Decree XLVII - New Duke

[Iskander Mirkdale]

By the will of His Grace the Duke of Elwynn, the following Decree be implemented forthwith:

A Decree concerning the Duke of Elwynn

As from 3534 ASC, as per the Line of Succession, the Duke of Elwynn shall be Jacobus Loki, Baron of Eliria, Count or Earl of Illumination.

By the Order of...

[Nathan of Natopia]

All hail the new Duke! Iserdia supports Duke Jacobus.

[Jacobus Loki]

Thank you, thank you all.

I shall endeavour to be worthy of the trust you have placed in me.

I shall immerse myself in Elwynnese lore.

All who feel the need to petition the Duke for redress shall be heard, without qualification.

Jacobus Loki
Duke of Elwynn

[Scott of Hyperborea]

Eiri Alumion, Priest of Beauty, comes before the new Duke. He brings uncertain tidings from Hyperborea, neither of outright rebellion nor of complete homage. The new Duke's family is well-loved by the Hyperborean people, so much so that they once named the southern city of Tielion Loki after his ancestors. But they are having trouble forgiving his carpetbagging ways, and his inexplicable loyalty to an ex-Duke who was, by pretty much everyone's admission, not all that good.

Eiri has a statement to make. It seems the Oracle of Yaanek has given a prophecy for the new Duke. He clears his throat and reads:

Four hundred years ago in the Southern Isles, the House of Loki claimed the Golden Mango Throne. It was, said the Wise, theirs by right of merit, for it had been the nobles of Loki who had remained loyal to Shireroth in the dark days when all others had forsaken it, and though they claimed descent from the ancient Cyberians, their blood had become purely that of Shireroth and was untainted by the influence of other lands.

But this was not to be. From our own Duchy came Count Jayatar, who had done nothing for Shireroth during its dark ages, and come only as an opportunist when he beheld an open throne. Count Jayatar was not by blood a Shirerithian at all, but a Babkhan, who entered the nation only because it was convenient for himself and his friends. But the old Kaiser, who had grown foolish in his advanced age, smiled upon Jayatar, and gave him the Throne.

Thus began the legend of Loki The Long Awaited, the plucky rebel who was destined for the Kaisership but who was kept from his birthright by a conspiracy of foreigners intent on holding a throne outside their native land, whose concern for the country was merely clinical and not that of a true-hearted native. First, Loki's supposedly lesser qualifications were used to crush his rebellion, and then his very status as a rebel was used against him.

Then with Jayatar's appointment of Kaiser Ayreon, Loki was again denied his birthright. Though the people of the land desired Loki one and all, it was said that because the law required it, they must respect the line of succession and put up with a foreign sovereign they did not love. And when he protested, Loki was denounced as a rebel, and once again relegated to the fringes of society.

But Ainai softened the heart of Kaiser Ayreon the Silent, and at last he realized that for him, a foreigner, to keep a land from its long-desired ruler was wrong. Thus, he abdicated the throne in Loki's favor, and there was much rejoicing, and the name of Ayreon, so loathed when he first took the crown, came to be remembered with happiness and praise for this selfless act. Then Truth and Beauty smiled upon Shireroth, and Loki was crowned, and the Babkhans were cast out, and the land became prosperous once again.

He who has ears to hear, let him listen!

Said Eiri: "The meaning of the Oracle is clear. Our prophets tell us to "seek in things the secret symmetry", but here the symmetry is plain for all to see. Once, you were cruelly kept from the leadership of the land that loved you by a compassionless sovereign who denounced you as a rebel and used the law as an excuse to stick a foreigner in your place. Now, Allot is cruelly kept from the leadership of a land that loves him by compassionless Iskander who denounced him as a rebel and uses the law to stick you, a foreigner, in his place.

Yet in your case, Kaiser Ayreon eventually came to denounce his Babkhan masters and ceded to you the crown. You must fulfill the symmetry by rejecting the dark designs of him who raised you to this title, letting your heart soften, and elevating Allot to the position that is his fate. Complete the circle, aye, for in the end there are no circles, but only spirals that twist inward and inward, repeating themselves with ever greater intensity until they reach their center at the source of secrets. You need not do it immediately, for Kaiser Ayreon did give in immediately to you. But in the end, destiny must be fulfilled.

This is the wisdom of the goddess Ainai, which I bear you as your coronation present. May it warm your spirit!"

[Malliki]

Brookshire recognizes Duke Jacobus as the legal Duke of Elwynn.

[Jacobus Loki]

Thank you, Duke Micheal. May the harsh word of the past blow away into the wind from whence it came, and the Brotherhood of Elwynn and Brookshire and of all Shirithians flower as it should.

[Jacobus Loki]

To the people of Hyperborea, bravest of the brave, children of Beauty and of Ice, and to all of our brothers of Elwynn, the Lord Loki has come to me in a vision, and he spoke the following:

You are to be a Bridge, my son, a Bridge between the eras, and betwen the peoples. But you are a bridge of Ice, as befits the North. Ice, which has but a season and must pass.

The task before you is to right wrongs and secure justice as best you can amid the muddle of mortals. Justice did not come from it's annointed source. So YOU were called upon, and you answered as is your wont. You poor so and so.

(Smiles.)

Now must your Chaos and Madness sweep clean the muck of injustice laid upon injustice. Such is the foolishness of mortals which becomes Death.

Such were his words to me.

Loki,

Duke of Elwynn

[Aurangzeb Khan]

Our congratulations to the Lord Loki. With this excellent news we are once again reminded never to misunderestimate ( ) the astuteness of Lord Mirkdale.

[Jacobus Loki]

Indeed.

[Scott of Hyperborea]

You are to be a Bridge, my son, a Bridge between the eras, and betwen the peoples. But you are a bridge of Ice, as befits the North. Ice, which has but a season and must pass. The task before you is to right wrongs and secure justice as best you can amid the muddle of mortals. Justice did not come from it's annointed source. So YOU were called upon, and you answered as is your wont. You poor so and so. Now must your Chaos and Madness sweep clean the muck of injustice laid upon injustice. Such is the foolishness of mortals which becomes Death.

The Hyperboreans accept your answer to the oracle's riddle. We will lay down our arms for now.

[Jacobus Loki]

Then the Council must be -reconvened.

[Allot]

In order to reconvene the Council you must first have decided who is on the Council. To do that you must decided which of Iskander's hasty land-changing decrees you are going to keep. You have your work cut out for you.

[Jacobus Loki]

I have made my decision.

[Allot]

A very fast one, it seems.

[Jacobus Loki]

No, I've been mulling this over for some time.

[Allot]

And so you should have been. I thank you for your diligence.