’s something you never even seriously considered before, even if it was in the back of your mind.

If you continue your insistence on believing you’re still in your twenties, you’re going to die on the battlefield. You know that, and you’re okay with that idea, but part of you wonders if it’s just foolish to throw your life away over being stubborn when you could still live and do more with you life. The Nalin Empire is thriving and you’ve almost conquered the Eternal Dominion which means you effectively restored most of the old Empire. A feat Edgar was probably trying to accomplish no doubt, but much like him, if you died suddenly, who knows how long it would last before it crumbled.

If you want to leave any sort of real legacy, you would most likely have to step back now and begin to make preparations for a line of succession and you’d need a lot of time to do that to sort out all the details. This would mean you’d no longer be able to take such a personal approach to war again. Your days as a warrior would effectively be over and you’d be back to the drudgery of bureaucratic rulership again.

You have to take a long look at yourself and decide now, if that’s what your fate is going to be.
> You continue to lead by example
You spend the rest of the day in your personal tent still recovering from your last battle thinking about your situation.

Your head still hurts from where part of your skull was replaced with a crude metal plate and your body aches all over as it has been for years. You’re nearly deaf in your one working ear. You’ve got scars all over your face and body. You even have a couple of missing fingertips now. Yet for good or ill, you’re going to at least see this war through to its end. You have to be hands on when it comes to battle. You were raised to be a warrior, a killer, and an instrument of war. There have been times you’ve had stray thoughts on a different life, but ultimately it’s always come back to war.

You weren’t meant to be an old man who dies on his throne either through natural causes or assassination, and you definitely weren’t meant to find a love and live happily ever after.

You are an Eternal and you were meant to die in battle. Whatever happens afterwards is of minor importance.

The next morning you muster up all your strength and stand. You’re a little wobbly, but you manage it and step outside. Several of your staff urges you to rest, but you ignore their concerns.

You plan your attack on the “Eternal City” with your top staff. It was once the capital of the Empire, now it’s the last stand of the Eternal Dominion. At this point there really isn’t too much strategy involved. You just plan on blowing up the walls and storming the place with as many soldiers as possible. You remark that when the walls are down, you’ll be leading the first assault.

“General! You can’t be serious! I understand you want to be involved in the battle, but this is going too far! You know very well the battalion that goes in first is going to suffer the most losses.” Colonel Gemma exclaims.
“It won’t if I’m leading it.” You say. “However, when I fall, you’re next in line. I trust you know what to do. ALL of you know what you’re supposed to do.”

This remark causes a dead silence among your staff. You didn’t even say IF you fall, you said WHEN you fall. You realize this and collect your thoughts in what you believe to be your last speech to all of them.

“(Sigh) Look, I’m tired. I’m old. I got more scars than all of you put together. I’m missing portions of my body. I’m in constant pain and I got a fucking plate in my head. I appreciate all the service you’ve given in the past few years and in some cases decades. Your concern for my life is noted, but I know it’s time. I’ve lived a satisfying life. I won’t say good, because I’ve been through enough shit to know that isn’t true, but I can say it had its good moments. And I fully intend on making my last moments on earth satisfying as well by leading all of you to victory before it’s all over. So! You all have your orders, and if I’m wrong about my impending death…well I’ll see you all in the palace when this is over and you all can taunt me for being an overly dramatic old man. One taunt per person of course.”

This last remark lightens the mood enough for a couple of them to smile. One even manages to give a small chuckle. You figure even if you don’t believe it, you should try to keep morale up.

The attack on the city commences. It won’t really take long to bring the walls down. Never thought the day would come where you’d actually be attacking this place. It’s funny, in all the years you served the Empire, you never once set foot into it’s capital, let alone the Emperor’s palace. You sometimes wonder what exactly happened to the Emperor when the Empire fell. Was he killed? Did he escape? Was there really ever an Emperor at all?

It’s all irrelevant now you suppose.

After a couple days of bombardment by catapults and cannons you at last breach the walls enough that the opening cannot be repaired quick enough. That’s when you make your move.

“ATTACK!” you shout while galloping forward with your horse, which is shaking you enough to make every bone in your body ache. You’ve never really liked riding horses, but if you want to be the first one in the city, you need the speed, because running just isn’t something you do much anymore.

You get closer and closer to the city nearly getting blown to pieces in the process by the cannon fire. How you aren’t shot off your horse by a stray bullet is short of amazing. It’s just as well you’re nearly deaf, you doubt if you could stand the noise of the explosions if you weren’t.

You reach the wall breach and it is there your horse rears up from the wall of pikes held by the enemy. This temporarily saves its life, but a few shots are fired and the beast makes one last neigh before collapsing. You are also hit in the leg by one of these shots, but you fortunately manage to avoid having the horse land on you when you’re thrown from it. Sensing that you’re an easy target some the enemy soldiers break their formation and attempt to attack you while you’re down, but you’re far from being out of this fight. Ignoring the pain, you stand up and meet your attackers head on, easily slaying them. You then proceed to fight your way through the breach just before the rest of your soldiers reach it to help you.

The bodies of the dead surround you and the streets are quite literally running red with blood. The mixture of gunpowder and death fills your lungs when you breathe deeply and it smells a hell of a lot better than that poison cloud that Slin witch inflicted on you years ago.

Limping around on one good leg, you help out the rest of your soldiers who are a little faster than you now in engaging the enemy. You tell them all to take the palace, a lot of them shout back at you, but you can only really read their lips due to the noise and your bad hearing.

The Eternal Dominion’s last stand has them pulling out all the stops for this battle, at one point you find yourself facing a large group of orc troops in heavy armor and a single battle mage desperately trying to defend the gates of the palace. It’s been a while since you’ve faced either of these enemies, but you’re not going to run at this late stage.

Your soldiers engage the orcs and you try to focus on the battle mage who is chanting something, a couple of shots are fired at him, but whatever magic barrier he has up blocks them. When you reach him, his eyes turn completely red and a ring of flame suddenly emanates from him burning you and several others nearby. You fall to the palace steps trying to put the flames out and after managing to do so you realize you’re now blind in one eye and the other eye sees a statue outside the palace beginning to move.

“Fuck, he’s bringing it to life.” You say to yourself. Your body then feels a heavy mace blow to your left arm shattering several bones in it. It’s quite possible that you would die right there if not for a fellow soldier killing the orc that attacked you. Somebody helps you up and you’re feeling nearly delirious at this point. Someone shouts about you bleeding from the head, but you can’t really hear them, you’re still focused on the mattle mage, who has nearly brought the statue to life.

Fighting through the pain as usual, you rush at the mage, even knocking an orc down in the process. The barrier doesn’t stop non-projectiles and you easily tackle him. He tries to cast a spell, but is unable to when you shove your armored fist into his mouth. As he chokes on his own blood and teeth, you pull part of his tongue out and then smash his skull open on the palace steps painting them with his brains. Whatever magic that was about to power the statue dies with him and it stops moving.

You stand back up with great effort, one of your soldiers shouts something about getting into the palace and you just nod and limp your way inside. Victory is at hand.

You step inside the palace and even in the midst of this carnage it is certainly impressive. You can only imagine what it looked like at the height of the Empire’s might. Several of your soldiers engage the last remaining hold outs, but you just wander about looking at the palace. You feel sort of odd, like almost delirious, but you try to ignore it. It has been a tiring day after all.

You see the skirmishing going on in the hallways and rooms, but you’re looking for something in particular, the throne room. You eventually find it, and surprisingly it’s empty. A couple of vases and banner have been knocked to the floor, but other than that, it’s in relatively good condition.

You gaze upon the single impressive platinum throne at the back and approach it. You feel a sudden sense of accomplishment and pride in your deeds. You’re also still feeling woozy and you collapse to one knee, but some how it seems appropriate.

“I see. The Emperor…he was still watching…he was always watching…I’ve passed the test.” You says to yourself staring at the floor.

You then look up at the empty throne.

“I have restored the Empire. I have restored its glory. I will take my place with you soon.” You say and then pass out, never to wake up.


You left the Empire behind because you no longer believed in it. Nalin has become a kind of substitute for it though and ever since Brenda died, you’ve tried to make it even more like the Empire. This may be the closest you’re going to get back to the “good old days” and with age ever creeping up on you, you need to make the best of things and not wallow in indecision or hesitation. You’re the last of the real Eternals and you’re going to act as such.

Nalin WILL become the new Empire.

After a few months of putting out some of the backlash of how you handled the plague, you make your plans for expansion. You also fully intend overseeing it personally.

The first round of conquests go well. The disorganized Eternals and their slaves don’t give you too much trouble; indeed some of the population welcomes your intervention. Most of the new generations of Eternals have been so excessively cruel that their subjects are willing to accept any other tyrant as an improvement, even if it’s another Eternal.

Eventually you do hit a brick wall of sorts, the remaining Eternals realize they need to unite against you. The Eternal Dominion is more advanced technology wise (having stolen ideas and equipment from the Felkan Kingdom), though through your initial conquests, you’ve made steps to try to close the gap in the availability of gunpower-based weapons for your own soldiers.

Still, even with the current stand off with the Eternal Dominion, you victories restore some of the appreciation of your citizens in Nalin who are probably just glad your violence is focused on others for a change.

The balance of power has been shifted enough for the Felkan Kingdom to take greater notice of you too, especially since now your territory borders some of their own. They send one of their own to speak to you, while you’re currently at a conquered ED Fort making plans for your next attack. To your surprise one of their own, is also one of your own too, or as least was at one time.

“Warrick?” you ask. He’s obviously older, has a missing eye and no hair, but you still recognize him despite your near disbelief.
“Yes, it’s me…see you’re missing a few body parts as well.” He says causing you to touch where your ear used to be. Sometimes you even forget that it’s missing.

“Well you know how it is…but I thought you were dead! I mean I’d heard…how is it that you’re working for the Felkan Kingdom now?”
“That’s a long story, but let’s just say I found my own path, like I see you found yours. Which is sort of why I’m here.”

Warrick mentions to you that the Felkan Kingdom has been expecting an attack from the Eternal Dominion for more than a decade, even after the disappearance of their leader Edgar. However, now that the ED seems to be no longer a potential threat they’re worried about Nalin invading, perhaps even more so since you seem to be a more organized potential threat.

“Well, you can tell your king or whoever, that I’m not interested in the Felkan Kingdom. The Nalin Empire isn’t in a position to attack such a powerful nation at this time.”
“At this time…that implies that you might later.”
“Heh, well you might be right, just as I might believe that you’re planning on attack us.”
“True, and while you probably will rightfully remain suspicious, the Felkan Kingdom has no interest in conquest. Especially not right now. I probably shouldn’t tell you this, but we’re still dealing with a massive gnoll invasion that hit our land years ago. Fighting another war isn’t something we want right now.”
“Hmm, you’re right, you shouldn’t be giving vital intelligence away like that. This new information gives me an advantage. Knowing that you aren’t as powerful as I once thought, I may very well attack you now.”
“Well I suppose you’ll do what you have to then, but if you’re still the leader I know you to be, you won’t. You don’t want to fight a war on two fronts either.” Warrick says in an unconcerned tone.
“Ha ha! And you would be correct! But enough about power struggles, let’s talk for a moment just as Eternals.”

Warrick’s tale of how he came to be in the service of the Felkan Kingdom is a little sketchy. He mentions that during the last days of the Empire he was still under orders to perform his usual sabotaging missions. He says that he managed to integrate himself in their favor by rescuing some of the royal family who were apparently in the wrong place at the wrong time. Children actually. He says he doesn’t remember all of it exactly though except there was a big explosion and the next thing he knew when he woke up is that he was missing an eye and was given a job. Already knowing how the Empire was beginning to crumble he accepted.

You proceed to tell Warrick about your time since the Empire fell. He listens intently as you go on about the various thoughts you’ve gone through since that time. You mention Edgar to him, which interests him greatly. He says the Felkan government assumed that he was killed by one of his own men in a power struggle. He asks if you ever found his body or any evidence of his death. You tell him you never did, for all you know he still got killed by one of his own men, assuming he had managed to get back to the Eternal Dominion.

You also mention Brenda. Warrick displays a bit of sadness when he hears the whole story, and you sort of relive some of that sadness as well. It hasn’t been that long since she died after all.

“So, we’re really the last two left then?” Warrick says.
“Looks that way, though to be honest I thought you’d been dead for years. Glad to see you’re still around.”
“Even if we may be enemies one day?”
“We’re Eternals. The originals. We’ll always have a bond that nobody else will and if we should end up on opposite ends of the battlefield it still doesn’t change that. Assuming that day ever comes and we’re both still in fighting condition, seek me out as I shall seek you out and we’ll settle things in the only way they can be.”

Warrick nods at your proposal and is silent for a moment as if deep in thought. He then eventually gets up and tells you he has to leave. He mentions that he’ll tell his superiors that the Nalin Empire has no hostile intentions towards the Felkan Kingdom at this time.

The pair of you shake hands and part company, possibly knowing if you ever do see each other again, it won’t be on friendly terms. Still, there is a small bit of you that was happy to see an old comrade again.

You return to the business of waging war on the pathetic remains of the Eternal Dominion.

Year 65

“Sir, you are incredibly lucky that the sword didn’t hit any vital organs and just pierced the top layer of muscle.” Lieutenant Davis says as he applies a mixture of some salve to the wound.
“Agh! Yeah, lucky me. Just patch me up, I want to finish off these wannabes once and for all.” You say wincing at the burning sensation of the ointment working to seal the wound.
“General, victory is assured, is it really necessary for you personally be involved in the combat? Your military expertise is better served as the mind. Colonel Gemma says she’s got a handle on things.”
“Yeah, well if she’s got such a handle on things, why did I have to save her ass at the Battle of Julk Pass? And what’s this shit about my military expertise is better served with my mind? You’re lucky I don’t have you executed for saying shit like that! I was killing werebeasts, orcs and other shit you ain’t even heard about before you were even a twinkle in your parent’s eyes! I’m still every bit of a warrior as I… ah shit! My fucking head!” you suddenly shout and lie back down on the table.

A couple of other medical types apply something cold to your head saying that you need to rest. The plate they put in your head from the bullet wound needs to be “adjusted.” You grudgingly comply and close your eyes.

You hate this weakness. Old age, the only enemy you can’t outmaneuver, regardless of how hard you try. Death isn’t something you’ve ever been afraid of, indeed part of you never expected to even live this long. But death by old age? Natural causes? That’s something you never even seriously considered before, even if it was in the back of your mind.

If you continue your insistence on believing you’re still in your twenties, you’re going to die on the battlefield. You know that, and you’re okay with that idea, but part of you wonders if it’s just foolish to throw your life away over being stubborn when you could still live and do more with you life. The Nalin Empire is thriving and you’ve almost conquered the Eternal Dominion which means you effectively restored most of the old Empire. A feat Edgar was probably trying to accomplish no doubt, but much like him, if you died suddenly, who knows how long it would last before it crumbled.

If you want to leave any sort of real legacy, you would most likely have to step back now and begin to make preparations for a line of succession and you’d need a lot of time to do that to sort out all the details. This would mean you’d no longer be able to take such a personal approach to war again. Your days as a warrior would effectively be over and you’d be back to the drudgery of bureaucratic rulership again.

You have to take a long look at yourself and decide now, if that’s what your fate is going to be.
> You retire your sword
Your head still hurts from where part of your skull was replaced with a crude metal plate and your body aches all over as it has been for years. You’re nearly deaf in your one working ear. You’ve got scars all over your face and body. You even have a couple of missing fingertips now. Even if you did go into battle again, you probably wouldn’t even make it to the city.

You’ve finally realized that your days of battle are over, or at least over on any meaningful level. It’s a sobering thought and not one you’re happy with, but if you’re going to truly re-establish the Empire or have a reasonable successor nation, then you’re going to have to step back from the battlefield.

The next day you call in your top staff and tell them that you will indeed pull yourself out of the final push on to the “Eternal City”, they all of course agree with your decision and state they are glad to hear you’ve made it. You tell them all what you want done still as far as the attack is concerned and you also say you aren’t going to be running off the battlefield just yet, as you still want to oversee things from a distance at least.

There really isn’t too much strategy in the scheme of things. You plan on breaching the wall with cannons and catapults and then your soldiers will kill everything hostile within. Simple enough.

You watch from outside your tent when the attack commences, hours pass and everything is going as planned and then your head begins to hurt once again. Cursing, you go back inside to lie down for a while. After a few minutes you begin to feel better, but now you’re tired. If your hearing was better you probably wouldn’t be able to fall asleep, but as it is, the faint sounds of the cannons and battle aren’t enough to keep you awake. You figure a small nap won’t hurt, so you allow yourself to drift off.

You begin to have a dream where you are back in Mistress’ classroom. Everything is the same except you’re the only one there and you’re five years old again. Mistress then walks into the room with a sneer on her face.

“You disappoint me, but then I should’ve expected such weakness from one that begs for his life when faced with the possibility of death!” Mistress says to you.
“I…” is all you get out before she kicks you in the chest and steps on you. You look up and see her cruelly smiling at you.
“Silence! Did you learn nothing from me? You lack discipline! You always did! You’re weak and soft! That’s why your Empire fell! You think you can restore it? It’s gone! Just like most of your fellow Eternals and you’ll be next, if you don’t beg. Now do it! Beg!”
“No…I…” you gasp.
“What?! You dare disobey me?” Mistress shouts and ceases stepping on you for a moment to pick you up and slap you across the face. You slap her back and she throws you into a bunch of chairs.
“Impudent whelp! You will learn to obey!” she yells and moves towards you.

You scramble back and stand up. She approaches closer and you pick up a chair and attempt to hit her with it, but she grabs it and yanks it from your hands.

“Nice try Eternal, but it’s too late for fighting back.”

You try to get out of the way, but you feel hard wooden chair smashing into your body which is already bruised and sore from being thrown. You collapse on the floor and feel something wet dripping from your head. It’s blood.

You are picked up and turned around by Mistress; she spits in your face and lifts you in the air. You can barely focus on her face as you’re feeling very dizzy.

“Is this the best you can do? You couldn’t even land one hit on me and you’re trying to restore the Empire? You need to just let it die. Its time came and went just like yours did. Yet instead of letting go and dying with dignity you’re choosing to live as a parody of yourself ruling a parody of the Empire. Pathetic!” Mistress says and throws you, though you don’t hit a wall like you expect to, you just continue to fly backwards in the air and then someone catches you.

“Oof! What the hell son, I’m not carrying you, you fight your own battles!” you hear Captain Gruz say and then he drops you to the floor. When you stand back up you’re a little bigger. You’re twelve and in Gruz’s training room.

“Now listen, I know we had our differences, but don’t you listen to that svelk bitch, she’s just projecting her own failures onto you. I say go for it. I mean I think you know you can achieve anything you set your mind to. So what if you’re an old broken down warhorse now? You can still restore the Empire. The hard part is over! It’s just the boring part that you have to take care of, and if you start on it now, you might even take care of all of it before you die! But remember you have to work with others, for it to succeed! Now go on, and for the Emperor’s sake, let go of the fucking past, it doesn’t need to be perfect! Nothing ever is!”

At this point Captain Gruz points to a door and you comply and grab the handle and pull the door towards you…

“Sir! Sir! It’s just me!” Colonel Gemma shouts. You open your eyes and see her blurry image and your hand strongly grabbing her wrist. She probably was trying to wake you up and you instinctively reacted. Seeing that you’re not in danger you let her go.

“What the hell’s going on?” you say sitting up and rubbing your head.
“I just wanted to inform you that we won. The city is uh…ours.”
“Hmm, what’s that hesitation in your voice?”
“No hesitation, just well…”
“Colonel, my head still hurts so I’m in no mood for your sputtering, now out with it!”
“The city is ours and the enemy has been defeated, but I’m afraid that the city has been totally destroyed.”
“Destroyed? What the fuck happened?”
‘There were some complications…sir…I…”

You don’t let her finish; you get off you bed, push her aside and are blinded by the light when you open the tent. When you fell asleep it was mid-day, now the sun is coming up! Were you asleep the whole damn day?

You look in the distance and see the Eternal City with heavy smoke rising from it. In fact there is a weird purple cloud hovering over part of it as well. You can’t even see any of the large towers anymore and it looks like the palace was trashed as well, if the destroyed domes and spires are any indication. So much for making this the new capital or even stepping foot into a place that you never even got to visit when you were serving the Empire.

“Why the hell didn’t someone wake me?!” you shout. Several officers nearby are silent. Gemma once again attempts to explain that someone did, but you were in a deep sleep and thought you’d only be angry if you thought they couldn’t handle things.

You look at her and the rest of your staff. Here they are scared of your next reaction and there are several of them and one of you. Some are in very fit condition and all of them are armed with firearms as well as close combat weapons. If they were all of the mind to overthrow you by putting several bullets in your body they could easily do it, and quite frankly you wouldn’t even blame them either.

Yet somehow their mixture of fear and respect for you prevents them from doing so. This is what you have to work with and this is as good as it gets. It could be a lot worse.

“(Sigh) Alright. You all did well and I’m proud of all of you. There’s going to be some changes in command structure, but we can get to that later. I want a carriage sent here to take me back to the capital, but before that I guess a small victory celebration is in order.”
“General, you don’t want the Eternal City?” someone asks.
“Well it would’ve been nice, but no. In fact just leave it; I don’t even want it rebuilt. It’s a relic of a past that’s long dead. The Nalin Empire doesn’t need it.”

You go back in your tent to lay down while hearing the faint sounds of cheering of your staff and surviving soldiers outside.

You drift off again and hope you have better dreams this time around.
>
Year 75

Another day of aches and pains, getting old sucks.

After a couple of years of finally putting down the rest of the new Eternal hold outs, you’ve been spending most of your time restructuring the Nalin Empire’s command structure, economy, security and all the rest that goes with it. You haven’t done a bad job considering you were bred for war, not administration, then again you’ve been doing it in limited capacity for years, you just decided to totally focus on it for once and the results are excellent.

While you still have the reputation for ruthlessness, you’ve managed to temper that a bit in last few years even with all the changes you’ve made. Most rulers would probably have to worry about coups or assassination attempts, but those haven’t been a problem due to the high amount of respect you’ve earned from the military. General Cynthia Gemma is officially your second in command, so if anything happens to you, she takes over. Though sometimes you wonder if you’ll outlive her given your knack of surviving. Warrick who was the only other Eternal left besides you died last year. Before he did, he sent a letter informing you that his final hours were upon him.

He didn’t exactly say what was wrong, just that he felt the combination of his age and old wounds catching up to him. It wasn’t a long letter, just mostly him saying how he was glad he never had to fight you as he still respected you as a leader. The respect was mutual. Indeed it was one of the factors to as why you never attacked the Felkan Kingdom. You mourned his passing as you morn the passing of all your fellow Eternals. Most of them deserved better ends. All of them actually.

And now here you are the last of not just your old comrades, but of your kind. The last words that Gruz once told you, have at last come true…you outlived everyone.

Whether you were tougher, smarter, or luckier than the rest you don’t know. Maybe it was something by design when the Empire altered you. Maybe it was just common sense and the simple will to live.

Though lately you’ve been wondering about “living.” You don’t have too many thrills left anymore and the constant pain you’re in, doesn’t make things any easier. You didn’t quite understand all of Brenda’s choice to end her life at the time, but as you’ve reflected on it again and again over the years you get it now and you’re starting to wonder if it’s time to join your fellows.

Besides all you victories in battle, you’ve practically rebuilt the Empire. At least you have as best you could’ve done, all things considered and that’s no easy achievement. You have done enough for anyone to feel proud of doing and if you died now, there would be no shame.

Still, part of you wonders if you’ve lived this long what else could you accomplish if you went on a little longer? Granted you could mess up your already strong reputation, but you could also go on to other great things.
> You end your life
If you were younger perhaps you’d go on to try to conquer the world, but that’s a task for other more energetic leaders than yourself. You’ve had your battles and won your victories, now it’s time for your hard earned rest.

However you fully intend on going out the same way you lived and you call Gemma and all your closest staff to assemble in the throne room. You dress in your old Empire gear and ignore the constant pain as you slowly walk to meet them there. When you arrive, they’re all at attention and respectful as usual. You look them all over and sit down on your throne to rest before you go through with what you have planned.

“My loyal staff and soldiers, the time has come for me to realize that I may no longer be in fit condition to properly lead you all anymore. I believe I have done a good job all these years, but a good leader also knows when his or her time is possibly at an end.”

Your staff and some of the guards look a little surprised by your remark. They would probably verbally disagree with you, but they’ve grown accustomed to know when to speak and now is not the time.

“I’m not just getting old, I’m a shell of my former self, I have been for quite some time. However there was still work that needed to be done, so I persevered through the pain and the stress to achieve my goal. And that has been accomplished, the Nalin Empire is now a worthy successor to the old Empire.”

You take a long pause and stand up again. The ache of this action alone makes you glad you won’t have to go through it anymore soon. You slowly step towards your staff and address them.

“I may no longer be fit to lead…but then again maybe I am. There is still battle lust that rages in these old bones. I will not just step down and live out some sort of feeble existence where I am only trotted out during celebrations or when advice is needed. I won’t be some ancient relic to be handled with sympathy or awe. No, if my reign is truly meant to end today then it shall be by combat. General Gemma draw your weapon.” You say and draw your sword.
“Sir, I…”
“I SAID DRAW YOUR WEAPON OR I’LL KILL YOU WHERE YOU STAND!” you demand.

General Gemma draws her weapon and steps forward. You stand back and position yourself into your fighting stance.

“Alright now the rest of you listen, if the good general here kills me, you follow her. If not, then you still follow me. It’s pretty easy. And as for you, defend yourself!” you shout and attack.

Your swords clash and the battle commences. At first Cynthia seems to only be on the defense, as if she’s unwilling to harm you, let alone kill you. You can see it in her eyes that this isn’t a battle she wants to fight, not so much due to fear, but due to respect. Part of you understands her reluctance and you appreciate it, so you figure you need to push her a bit.

“What’s the matter? Can’t beat an old man? Then again you’re no spring chicken yourself, perhaps I should’ve chosen a younger successor.”

It’s not the cruelest thing you’ve ever said, but it does the job. Cynthia begins to go on the offensive.

Pain wracks your body with every sword swing, but even with your battered body and slower reflexes you’re still proving to be a match for Cynthia. She’s not an unskilled warrior, she wouldn’t be in her position if she was, but even with a few more taunts you’re getting the impression she’s still holding back…either that or you’re still that good.

Perhaps it’s a combination of both, because Cynthia leaves herself wide open for a killing blow that you could easily take advantage of. You don’t think she even did it intentionally; she’s just so upset at having to fight you that her head is not completely in the fight. Of course that’s never really ever been a problem for you even during the worst of conditions, and there were some bad ones.

You realize that you’ll probably win this fight and you weren’t really expecting to. You nearly laugh at the absurdity that you may very well have to kill half your staff before one of them is able to take your position through combat, and that’ll only be because you’d be so tired by that point. If you were even ten years younger you could probably kill them all.

But that isn’t your goal today. You goal was to go out in one last battle and if that means you’re going to have to “help” events along then so be it. You don’t take advantage of the opening, but you do leave one for Cynthia. One that she can’t ignore, though there is a split second of hesitation…

Then you feel the sharp blade rip past your flesh and into your upper chest. A couple of ribs break from the force and your heart is sliced open as it passes by it and out the other side of your back.

You stop to look down and see the blade slowly being withdrawn from your body and covered in your blood. It won’t be long now and you feel death already beginning to take you. You see Cynthia convey a troubled expression on her face and look away as your body falls to the floor. Everyone else looks on in stunned silence.

Coughing up blood and bleeding out all over the floor, the last thing you hear even with your near deafness is a quiet “I’m sorry.” and feel the touch of a hand.

Then you feel nothing else ever again.

Your funeral is a large event, with lots of military honors and grand speeches about your accomplishments. You are placed in a fancy tomb with an impressive statue nearby. It’s a fitting funeral.

The memory of you exists for quite some time, but as time does with all things, eventually it wears away. Successor after successor become less capable of holding together what you have built. Nothing lasts forever.

Civil wars, invasions, in fighting and countless other factors play apart in the eventual complete dissolution of the Nalin Empire as an entity three hundred years later and a new dark age begins once again.

Still, every once in awhile various savage tribes stumble upon your weathered broken statues when scavenging through the various ruins that dot the landscape. They don’t know your name, they don’t know what you did, they know nothing of what you accomplished or where you came from. Yet the dominating stance and the determined look on the face still convey the idea that a great warrior once called these lands his own.

It is hardly surprising that eventually one of these savages found inspiration in these statues to forge her own empire.

Such is the cycle of things.