Codex: House Orleáns
Elector Count House Orleáns is one of the most powerful Imperial Noble Lineages of the Holy Arcadia Empire that rules over the vast territories of the Grand Province of Orleáns. Before the unification wars they ruled the Kingdom of Orleáns and were fighting against the Greenskins for countless generations.
The House Orleáns was the Royal House stemming from the City called Orleáns, from which they also took their name. From the small city-state, they created a huge Kingdom, but even that couldn't last forever and was too overrun by the immeasurable numbers of the Greenskins.
That signified their entrance into the Holy Arcadia Empire through peaceful means, as they were one of the few Grand Provinces that didn't need to be conquered and a new Elector House would be needed to be chosen to govern the lands.
***
MC POV
Lands of the Ancient Lords of Lordran, Grand Principality of the Reikland, Holy Imperial Capital of Lordran, April of Year 10,281 - of the Imperial Lordranese Callendar
Two months have passed since I got the information about the situation within Westeros, and it seemed that the situation within Westeros was soon enough devolving into a full-scale civil war between all...
Which, in fact, was rather good.
With the increasing Magic Density across the entire world, Operation: Destabilization for Westeros was right now the prime attention of the entire High Command of the Imperial Military and the High Council of the Holy Arcadia Empire.
For the past two months, the Office of the Imperial Military Intelligence was doing everything in its power to infiltrate Westeros as much as possible and instigate the perfect conditions for the civil war and future plans.
In the end, I have decided to replicate the situation of the Westeros that I remembered from the books and TV Series. Putting Robert Baratheon on the Iron Throne and not preventing the death of Lyana Stark would ensure that the Seven Kingdoms would break themselves for good.
Robert Baratheon was a terrible King who spent all of his time whoring and drinking while the nation was totally in disintegration. What the High Council of the Holy Arcadia Empire agreed was breaking the Seven Kingdoms into individual kingdoms before the Aegon's Conquest.
Basically, revert their state.
At the same time, it creates such big hatred and animosity between the individual kingdoms that any unification, even to a confederation-like kingdom like right now, would be absolutely impossible in the next few centuries or even millennia.
Obviously, when everything is done, then it would be nigh impossible to unfit the kingdom of Westeros once again, and they would stay divided as they should be. Their huge population was a huge threat to the Empire, especially with the resurgence of Magic.
When the Magic Affinities would appear among the common populace and the quality of the people in Westeros would be increased again and again. Even right now, their population was several times more than that of the Empire.
Westeros had huge potential to become a powerful Empire if it was unified in a similar way as I did with the Grand Provinces of the Lordran.
Compared to the population of the Westeros Continent, which was even right now in the tens of millions, the entire Lordran had something around 40 million, according to the last population count conducted by the Minister of Domestic Affairs and Territorial Management.
For the past weeks, I didn't really have much to do aside from the common administrative work that I was doing most of the time. This was a huge advantage of an advanced bureaucratic system that was in place within the Holy Arcadia Empire; there were not really many things that I needed to do personally.
Only a few of the most important documents required my personal attention or some other subjects and projects that I needed to oversee personally. Aside from those, I spent most of the time training and practicing Magic.
"I have finished my job for the next month..."
Maria barged into my office as I was doing my paperwork and totally destroyed my train of thought that I had, and my attention was now gone.
"You just dumped it on the others while giving the rest the strictest training regiment you can think of so we can go slack together."
I instantly knew what was going on in her mind, but at the same time, I wasn't entirely against it. Personally, I felt tired as fuck from this boredom and paperwork, so I would gladly go on a little nice vacation.
"Ts... I already said that I am not very suitable for the leadership position; there is more hassle with it than its real worth."
I didn't really know if I should cry or laugh about the statement because sometimes I wondered if she wasn't right in the end. It was highly problematic, even as the Holy Imperator of the Imperium.
In fact, I would rather prefer to spend most of my time either training or studying Magic, not doing boring office work. Ruling sucked for most of the time, though, at the same time, I rather enjoyed the feeling of power.
It was rather invigorating.
"Do you want to go on a vacation somewhere?"
My fianceé was already lying on the sofa that was in my study room and playing with her dagger; she was really a weapon enthusiast. Not that I minded; it was rather sexy if I should be truthful about it...
Dangerous and arousing at the same time... it was true that power attracted, Maria's power and combat prowess was also one of the factors why I was so attracted to her in the first place because she was one of the most powerful people within the entire Holy Arcadia Empire and probably even the entire Lordran the Lands of Ancient Lords.
"Yeah... but somewhere with enough privacy where we won't be disturbed by others. I was thinking we can go on the hunting trip to the Athel Loren."
Athel Loren, also known as the Everwood in the Empire and the Whispering Wood or the Fey Forest among the Dwarfs, is a large forest between the Grand Principality of Reikland and the Grand Province of Bretonnia on the western slopes of the Grey Mountains.
The forest is steeped in Magic, and it is unlike any other forest in the world. It is said that time flows differently in the forest than elsewhere. You could be in there for hours and come out and see only a few minutes have gone by. Or you could be in there for several minutes and come out and see a century has gone by.
Not to mention the Athel Loren was home to many species of very powerful Danger Beasts that could wipe out even entire armies. Many of the Danger Beasts that were slumbering within the depths of the Athel Loren were classified as Super Danger Beasts and there were even rumors of the Omega Danger Beasts.
"Athel Loren is a good destination... and a hunting trip would also be enjoyable."
Athel Loren was one of the Imperially Protected Zones, so hunting in there was generally forbidden and allowed only when someone had specifically issued a license from the Minister of Domestic Affairs and Territorial Management.
Otherwise, one could face the death penalty for poaching.
Many rare species lived in the Athel Loren and in a few numbers because they heavily relied on Magic to continually reproduce, and even right now, the Magic Density wasn't high enough within the Lordran that would allow them a comfortable life.
"And we are going without any entourage... I don't want to have an entire procession of people destroying the romantic vacation between the two of us."
While not very logical, going into a dangerous place like Athel Loren without at least backup somewhere is irrational behavior, but both of us are very powerful, and I could contend against some weaker Level 7 beings if I used all of my trump cards.
"Okey, but you won't be picking up fights with powerful Danger Beasts for no reason, Maria, and this condition is non-negotiable."
Maria was even more of a battle maniac than I was, and for sure, she would be going to the depths of the Athel Loren to search for the powerful Danger Beasts so she could hunt them down.
This was something that I wanted to prevent, not only because it was dangerous as heck, due to the sheer number of the powerful Danger Beasts that lived within the Athel Loren, but also due to the fact that it was utterly useless and a waste of time.
"Ts... as you wish. When do you want to go?"
In truth, we could go even right now, but it would be better to finish some preparations before they would depart for a few week camping trip in the Athel Loren.
"We shall wait three days; I need to finish some things before going to the Athel Loren and also gather all necessary supplies for the trip."
Obviously, we won't be going to the Athel Loren without sufficient preparations; we need at least proper accommodations with high enough standards and conditions to live. While I appreciated the time in nature, at the same time, I was Emperor of the most advanced nation on the Azyr for several centuries.
I already got used to a certain lifestyle, and that was something that I didn't really wish to trade for anything. So I needed to prepare some things before we went on the camping vacation, at least some mobile house that we could use to move around and have a certain degree of comfort.
At the same time, I also needed to inform the entire High Council and especially the High Chancellor of the Landsraad because I would be away from the Empire and the Imperial Bureaucracy for approximately two or three weeks.
"Do you want to take Cersei too?"
Hearing that, I didn't really think about that because she was right now attending the Schola Progenium within Cainhurst, the City of Silver. From the reports that I got about it, she was doing splendidly, and her academic results were indeed very good.
Even though in the areas of combat, she was a little bit weaker, she was still above the average students of the Schola Progenium, though that was mainly because of the bonus lessons that Maria taught her.
"Probably, yes... she could take some time off from the Schola Progenium, not to mention the vacation won't really influence her time training in the martial arts, weapon mastery, and magic."
The courses of the Schola Progenium were extremely hard, challenging, and arduous, and they were something that only the best of the best could complete. I knew it for the best, because I was one of the people that were creating them in the first place.
So, technically speaking, I wasn't really against it if Cersei was taken out from them; either way, it wouldn't really affect her training in combat and martial arts because that would be fulfilled by Maria for the time being.
I would be teaching her Magic and battle magic.
"Maria, go to the Cainhurst and inform Cersei about this development that she would be going on the family trip. We can take this as a family activity and bonding time."
This would be a perfect family trip for the three of us and also a bonding experience.
***
3rd POV
Several Days Later, Borders between the Grand Principality of Reikland and the Grand Province of Bretonnia, Athel Loren.
Within the Forest of Loren the wooded landscape varies greatly. The forest runs from the plains of Bretonnia up into the foothills of the Grey Mountains. It extends along the banks of two of the great rivers of the Old World for many hundreds of miles. Over this vast expanse, the nature of the vegetation changes from one part of the forest to another.
In some places, the ground is high and rocky, with crags and pinnacles of rock and boulders strewn among the trees. In other places, the ground is boggy, with lakes within the forest itself. There are even huge clearings, which are like Meadowlands, where the long grass predominates over the trees. Some areas are characterized by an abundance of a particular species of tree.
Most of the forest is a strange, almost twilight world bathed only in the muted sunlight or moonlight able to penetrate the canopy of leaves. Dotted around the forest, there are natural clearings where one can look up and actually glimpse the blue sky or the stars at night.
The natives that once in the past lived in the Athel Loren call these clearings 'glades'. As well as being areas open to the sun, they are often places where magical currents flow close to the surface.
One had to admit that the environment of Athel Loren was a very beautiful one.
The trio consisting of the Holy Imperator and his two fianceés already went to the inner parts of the Athel Loren, because it was decided that they would go to the deeper areas of the Athel Loren for a better enviroment.
The best places for the camping trip were within the inner area of the Athel Loren. Karl Franz also took the mobile base, which had the appearance of an armored vehicle; it had a similar appearance to the G1-Mobile Base but was much smaller.
Yet it was still big enough to accommodate several people in high enough luxury, befitting the members of the high nobility of the Holy Arcadia Empire. While Cersei was complaining a bit about being this far from civilization because they were cut off from everything for the next several weeks, her initial protests were mostly ignored.
For the food, they would hunt it themselves because the Athel Loren was full of the Danger Beasts and other resources for cooking. Karl knew how to cook rather well, and Maria too, so this was the last one of their concerns.
The place they found for the camping was large enough to accommodate their mobile home properly, and it had a beautiful view of the Athel Loren because it was on a small hill, which gave a stunning view of the inner area of the Athel Loren and one could see even the edges of the core area of the Athel Loren.
That one was rather recognizable due to the enormous trees that were giving really ancient feeling, just by looking at them. Karl and Maria could see it even this far from a great distance due to their superior eyesight.
As it was right now the sunrise, Karl was sitting on the edges of the hill, while observing the sun rising and drinking the morning coffee. It was a ritual for him, sometimes, to enjoy the sun rising, something that he was doing at the Imperial Palace, where he got a view of the entire capital of the Anor Londo.
As he drank the coffee suddenly he stiffened, because he felt a very disturbing feeling from some kind of very powerful Magic. Something that he felt only a few times in his life, and it was something that he wouldn't really forget.
'The Elder Magic...'
The Elder Magic was something very rare in the world, and even in the Azyr, it was considered the most powerful form of Magic, only attainable to beings of immeasurable power and might.
Not to mention the proficiency in the arts of the Arcane.
Karl was very proficient in the Arts of Arcane and his knowledge in the aspects of Magic was no less than that of the Patriarch of the Eight Orders of Magic and Headmaster of the Byrgenwerth.
"Maria, Cersei, get your weapons and armors... I detected someone using the Elder Magic approximately twenty kilometers away from our position; we are going to check it out."
Karl Franz immediately returned to the mobile home as he saw his two fianceés taking care of their morning routines, with his Royal Griffon Deathclaw sleeping next to the huge mobile home.
Obviously, he wouldn't let this opportunity go away because the usage of the Elder Magic represented the potential to get his hands on the Elder Magic in some form. This could be a moment when he could propel the power of the Holy Arcadia Empire to new heights.
***
Somewhere in the Athel Loren, the inner area of the Athel Loren
The forests of Athel Loren were very dense and dangerous, something that the white-haired young woman realized the moment she appeared there. When she opened the portal, she was immediately attacked by several huge monsters, whom she managed luckily to escape without any previous injury.
When she arrived at this world, she realized that the Magic Density in this world was probably one of the highest that she has ever visited, meaning it was highly possible that this world also very powerful.
That could be good or bad at the same time... depending on the circumstances.
'This is not going well... the forest seems to be endless. I need to find a way out and find some safe place to open the portal again.'
The woman thought as she ran with all of her power, as she suddenly heard heavy footsteps not far behind her. It became clear to her that her pursuers had caught up to her when she realized that tens of heavily armored people were in furious pursuit.
Even though their armors seemed to be very heavy, they didn't hinder their movements at all.
"You are only forestalling the inevitable, Zirael. There is nowhere to run from the Wild Hunt."
One of the armored figures that appeared to be in the leading shouted at the woman, she recognized him as one of the Navigators of the Wild Hunt.
The Navigators were powerful Aen Elle mages who had the ability to manipulate time and space and to open portals between different worlds. They were the most skilled Mages of the Aen Elle, and each one of them was worth of entire battalions of soldiers, and their Magic could bring doom to many thousands.
It was due to the Navigators of the Wild Hunt that the Wild Hunt was always able to find her, no matter what world she fled to. Suddenly, one of the Mages cast a thunder-attributed spell that exploded next to her, causing her to crash into the nearby tree with heavy impact.
"Resistance against the Wild Hunt is futile, little swallow. There is no escape from your fate, and the thing that was once stolen by your disgusting ancestor must be returned."
The Navigator stood in front of her as she was slowly losing consciousness.
'Dammit! So this is the end... I will never see Geral or Yen again, everyone...'
"What do we have here? Temporal-Spatial Magic Users are the most interesting. Unfortunately for you all, you have intruded into a place where you shouldn't have."
The last thing she heard before everything went black.
***
Karl Franz held the Longinuslanze Testament in his hand, donned in the Runic Armor made by the best dwarven smiths in the entire Lordran, as he observed the armored members of the Wild Hunt with great curiosity.
'They seem like a Wild Hunt... unfortunately, my memories are a bit murky, though they shouldn't be really that powerful compared to the top Lordranese powerhouses.'
Karl Franz remembered bits about the Wild Hunt and knew that they were a rather powerful group of people. In fact, the entire Aen Elle civilization was rather advanced, especially in the aspects of Magic, though even that didn't really stop the inevitable doom of their world.
Wild Hunt was not a regular part of the Aen Elle's military, but rather, they were some sort of special forces, created from the best of the best of their armed forces. This means that what he was looking at right now were the high-end experts of the Aen Elle.
'Hmm... ordinary warriors of the Wild Hunt are between Level 2 or at least should be, but several of them are already at Level 3. Aen Elle is indeed powerful considering all the things, not to mention the craftsmanship of their armors and weapons is superb, and their Magic is really advanced; perhaps in some areas, it would be even more advanced than that of the Lordran.'
The Holy Imperator of the Holy Arcadia Empire was pondering over the Wild Hunt, especially looking at their Magicians, the so-called Navigators. Their understanding of the Space-Time Magic should be far superior to that of the Lordran.
Creating Magic that allowed one to travel through the World was already a sign of an extremely advanced Magic Civilization. Something that shouldn't be taken lightly, and right now, it was tempting Karl Franz greatly.
If they managed to get their hands on this kind of Magic and obtain access to the different worlds.
The benefits possible would be immeasurable.
"Leave now mortal."
The one whom Karl Franz assumed to be the leader of the group said to him, though Karl Franz could see a certain degree of nervousness in his voice when he looked at him.
"Mortal? I am afraid, gentlemen, that you are also no different from the mortals themselves.."
The Holy Imperator said with a light smile as he raised the Longinuslanze Testament, and immediately as he finished the sentence, he stabbed the weapon into the ground the entire area was soon enough enveloped by the golden barrier.
This was to prevent the group of elves from leaving the place and block any possible Spatial-Temporal Magic. He didn't want to take any chances and allow these people to escape; he needed to have his experimental subjects.
In a split of a moment, he appeared in front of the leading Wild Hunt member, the Navigator, delivering a punch into his stomach, deforming the amro and sending the Naviator flying, as he crashed into a nearby tree.
At the same time, Maria appeared from behind and started killing the Wild Hunt soldiers one by one with a rapier in her hand. Cersei was standing far from them, casting Spells, specifically targeting the Mages of the Wild Hunt or other ones that had bigger and more powerful magical signatures than the rest.
In front of overwhelming power, even the fabled Wild Hunt, which was regarded as the scourge of countless worlds, was nothing, and soon enough, the entire contingent of the Wild Hunt was either killed or subjugated.
"What do you want to do with her? It is clear that they were after her, and these guys seem to be rather powerful; it would cause problems."
Karl stabbed the Longinuslanze Testament into the back of one of the Wild Hunt soldiers who was crawling on the ground for his life.
"Yeah... but she... she has something called Elder Blood, an extremely powerful and ancient lineage directly related to Space and Time; her affinity for the Magic and even Arcane is something that would put her on the same level as most powerful bearers of the Old Blood."
Cirilla Fiona Elen Rianon, the bearer of the Elder Blood, Lady of Space and Time.
"We need to open a portal here..."
Portal Magic was still something very new to the Holy Arcadia Empire, and it was still a Magic in development. Fortunately enough, Karl Franz knew how to open the portal, and he immediately opened one that led to the Faust.
These elves of the Wild Hunt needed to be transported back to the Faust so the Scholars of the Byrgenwert could properly study them, their equipment, and their Magic. This wasn't the first time they captured someone from a different world, but contrary to the previous time, this time, they could actually obtain something from it.
Previously, they only obtained corpses, and there wasn't much from it.
Not only did they manage to capture several people, probably at least twenty, but also four of them were Mages, and one of them was Navigator of the Wild Hunt, who was proficient in the Space-Time Magic.
Karl Franz could see how all of the Scholars of the Byrgenwerth would fight for the opportunity to study these specimens and uncover the secrets of their Magic.
***
Transportation of all elves of the Wild Hunt didn't take long; the moment the portal was opened, several tens of Magicians from the Byrgenwerth poured in and started restraining the captured unconscious members of the Wild Hunt.
Or transporting the ones that were killed back to Faust for further study. Meanwhile Karl Franz took Ciri back to the Mobile Base that was not far from here and waited for the time when she would wake up.
He knew that sheltering someone with the Elder Blood was dangerous. Even though these members of the Wild Hunt didn't really seem powerful, he also knew that this was only a small part of the Wild Hunt, not to mention the entire Aen Elle.
At the same time, he understood that the Aen Elle couldn't really open portals for their whole armies to pass or so, so the most they could send was the Wild Hunt. And that was something that he didn't really fear.
As long as the situation didn't evolve into an all-out war between two worlds, then everything was okey, and he was confident that the Stormcast Eternals would be enough to deal with the Wild Hunt without much problem.
"The elves were not even particularly strong... I have to say that their intimidation tactics were probably the reason why they are feared, not their personal strength."
Karl Franz couldn't help but agree with Maria's sentiment because he, too, felt that the intimidation and their entire theatrics were the main reason for their success. Not to mention, the Wild Hunt functioned more or like, as the shock troops.
They didn't really fight their battles head-on but rather depended on the element of surprise in their attacks. Against lesser civilizations and nation, especially those without powerful people or access to powerful Magic, it was understandable that the Wild Hunt was especially effective in their endeavors.
"From my own understanding about them, they do not have much experience fighting foes on a similar level or those that are perhaps stronger than them. They are used to fighting only weaker opponents, which we could use to our advantage. Still, their civilization is rather advanced, and it is certainly much older than our Empire so that they would be formidable enemies even to us."
Karl Franz had some rudimentary understanding of the Wild Hunt already and he knew that coupled with the entire military and magical power of the Aen Elle World, they would be rather formidable foes even for the current Holy Arcadia Empire.
He was confident in the power of the Imperium and believed that the Empire could defeat the Aen Elle with a probability of 100%, but it wouldn't be without heavy sacrifices at least.
That wasn't really positive news, in fact, considering the population and societal problems of the Imperium.
"We need to wait until she wakes up and from then on, we will decide our next steps. For now, we should raise the DEFCON to Level 3 in case we are invaded by the larger part of the Wild Hunt."
The fact that the Wild Hunt could appear anywhere was problematic, and aside from the Holy Imperial Capital, Three Great Holy Cities and Capital Cities of the Grand Provinces and a few military facilities was problematic.
Monitoring of such Magic was right now rather problematic within the territories of the Imperium and the network of surveillance was not enough.
"Do you want to launch it prematurely?"
After some time of silence, he heard Maria pose a question that he was already awaiting.
"Yes. The Project Skynet is almost complete, and with the threat of the Wild Hunt appearing anywhere, anytime, we need to be ready in case they decide to attack. We don't have enough High Scholars, Arcanists, or top Hunters covering the entire Imperium and monitoring the appearance of the Arcane Magic."
Project Skynet was something that was proposed within the Byrgenwerth more than fifty years ago, and the goal was to create a nationwide surveillance network that could monitor the entire Lordran in real-time to search for threats.
Another function of the Project Skynet was to create Anti-Magic Zone in any part of the Imperium to better fight against Magicians or super-powerred individuals and most importantly, against the Forces of Ruin.
Theoretically speaking, it should be able to sever the connection between the Daemons of the Chaos and Realms of Chaos, which would allow the forces of the Imperium to counter them much more easily.
"Hastening it would cost us more resources; it should consume more than half of the Arcane Vaults..."
Construction of the Skynet over the entire Holy Arcadia Empire would consume a tremendous amount of resources, especially the Arcane ones that were collected by the strongest powerhouses of the Imperium from various sources, especially from the hands of powerful Daemons that descended down from the Realms of Chaos.
If they decided to launch Project Skynet prematurely, the price would go up by another 20% or 30% of the total costs, and that wasn't even talking about the amount of Reichscrowns that would be needed to finish it.
Still, Karl Franz decided in favor because the appearance of the Wild Hunt showed the vulnerability of the Imperium against such threats. With the ongoing Resurgence of Magic, the threat became even more eminent.
"In the face of inevitable danger, the cost is insignificant. Not to mention, most of the things within the Shadow Vaults and other special materials are just gathering dust there. Right now, our priority should be to gather as much strength as possible because once the Resurgence of Magic is done, it will forever change the face of Azyr."