Tag: Lila Darius

#Lore24 – Entry #351 – Sci-Fi Month IV #16 – The War Against the Imperium Begins

Transcribed From the Personal Recording Implant of Andra Ganim, Chronicler of the Codex Infinitum

RV:  “Well…perhaps not save his life, rather, save his soul.”

AG:  “Save his soul?  Forgive, Miss Volcari, but I don’t follow.”

RV:  “Of course you don’t, so let me explain.  My plan for revenge required that I be exceptionally close to Emperor Halaxaes, for he had taken great pains to ensure that no scrying could touch him, had insured that his magical protections were second to none, and that he had grown suitably paranoid of more mundane methods of spying, so it would be no simple matter.  There was but one he would trust, and that was his dear, sweet son.  So, I had to make use of the boy, as he was Halaxaes’ one true weakness.

Auralus at the time was, at the time, a peaceful world, primarily used by the elite of the Imperium, those high within the Great Houses, as a secluded resort from which they could grow fat from the resources they siphoned off the rest of the Imperium, filled with themselves and their servants, and, in the areas accessible to those outside the Imperium’s upper crust, plenty of vices for their lesser to be distracted by.  Quite decadent.  It was here that I would see the first blow struck against Halaxaes, in particular, against Ruvaen.  Through no small amount of preparation and secret communication amongst no less than a dozen rebel groups, I engineered the factors that would allow the assembled strike team through the defensive network and to the surface of the world.  In short order, chaos had taken Auralus, and Ruvaen’s forcers were on the defensive, unable to reach the forces garrisoned upon the space citadel in orbit thanks to my interference with the communications network.  Oh, I had secreted myself aboard the citadel by this time, in the guise of a lowly novice arcanist, studying, and rather unsuccessfully, on a way to create the ultimate soldier through artifice.  I played the part perhaps too well, if I do say so myself.

Anyway, through the course of the battle for Ruvaen’s stronghold, I slipped away from the citadel and, in the chaos that had started up, saw myself through the magical defenses that had been in place so that I could attain the primary component I needed.  Using some rather advanced illusions to draw the attention of the rearguard, I infiltrated Ruvaen’s bunker and decimated it from within, the boy’s arcane talents, while impressive, were quite pathetic in the face of my own.  I made certain to keep the boy alive, if not entirely intact, and made sure that his body would not survive the encounter.

It was then that my planned disruption of communications ceased, and the Imperium’s forces swept down upon the rebels.  With Ruvaen’s condition suitably stabilized, if only for the moment, I once again donned by guise of the lowly researcher and returned to the citadel.  In short order, I found myself aboard the cruiser that housed Ruvaen’s broken body, which was slowly being consumed by the curse I’d laid upon it that prevented proper healing.  As the evacuation of the boy commenced, the next wave of rebels came in with the ships they had managed to secure through my generous donations, hampering the escape. 

As Ruvaen’s condition worsened, it was up to the lowly arcanist to save his life, though not in a way any would suspect.  It was then that my golem, more accurately, my special golem armor, was brought into play, though none would suspect it was indeed an armor.  It was made with life-sustaining magics from the ground up, so it seemed as likely a method as any to save the boy’s life, as desperate as the surgeons were at the time.  A shame those rebels managed to break through the outer defense perimeter during a peculiarly ill-timed systems glitch and just happened to know the exact ship their target was upon.

The first phase of my plan was ultimately a success; the destruction of the ship would not affect my golem armor in the slightest, its life support functions making certain that I would survive for quite some time within.  Ruvaen’s body, impossible to save by the point the ship was destroyed, was to be sacrificed as my golem armor absorbed his very soul into itself, just before the ship’s shields failed and it was shot down.  Of course, all hands, including that unfortunate researcher and all her data, were lost, aside from the newly reborn Ruvaen, and the passenger the armor was actually intended to protect all along.”

Note:  I am experiencing an unusual level of unease at the tone of Rivalle’s voice and the rather wistful smile upon her face, as though she were recalling a most pleasant memory, yet she has just spoken of an absolutely terrible series of events and the use of horrendously foul magics.

AG:  “That passenger being you, of course.  What exactly was your plan with this…golem armor?”

RV:  “It was the best method I could devise to get myself close to Emperor Halaxaes in a way that would allow me to have my revenge.  He would be quite furious once news reached him of the assault, then very nearly broken at the word of his son’s apparent death.  I could not know all that had passed between the two, of course, so I needed Ruvaen to fill in the blanks for me, to prove to Halaxaes that his sone did indeed still live, however strangely.  Though Ruvaen’s soul was firmly in my control, I would allow him some leeway in certain matters, to act as he normally would, and over the course of some weeks, he would again regain his father’s trust and prove that he was indeed his son, however altered and miserable within the golem’s shell.  His soul would mask my own presence, and with some minor influence from Ruvaen, the emperor’s arcanists would not be allowed to study the armor closely, for fear of doing something that could endanger the son trapped within.  Scans and magical probes would reveal a living body inside, if they were of sufficient power and duration, but this was simply taken as his broken body being sustained from within.”

AG:  “So…with that raid…the Imperium War began…with you right there beside Emperor Halaxaes all along.”

RV:  “Indeed.  I, with Ruvaen’s soul riding along with me, would prove quite the fearsome opponent for the officially announced rebellion, calling themselves the Free Peoples’ Compact.  Halaxaes’ revenge was foremost of course, and those rebels who were captured at Auralus were duly executed in public, though this would do nothing but enhance the anger against the Emperor throughout the systems he controlled.  Ruvaen would lead the assaults on the worlds that were confirmed to be allied with the FPC, or who hid their operatives.  Quite the bloody affair.”

AG:  “Were you responsible for turning the Emperor’s baleful glare upon the various arcanist orders, and the Chroniclers?”

RV:  “No, I did no such thing, though I could not exactly step in as Ruvaen to speak against it.  He knew that arcanists of no small talent were involved in the raid upon Auralus and would see to it that all such institutions were either made absolutely loyal to the Imperium or were eradicated as rebel sympathizers.  It was certainly a great loss for the galaxy; magical studies have truly still not recovered following his decimation. 

I believe your Order, the Chroniclers, while insisting upon a neutral stance throughout, had drawn his ire because he had gotten it in his head that they were holding back vital knowledge that would see Ruvaen restored to a proper body.  Cloning technology was severely limited in that time, and the old methods of creating magical clones were lost to all but a handful of arcanists throughout the galaxy, though historically speaking, most clones created through arcane methods tended to grow unstable quickly and usually tried to kill the original if awakened early.  He wanted to see his son restored, and when he could not find the knowledge he sought in the order’s archives, he assumed the worst and went to war against them, instead.

It was during this period that I would first come in conflict with Lila Darius, well, one of her reincarnations, in fact, and would be but the first of many vexations she would bring me in the centuries to follow.  It’s rather fortunate I remained on the sidelines during the Age of Legends, for if I’d met her then, history may have turned out quite different indeed.”

#Lore24 – Entry #345 – Sci-Fi Month IV #10 – The Age of Legends

Transcribed From the Personal Recording Implant of Andra Ganim, Chronicler of the Codex Infinitum

AG:  “Was there anything specific that you sought within those ruined draconic cities?  And how exactly did these events jumpstart the Age of Legends from your perspective?”

RV:  “Knowledge of course was my primary interest, though of course, along with that came further power.  I wanted to know all that could be gleaned about the mysterious race that had so shaped the world and then mysteriously vanished.  You could say that I felt a certain affinity with the dragons, something I realized even then, given my vastly superior understanding of magic compared to others in the world.  I daresay that without my studies following the Great Cataclysm, magic would have stagnated for a thousand years or more as people tried to relearn it.

I say that these expeditions were so very important because of one of the most prominent of the legends to emerge, the one you serve now.  Were it not for the human then known as Angeliqua Cartacustos and her meticulous study and research into these sites, she would never have found the path that led to her ascension to godhood.  She was but the first such legend to attain that mysterious spark that allowed her to reach such a lofty position during that time, and the first to do so.  Though this too was the will of Marcon Shadowmist, for he was somehow aware of the danger that lay before Andyllion and had nudged Cartacustos on a path that would see the world saved.”

AG:  “Could you explain that more?  I have never heard of this.”

RV:  “Oh, you wouldn’t have, my dear.  For as good a job as your order does at recording history, you can’t exactly record it if it never happened, though I suspect that if you dig deeply enough, you may in fact find some recollection of the event.  It was a bit of a paradox, you see, and once Cartacustos had figured it out and remedied the situation, time itself was altered into the timeline we currently exist upon.  I don’t have all the details, mind you, but I do know that our world, at the very least, would have been doomed, the very source of magic, even that which the gods grant to their followers, sucked dry.  It’s…almost like a dream, you see, how I remember it.  I know that it never happened, yet I also know that it did, for I lived through it to the bitter end and witnessed her actions for myself.  I suppose my…unique nature…has kept me aware of these events, when all others who may have experienced them have forgotten them.  Don’t trouble yourself too much over it; if you wish, I can discuss it more later.”

AG:  “Yes, I would very much like to delve deeper into that subject.  Back to my original questions…you seem to have been curiously quiet during the Age of Legends, for your name doesn’t appear in many accounts of the era.  Was this intentional on your part?  What were you doing during this time?”

RV:  “Study and research, mostly.  I poured over all the details gleaned from Cartacustos and her order, and several others I had working on the project.  I kept my interference to a minimum and had mostly divested myself from the Elvish Dominion’s leadership by this time.  My intentions were carried out as I had wished them to be through my lesser that I left in charge, and they handled their duties satisfactorily.  I had far greater ambitions than mere political power then, for I would come to understand my truest nature, and something of what had happened to the dragons themselves through my experiences.  In this, Marcon Shadowmist and I were alike, quietly guiding events while we performed whatever machinations we would behind the scenes.  I can tell that you’re itching to know what I’m alluding to, but you’ll have to be patient  a while longer yet.”

AG:  “You certainly have a way of teasing things, Ms. Volcari.  During your, I suppose I’ll call it a sequestration during this time, did you encounter any of the others who would be considered Legends of the Age?”

RV:  “I would, yes, however briefly our interactions may have been.  I met Korvalis Nightrunner before he became the Right Hand of Mausolus, and for a wonder, this legendary assassin was never sent after me.  I daresay he would have been the one person who would have been able to slay me during that time.  I would regularly convene with the likes of Marcon Shadowmist and Azalina Fang during this period. Yes, that Azalina Fang, the very one that the academy was named after, though her growing instability meant that it was only a matter of time before she was dealt with for a final time. 

I may have…nudged Shibaru Sukimono in her direction when I refused to teach her the arcane arts after she had escaped her bondage, before she began her true task of freeing the kerryns from their bondage within the Imperium Draconis, knowing that their personalities would clash to the point of violence, and that Azalina would seek to rip that special power Sukimono had been granted from the goddess she would eventually free.  I could sense Sukimono’s power then, knew that she was destined for greatness.  I’ll admit to being rather surprised that she had managed to find the single remaining aerian upon Andyllion as well, Maltizar Skyrider, and was even more surprised when he didn’t try to kill me upon our first meeting.  He’s a hard one to put down, and one of the few beings in this galaxy that rivals me for age; thankfully for me, his memory is terrible”

Note:  A peculiar frown, a look of distaste, passed over Rivalle’s face then.

“Then there was Lila Darius…that would be my first encounter with the woman who I still absolutely cannot stand to this very day…the bumbling fool somehow managed to tap into a remnant of Saressh’s power that remained from before the goddess was captured by Suzu’reitani and resurrected over a thousand aerian warriors before the final battle with the demon lord.  I suspect Marcon had something to do with that little feat, though I have no proof of it.  How she has vexed me ever since she awakened her true blood back then…”

AG:  “Her true blood?”

Note:  I was beginning to form an idea of why Rivalle’s assistant looked like Lila, and why the poor girl looked worried when Rivalle’s mood darkened.  I’m not sure if there’s someone I can alert to her situation who would actually be able to do anything about it, no matter how much I want to.  Rivalle has resumed her more pleasant demeanor with my latest question.

RV:  “Ah, yes…well, we’ll be getting to that later, for it is something we have in common.  We can’t all have the blood of gods within us, but close enough.

Continuing on, I did have occasion to meet Mantok Badaxe before he ascended to godhood for his people as well.  He was quite brilliant for an orc during that time, though no less a great warrior, and even I will credit him with evolving his people through shear force of will.  This was before his clan would turn against the Draconis Emperor and fight alongside the kerryns during their uprising, again due in so small part to the interference of Lila Darius.  I daresay she did more for the kerryns than Shibaru Sukimono did, though it was ultimately Sukimono who slew the demon lord and broke the blood curse and the power that bound their goddess.  Had Darius kept to that, I might not hate her so…

I would have a brief encounter with the mysterious Yasraena Onimatsuri during this time as well, though it was more random chance than anything when she happened to emerge, cut her way through a battlefield and two armies, just to keep walking as if it were nothing for her.  Her family, her mother specifically, had been one of my apprentices during the time before the Cataclysm, and had taken to her own unique studies of the arts, seeking power to perhaps rival my own.  Yasraena was, and still is, I suppose, wherever she may be now, a unique case to say the least.  Even though I was vaguely aware of her comings and goings throughout the centuries and millennia, she always kept to herself.  It’s almost like she never grew out of her “brooding teenager” period, honestly. 

I do believe that was the last notable encounter with those who would be considered Legends, though I did briefly meet a handful of others…let’s see…Naiya and Shank Serana come to mind.  Did you know that Shank’s adoptive father also adopted Lila Darius?  It’s how that family name came to be a kerryn name, in fact.  Curious that link…  Then there was Shibaru Sukimono’s vampiric clone who came to me seeking a remedy for her condition at one point; you’ll have to track down her reincarnation if you want the details of that story, for I couldn’t be bothered to delve into it myself.  There was the legendary gnomish craftsman Fitzgerald; I commissioned some work from him and would use his superior artifice in my creation of several golems.”