Episode Ten: A Lock For Every Key

In the weeks after Crescentino Sone's colloquium at the Castle of the Sea, the elderly count's name is on the kingdom's lips. In the west, the Touraine discuss his discoveries with grudging respect, while to the south the Sone write sly ballads celebrating the virtues of accomplished widowers who are scholars of ancient lore. In the north, the Church and the Yuasa, keepers of the peace, discuss how best to use the count's discoveries to fight the terrorist Crux cells at large in the kingdom. But it is in the east that the colloquium's greatest accomplishment makes itself felt.

A Letter from Mineko Minamet, Duchess of Inazuma

Her Grace Mineko Minamet, Duchess of Inazuma, addressed the following letter to the Royal Council on 7 Waxing of 4, Paraceln 213, as recorded by the Council Scribe Pedro Minamet.

To the Regent Kimiko Sone, and Your Graces, Excellencies, and Lords and Ladies of the Royal Council. By now you will have heard the news from many other than myself, but I send you this letter to confirm it: the Crown Prince Alessandro has been returned to us.

A month ago, His Excellency Crescentino Sone and Her Excellency Sachiko Yuasa arrived in our camp on the outskirts of the city of Sirocco. At first, many doubted that they could do much to defeat the barrier that surrounded the city, as so many other solutions had already been attempted. But once it became clear that the pair of sorcerers held both the lost research my engineers had commissioned and the assistance of a tome of Gitany lore, the doubts turned to hope. After two days of effort, hope became jubilation.

Although I did not see what the two sorcerers did to raise the stone from the earth, as it rose all of those that stood with the count and countess could see its effects. The swirling storm, invariant for more than a season, shifted and changed, dusky lightning flashing within its depths. On the southern edge of the warded city, it died away entirely -- just as the Yuasa witch claimed it would. Within the span of minutes, our forces had advanced to the broken edge of the wall and sent scouting parties into the city.

I will not claim that the city within was anything but a nightmare. Nearly half of the great army that had once held Sirocco lay sick or dying. Hundreds of Minamet steeds, their proud bloodlines dating back to before the Dream, had been slaughtered for their meat. When that had given out, the survivors had fed on rats, other vermin, and, I am ashamed to say, in some cases each other. But there were survivors, and Alessandro Komaru stood among them.

By now, those of us who hold the frontier know to expect the easterners after the destruction of their works. This time proved to be no exception; within a week, we found ourselves once again in a pitched battle with ammut riders and the priests of the Aten. But, as has been my family's duty since the dawn of ages, we held them back and protected the Komaru and the land they rule. Your Highness, and Your Graces, Excellencies, and Lords and Ladies of the Royal Council, the Crown Prince has returned to you.

In the months that follow Alessandro Komaru's escape from the Aten prison in Sirocco, the Minamet and Komaru fight endless skirmishes, but the jubilation they feel at having defeated their foes' magical trap keeps their spirits high. Meanwhile, by the time Alessandro himself makes his way back to the Royal Capital, emaciation is the highest style and more than one noble has served rat and horse to his guests. Many elder nobles are horrified, but the majority of the court simply takes it in stride as the latest in a long line of fashionable insanities. Certain nobles take the style somewhat farther, but as always, the nobility's power and prestige is sufficient to keep these incidents relatively quiet.

By winter, the peacekeeping force has been largely disbanded throughout Komaru, its constituent mercenaries returning to their patrons' estates to idle away their time until the next crisis. The winter is harder than usual in many communities, the sad side effect of having many new mouths to feed. It is not until the spring that a new complication emerges.

The incident begins with rumors, as is so often the case. Stories of towers of fire soaring into the sky spread through southern Komaru, followed by tales of strange creatures emerging from the Plains of Crystal to wreak havoc upon peasant villages. The Sone and Bellatrix are the first to publicly investigate, and while they dismiss rumors of monsters, they remain suspiciously mum on what they find along their southern borders. The matter comes to a head when the Touraine finally reveal one of their secrets: in the Plains of Crystal, they maintain a number of mining operations which supply the kingdom with certain critical reagents. The Touraine admit that the installations are being destroyed, and that declare that preserving them requires armies to be sent south. The matter seems settled, at least until an unexpected party intervenes in the matter.

A Letter from Alnarim, Principal Light of Komaru

His Holiness Alnarim, Principal Light of Komaru, addressed this open letter to the leadership of the Sone family on 3 Waxing of 2, Paraceln 214. The text was read before the Royal Council and recorded by the Council Scribe Pedro Minamet.

To His Grace Toyokuni Sone, Marquis of Greenquilt, and his brothers and sisters upon the Royal Council.

We wish to begin this letter by congratulating your family for the wisdom and depth of knowledge of one of its prominent members. In the past year, we have often heard the name of the Count of Ketatsu spoken in a positive light. It seems that in his colloquium last spring, he demonstrated great insight into the secrets of our long-lost ancestors and the mistakes that led to their downfall. Stories of his discoveries have already spread across the land, and it is our pleasure to state that, with Crescentino Sone's knowledge, many of his students have turned to the Church for guidance. Already the viscountess Meiko Komaru has accepted a position as the Illuminata of Nikko Hayashi and the marquis Xavior Yuasa has ascended as the Radiance of Gibroth. As the season turns, we are confident more of the nobility will turn to the Church to temper and guide their progress in these ancient and perilous arts. Perhaps within a season even Crescentino Sone will accept ordination!

We bring this matter before you to remind you that, as the noble families of Komaru are its strength, the Church of Komaru is its conscience. To that end, we wish to discuss the matter of your intervention in the progress of His Excellency Amber Touraine towards his family's holdings in the south of your family's lands.

We are certain that no member of the Royal Council or your family has forgotten the Touraine's revelation of critical mining operations in the south of Komaru, or of the brutal acts of terrorism that have claimed the lives of many of their family and destroyed several of these installations. That the Touraine wish to defend their holdings should come as no surprise to one of your line, who would as surely defend your lands in their stead. Therefore, we ask you, as the Principal Light and Numinous Council of Komaru, to remove your army from its blockade of the Touraine count's advance and put aside your refusal to allow the Touraine access to their holdings. If you fail to comply with our warning, only the Light will judge you.

As none of us wish to see war among the families of Komaru, we implore you to not bring the Light down upon yourself. Many options open to the man who puts his pride and greed away before the kingdom's greater good. For instance, we have heard that His Grace Onyx Touraine has, with the assistance of his wife Meiko Komaru and Her Excellency Nadeshiko Komaru, unmarried cousin of both Meiko and the Crown Prince, dedicated a portion of his lands as a sanctuary for the Gitany. Knowing of His Grace's reputation for diligence, we are certain he has already traded his hospitality for more of the Wandering Folk's arcane lore. Perhaps in return for your cooperation, His Grace would share his discoveries with you? Between his protection of the Gitany and his devotion to the patronage of the arts, we are certain that the Touraine and the Sone can find much common ground in the form of Marquis Onyx's interests.

May you and your brothers and sisters walk in the Light.

Alnarim, Principal Light of the Church of Inner Light

The Numinous Council

By the time of Alnarim's letter, the Sone and Touraine armies are already in the field, and Onyx himself is on the road to the Castle of the Sea for the yearly gathering there. Meanwhile, in the east the Minamet report that the easterners are fanning out, attempting to find a weakness along the border. While they declare their ability to close the passageway through the heart of the desert, they dispatch their fastest couriers to the south to warn the Sone and Bellatrix to expect the incursion of serpent murderers.

And so, in the 214th year of Paraceln' Age, all of Komaru braces for three seasons of war. Yet, as winter unseals the desert, an entirely different lock will yield, unleashing a vastly different threat upon the land.

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