Emperors
Leafloss 35, 817 I. E.
2 Months After Albert's Exile
The Royal Spire
Nathan bashed Emperor Hawthorne straight in the nose with his shield - or he meant to, but the emperor had ducked to the side and was swinging his own sword at Nathan's throat. Nathan lashed up, then down, Demonslayer's blade striking inside the elbow on the emperor's sword arm, but it glanced off Hawthorne's fine mail. Nathan then aimed the sword's point at the emperor's throat, and scored, but an iron collar stopped the blow. Hawthorne reeled back, gagging, clutching his throat with his left gauntlet, and that was when Warren sprang up, from the side, stabbing at the armpit of the emperor's raised left arm. The scream and other results suggested the would was mortal, but Nathan struck a final blow to the emperor's head that was certain.
Derek kicked the last dervish of the emperor's guard, who reeled into the zone Ribaldi had aimed his fireball at. This neatly incinerated both the dervish and the last wizard of the Empire left in the room. Still, they could hear shouts and jangling mail coming closer.
There was a crackling sound, and they saw a door-like opening in space forming near a wall. The opening was wreathed with crackling blue energy, and inside it was darkness. They recognized it from the portal they had used to get here, and ran through it, finding themselves back in Avernum, in Erika's tower, as expected.
"We've done it," Nathan panted in Erika's general direction, as he struggled to stay upright. He quaffed a potion, not caring about propriety, and breathed a quick thanks to Ribaldi as the man began to heal him.
Coldly, Erika replied, "I am aware, that is why you are back." With a visible and conscious effort to moderate her tone, she added, "You have performed your mission extremely well, and the reward promised is yours in full."
As they left Erika's tower behind, Warren looked at the necklace he was holding and sighed heavily.
Nathan asked, "Where did you get that one?" before remembering that was exactly the question he never wanted to ask Warren.
"It was one of Hawthorne's," Warren said. "He was wearing it outside of his armor. I snatched it just before we teleported back."
"Put it on," Derek suggested. "All hail Emperor Warren!" he said loudly, the sound reverberating off the cave walls.
Warren chuckled and told him to shut up. A bit later, he groaned, "I must be an idiot."
"In which particular way?" Derek asked playfully.
Warren held up the necklace's pendant and said, "Something this valuable may never pass through my hands again. But I'd trade it in a heartbeat to go to the surface. How dumb am I? And we were so close, we were actually on the surface, too." Warren lamented. "I still remember what grass smells like, and now I'm back here."
Derek pointed out, "We should've asked Erika to make that Warren's reward. Open a portal for him to somewhere halfway decent on the surface."
Ribaldi cautioned, "I doubt she'd like to consider herself a ferry to mere mortals like us. She probably only teleported us back because she knew we wouldn't go on this mad mission without an escape route. I hate to say this, Warren, when you're actually thinking about something other than jewels, but that's the truth. Besides, it would also hurt her pride to see us live in the one place she can't get to with all her power."
In Nathan's opinion, she had wanted the emperor dead rather badly, and there were few besides them with the skills or desire to do the deed, so they probably could've negotiated. However, as he actually said aloud, "No point thinking about it now. We'll just have to find that escape route, then."
Empire 34, 833 I. E.
16 Years after Albert's Exile
Blackcrag Fortress, Footracer Province, Surface
Empress Prazac looked down at Albert, Sschass, Helen, and Frruh from her throne. She said aloud, "Greetings, Avernites. I trust you are aware of what happened to the last Emperor who encountered Avernites, appreciate the risk I take, and will not waste my time with trifles. I am glad to see that you have survived your first brush with court politics."
Frruh grimaced - they had tried to wipe off their weapons and armor after they were ambushed by soldiers who didn't want Avernites around, but he felt sure that even a human nose would still detect the stink.
Albert swallowed. Before this mission, he would've been obsessed with wondering whether the dervish who killed his brother Carl in the war was was among those who tried to ambush them, or was standing with the Empress on the platform now. After all this time, swallowing back frustration and working with Empire citizens, soldiers, and generals, and even dervishes like General Baziron, he couldn't feel the same way. So he replied, "We are, too, Your Majesty. We understand your position. But we're all here because we understand that the monsters are a threat to everyone."
"You understand correctly," Empress Prazac agreed. "The war with Avernum is over. A war for all life on the surface has begun. I am here because I intend to win this war. You are here because you have repeatedly proven that you can end the plagues of monsters. But we both know that ending the monsters will not win the war. Those responsible for sending the monsters must be ended."
She raised a tube from her side, opened it and tipped out a sealed scroll. After confirming from their expressions that the Avernites had seen it, she closed the tube again, then held it towards them. Sschass walked slowly up the steps of the dais to take it from her. The Empress and her guards were still with readiness, but not blind hostility. When Sschass had returned to the others, the Empress said, "That is my personal correspondence to your king. To encourage you to safely deliver it, and because it contains my public pledge if he accepts it, I shall reveal its contents to you. Defeat whoever is sending these plagues to us, and Avernum shall be granted unsettled lands in Krizsan province, to be governed solely by your king and your laws."
The Avernites were stunned speechless.
"You had best be on your way," the Empress said. "You have a long road back home."
Author's Note
See the previous chapter's note for more information on an Empire Dervish.
I don't recall everything about the fight with Emperor Hawthorne and what happens afterward, but I'm fairly sure Erika rewards you.
Empress Prazac may be slightly out of character, and as with most characters in the game, I don't guarantee her dialogue in this chapter matches canon.