Eternal
This is silly, here you are with the Empire so close to resurrection and you’re sitting here wondering if it’s all worth it. Of course it’s worth it! It’s what your whole life has been about and it doesn’t matter what time period it is.
Whether you’re ruling it, or someone else is, it doesn’t matter. The Empire must live on. If you just give up now, then what was the point of any of it? And as for Jennifer, you probably should just put an end to that disaster waiting to happen as soon as you can.
She’s a nice girl and everything, but she’s not Alison and she never will be. Not to mention with you by her side she’s likely to wind up dead just like Alison. You have no doubt that you’ll eventually acquire some powerful enemies looking to take advantage of any possible weakness you might have.
You return to your duties without another thought.
After about a couple of weeks of your regular rounds in Quala, you decide its time to go visit Trog about your arrangement and how it needs to be altered. With Batalimus’ suicide, Quintus’ larger influence and the army now stronger than it ever has been, you don’t really need orcs as a terror distraction anymore, especially if you want to incorporate them into this new Empire one day. Of course that plan may still fail, but your current deal is a deal and you and Trog have dealt straight with each other so far.
You travel the Flogger tribe’s territory and just like last time, Trog was already expecting your visit.
“So once again the Eternal visits Trog. Is our arrangement going as planned?”
“Yes, but that’s why I’m here. We’ve gotten what we need from the war. You no longer have to play any role in it, that is stirring up the other orc tribes.”
“Trog see. Very well we did have an agreement and the Floggers have benefitted greatly from this arrangement, so it is done for now. However, Trog cannot promise that other minor tribes will not still attack. Can only promise that Floggers will no longer play any part in such attacks.”
“That’s fine, probably for the best that we still get a few attacks. Well that was all I had to say, I’ll see you around…”
You’re about to leave, but Trog speaks up.
“Are you not also here about your people that went up to explore Rask?” Trog asks.
“No. What people?”
“Trog surprised that you did not know. Two weeks ago a group came here attempting to seek passage through Flogger territory. They were lead by a woman with black hair. Trog assumed you knew about this because the woman certainly knew enough about our arrangement to attempt such a thing in the first place.”
“Wait, was this woman’s name Jennifer Mol?”
“Trog believe that it was. Said she was trying to explore Rask for some warrior’s guild or something. Even Trog not sure if it exists, just heard the rumors at times.”
“So did you let her through?”
“No. She refused to pay the toll which was to leave a couple of her people here for good will.”
“So she went back home then.”
“No. She said she’d go around, but then she attempted to sneak through our territory at a weakly guarded area during the night instead.”
You almost don’t want to hear what is going to come next.
“Trog see that this woman is someone important to you? If it helps, Floggers did not kill her. She managed to hide and escape before we could. Floggers did however capture and kill some of her crew though. Floggers cannot just have people coming through territory without permission. Cannot show weakness. Trog hopes you understand this. Trog even had guards that were supposed to be watching that area killed for their lack of attention.”
Strangely enough you do understand. You can’t really be angry at Trog and the rest of his tribe for being territorial. It was actually pretty civilized of them to offer a toll option in the first place. Really you can’t believe Jennifer would be so foolhardy to attempt something like this, but then she has been braving the dangers of Quala long before you even showed up, so maybe this isn’t too out of character for her, especially when she’s got her mind set on an expedition.
“So…do you know where she went?”
“North, past Flogger territory. That was two weeks ago though, Trog doubts that she still alive. Rask is very harsh, even more than Quala, also the dreaded wendigo live there. She has not tried to sneak back through Flogger territory and Flogger’s would know because we’ve increased the guards since her break through.”
Part of you almost wants to go try to find her; despite the fact you just recently believed that the two of you shouldn’t attempts any sort of relationship. Now you start to wonder if you could’ve prevented all this if you HAD gone to see her two weeks ago. You resist the urge though. For one thing, it’s been two weeks. Any way of tracking her is going to be poor at best given all the snowstorms Rask endures. Second, her group isn’t the most battle ready. They’re going to mostly consist of scholar types that can’t fight worth shit. While she probably took a few soldiers with her, even they’re going to be fucked when they encounter something like a wendigo or even a giant.
She’s dead and that’s it. Just eliminates the need for you to worry about one more decision. It doesn’t put you in the best of moods though.
It’s that mood that has you return to Nalin and the capital where you see Quintus.
“Good, I’m glad you’re back, we need to…” Quintus begins to say when you come through the front door of his house and then he notices the fresh blood on your sword and his guards nowhere to be seen. His eyes widen when you raise your hand up to cast a lightning bolt to his face.
You find however that the spell fails to work on him and one of his rings glows brightly.
“I figured one of those rings protected you from magic. Pity, I was trying to give you a quick and less painful death.” You say and advance upon him with your sword in hand.
“No! What’re you doing?! We’re on the same side! We were going to revive the Empire!” Quintus exclaims backing up on the stairway and attempts to rub one of his rings. You aren’t exactly sure what he’s attempting to do, but you’re not going to let him do it.
You making a lunging rush at him and he nearly disappears before you, but you’ve already stuck him like a pig. His brief attempt at invisibility fades as his dying face stares at you.
“Wh…why? I…helped…I…was going…to be…emperor…”
“Plans change.” you say and throw Quintus over the stair railing where his body falls to the floor in a bloody heap.
Afterwards you take care of Quintus’ family. As dysfunctional as they all are, the last thing you need is for any of them to attempt revenge for whatever reason.
The day after, you gather as many soldiers as you can, march into the senate and officially dissolve it in a very violent way. Every senator is killed and the floors of the senate hall run red with blood that day. Most beg for mercy, but you’re not in a mercy-giving mood.
A few days later and it’s official. You make your announcement that the Republic is dead and that the Empire now lives again. The general public doesn’t know quite what to make of everything. You’re sure that there will be some sort of misguided rebellion, but with the military behind you’re confident that you won’t have too much trouble.
Year 542
You’re so damn tired you don’t even know when the last time you had any proper sleep. It’s just been one rebellion after another and ongoing strife. You haven’t even had thoughts of expansion mainly because you’ve been attempting to maintain order on what you do have.
You have attempted to recreate a secret police in a similar style of the Emperor’s Eyes, but efforts haven’t proved too successful mainly because you’re too busy using the military to keep direct order.
It isn’t that the people don’t fear you, it’s that they hate you more than they fear. Even after you’ve destroyed entire towns that have dared defy you, you still get pockets of resistance running off into the wilderness to cause ongoing problems.
Your methods in the beginning months were probably too harsh in retrospect, but your mind wasn’t in the best place then due to Jennifer’s death, which you took a little harder than you imagined you would. Killing everyone in the senate certainly didn’t help as perhaps some of those experienced fools might’ve still been useful in swaying public opinion and dealing with the more mundane issues of running the government. Combine this with the fact that the idea of things like “liberty” still lingered within the people, your brutal actions only proved to them what happens when a single tyrant takes power. Instead of cowing them into submission, you ended up lighting a fire of freedom that you still haven’t put out yet and at this point you wonder if you ever will.
Even portions of your military have turned against you, if not outright treason then desertion. Some have fled to find work within the six cities of Arat or even joined up with the pirate groups in Delerg.
Between the steady attrition of loyal soldiers, the ongoing defiance of the people, external threats like the Flogger tribe hearing of your struggles and taking advantage of your lightly defended outposts in Quala (And certainly have no intention of joining your Empire now) you are pushed to the brink and beyond.
You decide if the fools won’t submit to your rule, you’ll burn the whole damn thing down. You unleash a terrible force of magic the likes most have never seen. You begin destroying entire cities and farmland. It gets to the point where even the most loyal won’t even follow you into destroying their homeland.
Your reign of terror eventually comes to an end through a combined effort of the citizens of Nalin. Even your powerful magic can’t stop an entire nation out for your blood and near the end you’re exhausted and half crazed from bloodlust anyway.
“Bah, I don’t need magic to do my work!” are your last words before you slaughter a few dozen men and women and are shot with several bullets and stabbed repeatedly by a mob.
You might’ve still went down in history as reminder to the people of Nalin of why they should value freedom and never submit to a totalitarian state…
But then the Flogger tribe rampaged through the decimated nation, which had practically depleted all of its resources in its war against you. The orcs leave no evidence of an Empire or a Republic ever having existed.
Whether you’re ruling it, or someone else is, it doesn’t matter. The Empire must live on. If you just give up now, then what was the point of any of it? And as for Jennifer, you probably should just put an end to that disaster waiting to happen as soon as you can.
She’s a nice girl and everything, but she’s not Alison and she never will be. Not to mention with you by her side she’s likely to wind up dead just like Alison. You have no doubt that you’ll eventually acquire some powerful enemies looking to take advantage of any possible weakness you might have.
You return to your duties without another thought.
After about a couple of weeks of your regular rounds in Quala, you decide its time to go visit Trog about your arrangement and how it needs to be altered. With Batalimus’ suicide, Quintus’ larger influence and the army now stronger than it ever has been, you don’t really need orcs as a terror distraction anymore, especially if you want to incorporate them into this new Empire one day. Of course that plan may still fail, but your current deal is a deal and you and Trog have dealt straight with each other so far.
You travel the Flogger tribe’s territory and just like last time, Trog was already expecting your visit.
“So once again the Eternal visits Trog. Is our arrangement going as planned?”
“Yes, but that’s why I’m here. We’ve gotten what we need from the war. You no longer have to play any role in it, that is stirring up the other orc tribes.”
“Trog see. Very well we did have an agreement and the Floggers have benefitted greatly from this arrangement, so it is done for now. However, Trog cannot promise that other minor tribes will not still attack. Can only promise that Floggers will no longer play any part in such attacks.”
“That’s fine, probably for the best that we still get a few attacks. Well that was all I had to say, I’ll see you around…”
You’re about to leave, but Trog speaks up.
“Are you not also here about your people that went up to explore Rask?” Trog asks.
“No. What people?”
“Trog surprised that you did not know. Two weeks ago a group came here attempting to seek passage through Flogger territory. They were lead by a woman with black hair. Trog assumed you knew about this because the woman certainly knew enough about our arrangement to attempt such a thing in the first place.”
“Wait, was this woman’s name Jennifer Mol?”
“Trog believe that it was. Said she was trying to explore Rask for some warrior’s guild or something. Even Trog not sure if it exists, just heard the rumors at times.”
“So did you let her through?”
“No. She refused to pay the toll which was to leave a couple of her people here for good will.”
“So she went back home then.”
“No. She said she’d go around, but then she attempted to sneak through our territory at a weakly guarded area during the night instead.”
You almost don’t want to hear what is going to come next.
“Trog see that this woman is someone important to you? If it helps, Floggers did not kill her. She managed to hide and escape before we could. Floggers did however capture and kill some of her crew though. Floggers cannot just have people coming through territory without permission. Cannot show weakness. Trog hopes you understand this. Trog even had guards that were supposed to be watching that area killed for their lack of attention.”
Strangely enough you do understand. You can’t really be angry at Trog and the rest of his tribe for being territorial. It was actually pretty civilized of them to offer a toll option in the first place. Really you can’t believe Jennifer would be so foolhardy to attempt something like this, but then she has been braving the dangers of Quala long before you even showed up, so maybe this isn’t too out of character for her, especially when she’s got her mind set on an expedition.
“So…do you know where she went?”
“North, past Flogger territory. That was two weeks ago though, Trog doubts that she still alive. Rask is very harsh, even more than Quala, also the dreaded wendigo live there. She has not tried to sneak back through Flogger territory and Flogger’s would know because we’ve increased the guards since her break through.”
Part of you almost wants to go try to find her; despite the fact you just recently believed that the two of you shouldn’t attempts any sort of relationship. Now you start to wonder if you could’ve prevented all this if you HAD gone to see her two weeks ago. You resist the urge though. For one thing, it’s been two weeks. Any way of tracking her is going to be poor at best given all the snowstorms Rask endures. Second, her group isn’t the most battle ready. They’re going to mostly consist of scholar types that can’t fight worth shit. While she probably took a few soldiers with her, even they’re going to be fucked when they encounter something like a wendigo or even a giant.
She’s dead and that’s it. Just eliminates the need for you to worry about one more decision. It doesn’t put you in the best of moods though.
It’s that mood that has you return to Nalin and the capital where you see Quintus.
“Good, I’m glad you’re back, we need to…” Quintus begins to say when you come through the front door of his house and then he notices the fresh blood on your sword and his guards nowhere to be seen. His eyes widen when you raise your hand up to cast a lightning bolt to his face.
You find however that the spell fails to work on him and one of his rings glows brightly.
“I figured one of those rings protected you from magic. Pity, I was trying to give you a quick and less painful death.” You say and advance upon him with your sword in hand.
“No! What’re you doing?! We’re on the same side! We were going to revive the Empire!” Quintus exclaims backing up on the stairway and attempts to rub one of his rings. You aren’t exactly sure what he’s attempting to do, but you’re not going to let him do it.
You making a lunging rush at him and he nearly disappears before you, but you’ve already stuck him like a pig. His brief attempt at invisibility fades as his dying face stares at you.
“Wh…why? I…helped…I…was going…to be…emperor…”
“Plans change.” you say and throw Quintus over the stair railing where his body falls to the floor in a bloody heap.
Afterwards you take care of Quintus’ family. As dysfunctional as they all are, the last thing you need is for any of them to attempt revenge for whatever reason.
The day after, you gather as many soldiers as you can, march into the senate and officially dissolve it in a very violent way. Every senator is killed and the floors of the senate hall run red with blood that day. Most beg for mercy, but you’re not in a mercy-giving mood.
A few days later and it’s official. You make your announcement that the Republic is dead and that the Empire now lives again. The general public doesn’t know quite what to make of everything. You’re sure that there will be some sort of misguided rebellion, but with the military behind you’re confident that you won’t have too much trouble.
Year 542
You’re so damn tired you don’t even know when the last time you had any proper sleep. It’s just been one rebellion after another and ongoing strife. You haven’t even had thoughts of expansion mainly because you’ve been attempting to maintain order on what you do have.
You have attempted to recreate a secret police in a similar style of the Emperor’s Eyes, but efforts haven’t proved too successful mainly because you’re too busy using the military to keep direct order.
It isn’t that the people don’t fear you, it’s that they hate you more than they fear. Even after you’ve destroyed entire towns that have dared defy you, you still get pockets of resistance running off into the wilderness to cause ongoing problems.
Your methods in the beginning months were probably too harsh in retrospect, but your mind wasn’t in the best place then due to Jennifer’s death, which you took a little harder than you imagined you would. Killing everyone in the senate certainly didn’t help as perhaps some of those experienced fools might’ve still been useful in swaying public opinion and dealing with the more mundane issues of running the government. Combine this with the fact that the idea of things like “liberty” still lingered within the people, your brutal actions only proved to them what happens when a single tyrant takes power. Instead of cowing them into submission, you ended up lighting a fire of freedom that you still haven’t put out yet and at this point you wonder if you ever will.
Even portions of your military have turned against you, if not outright treason then desertion. Some have fled to find work within the six cities of Arat or even joined up with the pirate groups in Delerg.
Between the steady attrition of loyal soldiers, the ongoing defiance of the people, external threats like the Flogger tribe hearing of your struggles and taking advantage of your lightly defended outposts in Quala (And certainly have no intention of joining your Empire now) you are pushed to the brink and beyond.
You decide if the fools won’t submit to your rule, you’ll burn the whole damn thing down. You unleash a terrible force of magic the likes most have never seen. You begin destroying entire cities and farmland. It gets to the point where even the most loyal won’t even follow you into destroying their homeland.
Your reign of terror eventually comes to an end through a combined effort of the citizens of Nalin. Even your powerful magic can’t stop an entire nation out for your blood and near the end you’re exhausted and half crazed from bloodlust anyway.
“Bah, I don’t need magic to do my work!” are your last words before you slaughter a few dozen men and women and are shot with several bullets and stabbed repeatedly by a mob.
You might’ve still went down in history as reminder to the people of Nalin of why they should value freedom and never submit to a totalitarian state…
But then the Flogger tribe rampaged through the decimated nation, which had practically depleted all of its resources in its war against you. The orcs leave no evidence of an Empire or a Republic ever having existed.
