The room had fallen silent now. Ignas watched pensively, his brow furrowed. Queen Eevi's lovely face had set into hard, scowling lines. The others ranged from impassive to frightened. Rutha herself was speaking automatically, her eyes distant, voice increasingly detached. Like she was telling someone else's story.
“After it was done, I was brought to the throne room,” Rutha said. “Dead servants and soldiers lay everywhere in heaps around Diamond Throne, where Baldr had taken his place. He told me that I was to be loyal only to him, and every time I refused an order, no matter how small, he would mutilate me, starting from my ears, moving to my toes, then my lower limbs. He needed my hands for magic. After watching him so casually dispatch the Warden and so many, I resolved myself to play the part, observe everything, protect who I could, and escape when possible. Even though I swore I would do him no harm, I was taken and… tortured… for several days.”
Gilheim sneered. I shot him a dark look.
Rutha looked down at her hands. “I had about as much power as a caged canary while Baldr established his court. He kept me by his side, but if I spoke or looked askance, he would prescribe a violent reprisal. He held a public execution for the entire state apparatus, including Pavetta Blackwin, the Imperatrix of the Church of Kyrie and the head of the Mata Argis. He installed Violetta in her place. That was massively popular, as she was not well-liked by the people of Ilia. Those who swore fealty to him received prominent positions in government, and as the weeks went by, Baldr began to invest more... trust... into me. And in doing so, he started to confess his plans, perhaps looking for a woman's mercy to justify himself. So I listened, and encouraged him to speak.”
She looked to Queen Eevi, then the ambassadors from the other Hercyninan nations. “Baldr is now in the process of conscripting an army. He intends to conquer all of Hercynia, starting with Gilheim. It is possible that he was lying to me, but what I do know is that once he has control of Hercynia, he plans to besiege the rest of Artana. How he would do so, he did not disclose, but he did tell me that his end game is to conquer the entirety of Artana under his banner, form an empire...”
The murmuring around the chamber was growing louder.
“... and then, once he had that empire consolidated, he plans to rend the Caul of Souls, summon forth the Drachan, and defeat them,” she finished, raising her voice to be heard over the anxious chatter now filling the room.
“DEFEAT the Drachan?” I hissed to Suri. “That can’t be right.”
She shook her head, brows furrowed.
“What about specifics?” Ignas asked. “What are his plans? His strategy?”
Rutha cleared her throat softly. “To my knowledge, Baldr intends to invade Gilheim first. He told me multiple times over the last month that Gilheim is where he plans to start, due to the metal and mana resources there.”
The man from Gilheim suddenly found himself in the spotlight. His lips mumbled silently for a moment before he chuffed in irritation. “We have seen no evidence of an army massing in the west. Not to mention, Hefflund stands between us and the borders of Ilia.”
“That is true,” Ignas said. “Did he mention plans for overcoming Hefflund?”
Rutha squirmed under his scrutiny for a moment. “I hate to say this… it sounds so far-fetched. But Baldr has… well… he has an elite bodyguard of invisible creatures, creatures he uses as assassins and spies. As I understand it, he plans to use those to assassinate the Lord Regent and decapitate their military leadership, then move his army in and occupy. Hefflund is strategic, but it’s a small country. He seemed to think they wouldn’t put up much resistance once he lopped the head off it, especially once the dragons arrive.”
“Grim as it is, it makes strong strategic sense that an aspiring emperor would avoid attacking Revala and instead swing west,” Ignas said. “He must hope to consolidate the peninsula before moving east toward the mainland.”
“Starborn, pagan demons, invisible armies… pah.” Gilheim stiffened in his seat. “Perhaps the threat of Ilia is real, yes, though countless warlords have broken themselves against the shields of Hefflund and Gilheim over the last millennia. I shall pass that on to the Holy See, but anyone in Hercynia can tell you right now that even if the Starborn are not figments, then the Drachan most certainly are.”
“On behalf of the Jeun Empire, this one assures the representative of Gilheim that we possess clear, consistent records of the Drachan in our archives,” Ambassador Moon spoke up from behind his fan. “As do scholars in Dakhdir. It is well known to us that the Caul suppresses their Great Evil.”
“Yes. The Drachan and their demonic hordes,” the Dakhari Emissary said, shooting a dark glance at Suri. “Our Grand Archives span five thousand years of history, Gilheim. Why do you think the Caul exists? It is there to protect us from the Nether Dragons, the demon children of the Great Oblivion.”
“It is well known that the Caul of Souls was a gift from Lyric and Kyrie to the human race after Saint Grigori drove the Aesari into the oceans and freed our kind from enslavement, superstition, and ignorance!” Gilheim snapped back. “Multiple scholars have asserted that no earthly magic is capable of even approximating one millionth of the Caul's power-!”
Ignas slammed his gavel down as the chatter escalated into full-blown chaos. It died down to a simmer as the Volod rose stiffly to his feet.
“We gain nothing from this,” he said, quietly and firmly. “The White Sail Alliance was written in acknowledgement that the nations of Artana all come from different creeds, different faiths, different ways of life - and that despite those differences, we are better served economically, culturally, and spiritually through exchange rather than conflict. My father, Ignas the Second, the twenty-fifth Volod of this nation; Hilgaard the Wise, the Primeria of Kyrie, Sultir Halil Khamir... all of our wisest rulers came together to forge this pact, and there is only one nation who is in violation of its terms: Ilia. And Ilia is in violation only because of a usurper, one who hopes to conquer and destroy us. We cannot allow this to happen.”
“While this one takes Lady Rutha's message to heart, we must confess that it seems unlikely that this self-styled Emperor could succeed,” Ambassador Moon said, his cool voice cutting through the thick silence that followed Ignas' speech. “Revala is a mighty military power, as is Vlachia. Our Emperor's lands span even more territory, and we can readily mobilize as many as five million soldiers. One hundred and fifty dragons are a formidable force, and yet, Ilia has only been a world power once in its history. If we impose strict sanctions on this upstart, he shall have no mana, no trade, no money to pay for an army. His ambitions shall be as short-lived as he is long-lived.”
“I concur.” Janos of Czongrad caught Ignas' eye, and nodded.
“Even better,” the Queen of Revala drawled. “We cut off trade, wait a month, mass our armies under the alliance and invade. We cut this monster off at the head. My apologies, Ignas, I know your people hold the dragons to be sacred creatures - but once Ilia’s dragons are dead, as will happen in a war of this scale, they will have lost. If we crush them now, we can take these Starborn and brick them up naked and alone inside of a very secure vault somewhere. They may be immortal, but after the first hundred years of imprisonment, they will wish they weren't.”
“Wait. No. It's not that simple.” I rose from my seat again. “For one thing, players... uhh... Starborn... can set the point in space where they come back to life. Like, if I was to die here, I wouldn't just pick myself up right here. My body would vanish, and I'd respawn - revive - in my castle in Myszno. For another, Baldr isn't going to rely on outside trade for this campaign. He's going to use Ilia's resources, hit whoever he thinks is the weakest target, then add their resources to his. He'll stripmine that country and use it to conquer the next one. You're not facing someone who's going to be deterred by sanctions or isolation. You can’t assume he’s going to obey any of your rules.”
“Then taking the fight to him is all the more important,” the que
en said.
“I don't disagree. But the reason he's doing this now - the reason he's moving so fast - is that he found a way to cheat. He got really powerful, really fast, and he's going to move fast on this empire idea of his - because he can.” I looked around, frowning at the mixture of disbelief and irritation I read from the faces of everyone there. “Baldr wouldn’t be doing this unless he had mana, lots of it. There’s only one answer: he found a Dragon Gate, and he's siphoning tons of mana from it.”
My proclamation was met with shocked silence.
“That is not possible,” Ambassador Moon said.
“How do you know?” Queen Eevi asked.
“It is. Because the vampire who... uh...” I glanced at Ignas, who shook his head. “Because we stopped a vampire from Napath from doing the same thing. He found a Dragon Gate and built a massive undead army using its power. Suri and I stopped him before anything too bad happened. Baldr's lieutenants were supporting his efforts, guiding the vampire on how to draw mana from the Gate. We fought them when we were dealing with Ashur. I know Baldr has the keystone for Solnetsi’s gate, so it makes sense that he’d siphon it and use its power.”
“The Dragon Gates are a myth.” The Dakhari flicked his hand dismissively.
“Oh, but the Drachan aren't?” Queen Eevi said sweetly.
“No, because we have records-”
“Why are you speaking this heretical filth? Solnetsi? Dragon Gates? Dragon gods?” Gilheim finally got to his feet.
The Queen of Revala sighed and rolled her eyes before I could snap back. “Please, Rupert, for the love of the Lord and Lady... go and hang your clerical robe in the cloakroom for now and listen instead of puffing up like a blowfish. Your nation and mine both share borders with this upstart. All possibilities must be considered.”
“I will remind Gilheim that Vlachia is willing and able to respect your religious convictions, but that we worship the Nine in this nation,” Ignas added, regarding the man with his eerie pale eyes. “The Count of Myszno speaks true.”
Rutha looked to me sharply. I nodded.
“So to conclude, we face the prospect of a forever war with an immortal warlord who may have the ability to wield the power of an ancient dragon goddess,” the Dakhari said, gesturing widely. “So why do we not simply roll over, at this point? How do we face such a thing and live?”
“Two ways.” Suri rose to stand beside me. “The first one is something we’re following up on, at the discretion of the Volod: a weapon powerful enough to bring down as many dragons as Baldr cares to throw at us. Secondly, you find Starborn of your own. You put out quests, recruit them, make 'em part of your core supporters. You gather as many of us as you can, help us get as strong as we can, and you let us fight for you. The only thing that's as dangerous as a Starborn is another Starborn.”
“She makes a strong point,” Rutha piped up. “In fact, when I discovered that the Starborn were returning to Artana, Warden Scandiva had me-”
“No. Absolutely unacceptable.” The Dakhari shook his head, settling back into his seat. “The people of Dakhdir learned their lesson with Sachara the Demon Queen. Starborn bring nothing but mayhem, magic and misery. Perhaps Vlachia feels comfortable enough to have your kind in his government, seeing you as some sort of guardian angel who will protect his nation and his line, but that is not our experience. Even now, self-proclaimed Starborn are trying to overthrow our divinely appointed Sultir.”
This caused a mutter to circulate around the room, and even Ignas looked worried. I glanced at Suri in exasperation, and saw my feelings mirrored in her expression. We instinctively knew the same thing, but how the hell were we supposed to tell them? NPCs had come a long way since vintage games like Skyrim, or even more modern VR-RPGs, like LILIUM, but to people like Baldr - and me, if I was going to be honest - they were nothing more or less than a challenge to be overcome on the path to end-game. Baldr had decided to play out his Hitler fantasy on hard mode, but the game would still reward him with loot, power, and EXP for every step he accomplished from this point on. In the end, he was more likely to win than not. If he lost, he'd rally up and try again. And again. And again. The only solution was all-out, no-holds-barred PvP.
“Ladies, gentlemen... I believe this concludes the argument of our meeting today,” Ignas said. “From here, we ought to take a vote on our next moves. Vlachia votes with Revala: that we declare sanctions against Ilia by all Alliance states, and in addition, seek to prevent non-Alliance shipments from reaching Ilia by any means possible. Assuming the Lord Dragozin is correct, we buy no mana from Ilian sources. Even if it does not stop Hyland, it will slow him down and give us time to prepare a military response: and the sooner we act in self-defense, the better.”
“Dakhdir votes yes on sanctions, but abstains on military commitment until we have consulted with our liege,” the Dakhari emissary said sourly. “As the representative of His Eminence Yazid Khememmu the Fifth, I can assure you we will abide by the Alliance majority.”
“Ilia is a major trading partner of ours, and Kybos stands between our armies and those of Ilia. Jeun abstains until we have discussed these measures with the Emperor and his Imperial Council,” Ambassador Moon picked up the round-robin as the vote went around the room. “We will decide on our terms and negotiate the specifics after due consideration and more research into the situation.”
Ignas’ eyes narrowed shrewdly.
“Gilheim votes yes on both measures,” Rupert the Religious grunted.
Eevi lifted a slim hand, glancing pointedly at the representatives of Dakhdir and Jeun. “Revala votes yes on all measures, but on the understanding that if Ilia threatens my borders before our plans are legislated, that the Alliance will mobilize to defend its members and can guarantee a military contribution regardless of Ilia's economic value.”
Moon bowed from the waist. “Of course, your Majesty. In the event of aggressive actions against your borders, we shall honor the terms of our Alliance without question.”
The other, smaller nations cast their votes, and by the end, six of the seven countries had voted in favor of Ignas' plan. I trusted the Volod - if I was trying to fight a global campaign, he'd be one of the NPCs I'd be most worried about going up against - but I was still uneasy.
Ignas struck his gavel down, and slid out from behind the bench. “Then the meeting is adjourned. I would invite you all to mingle and refresh yourselves in our grand ballroom for the rest of the afternoon. It seems we have a lot yet to discuss, as nations and as individuals.”
Chapter 14
“Fucking hell, this is ridiculous.” Suri fumed as we lurked in a corner of the ballroom, trying - and failing - to avoid drawing attention. “I've got all those papers we pulled out of the Warden’s Quarters, you've got shit to do, and we're standing around here like a couple of loons, drinking champagne and trying not to look at anyone.”
“Can't say I'm a fan.” I drank about half a flute of champagne in a single swallow. It tasted great going down, but it sat in my stomach like a lead brick. I was starting to think alcohol didn’t agree with the quasi-undead. “Did you hear what she said about Baldr’s plans?”
“About him trying to do all this to destroy the Drachan?” Suri gave me a puzzled look. “Why’s that bothering you most out of everything?”
“Because that’s what I’m trying to do. When we met Matir at the Dragon Gate, he offered me a quest to try and repair the Caul,” I said quietly. “And I turned him down. I told him it wouldn’t work, that we had to try and unite Archemi to deal with the Drachan once and for all. He bought it and reissued the quest. I accepted it just before I left for Dakhdir.”
“He was probably lying to her, you know,” Suri replied softly. “To Rutha, that is.”
“Yeah.” That worried me, too. Baldr was a great big hulk of a man who preferred to fight with sword and board, but behind his bland Superman-esque exterior was an unfortunately sharp and calculating mind. Like me, he had real-world warfighting experience an
d was thoroughly desensitized to violence. Unlike me, he’d wanted to be there – he’d enjoyed it.
Suri eyed the room. “How long do we have to stay here, do you reckon?”
“We just have to make it until Ignas leaves, though. Then we can make a quick, polite exit, ride back to Vulkan Keep, and fuck like rabbits before we fly to Kalla Sahasi and you get your spawn point.”
“I like the sound of that.” Suri’s lovely mouth turned down, and her eyes darkened from gold to amber. “But… I dunno. You got any idea how surreal it is to be standing here in a big poodle dress with a glass of champagne right now? We were still in Al-Asad barely an hour ago. I’ve been fighting non-stop for weeks, and I just… yeah. I dunno.”
“I can imagine.”
“Yeah. Wasn’t sure I’d get out a second time, to tell you the truth.” Suri looked down at the plate of lacy little sandwiches she was holding. She normally ate like a rhino, but she’d hardly touched any of them. “I know we’ve got this shit with Baldr going on, but I’m warning you now. I’m not gonna be able to rest until I get my hands on those bastards, Hector. It’d have been one thing if I'd gone back and they'd changed their tune. But they hadn’t changed. Or, they had, but they were WORSE. They'd killed a bunch of the other women they kept in there. The others... Jesus Christ. They were mutilated, Hector. Like, they'd been cut up and shit.”
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