Alexei

A door.

Oh, and thw polybolos. A gun found in the Kadian Empire. Its rounds explode upon penetration (heh).

A sword which had a blade made of magic. A magic lightsaber.

Connor m'boi.

I'll be there as time allows.

“You’ve done well, bother.” Conner said as he looked over the reports Nerorinus had handed him on a data-slate. While the Imperial South had indeed been inactive, it was only a sleep. The Southern Lion had been saving its strength since the start of the Harrowing. When Kadia had been temporarily ripped from the material world. It was time for it to wake up, and reveal that it’s fangs had not grown dull. That they had instead only grown sharper. “The Melisende blood is not one that handles inaction well, boils too easily I admit; but your restraint will prove our greatest weapon.” He smiled, a cold and vicious thing that decorated his handsome face. “No doubt out enemies, and even fair weather allies--snakes that they are--think we have weakened. Think that our lands are ripe for the picking.” He chuckled. “This works well in our favor, no doubt they believe the whole of our forces lay in Kadia. That we have abandoned our precious jewel of ice and snow.” His attention returned to the slate in his hands, finger sliding through report after report. “Even their forays into our farthest borders show this.” Setting it down in trade for a glass of Southern whiskey he looked at his elder brother, calculating green eyes meeting taciturn blue. “The majority of the South is with the Imperium’s grasp, we have laid waste to the dragons--removing their potential threat--and expanded our infrastructure. We have made an alliance with the Western League, the Order of Force Majeure, and I intend to bring Koji into the fold eventually. If successful, we can have the Carmine Empire surrounded on three fronts, and perpetuate a balance of mutual threat.” Though the issue of his sister still remained. He could sense her here in Genesaris, weak though it was as she has abandoned her faith in their father. “It is time for the Imperial South to rouse and return to the pride. There is no better way to display that their predictions are incorrect by grasping one last piece on the board.” He said, taking a sip from the glass, enjoying the smooth whiskey for a moment. “Saint Desolatus can no longer be allowed to remain as is, there is too much dark mystery within it, something that cannot be allowed to remain and inevitably grow.” The city had long since bore black rumors, long before he had become Emperor, long before the Father had forged the beginnings of their empire. “As I speak, a fleet of thirty ships makes its way here, it will arrive at the shores of where Cobran once stood. It carries within it fifty thousand of my Elite toops, infantry and armored divisions combined. You will muster another fifty thousand and openly march towards Saint Desolatus. I want all of Genesaris to see it. We will then gauge their reaction as the siege begins in earnest. I have no intention to draw it out, we will use this chance to send a message. To make aware those hyenas that we are not some corpse to be butchered and shared with their laughter.” He raised a gloved hand, and clenched it into a fist. They had grown too willful in the absence of Kadia, and made assumptions that bordered on insult. His sister thought she knew the extent of Connor’s cunning and ambition, of his power and ability. He felt no insult, no matter what she thought of him, or how he had throttled her in the game of politics as the nobles turned their votes from her to them. If she could not best him, then he could only fear for Kadia’s future under such lacking ability. Her naivete, while novel; was a weapon that could be used against him. Now that she had abandoned her home, and her people; for the Carmine Empire she had become a threat. Of course he would not hamfistedly go after her in some assassination plot, he had more honor and integrity than most gave him credit for. She was blood, after all. This merely meant that he would have to act quickly with plans different from what they had conjured together during the Harrowing. To rid himself and his Empire of the weaknesses she knew of, to build new strengths beyond those she was intimate with. He counted this as a blessing, in a way. It spurred him to develop new methods, advance their technology, and reorganize the military. Magic was never relied upon in the Imperium, and for a long time shunned; at least that was what everyone seemed to think. Magic was merely a tool, a weapon of such destruction that it much be strictly leashed. Yet it was not untrue to say that Connor was a bit more…liberal in its applications. He leaned back in his seat, awaiting his brother’s response.

“The dark gods have blessed us, now is our time. We have made the sacrifices, the innocents have been offered to our great masters. The time is now, the Imperium will fall, and change will once more bless what is our lands. It will not end here, first we reclaim our home; then we bring the light of progress to the world. Death to the false god and his children! Death to the Kadians!” -Heresiarch Abd al Hakim, The Storm Chosen It is the First Corvinite Era, the Empire of Kadia has grown to be one of the most powerful and technologically advanced nations on Valucre. The God-Emperor, Corvinus Melisende; has announced that his six year old son--Connor--is to inherit the throne. This sudden announcement has made waves across the Imperium and its allies, and its enemies, all uncertain of the changes to come once the young prince comes of age. All expectant and fearful. In the shadows the major political movements and intrigue between Kadia, Renovatio, Kalopsia, and the Dastuzoku Empire; dark forces have been stirring within the Old World. Word of Desmond’s actions against his father’s plans, the incident involving Cornelius and Lyonene, and the rising tensions between Corvinus and Koji have given the Heathens renewed vigor. In the central desert the Heathens and the Heretics have founded their own Church, the Heresiarchy. The old religion of the people who called themselves the Ekimmu is founded upon the true nature of the gods that corrupted them. The have founded their own nation, calling it the Caliphate of Aravia, and themselves Aravians. A new culture has sprung up--a resistance against the power of the Corvinite Ecclesiarchy. They have operated in the shadows, many spies and secret cults now reside in the borders on the Imperium, drawing normal citizens and nobility into their thrall. The Inquisition works to root them out alongside the Church’s Venator Malificarum. Julius, the acting Ecclesiarch has taken a keen interest is these cults, and how they have come about, who they serve. It has not been an easy process, the results yielding little, save for more questions. From the secrecy of their cities the Heresiarchy conducted mass sacrificial rituals across Kadia the moment they received word that the God-Emperor and Goddess-Empress had left the island on business, leaving their young son in the care of his siblings and tutors. The blood and still beating hearts of many innocents were offered to the Ever-Thirsting Gods, their minds and spirits broken before their flesh was offered. The Dark Gods took notice as the veil between the Materium and Immaterium thinned to enact their dark works. A great storm, soon called the Harrowing would envelope all of Kadia, pulling it into the dark seas of Corruption. The only saving grace, keeping the cities and many towns from falling to daímones are the Obelisks--extension of the God-Emperor’s divine will. Kadia now drifts among the seas of change. New beings have appeared in the various regions. Many have fled their towns, traveling far to the north and falling to the powers that reside in the dark and icy regions. New races now walk the islands that surround Kadia, burrow in the mountains, or even thrive in the deserts. Not even Aravia is safe from the storm they have created. To enter it from the Materium is to dive into a fate unknown. This all falls on the shoulders of the young prince, Connor; an empire drifting in hellish seas that seek to corrupt or destroy his father’s--no--his empire. Kadia is now at war, and neither the Aravians or the Kadians know who will win. All the while the laughter of Dark Gods echo across the Sea of Corruption, mocking and hungering. The Harrowing has begun.