Build Me an Army

Aurinar Stamarin’s mind was awake long before his eyes even opened, sensing the interesting change that had just swept over the entirety of the tower. As his dark blue eyes slid open, absorbing the small amount of light in the room, quietness still resided over the structure, though he knew it would not last for long. Raising himself from the bed, the man dressed himself. Hardly spectacular in light of the rest of his wardrobe, the Emperor dressed efficiently this day. Nevertheless, though, his clothing, simplistic as it was for his own standards, could put the rest of the world to shame with its splendor. As he readied himself to descend into the lower sections of the tower, though, the noises he had been expecting touched his ears. Donning his crown, the man moved away from his own private chamber.

The lift descended as his feet touched it, gradually lowering him into the rest of the tower’s less private areas. As he exited the lift and followed a familiar hall, excitement struck him quite suddenly as he entered the room of portals. Quite a number of the doors had always been obscured, their images faint and impassible. One of these, though, had become clear now. There could be no doubt – something had been unveiled to the world.

Moving through the room, the Emperor passed into the next portion of the floor, a large room for meetings. Already his top generals had flooded the place, knowing that they need not call for him to announce their presence. Giving a knowing nod, Aurinar acknowledged their presence, giving them allowance to speak.

A computer that had been built into the original table of the room came to life, the hologram projector in the center beginning to spin as an image came forth. Growing rapidly, a large picture of the world materialized above the table, rotating gradually so that all could see. One of the men spoke up, ”The veil over the southernmost tip of Cher Plek has finally vanished, my lord, and the storms all around it have subsided.” The globe spun to face the continent in question directly in front of the Emperor, and the image enlarged itself, revealing the contents that had so long been ambiguous. ”We can’t be completely certain yet, but this appears not only to be a city of quite a large size, but it also seems to contain several temples nearly identical to the Elemental Temples around the globe. The relation of this city to the old world is doubtless.” The man bowed and returned to his seat, another standing and continuing with yet more information.

”Already we have troops waiting to go, my lord. We can easily send land forces to barricade the city off and prevent the Korin from digging their wretched spies into this community while the majority will arrive by sea—“ the man stopped short as Aurinar cleared his throat, knowing better than to try and speak while the Emperor wanted to himself.

”No. We must make no obvious effort to hinder the Korin’s effort. We will arrive to this place in peace, not as a military seeking to annex another region. Were we to move forcefully, there is no telling what information could be lost in the bloodshed or the mistrust that would arise from our actions.” The commanders looked doubtful at best of this plan, but past experience had proven time and time again that Aurinar knew things the rest did not, and he held a higher understanding than the rest. The majority failed to hide their surprise, though, when he announced the rest of his own plan, ”I will go myself.”