A life in complete freedom is his wish for life, but this freedom is also bound to a lot of loneliness. A sudden hole in the sky, demons, dark spawn that wants to be a god, dragons, the church as they love Dragon age connoisseurs, or not, but the In...
I looked at the lines Freya followed with her finger and nodded. The term was nothing new to me and it seemed to be the same for her. You've been hearing that term quite often lately when you follow the politics in Orlai.
"It probably refers to Grand Duke Gaspard de Chalon, who has recently been associated with the term usurper, which is all too appropriate. Freya looked at me as if she knew what I was talking about, but she couldn't quite make it out.
"I have often heard this name from my ambassador in connection with the Empire, but unfortunately I don't really know much about it. I nodded and thought for a moment how best to describe a man like Gaspard.
"Gaspard is the cousin of Empress Celene and the atmosphere between the two is not exactly the most pleasant. Gaspard's wife, Lady Calienne, killed Celene's mother while they were out hunting. She tried to make it look like an accident but it was discovered afterwards. Afterwards, Calienne was killed by none other than Celene's father, probably an act of revenge. When he murdered her, however, he injured himself on one, believe it or not, of Calienne's stiletto, which was poisoned, and he died shortly afterwards. Actually, according to the bloodline of the throne of Orlai Gaspard, the rightful heir of da Celene would have been much more popular with the people and the nobility than Gaspard, which was understandable, since he himself behaved more than terribly towards his subordinates, the throne was taken away from him and Celene was made empress. Since then he has rebelled against Celene with all means and has even started a civil war with the people who are still loyal to him".
"All in all he is a strong man who knows what he wants but I am not sure that he would be as good an emperor as he is a rebel. There are a lot of people behind him, some of them even with a lot of influence, but as many people as behind him are against him, even though this side might be even bigger. Most people are very happy with the work Celene is doing as empress, because there is very little to complain about and that's why so many people are against him. Most are probably afraid that if he should take the throne, he might become a tyrant, since he hasn't exactly become known for charity and good behavior. He does many things hidden in the shadows and that mostly with people from whom you never hear anything good. You can really say that he does many things that cast a bad light on him, but this seems to be indifferent to him, because his only wish is to finally have the throne of Orlai for himself".
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"Sounds like a delightful fellow I can't wait to meet in person." I could clearly hear the irony in the inquisitor's voice. Considering the position and influence of the Inquisitor, it was quite possible that the paths of the two would cross. It would certainly be the sight of the century.
"You said he was Celene's cousin, what kind of person is she and what role does she play in all this? ". I thought about the best way to describe Celene and I kept remembering the words with which she was crowned.
"Sitting on my throne I see every city in my kingdom, if I have to burn one to save the others, I will weep, but I will light the torch. With these words she became famous throughout the empire. I remember the day she was crowned. It was one of the greatest days in history. She succeeded her Uncle Florian Valmont. She was only sixteen when this tragedy with her mother happened and right after that she was put on the throne, even though she was so young. There are unbelievably many rumours about how she became empress. Everyone in Orlai will tell you a different fascinating story about how it all came about. There are even some who go so far as to say that the assassination of her uncle was planned and was carried out in a planned way, just so she could take the throne for herself, but of course nobody could prove it. When she became empress, many things got out of hand. One can say that the time of her reign was a single catastrophe. Many nobles joined forces to overthrow her, because they thought Celene was too young and inexperienced to lead an empire like Orlai. Celene suggested the possibility of marrying several powerful families at this time, probably to appease these nobles and strengthen their position, but she did not marry anyone. However, she kept a few admirers from powerful circles here and there, probably to always have an escape route, and thus also to reinforce her right to the throne. Even at such a young age, Celene was a woman who was usually several steps ahead of everyone else. She was a lady of very high intellect even then. She learned at a very early age how to play political games to turn everything to her advantage. She learned early on how to manipulate and also how to quickly identify the weaknesses of others, and she really only used that to her advantage. Celene has perfected the aristocrats' political game over the years, so it's no surprise that she is now one of the best players. She's very dangerous when you're in a bad light with her, so you need to think carefully about what you say or do in her presence. But if you are in a good light with her and you manage to gain her favor, then you get the key to unimaginable things. If you ever meet this lady, I advise you not to make yourself unpopular with her, this could have serious consequences. Approaching her and making yourself popular is not very difficult, as she has no prejudices against anything or anyone. No matter if elf, Qunari, dwarf or human with her you are always welcome at the beginning. You might not be very popular at court if you are something other than a human, but definitely not with her, and this can be used to your advantage.
"In addition, Celene's many talents and reputation have made her a representative of art and education, which is always an advantage". I lowered my eyes to the ground for a moment before continuing.
"However, there is an ever-increasing problem with Her Imperial Highness and many are already talking about it. Celene is no longer the youngest, and the likelihood of her giving birth to an heir now is more than slim, especially since she is not even married. And if she had an illegitimate child, half of Orlai would probably go on the barricades again, so these people like to be they love the drama. The empress has no heir and she herself will be forty in three years, that is a big problem. Unfortunately so big that there are now more people who are wondering who will get the throne after her".
"She agreed to an alliance with Ferelden so that she could prevent a war and that was anything but easy. Even her uncle and the emperors and empresses before her did not succeed in this undertaking and that says a lot about her. She also has many followers outside her realm and is highly respected in many parts of the world, especially since she supported King Cailan against the fifth corruption and he himself had many followers as well. Unfortunately, this peace plan was finally destroyed when Cailan was betrayed by his own men and died as a result. Celene has helped so many and participated in things that most people have no idea about. I'm sure she has made some wrong decisions in her life and I'm sure her record is not clean either. But still she has done so much more for Orlai than any of her ancestors and she has become a sign of peace for many. If she were to die suddenly by whatever incident, a huge chaos would befall Orlai and many other countries with whom the empress has a close alliance. I don't know exactly what would happen then, but such a chaos would be very welcome for Corypheus, I think. In any case, it would be much easier to take Orlai or to destroy it when there is no empress anymore".
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I sighed and stretched after telling the group everything worth knowing about the empress and her cousin.
"It is quite possible that one day you will actually meet Gaspard or Celene. The Inquisition is still quite new in these days, but it is already very powerful". I turned to Freya so I could look her straight in the face.
"You have already gathered a lot of people around you who stand behind you and your word already carries a lot of weight, so you have to be very careful how you act and what you say and of course also with whom you talk. Your decisions are now something that many people pay attention to and always keep an eye on, so it will become more and more difficult for you. One day you may have to decide which side of the Empire you want to support, and whatever you ultimately decide will have both advantages and disadvantages, and they may be of a small or huge magnitude. I could see her retreating from my words for a few seconds, probably just to reconsider them. But then she straightened up to her full size again, radiating a little bit of pride.
"Perhaps that day will come, and when it does, I will be ready. I can't afford to shy away from big decisions, there are just too many things at stake. I will get to know this situation in Orlai better and then we will see what our next steps are towards this situation". Her voice was clear and to a certain extent you could hear the leader in her. I had no doubt that she herself could save the empire from disintegration if it ever came to that, and that reassured me. She was a quite capable woman and that was exactly what was needed in such times.
"You know quite a lot about the Empire and even though most of it happens so far away, what is it all about? ". I just smiled a little and ran my fingers over the wood from one of the old bookshelves in the room where we were.
"Oh, you know, I just love being well-informed and knowing things it's almost". I thought for a moment about how best to wrap up my next words so that they didn't sound like the words of a man who had problems with his mind.
"A need that always needs to be satisfied to learn and acquire knowledge is something I like to spend my time with and it can't hurt to be up to date with the things that are happening in the world right now. She nodded somewhat hesitantly and then left it at that, for which I was grateful, as I had not wanted to explain to her that "my thirst for knowledge was almost like an addiction".
