The Mentalicus

The Reign of Nikolai IV

     Nikolai IV's coronation was a rebirth of our fair nation. Peace on this level had not been known for over three hundred years. But the enemy armies still lived in many places. So began the Second Civil War.

     Nikolai had enlisted new lieutenants when Varius and Argo had declared they would prefer to retire from war. These were the great military leaders Scorpion and Aleksandr von Carstein, who are now the Grand Dukes Scorpio Alighieri and Aleksandr von Carstein (Aleksandr was never very creative).

      The future Duke Jeffery Killer (pronounced key-air) too entered our world at this point. He came to King Nikolai IV as a servant and an assassin. Nikolai took him into his service, alongside Arkhort the Tigretyr (a great beast, with the upper body and head of a strong man, and the legs and tail(s) of a tiger). These two began to grow in power, and the Duchys began to take shape. However, the king held total power over these, and the dukes had yet to be appointed.

     The Second Civil War only lasted about twelve years. The enemy armies were driven off, and those loyal to Nikolai III slaughtered. The enemy armies were finally destroyed in the eleventh year of the reign of Nikolai IV. With only minor factions left, the enemy was soon destroyed. Slaanesh appealed to the new king's mercy, and was pardoned. Sauronsbane was killed by Malekith. Shortly after this, Malekith fell into madness, and was destroyed with the Great Shift (more on that later).

      The king soon regretted trusting Slaanesh, and had him imprisoned. Sauronsbane returned in new form, but was imprisoned as well. When they attempted to escape, they were killed. It was at this time that the horses Atharis and Thunderbolt came to the king, a conjuration of the king's mind in coalition with the power of Jesus. This was about the fortieth year of the reign of Nikolai IV.

      Atharis and Thunderbolt were great, but a new phenomenon, not seen in four hundred years, came at last: the king had found a queen: Artemis (later the wife of Scorpio Alighieri). She was (is) a brilliant archer, and a powerful woman. She was given a bow that shot arrows that exploded with force equal to that of what those on the Outside would call a nuclear bomb. Then, in the seventy-third year of the reign of Nikolai IV, the greatest shock ever to cross the kingdom in the time of a godly king occurred: Nikolai IV "broke up with" Artemis (they were never married), and selected a new queen: Misao (later the wife of his successor, High Duke Nikolai V Dragonslayer Khan (Dragonslayer is his surname)). This was a year before the Great Shift (eighty-sixth year of the reign of Nikolai IV).

     The Great Shift was an event that killed or "unincarnated" (meaning they were not killed but removed from bodily form temporarily) almost everyone in the world. Only the king and a few trusted confidantes survived. It was a time that included much change. It was at this time that Nikolai IV built the framework for our modern military system, but at the cost of one thing: those who did not accept Jesus entered into a state known only as "ethereality." It was in this maddened state that Nikolai IV, riding Atharis, challenged the Dragons: fear, worry, anger, unforgiveness, guilt, and pride. Pride and fear fell quickly, but unforgiveness, guilt, worry, and, most of all, anger, stood strong.

     This is where this chapter of our tale reaches its ended. Jesus began to take more power in Nikolai's life, and the Dragon of anger refused to allow this. The king fought hard, but, shortly after the reparation of the Great Shift, the king fell in battle. His successor, some say, is him reincarnated, but most doubt it. This one is humble, but strong, and he actually killed anger and worry for a while. Anger returned. But this story is continued in the next chapter.