The flotilla of nearly 50 ships sailed for several days, having encountered the fire bird somewhere in the middle of their journey. It flew from one ship to another, to much joy of amazed citizens of the lost Empire – some of them had only seen it once before, while others never got to.
Finally, a coast showed up on a chilly morning, and a dozen of minutes later they could already discern silhouettes on the coast of a large port city. They didn’t like what they saw.
Clearly, there was no sign of any archmage. Knights and dwarves, armed and armoured, stood in several flanks not far from the shore, showing no signs of hospitality.
A few battle ships went out to intercept them. Neither was turning to aggressive actions, but tension was obvious.
The ship with councilors aboard sailed forward, and a boat was served for them. When they reached ground, their doubts became true.
“My name is Grammith. By the name of Her Majesty the Empress, I declare that this is a sovereign land. Who are you, and what is the purpose of your arrival?”
After minutes of patient explanations, the councilors were allowed to keep their weapons, and invited to Great capital. The name of the archmage was clearly recognized, but didn’t seem to have any influence. Who was he?..
A dwarf came on horseback, and the one called Grammith stepped away, beckoning him for a quick conversation. Their muttering could not be heard, but when the two returned to the councilors, they seemed kinder, than initially.
“My name is Tolgar”, the dwarf announced. “You will be accompanied through Empire lands to have an audience with Her Majesty as you request. Your people must remain at sea until she has made a decision.”
“I see”, Arabat stepped forward. “Please, show us the way.”
Overflowed with emotions, they entered the throne hall. They welcomed the Empress in a curtsey traditional to their customs, and stood in front of her in a line. The fate of the “orphaned” people was in their hands. Half a minute passed in awkward silence and in exchange of curious looks, which were usual given the situation, except for the fact that Feurlis kept addressing very strange looks to Tolgar, finally managing to confuse him.
Then, at last, after receiving an approving nod from the Empress, the councilmen sighed with relief.
“Your Majesty”, Kalirosh and Feurlis stepped forward simultaneously, and turned to each other, exchanging grimacing looks.
But before another word was spoken, the air inside the palace was shaken with a strange vibration, immediately followed by a bright flash of magic. Grammith and Tolgar immediately unsheathed their weapons; Abu-Bakir quickly cast a barrier spell in front of them. The imperial guard frowned in suspicion, pointing their pikes at the visitors, making the latter to unsheathe weapons too. Bilir hemmed and cast another barrier to protect his fellow councilors.
The atmosphere of stress was discharged when the blue smoke of magic finally cleared in the palace, and archmage Sorish, the first follower and true friend of King Cyrus, presented himself in the throne hall.
“I apologize for the sudden intrusion, Your Majesty”, the guest from Sunny City bowed graciously. “A little time lag with opening the portal.” He shook the glittering magic residue off his mantle. “If Your Majesty lets me explain…”
Lords,
We have arrived to the new promised land. Our Court has already had history of their visit, and out of many stories told then, we know that their form of government, their factions and creatures are identical with ours.
Our councilors have managed to make a treaty according to which, we swear allegiance to the new Empire in exchange for our rightful citizenship. This Empress has already ordered to provide our Lords with land for their new castles! Lords who owned Estates in the old Empire will receive new Estates in this new land. Your possessions are being unloaded as I deliver you this message.
In the meantime, the Councilors have returned with detailed information about this land. Please find it here:
Merge - Important notes and new features
Jan 24 UPDATE:
Dear Lords,
The hardware fault that was hindering your comfortable play all day yesterday has finally been resolved.
Thank you for staying with us throughout the day. As gratitude, and as a new house-warming congratulation, let me announce that for the rest of today, and the entire day on January, 25th, the following bonus will be enabled:
- Wage in facilities increased by 20% (productivity remains same);
- Skill points received in all combats increased by 20%;
- Hunts twice more often;
- Quick 4x4 combats for all characters above combat level 2.
Enjoy your play! |
