[Empire] From Dawn to Dusk Conclave [558]

[Reggiejam]

Ice Palace, The Heartwaste
558
Early Evening

Seventy five years ago the room the various guests and representatives now stood in had been used as the site for the creation of Kyria Varinel's Brood, this evening it stood ready for the same purpose for Lorisanth, but there was something more to it as well. It was a gathering of the leaders of the Empire of Dawn, so it was known at the start of the event at least, the empire Lorisanth had found her realm pledged to upon her return from Tzaltec captivity. She had accepted and honored the arrangement made by her niece Alicia understanding the role the empire had played in securing Alicia's claim to the throne ahead of the would-be usurper Meztli and Alicia's own efforts to secure Lorisanth's return. She had known in her heart when she went to stand with mother and the Mother and her sister returned to reign again it would be ended, yet now, now that might not be so sure.

The Queen had talked extensively with the now-emperor Lucas when the two had met to plan their coordination in the preceding decades and on occasion their conversation had turned to the spiritual. Loris had spoken passionately about the embrace of the Mother and Lucas had listened patiently, offering up a basic understanding of Ramhsa to try and sway her but ultimately her fervor and passion had awakened something inside the older Serendel lord turned Emperor. When he came to marshal troops for the march on the Diarchy he had come with another offer as well, the offer of a new empire, a new unity amongst the kingdoms and provinces that composed it.

The Sunset War had nearly ended the Dawn and it lay broken in the shadows of night but it was not defeated and it was not alone. In the shadow of the war the empire had slowly found itself a new purpose. Cast into the shadows it was reshaped by them, it had found the Mother in the heart of Faedas who came to join it, to console it with the Mother's embrace. The power of Khadi swelled and with Her force they found what had been stolen returned, what was once weakness become strength. Khaditna had judged them and they had paid for their pride, their arrogance, and they had fallen but those that fell learned more than those that never bruised or bled and the Dawn had found itself in the Sunset, found that it was not the prospect of another morning that brought hope with its golden rays upon the horizon but the security, the secrecy, and the intimacy of the dusk before the dawn where the night still clung to the plutonian shore.

Now the representatives of the empire stood ready to make that commitment, to join with the Mother and commit to the unity of the empire under Kina's Motherly hand. Not only was it the empire, but the family of Lorisanth and the Eldest who had been invited to witness and to join in this historic event. Guests were open to mingle among the nobles and Princes of Faedas who walked among the main room. The Queen herself sat upon the Throne of Thorns at the far end, watching the events with a barely concealed glee of religious fervor. Makeshift thrones had been erected, one on the same level as the Throne of Thorns for the Emperor Lucas, and the others a step below for the Lords of North Lyradis, Guilder, the Tuvaak, and Caramel. A chair, specifically made not to resemble a throne despite its ornate craftsmanship, also sat on the level with the Throne of Thorns, intended to be the seat of the Eldest Child should he be able to arrive.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Private thread for posting, you have to be on the guest list, but public thread for reading purposes unless otherwise marked in posts.

All my characters are here.

[lt_murgen]

The delegation from Tar arrived quietly. They had rebuffed the offer of a skyship, instead travelling on foot through Crima, Celero, Nyroth and Kasumor. The younger supplicants thought the Eldest and his wife would struggle with the long walk. Lilum was 73, and Silene a decade younger. But the pair of true-blooded Quill forced a pace that exhausted nearly the rest of their entourage. Darrel Grant, the only other party member of note, drove the single rokeur-pulled hoverwagon of supplies. His infant daughter Fern rode beside him the entire way. Along with supplies, they carried gifts selected for the occasion: dao grass, garaluena, rekovnich stem, and Khaditinitus, a small potted Jian willow, and Zanu Zanu fern.

Along the way, the party made a point to stop at the various battle sights and memorials along the way. Silene preached at midnight at each location, leading a silent, unlighted procession onto the battlefields. His sermon’s spoke of the need to hunt down the demons that hide within the souls of each of Her children. He spoke of turning your heart into a cemetary, including the psalm:
O Khadi, Thou art fond of cemetaries;
so I have turned my heart into one
That thou, a resident of cemetaries,
may dance there unceasingly.
O Mother! I have no other fond desire in my heart;
fire of a funeral pyre is burning there;
O Mother! I have preserved the dead bodies all around
that Thou may come.

He preached that the outcome of such destruction is to have a pure an unspoiled soul, as found in children. This is the true path, unafraid, to the Mother. For She tells her children:
My child, you need not know much in order to please Me. Only Love Me dearly. Speak to me, as you would talk to your mother, if she had taken you in her arms."
He ended with a simple entreaty to Khadi to spare them from mercy and satisfaction, so that they might find true wisdom.


Arriving at the location of the meeting, he did little to announce his arrival. His entourage followed suit, waiting patiently.

[Reggiejam]

Arriving at the location of the meeting, he did little to announce his arrival. His entourage followed suit, waiting patiently.

The quiet arrival of the Eldest and his entourage left them unnoticed by the majority of the guests within the palace and the Queen too might have missed them among the crowd if not for the approach of the Faedic Warden Akbin who had been tasked to inform her when the Eldest had made himself present. Akbin had been a member of the Faedic Order, the society dedicated to upholding the views and plans of Lorisanth's sister Kyria upon her departure and responsible for supporting Meztli's attempt to claim the Throne of Thorns but he had been only an initiate when the coup had taken place and when Lorisanth had returned he had sworn himself to her and taken up the vows of the Warden to supplant and unturn those taken in the Order. Like all former members of the Order Loris had been wary to trust him, preferring to send along members of the Children who supported the pious Queen fully and had rallied to take up arms for her when it remained unclear if the Tzaltec would release her but Akbin had proved himself time and again and become a valuable asset to the Queen.

He had expressed his quiet desire to become her protector and personal guard and to become a member of her Brood which she had long refused to create as her sister had, but now there were those she found had turned to the Mother's embrace, to her embrace as a sister in spirit, and she contemplated still his request. There was another she wished to extend the offer to, a warrior she knew to be both great and to possess a great connection to herself and the Mother but whether he would arrive, whether he would embrace the truth was yet to be seen.

These thoughts passed through her mind as she instructed Akbin to invite the Eldest to come and sit beside her while the other honored guests arrived and to make accommodations available to his entourage. Should the Eldest accompany Akbin he would see the Queen of Thorns eagerly awaiting his arrival. She was thin, though appeared in better health than she had at the beginning of her reign with a plumpness to her flesh that had not been there for the many years she refused to partake in the feeding her gift compelled her to except in the rare moments of weakness and desperation. The religious awe she inspired from the Children in Faedas had led to many willingly offering themselves to serve as vessels for her sustenance, feeling their purpose to the Mother was served in embracing the Queen, whom many called the Sister despite her efforts to quell such heresy. Though the Eldest and the Queen had clashed over religious matters in the previous decades the Queen had always publicly avowed for learning from the teachings of the Eldest whom was the voice for the Mother and her Call and in private she had prayed for the Eldest and asked the Mother to speak as clearly to his ear as she heard Her.

"Eldest Silene," Lorisanth stood and bowed her head reverently, "You honor me and all gathered here with your presence here on this momentous day where the Mother's Call is heard across the eastern coast of this land."

[lt_murgen]

"Eldest Silene," Lorisanth stood and bowed her head reverently, "You honor me and all gathered here with your presence here on this momentous day where the Mother's Call is heard across the eastern coast of this land."

Silene smiled bowed back. "Queen Lorisanth, greetings." He smiled warmly as he returned her bow. "I am honored by your invitation and to be afforded such a place of prestige." He indicated the seat to which he had been directed. "You are looking well and have clearly thrived since your imprisonment by the dragon." It was well known that he held the Khan of the Tzaltec personally responsible for that fiasco.

[TheWombatOfDoom]

Lucas was calm as he entered the hall, with the presense of an Emperor. Things had moved quickly since the Raaneki Redemption, and he was still attempting to get everything in order. War times in the best of times were times of chaos, and with the change in leadership, as well as the redistribution of lands...it was time for order. It was time to remake the Empire into a new symbol, one of strength and progress, rather than leaning on tradition. In his observation, Lucas had learned that change was inevitable, and if you fought it, it usually went badly. So was the legacy of his predecessors - they refused to change, and in doing so, nearly cost the Empire his ancestors had so valiantly fought to create. Tradition had its value, but so did progress. It was time to unite the north, and be stronger than the Dawn ever had. He nodded to Lorisanth on the left, and then turned and sat at the central throne made for him.

Upon the arrival of Selene, Lucas rose and greeted the Eldest with a bow. "Welcome," he said respectfully. "I trust Kina granted you and your party safe passage?"

[lt_murgen]

Upon the arrival of Selene, Lucas rose and greeted the Eldest with a bow. "Welcome," he said respectfully. "I trust Kina granted you and your party safe passage?"

Silene returned the bow, giving himself a moment to consider the question. "The route we chose proved a fruitful one. I was able to preach to our fellow brothers and sisters in Crima and Celero. We delayed at the cemetery and monument of the Great War. The vigil that was deeply connective." He was, of course, speaking of the military cemetery in Celero created after the battles between the Grand Coalition and the Union of the North. "Places like that still hold much teaching for those who seek to here the Mother's voice. It is hard to believe it has been nearly 200 years."

[WaylanderX]

Dressed in a dark Kasumori cloak, Rove silently made his way through the crowd. His mind was still in shambles, the discipline instilled in him by more than a century of training the only thing keeping him hold true.

It was only two days travel from Earthome to the Ice Palace, so the memories of what transpired were still fresh in his memory. Thinking back to it, he instinctively reached for his trusted Kuroyume's hilt.... Except it wasn't there. In it's place, an intricate blade of adamantine and orichalcum, it's handle cold and still unfamiliar in Rove's hands. His fathers armor also laid at home, at the ancestral house of the Earthguards.

His wife and children both pleaded. Pleaded for him not to go. With tears in his eyes, he turned them down. They only partially understood. Ura, the poor blind thing, reached out for him all that time, him not able to return the hug in return. Little Sarana had tears in her eyes (Well, not little anymore, but for him, she would always be little). His love's eyes full with unbelief, unable to accept the truth. She would, in time. Ory was a strong woman, and well versed in the ways of the void, as a Voidguard should be. She would understand eventually.

Unlike the Emperor. Sanell Fireguard met with him a week prior, when he was shifting more and more into darkness at his hearth. Somehow, Rove couldn't keep quiet about his mind in his presence. For hours he talked, while the other man listened. And listened. When he was done, he just said a few words. But those few words, were the turning point that shifted his darkness to shadow, shifted his path back on the path, away from certain devastation.

"I understand. Go, Rove. Forge a new Bond. Be our Knight in the Dark."

Rove shifted his thought back to the matter at hand. He had left Ashmar, to turn to the Void. And with the Void he would stay, A silent Knight in the Dark. A link that could, maybe, in time, forge a link between the beings of Ashmar and Kina. He would prove that there was Prowess to be found, even in the dephs of the Void.

He proceeded to weave through the crowd, still unsure of his next action.

OOC: Rove is being pretty obviously there, being clad in a thick Kasumori cloak and wearing heavy arnaments. If you want to interact with him, go ahead.

[Reggiejam]

Spoiler

Show

Silene smiled bowed back. "Queen Lorisanth, greetings." He smiled warmly as he returned her bow. "I am honored by your invitation and to be afforded such a place of prestige." He indicated the seat to which he had been directed. "You are looking well and have clearly thrived since your imprisonment by the dragon." It was well known that he held the Khan of the Tzaltec personally responsible for that fiasco.

Lucas was calm as he entered the hall, with the presense of an Emperor. Things had moved quickly since the Raaneki Redemption, and he was still attempting to get everything in order. War times in the best of times were times of chaos, and with the change in leadership, as well as the redistribution of lands...it was time for order. It was time to remake the Empire into a new symbol, one of strength and progress, rather than leaning on tradition. In his observation, Lucas had learned that change was inevitable, and if you fought it, it usually went badly. So was the legacy of his predecessors - they refused to change, and in doing so, nearly cost the Empire his ancestors had so valiantly fought to create. Tradition had its value, but so did progress. It was time to unite the north, and be stronger than the Dawn ever had. He nodded to Lorisanth on the left, and then turned and sat at the central throne made for him.

Upon the arrival of Selene, Lucas rose and greeted the Eldest with a bow. "Welcome," he said respectfully. "I trust Kina granted you and your party safe passage?"

Silene returned the bow, giving himself a moment to consider the question. "The route we chose proved a fruitful one. I was able to preach to our fellow brothers and sisters in Crima and Celero. We delayed at the cemetery and monument of the Great War. The vigil that was deeply connective." He was, of course, speaking of the military cemetery in Celero created after the battles between the Grand Coalition and the Union of the North. "Places like that still hold much teaching for those who seek to here the Mother's voice. It is hard to believe it has been nearly 200 years."

"My time of imprisonment gave me time for insight and reflection," Loris answered, her voice shaking slightly with some unknown mixture of excitement, fervor, and awe at speaking directly with the Eldest, "The Mother showed me Her punishment for failing to speak her Call and Her mercy at my repent. When I returned I knew it was my duty to spread her Call wherever it found root."

Lorisanth looked around as if to say 'and here we are' and saw the Emperor enter the palace. Loris watched the Emperor approach with a measured eye. He was a human man, older but young to her as so many came to be seen by the Varinel Queen. The weight of rule wore on him heavily but she sensed a scent in the air that he held a passion for the position that had been conferred to him. It was a smell of a mix of realization of a long delayed dream mixed with anticipation and resolve to define a new direction.

Lorisanth listened quietly and politely as Lucas and Silene spoke but her attention was drawn by the entrance of a man in a great cloak entering the room. She found herself having tuned out the Eldest and the Emperor.

"Your Holiness, Your Grace, please, excuse me," she didn't hear the response of the two men as she made her way down the steps and off into the crowd, Akbin rushing to reach her side through the crowd.

Spoiler

Show

Dressed in a dark Kasumori cloak, Rove silently made his way through the crowd. His mind was still in shambles, the discipline instilled in him by more than a century of training the only thing keeping him hold true.

It was only two days travel from Earthome to the Ice Palace, so the memories of what transpired were still fresh in his memory. Thinking back to it, he instinctively reached for his trusted Kuroyume's hilt.... Except it wasn't there. In it's place, an intricate blade of adamantine and orichalcum, it's handle cold and still unfamiliar in Rove's hands. His fathers armor also laid at home, at the ancestral house of the Earthguards.

His wife and children both pleaded. Pleaded for him not to go. With tears in his eyes, he turned them down. They only partially understood. Ura, the poor blind thing, reached out for him all that time, him not able to return the hug in return. Little Sarana had tears in her eyes (Well, not little anymore, but for him, she would always be little). His love's eyes full with unbelief, unable to accept the truth. She would, in time. Ory was a strong woman, and well versed in the ways of the void, as a Voidguard should be. She would understand eventually.

Unlike the Emperor. Sanell Fireguard met with him a week prior, when he was shifting more and more into darkness at his hearth. Somehow, Rove couldn't keep quiet about his mind in his presence. For hours he talked, while the other man listened. And listened. When he was done, he just said a few words. But those few words, were the turning point that shifted his darkness to shadow, shifted his path back on the path, away from certain devastation.

"I understand. Go, Rove. Forge a new Bond. Be our Knight in the Dark."

Rove shifted his thought back to the matter at hand. He had left Ashmar, to turn to the Void. And with the Void he would stay, A silent Knight in the Dark. A link that could, maybe, in time, forge a link between the beings of Ashmar and Kina. He would prove that there was Prowess to be found, even in the dephs of the Void.

He proceeded to weave through the crowd, still unsure of his next action.

OOC: Rove is being pretty obviously there, being clad in a thick Kasumori cloak and wearing heavy arnaments. If you want to interact with him, go ahead.

A delicate feminine hand came to rest upon Rove's shoulder, its origin hidden by the drawn hood of the Earthguard's cloak.

"Brother?" a soft voice Rove recognized as if from a distant dream as that of his sister's caught his ear.

[WaylanderX]

"My time of imprisonment gave me time for insight and reflection," Loris answered, her voice shaking slightly with some unknown mixture of excitement, fervor, and awe at speaking directly with the Eldest, "The Mother showed me Her punishment for failing to speak her Call and Her mercy at my repent. When I returned I knew it was my duty to spread her Call wherever it found root."

Lorisanth looked around as if to say 'and here we are' and saw the Emperor enter the palace. Loris watched the Emperor approach with a measured eye. He was a human man, older but young to her as so many came to be seen by the Varinel Queen. The weight of rule wore on him heavily but she sensed a scent in the air that he held a passion for the position that had been conferred to him. It was a smell of a mix of realization of a long delayed dream mixed with anticipation and resolve to define a new direction.

Lorisanth listened quietly and politely as Lucas and Silene spoke but her attention was drawn by the entrance of a man in a great cloak entering the room. She found herself having tuned out the Eldest and the Emperor.

"Your Holiness, Your Grace, please, excuse me," she didn't hear the response of the two men as she made her way down the steps and off into the crowd, Akbin rushing to reach her side through the crowd.



A delicate feminine hand came to rest upon Rove's shoulder, its origin hidden by the drawn hood of the Earthguard's cloak.

"Brother?" a soft voice Rove recognized as if from a distant dream as that of his sister's caught his ear.

"Sister...", the once Arche answered in a soft, hoarse whisper, looking back towards his sister, the upper parts of his face still hidden.

He had dreaded this moment. Kyria had already abandoned him and his family. Would Loris do the same? Or was there still a piece of family residing deep within her? Only one way to find out.

"Do you know why I've come, Loris?"

Without waiting for her answer, he continued, turning towards Loris entirely. His voice grew more and more hoarse and maddened with each sentence.

"Many years ago I heard your call. The newts captured you. The shadows whispered, asked...begged me for my assistance. Something touched me that night, something I had never felt before. The Void, the very essence of shadow came to me. Since then, I've been lost. Because of that, I've lost everything....Loris. My wife, my children, my family. I have forsaken them all. The only thing left to me are my own values. I've come to seek answers, Loris. Does the Shadow....does Kina... respect the things I hold dear? Can I become a Knight in the Dark?"

[Reggiejam]

"Sister...", the once Arche answered in a soft, hoarse whisper, looking back towards his sister, the upper parts of his face still hidden.

He had dreaded this moment. Kyria had already abandoned him and his family. Would Loris do the same? Or was there still a piece of family residing deep within her? Only one way to find out.

"Do you know why I've come, Loris?"

Without waiting for her answer, he continued, turning towards Loris entirely. His voice grew more and more hoarse and maddened with each sentence.

"Many years ago I heard your call. The newts captured you. The shadows whispered, asked...begged me for my assistance. Something touched me that night, something I had never felt before. The Void, the very essence of shadow came to me. Since then, I've been lost. Because of that, I've lost everything....Loris. My wife, my children, my family. I have forsaken them all. The only thing left to me are my own values. I've come to seek answers, Loris. Does the Shadow....does Kina... respect the things I hold dear? Can I become a Knight in the Dark?"

"Brother, you speak too quickly of such things," Loris said looking her elder brother over, his countenance ragged and distraught, "When I was held by the Dragon the Mother came to me, told me my rescue lay with my Brothers and Sisters, to seek them to aid me in release. When I made my Call it was to the Children of Kina, those bonded with me in spirit to the Mother, but She knew it would not only be the Children. You are my brother, bound by blood to me and so you too heard the Call, felt the power of the whispering darkness, the Mother of Shadows we know as Kina."

"Like you, those that aided in my rescue were not yet Children of the Mother, though they now stand to become as such," Loris gestured around the room, "The Call you felt, the presence of the Mother you feel, you must understand it is the Call of destiny, of true family. You speak of a lost wife, a lost child, if you are to serve the Mother you must realize that those who cannot follow you into the Mother's Embrace are not your family. I am your family Rove, by blood and now by spirit, the Brothers and Sisters of Kina are your family. Perhaps in time those you called family will come to embrace your us as well, but while you dwell on their loss you fail to recognize the presence of the Mother and her Blessing which I ache to give to you as my Brother will fail to take hold."

"The Mother values strength. Of mind, of body, and of spirit and I know you possess these virtues. Do not let the false promise of an earthly family distract you from your purpose as an instrument of the Mother and a protector of Her Children. Our sister and I were stripped of our motherhood by Kina for she knew we could not serve all Her Children justly with the blindness of worldly children and love struck hearts. For us there can be only one family, the Children. To serve that higher purpose you must relinquish your attachments to this secular existence. Come if you are ready Rove, embrace me as your Sister.," Lorisanth held her arms open to her brother, her face inviting and warm though a creep of fear shone through that he might not be willing to accept her and his new family, to leave behind what he had been falsely taught.

[lt_murgen]

OOC: Rove is being pretty obviously there, being clad in a thick Kasumori cloak and wearing heavy arnaments. If you want to interact with him, go ahead.

Sometime after Loris and Rove are finished.

Elemi made his way over to Rove. "I can offer you little comfort, for comfort is not the Mother's way. But if there are questions regarding the faith, perhaps I can answer them."

[TheWombatOfDoom]

Silene returned the bow, giving himself a moment to consider the question. "The route we chose proved a fruitful one. I was able to preach to our fellow brothers and sisters in Crima and Celero. We delayed at the cemetery and monument of the Great War. The vigil that was deeply connective." He was, of course, speaking of the military cemetery in Celero created after the battles between the Grand Coalition and the Union of the North. "Places like that still hold much teaching for those who seek to here the Mother's voice. It is hard to believe it has been nearly 200 years."

"Ah, yes, the site of Gareth's Immolation. I know it well." Lucas was intrigued by the wars of the past, and thought of the legacy of Gareth's Wisdom. Some called it waste, others folly, but to the Serendel line, Gareth had always been hailed as a great symbol at great a sacrifice can be for the efforts of preservation. The greater good. Lucas was reminded of a similar philosophy that the UJR was known for. They were willing to kill a leader for the greater good, through assassination. But unlike the Serendel line, they were not willing to sacrifice in order to save. Assassination did not take courage. It was the cowards kiss. And by the blessings of Kina, the warnings And now it was his turn to sacrifice for his nation, though not all, as Gareth did...

"What did you experience there, Eldest?" Lucas asked curiously.

[lt_murgen]

"What did you experience there, Eldest?" Lucas asked curiously.

"It is said that our Mother loves the graveyards. You really can feel her presence there. In the night. In the dark. When the cold wind ripples your skin to gooseflesh. It is an unnerving place, full of dark doubtful thoughts." Elemi smiled. "It was wonderous. To be reminded of the cost of pride. To recall the power of one individual to truly ACT. From his destruction came decades of peace and growth." He paused and his smile faded. He cast a quick glance at Queen Lorisanth. "There are lessons in graveyards, waiting the humble to learn them."