Post by Noku Noru on Sept 3, 2015 23:53:57 GMT
The king sat before his parchment, pen in hand, resting his head on his fist, and surveyed the blank sheet with an expression both pensive and gloomy . He had remained thus for several minutes, hesitating at intervals from dipping the quill and applying any stroke, occasionally peering out the three sided window with a recessed bench-the kind which wealthy families usually install for reading or idling on clear days like this one. At length, he decisively plunged the quill, inlaid with silver, into the inkwell's murk, drew the tip across its mouth, and began to scribe. His strokes fell quickly, with an angular top accent to all his peaks, and a brusque, swooping tail to the base of the rounded characters. After several minutes and three full sheets, the king reclined against the back of the chair and re read the contents to himself, musing as he went along:
"The past few weeks have been a trying time in my life and reign as sovereign of nova. At the outset, the presence of the fated served to but little disturb our way of life and prosperity, relegating tensions to bigotry and isolated clamours amid the more fervent of my citizens. Their increase, alongside growing concerns about their method of arrival, intentions in this world, and what capacities they possess yet unseen, have now brought this kingdom, my own court included, to a state of alarm. Amidst the incidents relating to these newcomers, a handful of rather disturbing developments have emerged around myself and certain influential members of my court that have placed my nerves most completely on edge.
"The first of these transpired during the annual fertility rites of the _____Festival; under otherwise unimposing circumstances. A strange woman, dark featured and ruggedly framed, arrived in my bedchamber without notice-an apparent contribution from the goddess ______. Though polite enough at first, the stranger exhibited a certain aggression, demonstrating some form of parlor trick by cleaving the end from a wine bottle with a plain knife, and presenting herself haughtily. I thought to arrive at an equilibrium by demonstrating my distaste for the affair with a small show of strength, which I now assume she held in offence, though no harm came to her person. Rather than equivocate, this brief exchange elicited an act of direct hostility, an assault with the aforementioned bottle-to what intended end, I don't imagine. It was my regent Breton's swift intervention that spared her life, pain being the catalyst by which my lineage's curse manifests. It was a trying ordeal extracting any useful information from her. We have since, by much exertion of means, ascertained that she is native to this realm, and the whereabouts of her kinsman. Presently, I think we shall gather more.
"The second incident occurred partly as an oversight of judgment, and partly by coincidence, though I much fear chance had less than a commanding hand in the matter. My advisor, Severine, in her zeal to engage greater influence with the crown, undertook to persecute the fated, gathering them from the local districts and border towns by force, and arranged for them to be executed. Having often deferred matters of state to the hands of my advisors, I agreed with her actions in lieu of the recent attempt on my person, and invested my court in constructing a sizeable gallows for the purpose, intending to make a public spectacle of the incident for those who might share that woman's sentiment and perhaps succeed where she failed. During the execution, which most of my regents and nobles attended, an unknown force of assailants created a large explosion and routed the guards present, throwing the area into chaos. During the conflict, I observed one of the fated-a woman with deep red hair-struck by a bolt fired from a ranged weapon through the shoulder, near to the heart. It would not have been an important detail, save for that an identical wound, of like placement, made manifest upon mine own flesh in direct proximity to the event, though I felt no pain. Many soldiers were slain, and the captain of my civilian guard disappeared along with the assailants through a sort of magic portal to an unknown location. During this time, I suffered a harsh blow to my vitality, and declined quickly, growing faint and losing my strength. It was many hours later that the captain returned, bearing the fated woman in his arms, she near death, and he heartily wounded. As she stabilized and regained vitality, mine own returned, leading me to the conclusion of two additional facets of this strange labyrinth.
"The third incident (the first conclusion gleaned from the event at the gallows) is the tainting of my royal chalice, of which I am most fond. As time elapsed from the botched execution, my senses returned to me, indicated by a gradual tingling, then full aching of the wound which had caused me no distress at its outset. I took this to mean that I had been subjected to a numbing agent, which did not dilute the senses, but suppressed a response of pain; I imagine to prevent my noticing the connection between myself and the redhead before the proper blow had been struck. This was a most distressing conclusion, for it meant that subterfuge could not be denied, and at the worst, a second attempt on my life had been very nearly executed. To confirm this postulation, the woman had rapidly changed physical shape to that of a winged creature resembling a dragon-hinting at the same pattern observed in my lineage's curse.
"The fourth incident (second conclusion) arose in course of determining to what degree my own court could be held responsible for the breach aforementioned. Upon offering the royal chalice of tainted wine to my advisor Severine, she elected to have her daughter-for whom my favor she has been seeking-taste it in her stead, without permission. The girl acted unquestioningly, no doubt a quality cultivated by the severe nature of her mother, and in direct offence of an offer of felicity from her sovereign to her mother. A poor quality in a servant. This usurpation of the magistracy led me to believe Severine to have motives running contrary to the will of the throne and the needs of the kingdom, and I turned the matter over to my regent Breton for his...prestige...with unscrupulous or clandestine affairs. I trust within the course of the week that a resolution shall have been reached.
"The fifth, and possibly, most important incident, was the ascertaining of the connection between myself and the red woman-Aria is her name. She tells of her lineage in a remote world foreign to our own, of direct descent from Cain Noru. A most disturbing, disheartening development. If other worlds in other times and places can exist where our clan has fallen to ignominy; nay, merely if there be such other worlds, Noru or no, then the affairs of my clan here on this one may be capriced by the unseen hand that yet moves to throw a cloud over the heads of these great nobles. And then, to consider that there may be others with the same connection to our line; the mind abhors the implications. An assassin might now possess a means of overthrowing our line in secret, without ever being known to any identified Noru. A most unnerving proposition. It pains me to think of the unremediated chaos that would envelop this country, claiming at first the sense of order with the police, then the sense of security with our trade, the benefits of knowledge by our learning, and lastly, the only vestige of social order to yield in the face of Armageddon: our life by way of our healers. All will be war, and wanton warmongering between trivial barons, tribesman, and religious zealots of the many gods, all vying for power and coming in the name of peace and order. I must not let fall my noble Nova, envied by all for its might and grandeur. Whomever this woman is, she is not to be trusted, if not as an agent of malice, then as its means.
"I now have before me the undertaking to restore the strength of my court, obviously waned by slow degradations and farce of trust. This matter must be resolved quickly, and with decisiveness. It will not be left to chance to steer the course I now seek; it needs be by my own hand I bring restoration to these affairs, come what may. I have left to me but two strong bases of power, one of which I am grateful to have kept secret so long. The other may prove necessary, though distasteful it may be, given the circumstances. I must now to the task, and set in motion once more the proverbial dragon of the Noru line. In its talons may the means of extricating ourselves from this fate lie."
As his eyes fell across each stroke of the pen and surveyed every character left upon the page, Noku was solemn and pensive. Having reached the last of his musing, he nodded to himself, and his manner became direct and resolute. He lifted a filigreed box from the shelf adjacent the desk, and removed from it a particular seal bearing no now known symbol of any clan or lineage, a pat of wax, and a tinder stick, coated with a reactive powder for quick lighting. He struck the tinder, softened the wax, and placed it into the center of the page, then pressed the seal into it and quickly folded the leaves into square, as if to form a letter parcel. He then spoke a few hushed words over it, and held it atop the still-burning tinder, catching the edge alight, and allowing it to burn freely.
"Flame. The unequivocating equivocator. In flame are all things made new; the whole of the earth consumed and made rich for that which will rise thereafter. Those who are consumed, lament. Those that consume, reign. Methinks it is time to start a few fires of our own."
He spoke all this half aloud, allowing the ripples of the flames to dance and amuse him a few moments, releasing the bundle to fall onto the marble before him as they reached his fingers. The parcel consumed, he brushed aside the ashes, and assumed a more plaintive and animated demeanor. He whistled a friendly tune, and drew out a large vellum sheet, rolling it out upon the desk. He then strode to a small nook placed nearby the bookshelf and withdrew a few small reams of paper sheaves, returning to place them upon the vellum. To these he added several small urns, close by on their own shelf on the desk, and, selecting a sheave, plucked the contents from two different urns in turn, emptying them upon it, and began to roll his selection into a handsome and well-formed cigar. The sun glittered off the overlapping panes of glass as it crested the eastern walls of the castle, throwing fresh beams across the study and illuminating the scant remains of Noku's solitary musing.
"The past few weeks have been a trying time in my life and reign as sovereign of nova. At the outset, the presence of the fated served to but little disturb our way of life and prosperity, relegating tensions to bigotry and isolated clamours amid the more fervent of my citizens. Their increase, alongside growing concerns about their method of arrival, intentions in this world, and what capacities they possess yet unseen, have now brought this kingdom, my own court included, to a state of alarm. Amidst the incidents relating to these newcomers, a handful of rather disturbing developments have emerged around myself and certain influential members of my court that have placed my nerves most completely on edge.
"The first of these transpired during the annual fertility rites of the _____Festival; under otherwise unimposing circumstances. A strange woman, dark featured and ruggedly framed, arrived in my bedchamber without notice-an apparent contribution from the goddess ______. Though polite enough at first, the stranger exhibited a certain aggression, demonstrating some form of parlor trick by cleaving the end from a wine bottle with a plain knife, and presenting herself haughtily. I thought to arrive at an equilibrium by demonstrating my distaste for the affair with a small show of strength, which I now assume she held in offence, though no harm came to her person. Rather than equivocate, this brief exchange elicited an act of direct hostility, an assault with the aforementioned bottle-to what intended end, I don't imagine. It was my regent Breton's swift intervention that spared her life, pain being the catalyst by which my lineage's curse manifests. It was a trying ordeal extracting any useful information from her. We have since, by much exertion of means, ascertained that she is native to this realm, and the whereabouts of her kinsman. Presently, I think we shall gather more.
"The second incident occurred partly as an oversight of judgment, and partly by coincidence, though I much fear chance had less than a commanding hand in the matter. My advisor, Severine, in her zeal to engage greater influence with the crown, undertook to persecute the fated, gathering them from the local districts and border towns by force, and arranged for them to be executed. Having often deferred matters of state to the hands of my advisors, I agreed with her actions in lieu of the recent attempt on my person, and invested my court in constructing a sizeable gallows for the purpose, intending to make a public spectacle of the incident for those who might share that woman's sentiment and perhaps succeed where she failed. During the execution, which most of my regents and nobles attended, an unknown force of assailants created a large explosion and routed the guards present, throwing the area into chaos. During the conflict, I observed one of the fated-a woman with deep red hair-struck by a bolt fired from a ranged weapon through the shoulder, near to the heart. It would not have been an important detail, save for that an identical wound, of like placement, made manifest upon mine own flesh in direct proximity to the event, though I felt no pain. Many soldiers were slain, and the captain of my civilian guard disappeared along with the assailants through a sort of magic portal to an unknown location. During this time, I suffered a harsh blow to my vitality, and declined quickly, growing faint and losing my strength. It was many hours later that the captain returned, bearing the fated woman in his arms, she near death, and he heartily wounded. As she stabilized and regained vitality, mine own returned, leading me to the conclusion of two additional facets of this strange labyrinth.
"The third incident (the first conclusion gleaned from the event at the gallows) is the tainting of my royal chalice, of which I am most fond. As time elapsed from the botched execution, my senses returned to me, indicated by a gradual tingling, then full aching of the wound which had caused me no distress at its outset. I took this to mean that I had been subjected to a numbing agent, which did not dilute the senses, but suppressed a response of pain; I imagine to prevent my noticing the connection between myself and the redhead before the proper blow had been struck. This was a most distressing conclusion, for it meant that subterfuge could not be denied, and at the worst, a second attempt on my life had been very nearly executed. To confirm this postulation, the woman had rapidly changed physical shape to that of a winged creature resembling a dragon-hinting at the same pattern observed in my lineage's curse.
"The fourth incident (second conclusion) arose in course of determining to what degree my own court could be held responsible for the breach aforementioned. Upon offering the royal chalice of tainted wine to my advisor Severine, she elected to have her daughter-for whom my favor she has been seeking-taste it in her stead, without permission. The girl acted unquestioningly, no doubt a quality cultivated by the severe nature of her mother, and in direct offence of an offer of felicity from her sovereign to her mother. A poor quality in a servant. This usurpation of the magistracy led me to believe Severine to have motives running contrary to the will of the throne and the needs of the kingdom, and I turned the matter over to my regent Breton for his...prestige...with unscrupulous or clandestine affairs. I trust within the course of the week that a resolution shall have been reached.
"The fifth, and possibly, most important incident, was the ascertaining of the connection between myself and the red woman-Aria is her name. She tells of her lineage in a remote world foreign to our own, of direct descent from Cain Noru. A most disturbing, disheartening development. If other worlds in other times and places can exist where our clan has fallen to ignominy; nay, merely if there be such other worlds, Noru or no, then the affairs of my clan here on this one may be capriced by the unseen hand that yet moves to throw a cloud over the heads of these great nobles. And then, to consider that there may be others with the same connection to our line; the mind abhors the implications. An assassin might now possess a means of overthrowing our line in secret, without ever being known to any identified Noru. A most unnerving proposition. It pains me to think of the unremediated chaos that would envelop this country, claiming at first the sense of order with the police, then the sense of security with our trade, the benefits of knowledge by our learning, and lastly, the only vestige of social order to yield in the face of Armageddon: our life by way of our healers. All will be war, and wanton warmongering between trivial barons, tribesman, and religious zealots of the many gods, all vying for power and coming in the name of peace and order. I must not let fall my noble Nova, envied by all for its might and grandeur. Whomever this woman is, she is not to be trusted, if not as an agent of malice, then as its means.
"I now have before me the undertaking to restore the strength of my court, obviously waned by slow degradations and farce of trust. This matter must be resolved quickly, and with decisiveness. It will not be left to chance to steer the course I now seek; it needs be by my own hand I bring restoration to these affairs, come what may. I have left to me but two strong bases of power, one of which I am grateful to have kept secret so long. The other may prove necessary, though distasteful it may be, given the circumstances. I must now to the task, and set in motion once more the proverbial dragon of the Noru line. In its talons may the means of extricating ourselves from this fate lie."
As his eyes fell across each stroke of the pen and surveyed every character left upon the page, Noku was solemn and pensive. Having reached the last of his musing, he nodded to himself, and his manner became direct and resolute. He lifted a filigreed box from the shelf adjacent the desk, and removed from it a particular seal bearing no now known symbol of any clan or lineage, a pat of wax, and a tinder stick, coated with a reactive powder for quick lighting. He struck the tinder, softened the wax, and placed it into the center of the page, then pressed the seal into it and quickly folded the leaves into square, as if to form a letter parcel. He then spoke a few hushed words over it, and held it atop the still-burning tinder, catching the edge alight, and allowing it to burn freely.
"Flame. The unequivocating equivocator. In flame are all things made new; the whole of the earth consumed and made rich for that which will rise thereafter. Those who are consumed, lament. Those that consume, reign. Methinks it is time to start a few fires of our own."
He spoke all this half aloud, allowing the ripples of the flames to dance and amuse him a few moments, releasing the bundle to fall onto the marble before him as they reached his fingers. The parcel consumed, he brushed aside the ashes, and assumed a more plaintive and animated demeanor. He whistled a friendly tune, and drew out a large vellum sheet, rolling it out upon the desk. He then strode to a small nook placed nearby the bookshelf and withdrew a few small reams of paper sheaves, returning to place them upon the vellum. To these he added several small urns, close by on their own shelf on the desk, and, selecting a sheave, plucked the contents from two different urns in turn, emptying them upon it, and began to roll his selection into a handsome and well-formed cigar. The sun glittered off the overlapping panes of glass as it crested the eastern walls of the castle, throwing fresh beams across the study and illuminating the scant remains of Noku's solitary musing.
