Board Thread:Roleplaying/@comment-5583506-20161225200655/@comment-5583506-20170307012942

"I suppose we could gather scrap parts from our workshops by picking apart some of the machinery, but their cogwheels aren't the most reliable, seeing as they aren't meant to maneuver huge siege weapons."

"If push comes to shove, we will have to fight the Beasts ourselves", said Myrdana. "Either way, you have your instructions, mayor. Work fast and effeciently. The Beasts might be here come nightfall... or even earlier. Maybe tomorrow?"

"Understood", said the mayor with a deep breath, as if he was internally screaming. Yet he seemed oddly calm about the fact that his life and thousands of others were at stake. "The Outsiders will be taken inside, but I expect every capable man and woman to fight for our city. Our supplies are able to sustain the entire populace for a week, yet we are short on any equipment meant for warfare."

"We will think of something", Myrdana assured him as they left the mayor's office when the man desperately began to write reports and orders. "This isn't good", she told Mongo. "Out of all the cities, Saarthal just had to be the worst possible candidate to set up defenses for. And we are only two Beast Slayers with a storage room full of potentially faulty equipment."



It was quite the gathering over at the courtyard. Nyx and Falana had reached a balcony overlooking the masses.

"Let's see how our new regent fares", Falana shrugged.



Evelyne nodded and started to head for the courtyard, feeling anxious about what she wanted to say. She knew what she wanted to tell them, but her self-esteem wasn't exactly the highest. As she ventured out onto the courtyard she became aware of a huge gathering of Beast Slayers. Having been told of their current situation, all their eyes became fixed on her. It made her shy away for a brief moment before she followed in Trymir's footsteps.

Trymir looked at her expectantly as she reluctantly stepped forward, her legs quivering. "Uhm... hi there..." she began.

She felt ridiculuous. She had worked with these people for years and yet all of a sudden she felt as if she was among strangers.

"I am... well... I am certain that most of you know me already... but to those of you who don't, I am Evelyne. I am... a former Outsider, as many of us once were. I came from a small tribe. And... I am just as surprised and shocked by these recent events as I am sure that many of you are."

There was total silence amidst the courtyard. For a moment she thought that they would all burst out laughing at her, or booing at her. Any reaction! But they all just stood there, arms behind their backs, disciplined and curious to hear what this young woman had to say that was so important.

"Well, the recent surprise is that I am apparently... the last known descendant of the First and the Last King, which according to whatever rules that can still be applied to this torn world would make me your Queen."

Some of the Beast Slayers exchanged gazes, not certain whether they should say something or ask questions, instead they just expected Evelyne to keep her speech flowing.

"Look, I am... I am no different than any of you. I have fought beside several of you, trained with you. I don't feel comfortable with this situation. It was sort of thrown into my lap as soon as the truth became known. But what I feel about this whole ordeal matters little when I can make use of this position to put things right. And I do want to put things right."

<p style="font-weight:normal;">She tried to steady her shaking legs, but they refused to do so. Instead she began to make gestures with her hands to keep them distracted from the fact that she was terrified.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">"As we speak, the Imperial Legion has literally unleashed the Beasts that will be our doom unless we make a stand. From the east they will come. Hundreds upon hundreds of gigantic man-eating monsters with naught but a single thought on their mind; to bring down civilization as we know it. To pave the way so that the Imperial Legion can march in and claim what we once owed, fine with forgetting the fact that we ever existed. I, however, will not stand for this. I am not proud nor content with the idea of becoming nothing but a page in someone else's history book. The Imperial Legion has the intention to run us all to the ground in the belief that the future will blossom. And perhaps they are right. But a blossoming future for whom exactly, when we are all dead?"

<p style="font-weight:normal;">Evelyne smacked with her lips, feeling somewhat braver now as she became more angry the more she gave the idea some thought. Just thinking about the Imperial Legion had made her blood start to boil. How she hated them!

<p style="font-weight:normal;">"Thus I will accept this crown, if you will have me. If there is the least good I can do for this world in the position as its First Queen, then it will be to not only destroy the Beasts, but also to make sure that this treachery against mankind will not go unpunished. If I am your Queen and you are my people, my subjects, my children, then how am I supposed to let us all be destroyed just to fulfill the bloodstained dream of this ancient relic from the days before the Year of the Giants?"

<p style="font-weight:normal;">The Beast Slayers began to look warily at each other as if they were wondering whether they were expected to voice their opinions on the matter or not, but before they could do so Evelyne spoke again.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">"Of course not!" she exclaimed, rather aggressively. "This is my kingdom!" she proclaimed. "These are my people! City-Dwellers, Outsiders and Beast Slayers alike! You are all my people! An attack against any of you is just as insulting as a direct attack against me! The Imperial Legion has waged war against me by wanting to harm you, and vice versa! This is not a cause to sympathize with! This is a matter of extinction! The Thalmor tried to do the same hundreds of years ago and how did the Imperial Legion reply? By creating the very monsters that laid our world to waste! When my forefather tried to re-establish a new and peaceful realm from its ashes, by founding the cities and the very faction to which we all owe our lives, they had him assassinated! They sow the seed of distrust amongst the City-Dwellers and the Outsiders! They sought to tear us apart from the inside! And now, they have finally pushed their boundaries. They want to wipe us from the face of Nirn! This is a declaration of war! And in my right as your Queen, your protector, I will happily accept this challenge and reply in kind!"

<p style="font-weight:normal;">Evelyne finally steadied herself and straightened her back. "My orders, fellow Beast Slayers, are as following. You are to ride out to every city within two days' ride on horseback. You are to tell their mayors to let any nearby Outsider tribes into their gates. You are to tell them to muster their battlements and prepare for a large-scale assault. You are to protect them with your lives. Any lives lost, whether it be City-Dweller, Outsider or Beast Slayer will be a direct hit against the very heart that is this world, and I refuse to let it be bled. From this day forth the Imperial Legion are to be considered enemies of mankind. My reply to their declaration of war will be this: we will not bow. We will not submit to our own destruction for the sake of your selfishness. We will not yield. For this world, as cruel and wicked as it may be, it's still the only world we've got... and it's worth every ounce it's fought for."

<p style="font-weight:normal;">Evelyne swallowed hard and loosened her stance a bit, making it visually clear that she had nothing further to add. There was a moment of brief silence before the masses broke out in cheering, echoing all over the courtyard as hundreds of Beast Slayers called her by name.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">"Hail Queen Evelyne!" they cheered. "Hail the First Queen! Long may she reign!"

<p style="font-weight:normal;">Evelyne looked somewhat anxiously over at Trymir who just smiled subtly under his thick moustache, making a slight bow with his head as a token of respect. She then traced her eyes over to Ran'Jinro in the distance, sporting a new limb made out of steel. Her eyes wandered as she sought to find the faces most familiar to her. Ja'Keil...

<p style="font-weight:normal;">''From this day forward, the world will never be the same... ''she reflected.