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[b]Sovereign Capitol Building -- Council Chambers[/b]

~[i]To the lands below we descend,
our Might to never cease,
Upon the realm which beckons so,
the time which He shall sieze.

Sounds of legend, life, and lore,
his name the flag, his hand our blade.
For when the knights of tomorrow reign,
He shall be their grace.[/i]~
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The words of the old folk song remained engraved on the large door that gave way into an extraordinary meeting chamber. The walls, carved of the most beautiful marble, brightened the contrasting round, granite table which held four seats. The room was excessively tall, creating somewhat of an echo - mostly to let the speakers know when they needed to stop talking over one another. At each corner of the four seats stood an eight-man squad of soldiers, each dawning the colors of their respective province, but sharing the Leginian Crest upon their arms. 

It was here, in an eerie quiet, that the Leginian Council met for the first time since the election of Nayomi Black. She was a beautiful woman, a bit young for her position, actually. Rumors spread that she had only won the election due to her father's previous ownership of the seat. But regardless, she had proven to be a fine leader to her people. And now, she would meet with the other three Representatives. For the very first time.

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"[b]Whenever you're ready, sweetheart,[/b]" came the sweet voice of the oldest Represenative on the council: Ingrid Yvore. Her voice was gentle, but her speech was firm. The marks of age did not let her keep her former beauty, but was unable to take away her pride. Nayomi Black appreciated the confidence that Ingrid sparked in her - it was a sort of maternal assistance as she stood to begin the council.

"*ahem* Greetings, I am Nayomi Black, first and last of Sergio Black. As the Head Representative, I will initiate this gathering." Looking down at her Holopad, she took a moment to collect her thoughts and then began again:

"We will begin with resource allocation. As for Gaia, we've been redirecting many assets - 30% of our military power, I might add - to the finalization of Project Spartan. The wall has been finished, all underground and whatnot. The cores have been implemented and all that's left is the Mass Kinetic Barrier systems and aerial protection."

"Hm... you have yet to announce ANY reasonings behind this odd... erm... [i]suspicious[/i] notion..." Haythum Pierce, a tall, slender man with slicked-back gray hair spoke with a sly and cunning tone. His voice resembled that of a fictional snake, and as such, many of his political opponents referred to him as so. "You have an indestructable barrier being put up but for what? Our people don't know... your people don't know... I mean, all you have is the word of blind prophets. You ca-"

"Enough, snake," bellowed Rugo Pierre, his voice resonating with a deep, authoritative tone. He stood at 6'6", weighing well over 250 pounds. His shoulder length beard and oversized hands gave him the look of a giant, and he was known as a brute to many who were unable to understand him as a person. "Leave the girl, alone, huh?" he stated with a touch of annoyance. Haythum snickered, "That doesn't answer my question, Rugo. Don't take your failures out on me, my friend." Rugo grunted at Haythum's response, to which he could only shake his head. Haythum would not stop, however, utilizing his opponent's silence to strike twice - "You don't intend to keep it a secret, now, do you? I mean, [i]seventy one[/i] men died, Rugo. That's more than enough for me to consider that an emergency."

Rugo grit his teeth, but was interrupted by Nayomi before he could say anything. "Easy now, Mr. Pierce. Rugo, would you mind explaining this 'emergency'?" Rugo sighed, but complied: "One of our smaller strains of lightning cores out in Leo's Valley seemed to uh... well, the mining expedition found some sort of unidentified core, and upon bringing in some Corologists... well... boom. All of them dead. The mine collapsed on itself, tremors wrecked three nearby towns. Monsters went haywire, too. Ye ole' Rugo coulda taken em, but alas, I was busy with these politics. Y'know you shoulda sent me 'em troops Haythum..."

As the two women in the council fell into deep thought regarding Rugo's emergency, Haythum chimed in to prevent his "loss." "Now, now, Rugo, you had this coming. We specifically passed Ammendment 14 to Article 3, stating no mines may operate without corologist presence. My sources tell me you've been handling this rather unethically, hm?"

Rugo began to turn a slight red, "You... you send spies to me home? Yeh oughtta hold on tight to yeh seat, buddy, cuz-"

Haythum snickered, "Ha, and might I add, I would not have been able to send any help either! As I, too, have had multiple reports of "unstable" cores found along the coast. However, we were smart enough to NOT get ourselves killed." Rugo growled and shot up in his seat, "You dirty lil'-"

"Enough!" Ingrid's voice rang loudly in the hall. "Quit your mindless bickering and heed this - I, too, have been forced to answer to reports of what my citizens refer to as 'Ancient Cores.'" Nayomi raised her brow and chimed in, maintaining her calm, "Ancient cores? From the folk tales?" Ingrid nodded. "The very same, actually. The cores of the ages lost to legends." Rugo scoffed, "How? Weren't they supposedly weapons of the gods, buried deep within Aeros? This is a joke, no?" Nayomi shook her head, "It's rather silly, but we gotta tie these ends up. We have had a rather nasty experience with overzealous "prophets" these days." Ingrid nodded, "Indeed. Who knows - cores are a mystery in themself. The reports indicate that these Ancient Cores eminate energies that are too powerful for any human to near without gear. No corporation could afford for a full squad to extract it." Haythum raised a brow and responded, "The Gold? You tried them yet?" Ingrid shook her head, "Negative. But it is a good idea. And actually... now that I think about it Rugo..."

Rugo finally nodded as well, beginning to pick up the matter at hand. "Aye... the mining incident could have easily been the same... but remind me, eh, me memory fails - those cores were symbolic of something, no?" Nayomi sighed before responding - "Well, I mean... father used to tell me the stories all the time. Ancient Cores - the weapons left behind the predecessors of mankind in order to save the race for when it would need it most." The council all nodded, brought to an eerie silence but both realizations and speculations. Rugo ended the silence, a sense of utter concern lining his face.

"But... what would we need to be saved [i]from[/i]?"

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[hider=OOC]
[center][[b]WELCOME TO SANCTUARY[/b]][/center]

We will now begin the prologue phase! In the prologue, characters will describe what their characters are going through in their normal, every day lives. This phase will last no more than 2 IC days, but I'd like to keep it at 1. Remember, only characters that are at Sovereign by chapter 1 will receive Kages. You MAY start at Sovereign.

Remember to ask any questions you have before posting and make sure to revise posts for errors and grammar![/hider]