Marcus, the Sapphire Emperor, was woken from his nap by his door being thrown open. “Your Majesty, it’s an emergency!” A messenger panted.
“What’s the matter? Marcus groaned, sitting up.
“A magical message was playing in the town’s main thoroughfare on repeat, and though we stopped it quickly, the people saw, and there’s been a small panic!”
“Slow down.” Marcus said, getting out of bed. “A magical message? Why is it causing a panic? Do you have a copy?”
“Yes, we have a copy, and you’ll understand once you see it.” The messenger said, holding up a small disc. “May I?”
Marcus nodded, and the messenger pressed a small button on the disc. Immediately, a three dimensional black and white image appeared in the space between them, of the Hero Amelia and two other women in front of what appeared to be a massive tree. “The…original had color, but we couldn’t replicate that in time.” The messenger said embarrassedly.
The woman in the center of the image, one who looked somewhat similar to the girl that was in the video Brom’s scouts took, began to speak. “Hello, people of the world.” She said. “I am Lia Yggdrios, Queen of the Swarm.” She motioned at the woman to her side, an unbelievably beautiful woman wearing a robe similar to one you would see in depictions of the gods. “This is my wife, Rose Yggdrios, Personification of the World Tree and the reincarnation of the Ruby Emperor.”
Lia motioned at Amelia. “This is our girlfriend, Amelia, architect of the swarm and this generation’s Hero. The swarm is something many of you will not have heard of, but it is something that you will become familiar with in the coming years.
“To be blunt about it, we will be taking over the world. Not attempting to take over the world, we will. Your leaders have already summoned a Hero in an attempt to stop us, and we have taken him and converted him to our side. We possess the unique ability to take an animal, person, or monster and make them more, allow them to grow and change in ways hitherto unthinkable.
“This process involves an intrinsic changing of loyalties, making the person or monster loyal to the swarm. For monsters and animals, this means that they will obey people without question, and can be used to perform menial tasks that would otherwise fall to people to do. For people, this means they will join our cause, regardless of their previous beliefs.
“We understand this is a frightening concept, a foreign power coming in and taking over or pillaging your lands, and changing your very being, leaving you with an uncertain future. However, this is unlike a normal invasion; we do not wish harm upon you, and it is our sole aim to better the world in every way we can. Your minds will change, but at your core you will remain you. Were that not the case, the gods would have struck us down long ago.
“If we could, we would prefer not to take such drastic measures, but it is something we cannot avoid. We seek a world without war, discrimination, hunger, or poverty. A world where people are free to do as they wish, so long as it does not harm others. However, if this is to last, then we have to take these measures; as history has taught us, an ideal society can be ruined by one or two bad people, and that is a risk we cannot take.
“This is something that is not optional, or something you can avoid or fight against. This is no idle boast, either; we have completely converted Aura, and the Glens has given their full, unconditional surrender. We will use this foothold to slowly wash over the rest of the continent, bringing you all into our fold.”
Marcus’s heart pounded in his chest as he listened to her words. That…that couldn’t be; he had spoken with Brom and Alisha only a week or two prior, and this sort of thing didn’t happen that fast, and definitely didn’t happen without being noticed. Though…their spies in Aura and the Glens hadn’t reported back in a few days. It was entirely possibly that some or all of them had been converted or killed, and the ones that weren’t were laying low, hoping to avoid detection as they traveled back to the Sapphire Empire.
The video continued, not caring for Marcus’s internal monologue. “And when we say that we will bring you into our fold, we mean it. We will not kill or even injure a single one of you unless you resist us. And even those that do resist will be spared, if it is reasonable to do so without endangering the soldiers they are fighting against. There will be no pillaging or theft, and if there is, we fully expect those wronged to demand compensation from us; we will not tolerate looters or those seeking to take advantage of the chaos, even if they come from our own army.
“We will likewise not force military service upon any who do not wish it. Those who do join our army are free to leave at any time; we will not force anyone to risk their lives, and we will especially not force anyone to fight against their friends or family.
“You will be made free. We will not restrict you to your lands, nor will we force you to give them up if you don’t want to. We will be doing away with serfdom, and with strict class divides between commoners and nobles. There will still be those who hold titles of nobility, yes, but they are strictly for organizational and administrative purposes, they will have no extra privileges.
“Everyone will be equal under the eyes of the law, and any who attempt to use their status to assert undue influence over you or exploit you in any way will be punished. We will periodically send teams of trusted people to your towns, with whom you can report any wrongdoings you feel are too much to handle alone.
“But that is not their primary purpose; we do not seek to create a police state, nor do we want these visits to be something dreaded. The primary purpose of these visits is to gather the problems of your town, the issues you as a community face. In turn, we will do our utmost to alleviate these issues, to provide you with whatever aid we can.
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“Our aim is to produce a world where no one feels pressured to do anything they do not wish to do. Each member of the swarm has the ability to add living things to the swarm as we previously described, and to command non-sapient members of the swarm that are not otherwise busy. With this source of cheap, ethical labor, we will be able to work the fields, mine stone and metal, build buildings, and many more things without needing anything more than an overseer, freeing up time for you to pursue hobbies.”
The image fuzzed, changing into a view of a village, one that was in the midst of constructing fortifications and remodeling the village as a whole. “Not two months ago, this village was an isolated village in western Aura, one worse off than the villages many of you live in. After joining us, they have been freed from obligation to a noble, and have been given full leeway to modify their town as they see fit.
“While they are no less isolated than they were before, they have still seen an explosion of growth, being allowed to make any changes they wish to their homes. And the sort of things that were once unthinkable have become more and more commonplace for them; they don’t have to work if they don’t want to, no noble is telling them what they can and can’t do, and no other unwanted disruptions.
“We will ensure that everyone, regardless of their job or station in life will be fed and housed, and that money will not be an issue unless you wish to purchase luxuries or services beyond those that will be provided to everyone. You will not even need to work if you don’t want to, though you will receive no money and therefore be unable to purchase anything beyond what is needed to live comfortably.”
Marcus frowned. That sounded an awful lot like one of Brom’s failed schemes to “help” the citizens of his nation. They tended to be big, grandiose projects that had their roots in ideas summoned Heroes had brought to their world, and more often than not they failed. This was, of course, an inevitability; the majority of people were simply incapable of living without the supervision of a noble or other superior.
Most people did not know what was best for them, and if given the things that Lia promised, would simply sit around and do nothing all day. There would be no labor to provide the services she wished for, no structure or order. Without the guiding hand of their betters, people would happily march to their own ruin, unaware that they were doing so.
The systems summoned Heroes described were simply too far-fetched to work; the most common was a system known as “democracy”, where each person was allowed to vote and choose who they wanted to lead them, and that alone should have been an indicator that the systems they described would never work. The people simply weren’t smart enough to elect individuals who would adequately lead them.
“With that, we would like to formally announce that any who wish to willingly join us will be welcomed; simply make your way west, and we will welcome you with open arms. Should you be unable to make the trip, stay where you are; we will reach you eventually. If you are forced to fight against us, all you need to do is to surrender. If you would be killed for surrendering, then put up only token resistance; our goal is to injure as few people as possible, and you will be taken without issue.
“For people in positions of importance, particularly nobles and rulers, we are open to negotiations, if you wish to ensure certain rights for your people are maintained or to surrender peacefully. Just know that we will not accept any deal which would involve you and your people not becoming part of the swarm, nor will we accept deals which would give any group of people more privileges than another; we wish for equality and freedom, not to trade one system of exploitation for another.”
The recording stopped, and the messenger stowed away the disc in a satchel, pulling out a letter in its stead. “At the same time as the message started playing, we received a reply from the Glens.” He said. “We have examined the letter thoroughly, of course, and it appears to be genuine in all aspects, and contains no magic of any sort.”
Marcus walked over and took the letter, opening it and beginning to read.
My friend Marcus, it read, by now you will likely have seen the announcement that has been sent out to all major cities. As it said, after much deliberation I decided to surrender. I know this seems sudden, but it truly was a hopeless situation for us.
As you might have surmised, we knew much more about the swarm than we were able to tell you about. The Oath I swore bound me to secrecy, and forced nonaggression between the Glens and the swarm. This alone would not have broken our resolve, and I truly did mean it when I offered to give whatever aid I could to you.
But…things changed after. As you may or may not have been aware, my daughter Meg was one of the Hero’s companions, and she too was converted when he was. Shortly after their confrontation, the swarm approached me, requesting she be allowed to return home.
I, of course, was not willing to take that risk, as much as it pained me to do so. However, the Goddess of Law herself assured me that it would be risk-free and that it truly was an altruistic gesture to ease her homesickness.
So, I let her return, and though she had changed, she was still mostly the same. Things proceeded on like that for a time, and she made many claims about the swarm, their power, and how their citizens were treated. I dismissed these notions as propaganda, but eventually she convinced my heir to ask for he and I to tour their base.
And we did. As we looked around, we realized that the things she had been saying were not simple propaganda, they were true. The people here are happy, the rulers benevolent and dedicated towards the betterment of everyone’s lives. More pressingly, her claims of military might were also true. They hold the capability to expand as the necromantic armies of old did, while retaining the personhood of those they convert, and even strengthening their abilities, instead of degrading them.
And, yes, Rose is indeed the reincarnation of the Ruby Emperor, the system itself confirms it with her Titles. In my multiple conversations with the Goddess of Law, not once did she deny that, despite her distaste of the swarm. As you may imagine, the subject is one of much debate for the gods, but they have chosen to let it persist, and if I am reading the Goddess of Law correctly, they believe it almost certain that the swarm will succeed in their conquest, and their doing anything that would force the gods to stop them is unlikely.
I was stuck, Marcus. My people would be forced to watch as the rest of the world fell little by little to the swarm, waiting until the nonaggression Oath expired and they too would be converted. This was something I could not in good conscience subject my people to, not when I had seen for myself that they would be treated well. I would advise seriously considering surrender, as I did; it will save you and your people much heartache in the future.
Respectfully yours, Nailah, Duchess of the Glens, formerly Brom, King of the Glens.
Marcus sighed deeply, pocketing the letter. Its contents couldn’t be trusted at all, not if the Glens truly had fallen. He had assumed they would have more time to gather their strength and assemble a combined army, but that wasn’t the case. Things had taken a grim turn, and he couldn’t help but worry for the future. Whatever happened…it wasn’t going to be pretty.