Riel Stories Epic

[Maharg67]

Riel Stories Epic
Three 9.2[140]
Of Burning War

 

Emperor Uriel Septum VII, third Emperor to rule since the Empire had ended to be replaced by both the Imperial Republic and the Imperial Commonwealth, dreamed of the False Tamriel. Through those dreams he knew of the grand change from the False Tamriel to the real Matriel and all that went with it.

 

The WhiteGold Tower, in what the Emperor thought of as Imperiarna, had been sealed up since the Republican Revolutionary War that had ended in the splitting of the empire between republic and commonwealth. The Emperor, who held the Dragonthrone, attempted to reach out to the other Dragonethrone in the Grand Aldmer built tower. What he learned was a shock for the one in that other Dragonthrone was another aspect of himself. There were three Dragonthrones and all were active, each having on it an aspect of himself.

 

The Archmage was there, before the Emperor, having become agitated over another attempt by the Imperial President to ban any form of magic in the republic except for steammagic; the attempt had failed simply because the claims behind it were illogical. Not only the Mages Guild, of elemental magics, opposed the move. So did many other Guilds, such as the Healers Guild with their life magic, and the Templedom of the Thirteen Divines with their divine magics.

 

The Emperor frowned hard. "The Imperial Presidium appears to want to get rid of any form of magic outside of their own power base utilizing much steammagic."

 

Archmage Traven nodded. "Even many members of the Imperial Republican Government oppose his moves. The president's claims that other magics cause troubles with steammagic have never been proven. Please, Sire, tell me of the dreams that you have had and the conclusions that you have gained from them."

 

By the time the Emperor had finished talking, the Archmage was quite troubled. He had also had experienced dreams of the great change but had forgotten them upon waking. Now he remembered them and was deeply concerned from both those and the Emperor's dreams.

 

Traven had two important questions. "Where is the third Dragonthrone and the aspect, of yourself, that sits upon it? If the aspect of you, in the WhiteGold Tower, is your undisciplined, wilder, more decadent self, then what is the other aspect like?"

 

The Emperor frowned. "Cunning, evil, and criminally insane."

Edited April 24, 2014 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

I am pausing in the writing of Riel Stories Epic in order to review it and improve the story in up coming posts. The pause will not be for too long.

Edited April 26, 2014 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

In Riel Stories Epic, Three 9.2[140], Of Burning War (Post #160) I made the mistake of stating that the Grand Dremora were supported by OldOnes in the battle. It was really intended, plot wise, that most of the Mechamer (cyborg Mer) be their supporters. I have altered the story post if you wish to reread it. I apologize for the mistake.

The next story post is coming soon as the Demidivines return to their quests but this time with the help of others such as the Slayer Twins.

[Maharg67]

Riel Stories Epic
Three 10.1[141]
Of Burning War

Olisha, Samsal, Jadekia, Xena and Gabrielle returned to Wonderhaven through the Waygateway that had been used before by the Demidivines to leave Wonderhaven. As soon as they entered Wonderhaven they knew something was wrong. The nearest structure, a gingerbread cottage, was nothing but burned crispy bits and thick tails of smoke were drifting up skyward from places in all directions.

A whole lot of Soldiers of the Cards were scattered in a big area, all of them seemingly dead at first but it turned out that they were unconscious only.

The WhiteRabbit rushed past in a panic, some of his hair burned and smelling of it. Jadekia called him to halt and the oversized white furred rabbit, with his waistcoat now also burned in places, stopped but hopped from one foot to the other in agitation. "Lord Juno has gone mad. Run for your lives. The Armies of the Cards failed to stop him and were thrown back by his strange clockwork super-toys. There are toy robots, toy teddies, toy dolls, toy soldiers, toy tanks and much more. They are armed and armored. We seek Republican Princess Alice but we can not find her. The Monarchs of the Cards say they will promote her to Republican Queen Alice if she helps them against Mad Lord Juno."

 

Then the WhiteRabbit scuttled off.

 

A crazy mixture of a big army was coming from the other direction being walking plants, animals on their hind legs, moving statues, large animated garden gnomes, a rickety looking old knight on a big old nag, tall fat twins in schoolboy outfits, a great big caterpillar that smoked a pipe with one of his hands and many others. The mixture of weapons was also wild there being spears, oversized eating forks, muskets, magic wands, machineguns, hay forks, slingshots and much else. Magic emanated from all of the characters and their devices.

 

The expeditionary group quietly joined them as they headed towards the massive abode, of Lord Juno, in the distance.

Edited May 3, 2014 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

Riel Stories Epic

Three 11.1[142]

Of Burning War

 

Republican Princess Alice appeared, naked but with many multiple colored tattoos all over her young womanly body, driving a great horse chariot pulled by two great dragon-horses snorting jets of flame. Clearly she, and the small army that followed her, had been in a hard fight. There were dented metal-men, hulking clay golems with small cracks here and there, savage fighting birds with some missing feathers, wooden soldiers and other extraordinary types of fighters.

 

The very attractive Alice flicked back her hair and spoke from where she stood in the chariot. "We got closer to Lord Juno's Abode than did the Armies of the Card for we side tracked the rejecting forces that are holding you back, as it has others. Lord Juno has become quite aggressively insane as he was experimenting with the 8,000 genuine fakes that I gave to him; it was apparently a big mistake but I always trusted Lord Juno to do the right thing."

 

She sighed. "Not only are there the 8,000 giant toys to fight but also fleshkyne shapeshifters pretending to be common soldier folk of Wonderhaven; they do not do a very good job of it but there are over 2,000 of them. Wonderhaveners are not in great numbers and many are cowards or useless fighters or both."

 

Olisha spoke out. "Is that not a strange way to go to war?"

 

Alice smiled. "I ceased to be a proper young lady a long time ago and went a little wild. My Wild Girl Fighters should soon be joining us as they return from their scouting missions."

 

As if in response to her words there rode into sight, on white unicorns with out harness, five naked young women warriors adorned only with multicolored tattoos who were heavily armed with magical weapons. They were also quite beautiful with long silken hair.

 

Alice smiled at Samsal. "The tattoos are magical defenses that work in multiple ways. What a cutie you are!"

 

Samsal blushed!

 

Olisha frowned. "You leave my twin brother alone, you hussy."

 

Jadekia spoke out. "We need to focus. Alice, just how close did you get to Lord Juno?"

 

Alice frowned in turn. "Enough to almost touch him with the tip of my magical longsword. I asked him what he was doing but all he kept saying was that the Nameless One was inside his mind and pulling the strings of his brain. It did not sound very good at all."

Edited May 4, 2014 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

Riel Stories Epic
Three 12.1[143]
Of Burning War

 

Reinforcements came from the Grand Coveta being many kinds of being making up a fairly small but powerful army. Mechamer, FirstOnes, OldOnes and some DarkOnes came as warriors with their own kinds of special armor, weapons and other devices. The original forces gathered up with them and were turned into more disciplined formations with some difficulty; Wonderhaveners tended to be wild individuals by nature.

 

Then arrived a different kind of Wonderhaveners, being a rebuilt Army of the Cards as led by the Duke of Diamonds and the Knights of the Cards. That was a force that moved in formation, that fought as a 'team', and which was the one of the few real defense forces in Wonderhaven.

 

Then came, sailing through the air, exotic sailships with sails beneath, above and to the sides. The Navy of Cards had arrived with ships that could be adapted to fly or sail the Sea of Cards.

 

More Wild Girl Fighters arrived, riding unicorns or in chariots pulled by pairs of unicorns. A few even rode pegaguses, winged horses, of amazing graceful awkwardness.

 

Then came fighters from Runehaven and from other parts of Multihaven including the military oriented Forcehaven with its multiple metallic Force Legionaries.

 

Many in Multihaven had come to realize that the need to defeat Lord Juno was great as it was to send all 50,000 genuine fakes to LakeChild. Yet none were really sure how they had come to such a realization. This sort of thing happened so often in Multihaven that none were too concerned about it.

 

As soon as the new army was prepared it began to march towards the Abode of Lord Juno and this time it was as if the sheer size, and power, of the force allowed them to steadily get close to that huge structure in the distance.

Edited May 5, 2014 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

Riel Stories Epic
Three 13.1[144]
Of Burning War

The Emperor's Legionaries were long reduced to three Legions, one of which was largely a reserve and training body. The Imperial Marines survived in far fewer numbers in the reduced Imperial Navy though the smallish Imperial Airnavy was much as it had been in size before the revolution. The Imperial Presidium had long put pressure on the Imperium, Emperor's Government, to have all of his forces given over to the Imperial Republic including their resources. The Emperor had refused and many through out the Imperial Republic, and Imperial Commonwealth, had supported him.

When the First Legion set out for the hill-lands of Mid West Myrodiil, they did so with many steammagic machines including trucks, crawlers, walkers and even some low flying aerorafts. Steammagic weapons were common amongst the machines but there were also many elemental battlemages.

The Emperor was concerned about growing reports of the appearance of not just kynes, of varied kinds, but also daedra and even unknown human forces. There had also been reliable reports of the sighting of scattered small OblivionGates. StarMarshal Drake Septum was in general command of the Legion but also of Auxiliaries that joined the force soon after the Legion left the Imperial Legionary Islands behind, leaving a large home garrison behind them.

StarMarshal Drake Septum was aware of the great transformation that had taken place, that had changed fake Tamriel into real Matriel. He was troubled by the rise of the Presidium that, at first, had seemed quite fine an aspect of democracy but which had quickly began to turn increasingly corrupt, autocratic and strange. The Presidium had increased its rate of change until over the last few months it had carried out, or had tried to carry out, some disturbing actions.

 

Drake had gained evidence that the Imperial President had become obsessed with the need to drive all non humans out of Matriel and with increasing the power, wealth and influence of the Presidium as much as possible. He had been witnessed to say that the Emperor, the Imperium and much else should be 'burned away, swept away, as unwanted left overs of past histories of no current relevance."

Edited May 6, 2014 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

Riel Stories Epic
Three 13.2[145]
Of Burning War

 

StarMarshal Drake Septum commanded from an aeroraft that looked like any of the aerorafts in the force because he did not want to be focused on as a target. As the Legion, and Auxiliaries, approached the hill-lands the ground forces moved along a wide, paved Imperial Highway that needed repairs. The Presidium had begun to neglect areas, like that one, where the population was mostly loyal to the Emperor and Imperium. The Emperor was making arrangements to do what he could with the reduced resources at his disposal.

 

When the exotic steammagic airboat began to approach, Drake prepared for trouble for it bore the emblem of RalrunesDagon and the language symbols of the dremora like kremora that served him. RalrunesDagon was less aggressive, smarter and wiser than MehrunesDagon had been but was also more cautious being sometimes overly so.

 

Communications came to Drake from kremora of the bridge of the airboat. "RalrunesDagon offers treaty, offers alliance, to defeat the kynes and traitor humans who have formed a secret alliance with the masterkynes that lead the kyne armies. Your President has turned against you. Beware him and those around him for they are no longer what they were. The kyne armies attempted to invade the Livelands of RalrunesDagon, our homelands and our Realm of Oblivion. We threw them out but not before traitor humans arrived who were ridden by parasitic kynes that controlled them. The zikynes attempted to control lesser kaedra but failed totally for none can control any kaedra. We wish to approach and begin negotiations."

 

RalrunesDagon instead of MehrunesDagon, Kremora instead of dremora and kaedra instead of daedra along with the Livelands instead of the Deadlands.

 

Drake gave a hand signal and bridge crew sent orders to others. About a minute later the kaedra airboat exploded dramatically as it was struck by hissing projectiles launched by aeroraft steammagic cannons.

 

Drake frowned. "The zikynes can control lesser kaedra and even kremora but the hosts are always resisting and often they either become free or go rogue. We must warn the Emperor of what we have learned. I will be in the special chamber alone. Only communicate with me if the need is important."

 

He went and sent a grim message to Emperor Uriel Septum VII.

Edited May 6, 2014 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

Riel Stories Epic
Three 14.1[146]
Of Burning War

The newly named Free Victory Army, named by some rather melodramatic mooded Wonderhaveners, reached the Upward Waterfalls Crossroads that were very close to Lord Juno's abode. By then the sheer massive size of the structure was only too apparent. It was even bigger than any of the four Castles of the Cards though smaller than the ancient, mysterious, Citadel of the Cards.

A way to defeat the warring toys was found by transforming them in harmless small globes that were sent back to LakeChild but defeating such enemies by this means was not easy. One by one the 8,000 genuine fakes, as given by Alice to Lord Juno, were reclaimed until there remained only about 400 of them. Trouble was that the Free Victory Army was reduced by the badly wounded being taken to medical care and the dead being resurrected by the natural processes of Wonderhaven.

Good news was that the fleshkynes had been killed, not resurrected, or had fled but then again they had been no real threat at all.

Lord Juno gave a great bellow of rage and attacked; he charged, in his rubber ducky pajamas and whirling a huge soup ladle as weapon. Then he was fallen and being carefully secured so he could hurt neither others or himself. Of course he was disarmed of the deadly soup ladle. After a controlling device was taken off Lord Juno, and destroyed, the wondrous genius inventor began to recover his sanity. He was most ashamed of what he had done, and of being caught in public in his rubber ducky pajamas.

 

Then Lord Juno, now no longer bound up, stood and spoke of what he had learned by studying the 8,000 genuine fakes before one morning he awoke with the controlling device already in hand and his mind gone crazy. "The genuine fakes were always meant to be used to help stop the Nameless Enemy from entering, or occupying, any part of Mundus. They have other purposes also and can be adapted to yet more purposes. Yet they are dangerous for most to use. I have many sources of information in Lord Juno House, which is the real name of my 'abode'. Please come to my estate where I will provide resources to this fine army along with some fine rewards for helping free me from the madness."

 

Samsal spoke out with a tone of concern to his voice. "Somebody slipped the control device into your hand while you slept? Do you have any idea who, what, could have done that?"

 

Lord Juno sighed. "No but the intruder must have indeed been very cunning and skilled in such things for Lord Juno House has many protections of many kinds."

Edited May 13, 2014 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

Riel Stories Epic
Four 1.1[147]
Of Jonni Wanderer

 

Jonni came home, to the Fragmented City (Fragmentin), bringing a handcart of fish in buckets of water, some dead rabbits and some picked fruit. Jonni had a way of finding food even in the Fragmented Lands (Fragmentor) of the Fragmented Realm (Fragmentat). Jonni was a human, as were about a quarter of those who dwelt in the Fragmented City. John had light purple skin and dark purple hair but was a shapeshifter as many humans were who dwelt in the Fragmented City.

 

Hungry people, not starving but hungry, came to him being the Order of Cooks and took his stuff at once. Guards made sure that nothing was stolen and Watchers made sure the Guards stole nothing. Except that everybody somehow managed to steal a small amount but no more than that for only fools tried to do so when the OneEyeOne observed everything.

 

Jonni Wanderer, they called him, who was born to the winds of travel. This was not true, he being born as Jonni Tinkerson to Mavis Tinkerson, a fine crafter of wood when enough wood could be found in the Fragmented Lands.

 

Jonni walked along a winding cobbled street with the rabbit, and some fruit, that he had been allowed to keep. He had gained a fair payment of coinage. Metal was still fairly common in Fragmentor, the Fragmented Lands, though other things were in shortage thanks to the Great Fragmentation and the Great Scorching that had followed.

 

Some Drowmer walked past, once a mighty people now very humbled by the great disaster that they had helped to bring about. They were forced to do the most basic of labor being but a very small percentage of the surviving population. Jonni slipped a Mer mother a piece of fruit and she nodded in simple gratitude; she would most likely give it to her two children despite her own hunger.

 

Handsome, slimly muscular, Jonni wanted to do more to help his people of peoples but was not sure what he could do for them. He strode along in his tough outdoor gear, through zigzag streets that had probably been quite straight once. It was growing dark by the time he got home and passed over his gains, except for coinage to keep him going as a hunter-gatherer, to his beloved mother.

Edited May 15, 2014 by Maharg67