Peace Conference and Conclusion, 10 to 12 Aval 2000

10 Aval

Durin Word of Recalls Gaius to Dwarf Hold.

11 Aval

One of Durin's Dwarf Planists Teleports them to Kuntax, where they enlist the help of the Temple of FIDAR to organise a Peace Conference for the Valdrean Civil War.

Gaius says Kuntax should be where the negotiations take place, because worship of all the major Deities takes place there. With FIDAR to guarantee a cease-fire, they invite the key players in the Valdrean Civil War to an emergency meeting. These include representatives of LOFIR and SARAN, but also KOROS and ESCUS, and the other Gods formerly legally worshipped in the Empire. Invites are delivered to each of the main Temples in Kuntax, and the meeting scheduled for the following day. Also, all of the original 6 conspirators with Decus of Mastrin are invited (those who are still alive anyway).

Gaius proposes to make a speech about how the world is still in terrible danger, and that they must stop the Civil War. The last Emperor that he knows about was Decus XXI of Mastrin. If he is still alive and still Emperor, then he is presumably empowered (under emergency powers?) to declare a Tournament as a valid way to determine the new Emperor. The Tournament should be held within 24 hours, and should be on a knock-out basis. There is no way that Chaotics are going to be eligible for Emperorship, but any Chaotic powerful enough could presumably impersonate one of the other contestants. Namaja has already demonstrated his talents in this regard. Behind the scenes there can be some Truesighting, scrying, etc. to check the bona fides of the contestants, but there's no point in being too up front about it. As Kuntax doesn't have Arenas, he proposes that the Tournament venue should be Hapral. All contestants will be obliged to swear that they will abide by the results, and support the Emperor in the (re-)establishment of (Evil) Law in Valdrea.

12 Aval

The following factions respond:

Marcus of Tarm, Titus of Jalaskir, Comus of Carrilon and Jensel of Satril, High Priest of KOROS in Valdrea, all attend the Peace Conference and declare themselves willing to participate in such a Tournament and to abide by the results. Marcus has already issued a Challenge to Decus XXI for the Lion Throne, but was unable to see him in person at Torel. He expects Decus will fail to show up (as he has become the puppet of LOFIR), and Marcus will therefore become Emperor by forfeit.
Castor of Bavenne has named Narsus VI of Aven, Decus XXI of Mastrin and Gaius of Satril as traitors to the Empire, and considers they should all be put on trial. He has also sent a challenge to Decus XXI for the Lion Throne. He holds a warrant for the arrest of Gaius of Satril for the use of Demon Summoning to conceal the obscene conspiracy made with LOFIR and Her servants. But, he says, Demon Summoning is the least of the crimes that Gaius must answer. Out of respect for the Temple of FIDAR, he will not seek to execute the warrant here. He is however, willing to participate in a Tournament for the sake of re-establishing the Law, though he urges strongly that the victor should put all traitors on trial.
Narsus VI of Aven sends a message, which reads "As acting Emperor of the Third Empire of SARAN, I have denounced Decus XXI (formerly of Mastrin), Gaius the Younger (formerly of Satril) and their co-conspirators as traitors who were responsible for the heinous attack on SARAN and Her Lawful Second Empire and the mass murder of citizens of Valdran. There can be no negotiation with traitors, mass-murderers and Evils. They must surrender themselves to the Sun Chamber of the Rainbow Court for trial. Once justice has been done, I agree that a Tournament should be held to determine the new Emperor. I have no interest in participating myself, and would stand down in favour of the victor."
Decus XXI of Mastrin sends a message, which reads "I, Decus XXI of Mastrin, Emperor of the Valdrean Empire of LOFIR and SARAN, have temporarily suspended Duelling by Imperial Decree, so that the Nobility may concentrate on the re-establishment of Order within the Empire. However, I am willing to permit Duels to be held for the positions of Under-Emperors of the Central, Northern, Eastern and Southern Provinces respectively. Those Under-Emperors must swear fealty to myself, as Emperor, recognise each other, permit the worship of LOFIR within their Provinces and outlaw Chaotics. It will be their responsibility to re-establish Order within their Provinces. The Western Provinces will remain under my direct rule from the Imperial Capital in Torel."
Protector Jarno of the Independent Protectorate of the Three Rivers responds via the Temple of RAYLIT to say that the Protectorate is no longer part of the Valdrean Empire (literally so, as it now lies outside the Dyke of SARAN) and they want no further part in any tournaments or the politics of the Valdrean Empire, thank you. However, Jarno proposes a military alliance with Marcus against the forces of LOFIR, which are threatening both of them. He will recognise Marcus as Emperor if Marcus recognises the Protectorate's independence.
The High Priestess of DALA in Kuntax says that she has been asked by the Open Temple of DALA City (formerly known as Valdran) to tell them that the Nobility have failed the People, who will elect their own leaders in future, thank you very much. They also asked her to warn Gaius and the others that any Nobles who survived the Destruction are being summarily executed by the mob in DALA City, though the Open Temple do not condone this.

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Gaius is in Kuntax with 100GP. He's been declared a traitor, has voluntarily given up worship of the God Whom he worshipped for most of his life. And the world is falling apart anyway but no one wants to fix it.

He wonders what's the extradition situation from Kuntax to Valdrea? He thinks he had better go into hiding as soon as he hears the responses from Valdrea.

But he refuses to give up.

He realizes that he is a flawed individual, and is in the process of losing everything. But something in his make-up is stubborn. He is an individualist. The force that led him to become a worshipper of KOROS in a culture dominated by SARAN.

Plan A was get WAGREN to destroy Namaja. Plan B was to take up the worship of LOFIR to destroy Namaja. Both of those failed.

That leaves Plan C. C for Chaos. It's the only chance left. It will cost him the friendship of Durin, which is one of the only things of value that he has left, but Gaius is getting used to losing things these days.

He prays to LOFIR. "Thank You for everything. I am grateful and respectful for everything You have given me. But these are desperate times, and the only path that can stop the world from disintegrating into Chaos takes me away from You."

He takes his Ft out of LOFIR.

He offers his Ft to KOROS.

He prays to KOROS. "For reasons that You must understand, I can only offer my Ft for a short time. I do this out of respect - Your path is the one true way for me, but it is not the path that I can follow now. I am offering You my Ft for a short period so that You can get an update of all that has happened recently, and possibly to say goodbye if I fail. Thank You for everything. Out of all the paths to save the world which You have shown me, the only one which can now work is to try to see if I can make some Law out of Chaos. I hope to return to Your worship at another, more stable time. Some day I hope to visit You in the House of Karma. It is my ambition to be alive when I do so, but even for my soul to succeed in returning dead to You is not clear at this time."

He takes his Ft out of KOROS.

He goes to the Temple of DALA in Kuntax. As he walks there, part of his mind is still on the main chance. All his plans and scheming have come to nothing.

Perhaps the world will not disintegrate into Chaos, but can adjust to a new form, in which nevertheless Chaos is more powerful than before. In which case being a ChaosMaster - whatever one of those is - is surely the way forward. And in Namaja (who might not be the kind to bear a grudge) Gaius might find a good teacher.

But at some level Gaius understands that to enter the world of Chaos does not require a teacher. The lesson is in what Namaja has shown. That working with Chaos is a bit like being a bird - rising on the winds and currents. It involves letting go. But even that metaphor is inadequate somehow, because the rising on the winds somehow moulds those winds and sets them on new paths. All without thinking, all without planning and scheming.

He idly wonders if the device he wears which is Prot Law/Prot Chaos might transmogrify itself in Chaos into something which helps merge the two together - and where there is a preponderance of one, might start to turn into the other. But this is idle speculation, he acknowledges. It is best to stalk a prize in Chaos out of the corner of one's eye. Not to look at it directly. He hopes to be surprised.

There is more for Gaius to unlearn than there is to learn.

And so Gaius walks into the Temple of DALA. Above all the other emotions, there is an excitement as to what is to come, and a gratitude that he has had a chance to be witness to these amazing events and a chance to participate. He can find Chaos anywhere - in a Temple of DALA, in a Temple of SARAN, on a beach in the Kingdom of the North, and he can travel from anywhere to anywhere. But the Temple of DALA will do for a start. He would like to meet Namaja again, and say: "let's be friends" or maybe "let's be penguins".

His last thought before he abandons all expectations is a Hope that he still has a die roll's chance to save the World.

He offers his Ft to DALA, and decides on a whim that Igusa is a nice name.

S07%...

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DM's Conclusion

What may have happened to Gaius in Chaos is not recorded. It was a brave attempt, but submitting oneself to Chaos (as he had to do) is risky.

The World did indeed fall apart into a World of Chaos. But it did not dissolve away completely. There was still enough Law left to prevent that. The Balance had however tipped irretrievably in favour of Chaos. It became a fractured reality. There was no fixed structure and there were no firm rules. Everywhere was like one was ChaosWalking.

The Valdrean Empire was either no more, or had become a number of successor Empires, which warred with each other when they came into conjunction. The protagonists in the Civil War had missed their chance to make Peace. The Narsus / SARAN faction and Decus / LOFIR faction were both intransigent, but Marcus and Titus held the balance of power with their command of the majority of the Army and Navy. If they, and Castor too, had put aside their pride and submitted to one of the other two main factions, they could perhaps have done a deal which would have spared themselves and beaten the other faction in the field. That might have been sufficient to rebuild sufficient Law to hold the World together, but it might also have been too little, too late.

Decus' invitation to LOFIR to Destroy the Law was a brave attempt, but failed to appreciate that the Chaos was an equal problem and that taking out the heart of the Valdrean Empire and allying with LOFIR would effectively destroy the whole Empire - not just the Sacred City. Without the Law which the Empire represented, the Balance tipped further in favour of Chaos. At least he stopped the Sun Diamond subsuming all the Law, which allowed some form of Reality to survive.

Gaius', Durin's and Tasariwen's first trip into Chaos had offered the best chance of success, but they were not the ideal team for the mission, and they allowed themselves to be misled by Namaja. He lied when he said it wasn't a Duel. They needed to kill him, just as the original Champions had killed his twin brother in the Duel for the Lion Throne. The victor in such a Duel had the opportunity to become ArchChaosMaster in his place, and to use that position to restore the Balance. Durin, as an arch-Paladin, could never have done that, but Gaius maybe could - as his final plot demonstrated. He was just unlucky on his second attempt.

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