"Let the gold flow; there is nothing better than feeling of the gold."
Minister of Finance of the Holy Arcadia Empire, Blackgold Savek Stormhammer of Clan Stormhammer
***
Codex: The Healing Church
The Healing Church is a primary religious organization of the Holy Arcadia Empire, founded in Yharnam by Laurence the First Vicar and the very first Grand Theogenist of the Healing Church, shortly after the Expeditions into the Ancient Tombs underneath the Yharnam.
After the special condition of the Old Blood was given to the first humans by the Great Ones and the primary God of the Pantheon, the Formless God of Blood Oedon, Laurence, who was already a famous occultist, established a Church to worship the Great Ones and created the process of Blood Ministration.
The Highest Authority of the Healing Church is the Grand Theogenist, whose presence is only second to the Holy Chosen of the Great Ones, the instrument of the Great Ones in the Mortal Realms.
The upper echelons of the Church are collectively known as The Choir, which consists of the Vicars. They are the highest-ranking members of the Healing Church tasked with running the Religion. The Choir members are also voting on the new Grand Theogenist of the Healing Church.
***
The situation with the Barbarians in the Stormwind was looking terrible, far more than that... half a million combat-ready Barbarians, with many of them being High-Level Professionals, and they would soon enough march on the rest of the Stormwind.
The children of the Bul-Kathos were dangerous, and for years and years, they were being ignored by the Holy Arcadia Empire. Now that the Empire pacified situations within their Homeland, the only thing that remained were the Barbarians.
"Honored Members of the Landsraad, the situation with the Bul-Khatos and Harrogath is grave, and their threat already exceeded what could one Grand Province handle on its own; according to the latest reports, their army is numbering over half a million and still increasing."
Soon enough, the Elector Countess Klaud Marian stepped on the podium to deliver her petition for the Landsraad.
She was a woman of average height with a slim, fit physique. She had blonde hair and lightly colored purple eyes, and a large scar marks the upper portion of her face in an "X" formation, meeting between her eyes.
She wore the uniform of the Exorcist Knights of the House Marian uniform, which consisted of tight black pants worn under a skin-tight, sleeveless top with tails on either side of her legs, all trimmed in gold.
She also had thick gauntlets on her arms that almost reached her shoulders, as well as several belts that bore pouches along the back.
One-half of her face was covered by hair, which was a bit longer to cover half of her face completely, and she wore round red earrings.
"If we do not act swiftly and they march on the Stormwind, then the Province could remain only on the defensive; even with the combined forces of the 10th Imperial Legion and Provincial Army, we don't have enough manpower to subjugate the Badlands completely. For that, I ask the honored members of the Landsraad to declare the Crusade on the Children of Bul-Khatos and annihilate them once and for all."
Klaud Marian was the wife of Cross Marian; both of them were professional Daemon Hunters, and they were actually not even members of the nobles in the first place. Both of them were just ordinary Daemon Hunters till a few decades ago.
Karl Franz once met the couple when they were hunting for a powerful Daemon Lord within the Dark Lands and somehow, they managed to get into the position of Nobility within the Grand Province of Stormwind, which didn't have an Elector Count House as it was directly under the Imperial Administration as it was most problematic region since the establishment of the Holy Arcadia Empire.
"And what of their Leader? The new Barbarian King Wokun?"
This question came from the Elector Count of Caladan, Atreus Atreides, who was also participating in the meeting of the Landsraad. While he was General-Kommandant of the Reiksgarde, Karl Franz didn't really forbid him from doing his duties to the House.
"Confirmed Level 6, at least at the peak of it according to the energy readings that our Wizards managed to get their hands on. They have a few Chieftains among them that are also at Level 6, and there are several at Level 5; they have been gathering a lot of strength at a later date."
This caused murmurs to run through the Landsraad because the Children of Bul-Khatos were stronger than they had thought. Still, unfortunately, the Barbarians were silent for a long time, and the Holy Arcadia Empire needed to deal with preventing Orks from intervening in this...
Without building the wall at the south of the Grand Province of Orleáns, they couldn't pick up the fight with the Barbarians and risk of Orks and Barbarians allying with each other to push the Empire on two fronts simultaneously.
Aside from that, there was also a constant threat of Powers of Ruination intervening in that so that it would become a three-way war against the Empire. But now that the Orks were technically speaking solved thanks to the wall, it was one-on-one.
"The Divine Throne of Sunlight and Cinder acknowledges that the Barbarians of the Badlands need to be purged. Is there anyone who wants to say something before we proceed to the Vote?"
The High Chancellor Luca Brewster asked as he scanned the entire Landsraad with his eyes, and seeing that nobody had anything to say, he then initiated the voting procedure.
Voting within the Landsraad always went very swiftly as most Noble Houses came have sent representatives to sit on their Seat within the Landsraad with clear instructions on how to vote, not to mention it was streamed through the Lacrimas or they came by themselves.
Karl Franz from his throne, who was overseeing the entire Landsraad, was pushed yes for the motion as soon as the entire voting procedure had ended, and now it was time to read the results of the Vote.
"The Landsraad has decided. The motion proposed by the has passed in the ratio of 0:1,000. The Children of Bul-Khatos have been declared the enemy of the Holy Arcadia Empire, and the Empire would launch a Crusade against them with one sole purpose of annihilation of the Barbarians of Bul-Khatos and conquer the Badlands of the Stormwind."
Soon enough, the entire Landsraad erupted in cheers as the Holy Arcadia Empire marched once again to war and expanded its territories. The Arcadians were always keen on expanding their territory, even though they rather focused on empty territories for pioneering.
"Now the Holy Imperator will officially declare the Crusade and also give a speech for the Empire with one important matter."
Instantly, the entire Landsraad quieted down as Karl Franz stood up from the podium and stepped on the speech desk to give the speech for the Landsraad as he would officially declare the Crusade against the Barbarians of the Badlands.
This was the standard procedure as all of these acts were declared officially by the Holy Imperator; it was one of the few things that Karl Franz, as the head of state, was formally doing within the Landsraad.
"Honored Members of the Landsraad, according to the wishes of the Landsraad, it is time to deal with the threat that is endangering the sovereignty of the Holy Arcadia Empire. It is finally time to address the threat of the Children of Bul-Khatos and put an end to their existence for all eternity. In the name of the Holy Arcadia Empire, I declare a crusade against the Barbarians of the Badlands. All other things would be left to the Imperial Bashar, who would devise the entire operation."
As Karl Franz declared the Crusade against the Badlands, the entire Landsraad stood up and clapped their hands in cheering thunderous applause upon the declaration of war. For Arcadians, the war was something that was welcomed by all because they could obtain a lot.
Commoners could have risen to the status of Nobility while existing Nobles could obtain merits and additional rewards for performing well in the War.
Not to mention, if they managed to pacify the last problematic territory within the Homeland, a lot of Imperial Forces would be available to be deployed at the other parts of the Empire.
"And as the final thing in the meeting, Landsraad, I have some serious thing to announce."
Suddenly, the whole Landraad quieted down as everyone waited for the further announcement.
"Due to the situation with the Skycrown Gate and the losses the Holy Arcadia Empire has suffered at the battle against the Daemon Horde led by the Daemon Lord Azgith The Stormbrand, I have decided to call a Great Convention Council to discuss certain matters that would influence the Holy Arcadia Empire for the millennia to come..."
This came out as a great shock to all members of the Landsraad because the last Great Convention Council was during the time when the Holy Arcadia Empire was established, almost seven or eight centuries ago.
"Order! Order! Order within the halls of the Landsraad!"
High Chancellor Luca Brewster said as the entire halls of the Landsraad quieted down in mere minutes. When Karl Franz finished his speech, it meant that the meeting of the Landsraad has been ended.
"Now that all has been said, the meeting of the Landsraad has been concluded."
Karl Franz then went to Maria and Cersei, who were waiting for him, as they, then departed back to the premises of the Imperial Palace of Anor Londo.
"It was rather interesting?"
As they were sitting in the armored carriage and were heading toward the Imperial Palace, both women had heavier clothing on them, as it was getting cold at this time of year in the Reikland.
In truth, Lordran, in its entirety, was a rather cold place, even with the warmest provinces, which were Munn and Stormwind would be considered cold in Westeros. Most of the country was as cold as North in the Westeros most of the year.
Only a few weeks during the years, it was getting warmer, but only in certain areas of the Lordran.
"Then you didn't see anything; if there are territorial disputes or conflicts between merchants, those are far more interesting, or if the conflicts between Wizards are brought to the Landsraad. Such cases are exceedingly rare, but those are the most entertaining."
Lady Maria said with a chuckle that today's meeting of the Landsraad was relatively boring, and even Karl Franz agreed with her statement because it was mildly boring. He would rather prefer Wizards squabbling with each other; that one proved much more entertaining.
"Don't worry; in the future, you will need to participate in every meeting of the Landsraad, at least from the start, then you can ditch it on the representative."
Karl Franz scoffed hearing that because he didn't like Cersei getting Maria's bad habits and corrupting her. She certainly had a lot of bad habits that he didn't wish for Cersei to learn from her.
"Maria, stop corrupting her."
The Holy Imperator hugged Cersei and jokingly said as he looked at the Lady of the Vilebloods. In truth, from his side, it was a half-joke; he didn't like anyone else getting Maria's bad habits of not fulfilling her duties.
"I am not corrupting her, just giving her advice on what to do... you know... It's boring..."
Maria said with a frown, looking at Karl Franz and Cersei Lannister as she would much prefer fighting with Danger Beasts or anything than just doing some boring administration work and so on.
"Don't worry... Cersei would not be like you, who is constantly running for her duties; she would be a prime example of a splendid politician."
The Holy Imperator stated as he kissed Cersei's neck, causing the young girl to giggle as she felt Karl's hands roaming down to her body, as she was feeling increasingly horny.
Karl Franz hadn't slept with her yet because her body was still acclimatizing to the Old Blood, but he noticed that she had been seducing him for the past few days.
She grew increasingly bold during her stay at the Imperial Palace.
Karl Franz didn't know the reason for that, but he knew that it probably stemmed from her talking with Maria; they were constantly together and whispering something and giggling to each other.
"You are spending too much time with Maria lately... it has been turning you into little minx..."
Karl Franz said as he groped her breasts, causing the young woman to moan uncontrollably.
"Maybe... I have something that I want to have..."
She whispered into his ear with a seductive tone of voice as he shuddered slightly, hearing her tone of voice.
"Wait a few more weeks until your body completely assimilates the Old Blood, and I will fuck your soul out of your body."
Karl Franz whispered into her; as she visibly shuddered when she heard that because that was exactly his plan to do. While she was around fifteen years old, she already had a body worth of seductress, and her beauty would make others to kill for.
"I cannot wait for that already... my dear Emperor..."
She returned with a whisper as she bit his earlobe a bit.
***
After the end of the meeting of the Landsraad
As the meeting of the Landsraad ended, the entire Imperial Warmachine started working because the orders were set.
The speech of the Holy Imperator in the Landsraad and his declaration of Crusade against the Barbarians of Badlands soon enough resounded through every single Noble House of the Holy Arcadia Empire, and everyone started working.
The Imperial Bashar of the Holy Arcadia Empire had already started working on devising plans of invasion against the Barbarians of the Badlands.
These plans were already contained the usage of the Stormcast Eternals and also the plans of sabotage and subterfuge against the Children of Bul-Khatos.
The Holy Arcadia Empire needed more time to prepare their forces, and aside from that, they needed to create the Stormcast Eternals as they wished to deploy them in fight and test their capabilities.
They would also be immensely useful against foes that power as the Children of Bul-Khatos.
They would at first sabotage the Children of Bul-Khatos so they couldn't move against the territory of the Holy Arcadia Empire sooner than they would be prepared. The Imperial Intelligence had already sent tens of agents into the Badlands to carry out countless sabotage missions.
Imperial Bashar Jacques Orleáns was more than eager to devise a plan to exterminate the whole species of Barbarians. When they would be done with them, there would be no single Barbarian remaining and they would become just pages in the history books.
Soon enough, the entire Imperial Machine would start moving towards the Grand Province, Duchy of Stormwind, with a great deal of eagerness and anticipation. Even right now, many of the high-ranking people of the Empire were setting their sights on the Stormwind.
"They are surely working fast..."
The Holy Imperator sat on the Divine Throne of Sunlight and Cinder as he was overlooking the panorama of the Anor Londo from a throne room, which was an enormous empty hall capable of fitting two or three thousand people easily.
Countless enormous pillars made of carefully crafted stone supported the roof, and beautifully crafted pieces of artwork decorated the entire throne room of the Imperial Palace.
At the same time, the most eye-catching thing within the Throne Room was the Divine Throne of Sunlight and Cider. An enormous bright gold throne shone with a magnificent brilliance, slowly appearing from the gold-red ring of light.
The enormous throne was 33 meters high; on its back, countless precious stones were set and a man could faintly be seen floating behind this chair, spreading severity, dignity, and even terror out all around.
Countless gems were ostentatiously inlaid behind. In its faintest inner part, one could see a Buddha's silhouette. Mighty and dignified, it could even be said to emit a sense of pressure.
At the top of the back of the chair, there was a semicircular bright red gem that seemed like the sun looking over Mother Earth. But its brilliance was dark orange colored, giving the impression that it was bringing doom and terror.
At the height of the chest of this figure, also at the back of the chair, an intensely dazzling golden-red diamond gem could be spotted. Each crest line drawn on it seemed to try to show the man's formidableness; a huge part of it released a bright brilliance.
At the front of this wide chair, one Dragon and one Griffon were carved on the left and right sides, respectively, seeming as if they were roaring. Countless magnificent decorative patterns seemed to fill the back of the throne completely.
The radiant fluctuations of spiritual energy spreading out from it seemed to give all spectators an urge to bow down in front of it.
"Your Holy Majesty, Euron Greyjoy has been brought before the Divine Throne of Sunlight and Cinder."
Karl Franz heard the voice of Grand Chamberlain as the Euron Greyjoy was brought in the sealing chains before the Divine Throne of Sunlight and Cinder. He looked much worse than he looked when he was captured, but that was to be expected as he spent a lot of time in the Imperial Dungeons.
"So, what shall we do with you, Euron of the Crow's Eye?"
The Holy Imperator asked rhetorically as he looked at the chained Euron Greyjoy, who still managed to raise his head with a mocking smile as he looked at the Holy Imperator of the Holy Arcadia Empire.
"I have a proposition for you... servitude to the Divine Throne of Sunlight and Cinder or death. Choose quickly; I don't have the whole day for this thing."
Karl Franz stated causally without anything else, and as he expected, Euron Greyjoy accepted everything that he proposed because, in the first place, the Crow's Eye was a survivalist and would do anything for his own survival...
"Begin the Soul Binding."
The Holy Imperator said neutrally as he tapped on the armchairs of his throne, which lit with a red crimson light that then shot towards the Euron Greyjoy, binding his soul and very own existence to the Divine Throne of Sunlight and Cinder.
The Soul Binding Ritual was a procedure that bound someone's soul to the Divine Throne of Sunlight and Cinder and thus to the person of the Holy Imperator. It made it impossible for the person who was bound to the Divine Throne to betray the Holy Arcadia Empire or to damage the Empire with any other means.
Knowingly or unknowingly.
"Now, you will assume the position of Admiralty within the Empire and start reforming the Imperial Navy from scratch. Are we clear?"
Seeing the Euron Greyjoy nodding his head, Karl Franz continued with his instructions. The Soul Binding Ritual made it impossible for anyone to betray him, so he was more at ease...
"If you perform well, you will be reformed; if not, then you will be executed?"
Seeing him once again nodding his head, he ordered the Reiksgarde to bring him away from the Throne Room. Euron Greyjoy knew that his only option for his head to remain safely on his neck was to bow to the Divine Throne of Sunlight and Cinder.
"Is there anything else?"
Karl Franz asked the Grand Chamberlain as the man nodded. It was rare for Karl Franz to have more than one or two audiences even per week because most people knew not to bother Imperator with meaningless stuff.
And most of these things could be resolved through the stable Imperial Bureaucracy.
"Yes, Your Holy Majesty, there are several people asking for an audience today. The first one requesting the audience with Your Majesty is the Minister of Finance."
As he said that, as a Grey Dwarf stored in the room, he had a stocky and strong build like most of the dwarfs; his skin was though colored like that of a Gay Iron. His beard and hair were of striking ginger color.
Blackgold Savek Stormhammer was nenber if the Stormhammer Clan.
The Stormhammer Clan was a large Clan of the Grey Dwarves, so large that it had its own kingdom. Blackgold, in particular, was a very special one; his affinity lay not with alcohol but with appraising ore and gemstones.
He also had great talent in Magic, which, combined with his love for gold and unique appraisal abilities, netted him a position as the treasurer of the Elector Count of Khaz-Modan. He was very good with finances and making gold, which led to him being named as Minister of Finance.
"Greeting yer Majesty."
Karl Franz nodded at his greeting and greeted him back.
"It is always a pleasure to have you here, Minister; how what was that important which required your presence?"
The Minister of Finance nodded and passed him a huge stack of papers as he skimmed through them very fast before he turned back his attention to the Minister of Finance.
"And?"
The opening of trade routes to the Westeros and Essos presented an enormous opportunity to make gold out of them. There were already talks within the Imperial Court about expanding the territory of the Holy Arcadia Empire into unclaimed territories of the Westeros and the continents of Sothoroys and Ulthos.
"As you can see, CHOAM is very interested in opening the trade with the trade with the Westeros and Free Cities of Essos; the potential there is enormous. We can make enormous amounts of gold for the Empire and also the Imperial House."
Minister of Finance Blackgold Savek Stormhammer answered that they would need to do something with this situation; without the Emperor's consent, it was impossible to move with the trade.
CHOAM was controlled mostly by the Imperial House, which controlled 51% of the CHOAM; another 29% was controlled by the Holy Arcadia Empire or the state itself and the remaining 20 was divided between the Elector Count Houses, Byrgenwerth and Vilebloods.
***
MC POV
I kept hearing about the situation with the trade with the Westeros and Free Cities of Essos; the CHOAM would be restless about it for sure. Sooner or later, we would need to officially establish trade with other parts of Westeros beyond the Westerlands.
And the topic of expansion of the Holy Arcadia Empire was another problem because I was swiftly against conquering something that already had natives. I wasn't keen on dealing with the problematic local population or so...
I would agree to the expansion, but only in case the territory was unpopulated or if the territory had a population that couldn't be integrated into the Holy Arcadia Empire and we could safely exterminate them.
Even right now, the Lordran was enormous and the Holy Arcadia Empire was big enough to fit the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros into its territory several times over.
"They can start, but for now target only Westerlands and North due to connections we have established or will establish. The rest of the Seven Kingdoms needs to wait, make the secondary targets for primary trade Dorne; they have a lot to offer even though they are not aware of it... or they would have a lot to offer."
In Westeros, I was interested only in Lannisters, Starks, Martels and Baratheons because they had the strongest magical lineages. When the Great Magic Resurgence happened in full force, the Houses that had weak magical blood would fall for sure.
Tyrells, Tullys and Arryns were living on borrowed time now that the Magic started returning to the world.
The Magic in their blood was almost none nonexistent or too little, and once their vassals who had more powerful magical bloodlines obtained tremendous power, it would change everything.
In the Lands of Ancients, this wasn't something new truth to be told.
Targaryens would fall sooner or later and they are related to the Valyria, which is a big no-no for the Holy Arcadia Empire; if anything else, there would be many zealots who would try to do everything in their power to annihilate anything even remotely connected to the Old Valyria.
"I will pass the word to the CHOAM, but there are more things to discuss... The most prominent is Dwarves are pestering us to start the research into the Valyrian Steel and are asking for an increase in budget for the Blacksmith Guild in this project."
That was only natural; once they all heard about the existence of the Valyrian Steel, the entire Blacksmith Guild wanted to figure out how to re-create it. The metal of Valyrian Steel wasn't the best magical metal, but it had something that others didn't...
It could be mass-produced exactly like the Valyrians did it.
"And why are they coming with this to me and not the Radcliffe or even Lady Annalise for something like this?"
I didn't really understand why the united petition of Blacksmith Guild, Engineer Guild and College of Engineers was going directly to me and not to the old Radcliffe, who was Minister of Development and Innovation, or even Lady Annalise Vileblood, who was Minister of Domestic Affairs and Territorial Management.
"Because they are asking a rather big sum of money and they are also asking for military intervention if needed. They want to obtain examples at any cost, and if they can't buy it, they want to take it by force, not to mention they want to send someone to Qohor to obtain information about reforging the Valyrian Steel and everything they could obtain from there."
This was a rather dangerous play they were playing.
Still, at least I can now understand why they brought it to me as a united petition, as it required authorization to conduct military operations on foreign soil.
"Valyrian Steel has been categorized as a Strategic Resource for the Imperial Military and will allow any operations to uncover its secrets. We need to obtain it to completely retrofit the standard armor and weapons of the Imperial Legion to that of the Valyrian Steel. With that, we would have better chances at facing Orks, Daemons, and other forces that are dangerous to the nation."
Ordinary soldiers of the Imperial Legion would get tremendous upgrades if they got weapons and armor from something like Valyrian Steel.
Their combat prowess against Daemons would increase more than ten times because right now they were depending on Runes and enchanted weapons to combat the powers of ruin.
"I will relay your words to the CHOAM, Your Holy Majesty. Now, if yar excuse me..."
Then the Minister of Finance Blackgold Savek Stormhammer excused himself and left the throne room while the other people requesting audiences were coming here and there; altogether, there were three more.
It was an unusually high number, but at least their requests were important, so they all needed to go through me, and all of them had something to do with either the Westeros and Essos or the domestic affairs with the dangers that were looming around Lordran that needed my immediate attention.
"Care to repeat that once more, High Scholar? What exactly do you want?"
The last person to request an audience with me was one of the High Scholars of the Byrgenwert, someone more precisely from the Order of Amethyst Order who was also, at the same time, Magister Patriarch of the Amethyst Order.
"Naturally... we have found residual traces of Higher Elder Lich within the North of Westeros... the aura is very powerful and strong, probably around Level 7?... Without further information, we are not sure, but right now, we are amidst gathering information, for that, we want to conduct an expedition into the Lands of Always Winter."
So we can rule out the Night King is not the Night King because that one wasn't that powerful, but in his place being the Lich King?
This was terrible news; many people still remembered the times of Negash, the greatest necromancer who was venerated as the God of Death, who was the terror of the Lands of Ancients for whole millenias until he was brought down.
Nobody wanted to see another Lich King rise somewhere because they were powerful creatures, far more than anyone could think and if they were given time to develop, then it would be even more fucked up.
"What the fuck..."
I touched my forehead as I couldn't help to curse as I looked at the Viggo Hexensohn, who was standing before the Divine Throne of Sunlight and Cinder and awaited for my response.
"I will allow it, but under the condition that you will coordinate with the House Stark an Russ and the Silver Knights in the Westeros who are doing some things there... and I don't want any mistakes, are we clear?"
As I asked that, Magister Patriarch of Amethyst Order and High Scholar of Byrgenwerth nodded his head as he immediately agreed to my conditions.
"Of course, Your Holy Majesty, do you have any other instructions?"
He asked me as I nodded.
"Yes, I have... Elector Count Leman Stark an Russ received an additional order to collect natural flora and fauna from the lands beyond the Wall and Lands of Always Winter and start transporting them to the Lordran."
In one move, we would obtain a lot of things for the Lordran, and at the same time, if the speculations about the Lich King are true, then it would indirectly weaken the Lich King because he would be deprived of creatures like Giants, Mommoths, Shadowcats, Ice Dragons and so on...
Not to mention, those Dangers Beasts were rare even in the Lands of Always WInter, where due to the harsh conditions, they couldn't flourish, but within the Lands of Lordran, they would be able to reproduce once more.
For example, the silk of Ice Spider was told to be even stronger than steel; it would be a great addition to the Empire. Clothes made from the Ice Spider Silk would not only be maximally comfortable but also protective and defensive.
"As you wish, Your Holy Majesty."
I gave the Magister Patriarch Viggo Hexensohn nodded his head before he left the place, leaving me with my thoughts.
Indeed, I was contemplating this situation because, sooner or later, it would need to be addressed more throughroughly.
Unfortunately, the Great Magic Resurgence didn't mean that only humans would get stronger, but also that beings like the Lich King would experience explosive growth of their strength.
"And the Orks as well... Deams would get stronger with stronger Magic. And the things that were in the continent of Sothoryos... fortunately, till now, they are only sleeping."
Not everything was looking good; the reports about investigations of the Sothoryos were still flooding in because the continent was almost as big as the territory under the control of the Holy Arcadia Empire.
Preliminary investigations showed that it was mostly uninhabited, but there was something powerful and mighty slumbering within the Sothoryos. I was deeply unnerved about that, but hopefully, it won't wake sooner than we are ready.