An Empress' Letter to a Priest

[trinn 5128]

An Empress’ Letter to a Priest

@Herathus





[!] A eloquently penned letter is sent out towards Father Lochlan.

 

Father Lochlan, do forgive me but I have never heard a whisper of your name nor a sight of your person within the walls of Helena, yet you boast bold claims and delusional theories as to the state of the war as a whole. Although it is possible I have never managed to catch sight of you, I suspect your opinions are shaped by the propaganda and ill-meaning words of the Marnanite host.

 

“The first footsteps of a single man’s arrival to Axios forever echoes in the realm of Humanity. Over a saint’s years later, Aurelius Canonius’ shadow remains cast over the city of Helena. In remaining in this shadow, the heart of Renatus grew cold, and the sun can no longer reach it.

As I stand in the Golden City, the warm sunlight gracing everything it touches, like a mother’s warmth, I find myself gazing out beyond the wheatfields, towards the once proud Imperial city. I cannot help but wonder, as I stand here: Renatus, what future are you fighting for?“

 

For you see, perspective is everything. For as I stand upon the walls of Helena and look betwixt the city's streets I see not dark paths and cold streets. I see a bustling, vibrant city full of activity that has bested the likes of Reza. I see a city I am proud to call home, a city I love dearly that buzzes not with the activity of war but also the dreams of peace; I see my cousins play, tranquil in their dreams, whilst my father and husband go forth to protect their ability to sleep softly at night.

 

But on my journeys along the road, I do not see this tranquil setting of Ves that you have so dearly written about, I see Ves plagued with death and despair, unable to prevail over the forces of the Imperium. I see a Ves which looks desperately over its walls out of fear, unable to enjoy the peace we know and love.

 

“what future are you fighting for?“

 

You truly are a soul filled with delusion - or perhaps your ears have been caressed with honeyed lies which obscure the true picture. We are fighting for our survival, let it not be seen any other way. It was not us who drew our blades and called forth a rebellion. It was the forces of Marna that stood outside our city and put it under siege, it was the forces of Marna that were quashed underfoot at great cost. These men were not just motivated by the pure desire for survival at the horrendous, vicious onslaught your noble Joey launched but also by their genuine desire to serve and abide by their oaths. We are fighting for our survival, for our nation and our integrity. Let me ask you this, what do you  fight for? For all I hear is a false claim of freeing yourself from the so called shackles bound to you by the Pertinaxi tyrants.

 

Yet this in itself is flawed, for the justification of such is the sacking of Ves. Yet who allowed this to occur? Marius of Haense opened the gates, Marius of Haense permitted us entry and Marius of Haense helped burn the city down alongside the entire Empire. You allow this snake into the heart of your false, would-be state, and attack us for your crimes. If it were not for his intervention then the city would never have burned- he sat by and allow Yury and Antonius to destroy it. This opportunist will do the same again in time for he is a coward and a weakling, not fit to wear the mantle of King.

 

“The vassals who once swore to your forefathers have left you, as they yearn for a time before emptiness, numbness, apathy.”

 

No. Only two vassals have sworn against us; the Kingdom of Haense and the Principality of Ves. Ves never swore to our forefathers but was a reincarnation of Adria led by a new family that sadly never had the pleasure of meeting Aurelius. Yet, the Kingdom of Norland, Curon and Courland stand beside us - a majority of good Men.

 

“They yearn again to hear the heartbeat of Humanity. You claim this is a Haense driven war, but all the same you forget it was King Sigmar Lothar Barbanov who was the very first to swear fealty to Emperor Aurelius, because he believed in the strength behind a united Mankind.”

 

Humanity united is a strength to us all, I believe in this as seriously as King Sigmar did, so if this is your view also - I ask of thee, why is it you back the men that strove desperately, plotting in shadowed corners to bring disunity to the Empire, to fracture the Empire and to attempt to crush Aurelius’ legacy, a man of whom you speak so fondly?

 

“Yet here you stand in your city, swords raised high, eager to destroy the grandson of that very man. Why do you turn a blind eye to the giants whose shoulders you sit upon? Is it the shadow that blinds you?”

 

We do not stand in our city with our swords raised high. We stand outside of the cities of those who sought to bring us to damnation with our swords raised high, stood atop the piled corpses of the futile Marnanites. Routinely we rout the forces who sought to attack us, sending them reeling back to their own homes. This is no victorious march of blessed soldiers but rather the desperate fleeing of pathetic conscripts who have no true desire for victory. We fight for our survival, as I have mentioned previously - the realm was thrust in to conflict by Joey and his allies for nought but an opportune power grab. Why is it that it is satisfactory for the Marnans to march on to us and to siege our city, yet when we resist, win, and reply with steel we are so wrong?

 

“If such is true, then is it this shadow over Renatus that makes your administration and your emperor a Shadow leader? A man unseen, unknown to his own subjects beyond the walls of Helena? “

 

Bah. A man unseen and unknown to his subjects? Yet every missive, every story is filled with mentions of Godfrey from either side of the war. For you to make such a claim is grasping at straws, for it is known that this is wrong. Here your lies begin to unravel and the deceit which rests upon your tongue drips forth. You know nothing of the men of Renatus or the city of Helena. Your words are motivated by the same craven opportunism which guides the actions of the rebel lords who merely wish to see their own seats upon this august Throne. Work amongst us - I challenge you - and still maintain this view that our Emperor is a distant, unknown figure.

 

“I cannot help but wonder, while you remain in your city of Edel, in such darkness: is it lonely? The empty chill of your city must wear on you, for your men are often away from it, attacking the men of Ves. Is it the heat of battle that keeps you warm, or are you merely trying to steal the warmth from their bodies? “

 

Our men fight in the war which the Marnanites started, yet despite this our city is all the more vibrant and lively than it has ever been. Our Capital is full of citizens and folk who see the righteous cause of Godfrey, the fields are full of soldiers that will serve our Emperor and protect Godfrey’s rightful claim to the Empire.

 

The only time our city felt this dark chill was when an evil came to take everything away from us, when Joey and his marshals camped outside our city with trebuchets at the ready. Yet GOD provided us with his strength, and against all the odds - we became victorious as men fought desperately, against far greater odds, motivated by nothing more than love and devotion.

 

“Your new emperor is not only of Horen descent, but of Staunton. Surely, your predecessors roll in their graves, the whispers of the The Coalition War still on their withering lips. Why do you raise a man to be your emperor, when it was his ancestor that spurred Philip Frederick I to destroy the beloved city of Johannesburg?”

 

You speak ill words of the House of Staunton and their descendants; it has been a common theme among the war. Do you perhaps wonder why Curon left your side and saw the error of the Pretender Joey’s ways? You belittle and berate your own allies. If an Empire was to fall by the blade, then it deservedly fell. But alas, it baffles me that you can even mention Philip in such a light when he wasted the lives of many by turning his own city in to rubble. A cowardly man.

 

“But alas, I digress, and for such I offer you Renatians and Pertinaxi my apologies. Allow me to return to my initial inquiry, which I proposed to you: What are you fighting for? Who are you fighting for, beyond yourselves? If you seek to fight for an empire, what will it be if you succeed? Rubble and remnants, smoldering cinders intertwined with nothing but those which you have slain? Abandoned cities, with no one to rule but the puppet leaders which you placed within? Even if this is true, what sort of future is this? “

 

What will the future be if you succeed? The same question can be reciprocated in turn, for if Joey and his Pretenders win they will be left with the ruins of a great dynasty, with vassals of only Haense and Ves? It does not seem like such an idyllic thought to me, especially given that his path to Helena will be paved with the corpses of hundreds and thousands of loyal Renatians.

 

“Even the Church in its current state stirred from its slumber just long enough to hear the cry of its flock. In crowning Joseph as the rightful emperor, Everard V answered that call. In spite of this, you instead reject even the Church itself and the power of the Godhead, instead calling back the banished Yurii of Haense, who cowers behind the name of Siegmund I. How can you go this far, when it was Aurelius himself who aided in banishing this very figure?”

 

The Church has shown itself to be a political entity, misused by the Realm of Men to further their own gains. Aurelius was a good ruler, a just ruler. Yet it is blatant and obvious to all why Siegmund I was banished, for he stood up for the right of the Church. He did not bend to the will of the politicians and sought to fight for what was right. Perhaps this isthe Pontiff we need in such a malignant time. One who shall not bend to the will of politics, unlike Everard. Coronating a man he has never met before, yet you claim it to be such a grand ordeal; the modern Church is a corrupt, political entity which bows to the nearest pressure.

 

“Like Aurelius, Joseph Marna enters the realm of Humanity. He seeks to bring the life back into tired, worn people which you lay claim to. Joseph Marna carries with him the name of Oren: the name that brought so much pride, so much life to our race. It is Oren that is the heart of Humanity-- to smother it would be to smother yourselves.”

 

How can you speak highly of Aurelius, and his achievements, throughout but liken him to Joseph of Marna? The foundations of the Empire of Man were a whole host of victories, deeds and triumphs from Aurelius. He truly showed his prowess in all things before forming an Empire. What has Joey to his name? Many losses and a failed siege. To liken Aurelius to this pretender is an insult.

 

Even more, if you had respect for Aurelius you should know he detested the thought of “Oren”, not wishing to associate with it, hence the reason why the Empire was named as the Empire of Man, not to be styled as Oren any longer.

 

“And so I stand before you, and before God, as nothing more than a priest of the Canon, and a fellow man. Return to the warmth of Julia’s light, and together, as a united Humanity, we can prosper and flourish as the children of God.”

 

I applaud you for extending a letter to the Imperium Renatum. Yet, your letter is filled with inconsistencies, lies and disillusioned thoughts. If you truly wish for a united humanity, you would not condone the rebels. And for those that claim they are not rebelling, because Antonius released them - they are fooling no one but themselves. For Antonius was no longer Emperor when he made such a decision. Not only that but the Nenzing Proclamation was planned out and coordinated before Antonius’ lacklustre missive, the work of would-be plotters.

 

Signed,

Adeline Margaret, Empress of the Imperium Renatum.

 

[Axelu 4333]

Vivienne smiles grimly, perusing her daughter’s letter for a moment before fitting it within the confines of her chest. ”Ma fille, how you’ve grown.”

[Archbishop 1784]

“Your ‘wedding’ ceremony was literally officiated by a Knight, not a clergyman, making your ‘matrimony’ illegitimate in all standards. Not to mention the fact you’re literally a child.” said Zachery.

[HurferDurfer1 2978]

“The Emperor released us **** off back to the playground kid.” speaketh bottleth

[monkeypoacher 8053]

“I find it truly strange that the men who burned Ves and summarily executed hundreds now finds it fit to claim they’re fighting ‘for survival.’ If they just fucked off to their side of the river I don’t doubt we could live in peace.”

 

Joseph states!

[TeaRex 52]

This is beautifully written

[d0ntc4r3 104]

Clytemnestra beams proudly. “That’s my Empress, doing the good work” she says to herself before tucking the note away on her shelf.

[Pogmeister 91]

Thorstein Skarpefanger sends a aggressive letter from his reclusive hiding the last thirty years, ”It’s Empress’s. It is not Empress’. Singular possessives always have ’s.”

[Inferno_Ougi 1454]

Hannibal is impressed that a child would be able to write this. However, he only quickly skimmed through it, because no one in their right mind reads these.

[sergisala 3451]

"God bless the rightful Empress" the former Minister of Truth of the Imperium Renatum would say to Adeline Margaret in the seven skies remembering good moments in life