Eternal

Year ???

“What the hell is that thing?”
“I dunno, it’s about time we found something worthwhile in this old rubble though, because this whole expedition has been pretty pointless. Looks like some sort of weird magic shell. It also looks like something is inside, guess we’ll finally get to use this old dispel staff after all.”
“Hey wait! We don’t know what’s in there!”

…

“Shit! It’s a body!”
“Yeah. Damn, I was hoping it was treasure.”
“You think he’s dead?”
“Well he ain’t moving is he? Probably been here for who know how long, but I assume the shell preserved the corpse. Hey, check out that neat dagger he’s got. Is that mithral? Shit, that IS mithral!
“Hey you shouldn’t be doing that! You know what Calvin said!”
“Fuck Calvin, I’m taking this for myself. Not like he’s going to know, and don’t act like you’ve never done it before. I saw you pilfering some old ring in the debris back there.”
“It’s not that, I just don’t have a good feeling about this.”
“What you think he’s gonna just wake up or something?”
“Maybe…I mean like a zombie.”
“(Sigh) You and your zombies. I swear you think we’re going to unearth a tomb of undead horrors on every expedition and in all our years have we ever even encountered something remotely like that? You read too many damn bad copper dreadfuls about necromancers.”
“I dunno, I still say you should be careful. We’ve never found a body so intact before, let alone preserved in some magic shell. Maybe there was a reason for that.”
“Maybe, but that’s Calvin’s job to figure out. Right now I’m just getting my hands on this dagger…ULK!”

You sit up immediately and thrust your dagger in the throat of your assailant. Blood gushes from the fatal wound and you throw him to the side.

“Oh shit! Oh shit! Oh fuck!” you hear another attacker shout and see him fumble with some sort of pistol only to drop the weapon entirely before attempting to make his escape.

He doesn’t get far. You stand up and blast him in the back with a lightning bolt. He screams and falls making a few death twitches when his sizzling body hits the ground.

You have no idea who these people were, but that scream was loud enough to attract more enemies if they’re in the area and judging by the large sound of foot steps coming in your direction there are.

You quickly scan your surroundings and see quite a few shovels, picks and lanterns nearby, but no way out other than the one entryway that the fried fellow on the ground was trying to run to.

What happened? Last thing you remember is Semra casting a spell on you and you fell asleep as the palace was collapsing in on your heads. You don’t even know how much time has passed. The two men that were hovering around you aren’t dressed in the typical Empire style. They carry no weapons other than pistols and those are different from the ones you’ve ever seen. The pistols are more complex looking.

How much time has passed? Has the Empire fallen? What happened to everyone? Hell, at this point you’re even wondering what happened to Semra.

As the sound of footsteps get even closer you draw your sword out of its scabbard and prepare for a fight.

A group of men and women appear in the entryway. A some of them carry gunpowder weapons, but most of them are completely unarmed. Again, their style of dress isn’t familiar.

“Stop! You point those weapons at me and I can easily incinerate the lot of you! Don’t believe me? Watch!” you remark and throw a small fireball on the ground nearby. It’s enough to cause them all to back off and even cause a couple of them to run away. One of them demands to be let through so he can see exactly what’s going on.

The man that shoves his way through looks about in his fifties with thinning hair and is dressed in a fancy suit. You’ve never seen this man before, but something about him looks vaguely familiar.

When he sees you, he’s more in awe than he is scared. In fact he doesn’t seem to care at all about the two dead men on the ground.

“I can’t believe it! It’s you! I mean it’s gotta be! The way you’re dressed, the magic abilities, the location...I just can’t…”

Suddenly a higher female voice shouts from behind the crowd.

“Dad! What’s going on?! I heard all this…by the...gods…is that…”
“Yes, Jennifer it is! We’ve made the find of a lifetime! Quintus will be so pleased!”

The woman is on the younger side with raven black hair. Probably early twenties. Unlike her father her clothes are covered in dirt and more practical in nature. You also notice she’s carrying a pistol as well.

“Who the hell are all you people?! Were you sent to dig me up?! What’s happened to the Empire? Someone better explain what’s been going on!” you demand.
“Forgive us. I’m sure this must all be very confusing for you, but we don’t go on these digs to find living people, let alone someone like you. I just…wow…I can’t believe it’s you. I mean you’re the Eternal right?”
“I’m an Eternal. Yes. But you still haven’t answered and I’m starting to get impatient!” you exclaim.

“Okay, okay! My name is Calvin Mol. I am head of this archeological dig for the Nalin Republic and Senator Quintus Arillicus in particular. This is my daughter Jennifer…” Calvin begins to say before you interrupt him.

“Wait. Mol? Are you related to Jacob?” you ask because it would explain the very vague likeness. When you ask this question both he and his daughter’s eyes light up.

“Yes! He was one of my ancestors! Did you know him?! I have so many questions!”
“And your fucking questions are going to have to wait! You said Nalin Republic, what’s that? The only Nalin I know of is a province of the Empire! You also said Jacob was your ancestor, how much time has passed?!”

At this point Calvin and his daughter look a bit nervous at each other. Everyone else behind them who hasn’t already backed away entirely, does so now.

“Well…taking into the consideration of the age of these ruins and what we already know about when the cataclysm occurred…um…I’d say about five hundred…give or take a few years.” Calvin remarks.

Your heart almost skips a beat and now you’re the one in shock.

Year 535

“Five…hundred years…” you slowly utter.

You almost hesitate to ask.

“And… the Empire?”

Calvin and Jennifer look a bit nervous again.

“It’s…um…gone. Been gone for centuries. It never recovered from the unknown cataclysm that struck the land. Most of it was outright destroyed. By the time most of the pieces were picked up, those areas that weren’t hit as hard had become their own nations.” Calvin explains.

This news causes you to sit down on a nearby stone.

“I caused this…” you whisper to yourself.

Jennifer and Calvin don’t quite hear what you say, but Jennifer sensing that you’re more than a little troubled by this news attempts to cheer you up.

“What my father should’ve said, is while the Empire as you know it is gone, its spirit lives on in the Nalin Republic! Seriously, Nalin was probably the only portion of the Empire that managed to hold on to a few of its traditions and culture during those dark ages. Even the language didn’t change too much. That’s probably why you can understand us so well, even if our accents and a few of our words are slightly different to yours.”

This has no effect on your mood. You are at a complete loss of what to do. You were supposed to rule the Empire, but instead your actions were part of its destruction. You never wanted that to happen.

Maybe you should’ve believed the Emperor or at least just followed his orders. Who knows what might’ve happened? Maybe he would’ve killed you or maybe he wouldn’t have, but at least you wouldn’t be in the situation you’re in now. A man out of time. A relic of the past. You have no nation to rule or serve. You don’t even have a home or a master any more. What are you going to do with yourself?

You have no idea. The only good thing about any of this is you have a minor support base here. Jacob’s descendants are obviously very taken with you. You’ve only been half listening to what they’ve been babbling about, but they keep mentioning that they want you to return to the Nalin Republic with them so you can meet this Quintus character that apparently is going to be glad to see you as well. It would seem that you are somewhat known in the few old writings they’ve found about the old Empire.

Jennifer’s brief description of this Nalin Republic sounds at least like a good place to familiarize yourself with this new world and you could go with them if only to get some bearings before you decide what to do next.