Eodem: A Rifle and Sword Adventure (Complete)

Chapter 2: A Fiery Dawn

(About 6 Months before the events of Planetfall)

Emperor Uldin 'the Blackened' eyes could only stare in both awe and in anxiety as he saw a mysterious comet pass by his palace. In the most common of tongues, the comet was called 'Geltagar's Comet' that passes about every 200 years or more. The old stories stated that whenever the comet ever made a pass from Gliesia a great change was about to happen very soon.

The Emperor remembered his history lessons that whenever the comet was recorded to have passed by, a great and tide changing event or series of events would affect the entire world for good or ill. One such recording of the comet's passing was the collapse and splitting of a once united Elven continent from across his empire's borders due to political infighting, ideological disagreements, and courtly intrigues. The continent has been a state of cultural, political stagnation as no side seemed poised to decisively end the war. Emissaries of the two sides have been known to pay off mercenaries from all over the world to the meat grinder in an effort to break the stalemate but to no avail. The once-proud Elves were caught in a balancing act of both maintaining the war effort whilst also keeping their civilization relevant in the Geo-politics of Gliesia.

The next time it had passed, several volcanic eruptions in the northern peninsula have caused the region to become unsuitable for farming but the aftermath of that disaster was the opening of several rich mining veins of a new kind of metal called Scandanite. The metal is very malleable at its purest form but when fused with more commonly used metals such as iron can forge into very durable weapons and armor. It was to no surprise that with their new arms in hand the northern peninsula tribes began to raid their southern neighbors for goods and luxuries not found in their homeland. The Northmen sailed and pillaged to the farthest reaches of Uldin's Empire and beyond with no signs of stopping.

And the previous passing of the Comet was by far the most relevant to him. For when the comet passed, the ancestors of the Slaegi formed what would be known as the Empire of Slaegia with an iron authoritarian fist. Forming great cities and conquering far off territories, they stamped out all who dared oppose them from political, military and religious organizations alike.

The Empire of Slaegia is without any kind of doubt the largest and most cosmopolitan civilization in the world of Gliesia. Its capital of Haringpoint is a city filled with giant towering castles that houses the vain and prideful nobility from the commoners below with Uldin's Palace being the biggest of them all. The capital sat next to a bay where many ships pass in and out with their goods and people. However, his Empire, despite its many modern features had the flaws that could have it all crashing down. The greedy nobles politick over lands, resources, and power. The military is more concerned with gaining a 'Triumphal Parade' after they finish a campaign by bringing in many plunder, slaves, and an accounted number of around 25,000 slain 'savages'. Racism against non-Slaegi's was common despite a few progressive measures such as citizenship and military services provided to them.

For Emperor Uldin, in order to keep his empire from falling into a state of anarchy and go the same way as their Elven neighbors, he had imposed several Machiavellian methods of keeping everyone happy from Bread and Circuses, Political Subterfuge to observe and detect any kind of hostile takeovers and even some good old fashioned Public Relations were propaganda of how 'Advanced and Safe' the Slaegian Empire is. He has even created an organization of 'National Heroes' who have proven themselves to be both fanatical at the Empire's Ideals and are skilled at quashing dissent and the occasional invasions from hostile neighbors and rivals.

Yet the comet's arrival has made the Emperor Nervous. What could the omens mean? To answer this question, he hurriedly walked to the Empire's Conclave of Mages. The Conclave is an organization that is dedicated to the study and harnessing of magic in all its forms. It has attracted scholars from all over the world due to its famed library and observatory in the capital. The services that the Conclave can provide to the Empire were education and private tutorials on harnessing Magic from gifted individuals who can afford the tuition, the collection of magically attuned artifacts and crystals but most important in the light of recent events for Uldin, Astrology.