Spring, 1392
Despite numerous setbacks, the Dominion had defeated all opponents, driving the Walkerites, Other Men, Tulusuclumians and Sabines back before it. It was now at the height of its power, and no external foes in Nalbin contested it for power-the only remaining opposition was internal, such as their erstwhile allies, Miscabbards, who had almost created a state within a state. Yet power and weakness are always balanced at a knife’s edge, and now the long, mutually beneficial alliance that had held from the War of the Lion and Bear and through the Tulusculum and Sabine Wars was now about to collapse under the opposing strains of ambition.
It started innocuously enough. General Earl Pierce was an old friend and loyalist to the Emperor, and head of the Aquelia Theme for close to fifteen years. For years he had chafed at the Dominion’s hands-off approach with the Miscabbards, tying the Stratego’s hands as the cultists set up a parallel theocratic government to the empire. As the Dominion’s wars of expansion continued, the financial strain of the simultaneous Imperial taxes and the Miscabbard religious tithes on the populace became more and more obvious. Finally, the Stratego began to crack down on the cultist payments, sending soldiers to round up tithe collectors. To get around the legality of the tax-free status of the Miscabbards, General Pierce simply stated that the tithe collectors themselves were earning revenue and needed to pay their share to the empire. Consequently he imprisoned them until they paid a tax on their earnings. The Stratego thought that he had uncovered a brilliant loophole to the relationship between the cult and the state. Unfortunately he was quickly proved wrong when a massive mob of 20000 zealots stormed the Fortress of Rusafa, overwhelmed the garrison and guards, and tore them and General Pierce to pieces, their heads and arms gracing the pikes and bills of the Miscabbards. Within two weeks, the entire Theme of Aquelia fell under the control of the followers of the Lord of the Sky. Throughout Nalbin, from Daicia to Tulusculum, the leaders and merchants nervously looked at the widespread number of Miscabbards and their discontented mutterings and remembered the devastation and destruction of the Freeland Brother Revolt. Messengers, on foot, horseback and wing, headed towards the Imperial Capital.
***
“The Miscabbards assassinated General Pierce and seized control of the Aquelian government. The cultists are now in control of that theme.”
Old Emperor Nicolas Jamerson sat on the Lion’s Throne, the Amber Crown resting atop his forehead. It had been twenty years since when he had seized the throne and the crown from the Walkerites. There had not been peace in Auxia since then, even as the kingdom slowly recovered from the chaos of the decades before and reached greater power than it had ever had. The emperor was exhausted, but ambition is an addiction; it can never stop. Indeed Emperor Nicholas had been planning a renewed attack on the Kankalis Union when unwelcome news came of domestic troubles.
Steward Oda handed the emperor a pile of messages, each stating an iteration of the same thing. After skimming through a dozen, Emperor Nicholas tossed the rest to the ground in frustration. The courtiers fell silent at the thick packet of papers slapping onto the ground.
The emperor shook his head. “Those cultists have gotten too powerful. I have left them alone for too long." He ran his hand through his forehead.
"Order all themes to crack down on the Miscabbards branches under their command. Have the Northern and Western thematas to each raise five thousand men. I’ll join them with my Imperial Guard, and we will crush these followers of a false prophet.”
“Do you think that wise sir?” The Steward offered. “The alliance between you and the Miscabbards have been long and mutually beneficial. Even if you strike fast, a ferocious civil war may break out. Perhaps we should send envoys over to elucidate the reason for Miscabbards harming the empire.”
Emperor Jamerson shot up, his old frame regaining some of the youthful fire that he had used when he usurped the throne. “War needs to happen sooner or later." He roared. "It is time to remind everyone who is the true master of Nalbin.”
“Very well sir.” Steward Oda nodded.
***
The Themes of Capena and Volscia were called out, 16000 soldiers, a fourth core professionals armed with hounskull, pikes and plate armor. Within four days, the Dominion troops swept through Aquelia from North and South, breaking into homes and arresting entire families who they found had the bone sphere and sacrificial tripod. Any and all opposition were swiftly crushed: at Beziers, when the Miscabbards locked the city gates, the city was swiftly stormed and its inhabitants massacred. Within two weeks the three columns of Imperial troops had left behind a trail of 20000 dead and were within twenty miles of Clusium, close enough to hear the church bells tolling.
Messages flew far and wide, only slightly slower than the rumors.
The Jamersonians were turning against the Miscabbards!
***
The Lord of the Sky sat on her throne idly playing with a human skull while Noran, her new majordomo, read out the messages of the massacres. It had only been a month since she had seized power from the Lord of the Earth, and she was beginning to enjoy ruling. Yelkcub had adapted most of the customs and ceremonies of her predecessor, even taking up his costume: the scarlet cape, a little worse for wear, graced her shoulders, and the Scepter of Conflict had been custom-made to fit into a belt along her shoulder. Most blatant though, was the dragon skull she had seized as a her trophy of war and which now constantly graced her own head. She was the boss, and if any of the other Miscabbards disagreed, they could join the mutilated remains of Widesytdrek and his loyalists rotting in front of the Ceremony Chamber.
“What is your will, my Lord?” Noran asked after he finished his reading. The Lord of the Sky was seemingly busy bouncing the human skull in her paws.
"My Lord?" The new Majordomo asked again.
“So, the emperor has finally decided to turn on us.” The Lord of the Sky finally replied, solemnly nodding before breaking into a vicious grin, a sadistic gleam in her eye.
“Well then, let everyone see who is the puppet and who is the master.”
Placing a pair of claws through the human skull, she manipulated the bone so that it pantomimed the skull speaking.
“Kill him.”
***
Twenty days later, the messenger pigeons returned to roost in the Bird’s Tower of Castle Caldern. Guards and courtiers watched as the messages were assembled and brought to the court.
“Griswold and Fela’s troops have successfully reached their rendezvous points." Steward Oda nodded. "Together they have put Clusium under siege and are awaiting your orders.”
For the first time in five years, Emperor Jamerson smiled. It had been a while since he had had a military campaign. He immediately got up and took Faithkeeper from where it hung besides the Lion's Throne.
“Good. Call up my horse and guards. We ride to Clusium. All Themes will halt their activities. Once Aquelia has been retaken, I want all the Strategos to find their so-called Lord of the Sky, and destroy them. If necessary, our imperial troops will support their efforts. " The emperor began walking to the mews, Steward Oda quickly following behind him. "With luck, we will eliminate these troublesome cultists once and for all.”
The Steward was shaking his head. “Unfortunately my liege, I don’t think that will work.”
Emperor Jamerson stopped. His Steward had never directly opposed one of his positions after it had been decided.
“Why not?”
“The Miscabbards are everywhere, my liege. Including here!” Steward Oda suddenly pulled out a long penknife and jabbed it with full force into Emperor Nicolas’ back.
The entire court stood in shock. Gasping, Emperor Nicholas Jamerson staggered backwards, trying desperately to breathe with a collapsed lung.
“Thus be to all who turn against the Light of the Skies!” The assassin solemnly intoned, tears streaming down his face, just before one of the emperor’s guards cut him down.
The Tallest Man On Earth-The Gardener
My secondary villain, Yelkcub, who replaces the Lord of the Earth. Groups that pursue purity will always end up consuming itself over who is the most righteous.
Another reference from morglenpraefectum!
Despite numerous setbacks, the Dominion had defeated all opponents, driving the Walkerites, Other Men, Tulusuclumians and Sabines back before it. It was now at the height of its power, and no external foes in Nalbin contested it for power-the only remaining opposition was internal, such as their erstwhile allies, Miscabbards, who had almost created a state within a state. Yet power and weakness are always balanced at a knife’s edge, and now the long, mutually beneficial alliance that had held from the War of the Lion and Bear and through the Tulusculum and Sabine Wars was now about to collapse under the opposing strains of ambition.
It started innocuously enough. General Earl Pierce was an old friend and loyalist to the Emperor, and head of the Aquelia Theme for close to fifteen years. For years he had chafed at the Dominion’s hands-off approach with the Miscabbards, tying the Stratego’s hands as the cultists set up a parallel theocratic government to the empire. As the Dominion’s wars of expansion continued, the financial strain of the simultaneous Imperial taxes and the Miscabbard religious tithes on the populace became more and more obvious. Finally, the Stratego began to crack down on the cultist payments, sending soldiers to round up tithe collectors. To get around the legality of the tax-free status of the Miscabbards, General Pierce simply stated that the tithe collectors themselves were earning revenue and needed to pay their share to the empire. Consequently he imprisoned them until they paid a tax on their earnings. The Stratego thought that he had uncovered a brilliant loophole to the relationship between the cult and the state. Unfortunately he was quickly proved wrong when a massive mob of 20000 zealots stormed the Fortress of Rusafa, overwhelmed the garrison and guards, and tore them and General Pierce to pieces, their heads and arms gracing the pikes and bills of the Miscabbards. Within two weeks, the entire Theme of Aquelia fell under the control of the followers of the Lord of the Sky. Throughout Nalbin, from Daicia to Tulusculum, the leaders and merchants nervously looked at the widespread number of Miscabbards and their discontented mutterings and remembered the devastation and destruction of the Freeland Brother Revolt. Messengers, on foot, horseback and wing, headed towards the Imperial Capital.
***
“The Miscabbards assassinated General Pierce and seized control of the Aquelian government. The cultists are now in control of that theme.”
Old Emperor Nicolas Jamerson sat on the Lion’s Throne, the Amber Crown resting atop his forehead. It had been twenty years since when he had seized the throne and the crown from the Walkerites. There had not been peace in Auxia since then, even as the kingdom slowly recovered from the chaos of the decades before and reached greater power than it had ever had. The emperor was exhausted, but ambition is an addiction; it can never stop. Indeed Emperor Nicholas had been planning a renewed attack on the Kankalis Union when unwelcome news came of domestic troubles.
Steward Oda handed the emperor a pile of messages, each stating an iteration of the same thing. After skimming through a dozen, Emperor Nicholas tossed the rest to the ground in frustration. The courtiers fell silent at the thick packet of papers slapping onto the ground.
The emperor shook his head. “Those cultists have gotten too powerful. I have left them alone for too long." He ran his hand through his forehead.
"Order all themes to crack down on the Miscabbards branches under their command. Have the Northern and Western thematas to each raise five thousand men. I’ll join them with my Imperial Guard, and we will crush these followers of a false prophet.”
“Do you think that wise sir?” The Steward offered. “The alliance between you and the Miscabbards have been long and mutually beneficial. Even if you strike fast, a ferocious civil war may break out. Perhaps we should send envoys over to elucidate the reason for Miscabbards harming the empire.”
Emperor Jamerson shot up, his old frame regaining some of the youthful fire that he had used when he usurped the throne. “War needs to happen sooner or later." He roared. "It is time to remind everyone who is the true master of Nalbin.”
“Very well sir.” Steward Oda nodded.
***
The Themes of Capena and Volscia were called out, 16000 soldiers, a fourth core professionals armed with hounskull, pikes and plate armor. Within four days, the Dominion troops swept through Aquelia from North and South, breaking into homes and arresting entire families who they found had the bone sphere and sacrificial tripod. Any and all opposition were swiftly crushed: at Beziers, when the Miscabbards locked the city gates, the city was swiftly stormed and its inhabitants massacred. Within two weeks the three columns of Imperial troops had left behind a trail of 20000 dead and were within twenty miles of Clusium, close enough to hear the church bells tolling.
Messages flew far and wide, only slightly slower than the rumors.
The Jamersonians were turning against the Miscabbards!
***
The Lord of the Sky sat on her throne idly playing with a human skull while Noran, her new majordomo, read out the messages of the massacres. It had only been a month since she had seized power from the Lord of the Earth, and she was beginning to enjoy ruling. Yelkcub had adapted most of the customs and ceremonies of her predecessor, even taking up his costume: the scarlet cape, a little worse for wear, graced her shoulders, and the Scepter of Conflict had been custom-made to fit into a belt along her shoulder. Most blatant though, was the dragon skull she had seized as a her trophy of war and which now constantly graced her own head. She was the boss, and if any of the other Miscabbards disagreed, they could join the mutilated remains of Widesytdrek and his loyalists rotting in front of the Ceremony Chamber.
“What is your will, my Lord?” Noran asked after he finished his reading. The Lord of the Sky was seemingly busy bouncing the human skull in her paws.
"My Lord?" The new Majordomo asked again.
“So, the emperor has finally decided to turn on us.” The Lord of the Sky finally replied, solemnly nodding before breaking into a vicious grin, a sadistic gleam in her eye.
“Well then, let everyone see who is the puppet and who is the master.”
Placing a pair of claws through the human skull, she manipulated the bone so that it pantomimed the skull speaking.
“Kill him.”
***
Twenty days later, the messenger pigeons returned to roost in the Bird’s Tower of Castle Caldern. Guards and courtiers watched as the messages were assembled and brought to the court.
“Griswold and Fela’s troops have successfully reached their rendezvous points." Steward Oda nodded. "Together they have put Clusium under siege and are awaiting your orders.”
For the first time in five years, Emperor Jamerson smiled. It had been a while since he had had a military campaign. He immediately got up and took Faithkeeper from where it hung besides the Lion's Throne.
“Good. Call up my horse and guards. We ride to Clusium. All Themes will halt their activities. Once Aquelia has been retaken, I want all the Strategos to find their so-called Lord of the Sky, and destroy them. If necessary, our imperial troops will support their efforts. " The emperor began walking to the mews, Steward Oda quickly following behind him. "With luck, we will eliminate these troublesome cultists once and for all.”
The Steward was shaking his head. “Unfortunately my liege, I don’t think that will work.”
Emperor Jamerson stopped. His Steward had never directly opposed one of his positions after it had been decided.
“Why not?”
“The Miscabbards are everywhere, my liege. Including here!” Steward Oda suddenly pulled out a long penknife and jabbed it with full force into Emperor Nicolas’ back.
The entire court stood in shock. Gasping, Emperor Nicholas Jamerson staggered backwards, trying desperately to breathe with a collapsed lung.
“Thus be to all who turn against the Light of the Skies!” The assassin solemnly intoned, tears streaming down his face, just before one of the emperor’s guards cut him down.
The Tallest Man On Earth-The Gardener
My secondary villain, Yelkcub, who replaces the Lord of the Earth. Groups that pursue purity will always end up consuming itself over who is the most righteous.
Another reference from morglenpraefectum!
Category Artwork (Digital) / Fantasy
Species Western Dragon
Gender Female
Size 1280 x 705px
Listed in Folders
Curious! Is there or will there be more backstory to yelkcub? So far as I've read she turned up and took the lord of the earth's place, but I don't recall reading about her motives or history
Yep! Getting some commissions that will go into her story and how she replaced the Lord of the Earth.
(Spoilers: the Lord of the Earth saw that he was becoming corrupted after his clash with the Underland demon known as the Stanton Dragon, and passed the mantle onto a worthy successor before killing himself and destroying that threat-it was totally not a bloody coup and those dark rumors are more corruptions from the Lords of the Underlands >.> ).
(Spoilers: the Lord of the Earth saw that he was becoming corrupted after his clash with the Underland demon known as the Stanton Dragon, and passed the mantle onto a worthy successor before killing himself and destroying that threat-it was totally not a bloody coup and those dark rumors are more corruptions from the Lords of the Underlands >.> ).
Great! Looking forward to reading about it. :) I love me a peaceful transfer of power, they are so uncommon!
That was a very dramatic assassination. I like the implicit warning Steward Oda gave, just to bewilder the emperor for a second before striking him. And that's an interesting thought about purity and self-consumption.
Yah the murder before the entire court gave a clear message to everyone. I'm also leaving it open why the Steward was crying after the assassination and why the guards killed him (after clearly failing to stop the assassination). Was he blackmailed? Was this a moment that he never thought he'd be called on? Were the guards punishing the assassin or trying to keep him silent?
Those are interesting questions. The crying part made me wonder a little, but I shortly decided he's just tearing up knowing that he is about to be killed, which fits with the possibility that "this is a moment he never thought he'd be called on." As for the guards, I figured that was simply punishment, to kill the assassin on site. But alternatively they could have apprehended him for questioning, since the conspiracy may run more extensively than just one assassin. It would be interesting if the guards were in on it too. I didn't consider that possibility of them trying to keep Oda silent, or of Oda simply being a loose end that was originally blackmailed.
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