"All Hail Arcadia!"
- Author Unknown
***
Codex: Altdorf
Altdorf, also known as the City of Spires, is the Capital of the Grand Principality of Reikland and the historical seat of the House Holswig-Schliestein. Altodorf is home to some of the most prestigious educational institutions within the entire Lordran, aside from Faust, hosting the branches of the Eight Colleges of Magic.
It also housed another great institution, which was the Imperial Engineer School, founded by famed genius Leonardo da Miragliano, where some of the greatest inventions in the history of science have been made.
***
Several Days Later, Throne Room of the Imperial Palace, Anor Londo, Holy Arcadia Empire, Lordran.
MC POV
"How should we proceed with the information, Your Holy Majesty."
A few days ago, information about what has happened within the Eastern Essos found its way into my ears. It was a very dangerous piece of news because it meant that a new player appeared on the board.
Cathayan Dragons were actually well known within the Lands of Ancient, but they were a species that was long believed to perished; the Everlasting Dragons were considered as a mere Legend, a Myth of no considerable significance in the modern age.
And yet, two of them apparently appeared; it was no mistaking it, those Banners and names; there was no mistake that the Dragon Emperor Xen Yan Moon Empress Quai Yin were a couple of Cathayn Celestial Dragons.
A very powerful ones and very dangerous ones.
They could either become the greatest ally of the Holy Arcadia Empire or its greatest foes, depending on whether they have some kind of expansionist tendencies, but that was for the future to see; for now, we can only wait.
Like a pair of proper fence-sitters.
"Nothing... a living pair of Cathayan Dragons... so fascinating..."
I muttered while thinking over the matter of the Celestial Empire of Grand Cathay that rose in the ashes of the Golden Empire of Yi Ti... it was almost a wondrous thing to see, but at the same time, I wondered how this would influence the state of the Known World.
"We will do nothing in regard to the Celestial Empire of Grand Cathay because that is all we can do... nothing. Sooner or later, depending on how the situation develops, we will meet either as allies or as foes, and for that, we need to be prepared."
Even right now, as we were speaking, the regions of Yi Ti were probably the most populous throughout the entire Essos. Lordran has a lot of things to do to increase its population, but soon enough, the population growth of Westeros and Essos will slowly go down to a certain degree.
Another thing was that the Magic never really died in the Eastern Essos; it just got weakened, and one of the reasons why the Magic actually got so weakened were the dammed fucking Valyrians.
If not for their dammed greed and foolishness, then the Magic wouldn't be in such a crippled state within the Essos, but at the same time, this also raised the question of who the hell repaired the damaged Leylines?
"As the Imperator commands."
The Imperial Bashar Jacques Orleáns spoke to the Holy Imperator who was sitting on the Divine Throne of Sunlight and Cinder. Imperial Bashar was the title for the supreme leader of the Imperial Military and thus, he was basically my second in command.
And there was no one better for the position than the Iron-Blood Lord, Jacques Orleáns, who has held bay against the endless hordes of the Greenskins that constantly wanted to destroy the Empire and conducted expeditions from the Orklands.
"Is everything prepared for the Great Convention Council?"
I tasked the Imperial Bashar with the preparations of the Great Convention Council together with Lady Annalise Vileblood.
One of them was responsible for putting all things together, while the other was responsible for the safety of the Great Convention Council, considering the sheer number of people that would be attending.
The Great Convention Council would take place within the premises of the Landsraad and compared to the normal meeting of the Landsraad, there would be much more people attending.
Aside from the members of the Imperial Nobility, which included all Lesser Houses that held the title of Viceroy, Baron and Grand Paladin that were required to participate without exceptions, there were also Generals of all Imperial Legions.
Representatives of all military units and beaurecrats of the Imperial Administration, also, all Vicars of the Healing Church would be present with a very long list of Professionals, as every single one classified as Level 5 and higher was obligatory required to be present.
There would be at least a few thousand people attending the Great Convention Council because everyone who meant something within the Holy Arcadia Empire was needed to be present at the place.
"There is also something more to report..."
Before I could dismiss him, the Imperial Bashar stated that he apparently had another thing to report.
"What is it?"
For sure, it would be another related to the Westeros or Essos; those were the most commonly talked about topics within the Imperial Court.
"Reports from the Westerlands of Westeros indicate that Greenskins were spotted within the Westerlands; it is possible that a Warband has found its way there."
Fucking green menace... the moment Magic started appearing in the Westeros, the Orks Greenskins were also appearing. Not like it was unexpected; the Greenskins were always drawn to the place with Magic.
They fed on it passively; it was their preferred environment, which they liked the best and needed to thrive.
"And, did they deal with them?"
I left there enough Silver Knights to deal with some weaker Warbands if they had enough support of ordinary soldiery... If the Warband wasn't very big, then the Silver Knight there, under the leadership of Chapter Master Agamennon Atreides, were more than enough to deal with them.
"They are assembling an army to deal with them, as it seems that there are only ordinary Orks together with Gretchen and Goblins among the Warband and even the Boss isn't a very powerful one, so they should be able to solve that problem rather quickly."
I nodded, hearing the report about the situation within the Westerlands, as the Orks presented a great danger to the denizens of the Westeros. Still, with some help from the Empire, they would obtain the knowledge of how to combat the Greenskins.
"Send them some information about the Greenskins and a book on how to combat them. The knowledge is power, and without the right procedures, they would only create a doom for them."
Combating Greenskins was, technically speaking, more problematic than it sounded. It was not enough to simply kill them; but they needed to be exterminated specifically to prevent them from re-appearing in the land.
As their entire species was half-organic and half-fungus, they could reproduce through the spores that were released upon their death. And once the spores were released, the new Orks would be created within a short time.
"It shall be done; we shall send them a complete copy of the bibliography on the basic combat against the Greenskins and methods of dealing with the Spores."
I nodded at that, but that wouldn't be enough; they would need some more Battle Wizards because the Magical methods are the most efficient when dealing with the Greenskin Spores.
"It would be disastrous if the Greenskins gain a stable foothold on the Westeros; they need to be pushed out from there."
Indeed it would be...
***
3rd POV
Soon enough, the Great Convention Council, as practically everyone was already present at the Anor Londo, was bustling with people. There were never so many people within the Anor Londo, but now, as the Great Convention Council was called, everyone was obliged to attend.
Though the situation soon returned to normal because most of the people would leave the Anor Londo the very moment the entire Great Convention Council had ended, most people that came to the Capital were from the outside of the City and had duties in their own territories or posts.
Holy Imperator Karl Franz donned his clothes, which consisted of a relatively simple yet luxurious-looking black outfit with wave patterns and golden trimmings. He also wore a black leather trenchcoat that was crimson red inside with a huge symbol of the Holy Arcadia Empire on the back of the trenchcoat.
The Landsraad was full; everyone was there ahead of time and waiting for the Holy Imperator. People were sitting in their places, everyone starting from the Imperial Nobility to the Professionals who reached high levels of power and were the backbones of the Imperium.
Even some of the living legends of the Imperium were present, like the Gehrman, the First Hunter, Big Hat Logan, Master Willem, Villem, the First Vicar of the Healing Church and many, many others were present.
"Presenting, his Holy Imperial Majesty, The Holy Imperator of the Holy Arcadia Empire, Lord High Magistrate of Anor Londo, Elector Count of the Reikland, the Lord of Sunlight and Cinder, Royarch of the Lordran, Heir of the Old Blood, Lord of the Ancients and the Chosen One of the Great Ones, his Holy Imperial Majesty of The Empire, Karl Franz I. Holswig-Schliestein von Reikland de Anor."
As soon as the booming voice of the Chamberlain of the Landsraad sounded through the premises of the enormous building, everyone stood up from their seats as the national anthem of the Holy Arcadia Empire "All Hail the Empire" sounded.
"Truth and hope in our Fatherland!
And death to every foe!
Our soldiers shall not pause to rest
We vow our loyalty
*
Old traditions they will abide
Arise young heroes!
Our past inspires noble deeds
All Hail Arcadia!
*
Immortal beacon shows the way
Step forth and seek glory!
Hoist your swords high into the clouds
Hail Arcadia!
*
Our Emperor stands astride this world
He'll vanquish every foe!
His truth and justice shine so bright
All hail his brilliant light!
*
Never will he be overthrown
Like mountains and sea
His bloodline immortal and pure
All Hail Arcadia!
*
So let his wisdom guide our way
Go forth and seek glory
Hoist your swords high into the clouds
Hail Arcadia!"
As the national anthem finished playing and people stopped singing, everyone remained standing and waited for the Holy Imperator.
"All Hail the Arcadia!"
The Holy Imperator Karl Franz saluted, which was met with thunderous applause, with the entirety of the council mimicking this statement.
"All Hail the Arcadia!"
"All Hail the Arcadia!"
"All Hail the Arcadia!"
Karl Franz observed the subjects of the Holy Arcadia Empire as he stepped forward to the speaker's desk.
"Sons and Daughters of the Holy Arcadia Empire... you have been gathered here in the Great Convention Council, which has been called for the second time since the establishment of the Holy Arcadia Empire at the end of the Age of Strife."
Everyone remained standing as they listened to the speech of the Holy Imperator. People knew that it wouldn't take long for the Great Convention Council to end, as the people of the Empire were rather simplistic and efficient in their approach.
"The times have been changing; the old order which we have lived in for more than six hundred years is coming to an end. As many of you are aware, Forces of Ruin, the powers of Chaos, are becoming more and more active, and the situation at the Skycrown Gate has shown us that the situation is far more grave than we initially anticipated."
Everyone from the people present has already heard that there were two consecutive appearances of Daemon Lords after one another. One of them was at the new continent with which they made contact.
Westeros and Daemon Lord Demogorgon and then subsequently, at the Skycrown Gate, the Daemon Lord Azgith The Stormbrand.
This was very disturbing, especially at the Skycrown Gate, where there was an entire group of Daemon Nobles and Greater Daemons following the horde, which, if not for the timely intervention of the Holy Imperator together with the elite forces of their military, would result in the disastrous ending.
"And as you have certainly heard during the last siege of the Skycrown Gate, the Reiksgarde and Church's Holy Knight Executioners suffered the gravest losses since their establishment and the unification wars. This has shown us that the change is needed within the Empire and that our old rules need to be adjusted for the newer and bigger threat."
Everyone shuddered when they considered that both Reiksgarde and Church's Holy Knight Executionrs suffered losses of around 8% of their overall number each.
Considering the standard equipment, power, skills and training of each individual member, such number was staggeringly high.
Very, very high...
"We need to address this danger correctly and this is not all..."
Karl Franz skimmed everyone with his eyes as he presented other pieces of information that was right now available only to him and selected a few...
"Since we have made contact with the other continents of the Azyr, we found a few more threats that are categorized as Apollyon-Class threats to the Empire."
When I said that, everyone started whispering to each other because this was completely changing the playing ground. The Holy Arcadia Empire categorized threats into several classes based on how much destruction they could cause.
There were five Classes of threats as they follows:
Euclid-Class Threat
Keter-Class Threat
Thaumiel-Class Threat
Apollyon-Class Threat
and finally, the Empyrean-Class Threat.
The Euclid-Class Threat were the local ones that could endanger some minor cities and towns or even, in some cases, the entire Barony of the Empire. The Keter-Class Threats had the power to endanger the entire Viceroyalty or major cities within the Empire.
Thaumiel-Class Threats were capable of endangering the entire Grand Province and Apollyon-Class Threats presented a danger to the entire Continents.
Empyrean-Class Threat was World-Ending Danger.
A good example would be, Clerical Beasts were normally categorized as Euclid-Class Threats, while weak Orkish Tribes were at the Keter-Class Threats and powerful Ork Warbands were at the Thaumiel-Class Threats.
The entire Greenskin population was put on the Apollyon-Class Threat.
The Empyrean-Class had only one subject...
Forces of Chaos.
Only the Forces of Chaos could be classified as such because only they really presented a world-ending threat to the entirety of the Azyr.
"One Apollyon-Class Threat is found on the continent of Westeros and one has been noted on the continent of Sothoryos... and the continent of Essos is still in the process of gathering information. Aside from that, just a few days ago, we got news about the re-appearance of the last of the kinds of Everlasting Dragons, the Cathayan Dragons in the Eastern Essos, where they established the Empire of Grand Cathay..."
The Apollyon-Class Threat in Westeros was the Lich or whatever was living in the Lands of the Always Winter, while the Threat in the Sothoryos was largely unknown, aside from the fact that it was extremely powerful.
Now that everyone heard it, people grew tenser because none of these things were good for the Empire. Most of the Apollyon-Class Threats would get tremendously stronger if they managed to destroy the entire continent and then they would represent a grave danger to the Empire as well.
"So in regard to these situations, The Divine Throne of Sunlight and Cinder has decided to make into power several reforms that would be addressing the situation that our Homeland is and would be facing."
Karl Franz stated as he looked around him and everyone now grew tenser about what was to come.
"The first decision that has been made and blessed personally by the Great Ones is the immediate fusion of the State and Religious Power into the one. From today, the Holy Imperator would also be the supreme leader of the Healing Church."
The Holy Imperator said with an almost divine-like voice; as a symbol of the Oedon, the Formless God of Blood appeared in its full glory in Karl Franz's brows, signifying the blessing the Great Ones, as more and more runes of the Great Ones were appearing around the Holy Imperator.
Upon seeing this the members of the Healing Church that were present at the Great Convention Council kneeled in worship as they turned their eyes to the Holy Imperator, full of veneration and worship, as they looked at the representative of the Great Ones at the material plane.
Though there were some who were surprised at the sudden course of events, there were some who had already waited for something like this to happen, especially the Elector Counts and those who were more politically apt.
The Healing Church was a very, very powerful entity within the Holy Arcadia Empire and the fundamental existence of the Empire was tied to that of the Healing Church and Faith in the Great Ones.
Only thanks to the Old Blood did the Empire stand strong for centuries; thus, the significance of the Healing Church and its power within the Empire was great.
And even though many knew that the Imperator had a great deal of authority within the Church itself, it was not enough for the man who was Emperor of such a mighty Empire.
He wanted to obtain complete and total dominion over the Healing Church because even though the Healing Church was loyal to the Chosen One of the Great Ones; it didn't change anything about the fact that they were a separate entity from the state.
And that one thing was changed today on the Great Convention Council.
"And subsequently, it has been decided that a new unit of the army is needed... They shall be my finest warriors, these men and women who give of themselves to me. Like clay, I shall mold them, and in the furnace of war, I shall forge them. They shall be of iron will and steely sinew. In great armor, I shall clad them, and with the mightiest weapons shall they be armed. They will be untouched by plague or disease; no sickness shall blight them. No Magic shall oppose them as they shall be born of it. The Blood will protect them and aid them in their grand quest. They shall have such tactics, strategies and machines that no foe will best them in battle. They are my bulwark against the Ruin, Heretics and Terrors of the Old Night. They are the Defenders of the Holy Arcadia Empire and its people. They are Stormcast Eternals, the embodiment of storm and rage...and they shall know no fear."
Everyone could see where this was heading...
"From today, all special military units of the Holy Arcadia Empire shall be reformed and reforged into the Stormcast Eternals and their first deployment shall be the Crusade against the Children of the Bul-Khatos."
Silence, utter silence took over the premises of the Landsraad as everyone was trying to process what had happened. It was clear that the situation was grave and that the Imperial House managed to increase its power countless times over and over.
The situation has changed too much everybody was certainly nervous about the ever increasingly rising power of the Imperial House, but unfortunately, there was nothing they could do about it, aside from letting it happen.
While the Brettonnians were conflicted about the loss of their Grail Knights, Caladans about the loss of their Sardaukar, Stormwindians about the loss of the Exorcists and other Grand Provinces that had some native specialized units were upset about that, there was nothing they could do about it.
Soon enough, the Stormcast Eternals would be created, and once that came to truth, everyone could see that the standard of the Stormcast Eternals would be around Level 4, which would give the Imperial House tremendous power, even far bigger than it was right now.
And even right now, it was far bigger than all other Elector Counts...
However, at the same time, many of the Elector Counts already anticipated a day like this because it was clear that the Holy Imperator wouldn't be satisfied with less than absolute control of the Imperium.
It wasn't really secret that the Imperator wasn't really pleased about the existence of many specialized units that existed with their respective Grand Provinces and it was also no secret that he would be sooner or later move against them and disband them.
Or merge them into one coherent organization directly bound to the Divine Throne of Sunlight and Cinder like it was done today. Simultaneously, everyone could see that the Holy Arcadia Empire as a whole would get countless times stronger with the addition of something like the Stormcast Eternals.
Such an organization would elevate the combat prowess of the Imperium to new heights, far higher than anyone could dream because, with the soldiers so strong like the Stormcast Eternals, they would have immense war potential.
With the addition of the Stormcast Eternals, the ability of the Holy Arcadia Empire to fight against powerful foes, higher Class Threats would be much higher and they could even start thinking of even expanding into the unknown.
When Karl Franz finished his speech and announcement, after several minutes of silence, everyone started cheering and clapping their hands or saluting to the honor of the Holy Imperator of the Empire.
"Truth and hope in our Fatherland!
And death to every foe!
Our soldiers shall not pause to rest
We vow our loyalty
*
Old traditions they will abide
Arise young heroes!
Our past inspires noble deeds
All Hail Arcadia!
*
Immortal beacon shows the way
Step forth and seek glory!
Hoist your swords high into the clouds
Hail Arcadia!
*
Our Emperor stands astride this world
He'll vanquish every foe!
His truth and justice shine so bright
All hail his brilliant light!
*
Never will he be overthrown
Like mountains and sea
His bloodline immortal and pure
All Hail Arcadia!
*
So let his wisdom guide our way
Go forth and seek glory
Hoist your swords high into the clouds
Hail Arcadia!"
After his speech ended, the national anthem of the Holy Arcadia Empire started being played once more, after which end, Karl Franz saluted to the glory of the Imperium.
"All Hail the Arcadia!"
"All Hail the Arcadia!"
"All Hail the Arcadia!"
"All Hail the Arcadia!"
"All Hail the Arcadia!"
***
Imperial Palace, Anor Londo, Holy Arcadia Empire, Lordran.
Karl Franz was in his study, reading the reports about the progress since the Great Convention Council. Even though only a few days had passed since that moment, the entire Imperium was already working on making his words to a reality.
The easiest was actually the Healing Church because the only thing that was needed to do was for the members of the Choir to pledge their loyalty to the Divine Throne of Sunlight and Cinder and for the Great Ones to bless the Divine Throne once more, tying the fate of the Healing Church and its very own fundamental existence with that of the Imperial Dynasty.
Still, the Holy Imperator didn't intervene in the runnings or daily matters of the Healing Church but only dealt with the most important matters of the Church. Other things, as were now, were left to deal with by the Grand Theogonist as he was doing a good job even before.
With the Healing Church spearheading the reforms, everyone else soon enough followed after without much resistance. About the second thing, which was the establishment and creation of the Stormcast Eternals...
For that purpose, the greatest minds of the Holy Arcadia Empire were called together to figure out the process of the Forging of the Stormcast Eternals, as that would require a lot of resources and skills.
They would need a perfect way to combine the various methods of getting stronger and increasing the physical parameters so that they won't clash against each other. Still, with the knowledge and capabilities of the brightest minds of the Imperium, Karl Franz didn't doubt that it would be solved as soon as possible.
"And that is all, Your Holy Majesty."
Another stack of paper found its way to the Imperator's table, one by one, the reports were arriving as many things were taking place within the territory of the Imperium within such a short time.
But the Arcadians were very efficient folk who valued efficiency and a fast approach.
"You can excuse yourself... I will take a look over it as soon as possible."
The Holy Imperator stated as the papers landed on his table and started looking over them; they were reports from the Stormcast Research Group consisting of Scholars, Wizards, Knights, Priests, Hunters and practically everyone who was working on the Stormcast Eternals.
They were right now starting to create the layout for the various augmentations of the Stormcast Eternals. That would take some time because it wasn't easy to merge so many augmentations together, but fortunately, the Old Blood has proved itself to be a splendid binder.
***
POV Maria Vileblood
The Imperial Palace was always pretty empty and sometimes due to this emptiness of these halls, it was also pretty creepy. Especially at night, it could be even terrifying, considering the enormous size of the buildings themselves that were in this place.
Still, it also had some weird calming feeling on my nerves as I was walking to the study of Imperator, or in other words, my lover slash fianceé. He made a quite mess with his announcements at the Great Convention Council and practically scared to shit several of the Noble Houses.
The creation of something like the Stormcast Eternals and its merger with the Healing Church meant that the Imperial House would exert even greater control over the Imperial Nobles.
Even my mother was a bit upset about the loss of the majority of the Cainhurstian Guard, but at the same time, if it meant that the Empire got stronger, so be it. In the end, sooner or later, the House Vileblood would become part of the Imperial House.
Perhaps some Cadet Branch or whatever, it was also highly possible that a future Imperator would emerge from the House Vileblood of the Cainhurst.
When I arrived at Karl's study, it was full of papers and reports about the developments across the Empire. Most of the reports about ongoing reforms were directly going to him, so I don't doubt that he must be pissed beyond belief.
He hated this part of being ruler because it meant that he had a lot of administrative work to do that he was rightfully abhorred actually to do. There were a lot of documents on his desk waiting for his signature and unfortunately, no matter how he wished for that, not everything could be pushed to the High Chancellor.
"So, how is the work treating you?"
I asked, seeing him jerk in his seat because I appeared like a ghost next to him, or perhaps he was too engrossed in his own work.
"Just wait... once it will await even you if Lady Annalise will get enough of the job and will proclaim you as the new Lord High Magistrate and your time of playing around will end faster than straw could burn."
When I saw his grin, I got irritated almost instantly because there had been talks in the Cainhurst of my mother wanting to abdicate from her post of Lord High Magistrate. Hopefully, these rumors would remain only as rumors because I have no wish to be inaugurated as one.
There are more problems with it than they are worth; if possible, with a bit of skill and manipulation, I could get rid of it and pass the title to my children. Yes, that, would be splendid and I could continue Hunting...
"Did you come to gloat or do something productive?"
It seems that he got irritated from such a high amount of paperwork...
"I came to visit you and this is how you treat the love of your love?"
I asked with faux anger as I sat down at the leather chair opposite to his desk and observed him while he was working. Truthfully, I was doing this rather often; there was something wonderful when I was watching Karl working, his conviction, and his dedication to the work.
"Maria, while I love you with all of my heart and soul, sometimes you are really insufferable pain in the ass. Just because you are skipping all of your duties and even right now, you are probably scheming to skip the generation; not everyone has that luxury..."
I smiled a little as he said that we had been together for centuries, though a long time it took for us to make the final step. For me, there were not many courageous to even approach me, especially considering my personal power and the fame or infamy of the House Vileblood...
That certainly made most of the potential suitors to piss their pants, and another thing was that not many men would stomach of women being far stronger than them. For Karl, the reasons were obvious after he told me of his past life, which was another shocking revelation in itself.
"I love you too... don't you want to take a break?"
I asked as I made myself comfortable in the leather chair, batting my eyes at my lover who was writing some papers.
"No, I have a lot of work to do..."
Guts of that man he didn't even look at me when I was in the mood for some steamy sex in his office... wasn't this what men never should deny?
Though sometimes I forget that Karl is indeed not an ordinary man, but his conviction and focus were unbreakable as Titatine. But I am also not an ordinary woman and it would be a shame on me If I didn't catch the attention of my man.
Sitting on the leather hair, I bit my finger as I slowly spread my legs, trailing down to my sacred cavern while looking at Karl who was working. Slowly revealing my assets to the light of the world, as a moan escaped from my mouth...
When he heard that with his accurate senses, his sight turned to me, completely ignoring his paperwork and other things, as I grinned...
I batted my eyes at him, playing with my nipples with my left hand as my right hand started rubbing my pussy.
I knew very well that in front of such divine sight as me, he wouldn't be able to say no, which soon became a reality, as stopped his work and slowly came to me with a predatory grin.
'This would be a long fight...'