[h1]Lifprasil[/h1]

Within the sheets of rock and divine architecture provided by Jvan, many new forms awaited their exaltation from their emperor. Each shimmered with spells and god like immaterial, normalcy subjugated now by strange flesh as they stood amongst orderly rows, lead by a flagship two of a similar disposition. The Twins stood diligently as soldiers, but with Lifprasil in front of them, watching silently over his forces with an expression of purpose; they were suspicious that their roles lacked permanence.
The new army, the first regiment of the New Age, stood 5,000 strong, and their might was prostrated in height and muscle, it was as if each one defined the word simply by example. With silent intuition, each and every one watched Lifprasil in silence, awaiting his word.

"My warriors," started Lifprasil, flanked by Dabbles and his throne.

"Alefpria, as it stands, is but a settlement, a wary village hiding from the troubled planet around us. I have created you as the people's first and last line of defense, bastions of order and sublimity - manufactured to sacrifice mortality so that your fellow countrymen may live comfortably despite the terrors that threaten them. Upon your shoulders is also an even more tremendous burden, as the enemy not only waits on distant shores, but within the cosmos, hence your namesake. Gods float silently, and untold horrors sit hidden behind the veil of the night sky, watching Galbar with sinister intent." 

The Emperor paused, helmet withheld to the crook of his arm, sword in the other.

"I have seen them, and you have witnessed their power - you were all planted here by seeds, sowed by the God of Order; the owl Logos himself. From distances great you were adopted by my men, and given new life here so that you may one day be given an opportunity for vengeance upon the monster that wronged you," 

Lifprasil felt it as he spoke, the anger, the hatred, the fear, it was a conscious sheet over the army within his starship, so present he felt like he could touch it. These children of a god's genocidal fervor were prepared, ready to wreak havoc on those who wronged them. Dabbles however was elated, fidgeting happily as he looked over the 5,000-strong army. These beautiful titans were fantastic, truly some of the finest productions from his many handed expertise - they were Jvanic mint, it was too bad that they would soon be sullied by combat. This made Dabbles slightly less... himself, but he celebrated silently nonetheless - the glee he felt tempted him into throwing coinage to children again; but that wasn't important now.

"Today is not that day. Instead, with this power - with our collective might, we will follow in the wake of this great owl, and take a divine journey into a path of absolution! We will burn his creation, and reframe the world he had left shattered into a paradise; one that can sustain itself throughout the ages, and ensure a bright and noble future for all mortals!" the Emperor exclaimed, heartily raising a fist and spurring his new army to an ecstatic warcry.

A smirk tickled Lifprasil's expression. They were ready, the 5,000 strong Knights, and their two leaders: the Twins who watched in silence. They were hunched within their individual chassis. hence devoid of expression, tiredly gazing into the crowd, but with their silence Lifprasil issued them a pair of medals, small, valuable trinkets made from steel and precious gems that illustrated their status: Lieutenants to Alefpria. Their medals were embezzled by a golden V, clipped by an outline of stellar ruby, malachite, and a deep charoite that had been cut neatly around the insignia. Extended from the V were two small boxes of the same gold, each evenly spaced and no larger than the letter they extended from to signify their rank and file - just underneath Susa and Lakshmi.

Each medal was stamped into their chests by Lifprasil himself - square on the right pectoral, delivered by a press of his thumb into the hard outer shell of their armor.

"Thank you." They said in unison, first amongst equals that bowed to only one god.

>>>

If he was to say Cosmic Knights were fast, that would have been an understatement. Sparring matches between them only lasted a minute at the most, and each one carried heavy cast iron rods as weapons that even he as a Higher Insidie would have issues hefting. Hogarth would often attend training sessions in his downtime, a small book in a calloused hand, and a paper umbrella in the other, but these were often with smaller mortals. There he sat, hot pebbles at his feet as he read atop his pitifully small chair underneath the judgemental gaze of the sun. He rested in a rectangular courtyard, constructed from carefully laiden brick and timber that had been constructed at the height of Alefprian expansion - but now served temporarily as a storage house, and now a very disposable housing for Cosmic duels.

The house wasn't entirely too large, at least to an Alefprian, being just about one-hundred feet in its length, but it was more than enough space to hold weapons that awaited soldiers when the time came; each one packaged like a vase of very sharp flowers potruding from a wooden barrel. The two supermortals that violently frolicked in front of him today were named Aegin and Pavel, and they were in the first five seconds of their twentieth battle today - not that Hogarth cared, he had a book to read, they had plenty of attention from his guard. 

[color=orange]"Considering that writing as a concept is so recent - it's hard to find any good literature, don't you think?"[/color]

"Relative to you, Emperor," said the Lifprasilian - aware of his looming mortality. He was old, especially for an Insidie of his longevity. "What have you?" he questioned - the Knights were finished with their duel, and they took to kneeling; beside them unevenly dented rods of impure iron, stressed by the loud clash. Accompanying Lifprasil were a troupe of ten Cosmic Knights within violet shells, earlier there had been a changing of the guard upon the introduction of their warrior caste, as Lifprasil had willed it in his charge.

[color=orange]"You understand that you, the other lieutenants - Chroma included - are responsible for Alefpria in my leave, correct? The march to Xerxes will take time, and in that time our wealth of experienced soldiers and Knights will be lacking. Thousands, if not millio--"[/color]

"Save me the long winded speech Emperor, no offense, but I've done this for a hundred years now, anybody trying to get past me would be a fool to think they could; and with the construction of the schools underway, I'll be sure to have those experienced in what's-it-called in my company. Sculptors too, although I do disagree with their loose grip on morality."

[color=orange]"A necessity for the advancement of our kindred mortals, you see."[/color]

"You sound fairly evil right now, you should work on your exposition."

The nerve on this man, Lifprasil mused. In his old age, he had really attained a higher level of uncaring, especially after the Realta assault on Alefpria. He had a point though, maybe he did need to work on his exposition, or his presentation, rather.

[color=orange]"Presentation."[/color] Lifprasil tried to correct him.

"They're one in the same to you and all your other holy-types." said Hogarth with a smile, Lifprasil felt a staunch disbelief within him, which halted his compulsion just to use his powers on him, as he would with anyone else.

Lifprasil sighed.

[color=orange]"I suppose you're right, old-man."[/color] he teased.

The elder sputtered, and snapped his book shut. "You're older than me!" he cried, which caused Lifprasil to laughter, a not-so-noble gesture to the mortal.

[color=orange]"Many apologies, Hogarth, I may look young, and be young at heart, but I am quite old, I remember when this landscape was just crimson dunes under an oddly colored sky. However, despite all that time I've never worked on my manners, I really am sorry."[/color] Lifprasil would then exposit gracefully, bowing to Hogarth. Respect was a fickle thing, and he had respect for few, but the learning Demi-God, despite his extended history, felt it best to be respectful towards the old man in front of him.

In the end, Lifprasil had only these little things to calm his nerves, everywhere he went his armies were preparing to move, a massive procession had already been prepared, food stored, weapons bound, and graves layed for the inevitable bloodshed. All he had to look forward to now was a campaign that only ended in pain, and after the conquering and taming of Xerxes and his siblings, he had no direction to go but forward.

This day would probably be his last day without being marred by stress, but it was a necessity, as he had said earlier, for the advancement of his kindred mortals. Everything was an obstacle, it felt like, and to achieve his grand plan, Lifprasil would have to set into motion events that would very well spiral out of his control.

Maybe he could use some more perspective from wise men.

[hider=summarino]
Lifprasil gives a speech
Gives the Twins a lofty position in his new world order
His commissioned Knights are ready
>>>TIME SKIP>>>
Alefpria's armies are preparing for war, and Hogarth is reading a book
Lifprasil sneaks up behind him and surprises him
They have a conversation, Hogarth's mental age having caught up with Lifprasil's own
He shows himself to be stubborn and uncaring - but very well wise
Lifprasil decides he will probably need more mentorship, and more help with his Empire as implied by reflecting on the prospect of aggressive Alefprian expansion
Now onto Xerxes,,,

For those disappointed by the length of the post, this was originally supposed to be much longer, but I decided to cut a shit ton of my losses and also cut corners for the advancement of the plot. Sorry guize.[/hider]