Warsinger - Chapter Thirteen

I was still brooding on Ignas’ words when I joined the others in the dark red gallery of the Senate Chamber. Everyone who had been in ballroom had filed into here, taking positions on the fine walnut benches that encircled the Speaker’s Floor. Royalty sat closest to the front, nobility further to the back. Guests of the dignitaries had taken seats in the stands surrounding the lozenge-shaped chamber.

Suri had quite intentionally taken a seat right across from the Dakhari emissary, smirking at the stony-faced man as he glared back at her and mopped his sweating brow. I eased down into the chair on her right, giving him a stiff nod, and quietly munched down on a stack of sandwiches.

“I’ve wanted to do this my entire bloody life,” Suri gloated to me via P.M. “Look at that Rashim’el bastard’s face. His skin is crawling right now.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m Fireblooded, and he’s a fancy-pants little noble’s son whose prissy little slippered feet never touched a road before. His kind never come down to the ‘common’ parts of town except to gamble and fuck, and while they’re down there, they’re arseholes to the rest of us.”

“Define ‘arsehole’.”

“If a Shallatu kid crosses a nobleman’s shadow, he’s got the right to behead ‘em on the spot. Then he’ll make their parents pay to replace his sword.” Suri winked at the man as his eyes darted over to us. “Doesn’t stop ‘em from fucking Fireblooded girls, though.”

“Gross.”

“Totally gross. But we had namecards when we arrived, and that was his assigned seat. So here we are, breathing each other’s air, and there’s not a fuckin’ thing he can do about it.”

Everyone was just waiting around for Ignas and Rutha, so when the doors behind us opened, the whole chamber of people turned around to look. But it wasn’t Ignas – instead, a woman straight out of a King Arthur story. Tall, slim, willowy, with a long straight nose and a woven crown of blonde hair strode in ahead of six knights. They wore tabards of white and gold, their armor polished to a mirror finish. Their cauldrons were styled in the shape of snarling lions, as were the open-faced helmets they wore.

“Her Majesty, Queen Eevi Leijona of Revala,” the butler sang out, gesturing to the queen’s assigned seat with a flourish. She was ahead of us at the table, but on the same side. “Her daughter, Crown Princess Sohvi Leijona, and attendants.”

Two of the Lion Knights bustled forward to pull chairs out for the ladies. The queen of Revala descended into hers with a wryly melodramatic sigh, putting her hand to her forehead before winking at me and Suri. To the room, she called out: “My dear fellows, I apologize for being so late. Our airship got here and was caught up in that beastly squall coming in over the ocean. I pray we did not hold up the proceedings?”

There was a polite murmur of ‘No, your Majesty’ around the room.

“Oh, thank the gods,” she sighed, leaning back. Then she turned her head on her long neck, and smiled gracefully at me. “Are they just being nice about it, or…?”

“Nope,” I said. “We’re waiting for Ignas to bring Rutha of Vasteau out to speak.”

“Ignas’? How familiar of you.” She leaned over conspiratorially. “Well, between you and me, Lord…?”

“Dragozin,” I said. “And Countess Ba’Hadir.”

The queen wagged her eyebrows at Suri. “Well, between the three of us, I’m glad I skipped the reception. My dear Ignas is duty-bound to spread out tons of those awful little crab and asparagus sandwiches that are so fashionable right now, but they give me terrible gas. And as your lady surely knows, you never want to have gas while wearing a bodice.”

Suri and I both snerked out loud. The Dakhari emissary scowled.

The princess smiled shyly to the both of us as she descended into her seat in a froth of lace and diamonds, hugging a feathery little Compsognathus to her chest like a puppy. The Compy’s head jerked up as a door opened from behind the senate podium, something only she and I heard just before Ignas entered ahead of Rutha. One of his footmen wheeled the frail Lysian woman out, and several people – Queen Eevi among them – let out sighs of dismay or drew sharp, surprised breaths.

“Lady’s tits: what did those Ilian pigs do to her?” The Queen hissed.

“Mama, don’t swear!” the princess whispered back, scandalized. “We’re in Parliament!”

“Screw Parliament,” her mother scolded quietly. “And screw Ilia! She is a friend of the court, and look at her!”

“Ladies and Gentlemen of the Alliance, thank you all for being here today.” Ignas took his place at the podium, lifting his voice to be heard through the chamber. “We have all been concerned about the death of Warden Scandiva and the reinstatement of the throne under one Baldr Hyland, a petty nobleman turned dragon knight who has now proclaimed himself King of Ilia and ‘Emperor of Hercynia’. Rutha of Vasteau is known to most of you as an honorable and loyal public servant within the Kingdoms of the Alliance. She is here to speak today and give us more insight into what took place in Liren, and what may happen next. I would ask you reserve your questions and concerns until the end of her testimony. Thank you.”

The King offered Rutha a hand as the servant helped to move her from the wheelchair to the speaker’s seat. She took it as gracefully as she could, but it was clear that it was an effort. I reached down and squeezed Suri’s hand… I’d been afraid of finding her as badly hurt as this, down in Al-Asad.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Rutha began, her fluted voice scratchy, but clear. "I am Rutha of Vasteau, former court sorceress of his Highness King Rosvind Illandi the Seventh, then advisor to the Honorable Warden Yoren Scandiva. I see your expressions as I say his name, but please, I beg you all to suspend your opinion of the Ilian Revolution and its results while I speak to you of the current, greater threat. Warden Scandiva may not have been popular among the royalty of Hercynia and abroad, but there are two things I can say for him. Firstly, he was an honest man, and sincere in his ideals. Secondly, he had the broad support of our populace, who welcomed him after the depredations of the old regime. But our nation, which was still fragile after a long and brutal civil war, has now most certainly been usurped by a tyrant. Baldr Hyland took me prisoner during the coup, and he made it clear to me that Ilia is only the first conquest he intends to make."

I glanced at the faces around the quorum while she spoke. Sure enough, people did scowl at the sound of Scandiva's name. I'd never known the guy, but it was pretty clear he hadn't been popular.

"You all saw the message; you all know his name. But what you may not know is this: Baldr Hyland is Starborn." Rutha lifted her chin slightly. "And before you scoff, yes - what the myths say about the Starborn is true. They are immortal, able to return to life after death. They do not age, they do not grow old or weak-"

"You expect us to believe this quatschen?" A stocky man dressed all in gray stiffened in his chair with indignation. "Starborn? Immortal tyrants? Vlachia, with all due respect-"

"Gilheim, I understand your disbelief. I did not believe it when I first heard it, but she is telling the truth," Ignas said sharply. "The fact we all received the revelation that Baldr had conquered Ilia is proof. The myths of the Starborn were not children's stories after all: They are our history, and history is repeating itself. Two Starborn sit among us today. Count and Countess of Myszno, make yourselves known."

Suri and I both hesitated before we raised our hands.

"You two?" The man from Gilheim narrowed his eyes. "Immortal? Only the Lord and Lady are immortal. Anything else is-"

"Heresy, we know." Queen Eevi sighed and rolled her brilliant blue eyes. "And yet, here they stand. Not all of us are ruled by the Church, Gilheim, and some of us have more open minds than yours. Our dear Vlachia has never been known for his fancies or make-believe. If he says they are Starborn, it is true."

"And so is Baldr," I said, so suddenly I surprised myself as well as everyone else in the room. "I killed him once myself. Suri and I have both died and returned. Baldr and at least two of the people he's working with are the same as we are."

"Yes, Gilheim, and short of sacrificing them on the lectern and creating a horrible mess so we can watch them rise up from the tangle of their own bowels, we're going to have to take it at face value," the Queen said briskly. "Carry on, Rutha."

Rutha had shrunk back a little while the debate raged on, but quickly regained her composure. "As I was saying, Baldr is Starborn - and as the Count of Myszno just noted, so are his top two lieutenants. Even worse, all three of them are dragonriders."

That caused a murmur of alarm to go up around the chamber. Suri reached for my hand, and I gripped her fingers in mine.

"I will now attempt to give you a faithful recounting of how they bought Ilia to its knees," Rutha continued, pausing to gather herself. "The details of what led to the formation of the coup are honestly unknown to anyone outside of the Eyrie, the ancestral fortress of the Order of St. Grigori, Ilia's dragon-knights. What we do know is that Baldr Hyland first slew the Knight-Commander of the Eyrie, his lieutenants and sergeants, and either earned or forced the loyalty of the others there. There was a revolt at the Warden's fortress, who were charged with keeping the Order under check. The dragons razed Fort Palewing to the ground, and as far as we know, killed everyone inside."

Jeez. Jasper, Sergeant Blackwin… Kira and Owen. I shook my head, rubbing the bridge of my nose.

"After that, Baldr led a hundred-and-fifty strong wing of dragons to the capitol," Rutha continued. "No one was prepared. The events at the Eyrie had transpired so quickly that no one was able to reach Liren in time to warn the government, not even by airship. I was at the palace, in a treasury meeting with the Warden and several other dignitaries when they teleported into the city. Dragons immediately attacked the city's naval skyport and took possession of our warships. A wing of them lay waste to the parliament. The conflagration enveloped the building and killed all those inside. The rest came for the palace. It was absolute chaos. Scandiva screamed for cannons to be mounted and rushed to the roof of Dinant Palace, only to be confronted by three dragons and their riders. Baldr Hyland, and his Starborn lieutenants: Lucien Hart, and Violetta De Vrys. They ordered that we surrender. The Warden refused, and there was a pitched battle before Baldr slew Warden Scandiva and kicked his body off the battlements. I was captured, my spellgloves removed, and was pinned under the feet of one of the dragons while Baldr and the Skyrdon entered the palace and put every man and most of the women to the sword."

The room had fallen silent now. Ignas watched pensively, his brow furrowed. Queen Elanora'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 bought 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 his servant, and every time I refused him, 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 executions 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 began 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.

"First Starborn, and now demons?" Gilheim scoffed. "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 the Great Evil."

"Yes. The Great Evil bought here by their devilish agents.” 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 Drakhar, 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 backgrounds, 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 Al'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 let that 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. "Our Emperor's lands span even more territory than the kingdom of those of Vlachia, itself a mighty kingdom. One hundred and fifty dragons is 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 this war. If we crush them now, we can take these Starborn and brick them up naked and alone inside of a very secure vault. 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 in place. 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."

"Then taking the fight to him is all the more important," the queen 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 found the Dragon Gate of Glorious Dawn, the tomb of the goddess Solnetsi, and he's siphoning tons of mana from it."

My proclamation was met with shocked silence.

"That is not possible," Ambassador Moon said.

"It is. Because the vampire who... uh..." I glanced at Ignas, who shook his head. "Because we stopped a vampire from Napath from doing it. 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 him on how to draw mana from the Gate. We fought them when we were dealing with Ashur."

"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 faith 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?"

"You find Starborn of your own." Suri rose to stand beside me. "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. Even if it does not stop Baldr 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 the Sultir, 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 Counsel," 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."

"Gilheim votes yes on both measures," Rupert the Religious grunted.

Elanor lifted a slim hand, glancing pointedly at the representatives of Dakhdir and Jeun. "Revala votes yes on all measures, provided that if Ilia threatens my borders before our plans are legislated, that the Alliance is willing to mobilize to defend its members and can guarantee contribution regardless of Ilia's economic value."

Moon bowed from the waist. "Of course, your Majesty. In the event of aggressive actions, 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."