So, when he is in need of separating the wheat from the tares, he shall wait until it ripens to reap it all together. Only thereafter, will he winnow it and sort it out, just as he willed it. – George 28:11
Three middle-aged men were sitting together in a small chamber. They all wore robes in earthy tones, albeit each in a different style. “What do you think, Father Hartmut?” - “Not much, Your Holiness. The situation seems unchanged. Well, it has been exacerbated by the mass deaths in Meglarsbruck and Greifenburg, but that won't change the general trend. After the purges that followed the Melgarist recapture of power were completed, the number of our members has leveled off again ...... somewhat at least. We are certainly not growing, but our Alethic Commune won't go extinct either, at least not in the foreseeable future.
The Patriarch of the Alethic Church sat opposite him, sobered and thoughtful, pulling at a few hairs in his long beard. Zwenterfeld had grown old and tired, even though he was only about forty. The ceaseless persecution of his like-minded brothers and the constant hiding, like they were doing at that moment in order to be able to congregate at all, was wearing him down. After that, he listened to a few more of their reports, for example about the looting of one of their underground churches, where they had also been duplicating the Alethic Testament to pass it on to their fellow believers, as well as other events concerning the Commune. Almost none of these were positive. But they would get through this dark time, they had to. It was all in God's hands now. He would choose the right moment for their salvation, not them.
Suddenly there was a knock on the crude wooden door of their small chamber. Who could it be? There was hardly anyone else who knew of their meeting here. The patriarch somewhat timidly uttered, “Who is it?” For a short while, there was silence. But then a deep voice gave him an answer, “Someone who has something historic to discuss with you. The only one who can.” At this, the clergymen looked at each other in puzzlement. They chatted quietly amongst themselves for a moment and then allowed the visitor to enter. However, when the gate swung open and they saw who was stepping through their doorway, their mood abruptly changed. It was the Demon Emperor himself!
The men were completely taken aback by his arrival and immediately fell into a state of shock. Just how had he found them? Nevertheless, the Chosen One simply approached the gentlemen and joined them at the table. He quickly pulled out the fourth chair, which stood on one of its sides, and sat down on this rather simple seating option, crossing one leg over the other. As he was loitering almost mockingly in front of them, the three of them just stared in disbelief, even bewilderment, at the large stars shining out of his eyes. He raised his voice, “Don't worry, I'm only here to talk to you. There is a lot that needs to be addressed and finally resolved.” Father Hartmut eventually replied, “What do you want to talk about?” This question apparently lightened His Highness's mood, and he responded,
“You may not consider me to be holy, but I am willing to grant you that freedom. All I ask is that you do not deny me the right to exist, then I will not deny you yours. Our differences in opinion are irreconcilable but, for the sake of humanity and peace, I would ask that we at least tolerate each other. We do not have to agree with each other, we don't even have to like each other. The only thing I want is for us to bury the hatchet. And I am well aware that this will take a lot out of all of us, after all the things that have happened. But neither I nor you can undo the past. I didn't start the conditions and the vicious circle of hatred and neither did you. But it's time we put an end to it! We have all been swept away by all this. There is no point in looking for culprits or seeking revenge. I want to reach out to you to bring the madness to an end slowly, step by step.
The ideology of ‘Melgarism’, as you call it, is deeply rooted in the minds of many, just as Alethism is deeply rooted in the minds of quite a number of people. It will take a long time to fill in the deep rifts that exist in our society. I don't have the power to change people's mindsets. But what I can do is take the first step towards improvement. That is within my power. I hereby offer you to officially recognize the Alethic Denomination and tolerate it in my realm by edict. Not to promote or approve of it, to tolerate it. Nothing more is realistically possible at this time.”
The emperor's long monologue came to a close. The addressees were left utterly dumbfounded by it. Without waiting for their potential rebuttal, or any reaction at all, His Majesty then rose from his seat and informed the gentlemen that he would leave them alone for a moment to discuss the matter. He then immediately left the room and closed the door behind him to ensure their privacy. In the meantime, he wandered back and forth a few feet outside while he looked at the two guards lying on the ground here, who he had incapacitated.
“And what do you think of this proposal?”, was the trite question that the Alethic church father, for lack of suitable terms for this almost inconceivable development, finally put to his colleagues, after having pondered for a while. The other two's mood darkened and Hartmut replied to his Holiness, “I would say we can't trust this devil's words even one iota. These creatures are the spawns of hell! Just look at what they've done to the capital! It's impossible, just absolutely impossible! I'm telling you.” The other cleric next to him nodded with conviction at what his brother in faith was saying.
The patriarch, whose real name was Zwenterfeld, was obviously not so sure, and he pulled on the longer ends of his beard again, while deliberating intensely over the situation. Consequently, his counterpart added, “Come on! It's not complicated. We'll trick him by pretending to accept the offer and then disappear at the first available opportunity. You can't make deals with the devil!” Then the other man further commented, “Let the twisted Melgarists accept the destruction of their own imperial capital by the mad demon, who was the emperor's own daughter, without acknowledging the diabolical nature of witches, but certainly not us! We must stand firm here, Your Holiness.”
In the end, their church leader gave them his answer, “I have been lied to and deceived many times in my life. I know these kinds of people. The Demon Emperor does not seem to me to be a person of such kind.” As a result, the other two were appalled by what he had just said. “Our faith is in serious trouble. I believe that taking a pragmatic step is the better option here,” Zwenterfeld then concluded. “Are you crazy? That's exactly why the Alethian resistance is so weak and why so many insurgents want nothing to do with us!”, Father Hartmut raved. But his superior was not to be deterred. He simply didn't offer any rebuttal. The two bishops immediately realized that he would not be swayed, especially since they had known him for a long time.
“Well, then we've got nothing more to say to each other!”, the cleric proclaimed before stepping out of the room with his colleague, and subsequently scarpering. The Chosen One just looked after them emotionlessly. He did not stop them. Then he turned and glanced in the direction of the hideout where the patriarch was still holding out. As was to be expected, the pig-headed ones, just as he was familiar with from the Imperial Council, had put their foot down. However, here and now he had found someone very important who was prepared to talk to him. The possibility of a schism in the Alethic Church on the basis of this seemed quite obvious.
“Order! Order in the chamber!”, it came from the throat of the Lord Speaker of the Imperial Diet. The preceding din quickly subsided to become an ever quieter murmur, which soon disappeared almost entirely. Today the Imperial Council was fully assembled. Not a single person was absent, a rare exception. The reason for this would soon become clear. The sun was flooding in through gigantic window,s that stretched almost thirty feet up to the ceiling, providing the assembly hall with more than adequate lighting. The lectern, which was the visual focal point of the semi-circular seating arrangement here, bore the sun emblem of the Empire. It was located on a slightly raised platform, and right next to it the flags of the kingdoms and territories of the Empire were displayed in order. In the front two large portraits hung on the wall behind the podium. Like Janus, they depicted Melgar the Great on the left and Emperor Wenzel on the right.
“Honourable members, I hereby welcome you to the thirty-fourth session of the Imperial Council. The agenda this time is considerably more extensive than it has been in many years. Accordingly, a large number of motions have been tabled in advance, which we will have to deal with today. First and foremost, His Most Serene Highness the Emperor has passed a series of decrees that we must consider.” In this case Eugen von Rauttenstein was speaking of issues of great importance, however blandly he may have been presenting the subject matter on this occasion. The Sovereign had passed a decree to massively expand the powers of the Imperial Guard, a step he had never dared to take before. Yet, this was still within the realm of the expected. What left everyone here stunned, however, was the edict of toleration for Alethism that His Highness had signed in parallel with this! In view of the realities that had prevailed since the Holy Revolution, this was not only an unheard-of, but rather an unthinkable move on the part of the Chosen One. NOBODY would approve of this.
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As the Speaker continued to rattle off his remarks, the entire Council sat there in the same bright yellow attire, listening intently. They were all convinced that they would nip His Majesty's overconfident moves in the bud. Almost every one of them would vote against his far too excessive attempts to seize power. And Xaver von Duenitz, who was of course also present, was preparing to teach them a lesson together with his allies and the army loyalists in the Imperial Council, one that they would not soon forget! Right at the beginning, a vote on the two most important points was held. The votes were counted and.....
Oh, no! The decree to strengthen the Imperial Guard had most definitely failed. However, it also had received a significant number of votes in favour, which caused quite an uproar in the assembly hall. Everyone wondered who had voted against the interests of the high nobility. Xaver was aware that they would soon find out who it was! He felt like disappearing into the ground when, immediately afterwards, the Edict of Toleration also received a clear rebuff. It was over. They had lost and the Chosen One would remain a powerless figurehead forevermore. Mr. Duenitz had thought that he had pulled off a clever political intrigue, but now found himself the loser in a confrontation with the unyielding egoism of the imperial elites. A delighted smile briefly crossed Von Rauttenstein's lips. He then moved on to the next item on the agenda. It would............
“BOOM!” The large double door leading into the hall was yanked open with a loud bang. “What on earth is going on here? Get ou....” Eugen was cut off. None other than Balduin, the commander of the Imperial Guard, stomped in with a thunderous step and simply drowned him out with his booming vocals. “Most Serene Highnesses, in the name of His Majesty, Emperor Melgar, the Imperial Council is dissolved with immediate effect! You are requested to remain calm and obey all instructions from the Imperial Guard!” After these words had filled the hall, utter disbelief set in. Everyone froze because they first had to let this surreal message sink in, in order to realize its true meaning.
However, the Speaker quickly regained his composure. He practically jumped at the hairless musclehead and aggressively ordered him to leave the premises again, even though the commander's sword was flashing at him from his waist. Balduin just looked at him with a stern expression. “Get out of here! Scram!”, Eugen consequently yelled at him, while the rest of those present simply looked on in largely silent perplexity. Then the physically not particularly strong man began shoving the leader of the Imperial Guard; a mistake, as it would turn out. The guy proceeded to grab him by the forearm with an iron grip and threw him to the ground. “Get all this riff-raff out of here!”, Balduin then bellowed. Only now did pandemonium break out in the Imperial Diet. While the commander was handcuffing, or in other words arresting, the man who had been wrestled down, indignant jeering began to permeate the entire hall.
At that exact moment, the rest of the guardsmen burst in, and loud cries of a phrase, that made everyone shudder, sounded. “It's the Diamonds! The Diamonds are staging a coup!“, 'You filthy traitors!”, and a series of other exclamations now echoed all throughout. From the door, which was the only entrance and exit, an ever-increasing number of guardsmen was pouring in to turn their master's order into action. From one moment to the next, complete chaos broke out in the assembly hall. Wild roaring, desperate scuffling, hopeless resistance. A few people even tried to escape through the windows! This was not a wise idea, because they were not on the first floor, and it would be difficult to survive a fall from this height unscathed. A heated, overwhelming scuffle ensued, with the lawmakers gradually getting arrested and being escorted out of the hall.
Only when they were outside, when they had left the crazy clamour behind them, did they, to their surprise, hear the sound of trumpets. There were many of them, not just the trumpets that usually sounded from the Cathedral of the Annunciation. No, from every steeple in the city the fanfare seemed to be blown, despite it being the wrong time of day for that. The men became anxious. They were justifiably afraid of what all this meant and what would happen now. The Chosen One had basically declared war on the country's elites!
A few days prior:
An astonished gasp ran through the entire conclave. His Holiness had appeared here for their patriarchal election in person. No one knew how he had made this happen, as it was widely known that he had been in seclusion since the great fateful day. But now he stood before them in the flesh. Self-confident and unwavering, he immediately strode over to the speaker, the new patriarch. His Excellency immediately bowed, as custom demanded, and stepped back a little to make room for the ruler at the rostrum. In an instant, it was quiet again, and His Highness began to speak:
“My dear Damianos! My dear brethren! I congratulate you and all others here on the election of the new head of the Commune, and such a young and energetic one at that!” The audience gave him a brief round of applause. He then continued, “The signs are pointing towards change and a new future. But unfortunately, I have to dispel your hopes in this regard! There will be no change, because there CAN be no change. Why is that, you might ask? Because the infidels and the traitors are blocking everything in order to keep things in the realm going only in their favour! This will not change, because they occupy even the highest offices! The revolution cannot be considered complete until its original goals have been achieved. Therefore, it is not over yet!
Many of these parasites, who have taken up positions everywhere in the system and who have indulged themselves in it, are the very same people who had supported the previous regime of injustice. We have accepted these realities for many years and decades, because it was simply unavoidable for practical reasons. But things cannot go on like this indefinitely! Perpetual deadlock is not the credo of our civilization! The voice of God hereby commands me to continue the revolution, to continue the Holy War until its goals are achieved. So that the peoples of the Holy Empire may find salvation, I call upon all of you here and now to follow me on this path, my Teleiotic brethren in faith! It is God's will!
He then concluded the proclamation with an ancient Camenian phrase that could best be translated as “God wills it”. It carried great historical and theological meaning. The call of the Chosen One was followed very quickly and with little hesitation by many, increasingly louder and louder repetitions of the slogan he had just recited. The Church had had enough of being ignored, even trampled on, by the high nobility, who in their eyes were largely indifferent to the faith. Over and over the ancient phrase was resounding through the hall. The Holy War had begun once more!
Incidentally, within a few days there was a wave of apparitions of His Majesty in all parts of the country. Princes, kings, generals, cardinals, countless people were visited by the emperor completely unannounced and as if out of nowhere, to discuss matters with them and give them instructions. Then he disappeared into nothingness again.
There was a downright electric tension in the air. Chancellor Rubellio was holding an emotionally charged conversation with Her Highness Amalie Althun. Even these two seemed to have been caught off guard by today's events. Now an Imperial Guardsman marched up to them. “Most Serene Lords and Ladies! I have been sent to inform you that God's Chosen will be giving a speech at the Grain Market at four o'clock today. Everyone is invited to attend.” Grain Market was the name given to the square in front of the Reichstag, which obviously indicated its past purpose. The two simply replied to the messenger, “All right, you may go.” The soldier immediately saluted and left.
What in God's name was going on here? The events in the Imperial Council just a few hours ago had now spread like wildfire. The entire government and, of course, the nobility in particular were in an uproar. They had observed a high noblewoman running up and down the building several times now, frantically asking everyone if they had seen her husband. It was extremely unsettling. Not even the Chancellor knew where Balduin and his men, who had ridden off after arresting the Imperial Council, had taken the prisoners.
Next, Brahm came rushing up. “Mistress, I was able to gather some relevant information. The Patriarch's nuncio has notified me, that the unusual trumpet fanfare this morning was no mistake. The Commune has confirmed to me, that the Emperor has declared Holy War and that they will support it!” If it had been possible, the shock on Peter's face would have gotten even more pronounced, but he was already beside himself. “Oh, my God! What was he thinking with all that?”, he blurted out as a result, while Amalie remained outwardly more composed than him, managing to keep herself under control. But then her bodyguard continued,
“Besides, I became aware of the Alethic Patriarch's arrival here at the Reichstag earlier. Yes, you did hear that one right! It seems that our emperor has granted him protection, as he arrived here surrounded by a considerable number of Diamonds.” Peter evidently didn't know how to deal with the situation. It was as if everything was happening at once, a veritable bursting of the dam. Given the circumstances, there was probably not much they could do but wait for the next three hours until Wenzel's address was due to begin. They didn't know where he was either. Confusion and commotion were prevailing all around. The Sovereign would be well advised to have good answers ready for all of this!