Eternal
Seeing as you’ve taken care of the major problem here, you don’t see any need to stick around for the mundane search destroy missions that will undoubtedly take months. You could be focusing on more important things.
So you return to the Empire giving Jon a warning that while you’ve graciously allowed him to keep his position, any signs of possible betrayal or anything similar will be met with a complete cleansing of Barnacle and his painful drawn out demise.
When you get back to the Empire, you make the announcement that the Delerg Islands are now currently being incorporated into the Empire and what remains of the so called Island League is being hunted down as you speak. Sightmaster Crowley seems to be happier than anyone as he suggests once again that retaking Rask should be the next priority.
You tell Crowley that the retaking of Rask will definitely be next on the agenda, but you know it’s going to take a lot more manpower than Delerg. You’d rather wait until you’ve completely tamed those islands first before launching another major operation. Still you can make the preparations in the meantime.
As the months pass you get a few reports about how things are going in Delerg and so far there have been no major troubles. While there have been a few skirmishes, for the most part your soldiers have found most Delerg inhabitants to willingly surrender to Empire law.
It is also around this time that you get a letter from Jennifer. She asks you about your recent visit to the Delerg islands and if it might be safe to launch an expedition to the islands. You write back and tell her that its probably “safer” but considering there are still hostile League members and who knows what sort of dangerous wild life on those islands you tell her that she probably shouldn’t go. However, you follow up with if she does insist on going like you know she probably will, then to at least stop at Barnacle first and to take your seal that you’re sending with the letter you’re writing to the nearest officer or even the mayor and she’ll have an armed escort to protect the expedition.
And just as you suspected, Jennifer goes off on her expedition. She never was one to play it too safe, but you’re pretty sure she’ll be fine.
Year 547
“Trouble, my Emperor?” Crowley asks.
“(Sigh) It looks like. David just sent a message saying that there’s some weird religion that’s been cropping up in Nalin. He says there hasn’t been any real trouble yet, but he felt I should know due to my stance on organized religion. Ugh, I’m going to have to return to the Empire and straighten all this shit out. You know when we brought most of the Eyes with us here to Rask so we could effectively fight the wendigo, I was concerned about perhaps an increase in crime or possibly even a bit of rabble rousing in Nalin. Not this shit. We’re finally making good progress and I don’t need religious fanatics to possibly fuck up my plans.”
You explain to Crowley that you’ll be leaving him in charge of all operations in Rask. Seeing as he’s very familiar with the territory already you have confidence that he’ll be fine here. Of course he’s been slightly revenge driven on the wendigo when you found out Everwatch was overrun and destroyed by them.
When you arrive at your palace in Dalt, you’re anxious to get down to this new religion business. David greets you immediately and states that Jennifer is also here and wanting to see you.
“Jennifer? I thought she was still digging up shit in Delerg and trying find lost islands. She’s finally back?” you say.
“Yes, I just sent her into your private chambers. I thought due to your history, you wouldn’t mind seeing her.”
“Normally I wouldn’t mind, but I’d like to get down to this new religion you mentioned in your message. Can’t afford to waste any time with it.”
“Apologies, Emperor.”
“(Sigh) Very well, she’s already here, I might as well see her…what the hell is that on your arm?” you ask David, pointing at the skin on left forearm. It’s almost scaly looking.
He reacts rather sheepishly and tries to pull his sleeve back down.
“Oh that. Just a bad skin rash. I need to make a quick trip to the apothecary.”
“I’ll say, its pretty nasty looking.” You remark and head on to see Jennifer.
When you arrive to see Jennifer, she’s fiddling with a box of some sort. She closes it up when you walk in.
“Hey if it isn’t the conquering Emperor of Rask! How is everything going up there?” Jennifer asks.
“Better than expected I suppose, what’s that box?”
“Oh this? Just something I found while digging around Delerg. Y’know you really should’ve stuck around that place longer. It has a lot of fascinating historical things relating to the old Empire.”
“Hmm, well I’m more concerned with the new one myself, but I trust you haven’t had any problems during your time there.”
“No, none at all. My expedition there went very well.”
“Good, good. Look Jennifer, I’d like to play catch up and all that with you, but you’ve caught me at a bad time right now. David has told me there’s a new religion starting to take root in Nalin, and I want to stomp that out, before it becomes a problem.”
“You mean like the shadows caused for the old Empire?”
“Exactly like that.”
“You know one of our discoveries was an old shadow temple located on one of more remote islands. Most of it was underwater, but it was still very interesting.” Jennifer says.
“Hrm. They did have their original temple located in Delerg. Surprised its still around, we had it demolished even back when we finished off their seditious religion for good.”
“I think the problem with the shadows is that they waited too long to strike.”
“What?!” you exclaim.
“Oh don’t get me wrong, I’m glad the Empire defeated them. Its just that from what you’ve told me about the shadows and from what I’ve learned from my findings, its that the shadows waited too long to strike out against a powerful enemy.”
You’re about to ask Jennifer what the hell is she getting at, when all of a sudden the doors to your private chambers are kicked open and four soldiers fire at you. You’re taken completely by surprise and most of their shots hit you. You fall to the floor wheezing and in pain, but you muster up enough strength to cast a fireball at your assailants who are all set ablaze due to their proximity to each other.
While they scream and flail about in the hallway trying to put the flames out, you realize you need to heal yourself immediately before you succumb to your mortal wounds. You being to concentrate, but are suddenly kicked in the side of the head and shot again, this time in the neck. You still aren’t dead yet, but you most certainly will be soon.
You stare up from the floor at Jennifer who holds a smoking pistol in her hand. Probably what she had in the box she was messing with earlier.
“I wish things could’ve been different, but I knew you would’ve never accepted the glory that is to come when Hukleev rises from his underwater kingdom and submerges the Empire, transforming all into his subjects.”
You can’t even reply or react to Jennifer’s words let alone her treachery. You just bleed out and start to lose consciousness. The last thing you see is Jennifer moving in closer to you where upon she gives you one last kiss, which tastes faintly of brine.
So you return to the Empire giving Jon a warning that while you’ve graciously allowed him to keep his position, any signs of possible betrayal or anything similar will be met with a complete cleansing of Barnacle and his painful drawn out demise.
When you get back to the Empire, you make the announcement that the Delerg Islands are now currently being incorporated into the Empire and what remains of the so called Island League is being hunted down as you speak. Sightmaster Crowley seems to be happier than anyone as he suggests once again that retaking Rask should be the next priority.
You tell Crowley that the retaking of Rask will definitely be next on the agenda, but you know it’s going to take a lot more manpower than Delerg. You’d rather wait until you’ve completely tamed those islands first before launching another major operation. Still you can make the preparations in the meantime.
As the months pass you get a few reports about how things are going in Delerg and so far there have been no major troubles. While there have been a few skirmishes, for the most part your soldiers have found most Delerg inhabitants to willingly surrender to Empire law.
It is also around this time that you get a letter from Jennifer. She asks you about your recent visit to the Delerg islands and if it might be safe to launch an expedition to the islands. You write back and tell her that its probably “safer” but considering there are still hostile League members and who knows what sort of dangerous wild life on those islands you tell her that she probably shouldn’t go. However, you follow up with if she does insist on going like you know she probably will, then to at least stop at Barnacle first and to take your seal that you’re sending with the letter you’re writing to the nearest officer or even the mayor and she’ll have an armed escort to protect the expedition.
And just as you suspected, Jennifer goes off on her expedition. She never was one to play it too safe, but you’re pretty sure she’ll be fine.
Year 547
“Trouble, my Emperor?” Crowley asks.
“(Sigh) It looks like. David just sent a message saying that there’s some weird religion that’s been cropping up in Nalin. He says there hasn’t been any real trouble yet, but he felt I should know due to my stance on organized religion. Ugh, I’m going to have to return to the Empire and straighten all this shit out. You know when we brought most of the Eyes with us here to Rask so we could effectively fight the wendigo, I was concerned about perhaps an increase in crime or possibly even a bit of rabble rousing in Nalin. Not this shit. We’re finally making good progress and I don’t need religious fanatics to possibly fuck up my plans.”
You explain to Crowley that you’ll be leaving him in charge of all operations in Rask. Seeing as he’s very familiar with the territory already you have confidence that he’ll be fine here. Of course he’s been slightly revenge driven on the wendigo when you found out Everwatch was overrun and destroyed by them.
When you arrive at your palace in Dalt, you’re anxious to get down to this new religion business. David greets you immediately and states that Jennifer is also here and wanting to see you.
“Jennifer? I thought she was still digging up shit in Delerg and trying find lost islands. She’s finally back?” you say.
“Yes, I just sent her into your private chambers. I thought due to your history, you wouldn’t mind seeing her.”
“Normally I wouldn’t mind, but I’d like to get down to this new religion you mentioned in your message. Can’t afford to waste any time with it.”
“Apologies, Emperor.”
“(Sigh) Very well, she’s already here, I might as well see her…what the hell is that on your arm?” you ask David, pointing at the skin on left forearm. It’s almost scaly looking.
He reacts rather sheepishly and tries to pull his sleeve back down.
“Oh that. Just a bad skin rash. I need to make a quick trip to the apothecary.”
“I’ll say, its pretty nasty looking.” You remark and head on to see Jennifer.
When you arrive to see Jennifer, she’s fiddling with a box of some sort. She closes it up when you walk in.
“Hey if it isn’t the conquering Emperor of Rask! How is everything going up there?” Jennifer asks.
“Better than expected I suppose, what’s that box?”
“Oh this? Just something I found while digging around Delerg. Y’know you really should’ve stuck around that place longer. It has a lot of fascinating historical things relating to the old Empire.”
“Hmm, well I’m more concerned with the new one myself, but I trust you haven’t had any problems during your time there.”
“No, none at all. My expedition there went very well.”
“Good, good. Look Jennifer, I’d like to play catch up and all that with you, but you’ve caught me at a bad time right now. David has told me there’s a new religion starting to take root in Nalin, and I want to stomp that out, before it becomes a problem.”
“You mean like the shadows caused for the old Empire?”
“Exactly like that.”
“You know one of our discoveries was an old shadow temple located on one of more remote islands. Most of it was underwater, but it was still very interesting.” Jennifer says.
“Hrm. They did have their original temple located in Delerg. Surprised its still around, we had it demolished even back when we finished off their seditious religion for good.”
“I think the problem with the shadows is that they waited too long to strike.”
“What?!” you exclaim.
“Oh don’t get me wrong, I’m glad the Empire defeated them. Its just that from what you’ve told me about the shadows and from what I’ve learned from my findings, its that the shadows waited too long to strike out against a powerful enemy.”
You’re about to ask Jennifer what the hell is she getting at, when all of a sudden the doors to your private chambers are kicked open and four soldiers fire at you. You’re taken completely by surprise and most of their shots hit you. You fall to the floor wheezing and in pain, but you muster up enough strength to cast a fireball at your assailants who are all set ablaze due to their proximity to each other.
While they scream and flail about in the hallway trying to put the flames out, you realize you need to heal yourself immediately before you succumb to your mortal wounds. You being to concentrate, but are suddenly kicked in the side of the head and shot again, this time in the neck. You still aren’t dead yet, but you most certainly will be soon.
You stare up from the floor at Jennifer who holds a smoking pistol in her hand. Probably what she had in the box she was messing with earlier.
“I wish things could’ve been different, but I knew you would’ve never accepted the glory that is to come when Hukleev rises from his underwater kingdom and submerges the Empire, transforming all into his subjects.”
You can’t even reply or react to Jennifer’s words let alone her treachery. You just bleed out and start to lose consciousness. The last thing you see is Jennifer moving in closer to you where upon she gives you one last kiss, which tastes faintly of brine.