Argent Order/Silver Tome/Four
Chapter Four of the Silver Tome
To whomever may read this, I write this in my last days, coded so that if the Empire finds it they don't understand it. Chaos only knows what they'd do with this information. While I do not fear my death, I must say when I was first given this book, I never thought this would happen. This side of the continent has nearly fallen, and they're out there hunting us all down, claiming we are supporters of Chaos! US! SUPPORTERS OF CHAOS! Damned fools. If only they knew. But I suppose I am getting ahead of myself. My name is Vesuvius, Third Silver Archon of the Argent Order and General of the Wardens, and it is the Twentieth Year of the Age of Blood.
When I became Silver Archon I was given this book so that I may add to it and account the history of the faith as I experienced it. When I was granted this title, we were winning the West, though it was not without loss. The Argent Order was at the front of it, as was usual. We were finally beating back those chaotic beasts, sending them back to the Nether. The Sages were actually planning out ways to send troops into the Netherworld to fight the beasts, rumor had it they had just started testing out these ways. Imagine it, opening your own portal to the beyond and fighting Chaos on It's own land! Damned daemons wouldn't know what hit them.
Just a couple months after the first test is when things really started getting odd though. First we started getting strange requests for the Wardens--the Empire wanted them to march straight into the largest Daemon armies! Mind you, we train for that exact thing, but I'm not about to lead my men and the faith into a death sentence. Naturally I politely told the Imperial Ambassadors what I thought of their insane orders. Next thing I know I've got an Imperial Division on their way across the continent to come arrest me for disobeying orders. Apparently they think they've the right to order the Argent Order around. Seems they don't realize we report to the Imperial Crown.
Either way, it didn't really matter as far I was concerned. With the way things had been going, I expected them to run into some daemon army that had managed to get past our lines, or opened some portal behind us, or flew over us on dragons or something. I suppose I should establish a few things that've happened since Telani wrote in this. The Argent Order is one of the leading military forces on the continent. When the daemons showed up, we responded even faster than the Imperial Border Patrol. We had three major victories against them in a row and I swear I'd never seen the Argent Order have more followers. Then things changed, next the daemons not only cut through the Border Patrol and our lines but went straight for and slew Silver Archon Traeus who was marshaling the Wardens who were there to support the Border Patrol.
That was a few years ago. Since then I've seen Imperial Control in this part of the continent collapse, the Argent Order filling in where we can, trying to maintain some semblance of authority. Of course we can only do so much; we're a large faith, having most of this side of the continent following us but even then, with the Imperial Border Patrol now all but dismantled, the Wardens are all that stand between the Daemon armies and the Empire. Sure we've won a few battles, and have even pushed the daemons back several times, I know we've lost.
The Imperial Division I mentioned earlier? Yeah, they're here now. I'm writing this while in the relative safety of Warden's Keep. I lost contact with the Argent Order's temples in the East, I'm certain the Empire's hunted down most of them by now. The Imperial Army has got most of the Warden's holed up. The really strange thing about all of this though? For weeks there had been daemon armies testing our lines, slowly pushing us back to the line that Warden's Keep held strong. Now, when they might actually be useful, the infernal Daemons are nowhere to be seen! The best part? The Imperial Army is besieging Warden's Keep!
--As Written by Silver Archon Vesuvius, the Third Silver Archon of the Argent Order
