“Men, not gods, bore fire into heaven.”
– The sage Aldoon in the wake of the first Ril Dyaran invasion of Leikonsir. Thought to be his final teaching before his arrest and execution for subversion against the crown.
A World in Sunder story, and sequel to In Sunder
The land of Ril Dyara lies shattered. After decades of wanton, imperialist kings and ill-starred wars with the peaceable realms of the south, the once-prosperous kingdom burned under the torches of two opposing forces: the royalist Halberds, loyal to the throne, and the rebel Pikestaffs, who sought the overthrow of the war-mongering monarchy.
The civil war ended with the capture of the last king – Aderelan Un-Crowned, unmasked and taken into Pikestaff custody while journeying in disguise to the capital to take up his new-elected office. By this unexpected coup the rebels forced the royalists to a decisive defeat at the negotiating table, lighting at last the flame of enlightened rule in the historically monarchic nation.
And enlightened men know to make peace for past trespasses.
Even as the long, slow healing of the realm begins, embassies ride forth from the Triumphant Gates of Ril Dyara’s great capital. By many roads they will travel, retracing the steps of bygone forefathers and invaders, to deliver unto the nations of the south a message as extraordinary as it is simple: war no more. The Ever Triumphant Realm, mighty Dragon of the North, humbles itself – and seeks peaceful accord for the ages to come.
Highborn and low, patrician and peasant – there are none that do not find representation among these envoys, these faces of the new Ril Dyara. Some go for the honor and reward of service with the new regime, others for the wonder of distant lands, and still others for reasons known to none but themselves: a call of the spirit, or a chance at a new life, or perhaps a last journey before the long sleep.
And there is none so deserving of such a deputation as Leikonsir: the Garden of the Gods, land of plenty and victim of a century of Ril Dyaran aggression. Only the worthiest of the new regime’s olive branch-bearers will be found in this embassy, for therein lies much it has to lose…
…and much to fear, for as the sages said of old, one assails heaven at one’s own peril.
Hosted and narrated by:
Syrmaticus
Completed 06/18/18.
Scenes played: 6
License: Community License
