The Legend of Immigration

Distopiskā Valstība

King Arthur has died. He was two hundred and one years old. His chosen heir was introduced to the nobles the day before, and they thought little of the young prince. He was elevated from anonymity to royalty, after all. But it irritated them that their sons were ignored as candidates to succeed Arthur. The day after the funeral, James ascended to the throne of Dragnof in a ceremony that was unattended due to the public's fear of him emulating Arthur. It soon came true when the news reached him through word of mouth. He was very angry at the nobles because they disrespected his "father". But he was most furious at his people for disregarding him. So, he thought to himself, if they want a monster, they got one. A scribe was summoned without prior warning to draft a bill that would criminalise the disrespect of the king when he dies. When the law was reluctantly passed, half of Dragnof's human inhabitants were arrested without due process. In a series of show trials in which they were accused of ridiculous offenses, King James I sentenced them to death by fire. Their bodies were laid in a mass grave that his soldiers dug the night before, then ignited in flames. This wasn't ordinary fire, it was the fire of a dragon named Igneel. James I gave him the honorary title of Vizier of the Dragons in return. This meant that Igneel was second in the chain of authority behind the king, his wife, and his son. But James shared his "father's" paranoia, so he discretely sent spies to gather intelligence on Igneel's personal life. It was to use a leverage to force his loyalty, should he turn against him. Nonetheless, the first one hundred days in his reign were uneventful. James was content with keeping the aristocrats at arm's length, knowing how corrupt they were. But they were his key to legitimising his right to the throne against his rivals.

Fiore was the most vocal of them all, because King Methodius I searched desperately for leverage to use against Dragnof. So James resolved to keep legislation secret beyond his kingdom's borders under the threat of death. From now on, you were not allowed to disclose any information about him to foreigners, not even his closest allies in Pergrande. It was a precarious alliance, at best for King Tristan II sought to gain influence on political developments in Dragnof. But one day James found himself with another potential ally in another rival of Methodius. Emperor Bête I of the Alvarez Empire had fallen out with Fiore's delegates over trading rights, for he wanted to take advantage of his country's geographic position and gain economic concessions from them. The alliance broke off and the shrewd emperor turned to James as a new trade partner. In the beginning, they were moderate. The Alvarez Empire has requested the right to ship goods and construct a trading hub at the ports of Dragnof, while seeking legitimacy for their claim. James assented, but was subsequently disheartened to learn that Bête had additional requests for him. Failure to provide them immediately would result in the initiation of an invasion. His seriousness was demonstrated by the thirty thousand airships that halted near the northern coast. James commanded his ministers to adhere strictly to the Emperor's demands. The tension escalated into skirmishes when one of the Emperor's demands were not met in time. Nine thousand soldiers from the royal military and only nine hundred from the imperial army were lost in the conflict. The conclusion of the skirmishes in favour of Bête's forces afforded him greater latitude to exact further demands, which were even more humiliating from James' perspective. Bête was happier to note the fact that he succeeded in winning a lot of concessions from his "ally".

It could be argued that their alliance was more akin to a colonisation by Alvarez. James was frustrated at his ally's disregard for his personal freedom, but there was nothing he could do. He had no choice but to watch Alvarez get more and more powerful. It wasn't long until the Empire grew way too powerful for comfort, so he searched for support in his campaign to limit Bête's ego. King Methodius of Fiore happily threw his support, because he saw it as a chance for revenge. Together, they launched a propaganda campaign in Alakitasia that painted the Emperor as a tyrant. But he did not let it get to him, because he fought back by closing trading hubs to Ishgarian merchants exporting their country's goods. So tensions began to rise at an alarming rate when the three leaders met in Boston for a meeting. War broke out in just three-months' time, surprising the harshest of critics. So they mobilised for a campaign of ransacking each other. Emperor Bête ordered his men to set sail, then bomb all of Ishgar to rubble. Secretly, he met with the Spriggan 12, a band of mercenaries loyal to the Emperor, and gave them a top-secret mission. Kill King James and make it look like an accident, then come back to base. They were teleported to Boston where they disguised as recruits for the military. When their leader, August, met the king for the first time, he unsheathed his magic sword, then stabbed James in the heart. It was a fatal hit, for he died instantly. 

Before the courtesans could find out what happened, the Twelve teleported back to Vistarion. The date of the attack was on Christmas Day, X430 CE. Five months later, his funeral was held at the same church as Arthur's. He did not leave behind his choice for an heir, so the nobles squabbled for months, until an ambassador from Alvarez arrived by ship. Right out of the blue, he chose a young barber in his one hundred and thirties to be king. His name was Jack Normoyle and he did not have experience in politics or public relations. The aristocracy fiercely protested the ambassador's decision, but there was nothing they could do. A powerful nobleman was held hostage until they gave up. So Jack was crowned King Nicodemus I. He was forced to sell his barbershop to his brother, then discuss marriage offers with the nobles. He chose the daughter of an anonymous nobleman to marry and she was crowned Queen of Dragnof. The newlyweds were happy in their marriage, but it soured when news of his wife's infidelity arose by her own peers in the nobility. Instead of filing for divorce with the Church, he had the instigators killed. It was a double-edged sword for their families demanded retribution by him stepping down from the throne. But Nicodemus refused to budge, so they revolted for months, threatening to find and kill him. Instead, he hired mercenaries from a gang of pirates to assassinate them one by one. In a court of law, the blame would fall on them. When the purges ended, the human population was reduced by fifty-seven percent. So the dragon population gained a lot more influence on the government. Years have passed and Nicodemus was now in his one hundred and fifties and had found an heir, a lawyer named Tristan H. Harrison Jr. Nick died, leaving Tristan as king. For generations since King Tristan's coronation, his family line ruled Dragnof with an iron fist. Freedoms were limited and people could not disrespect his decisions, or they would be executed. So, they all lived happily ever after.

La Fine.