Acedic Autocrats

Prologue

Some empires fall because different families want different things. However, in this instance, this once great empire fell because of two Fratres who wanted the same thing. The Hyperion Throne. This decades-long age of darkness, famine, and betrayal became known in the Hyperion Empire...as the "Decades of Darkness."

A butch therian walked towards the palace and saw a witch being attacked. He jumped in the middle of the two and scared off the attacker. Two days later the witch exited that same palace and saw that his attacker was back for revenge.

That time however was different. The attacker ran pass him and attacked the butch who'd attacked him two days prior. His friend cried out for help and revealed that he's the witch's long-lost son and simply wished to be closer to his father.

The witch however didn't share the same sentiment. He didn't want to acknowledge his son for he feared it'd ruin his reputation. But even more so he had a great level of apathy towards his Avunculus, the therian's Avunculus Magnus who had raised the young therian after the witch killed his wife.

Leaning down to his son's level, he whispered. "You'll never defeat me." The witch gave a nod to the masked marauder who proceeded to remove his mask. The young therian gasped in horror, standing above him under the light of the moon was the Tartaryn Princeps Accidiae, Rashid Clawthorn.

A terrifying thought is it not, to be betrayed by one's own Pater, one of two creatures one would expect to be able to trust most This particular passage however was from the Peccata Patris Volume I, the first in series of five plays, each written by the mentees of the great playwright Plautus.

As with many plays, Peccata Patris was adapted from the book series of the same name, each volume telling the tale of the five cruelest, most power-hungry rulers in the Hyperion Empire's history and the many awful deeds they performed to gain and more importantly keep that power.

Several years after its success, the series received a sequel when the five authors came together once more to publish there more famous series, Comoedia Divina. While Peccata Patris tackled the corruption of five Reges, and their entanglements with Daimonium Princeps, Comoedia Divina discusses their sons' journeys to defeat them. And yes, these quests involve the five angeloses.

Going back to the passage I'd just read, it was actually written as the end of the first volume where, after several long years of cementing his power and silencing his opponents, the Imperator knew that the only threat left was his son and heir, so the Imperator and Antecessorem Suum Daimonium devised a similar plan to the one in the book.

Comoedia Divina Volume 1 takes place immediately after. I'll discuss the entire story book in the next tale but it's the same concept where, at the start of each volume in Comoedia Divina, the protagonists survive their Paters attempt at murdering them and wake up on Mount Olympos where they're greeted by their immortal ancestors.

After several minutes of introductions and consoling, the former rulers would send their descendant on a quest to vanquish the daimon plaguing the empire. To do so they had to journey through the fires of Tarturus, climb the Asphodel Mounten, and explore the Elysian Fields to find the only witches capable of performing the necessary spells, the first queens and Imperatrix.

I hadn't mentioned this during the first tale but the five object, Mea Femina Propinquis received from the gods had a second purpose. Though it'd thankfully never came down to it, if Masculum Propinquis Meis ever lost control and couldn't be stopped, the heavenly relics would glow, and Mea Femina Propinquis would've had to use them to cast their mates into Tartarus.

When Mea Femina Propinquis died, my godparents decided to hide each object in secret locations that only three out the twelve of them knew, and forbade each other from disclosing that information with one another. My Avunculus Hyperion also partook in this endeavor, hiding his mystical compass in a place accessible only to the late Imperatrix herself.

Once the relics were hidden, the thirteen of them conveyed the information to Mea Nuper Mater Et Amitae and instructed them to only use their respective relics during emergencies and were also tasked with guarding The Asphodel Mountain and helping to guide those who're traversing it on their way to Elysium.

Whenever a witch passed away, their soul was brought to the palace of the god, Pluto where if they're judged pure, they'd be escorted out the right gate and greeted by a pegasus that'd take them to Elysium. If they were shown to be completely impure, then they'd be forcefully dragged out the left gate by angelic knights and thrown into Tartarus.

However, if the soul was shown to have been equal parts pure and impure then they were ushered outside where they'd be carried by an eagle to the down the Mountain to the part where their specific sin was cleansed. Once they arrived, either Soror, Madre, Matertera would enforce their punishment and the soul could only leave once Avunculus Pluto believed they'd already atoned.

The Asphodel Mountain was especially interesting. Not only are there five main parts but there're also two extra ones representing Luxuria Et Ira. These were the vices that were once considered to be deadly but by the time Fratres Meus ended his reign, most if not everywitching had already learned to resist the temptation of these vices to the point where several of them never exhibit signs of having them at all.

Tartarus also had a similar structure, but the layout of the place was different. As stated in Comoedia Divina Volume 1, just as the Cantos of Elysium represented The Five Olympian Virtues, each of the Rings of Tartarus represented and punished those who unapologetically committed one of Quinque Peccata Mortalia which I'll go into more detail at later tales.

Elysium was just one gigantic field of flowers but what kind of flowers it had depended on who's Canto, one was in. As shown in Comoedia Divina, not only were Mea Femina Propinqui charged with assisting the souls in The Asphodel Mountains with their clensing, but they're also charged with safeguarding Elysium to keep other, more corrupted souls and especially monsters out.

But how much of this actually true? While it's impossible to travel back in time, there is a way to verify the events. As I mentioned before these five plays are based on actual rulers. Rulers whose reigns were so impactful that they awakened a belief that shaped our subjects' views and gave rise to the empire's current laws of succession.

In this tale, I'll discuss one of the worst Imperator in the empire's history. His inability to understand the true nature of Imperatorship would see his empire's political system regress, unraveling the fragile peace Maiorum established centuries ago. This is the story of Imperator Salim – Acetic Unum.