>>5314154INTERLUDE : Somewhere in Briberopolis
The court of the Elven Queen was abnormally calm. Her personal Chancellor, Vile Wickedson was walking in the gardens, looking at a finely sculpted gazebo that shielded a party of elven courtiers from the sun. Elves dominated at court and humans, while making the majority of the population, were in minority at the high council. Some resented this and wanted to go back to the times before the marriage of King Duped III to the elven queen, because this childless marriage made her inherit the throne but the chancellor disagreed. They were arrogant fools who did not understand that elves simply ruled better.
There were no squabbles to know who took power, every usurper and would be traitor had it's treason predicted by queen's seers and they were executed or killed in advance by well paid men. Then the elves ruled with their own intrigues and had trouble distinguishing humans from others so they let some families like the Wickedsons do what they wanted on the land, as long as they reinforced the centralisation of power against stupid feudal lords. The great cities were allowed to rule themselves and were not taxed because a new king needed to wage war to add a castle or some villages to his lands. No, truly, direct rule by elves was, in Vile's opinion, a pathway to prosperity. Some called his opinion subservience but he called it an understanding of modernity.
The stable government of the elves was the best way, in his opinion, to avoid the vile squabbles of the landed nobility and to attain a stable, united Bifuria who would be able to influence the politics of the Empire and who knows, maybe normalise people with evil alignments and put them in power while good elves would be the front of their rule.
It was when he was plunged deep in this thoughts that the Chancellor was met with a voice that he did recognize instantly.
-Ah, Rogue, nice to see you here, I was trying to meet you in this very moment.
It was the voice of Fentanil, the Queen's personal Archmage and the most powerful magic user in Bifuria. His long blond hair was decorated by an enjeweled diadem, he was one of the rare non landed nobles that had the right to wear such attribute and it's eyes revealed his immense wisdom. The Chancellor answered.
-Your Wisdom, I am sorry but I am not Rogue, I am Vile Wickedson, Rogue was the name of...
-Your father I suppose, I remember him yes, sorry it is simply that you humans live so fast that we have trouble keeping track, he...
-It was my grandfather, my father was Backstabber Wickedson.
-Hum... well, it happens.
The elf, an high elf of more than 8000 years old tried to smile ankwardly before saying.
-Anyway, our friends at the Norin Surveillance Array have found a strange magical disturbance in the baronny where another member of your family rules. Try to send some men to investigate, I will send Lexomil, my apprentice, to help them.
