Matron Barana, Senator of Atlantis, Queen Mother of the Coral Temples, and mortal vessel of the Sword of Balance, was not happy. No, she was not happy at all. Around her, a handful of initiates sat on uncomfortable coral outcrops, silently waiting for her to speak. They had hardly dared move since she had driven off the triton courier who had delivered news from the Senate. In a rage, she had rent the coral altar of the tiny village shrine into four jagged pieces, and shattered the arm of the reef dweller priestess when she tried to intervene. Roaring with anger, she had predicted the fall of the Coral Towers, and furiously denounced the Senators who had cast votes in favor of the Treaty of R'lyeh as traitors and mouthbreathing simpletons.
The latter had some truth in it, as it was primarily Senators from the Circle of Seers who had pushed the treaty through. With the priestess-senators rushing far and wide organizing the affairs of empire and instructing newly-conquered tritons and reef dwellers in the intricacies of the Way, there was little debate against the humans' proposed alliance with the Starspawn and their master. Some priestesses had not even managed to order a proxy back to the capital in time to cast a vote. Still, the measure had passed by an absolute majority. The Senate had spoken. The Coral Legions would march hip to hip onto the shores with the Slave Legions of R'lyeh. To refuse to accept this was high treason. Gold, sapphires, and three score triton serfs would be handed over to the Dream Serpent as a show of good-will reparations for the "tragic misunderstanding" in Lavareesh Bay. There would be no war beneath the waves.
Another triton courier appeared at the gate of the shrine. The Matron sat impassively as he crept up to her and delivered his news too quietly for the initiates to hear. They braced themselves for their mistress' fury at this interruption, but it did not appear. Strangely, she whispered instructions back to him and he swiftly swam away. Not only did the Queen Mother not seem angry, she almost seemed... pleased. Still, the initiates dared not move, and waited for some clearer sign of her mood. A few minutes passed before she spoke. When she did, her voice was deep and calm, but there was a clear tone of triumph in it. "The fools back in Dakkan are going to learn a hard lesson. The Sword of Balance does not care about their petty decrees nor their short-sighted ambitions. The Senate is not the Traitor Councils of old. They shall learn soon enough that we serve the Sword - it does not serve us. The Form of the Sword slaughtered the heretics occupying the Bay of Bartoth. My daughters, we are at war with the abominations. Balance will be restored beneath the waves."
The Senate was in an uproar. News had just arrived from the frontiers of the empire - not only had the living god ignored their newly-made treaty and attacked the Starspawn, but its high priestess had ordered the border forces to attack R'lyeh's holdings. Senator Xi Mi had immediately called for her execution, but the Senators who had hung on his every word the day before would not stop their arguments to hear his impassioned appeal, let alone vote on it. Fear and chaos reigned.
The dull roar of shouted arguments was suddenly broken with a thundering boom. Eyes turned to the center of the chamber. Standing before the shattered remnants of the Speaker's pedestal was the feeble old figure of Senator Soggoth. When he was sure he had the attention of every Senator present, he spoke in his soft, wavering voice. "My friends and colleagues, we seem to face a troubling decision, but in fact we do not. When the Coral Queens proposed to waken He Who Waits before Its time, I warned this body that there would be consequences. I warned that we meddled in things beyond our power. I warned that even if the Sword cleft our enemies asunder, our world would change forever. Fellow Senators, the change is upon us. If the Senate wishes to retain any authority at all, we must accept that. We no longer rule Atlantis, we administer it for our risen god. If the Sword wishes war with the Starspawn, we must accept it."
A buzz of dissent rose, then fell as the highest ranking priestess-senator in the chamber rose and strode to the shattered dias. Nin towered above the frail Seer, but Soggoth stood his ground. She raised a massive claw, and made an archaic ritual gesture. "By rights, the Coral Queens could dissolve the Senate." Her words were met with a frightened murmuring from the assembly. She again raised her claw. "We shall not. The Sword is mighty, and Balance will prevail, but He Who Waits is patient. It may be the will of the Sword that we fall under the lash of the two-faced Dream Serpent for our hubris in waking It and seeking to command Its actions. Even we the priestesses cannot know."
The murmuring turned to a frightened wail. Behind her, the remnants of the dais exploded under a burst of directed water. Silence fell as the tiny Seer at Nin's side lowered shaking hands still glowing with wisps of power.
Nin raised her voice once more. "It may be that the Sword would teach us humility, but if we stand together before Its cause we may sway it in Its wrath. It may be that the Sword's righteous anger at our hubris is balanced by Its mercy, and we have nothing to fear at all. We cannot know. But we must be united in these trying times, and for that we need order. We need the Senate. The Sword will show the way, and we will direct the people to follow." The priestess paused to look at the small, tired human at her side. "We must be united, and we must seek every advantage we can find over the Dream Serpent. The Seers must leave the Towers and seek allies among their former people. Send forth emissaries to the land nations. Speak to them of the demon snake who holds already six dry realms in its sinuous coils, and greedily casts its eyes about for more land to befoul. Tell them that Atlantis does not cast its eyes above the waves, and beseech their aid against the Starspawn and their master. It must be the task of Atlantis to free the enslaved Basalt City from its alien conquerors, but if we can find allies to help us in our struggle it will be to the benefit of all."[Hmm, that was longwinded. TL;DR = half of R'lyeh's holdings are terrestrial, thanks in large part to their ugly amphibious pretender; plucky little Atlantis and its
pretender seek terrestrial sponsors... or at least cough discretely and waggle their eyebrows suggestively at all that land-based real estate R'lyeh is going to have trouble holding onto while busy fighting in a dragged-out full-on underwater slugfest (and will have more trouble taking back from y'all once you're better established if we die at their tentacles, wink wink).]
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Topic: Dominions 3--New PBEM Game (Running) (Read 41173 times)