Argent Order/Silver Tome/Five
Chapter Five of the Silver Tome
It's been a couple months now, and let me tell you, this has been the most interesting time I've had in a while. I've always had this theory that everything has that point where if anymore pressure is applied it all shatters. Well, for generations the Empire had been expanding and expanding. Before the Daemons showed up they were doing remarkably well at keeping hold of things. An entire continent under the complete control of one power.
The cracks weren't immediately obvious. I suppose the strange orders from the Empress should've been a good sign, but then again I've seen some really strange orders in my time that were legit. But apparently most of the orders I'd been receiving weren't even from the Empress herself, but sent out instead by some Duke nearby. Seems he wanted the Warden's to totally decimate themselves on the Daemons so he could move in and take what land we hold out here for himself.
That man would be Duke Reggar, Duke of Stratholme which isn't far off from Warden's Keep. He's also Commander of the Third Imperial Division that started laying siege to Warden's Keep a couple months ago. That siege just got lifted by the ally I least expected to find myself having, Duke Warrington of Varus, Former General of the Imperial Border Patrol!
Yes, that's right, I said "Former General". Last month while we were cut off from the rest of the world thanks to that lovely siege we are still recovering from, Empress Zalia officially declared a state of civil war. From what Varus is telling me the Empress only still controls about one twentieth of her former holdings. I still don't have all the details at the time of my writing this, but once I have them I'll be sure to add them.
You know, when I first got the Silver Tome I wasn't sure what I'd add to it. Now I guess I know. Hopefully from this time on it will serve as a historical account of the Argent Order.
Of course, there are some things that probably need clarification if that is to be. The Argent Order isn't the most powerful religion. The Ordo Concilium controls a good portion of the East, where the main Imperial power base was. They are some of our harshest critics, and we left the East because of them. They do actually have priests and temples everywhere, but with what's been happening I don't think that will last long. Their power in the West was waning before--it's all but nonexistent now.
Do you remember how I mentioned Imperial Sages that had been working on making a gateway to the Netherworld? That's apparently how everything collapsed. The Imperial Sages are either dead or avoiding the authorities for fear of execution. They succeeded in doing it though. They actually opened a gate to the Netherworld, and seemingly let out one very powerful, very intelligent daemon that managed to corrupt the mind of what was once a very loyal, equally powerful Arch Duke Lerrus of Ishkantara--Duke of the Imperial Capital. I can only hope this is all starting to make sense now.
Alas, this chapter will be cut short here, as I have a meeting with Duke Varus to discuss a number of things.
--As Written by Silver Archon Vesuvius, the Third Silver Archon of the Argent Order
