[R&S 2.1] Imrik's Focus

Diary Entry11th day of Winter11th yearMid day in Crownhold

The body has been sent, and a letter written. I have made every offer of peace. It is now upon Lissandra to see the truth of my desires. It is regrettable that we were not raised in closer contact. Before the death of Scoria, I could count on one hand the number of personal conversations we had. We do not know each other as cousins ought. I am all but convinced she is innocent in the death of the Empress. She is a lonely woman, abandoned for her best years, bewitched by a handsome and godly husband arriving home after decades away and in her greatest hour of need. I have done all I can to make my case to her.

King Van, on the other hand, sits at the storm that is Shine’s death, Empress Wikk’s death, the deaths of Lissandra’s older siblings. These events are either a matter of divine will - and I have seen first hand how little the gods truly care for us - or this is the fruit of a great conspiracy headed by clerics of the goddess of appearances. I have been part of grand conspiracy devised to bring down a kingdom before - I know how they work, how they live in the shadows even from your closest allies. Whether Van directs it, or sits at its center, he is responsible for this storm. He is responsible for their deaths.

For now, I will leave Van to his own devices. There are more pressing matters, and as long as he keeps the peace, he can wait. I hope Lissandra reaches out, but in my heart I know it is a lost cause.

On to new business.

1527 will be an important year, and so 1526 must be executed judiciously. We are well into the winter already, but today marks the start of a new year and a new era. There is a kingdom to rule, a wife to find, an invasion to prepare for, among many smaller details. The abdication of responsibility from Drekkis is not insignificant in these matters, but the vast treasures inherited from Scoria can somewhat mitigate those failings. Had Tyrael been less zealous in delivering the lion’s share to the late empress, had he better planned for the future, had he shunted off a greater volume of treasure for emergencies… I suppose it does not matter. If I fail, we are all dead. If I succeed, I am confident coinage will find me.

Mistrya ReconstructionFor a decade I have toiled at improving the infrastructure and disposition of my personal Kingdom. Structural progress has been made, but my subjects frustrate my efforts at social reform. I speak the language with great fluency, but the cultural approaches are hideous relics of a bygone age. Every word is arranged for a particular ear. A man may avow one thing in court, another in the streets, a third to his house, and a fourth to his private journal.

Supplication, praise, and accolades are the order of the day. Great promises are made, assurances heaped sky high, never a doubt creeps into a projection - yet when the time comes for things to be done, there is always an outside influence to blame for why they are not. Failures are accompanied with groveling and offerings of slaves, children, or further services.

Laws are extolled with great voice, but quietly ignored. Force and intimidation remain the core motivators of my subjects, try as I might to move past such barbarism. Bribery and corruption are endemic at every level of society - from the innkeeper to the city watch. Only through great personal effort (countless hours of crystal balls, clairvoyance, invisibility, etc. to catch corruption in the act) have I brought my castle to a place of consistent virtue.

Turning this backwards society into Drekkisians would take generations. Instead, I shall create a new civilization. I will open our borders. I will import new peoples. I will take every slave offered me and turn them into citizens. I will relocate the troublesome to the open country sides. I will forcibly merge and mesh cultures into a new one. I will find a partner who can manage the day to day of rulership while I occupy myself with the bigger issues of the day.

Finding a QueenIt is common among the middling houses of Arcadia, except for the Akubans, to use the coming of age of their children as political tools to improve their own status. Letters of notice are excuses to make introductions. Especially handsome youths are paraded before any court that will have them.

Since Scoria’s death, and even more so since becoming king, I receive many such letters of notice, but these papers have brought me nothing but pain. It did take longer than I care to admit to learn that such announcements and offers made to me are mere formalities used to raise the self worth of a house. Each consideration I have given has injected friction between my subjects, already a quarrelsome people, and ended in either the retraction of a potential match, or the eager selling off of a terrified woman.

Entertaining common announcements, offers, and notices is a fool’s errand. Perhaps I would have known such things had the circumstances of my youth not been what they were. As a son of the abdicated queen, I was pushed to the back of the room - permitted to attend the party, but denied participation. Well I am that no more. I am begged for attention, and must be careful in its dispensation.

I digress.

I must seek out a queen. Madness awaits one who spends too much time staring into the lens of a scrying device, but for this occasion such time can be afforded. I shall dedicate this winter to the task.

Desired Traits in a Queen:

Politically shrewd

Selfless

Will never cross me

Fertile

Beautiful

Can be trusted with the truth

Not afraid to wield power

Not afraid to kill

Not afraid to die

Does not flinch at my form

Will serve the interests of the realm

Recognizes my ultimate authority

Is a willing and eager partner. I can buy servants and slaves.

To do:Have servants create list of appropriate options- List of singles- List of married women- Mistryan only- Include primary residence

Servant perform initial review, dividing each list into 4 tiers- A tier: Has obvious desirable qualities - Beautiful, Shrewd, Good family, Capable warrior, Highest priority for magically talented- B tier: May have hidden potential- Unsorted

Servants to discard the physically unfit or unattractiveServants to discard the obviously inept

Brief observations of A tier options. Dismiss, move to B tier, or set aside if promising.

Bait promising options into private and revealing conversations with their closest circles, and use scrying devices to observe the truth of their character- Send servants with letters?- Set up dinners with other potential matches. 2 birds, 1 stone.- Observe household meetings and dinners- Observe private hours

If her cleric were not opposing me, I would pray to Chis for guidance in this matter. As it is, her influence cannot be trusted.

Saving ArcadiaI have many thoughts, often at odds. I must gain clarity before any strategic decisions are made. I remember my old master, Divan Armstrong, speaking with the utmost seriousness on the personal value of composing a proper treatise. I have never done so. I have often looked down on those who choose scholarship over action, yet now I must turn to these tools to further my aims.

I must make a proper study of the denizens of the second material plane. To do so, I must first document and assess Imprik and his kind. Because of the villainous cleric Van, I must be my own Clertus and document potential ----

I do not have to be my own Clertus. He will come with me. Willingly.

He will be of great aid.

Yes, it shall be like old times. He will find the sources of knowledge and power, I shall get them, and we shall once again thwart the great evil.

I am getting that dizzy feeling again.

In the melee, movements happen before thought. I feel similarly when practicing old spells. There is a flow. A state one gives into and in which one acts on instinct. That is what I am feeling now. Why is it that when I feel it now, I hesitate?

Am I getting old? Is my confidence failing me? Why do I hold back? I cannot tell if the hesitation is wisdom to not pursue a poor idea, or if it is fear and self doubt creeping in.

Doubt is insidious.

Strength in action is critical.

It is better to be bold and wrong, than to be weak and right.

I have nothing on this plane to fear, other than fear itself. Therefore, I have nothing to fear.

Clertus, I will see you soon. I cannot do this alone. We shall work side by side again. Together we shall save Arcadia.

I shall assign my agents their tasks before sundown.