Her Majesty's Swarm

The Smoldering Flames

At Saania, capital of the Popedom of Frantz...
“You’re saying the Kingdom of Maluk has fallen?” Pope Benedictus III, leader of the Popedom and head of the Church of Holy Light, received this troubling news in his office.
The aging clergyman represented the nation’s conservative faction, and he had been elected just a few years ago. Despite being ravaged by fits of illness, he had kept belief in the God of Light strong during his tenure. The Church of Holy Light advocated honorable frugality under the belief that a life of luxury was in opposition to God’s teachings.
Of course, the same clergymen who preached these sorts of beliefs would often receive monetary bribes from the nobility, who prompted them to bend the tenets in their favor. Divorce, adultery, and exploitation of the masses took place in the church behind the scenes.
The aging pope lacked the power to force his beliefs onto every member of the clergy—not because he didn’t have the authority, but because he didn’t have the resilience to withstand opposition. Illness and old age had weakened him, so he couldn’t rule over the church with the same iron fist as his predecessors. The corrupt priests knew this, so they obeyed the church’s doctrine on the surface while fashioning more wicked tenets in the shadows.
“Aye, Your Holiness,” answered the Pope’s right-hand man, Cardinal Paris Pamphilj. “Judging by the information we’ve received, a caravan tried to enter the Kingdom of Maluk three weeks ago, but the migrants aboard were attacked by monsters during their border inspection. Fortunately, they escaped with their lives. After that, they hired adventurers to investigate Maluk’s trade town of Leen, and it was found to be completely overrun by the same mysterious creatures.” The cardinal was a truly corrupt man. He had once been part of the reformist faction, which aimed to make the teachings of the church more flexible. When he changed his stance to conservative, he had asked everyone to recall and retain the teachings of the past. With the help of Schtraut bankers from the Eastern Trade Union, he had climbed to the position of cardinal.
Following that, he went on to behave as if he’d always been part of the conservative party, skillfully and eloquently moving up the ranks until he became the right hand of the pope. Much like the other crooked members of the church, he accepted bribes and preached whatever his noble backers wanted the citizens to hear. Pope Benedictus III knew nothing of this,
however, and still had a great deal of trust in the man.
Still, Paris had yet to return the funds he had borrowed from the Dukedom of Schtraut’s bankers. The same held true for the pope, who had accepted a loan from them upon his nomination.
“What of their capital, Siglia? Has it fallen as well?” asked the pope.
“We don’t yet know for sure, but the situation seems dismal. We’re unable to contact our ambassador there, and I’m afraid the lack of liberation efforts on behalf of a large city like Leen can only mean one thing.” “If that is true, we should have sent them a relief party sooner. We assumed mere monsters wouldn’t topple a strong country like Maluk... a grave mistake on our part. Oh, God of Light in the heavens, protect us all.” The Kingdom of Maluk had sent a request for military aid to the Popedom, and the latter had promptly begun preparing its army. The nation had hired mercenaries, prepared a supply train, and said its prayers. In fact,
the reinforcements’ preparations had been progressing smoothly.
However, it had all turned out to be for naught. While the Popedom of Frantz was slowly preparing to set out, the Kingdom of Maluk had been destroyed by the army of monsters. From an outside perspective, it had all happened in the blink of an eye.
So the Popedom had intended to send out forces, but with what degree of urgency? Corrupt dignitaries like Paris were embezzling the expedition funds, and the pope himself hadn’t thought the situation was all that serious.
Monster attacks happened fairly often, after all, and the Kingdom of Maluk had brave paladins blessed by the God of Light who were more than capable of dispatching any unruly beasts. Everyone had faith in their abilities,
including Paris and Benedictus III.
Reality, however, proved otherwise. The army of monsters had swallowed up the Kingdom of Maluk. Now the Popedom was faced with not just preventing the Empire of Nyrnal’s expansion in the south, but facing the creatures as well.
“How should we respond to this?” asked the pope, still reeling.
“First we must get a handle on the current state of the Kingdom. Sending an army when we know so little of the enemy—that is, the mysterious beasts that attacked Maluk—would be reckless. Let us have the adventurers scout for us.” “Right... There may be some survivors. Increase the adventurers’ reward and have them thoroughly investigate the Kingdom. Tell them to find out what happened, and who—or what—was behind the attack.” An adventurer was something of a half-mercenary. Unlike mercenaries,
however, adventurers didn’t form large groups, preferring to operate in parties of sixteen at most. They were survival specialists, capable of exploring and infiltrating areas off-limits for most mercenaries. Their primary job was to slay monsters.
Monster hunting was a profession monopolized by the adventurers’ guild,
and mercenaries were forbidden from partaking. As such, when it came to fighting monsters, adventurers had the most experience, knowledge, and skill.
“We must also summon the International Council. We may not yet know who attacked the Kingdom of Maluk, but whoever they are, they have enough might to defeat a very powerful nation. We would be reckless to face them alone.” “Be that as it may, I do not like the idea of asking the Empire of Nyrnal for help. The Empire has continuously ignored our requests to mediate peace and instead continued their aggression, and now the entirety of the south is in their grasp. I can only see them sowing conflict in the International Council.” The Nyrnal Empire was the strongest force on the continent, and while it worshipped the God of Light, it often spurned the church standing at the center of the religion. Time and time again, the pope had attempted to negotiate with the Empire in order to protect the smaller southern nations, but each time the Empire had instead pushed onward to conquer its opponents altogether.
As far as the Popedom of Frantz was concerned, the Empire was a land of faithless infidels who only worshipped the God of Light on the surface. It was a nation of haughty militarism that was fond of committing all kinds of atrocities in order to expand. The people of the Popedom looked down upon the Empire with scorn, even though the Popedom itself had offered aid to the assailed southern nations only to abandon them in the end.
No, the truth was even crueler than that: Paris had tried to take advantage of those countries’ plight to extort them for money, claiming the God of Light would grant them His protection in exchange for donations... and the sum he requested was always quite vast. In a sense, the Popedom had eaten away at the southern countries.
“The Empire of Nyrnal also shares a border with the Kingdom of Maluk.
Their neighboring country was conquered by an unknown force, and so they should strive to action and stand alongside us. If they don’t, they might be next in line for invasion,” said Paris.
“True. It is time they acknowledge our authority. We are all one under the God of Light.” The pope made a mental note to press the Empire to agree to form a unified front during the council. Its military power couldn’t be denied, of course; the Empire held the unified south under its control, and it was vigilantly eyeing the north for a chance to invade.
“Incidentally, what of the elves? Our report says the monsters originated from the center of the elves’ forest.” “As far as we know, they still follow the path of heretics. They have not accepted the God of Light into their hearts, and instead look up to their savage forest gods and offer them frequent sacrifices. There is no hope of saving them with our teachings. Those sheep, if you can even call them that,
will remain lost.” Like many other humans, those in the Popedom saw the elves as savages.
In fact, they were actually the source of the many unfounded rumors about elves, which had been spread as propaganda to reinforce the God of Light as the one true deity.
Of course, not everyone believed them. Some elves were able to live in the Empire of Nyrnal, however poorly, through trading. They also had citizens’ rights in the Dukedom of Schtraut, even if they were part of the lowest social class. Only the Popedom and the Kingdom of Maluk completely denied the elves of all rights.
“When should we hold the International Council, then?” “After we finish making the proper arrangements with the Empire, I’d say. We need to arrange things properly so they don’t cause a ruckus. We may have to give them some... incentive to do so, though. Do you approve, Your Holiness?” “Yes, that is fine. Money is a given in negotiations.” Words alone would not convince the Empire, so a great deal of money would be needed in times like these. If given enough, Nyrnal’s ambassador would allow the council to proceed undisturbed, at the very least.
“I’ll get right to it, then.” “Wait. Deploying adventurers is fine, but shouldn’t we conduct our own investigation as well?” “Are you referring to the Fourth Mystical Research Section?” “Yes. We should have them look into the Empire of Nyrnal, the elves, and the Kingdom of Maluk.” The Mystical Research Division was in charge of the Popedom’s intelligence. It was split into sections, with the fourth handling undercover,
top-secret intelligence. They dealt in so-called “dirty work,” which at times even included assassination.
“Understood. I will have them hold a covert investigation, then.” “Please do.” And so, the Popedom of Frantz began operating in secret... but they were not the only ones making preparations.