[R&S 2.2] Van's Plans

Full moon of January, 1526

Beloved Chis, hear my prayers. You are my strength, my fortitude, and my guiding light. By your wisdom, I am made a better man. By your grace, I make the world a better place. I am now and forever your loyal servant.

On this auspicious night I seek your wisdom. Four great trials of my land and people stand before me, and I come to you that clarity in their solutions should arrive in my heart. Most imminently, a tremendous threat shall soon arrive from that long lost Arcadian Island - Bravo. Through your divine guidance I have seen the end of great creatures below the waves that once kept our peoples distant, and I know the time of war shall soon be upon us. Their black hides have been drawn over wooden frames - vessels intended for our demise are in construction. You know the truths of our peril. Our fleets have been smashed by winds, storms, battles, and beasts. Admiral Hindenweld, his commanders, and our finest shipwrights and planklayers lay at the bottom of a distant sea. Those who came before me have gambled and lost our assets, and now we have neither time nor skill to assemble a worthy fleet before Bravo descends upon us.

Our long held rivals to the west, The Kingdom of Akuba, have ships and sailors in both number and skill that could mount a defense, but Solt knows how such a proposal would be met. The blood between us is rancid, and the hearts of Akuba will sing with joy when those from Bravo arrive to slay us. Their delight at our downfall will blind them to their own dangers. First those from Bravo will come for Eridon. And then for Drekkis. And then Mistrya. Only after we have all fallen, and the blood of Bravo has been sapped of its strength, would our Akuban neighbors be committed to the battle. A fate worse than that is whispered to me by Terassa in my sleep - what may come should Arcadia of the Far West align with Arcadia of the Far East.

I must meet with King Gil’Daaren and Queen Questari and take their measure. Yet as I speak these words, I feel your wisdom echoing back from the walls. A meeting such as this has as power to sway our Akuban rivals in our favor, or against it. In seeking assurance we may expose our weakness and manifest what we fear most. Care must be taken if our will is to be realized.

It is no secret in the great halls of Drekkis, and therefore no secret at all, that the seafloors of the Dardens are among the most heavily armed places upon this earth. A onetime gift from the lair of the red beast squandered and lain to rust. Yet the full extent of this truth is known to few. There is a way to speak about such losses such that friends and foes alike think it is a cover for our greed. It is better to be at the heart of a conspiracy than to be buffeted by the winds of fate.

I pray you Chis, hide these lost arms and armor from those within our path. Let no soul from Arcadia count nor catalog their sums. Let neither the White Price nor the great dragon find them. Better that the seas draw them down into the bowls of the earth then they be turned against us. I pray to you Chis, hide from those would show us harm the knowledge of our weakness. Let our projected strength be a deterrence. Thank you, avatar of truth.

It is time now to turn mind and prayer further east, to our fading threat: The war against that High Priest of great evil. The wrath of Nadinis and the fury of Telemaki have shattered their ships as surely as they have our own, and for that I am most grateful. Our loss was not their gain, and their suffering was greater than our own. With this great defeat there is room again to breath, time again to plan, and, Tempos willing, but one threat to face at a time. This storm of scale and wind that has so devastated our strength at sea has linings beyond silver. Hardly a greater reprieve could have been bought had the lungs of our warriors been filled with the blood of battle instead of the salt of the sea. It is difficult that distasteful truths are so often cast aside by people in positions of power. It is a frustration that I must feign grief when I feel relief.

With that thought, I must take this moment to thank you again for revealing the mind of Lissandra to me. Finding her in the temple on the night of such terrible news unlocked in me new understandings of her, new beauties, new appreciations. She is no small mind. Her appetite for advantage leads her to seek truths beyond feelings. My heart fluttered in knowing she too saw the gift that was bestowed through such loss. Surely that would have been enough to compounded my happiness many fold - but to find her knife in hand, spilling the blood of sacrifice to the goddess of storms… it has forged a bond of trust between she and I. She is truly your servant, and for that I am eternally grateful. I saw it in her that night, and have seen it many time since. Once upon a time I asked you for help with my wife, and you have answered my prayers over and over. Thank you, avatar of beauty. I will always be your faithful servant. My devotion to you is endless.

[long moment of silence followed by a deep and slow sigh]

The penultimate threat is the one which I fear the most, strange as that may seem. While the high council, the clerics, and the Empress have come to see the truth of the Soulless King, it will be difficult to turn the other keys of power. I fear the Great War of Arcadia has spoiled men’s appetite for blood. They see a great war as the greatest war, and cannot comprehend a more dangerous conflagration. Through love or fear or greed we must align those within our domain. Only then can those beyond be attended to.

A grand meeting in open court, a great proclamation from the Empress, testimony from witness, and oaths by high priests may turn the minds, but not the hearts, of men. Pomp lacks lethality. Direness must be personal. They must taste the bile. A lens must be crafted to turn their love into fear.

My words echo and I hear you reflect them to me. I see a closed meeting. A war room with maps, figures, and ash in the hearth so thick that fires must have burned for days without reprieve to be cleared. It must be personal, one house at a time. It must be cramped, so the stink of sweat fills the senses. Such meetings must have texture. No rich foods or drinks, they must be beyond pleasantries. The high council, the high priest, guards, squires, and all other witnesses to the questioning of the dead must be present. They will be outnumbered, out ranked. It will not be an order they are obligated to, it will be a secret they are asked to join. A secret they now share with the greatest powers of the land, in the quiet but busy room that has been toiled in for many long days. What at first may feel like intimidation will soon turn to honor.

The effort to reach each house this way will be immense. It will wear on all who must attend it over and over as we work our way down the ranks. It will take the year to do the high houses, a year in which we shall be bound to the capital. Our absence of travel will be noted. Excuses must be forged.

Our spies in Crownhold report the creature is focused on a mate in preparation for some next step. Its grand plans are opaque, but this process will take time. I ask you, Chis, help us to slow it down. Watch over our servants in its keep, our men in its court, our horses in its stable. Guide us to muddy the waters, to create blockades. I have faced may threats for you, but this is not one I can face alone. I need time to change the hearts of our men. Help me create such time. Thank you, avatar of persuasions and deceits.

Finally, my great goddess, we come to that most ultimate of trials that awaits us. I have consulted with sages and searched the past. The arrival of your sires upon the land are a tiding of doom - the end of the age is at hand, and ages do not end with peace. How may I serve you in this time?

[Long silence. Steady breathing. The sound of candles beginning to sputter as they burn low.]

I await your will, but I shall not wait for it. As I ready the empire to bring low the Soulless King of Roses, so do I ready it for your command. We shall be the tip of your spear, your loyal servants, to strike or hold as you see fit. I am honored beyond words to be your champion in this darkest hour. Give me your guidance, and I shall deliver your desires.

Beloved Chis, I thank you for the life you have given me. I thank you for saving me from certain doom. I thank you for letting me be your servant in the great war. I thank you for giving me the power to be an agent of goodliness. Thank you for bringing me home.