Supreme Emperor Pt. 2 One would think that surrounding himself with an army of conquered men would be dangerous to the Lord's health, but numerous assassination attempts were unsuccessful because Lord Kronon had also surrounded himself with Mages, and a personal guard of soldiers he trusted; well, those that he had ransomed and others that he had his Mages compel with magic. And so the once Lord Kronon, proclaimed himself Emperor of the continent of Gedoth; he changed his name to Emperor Gedoth, or Lord Emperor as he liked to be addressed. He was as much a genius in his evil deeds as he was in military strategy and so his enemies fell at his might; all save Port Goodwill. It was a very well fortified nation state, with formidable military might, powerful ships and adept Mages. Alas, that state also fell, and now I escorted him with the rest of his guard through the streets to the main square, where he would formally address the conquered people and inaugurate himself as Supreme Emperor of Gedoth. During the campaign to take Port Goodwill and even afterwards, I searched for my family, but they were nowhere to be found. Little did I know that The Lord Emperor had taken them into his court, they were hostages even if they didn't know it; and that was when he conscripted me to his personal guard. He needn't have said more, I clearly understood his unsaid threat, and now here I was escorting the evil Emperor and I must defend him with my #life, else my family is forfeit. We rode in a gilded carriage, adorned with gold and stolen jewels, carried upon the backs of slaves form previous conquests; he didn't need the slaves, he had horses, but such was his way. The majority of the Emperor's army returned to Southhelm, his new fortress in the South, while others were garrisoned at the more unruly cities. Upon his majesty's orders, all soldiers except his personal guard were to guard the perimeter of the city; and they dare not approach the city without due cause. That meant, any armed individual unknown to the personal guard found within the city, would be treated as the enemy, which of course came with all its benefits. We proceed down the streets that were filled with folks, forced to bear witness and prostrate themselves before their new ruler, and there was a mixture of emotion in the air, laced with heavy tension. The city that once had the strongest economy on the continent, with the deepest ties to power and influence, fell at the feet of the Emperor. The ancient, yet sturdy gates that once held fast against the cascade of evil now opened its door to a denizen of hell; such was my hatred for this evil man. "Eric." Lord Emperor said to me. "Pay attention, something is amiss." He added. "Yes... Lord Emperor." I responded and he smiled a cruel smile, knowing that his ransom kept me as leader of his personal guard; the ever vigilant, stoic custodian. (To be continued...) © 2012 by Pthasse Amadeus