Written by a soldier who served in Alessandro Komaru's army during the latter days of the Interregnum, this diary chronicles Alessandro's war to claim the crown. Although not a skilled writer, the author's words nevertheless capture the history of that troubled time.
Possession of this tome is worth **** Research Point per session. If delivered to the Church, this tome is worth **** Church Prestige Point.
My name is Thomas Karra, and I was born in the village of Karra's Mark, in the barony of Bent River. My father and mother were farmers, and so were all my family, although my father was also the mayor who gave our taxes to the baron. I had three older brothers, two older sisters, and a younger sister named Katrin. When the Lord Protector took the throne, I was fourteen, and my mother told me that I would die when the world ended in two years. I remember crying a lot, and thinking about how I'd never have the chance to marry Rini Maquee and have my own chickens.
Three years passed, and the world didn't end. Rini married my elder brother Richard and moved to Bent River to be a smith. Katrin grew up in a hurry. When the baron's son Lord Liam saw Katrin, I could tell he wanted her. I tried to warn her, but she didn't listen. I think she was happy for a month, before her pregnancy started to show and Lord Liam started hating her. When the baby came early and wrong, it killed my little sister. I guess I went a little crazy and tried to kill Lord Liam.
I went to the castle, but it was already burning. I tried to go in anyway, but a pack of men I didn't know stopped me. told them I wanted to kill Liam for what he'd done to my family. They told me they already had.
That's how I met Alessandro Komaru.
...
That all happened six months ago. Since then, a lot has happened. I became a soldier in Alessandro's army. Mother always told me that reading and writing would serve me well, and I guess it has, because I am keeping this diary to record my lord's return to his throne, and his quest for revenge on those who killed his family. I think they let me join because I understand.
We were all very afraid when Alessandro sent his letter to the Royal Council declaring his return, but I guess it was for the best. Days later, the Yuasa in the far north sent riders into the camp offering an allegiance. That's good, but now we're going to go far north. I don't imagine I will ever see my family again.
...
I have fought in several battles now, and people call me sir. Mostly peasants and serfs who flocked to Alessandro, but it is still an honor. I now lead a small group of ex-peasants who help protect the camps at night. I have a spear, and yesterday I took a sword from the corpse of a Bellatrix soldier I killed with my own hands.
It is good that we have the Yuasa, but we still lose more battles than we win. Alessandro says that we cannot win this war with battles, but have to make out opponents lose the will to fight. I do not know how we will do that.
...
It is winter, and I have been deathly ill. Many of us are dying because there is not enough food and no medicine. Alessandro was sick, but the noble lady from the Touraine kept him from dying. We had to eat several of the horses to survive, and not all of us did. Marie, a girl I was growing fond of, was one of those who died. I had given her Katrin's wedding ring. Now I have it again. I will keep wearing it to remember why I am fighting.
...
A year has passed since first I joined Alessandro's army. Since that day, I have seen more death than I can remember. Alessandro's forces still depend upon the Yuasa, but the ranks of his supporters are slowly swelling. Besides Alessandro's physician, there are a number of Touraine nobles here who have suffered under the Church's restrictions. I know Alessandro desperately wishes he had the Minamet behind him, but with his alliance to the Yuasa, that seems impossible. It is better that they stay out of the war than side with the enemy.
The Sone assist us with supplies and refuge, but refuse to fight alongside us. Alessandro has attempted to negotiate for more, but I don't think the vixens the Sone send to meet with him have war on their mind.
Truthfully, it is none of my business.
...
We had interesting visitors today. I was assigned to guard the horses when they arrived; we're still worried about what will happen if we have to rely on the mounts the Yuasa can provide. They were a pack of merchants, but they didn't feel like the typical money-grubbers coming to try to cut deals with Alessandro-sama. Partway through the meeting, they came outside and went over to the area we've been using to dump trash. After some conversation, there was a loud explosion and, I swear upon my sister's grave, every weapon in the camp came out.
Eventually, we figured out what had happened.
We had been given a way to win the war.
...
Our new allies call themselves the Twilight Crux. There are two leaders: Florello Lacroix and Lucien d'Aramis. Florello seems to be slightly superior in respect among the Crux; he is definitely much older. Drinking with one of their men, I learned that Florello was an inventor and philosopher in the city of Ladieu; I didn't realize Komaru still had such people. About a year ago, Lucien d'Aramis came back from the Far East on search of an inventor to help him build something he had seen. and Florello was the best man he could find to put it together.
I've heard legends of cannons that could sling stones farther than a catapult, but every sane man considers them more of a threat to their user than to their target. Whatever Lucien found across the Furnace promised to change that, and Florello made it happen. In Florello's workshop, they created the first Crux cannon, and then the first Crux pistol. Suddenly, weapons that had been mere curiosities became a deadly force for war.
Since the Crux's arrival, Alessandro has spent more and more time in meetings with them. I do not know what is being discussed, but the mood in the camp is changing. We do not know how it will come to pass, but we again have a hope of victory.
...
Alessandro chose me to help him liberate the cannons in Florello Lacroix's workshop. He also chose six other people, of course, but I was still honored. We really had no problems getting into the city, but things got more interesting in the workshop. It looks like Florello didn't tell his daughter to expect us to come and take the cannons. She didn't manage to do more than bruise Alessandro before her father explained the situation. She's lucky Alessandro has a sense of humor. I think her name is Ciarra.
...
Today, we won the first of what I hope will be a long string of victories. Since we were forced to retreat, the usurper's forces held the town of Wall on the outskirts of Yuasa territory. Wall's fortifications were such that no one expected any attack to seriously threaten it. The Bellatrix never knew what hit them: the cannons tore through their walls like swords through paper screens. We routed them without a single casualty.
The guns fascinate Alessandro. He has asked to be taught how to use them.
...
Alessandro is the best shot with a pistol in the camp now, with the exception of Lucien d'Aramis and Ciarra Lacroix. I have learned to use one myself, although I prefer the cannons. Alessandro wants to have a shooting competition to boost morale. Ciarra has stated that she has no interest in being Alessandro's "performing monkey", among other things I don't think I should commit to history.
...
After Lucien bowed out, the match came down to Ciarra and Alessandro. They both seemed evenly matched on the static targets, and only missed when we pushed targets out beyond the pistols' range. Finally, Lucien suggested a new type of target: clay from the river bed, thrown up into the air. Most of the competitors shook their heads. It was simply too hard.
On his third shot, Alessandro hit his target.
On her third shot, Ciarra hit her third target, set her pistol down, and stormed off, declaring the contest done.
I think I'm in love.
...
So does Alessandro. I know when I'm overmatched.
...
Alessandro's army hasn't been this tense since the early days of the war. Signs of Alessandro's courtship of Ciarra Lacroix are everywhere, and Ciarra seems to be doing her best to be nowhere.
...
I heard a rumor today that makes some things clearer. Many of us have seen that Lucien d'Aramis looks like Alessandro. Supposedly, there's a good reason: he's Alessandro's half-brother, Crown Prince Valentin's son by a courtesan. I guess that's why he's willing to help.
...
We had a surprising set of guests today. Three Veiled Guard appeared in camp, inside our defensive perimeter. They were carrying a long bundle, and asked to see Alessandro. They wouldn't surrender their weapons, but Alessandro met them anyway.
They gave him the Royal Katana.
Alessandro unsheathed the blade know as Cloudgatherer to the cheers of the entire camp.
...
It is year 204, and the usurpers have reigned for six years. This morning, Alessandro bowed that this year would be the end of their reign. He has a plan. The war, for good or ill, will end at Shiro Gorge.
...
I am certain that there will be many stories told of the Battle of Shiro Bridge in the years to come, and I am equally certain that few will be what I set down here. The day of the battle dawned cold and wet, with rain drizzling down like heaven's piss. Augustin's vanguard caught Alessandro's flank an hour from the bridge, and, because our cannons were stored, drove us back time after time. Disarrayed, we retreated towards the gorge, hoping to cross it and reach the bulk of our waiting army. All was going according to plan.
When we came within sight of the bridge, we saw a detachment of Bellatrix landers waiting there.
In all of my years at Alessandro's side, I have never seen as brutal a fight as that day's. Augustin Bellatrix trapped us perfectly between his forces, and blocked the bridge so that our reinforcements could not cross to save us. As the battle raged, he drove us into the bulk of his army with his landers, crushing us beneath the sheer power of his forces. Thousands died.
At last, though, we fought our way to the edge of the bridge, Bleeding from his wounds, Alessandro raised his banner in defiance of Augustin's rule. Augustin responded by raising his dead.
I have never seen a theurgist called to the Light before, but on that day I saw dozens go. I will never forget it. At first, they simply glow, surrounded by a golden radiance. It is lovely, and their faces shine with rapture. Then, their flesh dissolves into a whirl of shining sparks. Swirling on the wind, these flames rise into the sky as the glow around the theurgist spreads. Finally, the theurgist shines like a miniature sun fallen to earth, their body transformed into purest light. It takes nearly an hour for their flame to die.
Dozens of theurgists died, and hundreds of Bellatrix rose around Alessandro. We were trapped.
Augustin himself rode to the edge of the bridge to watch Alessandro die. As the blood drained from my body, I could see Augustin give his guard the order to charge, could see their lancers tear through the shattered defenders of the throne's true heir. I saw the tip of a gleaming spear pierce Alessandro's breast, driving him to the ground to die beneath the hooves of a score of Church lancers.
I tried to fight my way to his side. I swear that I did. I could not. I prayed to the Light, to the Darkness, to Death itself to let me pass to save my lord. My prayers were granted.
Like thunder from the heavens, the pistol's discharge seemed to shatter the stillness. I heard it, and swear I could see its path. At the terminus of its flight, it caught Augustin Bellatrix just beneath his left eye. I saw a flower of red and grey bloom in the instant before he died. Looking in the other direction, I saw Ciarra Lacroix drop her pistol as Lucien d'Aramis drew his sword and charged to my lord's side.
The Bellatrix fell back in confusion, but it was too late. The Crux guns spelled their doom, and they died at their lord's side. I staggered to Lucien's side, and saw him grab the Royal Sword and stare at it in a sort of horror. The blade pulsed with light, and I could feel the hair on the back of my neck rise. Lucien did something, then, with a white card and a glittering jewel, and a bracelet formed in his hand. He laid it at Alessandro's brow, and sketched a character upon his forehead in Alessandro's own blood. The sword's glow died, and Alessandro's body shuddered with life.
Lucien, still holding the sword, turned to his physician and said, "Lucien d'Aramis has been injured. Pray heal him, my lady, that we may not end this victory with a tragedy." The physician's confusion lasted only a moment before she nodded and restored Alessandro to life.
I think that the first thing he must have seen was Ciarra Lacroix, crying bloodstained tears at his side.
...
That is the end of my history, for I played no part in the battle's end. The Bellatrix troops rallied, and attacked one final time across the bridge. This time, the Crux was ready. As the bridge, an ancient monument built by forgotten hand, trembled beneath their weight, the Crux demolitions planted the night before brought it crashing down. The Bellatrix lost their best and brightest, their blood staining the gorge walls red and filling the river with bodies. With Augustin dead and the Bellatrix in disarray, the Principal Light of the Church chose to recognize Alessandro's claim to the throne rather than waste further lives in a fruitless war.
It has been a year and a day since the Battle of Shiro Bridge. Alessandro has reigned as Crown Prince for months, and the land is at peace. It is what we fight for.
Some days, I can still feel the arm I lost on the bridge. More than the arm, I regret the loss of the ring I wore. At night, when I sleep, I dream of Marie and I together, watching Katrin play by the river's bank.