LINESII- Into the Darkness- Part II

[Cuivienen]

you know, of the originally nations that started out on the first update, Gorin and Khemri are the only survivors...

Kalmar. Destroyed and resurrected.

 

[jalapeno_dude]

Orders have been resent.

 

[Kentharu]

i meant always survived, as in never ceased to exist

 

[alex994]

You know, if you have time could you please edit the nation descriptions of the nations bottom of Khemri? I just love them! It would bring light to the darkness that are the stats

I mean, I want to see something like " Veritas has yet to learn penance for launching wars of aggression."

 

[Swissempire]

Iggy, the 64 year old Evern is the Acendant Master, but don't change it yet because in a story i'm about to post he dies. So sad. But if you want you can post Evern II Wilipi for the ruler name. And from now on all will have Wilipi at the end, not Swade.

 

[The Farow]

Iggy, one more complaint. None of my population has converted to my new religion . Other then that everything looks fine .

 

[IronMan2055]

orders sent

 

[Thlayli]

*mutters about how New Veritas is the direct continuation of the old state*

Iggy, I was personally a bit disappointed with Part One in relation to the Prologue, but Part Two should be much better...

Technically speaking my economy should be at 2/1 after the update events are included.

From: New Veritas
To: Khemri

We have received troubling threats from Gorin, which would to indicate that they plan to attack us. Merchants send disturbing reports, and regardless of their validity, Gorin would have to pass through Khemri in order to land forces in New Veritas. We would appreciate a statement on the issue, hopefully one of neutrality. Despite our forefathers errors, we have few qualms with you.

OOC: Don't force me to suspect a vast conspiracy. Which, of course, I already suspect. Honestly, you guys aren't incredibly adept at secretly forming coalitions.

 

[Swissempire]

Iggy, shouldn't my control in the former Nurmaferi kingdoms give me some eco, and will the Emor transfer take place in time for me too get the Eco Centers eco, since it should have been mine since it was MY forces that took it. Swade Commanders were leading the Khemrian Troops.....

 

[alex994]

OOC: Don't force me to suspect a vast conspiracy. Which, of course, I already suspect. Honestly, you guys aren't incredibly adept at secretly forming coalitions.

OOC: Actually to be honest, everyone is out to get you Even cleric and the other Oneists nations. They think you're the reason they haven't had a great Prophet for the last century or two I'm not doing this just to drive you paranoid

 

[Thlayli]

OOC: Actually to be honest, everyone is out to get you Even cleric and the other Oneists nations. They think you're the reason they haven't had a great Prophet for the last century or two I'm not doing this just to drive you paranoid

That's ok, I was driven paranoid long ago, so you can't really do any further damage. Why cleric in particular, though? Just thought it odd that you'd mention him...

 

[North King]

Because I'm intending to ship ramids to Cleric next turn so he can use them to attack you. Obviously.

 

[Swissempire]

Alex, not cool. Don't tell Thayli about Conehead and Cleric, then it won't be a surprise

 

[Thlayli]

Because I'm intending to ship ramids to Cleric next turn so he can use them to attack you. Obviously.

Hadn't seen that one coming.

Though... *watches as paranoia rises to unheard of levels*

What if you really are shipping the ramids to Cleric, and using this post with implied implausibility and sarcasm to drive me off the scent of the conspiracy!

I'll discount that thought in order to save my grip on sanity.

 

[Lord_Iggy]

Problems are being fixed everyone.

@alex: You haven't even begun to dig deeply into your manpower yet, while New Veritas and Alatia are beginning to run low.

*****

Thlayli.

Loose hold on sanity? Conspiracies?

Thlayli, what would you do if I told you that the Assemblum itself is under the rule of a Dark Lord of the Penguins?

 

[Imago]

(Scary picture)

Orders sent.

 

[Swissempire]

Ascendance of an Ascendant​

Pariu and his Father Evern were having a nice sword fight. Though this sword fight was on the room of the Necropolis, it felt like any Swade Son did sparring with his father. It was natural, it was a bonding moment. The words that couldn’t be said were shown; the feelings that couldn’t be expressed were realized. It was a back in forth sparring match. The sweat dripped down both of their brows.

Up, down across, spin, legs, head, side, slash, stab, up, down, down, up, across, slash, spin, legs, side, head, stab, up, down .

It was Rhythmic, almost like the Forms that the Swade would do as a meditation. You could get lost in your sword, so focused on your opponent and yourself that everything became clear, effortless. It was the sword as you medium of communication, it was one of the things that could make you believe something so mundane as an instrument of harvest and death would be a divine gift.

Pariu was the last son of Evern, who was in turn grandson of the last Female Ascendant Master to rule, Balbraka, and son of Beac, Ascendant Master during the repulsion of the Lengels. But it had been Evern who at 16 led the of the Swade and Khemri across the Metalia plain and into Emor, eventually driving them out. It was Evern who pioneered the use of the Longbow in combat. It was Evern who had brought about a New age for the Swade.

Pariu was the fifth child of Evern, and was called “The Blessing” because Evern feared he would not have an heir. He had had a son at only 15. He had permitted that son to join him in the waning days of the Campaign, and to his horror, that son was struck down by a Lengel arrow. His next child was born to Evern at age 30, a daughter who died 2 weeks into her life. At age 32 Evern would have a son, who lived until he was five. He died when he wandered off a plantation and was mauled by a Bigjaur on one of Everns journeys around the Ascendancy. At age 38 Evern would have 1 more son, but he would die at a year old of the Deathpox, the same virus that decimated the Lengels.

And so all hope was lost, until Evern’s wife, Herlia, gave birth to Pariu when Evern was 49. It was considered a miracle. And Pariu was raised to be the Ascendant Master. He had memorized the Holy Texts by age 9, and was studying military tactics at age 14. And he had become an avid fan of art and of history. And now Pariu stood here on his fifteenth birthday. He would be circumcised and become a man in just two hours. But now he fought his father.

Up, down across, spin, legs, head, side, slash, stab, up, down, down, up, across, slash, spin, legs, side, head, stab, up, down .

They continued their performance until it was time. Pariu was brought down to the Hallowed Grounds of Manhood. There stood two other boys his age. They had stripped naked, a numbing substance applied. One at a time each of them was asked to recite the Oath.

I am Swade
I am Bladeist
I am Man
I shall take up my sword to defend my people
I shall give up my life to defend my family
I shall sacrifice all I can for my Ascendant Master
I shall hold the Blademaster above all
His Prophets and Gifts just below
I shall f*ck for him
And I shall carry on my people
Through Sweat of Labor, Enlightenment of Culture, Service to the Blademaster
I am Man
I am Bladeist
I am Swade​

Pariu went last. They performed the act, and he became man. They asked him to choose his Man Name. Pariu knew what he wanted to be called in the Annals of History. “Evern” he stated. Many were shocked, other touched, still others applauded his choice. He had paid the ultimate respect to his father.

And as they left the ceremony, Evern Sr. clutched his heart. He fell too his knees. He was blinded by pain, and he passed into Peresofo to meet the Blademaster.

And suddenly a 15 year old Evern II was thrust into the ruling spectrum. But he was by no means ill-prepared. Au Contraire, he was fully prepared. He wished to live up to his father, and he did. He reformed the Road system, and would supervise and negotiate with the Emorians, Exilisum, the Myocacans, and the Khemri. He deftly handled the Sintonia crisis.

But what historians point out as the two most important thing of his early reign were his Patronization and his Dynastic Decision. First, Evern II had always felt a strong bond for family. So he declared on the Second day of his rule, that he was the 2nd ruler of the Wilipi Dynasty, and that all Ascendant Masters who followed should be of this line. It was named after Wilipo, the Gift and Leader they traced their lineage back too.

And his second thing was his patronization of the arts. The Culture of the Swade was experiencing a rebirth, a renaissance, and he supported it. He commissioned paintings, murals, and mosaics.

And so the reign of Evern II Wilipi began.

 

[alex994]

OOC: Out of sheer curiosity, where did you get that? Is that a sweater or something Iggy? Ironic too about Alatia, I expected a Tribal Council or something of that sort, not a despotism. Not very enlightened eh?

Oh yes that reminds me iggy, story

A Battle of Wills​

Pax, Exilsium

“We lose the war, whether Guangfei wins or lose. Tzu, you and your followers made ride out the storm, but we will not. We will be persecuted, destroyed and purged by the Lius. You know this.”

Lao Tzu, the unofficial but universally recognized leader of the Way of the One put down his quill to give the speaker a friendly look. An old friend of his, childhood friends in fact separated by a massive gulf, the gulf called politics. He was a loyal faithful subject of the Guangfei Emperor while the other was a rebel and traitor with a bounty on his head should he ever return to Qingdao. The leader of the Guangfei followers of the Church of the One, Yong Zhi.

“My friend, you knew this would happen the moment you sided with the New Veritasians. You knew that this day would come. You knew it, yet you continued on your treacherous path, a path that will end in either you kneeling in front of the Dragon Throne begging for forgiveness, living in exile in a faraway land, or stabbed in the back in a dark alleyway. You knew it, the One granted men with reasoning and logic to set us apart from the lower animals.

Yet he also granted men hope, the forever glistening light at the end of a tunnel. And that was why you sided with the New Veritasians, for you knew that the Church of the One in Guangfei was doomed when the Way was introduced. Yet you stayed upon your path, for you were always stubborn. Refusing to see the truth that the time of the Church of the One was at a close. New Veritas is failing. The blood that was once was Veritas no longer flows within her veins. What is New Veritas but a shadow of her former glory? Exsilium, Davar, Emor, Arcadia, and all the other once Oneists states are leaving her fold. She can no longer rule the world through religion. It is the twilight. The twilight will end.”

Yong Zhi, with a haggard expression on his face collapsed on the chair opposite Tzu yet he had no trace of bewilderment upon his facial expression. His face was one of resignation, acceptance of his defeat. The face of a man whose sole consolation, his beacon of light, had just been snuffed out of existence. He said in a whisper, barely able to form the words needed.

“How did you know? You cannot be the prophet that was promised by the One…”

“No man upon this world can truly know how and why the One does things as they are done. The One is forever beyond our reach, yet we must still reach for him. Not for the impossible goal of reaching him, but for the struggle of the reaching. The One is, and always will be, beyond our knowledge. There has been only two mortals upon this Earth perhaps could have seen the truth.”

As Lao Tzu finished speaking, there was a look of hope, a distant glimmer of it in his old friend’s eyes. A hope he unfortunately quashed with his next words.

“No, no High Priest or any other religious figure of Veritas has ever seen the truth. I am afraid, that all but one of the Veritasians are doomed to the fires of Hell. No, Straitkrator is the only Veritasian that shall go to Heaven for all others are doomed to hell and eternal fire. The Plague of the Valins is still ever present. The other? You do not speak the question, but you ask it within your soul, your heart. The other is the last High Priest of Eldrania. The founder of the Citadel. And now my old friend, you see the light. The circle is complete.”

In the desperation of a doomed man, not physically but spiritually, his friend rose up in a fit of anger and smashed his fist upon the table. The table did not give way, but stood firm, a testimony to many things. Such as the relative weakness of Holy Men.

“No! Do not hide your venom behind your sweet words of reason and faith. You are nothing but a heretic, a traitor! A subject of the Dragon Throne, you lie! You are the running dog of Emperor Yue!” The spit flying out of his mouth along with his passionate and vehement words did nothing to stir the ever calm Lao Tzu, he didn’t even flinch.

“It is better to be a running dog for one righteous master, then a running dog for a group of usurpers. For are you not the running dog of New Veritas? A nation whom controls the Church of the One with no regard, a master in the light is always preferable to master in the shadows. What say you?”

On that day, a flame was extinguished. Yet, like a Phoenix, the flame was rekindled. A new man was born much as a snake sheds her skin. A new man, a new purpose, into the setting sun. A man whom had faced his destiny and turned away, for it was not his desire to fulfill his destiny.

“I, and whomever else will follow me, will go with you Tzu, and seek forgiveness from the Emperor. May he be as merciful as they say.”

 

[Lord_Iggy]

Well, the pic is me with a hoodie doing my Darth Sidious impression. I took it a few days ago.

 

[Thlayli]

Mmm, nice story alex. I'd post mine here, but they're a bit sensitive.

@Iggy: I'd be a little comforted actually...Dark Lords bring great domestic stability. I've finished Part Two in my mind btw. I just have to write it out now.