The Lieutenant's Chronicles

The Lieutenant's Chronicles is a collection of the memoirs of Joseph Rabbadon, recounting his journey to Eldham and Rathnir.

= The Lieutenant's Chronicles =

Trouble in plagos
The latest of Joseph's campaigns. With words of war amongst brothers in plagos being spread around, the now-legendary figure sets sail with the fleets of the serene republic and the old plagatean colonies all the way to rathnir, where they will find old adversaries fighting for their own cause. some want a new Plagatean state while others want peace of mimd. All that the admiral is thinking is revenge upon his old friends who betrayed him. However, it never goes according to plan now does it?

First contact
Alas land is spotted in the horizon, our approach makes it easier to look beyond the mists of the cold dawn. A little island it seems, I unmoor the sailboat and launch it to the sea. This kite-sailed canoe does offer serious advantages I shalt be honest and so I reach the coast in a matter of minutes. Yet it would appear I have been spotted, and my fleet perhaps was no luckier than I was. Obviously my strengths allow me to jump at them like a ghost and with some conjugations from the Austonian legions, they all drop dead within an instant. The rest of the island is deserted, likely because of its Minuscule size. Finally after spending an hour or so burying them, I arrive at their camp near the beach. The climate itself could give it away yet I do find out that the fleet has reached Plagos in the memoirs of their captain. Attention was given to the fact that in some of the papers and posters, one could easily come to the conclusion that Veldion is indeed at the brink of civil war. With the continent's unity shattered at the last war, it would soon come to be that the survivors would gather any of their old remnants and claim over the scraps that had been left over the land.

Chumon Ito was briefly mentioned as a great threat in the north, If I had to make an educated guess I would assume that the old guard of Plagatea such as doom and

Along with that organization they run back in tempo. Never did I have anything against them, quite frankly it would be them who would come to curse me for their misfortunes. If it happens that I stand corrected in this guess, I can reliably say that our journey here will be a great peril.

Now about another group that I was most certain about, would be the republican front, Led by none other than that persisted worm named Glurak. I've rarely seen folk of drake origins in my life and any who i encounter, I see only wise folk and the stuff of legend, this Dragonborn however always amazes me. His kind doesn't stay in one place usually and if so, they don't get to be so active about it, Glurak is the opposite all entirely. Defiant, full of rage and hot headed even when I was assigned as the minister of economics along with the Magisterium of Eldham, to get a point across would feel impossible and as such I gave up on that lizard a long time ago. One thing is certain this time however, he will bend the knee to my authority soon enough, or live in agony and separation until he does

Mentions of a new monarchy regime in the old monastery and capital do exist every now and then. If one could ask me how long has this faction been here, I would be unable to answer, for it never occurred to us that Veldion had any royal families around. For them, inquires will have to take place later down the road.

Time flies indeed as the Runesmiths in the void vaults of karak-Austun like to say when they carve new runes of sealing on these thick obsidian doors. In my absence, I've been an accomplice to the fate of Plagos and it shows when I look at all these acts of treachery from stacks of papers and notes. What happens when I reach the mainland? What will my eyes be forced to gaze upon this time? I can't let this proceed for any longer. As such the signal is set and a few brigs reach the island, camp is set and the plan of invasion is made.

Maps claim that a pocket of shogunate forces is trapped in the beaches northwest of our location, a letter of surrender will be sent, but likely they will commit harakiri before they decide to turn their arms over to me. Patience is key here, for when the republican forces mount their final offensive, then we can unleash our naval bombardment from afar and render both sides unable to fight any longer, giving us ample Time to establish a front on a beachhead north of the fighting yet south from the canal. It is obvious where we will proceed next If LARP forbid, we win

Day Two
It brings us closer to each other, mother used to say, when she talked about love, hatred was also a meaningful emotion in her eyes but not the opposite to love for that would be indifference, the defining characteristic of an individual in our days. Some of her teachings I overlook to this day yet one of them along with the previous comes up every single time. Whenever I gave my mother a hard time she would come to bite me in the ass with this prophetic phrase: "in this life, for everything you do, you will always have to pay for it", satisfaction would be visible in her face every time she said so, as if it was her last dying curse. A curse it came to be indeed folks, for any act I have carried or will carry out, good or bad, a price has been set on it, and it will be paid anytime, somewhere... somehow. Such sins I paid long before this mark was willingly burned into my skin, and at this rate, I'm starting to feel that I will always be running after the deeds of my life, unable to find peace.

It's clear that I'm nervous as you can see, and my fears are given away by what I've written above. I find it somewhat daunting to think of the basic functions to go over this plan, my lieutenants are a bit more excited and the crews are in top shape. They aren't familiar or as experienced in life as I am and as such I sometimes allow them to have the bliss of ignorance. But I've seen too much to let myself rest easily. Soon I'll order for the general bombardment of an entire province while the marines and the diamondbacks will make their assaults on an unsecured coast up north. May the LARP ready it's currents to wash away these souls to the halls of eternal rest deep down the erotic earth.

DAY THREE
I return to the desk to write about yesterday and today, other than the fact I am fortunate enough to be in a healthy condition as well as claim the same for every single man who followed me here, I come to write of the first engagement. To begin with the naval encounter, the shogunate forces were aware of our intentions as they declined our request for surrender, and thus turned inside their coastal platforms and palisades to hold out against their nearing end. I am certain that their higher ups there were also aware that we did intend to bombard both them and the Republicans to smithereens when they would carry out their last assault, it was funny though, because they could do nothing about it, perhaps that was the way they wanted it to end, only the LARP knows now. The republican horns sounded the signal to assault, and the drums kept them tight to the cause ahead. A quarter of an hour passed if I can recall, and the slaughter was taking place, the Republicans breached in the coastal town and the streets ran red with blood, but it would take a long while for any side to win over the other, if that could ever be called a victory. Time was of the essence here and as such we needed to be swift, I gave the order and the sails were lowered and most of the moorings were gathered.

The Luxenstein 56 pounders are a design of crude, yet wonderful ingenuity. A lead ball of this size can fit only into a mortar the size of a cauldron, yet the shape of a shot isn't round at all, in fact it resembles more that of a pig's bladder than anything else. This shape allows for a greater distribution of weight and allows for the gun to keep a relatively small diameter so as to save weight, even though they happen to be rifled. The last but most important deal is usually the surface area the rounds provide, in detail the Runesmiths who came from the mountain halls of Austonia and Varn Torum were satisfied with the area the could carve their runes on top of each shot, and as you understand the rest is history: firestorms, tornadoes, strikes of lightning, bigger explosions, mind afflictions, empowerments and so much more potential. It goes without saying that a salvo from a steam powered cruiser which has a broadside of 6 could call for a serious thunderstorm even on its own. But we didn't use that to send those souls to the LARPbyss.

Such ammunition was expensive and the nearest forge was a few dozen thousand leagues away from us, some caution was to be taken in how we would expend the supplies. We decided to use the obsidian rounds in the cauldrons to bombard them instead. Obsidian is not so dense as lead is, usually the credible miners claim that to match the weight of a lead cube you would need around 4 and a half cubes of obsidian. Needles to say that in order to match the punch of a 56 pounder, a mortar needs to be used to hurl this hunk of glass to the enemy. Mind you firing the initial propulsive explosion the rock holds just enough to maintain its trajectory. Yet when it reaches a hard surface, say the stone streets and the Harbor of a town, the glass of the obsidian gives in, and the silica can't maintain any of the flexibility. Thousands of black shards would find themselves into the soft flesh that is of the human body like a porcupine just when it feels threatened enough. We shot an extra Salvo after the initial one just to make sure we got all of the spots. No need to elaborate on the results, only that we were clear to sail north.

I don't have to say much about the landing. The diamondbacks infiltrated the inner villages of the province to secure them for us and stop any messenger from calling for help, while our marines landed on the coast without any trouble, now we will spend some time to establish camps, fortifications, docks big enough for the ships to unload supplies on as well as some stone barriers to provide calm waters for any anchored ship.

Day Eleven
It has been a few days since I sat down to write about the situation at the front, it's always time that I'm short on. Since the landing mission, I've been so preoccupied with just about everything, from supply management to assigning the engineers in maintaining the infrastructure, army assignments all the way to the scheduling of the field artillery. Genuinely one could say that I would be doing so much more over the course of this campaign, but my officers are trained to carry out tasks and keep my mind as clear as possible, it's just that sometimes I wish they could do more than that. However I cannot judge them, they have been loyal to me for decades now, sailing, fighting, killing in my name, in the most treacherous of places and here there is no exception. Consequently I can't ask them to do anything more, I'm already satisfied with their performance, naturally it falls to me to fill in the gaps but dear God I just can't be everywhere at once. Thankfully though, most of the lieutenants have good hearts, the moment they see me over stressed, they will take over to give me some free time and thus here we are. Well things are going smooth so far, with a few turbulent tidings eastwards. Our advance north was fast and without any cost in human lives, at the beginning losing ammunition won't be a big deal the way I see it, since we have been close to the shore. We try to use softer ammunition and fire when it comes to pounding enemy camps near the canal so as to cut maintenance time and costs whenever we come to occupy them. The canals themselves are a wonderful project, even the engineers spend a surprising amount of their time studying the sites we have taken. After all the need for such a long canal in the Serene Republic or the mountain holds of Austonia never came to be.

Day Fourteen
About 3 days ago however we went through a difficult battle, to the point where we had to halt our advance until yesterday. In more detail, we came to pass from another defensive establishment on the southern suburbs of the city of khorisal, this small fort would be garrisoned by the town guard and watched over the eastern and southern side of the canal, completely blocking our advance. Typically a routine bombardment would be likely enough to force a surrender but it just so happened that our last reserves were either stolen or... Stolen by the Republicans, these wretched fools are coming from the woods in the south in raiding parties of a few dozen trying to disrupt our supply lines and burn every village we claim as our own. At this point I became frustrated with their lot, confident enough that I could maintain the Frontline with the musket-men and some of the lighter siege equipment to support our mediocre infantry, I sent the diamondbacks with the only horses that I could transport overseas to Veldion back to the flanks. A shame if you ask me, to put the finest warriors of Austonia and the Serene Republic to such menial tasks, but alas it had to be done. Soon we received the first wagon of ammunition and within the hour we were fully stocked. Funnily enough however, the fact that the Republicans had a greater plan would come to completely elapse my judgment. Bastards had been preparing a force from the northern front with Chumon Ito to come south as a relief force, under the cover of the urban landscape north of the canals in order to pass any bridge a few dozen leagues behind us and completely cut us off! If it wasn't for my scouts who notified me of a force coming through the streets up ahead, I wouldn't be here to write about it all so soon. I didn't have a heart of stone mind you, so the obliteration of the area was out of the question, for humanitarian purposes of course. The flooding of that town though was -for better or worse- a necessary evil, there was an old sealed floodgate at one end of the fork, presumably made for irrigation purposes, but instead of blasting it open I decided to put my runic magic knowledge to the test once again.

There are many gods and religions out there in this world, and the Dwarves under the Austonian mountains didn't like to worship any deity. They would come to believe to themselves and their ancestors, that they were the masters of their own selves and that the rest would be in the hands of faith. The faith of the LARP is based on the praising of the ancestors as per Dwarven tradition and adds upon that with the dogma of the harmony between fate and the lawless being within. To accept that one has a set path down in life yet still has to fight about to reach it, for the destination isn't what counts in the end, but the journey in between. To come to terms with your inner self and work together to discover the end that awaits you and work hard throughout your life to reach the end as a man of peace, balance and harmony. LARP in short, is somewhat of a state of mind which separates true individuals from the damned, no deities, no worship, just work on self improvement, nothing fancy i am aware.

This belief does have some practices in magic and rune casting, and the best element is usually water, for it follows the same principles: It flows around the world until it comes to rest when it reaches its final destination. So here I am, taking my place in sight of the canal, waving my arms around like a jester in front of the republicans, uttering words of nonsense. They did think of it as a jest, their laughing could be heard across the plains, a laugh cut short by the sizzling, then splashing, then roaring sound of a tidal wave coming down the floodgate. Not even the hinges could turn enough to push away the doors, they were dragged down as well, the entire republican army washed away within seconds. The fort was still standing though, but it wouldn't matter for now, cause I saw him in the sky. A small reptilian-looking figure with wings was closing in on my location, it was him, there would be no doubt, Glurak the Dragonborn. His gaze upon me and the runic circle where I casted the spell from, but I can't see his face any longer, just a bright orange flash.

Shit ...

Scorching flames come off the mouth of the man-looking beast. I leap forward to avoid his flame. Glurak can't aim again at this point so he soars into the sky once again, but this time I won't be taken by surprise, I unsheathe my runic Saber, the same blade that was forged In the fires of the Austonian deep furnaces and imbued with the oldest, unreadable runes whose equals are situated only inside the void vaults back home. One thought comes through, one moment until the carnage begins, one chance to do this the right way. I utter the ancient phrases taught by the now dead Runelords loud and clear, and the miracle is performed.

The fool realized that he would be walking to his doom, thus he turned left, barely avoiding the thunder clapping down the blade and into the ground, and ended up crash landing within the runic site.

He gets up fairly easily, I snap my fingers and the circle is now closed like a cage. But wait, the blade stops glowing now, and it's powers are now dampened. The defiant lizard laughs as soon as he understands that I am trapped in with him, having to fight with just a plain sword. Can't say that I wasn't worried about how this would play out, his scaly skin and teeth alone were a force to be reckoned with at this point, not to mention he held a staff, blade and was able to spit out fire. The following half-hour we fight like dogs over the last bone in the world, clearly he is a rookie when it comes to swordplay, and with every of my strikes or parries I cut him, but he doesn't even flinch. The moment he lands a successful blow, I can't think that I will be getting up soon. Eventually we are both tired, with him making one last effort to set me aflame. LARP tests me sometimes but I'll be damned, that was a good coat I lost to that fire, other than that I came out unscathed.

It would be around that moment where I figured out that his as a species wasn't attuned to rune magic at all, and many of the runes carved in that circle were made to wither out and further damp the well being of malevolent creatures, runes such as the ones we seal our vaults with. These effects seemed to have gotten him good after all this fighting. I laughed as hard as I could, for the irony of a victory before the fight had even started was just hilarious. He fell on his knees and consequently feinted. I left the circle and allowed the discouraged rebels to take the mortal body of their unnatural leader. Two days later we would take the last of the canals and secure the southern front with a ceasefire.

Our last adversary lies up north, and so we are off to meet him.

Day Eighteen
''We have done it, the Republicans to the south have been defeated and we are now clear to send our lads up north. Regarding the front with the monarchists, you could say that they are having the most horrible time of all people, their king is still inside that monastery, while some of his servants are looking for their way out the nation, they've approached us about a deal where we take more urban territory from khorisal while granting them safe passage to a port. I'll take that deal most likely, but until we sign, the last adversary awaits.''

''The people of Chumon ito are, what should I call it, a reunion of the old guard of plagatea who want nothing but the restoration of the old court and most likely to find their marble king and bring him back to life, and for what? To put him in charge again? Now i can't lie to myself, that lad who ruled as tavagor in this United continent twice now can be thought to be a bit competent, and I do support that thought, yet some of his practices back at the time were still questionable. If one looks back once again, I wasn't any better to rule an empire, I was having a hard time managing the colonies in eltham and sweeping after the shit that the "tavagor" of eldham was doing every single day. Yet the years pass, through fire and the flames I come out as a Phoenix reborn, a better man, an individual who came to build a republic as big as the two empires that claimed their dominion among the realms of Rathnir and eldham. After the big coup, the second one to be frank, they got me for good. It was then where I decided to just take all of the coffers, the armaments, the schematics, and the capable ships and sailors and just leave novastonia to rot, that was the ultimate price they would pay in the end.''

Alas my ambition is to find the tomb of Nero, find a way to bring him back, and take him for a ride along, teach him a trick or two, should a new state ever rise.

''Blast it all! We were caught unprepared, as soon as we were about to March north packed and ready, flaming arrows fly by our formations while warriors clad in light tempo armor stormed our positions. I shout out orders and send my lieutenants to bring about the men in fighting shape. But we were caught trousers-down, and our lack of cavalry combined with the proper use of theirs simply meant that we couldn't do Jack. Several dozen die within a minute or two and within a quarter of an hour, our infantry is decimated. Me and my bodyguard spread out to contain losses and save the wagons and the field equipment, for if that was captured it would have been a total defeat. Time passes and eventually the dust settles, some of their warriors still fallen, but their casualties couldn't compare to ours, the saving grace was the fact that the guns and engineers made it out unscathed. Some salvos were sent as a reply to the restoration forces, but they quickly withdrew. We sat down with the officers and set shop once again, for we had to rethink our strategy while the rest tended to the wounded, the guns providing cover in case the samurai decided to seize the moment.'' ''Plagatean soldiers were always few and far in between, but when you were up against one, your odds of success would be very slim. Disciplined and year-long Profesional warriors trained in the way of bushido. Nothing else matters to them. As for their loyalty, well they had always been faithful to the tagavor but the second they would always come to serve in times of need, that would be Nero's right hand man: Ieteru Kumagay,a the shogun of Chumon ito, a slimy bastard whose word seldom means anything! Him and his crooked pawns back in Sakurai tempo and that infamous yakuza. They gathered up every last valuable asset and are now set on restoring a new state. I knew where I was getting myself into here, don't get me wrong, but larp be praised this will be one hell of a fight. They dealt us a mighty blow and they will not expose themselves for one either. Our course of action must be swift but calculated.''

''The first order I remember issuing was to send the cruisers to the arlin sea to blast their forts from afar while sending the Serene rangers - a renowned troop of border guards and lawbringers in the novastonian countryside- to swiftly and discreetly take out patrols and villages that beared witness to the forces that I would send to challenge the restorationists. I would personally order back my bodyguard and legion to go together straight to their base of operations and put an end to this once and for all. Of course I am talking about the one and only, the regiments of the diamondback legion.'' ''The diamondbacks, oh where should I start? The oldest serving unit in the blue fleet currently as well as the old Republic. Founded in the days of the old austonian kingdom, this group of capable warriors back then would swear an oath to guard the old Quadrumvirs as well as be the last line of defense before the inner vaults. When the larpbellion came to be, most of them would perish deep in the mountains, sealing every point of entry while locking themselves up. Quite frankly that was when the name took legendary properties. Warriors, mercenaries, soldiers and adventurers would come flocking in the new harbors of the Serene Republic, willing to prove themselves. At that point in my life I was still furious and vengeful of the Anglunians, believing that we would eventually bring the fight to them, if it wasn't for that thought, I would have never trained them to become such professionals with a grudge. They only follow my lead and will give their lives for me. Now my boys  will definitely outmatch any samurai, and by bringing only a limited bunch of people the chances to be taken by an ambush will be minimal. No further blood from my people needs be spilled in my name, I'll take my own men and deal with Kumagaya and his minions with a simple confrontation.''

''We make way towards the north, the pines becoming more dense along the way, burnt villages and entire ghost towns along the way. A shame if you ask me, but I cannot afford to risk it all! We are getting closer than ever, every camp we find we slay them like pigs, where is this samurai tradition they all brag about? Where all I see is worried faces pleading for us to deliver them to salvation. Oh dear Ieteru, you should have stayed hidden deep in the streets of tempo, making ends meet and just that. Now you will pay for your hubris, by my hand alone, and may the LARP have mercy on your soul, for I certainly will not.''

DAY TWENTY-ONE
''Here we are, their northmost fort in Veldion, and likely the area where the shogun is in as we speak. Before I open my mouth to speak, the doors clash open and an entire regiment of armorclad warriors on horseback encircle us. I reckon that is Kumagaya's bodyguard. Their captain beckons me, demanding that I drop my weapons, I refuse. A horn is blown out and the horse riders charge straight at us, the outcome is grim indeed but I order a loose formation, and every man nods at my next few signals, confident that my plan is gonna work. Just a few moments before a rider's spear meets my chest, I unsheath my Saber and the runes glow ay once. At the very end of the blade an enormous burst of light erupts over the battlefield, blinding all of the riders. The following moments are brief and a sight to behold, diamond blades and cutlasses jumping around, slicing left and right, making all sorts of dances. The enemy lies dead before us. My lieutenants and a few other officers, basically my retinue around me, they all look at me and they bow, soon they all walk away from the fort but stop about a hundred yards away. The doors open once again, there I see him''

''Ieteru Kumagaya, the Man who would never be Tavagor wearing nothing but his kimono and the katana strapped, he would come to lose a lot this evening, soldiers, people, and mayhaps the hope to aspire as the ruler of the region. A cornered basil, with not much to lose…'' A dangerous Ieteru… ''No words were exchanged, no nods given, we both knew what was about to take place. Blades sheathed and a long, LARP knows how long, gaze upon one another, the final breath before the show. A subtle click, and here we go.''

''I do not wish to describe my fight with Ieteru, for it would take too long, and I wouldn't feel comfortable about it. Just as he kneeled before I broke his guard after so long, we had our last talk. I did take my sweet time, standing in front of him, thinking about our exchange of words mid-fight, and thus I made a bold decision, one that I may come to regret…''

…I offer him my hand, he takes it, and stands up.

To Achieve the Impossible
The blue fleet has proven the dominant faction in the veldski civil war and thanks to Joseph Rabbadon, The clans have confederated under his wisdom. Having agreed to a joint rulership with the shogun of chumon ito, Ieteru kumagaya, The group undergo a series of events that put their bond to the test all while both individuals are interested in one thing only, uniting the continent of Plagos.

The Regency Endures
''Time has gone by in great speed these past couple of months. With the fleet preoccupied in fending off hansa and Ryzan vessels trying to exact influence on the area, the army is now free in this short time window to begin the reclamation and subjugation of the other rebels. Speaking of them, Glurak’s death has wavered the remnants of the republican forces whereas the monarchists aren’t fairing any better, in fact just this week, the last remainder of them sallied out of the monastery in polksridge in an heroic attempt to turn the tide, more like earn an honorable death or to be spared I would say. As soon as most of them were funneled in the streets and alleys, separated from one another, we would give them parleys or pardons, sometimes the cuffs but mostly they would receive the end of a blade around their throats.''

''At this point, the capital has been mostly cleaned up. The last real stronghold that is not in our hands yet would be the fort of nausicaa. It is located west of the borders with arlinovla, yet it is an enclave a few clicks off of that. I wouldn’t be afraid that much though, Ieteru and I spoke the other night and he told me he would send the cultists dedicated to the worship of the old emperor, in a few weeks their infiltration would be inevitable. Then most likely they would turn the fort over to us as we had made our intentions clear to bring the old emperor back to life, in one way or another…'' ''Personally I didn’t mind the cultists for how they serve us, their ideals and goals however were quite disturbing. To latch a soul to from the void and bring it back would require some efforts, to name a few, one has to breach the deepest bedrocks of the world in order to be able to witness the void itself, and furthermore the means to get into it and then pull whatever one needs out. Although that is within our realm of capabilities for sure, something else of great importance seems  to not be within our reach, that is the willingness of the soul to be found and escorted back into our realm, and then find a suitable carrier. For some reason it's not something that the cultists or ieteru is bothered by. This is what makes me think for long hours on end every single night.''

''Some individuals who might get their hands on these pages and also happen to know me, might wonder why on earth am I contemptuous with such plans. Honestly, I am not fully contempt, the idea of bringing a person back into the living is not something unknown to us, the key difference is however, most people’s spirits return to our realm willingly on their own and usually without notice, they come back to fulfill the prophecies and the dictations of fate, some even return back out of sheer determination to amend and alter their own fate. Say now dear reader, what will happen if emperor Nero doesn’t want to return to the world and close the chapter properly himself? Even after we go all these lengths and bother him all the way to the void, will the cultists behave and respect his decision? Or do they perhaps wish to see him come out whether he wants it or not?''

Forcing the soul to do one’s bidding is strictly forbidden in the teachings of the larp, for you interfere with the fate and destiny of a person to a fundamental level, it would only be considered normal as long as the person was alive, after that its either rest or return for said person, and interfering with the former can bring consequences that these cultists would never have thought of. The greatest example of which is… the story of my death.

The teachings of the LARP
''Beyond us lies glory, a dream long sought after. How many lives will it take to reach the end of the line? For how long must I walk this earth to settle every grudge. I feel that the more I stay in this world, the more problems I create. I may be the one who trapped myself in this cycle of perpetual repetitiveness in the first place .''

''If so, why do I keep fighting? Why do I persist after so many years? Ironically I have been knowing the answer for a long time. It is I who brought myself into this, this fate of sorts from the day I stepped into this mountain hall, warm and welcoming but with its secrets no doubt. I made sure to pay back for their kindness towards me, but I fell for their beliefs. The mighty runelord of austonia took me in as his apprentice, I was a proper duelist, sailor and navigator, yet he would come to make me a craftsman, a Smith, a runesmith and a disciple as well. I grew fond of these dwarfs because they made me a better man, they made me see for what I was capable of. No Gods are masters of my future, my well being, my ending. I am the master of my fate, and the gods are all pawns of the LARP as much as I am, pawns and puppets for a stage that nobody will come to witness, or fathom its size for that matter.''

I was convinced it was real the moment we took up arms and rebelled against Anglunia and the rest of the known world, we striked out and brought every last mongrel to heel, the impossible was achieved at this time. Only to be swept away the next moment when our magic failed us and misfortune struck every single last of our assets. Whoever was in the first hold, LARP would see to it that they were buried, whoever was outside however, would be either destined to die eventually…

Or be granted everything by the LARP in order to escape and live for another day. Such a case would come to be my own. But for the sake of clarity, nobody became God that day just to escape.

Oh not at all… we were all cut down like pigs the moment we tried to leave.

That is the shameful truth of it. I died that day, from there and ever onward nothing would be the same again. In death as mentioned before, we could be given a dilemma:

eternal rest in oblivion, Or an opportunity

The opportunity to rise again, rise until the grudge had been settled, until balance was restored again to my people, a chance to be a pawn in this game of fate. If it wouldn't be me then it would be someone else. I cannot lie, nothing in this world would convince me to stay down and not do anything about the wrongdoings of my people and myself. So I got up, left from the woods that I once drew my last breath, and then rode south west.

In all honesty, I still haven't fulfilled my promise to the LARP, and I feel like it may never be. Mayhaps I have already done that by killing the old king of Anglunia, and then impregnating his daughter with her consent. Until now I've done so many deeds, left so many wounds open. Only now do I come to realize that this was my curse rather than my gift. The mark of the runelord engraved to my skin the moment I woke up from death. I am an agent of fate, a fate that i may come to choose, that is my punishment, for now and forever. Nero cannot be part of this if he chooses not to. And it is within my hand to decide the outcome.

As for other news, his disciples have come to invade nausicaa. And avium is collapsing under its weight as i am writing this. For now his resurrection will be stalled, for me and Ieteru have a lot to do.

But as soon as we come to see better days. I trust there will be blood.

It Takes Two
A few weeks have passed since last time I sat down to write, it's one of the few things that keeps me calmer than ever.

''For starters. A few days ago, I was called by the shogun regent Ieteru to the citadel of Khorisal. From there I was informed that we would have to travel west to nieden by sea in order to reach the empire of simulami. A well-established empire in that continent with prospering colonies in Eldham as well. It seems that we had requested an audience with the imperator Zeno for the sale of the goshuma district.'' ''To any newcomer, that would imply goshuma is in the possession of the empire of simulami whereas the name suggests that this district belongs to plagos. Whoever thought this, you stand corrected, the district of Goshuma is indeed in plagos and furthermore was part of the second Plagatean empire. However when the second empire came to collapse, our friends in simulami marched over the northern territories, namely the goshuma district, and occupied it so as to preserve its culture and legacy in "good faith" to the tagavor. If one could ask me through this piece of paper about my feelings for this action he would receive the following reply: The people of simulami would come to draw a lot of favors and influence from the second empire whenever it had a chance, for whenever the plagateans had it rough, they would also come to receive the short end of the stick amongst their alliances as well. I do not blame the imperator of simulami for paying his cards right, but I would be more careful around him when I was doing business. Ieteru did understand my concerns yet he wouldn't come to adopt them to his own beliefs.''

"And now what? He expects us to pay him for the lands that can return to the regency even without his consent?" *I let out my thoughts eventually in the conversation*

"Zeno did us a great service and we would be kind to him if we gave something as a token of our gratitude" *Ieteru replies to me in an argumentative tone, seeming to think as if they deserve this so called token*

"gratitude? Are you serious? Do you not forget the times we bled for the sapphire commonwealth and the alliances we had when we were still kicking? How many concessions did you give to keep the ship afloat? The people of simulami had been always leeching off our armies and services that WE PROVIDED THEM. only for you to occasionally profit from their network, a network I could have infiltrated and exploited myself if you hadn't-"

"Hadn't what Joseph? Banished you from the realm itself? It was thanks to you that I made all these concessions to them in the first place when you set out to hunt us down, this situation is also in your hands too so don't lecture me about it, you shouldn't be in here at a-"

I was growing tired of this, the mark of the runelord grew bright, and i smashed the table between us with that hand

"ENOUGH, you will stay Here. I shall go to settle this with Zeno myself" ''He wouldn't argue, he couldn't argue further, for that was the ruling of fate, and my power would come to speed this up, save us the trouble and the liabilities. As such I took the ship, and I sailed to nieden. It was fate that I wouldn't pay the original amount, but It wasn't certain I wouldn't pay nought either. In the end with some haggling and weaving, the price I managed to lower down to one third of the original. The rest of the money, after my clash with the shogun, would be used for the establishment of the admiralty over the newly bought goshuma district, with tangaesal, the oldest city in plagos, to be our main headquarters.''

''At this point Ieteru would come to realize he wouldn't get on top of me. So in the following weeks he would come to work in novia with his own council. As such it was time, he would have had to be taken out by conventional means. There is no going back now. As he would attempt to scheme for the regency without my consent, so I would come to do the same.''

''I sent out envoys to my children in Eldham first. Kardivia, Novastoria and cities all across where I had contacts. I placed an order of arm shipments and supplies along with poor masses of people to be displaced in plagos, thankfully the latter came to pay for the supply of the former and thus no further effort was required other than my exactement of influence. These people would come to bolster the ranks of the arlinovlan inquisition whereas the kardivian masses would come to be preached by the old teachings of CO and Ophelia to create a proxy state, namely the Olsen order. With these problems to bear, the mind of Ieteru would be overworked and the southern regency distracted. Whereas we will be preparing for the reckoning of plagos as we had set out here to do so in the first place. Soon they will attend the diet in the newly acquired territory of novia, and the assassin's will force their hand whether my agents get caught or not, The shogun Regent will blunder hard when he tries to threaten me and March to the north.''

The larp is infallible, everyone meets their fate sooner or later.

A Change in Plans
It's nearly time

''Yesterday this letter came in from the south, bearing the seal of the shogun regent himself. And it reads the following:''

"To the Viper of the North, your treacherous nature seems to know no bounds. I had hoped that you were able to put your ambition aside even for a little bit so we could have perhaps created heaven on earth in our little corner of the world. But alas some people truly never change. I offer you this one last ultimatum.

In one Lunar cycle from now, I want you and your advisers, concubines and retainers in Khorisal, dressed in plain clothing just like the average rice farmer toiling under the sun, you'll plead for forgiveness not from me nor the gods but from the people you've betrayed countless times before, they can decide your fate.

If this simple demand is not met within the allocated time, once I put Dezhous' head on a spike i'll turn my attention to you and your lot, and this time there'll be no room for negotiations or mercy."

Signed, Ieteru Kumagaya

Shogun-Regent of the Plagatean Regency

Alas, the time has come ''At this point he made sure that the message wouldn't arrive in time. It is safe to assume that my contacts in the south will be hard to reach for now. Clearly enough he will attempt to send agents of his own as well as armies to threaten my domination over the northern regency. It also comes to my attention that tengaesal is spitting distance away from the border with our southern counterparts, now protected by our puppets in the Olsen order mind you, this way I can only send a few regiments armed with heavy guns and wagons to provide the proper support the knights of Co need in order to make the troops of the southern regency look like fodder for our arms to take target on.''

''With the koyama clan in full swing against the oppressors of the south and the inquisition now being a proper force to fight against Ieteru thanks to my shipments, the regency is vulnerable in all places except the capital of khorisal. With the only thing left to their name being the damn city and the vermin cult loyal to a dead corpse.''

''If the infamous shogun thinks he is in the position to make threats from the citadel's walls I can reliably say that he has another thing coming. The 3rd flotilla has already been dispatched, accompanied by the Diamondbacks as a marine force should the need arise for a takeover of khorisal, his last safe hold will be held at gunpoint, ready to be leveled at my command''. ''And thus, with all this said and done, we can conclude that this has been game, set and match for the shogun regent. In his defence, he did try to reform the military and make a more grand army, but alas he never listened to me, diplomacy always gets you wherever you want, He could barely talk to a person without slitting his throat, and then you call me cruel. The first paragon of the LARP, the master negotiator, the founder of the Serene Republic, and they still think that plagos will be a better place under them and not under me. Blatant liars the lot of them!!!''

''The people of plagos never suffered because of me, they have been straining their backs all along just to keep you afloat. Leon brought more misery instead of happiness to the people, distancing them ever on from fulfillment. Ieteru would have slain the entirety of plagos just to not hear complaints ever again. And as for Nero? He was too young and too naive to rule in the first place, I was only kicked out only to get back in and set things the way I intended, to strike balance in plagos when  everyone else couldn't. I am destined to become the emperor of this continent. I weave the destiny as the LARP appointed.'' My dear friend Ieteru Kumagaya

"When my Saber was at the end of your throat, I gave you my hand instead. I knew your potential in the first place and so I took you in as an asset of value.

But that would not mean that you're my most valuable asset.

It seems that this vital detail has slipped away from your mind: When you took that hand back there, you gave yourself to do my bidding, to carry out my plan and be a part in uniting the continent under My name. There will be none of you on top of that seat of power, Nero will enjoy his existence in the afterlife and will be left in peace forever more

You, on the other hand, have even fewer options than your old emperor has.

A squadron is capable enough to blockade and level Khorisal on my command, and in a few hours they will be able to do so. Any expedition of yours on the country will be met by heavy gunfire or the zeal of the Olsen order, not to mention your disobedient dogs further south. And Don't even think of raising insurrections in the north for my army will see it coming from leagues away. As a matter of fact, you don't have much time left to do anything, for I shall come to settle this lack of trust that's holding you back myself.

You will see the future I will have to offer, you will see why my guidance could have saved the second empire, you will see why it is I who can manifest destiny and settle every grudge in this world.”

I remain yours truly, Joseph Rabbadon

First prophet of the LARP