ethanjory

Of Blood and Bastards

If anything had been gained so far from this conversation, it was that Karl Valdemar had finally decided that Rohaan was far more interesting than he would have ever given a non-human credit for. Observing his subordinates from out of the corner of his eye, it was clear that they were far less impressed with the Shifter, but they were soldiers, possessing a much more singular outlook on life. It wouldn't be all that appropriate to fault them for that either, considering they had spent much of their lives in direct opposition to non-humans, at least the ones who weren't enslaved within the Empire. In any case, their open hostility wasn't exactly conducive for the conversation that he wished to have, so with a wave of his hand, he ushered them into different positions, well outside of earshot. The captain showed the usual signs of hesitation, but he complied as usual. No sensible man would ever directly disobey his emperor. Of course, as the conversation continued, it travelled to areas that Karl Valdemar could have predicted that it would have. His father had been a brutal and efficient man, having been the first to earn the title of 'Dragon of the North'. The purges had ended only shortly after the conclusion of the Great Restoration, largely due the wasted resources that it would take to continue the systematic slaughter of non-humans in the new empire. Slavery was the more viable option, though it had already been practiced in most of the northern provinces since the fall of the Old Empire. The south was a different story, and they chafed at the return to something that had been abolished centuries ago, even when applied to non-humans. He had no intention to apologize for the sins of his father. He doubted Rohaan had any interest in seeing any humility come from the Emperor, nor would he appreciate the pointless gesture. Besides, in many aspects he was as guilty as his father, though that didn't really bother him any. His left hand twitched.

"Perhaps your life would have been easier as a slave. Fortunately for the both of us, a common slave would be of no use to me. Your harsh life is the very reason why you're sitting here, though I don't expect you to appreciate that at all, given the present circumstances. Still, I will openly appreciate the dual irony of destiny and fate that has transpired all these events to lead to this very moment."

On the subject of slavery, the lot of different slaves varied vastly within the empire. Those who were forced to work within the various mines had a short, hard, and brutal life. The opposite could be said of those who found themselves in servitude amongst the Imperial nobility. Of course, it was dependent on how exactly the masters chose to treat their assorted slaves, though their opportunities were severely limited even when compared to the poorest of free men. Commoners held open discrimination to their non-human counterparts, and violence breaking out wasn't all that uncommon. Compounded by the fact that tangible action was rarely taken against the human perpetrators.

It was a present shame that Rohaan didn't appreciate the musings of the Emperor, though the boorish reaction wasn't entirely unexpected. He wasn't here to humor the Shifter at any rate. His hunting and fishing acumen was limited to a matter of recreation more than anything, though he did briefly eye the small boat that he had taken out on the lack only a few hours before. His left hand twitched again. It was a pity that delays and circumstance had caused this meeting to happen at this particular day. However, the Shifter chose to strike when he did, and the Emperor had to react. He only needed to conclude negotiations before the day ended. His reason for being in the wilderness was actually for one other reason than to appreciate the final days of summer. There remained no reason to reveal that to the Shifter, however. It would only serve to weaken his own position.

"The fabrication of your death wasn't done for your benefit, though I suspect that it may aid you in certain aspects. I committed significant resources to your capture, and your presence in regards to the theft of the Imperial Crown Jewels didn't go unnoticed as you so succinctly explained not long before. Your disappearance would lead to questions among those whom I'd rather leave in the dark, and so I was forced to act to dispel any unwelcome rumors. More elaborate than I would like, but it should show the lengths I was willing to take so that I could have the opportunity to render your services."

"Besides, your former associates wanted certain assurances that you wouldn't survive the encounter. Such an interesting reputation that you have, little Shiftling." Karl Valdemar was being condescending, though that was entirely on purpose. There wasn't any express reason as to why he needed to explain himself to the non-human, but perhaps he'd appreciate this gesture, if he was already poised to disregard everything else.

After everything that had happened so far, it was the hearing of Rohaan's request that finally caused the Emperor to finally lose his composure. He doubled over from laugher, with tears streaming down his cheeks. The laugher was all encompassing, entirely consuming the man for an entire minute before finally subsiding. He wiped the tears away as he finally composed himself again, and before long, it was as if the outburst had never happened at all.

"Do forgive me," the Emperor began as he reasserted eye contact with his piercing gaze, "I was not laughing at the request itself. Only the boldness and audacity of it. It is not everyday in which I encounter an individual who has absolutely no filter like yourself. I must counter your request, at least before I get into the exact details of why I need your services."

It was no exaggeration to state that slavery was the lifeblood of the Empire, at least in its current state. Its abolition would send a significant shockwave through the entire nation, both economically and culturally. The Emperor wasn't even sure if it was possible to take such progressive action in one fell swoop; monarchy was the embodiment of conservativism after all.

"I'm willing to liberate all Vokurians within the Empire. I will set aside an autonomous region for them to settle, allowing them to form communities and regain a semblance of what they once had in the past. Discrimination would remain, and they would lack the same opportunities as Men. However, under the law they would have practical equal status as any other free race. Would that be satisfactory?" This wouldn't be easy to achieve either and slavery would persist for other races, but the populations of the Vokurians had been considerably reduced since the restoration of the empire, though a decent portion of them remained enslaved due to their unique abilities. The total size of the Shifter populations would potentially have less effect overall than the liberation of one of the larger minority races. It did remain to be seen how much of a idealist that Rohaan was, but the Emperor couldn't discount it entirely. He had only just met the Shifter after all.

Of Blood and Bastards

"Demon!" One of the soldiers shouted involuntarily as the Rohaan began shift through many forms following the removal of the ishun-tai. The Emperor only looked upon Rohaan with pure fascination. It was rare enough to come into contact with a Shifter in the Age of Man, and rarer still to witness them transform into anything. Still, Karl Valdemar wasn't completely composed. His gloved left hand and arm began to inhumanly convulse and twist in an entirely unnatural way, clearly in reaction to the old shapeshifting magic of the Shifter before him. Gripping his left arm with his right hand made it far less noticeable, yet the pain was indescribable. If anything, he was a stoic man, and suffered in silence. At the same time, the Emperor was genuinely curious whether or not the Shifter would make an attempt on his life, but he wagered the silverblood was still far to weak and drained to maintain a significant form for long. Besides, he had other assurances for that. He was many things, but a fool was not one of them.

The constant disregard to the Emperor from Rohaan clearly ground on the nerves of the captain until he had his own outburst. "You worm, you should be prostrating yourself. This is Karl Valdemar Sigurdsson, Imperial Sovereign of All Mankind, Avatar of Sigus, Son of the Great Restorer, Dragon of the North, Hammer of the Centauri Hordes, Grand Prince of Last Vigil-"

With his left arm once again calm, the Emperor raised a hand to once again silence his overzealous captain. "Titles are of no importance at his present moment. Besides, if they were to all be rattled off, we'd be standing here until the sundown. I am in need of your services, which forces us to be equals for the time being." Many thought he had gone mad to even consort with a Shifter, but it had become both necessary and unavoidable. It did contain a sense of irony, considering that his father had purged most of the non-humans that had once resided in these lands during his many campaigns to restore the empire. Perhaps there was an additional level of animosity between the two of them due to that, though that was likely beyond the interest of the glorified thief that now stood before him.

"You know," the Emperor began as he glanced towards the fishing poles arranged on the shore, "there's a degree of honesty associated with fishing. A man can feed himself and his family with enough effort. Something that you should really consider, though I suppose you're no man."

"It even surprised me that your fellow cutthroats were so eager to cut your throat. The Imperial Crown still resides at the Old Imperial Capital. It was never actually moved to Last Vigil, despite the rumors. And yes, those rumors spread like wildfire with enough bribes." The Imperial Crown was older than the Old Empire itself, and was never meant to be worn. It was the temporal power of the God of Mankind bestowing his favor to the emperors that ruled in his place. Karl Valdemar doubted any of this was all that interesting to the Shifter at all. It was largely doubtful that they even followed the same gods, though the theologians would claim that they were merely variants of the same gods. Still, he knew that this particular Shifter was extremely clever. By this point he had probably pieced together that he had been set up and thrown into a trap. His confidence would remain, Karl had to guess, given it was clear to this point that he had a vested interest in keeping the Shifter alive.

"I even went out of my way to arrange for your death to be faked. Another prisoner of similar appearance. Turns out both men and Shiftlings burn much the same at the stake." There was always a level of discretion that he was forced to maintain, though much of this had been arranged by the Imperial Spymaster than the Emperor himself. He had far more enemies than friends, which made the Emperor and the Shifter not all that different, in an odd sort of way. That had precluded the option of directly contacting the Shifter. Too direct and obvious. And the channels to do so weren't secure at all.

He clapped his hands. Seemingly out of nowhere, appeared several servants. They laid out a large table not far from the lake itself, consisting of various food and drink. The Emperor took his own seat and offered another chair for the weakened Shifter. Truly the setting for this meeting wasn't due to the remoteness of this location, though that just happened to be an additional benefit. Summers were short in the Pale Reaches, and Karl Valdemar always took advantage of this by taking extended trips fishing, hunting, and engaging in a plethora of other recreational activities. This location wasn't specifically chosen for this particular meeting. Rather, this just so happened to be where the Emperor was at this time.

The Emperor allowed Rohaan to enjoy the food and drink for a moment before continuing. "It is well known that I can grant you almost anything that you could possibly desire. Thus, the motivation and compensation should be no issue. There exists a certain person I need retrieved. Yet I must wonder... is this something that you are capable of?" These final words rang with a tinge of mockery and genuine curiosity. This curiosity wasn't concerning the skills of the shiftling, no. He was already well aware of that. He was most interested how the Shifter would answer. After spending so many resources in arranging this meeting, he had to wonder what kind of person he was truly dealing with.

Of Blood and Bastards

Rohaan likely didn't have the opportunity to appreciate the appearances of the soldiers for long as they got to work. For what it was worth, it was clear that these were professional soldiers, as opposed to the gaggle of city guards that had apprehended him earlier. The captain, along these new soldiers, wore completely different armor than before. Likely, there was no longer explicit need to hide his identity from prying eyes, and a keen eye would spot the personal insignia of the Emperor of the Unified Realms of Man engraved into their breastplates. By anyone's estimate, this wasn't a good thing for the non-human. With direction from the captain, the soldiers proceeded to unchain Rohaan from the dungeon's wall, only to chain his feet together so that it would be impossible to run, and did the same to his hands. A burlap sack was placed over his head to rob him of most of his awareness, and he was marched out of the cell by the captain, flanked on both sides by his soldiers.

When they finally reached the surface, nothing was as it was expected. The usual sounds of the city that they were once in was long gone. In fact, there were no sounds of other men, aside from the soldiers that now surrounded the Shifter. In fact, nothing could really be heard aside from the chittering of birds and the wind rustling itself through tree branches. They truly were in the middle of nowhere. Before the non-human could get ahold of any kind of bearings, the soldiers dragged him to an enclosed carriage and tossed him into it. It was rather clear what it was, given that the horses at the front could easily be heard. Given the present situation, it seemed unlikely that this transport was taking Rohaan to his execution, but there was no reasonable way to be certain of that. One of the soldiers was seated next to him, possibly as a precaution against the non-human, though it seemed unlikely that the Shifter would be trying to escape, given that the enchanted shackle was keeping him largely immobilized and submissive. Before long, the carriage began to move.

With the burlap sack, it was mostly impossible to gauge the passage of time or ascertain where exactly the carriage was headed to. In every regard, it felt as if they had been travelling for ages, and the enchanted shackle gave no opportunity for Rohaan to relax at all. Besides, the soldier seated next to the Shifter had a dagger close to his throat anyway. Perhaps these soldiers fear the non-human, or they were waiting for the first opportunity to kill him. Yet, at the same time, something was clearly staying their hand, else Rohaan would have been dead long ago. The carriage ride itself was rough and bumpy. It was rather clear that they had diverted from the old imperial roads and taken to the poorly kept dirt roads that were rather common in the rural parts of the Pale Reaches. Eventually, the carriage came to an abrupt stop and Rohaan was forcefully dragged out. He was essentially dragged through what seemed to a forested area. This didn't reveal much of anything since forests covered much of this area anyway. Still, the weather was brisk and the summer snows could be felt falling from the sky above. Though it felt like ages, eventually they reached what seemed to be a clearing within the woods, though Rohaan was still unlikely to be able to make out much of anything. After a bit more of walking, the Shifter was forced onto his knees and the sack over his head was ripped off, very likely stunning Rohaan from the brightness of the midday sun.

"The silverblood that you wanted, your grace." The captain motioned over to Rohaan, clearly as humorless as ever. The other soldiers had taken their posts not far away from the rest of them. Where exactly they were, was still as much of a mystery as ever. They were significantly far from any civilization, and before them was a great lake with the clearest water that could possibly be seen anywhere, except for maybe the ocean itself. In fact, it was easy to see the fish swimming in the water below. Fishing rods were organized neatly along the shore, though none were currently cast. A portable workstation was not too far from the rods, with multiple different kinds of knives sitting atop of it, probably with the purpose of cleaning and skinning fish. A bucket was filled with fish heads and other inedible parts of the fish. Finally, a great pavilion was set up at the fair end of the lake, filled with supplies and other necessary furnishings for the still absent fisherman. Being battered in the wind was a banner that had the same insignia as the ones engraved on the soldiers' armor- a frost and fire drake opposing each other.

The man whom the captain was speaking to finally came into view. This was a tall man, clearly possessing the blood of the Pale Men, along with his blonde hair which was cropped short and well-coiffed. At the most, this man was in his late thirties, although his cleanly shaved face could have made him look younger than he actually was. His clothing wasn't particularly impressive, consisting of a thin white shirt with the sleeves rolled up to the elbow, along with durable trousers tucked into tough leather boots. Nothing strange for any fisherman to wearing. However, this man was clearly more than just that, emanating a commanding aura that few men in this world could ever aspire to. There was a leather glove only on his left hand, and it obviously wasn't a fashion statement. He was hiding something.

"Yes, those eyes are unmistakable." Even the man's voice was dominant and powerful. There wasn't ever any need for him to yell, but it was still the kind of voice that would easily carry over a battlefield.

"Remove the chains." The man simply said as he used a rag to clean the fish blood and guts from his hands. The captain hesitated for a second, but it quickly passed. This was no man to disobey. The chains were quickly removed and cast away, yet the man still frowned. He motioned to the enchanted shackle. "Including that."

"Your grace, I must recommend against allowing the silverblood-" The captain stopped midsentence after the man gave him a single piercing look with his golden eyes. The tension passed as soon as it had materialized.

"If the shiftling kills me, then you have my permission to return him the favor. That should be more than fair, no?" That made the captain grit his teeth as he removed the shackle.

"Oh little shiftling," the man continued as he walked closer to Rohaan, "I know who you are. Such notoriety grants one many enemies and very few friends. But you already knew that. Shiftlings are clever and resourceful creatures, if anything."

He only offered Rohaan a half-smile that flashed across his lips. "It does make me wonder. . . do you know who I am?"

Character driven 1x1

I am 100 percent for you bringing in your own ideas. It’s the best part about this platform. Shoot, mate! Whatcha thinkin?

@Blackfridayrule

Feel free to message me on Discord at ethanjory#1267

Character driven 1x1

I might be interested in this. Have a few ideas too, if you bring me along for the ride.

Star Wars: Outer Rim Diplomacy

"I'm not completely unfamiliar with similar militia groups. The first operation that I ever conducted dealt with the pacification of a local cell of Separatist sympathizers, and that was shortly before the start of the Clone Wars."

Senator Dona Ordo had listened in relative silence for the entirety of the presentation that had been given by his subordinates. He was dressed rather casually for the meeting, but that was purely by choice. After nearly half his life wearing uniforms, he was more than eager to have some level of control over what he could wear. Besides, he had every intention to immediately change into his Senate formalwear following the conclusion of the meeting. As for the rest of his outward appearance, his prematurely graying dark brown hair was well coiffed, framing a cleanly shaven handsome face. This was only obfuscated by a discoloration of his skin that went from his right cheek and travelled the length of the right side of his body. This had been the result of third-degree burns caused by an injury gained during the Clone Wars, and the discoloration was all that remained after spending a lengthy period of time in a bacta tank near the conclusion of the war.

“In my experience, these insurgents are far too skittish in the presence of the Empire, even if it’s only a former Imperial officer that they have to contend with. My past isn’t exactly a secret throughout most of the Outer Rim.”

Once Dona had recovered from his wounds at the end of the Clone Wars, he had been placed in command of an Imperial strikeforce that was tasked with uprooting Separatist insurgent groups throughout the Outer Rim. Many labeled him as ruthless based on his draconian methods that were used to eradicate these terrorists, but he simply considered himself and his men to be efficient. Even to this day, there was nothing he would apologize for. A devastating galactic war had just taken place, and Dona had lost more friends than he would ever care to count. So, he was quite adamant to pacify the Outer Rim and help bring true peace to the galaxy. Of course, his current position within an organization that was fighting to undo that peace… well, that was an irony that wasn’t lost upon him.

“I’ll allow Leto to lead this entire operation as it concerns making contact with this… Harlush. I’d prefer to have a line in with the leadership of this militia sooner rather than later. At the same time, don’t allow my desire of expediency to be a blank check. The ISB can outperform us in terms of blackmail and coercion nine times out of ten. I’m already highly skeptical about this contact and his militia as it is.”

“I will be preoccupied with my official capacities as a senator for the most part. Keep me abreast of any significant developments by passing along any relevant information to Issmic and he’ll notify me of anything that I need to know.” With that, he motioned to his personal assistant who wasn’t standing all that far away from him. He was also looking close to pulling him out of the meeting and placing him back on his senatorial schedule.

“I do want some skin in this game,” Dona concluded, with half a smile.

Star Wars: Outer Rim Diplomacy

Name: Senator Dona Ordo
Species: Human
Faction: Galactic Empire, Galactic Senator (Uslam); Rebel Alliance, Special Diplomat
Location: Rothana
Synopsis of Role: Galactic Senator (Uslam), former Imperial Navy officer, and active Rebel Alliance sympathizer, organizing resistance groups throughout the Outer Rim.

Star Wars: Outer Rim Diplomacy

I'd be open to playing as Ordo, so long as that's fine with everyone else.

Immortal Odyssey (High Fantasy and Worldbuilding)

Oh yes, this has potential.

CLOSED - To Reach for a Crown of Stars - Character Driven Sci-Fi Nation/Faction Roleplay

So, can I conquer the entire galaxy at the age of 20 and then die from an unknown disease a year later (despite living in a futuristic space-faring civilization)?

But yes, this does interest me.