Golden Palace of the Radiant Emperor"Here you are, your radiance." In front of the Radiant Emperor, most powerful man in Hastur and indeed in the world, respectfully bowed his secretary, Feng-La. That was his slave name, given to him by his teachers, the meaning of it apparently being 'Two-Face' as even then he had the ability to hide his feelings and thoughts.
"Good. I'll have a few messages to send, fetch my seal." The emperor asked of him dismissively. Staying true to his name, Feng-La bowed even deeper before exiting the room, moving backward as not to show his back to the emperor, a grave offense, but as he did he still mentally spat at the person in front of him. He had taken the post of secretary of the Emperor to be closer to the seat of power but after the few years he had been at this job, he kind of resented his own choice, life was better when he was head of the scribes and didn't take shit from no one.
Meanwhile, in the appartments of the Emperor...
The Radiant one removed his mask, something he never did publicly. Behind it, the unmistakable features of a dark elf. His face was almost split in two by a smile as he opened the official letter of Acradian demands along with numerous imperial reports about the border situation and he began to read them.
"Haha, you want to fuck with me Regix? Hehe..." He spoke to himself as he took a handful of dates, famished as he was since this stupid mask didn't have any mouth hole. "Nononono, I'm going to be fucking with YOU, you-rghhh GH-GHAK!" Having shoved a bunch of dates in his mouth, the elf began to cough, or rather, to try to do so. He then tried punching his abdomen, then take a glass of water but this all only made his fit even worst! When he tried to call for help only a pathetic gurgle left his mouth before he fell face first on the edge of a coffee table and then on the ground.
Behind the door, one of the 4 muscular Key Guardians turned himself toward the door as he had heard a sound but his friend to his side was quick to shove an elbow in his side. "Stay still for fuck's sake." And so the guardian returned to do what he was there to do, guard the door and nothing else.
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Having fetched the Imperial Seal, Feng-La returned to the Emperor and after so ceremoniously being let inside by the Key Master and the Guardians... began to look around. "...Your Radiance?" Did the prick decided to just go to sleep? The secretary began to look around and stood still when he saw it. This body with the imperial dress, the massive golden mask on a blood stained coffee table next to it. It was happening. The whole reason why he took this post, so what was happening now could happen while he was the only one around. He turned his head left and right as to confirm that fact. Yes. He was alone.
Having recovered from the surprise, Feng-La went on move across the body toward the Emperor's study but swore as his soft silk shoes stepped in something wet. The son of a bitch had peed himself as he died! No matter, he continued open a drawer but found it locked. Sighing, he turned back once again toward the emperor and moaned with despair as he had to search one of the piss stained pocket to find a small key and then go back to open the drawer. Filled with neatly classified files, Feng-La took one with his own name and threw it in the fireplace before finding others with some other names and, after looking around, shoved them in his own golden secretarial box, leaving the rest there before going to the phone. "Operator, bring message Head-Scribe Sibil, Archivist Nolan along with Palace Commander Mazid, tell the Commander to also fetch Lieutenant Shen, Griel and Xen-Ma. Tell them all to come to the Appartments of the Emperor, its urgent."
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"Well shit." The Commander said as he looked down on the dead emperor. "Wait, I know this guy... Xan, that mother fucker! We were friends, I thought he had been purged!" Added the old Archivist. The commander turned toward him with a smirk. "Well, want to give him a kick in the nuts for old time's sake?" The commander and Arhivist had a small laugh but were interrupted by the head scribe. "Now is not the time to panic..." Said he, as he was visibly trying to hold back his panic. "We need to uh... the body and... the new... emperor?" There was a silence and the Scribe and Archivist looked at Feng-La but couldn't help but give side looks toward Mazid. The 3 of them, Archivist, Secretary and Scribe, they came from the same type of people, but Mazid... he was part of the Warrior formation of the Janisi, not one of them. If he wanted to betray them and take the place of the Emperor for himself, it was probably now the best of time to do it.
The silence continued, the Commander and Secretary looking at each other for a moment until the former smiled. "Right! Sibil, help Feng change into something more emperor-like, Nolan, you have our list?" The old man nodded and took a piece of paper out of his pocket. The list of enemies inside the palace. "Always." Mazid took the list and shoved it in his own pocket before taking a candle stick. "Good." Going on his knees, he began to repeatedly hit the dark face with the stick until it was a bloody pulp as Feng dressed.
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Finally the quatuor left the appartment, it was now the Emperor, the Commander, the Scribe and the Archivist. The key master turned to bow to the emperor but was surprised to see the Commander in his face. "The emperor's secretary tried to assassinate the emperor! You have failed in your duties and must now pay the price!" He said loud and clear before drawing his pistol and shooting at the confused key master and guardians. At a distance, other key Masters and guardians protecting doors looked at the situation but didn't react. Mazid quickly walked to his loyal lieutenant. "Alright, we've gotta be fast. You, take this list and find the people on it, kill them and bring them to the yard, burn them. You, find the close servants and the Emperor's personal entourage, the maids, all of them, kill them and burn them. You, get more guards and come here, burn these bodies and kill those idiots guarding the doors around us to be sure. After, go to communications and kill the switch board operators just to be sure, now, now!" The scribe and archivist looked at each other but didn't say anything.
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The Next Day, at the Imperial Grand Council."I can't see shit, this mask doesn't have eyeholes!" The 'Emperor', dressed in silk and gold, was being escorted by his new Praetorian, the leader of his body-guards and the Janisi army to the meeting. "Fuck's sake. When I let go of your arm, 25 steps forward, then climb 40 steps and then 5 steps to the throne, turn and sit." Good thing he was wearing 5 layers of cloth, that way no one saw the emperor sweat like a pig thanks to all this stress. He began to walk, counting the step. He listened carefully and maybe it was because he could not see, but it felt as if he could hear... everything. Every word, he could place a name on those who spoke them. There were talks of the purge, the older members of the court suspected someone had taken the mask but no one knew for sure who. The slow walk of the emperor was taken for his usual graceful entry and so he turned to sit on the throne.
The darkness began to become bright and slowly, he could see, it was as if everything was tainted of gold, but he could see through the mask! It seemed that as he was amazed by this however, the council had gone through the usual formalities and they were anxiously waiting on the emperor to speak about the matter of the day. Acrad. Stressed to the extreme, Feng-La thought about 'what would the emperor say' in this situation. The answer came surprisingly easily.
"...On this matter, we will of course announce to the world that Hastur invites all parties to examin the situation for the truth to be found and for the guilty parties to be punished." This answer seemed to take the council by surprise. Mazid especially who even dared to speak. "But your radiance... the fact is, we have indeed been suplying the desert rats with weapons and supplies."
The Emperor waved off this fact. "This is of no importance. The move Acrad is doing right now is to try and find legitimacy for an upcoming invasion. We will indulge the 'international community' to come and play this charade, to the demand of a buffer zone, we will answer that while we would agree to this, it is unfortunate that since Acrad is unable to control who operates within the desert, much less who crosses the border between our nations, we cannot allow their problems to become ours. Lets invite a foreign delegation by name, why not... Avalia, Talania and have it all be led by Fenice."
The stress was gone and although Feng had no idea what he was talking about, it all felt so natural. "Your Radiance, we and Fenice are in an undeclared war!" This time, the Emperor didn't grace this reply with a movement, simply remaining motionless and answering. "Then maybe it is time we have an undeclared peace. I wish to personally see a representative of the regent, the ambassador will not do, it must be a person gifted with the personal trust of the regent. Now..."
The people in the room were hanging to every word of the ex-secretary. This feeling of power... "All of this is meaningless. It is a ruse to buy what we lack, time. Acrad has a modern army but our numbers are overwhelming, through history, generals have vanquished superior numbers by defeating their enemies piece by piece, this is the only way we can be beaten. Where they have the speed to be where they can do the most damage, we will have the numbers to be everywhere at once. As such, we will introduce conscription."
This time no one interrupted, a distant diplomat merely raised a hand to ask a question, the emperor nodded. "But your radiance, Acrad will take our mobilization as a provocation!" In his enormous seat of gold, the emperor leaned back, holding his head up with his hand. "This is not mobilization, and it will not be painted as such, this is merely another step in the long list of military reforms we have installed in the last few years. Acrad has conscription as well, doesn't it? I do not care if it provokes Acrad. It might as well, but if they charge at us like a wild boar, they will drop this pretense of civility and the world will see them for what they are, warmongers who care not about justice but only to get the land of their neighbors. Now. I expect my will to be done and remember: Speak the language of the barbarians. They will not see us as what we are, the only beacon of hope and order in this chaotic world, and so like in the martial art of Zhu-Jian, remember it is easier to lead the strength of an object in motion to another place, rather than try to block it and push it back."
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And so, the scribes and diplomats went to work.
@Blenheim To Elyr, a diplomatic delegation, the kind Hastur rarely bothered to send south, was dispatched to invite reputed Elyrian experts to join an international investigation on the matter of links between the Acradian bandits and local northern Warlords, specifying that it is the Emperor's opinion that Acrad might be getting desperate due to food shortages and looking for a reason to invade the more fertile south. Of course, the diplomats don't come without their special weapon: Money. Discreetly, they find the politicians the most likely to accept and be discreet about accepting 'gifts' from the emperor to state to the parliament that 'Hastur is willing to collaborate and we all know from history the Golden idiot on his throne would not be willing to do so if he had something to hide! Let it be known that Acrad is looking for a way out of its misery down south and that I say they should stay where they are, far, far away!'
@FrostedCaramel To the CPR, well, both parties know the situation has nothing to do with the People's Republic, but non the less, diplomats invite the CPR to denounce the evil bourgeois conspiracy to invade Hastur as surely Hastur would remember its stand fast ally if it should need help, material or moral, at some other time in the future. Also, somewhere a meeting is set up reguarding the matters of 'Crystals'.
@Trinais This time, the diplomatic offensive is made as much abroad as at home. Hasturian oil and other natural ressources (especially food) are hot commodities and with the desire of the Emperor to industrialize and put money up front to do so, this attracts a lot of investors. Now of course, it would be normal for some to express worry at the political instability in the region, but there is nothing like large bags of gold to make whispers turn into screams. A flow of letters and urgent communications flood the home office of Verdasoun corporations about the calamities and loses about to befall these different corporations should Acrad get in their mind to invade and damage or destroy all they have built. On the foreign front, the high diplomat is honest with his Verdasoun counter part: Gold and Silver that has sat for over 3000 years in Imperial Vaults might be sold, the demands and offer for certain strategic good might fluctuate wildly and a Hasturian sea blockade of Acrad could lead to disruptions and inspections of suspect shipments. Now, Hastur realizes Verdasou isn't an enemy to have, they do, but the message is simple: Everyone has more to lose of a war than they have to gain and even if a war should happen, Hastur is simply a bigger economy than Acrad. It is in Hastur and Verdasou's interest that no one rocks the boat and right now the ones breaking the status quo are the Acradians. If they don't intervene, nothing bad will happen and if they help Hastur, well, certain beneficial trade deals or monopolies might be open.
@Skepic Avalia is of course invited to mediate the current conflict to find a satisfactory solution to everything and, on an entirely unrelated note, because of the good cooperation the two nations have had in the past, Hastur would be eager to invite Avalian oil and gas refining operations to establish themselves and pay no taxes for a period of 10 years. These are strategic sectors and such a priviledge is reserved to a nation that of course is aligned with Hastur's interest and not in that of barbaric neighbors...
@Roby6Com For Acrad, a simple message, as no diplomat would risk his neck.
"To the Acradian people, the Radiant Emperor has taken notice of your plight and agrees that, if such a thing as illegal financing of criminal organizations is really happening, the matter should be resolved appropriately. Hastur thus invites a delegation of foreign diplomats to investigate the matter as promptly as bureaucracy allows. Your demand of a demilitarized zone is seen as largely already done as per Acradian admission there is no police, let alone military presence in the desert along our border capable of stopping armed criminals. Should your ultimatum have meant on our side of the border, we are sorry to say that we have a duty to protect the Emperor's subjects and that as such we must prevent the bandits that you have admited you are incapable of controling from crossing our own border.
In addition to this, we most strongly protest how you have forbidden access to our civilian relief effort to the dark elves living on your land in the most horrid of living conditions and hope you will think of the poor women and children."
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Summary:
1: New Emperor
2: Hastur will play the long game, trying to have as much time as possible to prepare for an invasion or else force Acrad to look like warmongers.
3: National conscription established, it is not a mobilization, it was part of the military reform plan for a while :^)
4: Diplomatic actions.
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