Fiction:Tenet/History/27

=~BEGINNINGS= ~It is done. The Xanidactae are shattered and fleeing. Their armies will never recover from the blow we have dealt them here, and the weapons we have provided you even now spread madness and death amongst their allies. All of Yakuin is now collapsing into chaos.

~There is now a scar here twenty miles wide where nothing will ever live again. Taboo flees in ignominy. My kindred will pursue him back to the dark places between the stars. He is gone from here forever.

~Alas, the Cunning Man is no longer with us.

~Fear not. His death is hidden well. This end he can undo, though perhaps not within your lifetime.

~In any case, his presence is no longer necessary. Or desirable.

~Listen. Now you have conquered two continents, King Makann. Three others yet remain. Two are populated only by flint-wielding primitives and one is a frozen desolation, inaccessible and worthless.

~It is time, now, to set aside your sword. Shrug off your armor. Nothing can harm you now, O king. Leave the pitiful dregs of Yakuin to your generals. Cast aside the mantle of warrior and don the crown of ruler.

~You have carved out an empire through blade and sorcery. It has stood because it was united by a common enemy, and by devotion to you, the Eschaton.

~You no longer have an enemy. But you are still Eschaton, and now you must keep your people together. You must govern the largest nation in the world and make sure it lives forever.

~Listen to me, King Makann. The Cunning Man is cunning in matters of war, but I am wise in matters of control. Return to the city of the Assurhab, O king, and I shall teach you how to rule an empire.