The Demon Core

The often renovated, and not infrequently burnt, Prefectoral complex in the capital city of Shirekeep. Charged with the thankless task of civic administration in the most malodorous and ungovernable city ever conceived.

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Kaiser Aiomide
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The Demon Core

Post by Kaiser Aiomide »

The Kaiser experienced another coughing fit. Once it subsided, the conversation continued.

"She couldn't even be bothered to stay to actually agree on terms. She just left me with her spawn."

"You shouldn't have given that sample."

"It was cooked up anyway. It was as close to me as any random Elw and Antican. It's as illegitimate as a split infinitive. And keeping it around has done nothing to ensure some sort of friendly relationship. The lich process must drive their mind into insanity."

"And now?"

"I sent a letter. Prepare the Demon Core for its original purpose. it may be worth it to see how well the spawn of a Lich does with enough ionizing radiation to make the flesh drip off the bone. At this point, I'm already damned."

The Kaiser began to cough again. There was a dribble of blood on the handkerchief this time. "I should never have accepted. This place is damned."

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Kaiser Aiomide
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The Demon Core, Pt 2

Post by Kaiser Aiomide »

The word came down to the bowels of the Kelb, underneath the beautiful, splendid, sprawling conservatory, down where the dungeons lay.

So long as the Demon Core was inactive, all was well. It was a marvel of engineering in a way. By manipulating the size and orientation of gaps in the neutron reflectors, it could be aimed to flood the entire dungeon or a single compartment. Kaiser Aurangzeb wanted it that way.

It was quiet down there. Moisture from the cooling wells made it humid, which made the Kaiser's coughing more tolerable. Dry air led to blood coughs. When the coughing did happen, it echoed against the darkness just as the Kaiser's wandering steps. Nobody else wanted to be down here. They wanted to be on the outside of the radiation shielding that was installed to keep it in when active. It was especially so when the Kaiser held the trigger in hand all day.

The message was simple. After the Queen of Lichbrook tried to get the Kaiser's attention by readying for war, the preparation of the Demon Core brought Lichbrook down to peace. Col Brandt of the Apollonian Guard annotated the message with a handwritten "good brinkmanship". Even after all this time, they continued to suck up for supporting the other kaiser.

With that message, Aiomide hobbled up to the quarters. There was only one in use. Only one needed to be.

"Countess." The Kaiser said upon entering. "How are you today?"

The silent glare answered. It was a glare older than the child who gave it. It had a bit of Aiomide in the glare, but how much was a complex thing to answer. One that would lead to too much questioning of the Kaiser's medical status.

There was only one Sentinel in the room, one picked by Aiomide. Not because he could be trusted. Because this Sentinel couldn't be trusted.

When the bodysnatchers came, the death of that Sentinel meant one less who could not be trusted. Demon Core trigger in hand, Kaiser Aiomide asked the bodysnatchers "I'd like you to take me to Queen Lyssansa."

The Demon Core was triggered shortly thereafter without warning. The seven Sentinels still inside the Underkelb did indeed have the flesh melted off their bones, all of them also Sentinels determined to be untrustworthy.
OOC: let's go for a ride, Lyssansa.

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Lyssansa Rossheim
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Re: The Demon Core

Post by Lyssansa Rossheim »

Earlier that night...

The four emerged silently from the inky waters of the Elwynn shortly after dusk, their sleek shapes pressed tightly against the shore. With neither rope nor grapple hook, they scaled the outer wall of the Keep and slipped within unseen; no infra-red sensor could glimpse bodies as cold as the air, whilst far above, all-seeing drones conveyed the movements of patrolling guards.

Safely inside, the rubbery dry suits were shed like snake skins, revealing the Sentinel uniforms beneath...but the masquerade did not end there. Cold flesh began to warp, as skin and sinew realigned; within moments, these uninvited guests wore faces not at all out-of-place among the Keep's defenders.

Cast-off suits well-hidden, their progress was swift and deliberate. Sound intelligence and methodical preparation gained them access to the empty passages of the underkelb without incident, as they closed in upon their destination. Their quarry was within one of these chambers, or so it was believed...but which one? To search each in turn was to court detection, but the heat from the caged beast nearby rendered their thermal sight almost useless.

For a lich, there were always other means. The four halted momentarily, transcendent senses reaching out through the solid walls, sniffing out that tell-tale scent of life. Absent from all but one cell, in that last chamber it flickered uncertainly, like a candle in stale air. The door creaked open...

[OOC: Part II will follow shortly...]
Lyssansa
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Re: The Demon Core

Post by Lyssansa Rossheim »

No amount of planning can account for the random hand of chance. For although the chamber was guarded by a single Sentinel, he was wearing the same face as the man who had just opened the door.

Assuming an existing identity was always a calculated risk, but the nature of the target location had demanded verifiable identities and besides, the likelihood of meeting one's mirror had been judged as low. Minimal force had been stipulated, but there was no room for the subtle approach now.

The Sentinel's mouth fell open as he gazed in bewildered shock upon his own reflection. Before he could utter a sound, his doppelganger raised a hand, palm outwards. A dull spark flashed toward him through the air...then every nerve in his body screamed out in pain.

The man's agony lasted but a heartbeat as the necrotic charge overloaded his neural pathways. For a moment he stood rooted to the spot, his body tensed rigid, before tumbling to the floor. Although seemingly dead, to the untrained eye at least, there was still a fair chance of eventual recovery: the charge was designed to incapacitate rather than kill.

Two of the intruders immediately moved to secure the child, while a third secured the doorway. The leader pivoted toward the third figure, palm raised in preparation to strike...
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Re: The Demon Core

Post by Lyssansa Rossheim »

Bodysnatchers are not known for their indecision, particularly when their cover has been blown...but even a Bodysnatcher is likely to think twice before zapping the Kaiser of Shireroth.

Aiomide looked drawn and decidedly unwell, but it was the device clutched in his clawed hand that drew the leader's attention. Some sort of detonator...probably linked to the Demon Core.

The Bodysnatcher's unwavering gaze met the Kaiser's. Did this man understand what it meant to be a lich? Even if the whole of Shirekeep was atomised in an instant, it would not be the end for them. His body would reform, in time, and so would those of his team members. Lichbrook's Queen had nothing to fear from the Demon Core; her fear was purely for safety of her child. A living, breathing child. Leaving the girl with the Kaiser had been a gross error of judgment...one that had the potential to prove very costly.

Fortunately for all concerned, the Kaiser appeared to have something else in mind.

[OOC: To be continued after a short intermission...}
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Octavia Rossheim
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Re: The Demon Core

Post by Octavia Rossheim »

Octavia gaped, wide-eyed, at the fallen Sentinel.

Was he dead? He looked dead. The day before she had been moved to the horrible little underground room, she had overheard two of the servants whispering in horrified voices about the dead people across the river...dead people who walked about. When they noticed her listening, the servants had paled visibly and quickly hurried away.

The Sentinel wasn't moving though, not that she really cared if he was dead. The Sentinels had never been particularly nice to her; cold...always staring like there was something wrong with her. Much like everybody else. Much like Father.

His visit had surprised her. Before today, their only real contact had been at the "family dinners" with her half-siblings and their mothers, but she hadn't been to one of those since being moved to her new room. She thought he looked rather ill; he seemed tired and stooped. He was talking to one of the other Sentinels now; weirdly, that Sentinel looked exactly like the one on the floor.

A pair of Sentinels had moved around beside her. "Are you all right, Your Highness?" asked one. She nodded, straining to look up at him. Normally she would have scowled at the man, but there was something...different...about him. He actually sounded concerned about her, which was new...and he had called her "highness" instead of "countess". None of the Sentinels had ever called her that before.

"Don't be alarmed, Your Highness," he continued, crouching down until his eyes were roughly level with her face. "We have come to take you home." She nodded again, biting her lower lip. Father had finished talking to the Sentinel and was now following him out of the room. The two beside her gestured for her to go after them, so she did...needing little encouragement to leave her new quarters.

***

The party made their way quickly out of the Kelb, although the Sentinels had to slow their pace several times to allow her to keep up. In the end, one of the men gently lifted her up into his arms and carried her along, although even then their pace was not much faster because of Father, who was coughing badly.

Emerging into the night air, they made their way across the Outer Ward. To her surprise, Octavia realised that they weren't going "home" after all, for they marched straight passed the familiar path leading up to the Apartments at the ward's western edge. Instead, they made straight for the main gate. The sentries there seemed a little surprised to see Father, but a few words from him saw them through.

Ahead of them the vast expanse of Kaiser's Boulevard stretched off into the distance, seeming all the larger to young eyes who could not recall a world beyond the Outer Curtain Wall. Drawn up a short distance away was a small line of parked vehicles; at its heart was a long car, with six wheels and a small flag attached to the side. It was to this car that they were heading.

As they neared it, a man emerged from the front and opened the back door; Father stumbled inside, then she was carefully lifted in after him and the door closed behind them.

"There you are, darling!" exclaimed an animated female voice. "And you've brought your father too...how nice." The voice belonged to a pretty young woman in a pale blue dress, with very pale skin and long tresses that matched her clothing. She smiled and held open her arms to Octavia. "Come and give your mama a kiss..."

Mama. Octavia couldn't recall her mother, although every now and then a parcel would arrive from her, usually containing a frilly dress or some strange electronic device that no one in the Keep could work out how to use. Having been the recipient of very few kisses in her life, she was not about to offer up her cheek to this strange woman, who for all her apparent friendliness, seemed...wrong.

Noticing her reluctance, the woman looked faintly pained and waved her over to the opposite seat. "Well then...sit down and strap yourself in. " She gestured to the strange straps emerging from the seat. "And if you won't kiss your poor mama, I hope you can at least keep quiet a moment while I talk to your Father."
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Kaiser Aiomide
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Re: The Demon Core

Post by Kaiser Aiomide »

Aiomide withdrew a rolled up piece of paper and handed it to Queen Lyssansa.

"I didn't want to sign and issue this until the three of us had the opportunity to come to an agreement. The Duke of Goldshire returned home after you departed without finalizing this matter, and well... recent events seemed to have complicated discussion on this topic."

Lyssansa took the paper and unrolled it to reveal an Imperial Decree, though missing the stamp at the top and the signature at the bottom:
IMPERIAL DECREE Nº ###
Imperial Capital Governance


IN RECOGNITION of certain vested interests in the localized governance of certain districts of the Imperial Capital;

AS WELL AS concern over the potential erosion of the Imperial Capital;

LET IT BE KNOWN that the Imperial Capital is hereby declared a conurbation composed of three municipalities, as described below:
  • The City of Shirekeep, whose jurisdiction lies between the White Elwynn and the Blue Elwynn;
  • The City of Cabbagefall, whose jurisdiction lies east of the White Elwynn;
  • The City of Lichkeep, whose jurisdiction lies south of the Blue Elwynn.


LET IT ALSO BE KNOWN that:

(1) administration of the City of Shirekeep shall fall to the Imperial Government, who may delegate such responsibilities to a Prefect of Shirekeep;

(2) administration of the City of Cabbagefall shall fall to the Duchy of Goldshire, who may delegate such responsibilities to a Prefect of Cabbagefall;

(3) administration of the City of Lichkeep shall fall to the Kingdom of Lichbrook, who may delegate such responsibilities to a Prefect of Lichkeep;

(4) activities that overlap individual municipalities shall be administered by a Council for the Coordination of Activities between the Cities of the Imperial Capital, or City Council;

(5) The City Council shall be composed of the prefects of the three cities that compose the Imperial Capital, and shall possess an equal share of decision-making authority therein.
"What do you think?" Aiomide asked, leaning back.

"It's very unilateral, don't you think? Much like your reign."

It was a worthwhile criticism of Aiomide's time as Kaiser. Ever since Shirekeep was retaken, the Kaiser has attempted, with uneven success, to rebuild the Imperial Government and reassert its authority at the apex of the Imperial Republic. With an incomplete Imperial Government and no formal mechanism in existence to discuss the goals and implementation of imperial decrees, the Kaiser had been left to drafting and revising them with the limited personal staff rather than a broader group of notables. Despite provisioning work facilities at Raynor's Keep for all of the ministries, they were still outsourcing most of their work to state-based institutions outside of the area that had been affected by the brassicosis.

"You could sign this today and rescind it tomorrow. What happens then?" Lyssansa gaze was piercing.

Aiomide nodded. "A proper agreement would be better, with a cost of breaking it."

"Some would call that a treaty."

"The Imperial Republic needs a better word for that. 'Treaty' makes it sound like the Imperial States are negotiating with a foreign government."

There was a moment of silence in which the compartment became much chillier.

"Thank you for not declaring war on me."

"Thank you for not killing our child."

Aiomide glanced to Octavia, then back to Lyssansa. "I never intended to actually do that. You readied your kingdom for war in order to get my attention. I put Octavia in The Kelb to get yours."

Queen Lyssansa did not seemed pleased with that. "You have it."

Aiomide struggled for a moment to suppress a growing need to cough before speaking. "Whether or not you agree with some of my policies, I think you can agree that I still have much work to do. The revitalization of Shirekeep is still only beginning, and the Imperial Government is sorely lacking. Unfortunately, my body seems intent on killing me with cancer.

"Lichbrook has certain... methods... that can extend the time one has in this world to finish one's work. You are obviously familiar with them. I'd like to know whether there is something like that which I can benefit from."

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Lyssansa Rossheim
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Re: The Demon Core

Post by Lyssansa Rossheim »

"Are we talking of treatment, or a cure? Cancer is a derangement of living tissue, so my deathpriests could likely stem its advance with selective necrosis...but even that would only delay the inevitable. Ultimately, there are but two cures for mortality and I cannot think you would be contemplating ascension with so much work still undone." A thin smile accompanied the closing barb.

Beyond the armoured windows, the streets of the capital sped past; even now, the devastation of the Cabbage War was all too apparent. "I like you, Aiomide," remarked the Queen casually, breaking the silence once more. "You're no Kaiser Stan- and indeed I was never entirely sure why my mother held him in such high regard- but you're not so bad all the same. So I will help you...provided of course you can bear to take me deeper into your confidence.

"You see..." she continued conversationally, all the while examining her blue-tinted nails, "curing your mortality problem would raise certain interesting questions, questions I'd rather like some answers to before we proceed. Like, for instance, how long you intend to remain perched on that fruity golden throne.

"Then there is this little matter..." she raised the unfinished Imperial Decree. "I mean it's all very nice and formal and I could probably go along with most of it in principle, but there are one or two points I really ought to clarify. Firstly, I'd like to have a better idea of the scope of this City-Council-thing; Lichkeep is the capital of my realm and I'm not having some jumped-up Prefect from Shirekeep poking their nose into my affairs, as we both know is an ever-present problem.

"Then there is the status of St Zor and the Colosseum, which certain unofficial agreements have conceded to us in return for our support with matters elsewhere. I do hope this isn't an attempt to wriggle out of that. Maybe a little...reassurance...would help?"
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Re: The Demon Core

Post by Kaiser Aiomide »

Aiomide raised a handkerchief to the mouth before coughing slightly.

"At the very least, I plan to be around long enough to restore the Imperial Capital to some semblance of order. This decree and finalizing jurisdictions between the three parts is one aspect of it. Raynor's Keep is still in the process of restoration. Work is continuing, but it is not where it needs to be in order to act as seat of government. The Imperial Government is still recovering. The City of Shirekeep is half rubble and mostly deserted. And my children are still, well..."

There was a quick glance to Octavia Rossheim. Aiomide didn't know how to feel about this particular one. "...children. Severing the connection with the Line of Kalir did little to ensure that my former countrymen will be willing to raise them rightly and my new countrymen are still in the process of coming into the fold. I need to stay here to make things right after all that's happened."

Aiomide looked down at the unfinished decree. "The City Council would ideally meet in Tower of the Advisers in the Outer Keep, with a responsibility to coordinate anything that's going on between the cities. Cross-jurisdictional law enforcement. Shared resource rights. Those sorts of things. I would also like them to be on hand to act as an advisement committee so that I'm not left to plan stuff in the bubble of Raynor's Keep. Secure, subterranean rail will allow you to move between Fort Tempus and the Silver Gate and back with no-one the wiser.

"The Prefect of Shirekeep wouldn't be involved in matters that stay south of the Blue Elwynn, and he would only be involved in as much as he would be 1/3 of the deciding vote.

"Besides... the present Prefect of Shirekeep seems to be uninterested in practical affairs of city management. I'm not even sure if he's moved back into the Prefectoral Palace. The Apollonian Guard has been using it as a local base for ration distribution and organizing corvee labor."

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Re: The Demon Core

Post by Lyssansa Rossheim »

Dragging her attention away from her nails, Lyssansa regarded Aiomide thoughtfully for a few moments. "If that is all the time you want, then you have three options. We can attempt to selectively kill the cancerous cells, which should buy you time if not necessarily great health, or we can replace those parts of your body that have been most severely affected. If that fails, then as a final resort we can arrange for your spirit to linger after your body's demise...but are you truly prepared for all that would entail?"

"Regarding Shirekeep...provided I receive your solemn assurance that this council will not make mischief on my side of the river, together with a formal recognition of Lichkeep's status as the capital of my realm, then I suppose I could accept these arrangements. But that doesn't answer my second concern, which you have conveniently ignored."
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Re: The Demon Core

Post by Kaiser Aiomide »

"I didn't ignore. You're talking about the Imperial County. This is for the Imperial Capital. I know about the deal you made with the Conducator in Elwynn. You should know that the land outside of the Reynardine Walls are a desert. The soil is lifeless and the wind scrapes it away to dump on Goldshire. Grass won't even take root there."

Aiomide attempted to breathe deeply but succeeded to capture only a little air. "I'll issue a decree revising... the decree granting Elwynn authority to administer that land. They seem intent on keeping the northwestern two thirds of the Imperial County... you will get the lands leading up to the Reynardine Walls. As you said... St Zor and the Colosseum... restore the desert and I'll be happy."

There was quiet.

"The cancer is quite advanced."

More silence, then Aiomide unbuttoned the top buttons of the white dress shirt that had become the Kaiser's typical attire. the outfit as a whole was styled on the old Antican Patrician costume. When Aiomide ascended the throne, there was a rich belt of beads and embroidered tassels, including a ceremonial dagger. Only the dagger was still there, Antican prayer knots wrapped around the scabbard.

From underneath the dress shirt, Aiomide fished out a necklace that lay hidden. "I understand that a talisman is necessary to imprint the spirit upon, once the body can no longer tie the mind to the world. This is from my mother. Kaikias held onto traditions forgotten in most of Antica... after the Revolution ousted the Dinarchs and most 'old fashioned' notions.

"Children are given an amulet. It was said that Bassarie would protect a child bearing one... until adulthood, when they go to a shrine of Bassarie and donate their amulet to it, thanking the god for her protection. I never did find a shrine to put this in."

The amulet was a delicate silver 8-pointed star made of two intertwined squares. Pale-blue triangular stones were held in place in each point of the star. A gap sat in the center of the two squares.

"Is this sufficient?"

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The Demon Core (Epilogue): A Return of Sorts

Post by Kaiser Aiomide »

Mira ran up the spiral stairs, passing doors on her left as she climbed higher and higher, coiling up the stairwell turret. She has been running ever since Sentinel Hiianai told her. Clear across the courtyard from the Imperial Archives. Through the Entrance Hall and into the stairwell turret of the northwest corner of the Keep Proper. As she reached the top level, she came to a stop at the door. The Kaiser's Study lay beyond. Mira's heart throbbed, her limbs shook slightly as blood coursed through her. The Sentinel on duty let her in.

There was a figure clothed in the darkness of the unlit room, seated next to the slit window that overlooked the Outer Keep below. Nobody had announced a return. Nobody knew how, simply that this figure was here now. The figure moved slightly.

COME IN, MIRA it said, speaking as if two voices, one higher pitched, the other lower, were intertwined into one unified voice. WE NEED TO DISCUSS THE FUTURE

Mira sat and listened. The two voices sounded like a contralto and a tenor, singing in harmony with one another. Every so often, one voice went quiet, just for a word or for a phrase. Twice, the two voices became dissonant, speaking different lines of thought with different words and intonation, and Mira struggled to understand. Every time, the two threads were recomposed into one and the conversation continued.

When it was done, the Kaiser directed Mira to the desk. On it sat a pile of decrees. The first was signed, naming Mira the Regent, due to the Kaiser's health. The rest discussed ministerial appointments, reorganizing the Order of Sentinels, finalizing the administrative structure of the Imperial Capital, repair directives, and so on. Mira's first instructions were to sign them, which she did quickly and with the same stark simplicity that the Kaiser used when signing.

When the papers were signed, Mira turned back to the figure. It did not appear to have moved since the conversation ended. She asked it, "will I see your face again?"

LOOK TO THE FAMILY AND SEE ME

Then no, Mira thought. She nodded and stepped through the door, which was closed behind her. Standing in the stairwell were her sisters. The Adelaidini twins and the Leilani twins were standing in front, while the younger ones were tucked between and behind them.

They all bore features derived from their distinct genetic sources, just as Mira did. Straight, glossy dark hair here, red curly hair there, wavy brown there. Skins of milky brown, pale pink, and olive. Black almondy eyes, or blue, or faint green like the Kaiser. Yet each of them also bore the genes of Aiomide, and all together, they possessed the sum total of Aiomide's features distributed amongst them, present in their own, distinct ways.

"The Kaiser is... tired, and must rely on House Octavius to share the load."

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A Return of Sorts (An Epilogue that Drags)

Post by Mira Octavius-Aryani »

Mira had become the conduit through which Aiomide continued the duties of the Kaiser. The other children were not allowed to visit the Kaiser's Study at the top of the northwest tower of the Keep Proper. The only other visitor was a doctor to continue the process of removing cancerous and necrotic tissue.

Aiomide reclined in the seat by the window and let the doctor do his duty, and the Kaiser's mind wandered from the confines of the skull...

Mira was seated with her sisters down in the Council Chamber, wearing the talisman that Aiomide had given her to wear and keep safe, the 8-pointed star from Aiomide's mother. They were discussing the week's duties, as they had grown accustomed to doing. The Adelaidini Twins were overseeing reconstruction of defenses: Heidi the Reynardine Walls, Erin those of Raynor's Keep. The Leilani Twins, Jamie and Erika, were involved in cityside organization of labor for the various construction efforts. Fairuza of Octavius-Parini met with managers of the various government ministries, who were slowly moving back into Shirekeep and attempting to bolster their numbers and effectiveness with pan-Shirerithian recruitment drives. Living and working in Shirekeep seemed to continue having the stigma it earned now decades ago, when the cabbage came. Aina of Octavius-Aryani was currently receiving the strategic and tactical training available from the wide array of Sentinels on hand; it was her turn to learn them, as the older ones had, as the younger ones would still.

Isidora of Octavius-Teleni assisted Mira in her duties, having become her elder half-sister's primary administrative aide and learning the processes of the convoluted operations of the Imperial Republic. At the moment, she was reading out a notice regarding the present goings on of the Arbiter, newly-returned to the Iron Gate and the Tower of the Arbiter to hear the case of possible illegality regarding Kildare-Jingdao coordination.

Mira, who had already read it herself, was taking the opportunity to reorganize the papers in front of her on the table and to let her mind wander a bit from the long morning meeting.

And then...

Aiomide's perspective felt as if it became swallowed into the talisman on her neck. As it sped through the space at the center of the two interlaced squares of the star, it changed.


Eyes opened. Flesh and blood eyes. They opened to look out across the table at the other members of House Octavius, listening to the report being red by Isidora. Aiomide sat up. Flesh cushioned as weight sank against the seat. Heidi noticed something and turned to Mira.

"Are you okay?"

"I... THIS IS UNEXPECTED WHAT--what is this?" came out of Mira's mouth with Aiomide's voices intertwined with hers, though it quickly became disentangled.

Aiomide's perspective pushed back out into the center of the room, then drifted upward through the ceiling, through stone, back into the Kaiser's Study. The doctor was using some sort of implement to pull a tendril of cancerous material out from between and behind the ribs under the right armpit.

Aiomide stirred, but the doctor said, "please stay still, Your Niftiness. We're almost done for today."

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The Caverns Below

Post by Mira Octavius-Aryani »

The understructure of Raynor's Keep, built in the 4th Era, had underlain the Inner Keep with a sublayer of command and support facilities to meet the needs of the post-modern Kaiser in the chaos encountered at the time. Self-sufficiency and information were the goals, as evidenced to this day by the absolute control of the grain supply for the City of Shirekeep running through the large warehouses tucked between the Golden and Silver Gates. In some places, the understructure was several levels deep, dug deep into solid granite.

Despite all of the construction both upward and downward, they did not build below the Old Keep. The Kaiser's Study was decorated with an early diagram of the understructure, which did include pathways and structures below the Old Keep. That had begun the Kaiser's curiosity. Records in the Banquet Hall Archives indicated, in fact, that there were plans to build there. There was even an excavation team working down there at one point. And yet they quickly stopped and dumped fill into it, redrawing their plans to explicitly avoid the ground below the Old Keep. A reason was never given, but there was a reason.

Whatever it was that was down there, it had been there since the First Age of Shireroth, back when the Old Keep was erected by Raynor I himself. And now, late at night, there were unexplained shipments of rubble being carted out through the understructure, out through the Armory and dumped in the empty land near the Kelb.

Mira followed its convoluted path through the Outer Bailey, which was an attempt by the workers disguise the rubble's point of origin.

"What is the Kaiser doing?" She asked during her meetings with what was left of Aiomide I. "I thought you were holding onto the mortal world in order to finish your work. Now I find I'm doing more and more of your work while you search for more records deep in the Imperial Archives."

The shadowed figure did not answer.

"What is below the Old Keep?"

IT DOES NOT ADD UP

"What doesn't?" Mira had gotten used to and also tired of the Kaiser neglecting to answer directly, forgetting to vocalize them before continuing down the train of thought to its next stop.

I DO NOT KNOW

As the door opened to the Kaiser's Study, light knifed across the room, some of it gleaming onto Aiomide's forearm. Despite the lack of requisite flesh on the discolored bones, the Kaiser bent it at the elbow and retracted it underneath the cloak. Mira didn't understand how it worked, even though the Aiomide had explained it several times before.

Mira told the Sentinel to remove the light fixture that was shining down the hallway into the room. The Kaiser found light unfriendly. It showed what Aiomide had become.

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Deimos Jasonides
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Re: The Demon Core

Post by Deimos Jasonides »

Aww... poor Aiomide...
Deimos Jasonides| Деймоос Ясооннаи | Deimoos Jasoonnai
Grand Officer of the Holy Order of the Strait of Barbary
Former Prime Minister of the State of Talenore
Former Sovereign Prince of Elwynn

Just another Ric

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Ryabin Merkayastreb
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Re: The Demon Core

Post by Ryabin Merkayastreb »

No photocalls for a while then... :?
Ryabin Merkayastreb
- Son of Krasniy, Father of Stellus
- From 5222-5461 ASC, Duke of Goldshire
- From 5323-5416 ASC, Kaiser Mo'll I

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Kaiser Aiomide
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The Gate Below

Post by Kaiser Aiomide »

"I can't find any additional cancerous tissue." Doctor Rubinsky said, leaning back into his own chair. "I think we're done."

Aiomide nodded. THE SURGERY WAS A SUCCESS BUT THE PATIENT DIED

Dr Rubinsky wasn't sure whether to take that as an insult. If so, it really was not fair. He was taught by his father to serve the special medical needs of the Kaiser and had followed the absurd procedure that the Kaiser assigned to him after the Kaiser returned from Lichkeep. Amos felt blood rush through his face at the idea that any of this was his fault.

Aiomide's laugh resonated and chilled Amos Rubinsky's blood immediately. It was utterly inhuman, and Amos wanted to be back in his room on the far end of the Inner Keep. Away from this shadow of a kaiser.
I NO LONGER NEED YOUR SERVICES
PLEASE PREPARE TO LEAVE ON THE BANE OF BALGURD WITH MY FAMILY
YOUR FAMILY HAS SERVED US WELL
YOUR FAMILY MUST BE REWARDED FOR THAT SERVICE


Amos nodded. When he was young, he knew the Kaiser while the Kaiser was still alive. Amos became close to his family and became their physician once his father died.

"My father--"

HIS BONES ARE ON THE BANE OF BALGURD
HE WILL REST IN KEZAN ALONGSIDE MY OWN


Amos nodded once more. The Kaiser raised a bony hand and Amos stood and left to ready himself for the departure.

Once he was gone, Mira entered the Kaiser's Study.

IT WAS EASIER WHEN I FOUGHT THE BRASSICOSIS
IT WAS EXCITING
IT WAS TERRIFYING
EVERYTHING AFTERWARDS WAS EPILOGUE


"I don't want you to assume control of me again." Mira said. Aiomide's mind slipped back out of his skull and through the talisman, but the talisman was being held in Mira's hand, not being worn around her neck. "Advise. Observe. Do not control."

Aiomide nodded. The Kaiser stood and wrapped closed the cloak to hide beneath.

"Where are we going?"

THE SITE OF DEATH

The Great Hall. Even when Aiomide's heart still beat, the Kaiser refused to sit in the Mango Throne. The figure that sat in it when Aiomide's troops took the Great Hall was too ghastly. Now Aiomide had become that figure. Rotted through yet still commanding allegience beyond natural death. The Kaiser's daughters were assembled there, most of them packed and ready to leave aboard the Bane of Balgurd.

IRONIC THAT I AM ALLERGIC TO MANGO
WAS ALLERGIC
I MADE SURE THAT I DID NOT PASS THAT ON TO ANY OF YOU

I WILL BE GONE WHEN YOU REACH KEZAN
INFORM THE LANDSRAAD THAT HOUSE OCTAVIUS OFFERS NO SUCCESSOR AT THIS TIME
MIRA WILL REMAIN IN SHIREKEEP TO WELCOME THE SUCCESSOR

BUILD KEZAN
CONTINUE THE FAMILY


Aiomide turned away from them. Isidora of Octavius-Teleni cried out to him, but he continued.
Mira directed them down the length of the Great Hall to the Steward's Tower and out towards the Crownsport, then returned to the Inner Keep. She found the Kaiser slowly descending to the basement of the Old Keep. She had the eight-pointed star talisman around her neck, so Aiomide knew she was coming, and that she had a letter in her hand. Aiomide knew what it said, because Mira glanced over it while she made her way down there. Aiomide observed, but did not control.

They breached the cave where I anticipated it to be. They did not enter. They left the stone slab sealing the cave as instructed. I have my suspicions but I don't know how much of it is true... if any of it is true at all. And yet the facts... they do not add up. Was there a religious conflict left unrecorded? The Kaiser's voice drifted through Mira's mind, much more melodic and soothing, softer and less inhuman. Almost angelic, in opposition to the hollow voice of Aiomide's ravaged body. The voice did not intrude, it paused when Mira needed it to, so that she could withdraw the letter from her pocket without stumbling down the stairs. The voice was considerate in this way.

Aiomide stood in front of that slab, and pulled at it. Despite the lack of any muscles, the slab slid out from its resting point, and Aiomide entered. The figure turned back towards Mira. You are free to choose whether or not to enter the cave.

Mira stepped down into the cave, immediately, her feet slipped out from under her. The ground was not stable, perhaps because it was not ground. Her hands helped to cushion her landing on a mound of crumbled bones. For a moment, she feared that Aiomide had finally come apart, and that she had landed in what was left of the Kaiser. Then she saw the Kaiser's cloaked figure standing in front of her, gliding over the splintered pieces of bone. Despite the lack of light sources, the room glowed a deep maroon. Mira struggled to regain her footing and followed the Kaiser down the cave. It coiled downward, and Mira wondered whether it was natural or artificial in nature. At the far end of the cave, Aiomide's cloaked figure stood in front of a round elevated platform. It had runes carved into it along the edge of its upper surface. The runes seemed to glow in response to Aiomide's approach, and rippled with unsettling light as Aiomide's hand moved over it.

BUT WHAT DOES IT MEAN

"Ask, why don't you?" A voice said. Both Aiomide and Mira turned in its direction to find a figure that seemed human. He was seated against the side of the cavern, but stood with the grace of a dancer and glided over the bones. Unlike Mira, his steps did not grind the bones down. "Or do the Kaisers no longer know the covenent I made with them?"

Aiomide stood frozen in place. It was only now that Mira noticed that the Kaiser was not dressed in any of the imperial regalia. The crown had been left on the Mango Throne, and so had the rest it seemed.

"I know you're one of them. You have the sword." The man pointed nonchalantly to Aiomide's belt. The Kaiser pulled back the cloak in order to retrieve it, and Mira bore witness to Aiomide's final form. A yellowed skeleton with a thin membrane of flesh that seemed to hold the bones together. In parts, it resembled skin, but not entirely. There was a hole made in the side of Aiomide's skull, presumably to retrieve cancerous tissue from even in there. There were some residual organs left preserved within the abdomen, but they were picked at and shriveled.

Aiomide unsheathed the Sword of Vengeance. The man flinched slightly, then smiled.

"Yes, that's the one. You can put it back. Five thousand years and the Gate of Balgurd remain closed as promised."

FIVE THOUSAND

The man frowned. "What a voice! Here, let me help you with that." The man reached out and touched Aiomide on the shoulder. Instantly, fresh flesh began to reappear and spread across the Kaiser's skeletal body. Muscles and tendons. Fat and skin. Within mere moments the skeleton had become the living, breathing Aiomide that had not existed for decades.

"What is that?" The man laughed, watching Aiomide struggle with the cloak. "You spend your time as a walking skeleton draped in a cloak and now you have modesty? Why bother? That flesh will last you forever if you'd like it. Or perhaps you like a skeletal existence..."

With another touch, the flesh began to drip away from Aiomide's bones and poured onto the bones at their feet like hot wax.

"WAIT!" Aiomide cried, feeling the pain of flesh for the first time in a long while. "Yes. Restore it."

"Put the sword away." The man said. Aiomide slipped the Sword of Vengeance back into its sheath. The flesh returned, smooth and fit. Aiomide admired it.

"Even in my best years I was never in as good a shape."

"You can have it back. You can have it forever. This flesh will not fail you. It will maintain itself indefinitely." The man did not say it, but Aiomide understood. There was a price in this. One in which the man would get much more than he is giving now. What would he want.

"Name the price." Go upstairs, Mira. Whatever he wants, he cannot be allowed to have it.

Mira edged her way back and out of sight as the man concentrated on Aiomide, draping himself upon the newly-enfleshed Kaiser as the cloak had.

"I am tired of being down here. Five thousand years is rather dull. I much prefer the time I had above ground. It was much better. I sat at the right hand of the Kaiser and the Kaiser reigned absolutely in his two-fold realm. Everyone was happy. Everyone who mattered, of course."

"There are six parts to the realm now."

"Indeed! You kaisers have been busy! You certainly have had the time. How do you like ruling a six-fold realm?"

"The Imperial Government is ignored or threatened when they don't get their way. Can you fix that?"

The man leaned over Aiomide's shoulder, making sure not to touch the hilt of the Sword of Vengeance. "Definitely. You will rule them all. For eternity."

"What about my progeny?"

The man nodded, gently sitting himself upon the round platform at the center of the chamber, a foot playfully resting upon Aiomide's shoulder. He did not break contact, Aiomide noticed. He plays the friend yet is ready to destroy that which he has given me. The man answered. "You will rule as kaiser forever. Your children and their children and their children will be kings and queens of all the realms in the world. Your progeny will number as the sand on the beach."

Mira, return the slab to its place.

Mira could see the opening where the slab had been pushed aside and knew that Aiomide could observe her progress because Mira still wore the talisman, and the talisman was still Aiomide's anchor, not that body. Mira pulled herself up and began to push the slab back into place. It was too heavy, so she found a shovel to use for leverage, and the slab began to slide. Stone grinded against stone. Aiomide observed it through the talisman and smiled.

The man saw the smile and sat back so that the center of the platform became visible between his legs. There was a gap in it just large enough for the Sword of Vengeance to fit. Aiomide struggled to ignore it while thinking about it. Nothing in here suggested a physical Gate of Balgurd. Did it need to be opened in order to appear? Was this the gate?

"How is the covenent made?"

The man leaned back and pointed at the hole. "I gave that sword its power but it was used against me here in this very room. I cannot touch it while that covenent remains. But if you put the sword into the altar, I can pull it back out. The new covenent will be forged. I let you keep your new youth everlasting, and you let me serve you above."

High above, the slab locked back into place. Mira pressed her hands against it. Aiomide smiled and unsheathed the Sword of Vengeance. The point slid easily into the gap in the platform as if it were made for just this function.

"Just a little more. It'll only happen when the sword is all the way in." The man repositioned himself atop the platform, and for that moment, his heel no longer touched Aiomide. None of him touched Aiomide.

Aiomide pushed the Sword of Vengeance all the way down and immediately pulled it back out. For that brief moment, the Gate of Balgurd was open, and then it was closed once more. Aiomide and the Sword of Vengeance were gone, and the man was left alone in the dark cavern, crying.
Mira made her way up to the courtyard of the Inner Keep, where the Sentinels found her. She told them to find the excavation teams so that they could rebury the entrance to the cavern. No record would be made of the event. When Mira returned to the Kaiser's Study, she wrote out a new decree. The content of it was simple. The Kaiser has left the mortal plane. House Octavius chooses not to name a successor. Once signed, it would be published and made part of the official record.

The reign of Aiomide I of the Line of Octavius, formerly of the Line of Kalir, was over.

The sword is a key. I will find another door. Until then, I will observe and advise.

Deimos Jasonides
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Re: The Demon Core

Post by Deimos Jasonides »

I know I've been nagging you about how long you've been kaiser... And now that it came to this.

It's just so tragic :(
Deimos Jasonides| Деймоос Ясооннаи | Deimoos Jasoonnai
Grand Officer of the Holy Order of the Strait of Barbary
Former Prime Minister of the State of Talenore
Former Sovereign Prince of Elwynn

Just another Ric

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Mira Octavius-Aryani
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Re: The Demon Core

Post by Mira Octavius-Aryani »

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Count Palatine of Kezan
Khanum of Cabbagefall

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Tokaray al-Osman
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Re: The Demon Core

Post by Tokaray al-Osman »

Deimos Jasonides wrote:I know I've been nagging you about how long you've been kaiser... And now that it came to this.

It's just so tragic :(
So, your fault then. Again.


:wink:
His Imperial Magnificence Aurangzeb II Steffki, Kaiser of the Imperial Republic of Shireroth, Thane of the Shirelands, Keeper of the Apollo Legacy, Wielder of the Sword of Vengeance, Grand Master of the Orders of the Dragon, Griffin, Phoenix, and Chimera, Sovereign of the Golden Mango Throne.
Dr Tokaray al-Osman KBH, Commissioner of the Chamber of the Crypteia, Emir of Jadid Khaz Modan, Annexer of Yardistan

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