: Well, you did a really good job with the suspense, I've
: been checking every day to see how the story will turn
: out!
: ) Submited it to the fan fiction Judges That Be, but I'll post a preview here to keep from driving you crazy.
Crazier.
***********************************************************
Fifteen years ago, Alric made a speech at the ruins of the Mausoleum of the Cath Bruig, where he claimed that that after the Ibis Crown was recovered, that he would take the Imperial throne and rebuild the Cath Bruig Empire. I find myself wondering what that sounded like to the majority of the warriors that stood before him, to whom the Empire was something out of stories and legends. To us, however, in taking the Ibis Crown, Alric proclaimed that there was once more an Emperor to serve, that after our hundred years of penance for the fall of all that we held dear, we could finally consider atonement within sight, if not quite achieved. When the Myrkridia attacked the city, even the ordinary legionaries of the Province somehow found the courage and skill to withstand their wild fury and in the end, their assault was routed. From there, Alric moved south and then west to attack, and crush both Soulblighter and Shiver, slaying them both. Perhaps a thousand men; maybe twelve, fourteen hundred returned with him to Muirthemne after the battle at Tharsis, where even the fearsome Myrkridia could not withstand us. Once again, the long task of rebuilding awaited, but this time, it was over the whole of human lands, not merely the Province.
Alric has asked us to record what we remember from the Great War, knowing that other than himself none now remain who know of those grim days firsthand, with Mauriac's death soon after the defeat of Soulblighter. Those of us not busy with the training of the new initiates have agreed, some of us more eagerly than others. None of us wish to remember how we felt when we stood at the ruins of the Imperial palace, a desperate force march from Bagrada having been too late to save our city, our emperor and our honor. But nor can we forget, and it is our duty to those who came before us to ensure that we remember their decisions, whether they were wise or foolish. It amazes me that the West was able to withstand Balor's attack, if our empire fell so quickly and so easily. But the shield of the Cloudspine apparently was more than even Balor wished to attempt to breach in the immediate aftermath of Muirthemene's fall; or perhaps it was the arrogant delusion that it did not matter whether or not he waited before continuing his assault, buying much needed time to rally some form of defense against Balor's hordes.
