"THANK YOU EVERYONE for coming. I know this was last minute, but the news I have to share could not wait."
The floor and pillars of the great hall in the emperor's palace are made of marble. While embroidered silk covered the walls. Vases of pure gold holding Souvenir de la Malmaison: A Bourbon Rose flower with large, soft pink blooms that fade to ivory and have a captivating scent sit in front of each pillar.
Seated at a massive horseshoe shaped crystalline table are the figureheads that govern the empire:
Ruler of the Marijuana Empire:
Emperor M. Williams III
The Williams family rose to power through violence and blackmail. The current head of the family is considered a 'soft ruler' compared to his ancestors.
Head of the Church:
Pope Peter Matthew IIl
The Matthew family are of devout faith with a deep, sincere, and active commitment to their One True God. Pope Matthew the Third is the adoptive father to Archbishop Cariot Judas and Minister Ajax Angelos.
Heads of the Four Houses:
Duke Felix Christianson lll
Duke Philip Thomason lll
Duke Bartholomew Masterson ll
Duke Thaddeus Anderson V
The Four Houses provided both financial and military support when founding the empire. They too are of devout faith.
Minister's of the Empire:
Minister of Religion: Archbishop Cariot Judas
Minister of Agriculture: Agatha
Minister of Education: James
Minister of Treasury: Juliette
Minister of Foreign Affairs: Camrose
Minister of Magic: Francis
Minister of Military Affairs: General Jackson
Minister of Trade: Nina
Minister of Reach and Development: Ajax Angelos
Ministers Agatha, James, Nina, Camrose, and General Jackson were appointed to their posts by Emperor Williams.
"You have our attention Archbishop Judas. You may proceed."
"Thank you, Emperor Williams."
"Wait a moment if you would, archbishop."
"Yes, what is it?"
"I take issue with House Christianson being here."
The current head of House Christianson. A short stout man with thinning gray hair stands up. Despite looking half dead a moment ago from lack of sleep, a fire now burns in his eyes when he speaks.
"What exactly is the issue you have with me, Philip Thomason?"
"Besides your son turning traitor? How can we be certain no one else in your family isn't also a traitor? Why even you could be one. Like father, like son, as they say."
Felix guffaws at Philip's accusation. "Come now Philip, that matter has long been resolved. Besides of the Four Houses that helped build this glorious empire of ours, it's your house that has come under scrutiny more so than mine. It's also your house that has contributed the least as of late."
"How dare you." Said Philip jumping to his feet. "You are completely out of line and I demand an apology! Right now!" Philip slams a big black meaty fist on the table.
In a stern voice, "sit down, Duke Thomason." Orders Emperor Williams, to which Philip complies.
The Emperor who was seated at the toe of the horseshoe table stands and makes his way around to Archbishop Judas who is standing in between the heels of the table, Judas steps aside, and bows as Emperor Williams takes his place.
Now that he has everyone's attention, he addresses the room.
"Hear me here and now, House Christianson had fully cooperated with the Inquisitor's investigation into his son's treachery. Isn't that right Your Holiness?"
The Pope nods in agreement, "it is."
"So I will hear no more about House Christianson being called anything other than loyal to our empire. Do I make myself clear?" Demanded the emperor.
Emperor Williams walks up to each individual and looks them square in the eye. Each member nods their head and replies, "yes, Your Majesty."
When he reaches Philip Thomason he lingers a bit, driving his point home.
Once satisfied he returns to his seat and instructs the archbishop to continue.
"A moment if you don't mind archbishop. I have an announcement to make."
"You have the floor, Duke Christianson."
"Thank you." Felix makes his way over and now stands where Judas just was.
"As all of you know my son Felix Christianson the Forth turned his back on our family, our empire, our way of life.
"Believe it or not but my thinning gray hair is now thinner and grayer, and if it wasn't for an excellent tailor – my wife, my clothes would be falling off my frame from weight loss due to the stress he has caused our house."
This earns him a few chuckles.
"After many talks with His Holiness, Archbishop Judas, my wife and daughters, and many sleepless nights praying to our One True God." Felix pauses, not for dramatic effect, but because of what he had already decided that very morning before this meeting was called.
"I've placed a bounty on my only son for the sum of five-hundred gold coins to be paid in full upon proof of death."
Minister Ajax raises his hand, "if I add another five-hundred gold coins would you consider having him captured alive?"
"Why?"
"If he were to be killed before we gleaned any useful knowledge we'd be losing out on a treasure trove of information on our enemies."
"I agree with Minister Ajax." Said General Jackson. "My spies say he's a Lieutenant now within the Templars and has a close working relationship with Crown Prince Jamison. I'll add another five-hundred gold coins for him to be brought in alive."
Minister Juliette speaks up, "What if we all chipped in?"
Bartholomew Masterson lets out a high pitched whistle of amazement. "That would be seven thousand five-hundred gold coins."
"Minister Juliette, can we add an additional two thousand five-hundred?" Emperor Williams asked.
"Yes, Your Majesty. That won't be an issue."
"So to clarify we are offering a bounty of ten thousand gold coins to capture and bring in Felix Christianson the Forth alive."
"Is five-hundred gold coins too much for House Thomason?"
"No Thaddeus, it won't be an issue. I'd prefer we didn't waste so much money on a deadman, however I do acknowledge the need for information on our enemies, so I'll acquiesce in this decision."
"Then let us put it to a vote," said the emperor, "all those in favor, raise your hands."
Everyone raises their hand.
"All opposed?"
No raises a hand.
"Then it's unanimous. A bounty of ten thousand gold coins will be placed on Felix Christianson the Forth to be brought in alive.
Now Archbishop Judas, please tell us why we were all summoned here today."
"Of course Your Majesty. I have received word from a very reliable source that The White Dragon Rose has asked that a tournament be held in her honor of her upcoming birthday."
"What kind of tournament?" Minister Camrose inquired.
"A Fight Festival Tournament. To be held at the Hyacinth Colosseum.
"Okay, and why should we care about some tournament?" Asked Minister James. "Does the colosseum not hold tournaments on a daily basis?"
"You are correct, minister. However this will mark the first time that Emperor Maxwell Arsenio Jr, the now Empress Cesmak La-tif, and Rose herself will be in attendance along with their families.
Several high ranking nobles will also be there. It'll be the best time to strike and take them out."
"Starting a war with both empires simultaneously could mean the downfall of our own empire instead. What makes you so sure we'll succeed?" Asked Duke Thaddeus.
"Because of this." Archbishop Judas pulls out a white scroll. "This is a Divine Scroll I received personally from our One True God."
"You can't be serious. Out of everyone here, why are you a lowly archbishop able to speak with our One True God, and not His Holiness The Pope?"
"We've been over this before Duke Thomason. The One True God chose me when I was just a child. Even before His Holiness adopted Ajax and myself.
"I turned down the title of Pope because I am 'destined for something far greater.' That proclamation came straight from our One True God."
"Sounds like he's questioning our One True God, and the divine wisdom he's shared with you. Tell me Duke Thomason, have you lost faith in our One True God?"
"T-that's going too far, Ajax."
"Is it? Then tell me Philip, why is it you constantly question what Cariot says when it comes to Our Lord. Are you jealous that he speaks to Cariot and not you?
It's at this moment The Pope stands up. "Let's leave it there for now gentlemen. We need to get back on topic as to why we've been brought here today."
Ajax and Philip nod in agreement, but their hatred for one another is quite clear.
"Does anyone else want to air their grievances before we continue?"
"Please get on with it, Archbishop Judas."
"Yes, Your Majesty. This plan can only work if we follow it in its entirety."
General Jackson raises a hand, "can you give us an example?"
"Of course." Judas unfurls the scroll. "Launch simultaneous attacks on the seven schools while the headmasters are away. To achieve this do the following:
(1) Take away any means of escape or means of reinforcements.
(2) Cut off communication capabilities.
(3) Identify and eliminate the strongest threats first.
(4) Segregate humans from non-humans.
(5) Segregate the humans who support us in our righteous beliefs from the others.
(6) Recruit our new brothers and sister into the fold.
(7) Have our new brothers and sisters prove themselves by eliminating the others with prejudice.
"That's just for each school. There are more targets listed and a detailed report on how to deal with each location."
"Excuse me archbishop, say we move forward with this plan. Do we have the manpower to pull off these simultaneous attacks?"
"Duke Anderson raises a good point. There's also the cost of launching a large-scale war." Minister Juliette begins listing off some of those expenses: "paying the soldiers, horses, food and water for both, equipment for both, repairing the equipment, restitution for the families that lost a loved one. Would you like me to continue?"
"No, that won't be necessary. However Ajax has been working on something that'll help alleviate some of your worries."
"Such as?"
Ajax stands, "I won't bore you all with the details, but I'll say this much, I've made significant headway into controlling monsters.
"You all heard about the Black Rose Mountain Incident and about the small village that was abducting women to breed with goblins?"
Ajax looks around as everyone nods their heads.
"What you don't know is that it was my doing. I was operating behind the scenes with like minded allies."
"What was your purpose for doing this?" Asked General Jackson.
"To build an army of monsters to do most of the work for us without significant loss of any of our troops."
"Disposable foot soldiers who we don't need to pay, and we can equip them with low grade gear, or even better gear off of our enemies corpses."
"Exactly right, general."
"How many other places are there?" Minister Francis asked.
"Enough to ensure our victory. Granted Project Black Rose and Project Goblin Harem were failures due to poor management.
Those losses were within acceptable expectations when compared to those that were successful, and continue to produce favorable results."
"Is it only goblins or are there other monsters?" Asked Minister Camrose.
"Aside from goblins there are: orcs, ogres, cyclops, kobolds, minotaurs, trolls, nachtalpers, fauchers, glawackus, lobisomems, nachtkobolds, tatzelwurm, and many others.
"Of course some of them have evolved to their next stage, further strengthening our monster army. However, this has led to an unexpected development."
Duke Thaddeus raises his hand "what kind of development, and should we be worried?"
"No, there is no need to worry. As for the unexpected development; the adventure and mercenary guild association have noticed a change in the monsters when it comes to assigning quests."
"Can you elaborate further, Ajax?" Asked Duke Masterson.
"Of course. They've realized that parties were being wiped out even if they were more than capable of completing the quest.
"Take goblins for example; they are D-ranked. Newbie adventures can beat them no problem. But now a C-ranked individual would struggle to take down one goblin."
Minister Agatha asks, "do we know what caused this phenomenon?"
"Evolution probably played a role in it. But for the last twenty years or so I've been experimenting on different monsters and releasing the ones that survive back into the wild."
"To what end?" Asked Minister James.
Ajax gave a nonchalant shrug, "no reason in particular."
"Let me make sure I'm hearing you right," said Duke Christianson, "you're claiming to have had a hand in creating stronger monsters over the course of about twenty years?"
"It's plausible."
"Setting that aside for now. What I want to know, Ajax, is how are you able to command all these monsters when you're not a summoner?"
"That's classified information, Minister Francis."
"Do you plan on sharing this information?"
"Yes. When the time is right."
"Excuse me archbishop, I have a question."
"You have the floor, Duke Anderson."
"Attacking while everyone is attending the tournament is an interesting strategy, but what are we gonna do about the heightened security?
There'll no doubt have Centurions and The Seven guarding the Imperial Family's. And let's not forget there's bound to be Named Dragons there for their own mother's birthday celebration."
"That is an excellent point. Which is why…"
****
Meanwhile in the hallway leading to the conference room two gentlemen are stopped and surrounded by the guards on duty.
They are both dressed to kill. One man is dressed in a high-quality satin red with white slashed sleeve shirt, black satin breeches, a black belt with a gold bowed buckle, and black suede boots.
The other is dressed in a white viscose long sleeved shirt with frilled cuffs. There is a half collar around the back and a V-shaped section of frills in the front, black viscose pants with buttoned ankle cuffs, a black belt with a gold bowed buckle, and black leather boots.
"Sorry gentlemen. No one is permitted beyond this point without prior approval." States a guard.
"Impressive. You guys are well trained. Maintaining your distance, but close enough to engage if need be." Remarks the gentleman dressed in viscose, twirling the end of his thick handlebar mustache. "What's your name?"
"It's Todd. I'm the head guard."
The other one holds up a scroll. "Well Todd, we were invited."
Todd takes the scroll — noting the broken seal belonging to Archbishop Judas. After reading it over he hands it back.
"Names?"
The one dressed in high-quality satin speaks first. "You may address me as Sir. Unus."
Still twirling his mustache, "and I am Sir. Dyad."
"Please remove any weapons you may be carrying on your person and place them on the table. You will then be patted down before you can proceed. Questions?"
"Nope."
"None."
****
Every single person in the room is stunned by what the archbishop just told them.
"Is that even possible?" Duke Thomason asked.
"It's already been set in motion."
The doors open and the two men are escorted in.
"Explain yourself, Todd! This is a closed door meeting!" Shouts General Jackson getting to his feet.
"Sir, they were invited by Archbishop Judas."
"That is correct. I did in fact invite these two. Thank you Todd, you are dismissed."
The soldier salutes and departs, closing the door behind him.
"Thank you for joining us. You must be tired from such a long journey."
"Not at all," replied Unus, "we actually arrived here three nights ago."
"Care to explain who your guests are archbishop."
"Yes of course Your Majesty. Allow me to introduce to you all."