King Lykan's Response to the Attempt on His Life
"It is a shame we couldn't settle this issue diplomatically." - Excerpt from King Lykan's Response
The Kaiserin's Plans
By 1943 1E, Kaiserin Aline Halder of Barbaross had been eying the desert country of Crucible for decades. Multinational armies consisting of Barbaross's allies and even some rival nations were slowly forming to overwhelm the desert land. Each country had suffered at the hands of rouge Sun Elves attacking military outposts and forts for no other reason than for the thrill of the fight. The monarchs of Crucible, who changed every five to ten years, refused to do anything about these groups, stating that it was within their right to challenge any combatant to combat. As long as these groups only attacked those who could fight back and stole nothing, these parties were acting within Sun Elven laws. These raiding parties and the massive amount of mineral wealth the nation was sitting on made it the perfect place to conquer. The issue, however, was the Sun Elves, who are some of the most brutal and efficient fighters in Nostrina. Despite not having a dedicated military force, the elves will take up arms against any threat to their homeland without question. In centuries prior, Sun Elves brought the Ibuhessi empire to its knees after their failed invasion of Crucible in the early First Era. The Kaiserin knew that if she failed, the Sun Elves would retaliate, and the result could be devastating for Barbaross. The Kaiserin devised a plan to sow chaos by deploying agents within the Sun Elven homeland. Their primary goal was to assassinate the current ruler, King Lykan, and prevent any new rulers from rising so the Sun Elven resistance would be disorganized. The agents entered Crucible inconspicuously on a merchant ship and prepared to assassinate the king during a public appearance with crossbow fire. On the day of the planned assassination, six agents with crossbows positioned themselves at roofs overlooking where the king was going to make his appearance. With everything lined up, the agents took aim on the king, but things took a turn for the worst, as one of the agent's crossbows malfunctioned and fired prematurely, alerting the crowd to their locations. King Lykan and an angry mob of Sun Elves descended upon the assassins, chasing them across the city until they were all captured. The king themselves interrogated each one until they confessed to who was trying to have him killed. Once he had his answer, he gave each of them a sword and let them try to kill him in combat.A Truly Sun Elven Response
After killing the assassins, King Lykan took one of their heads and wrote a letter to the Kaiserin. The note was brief, outlining his disappointment in her, both for resorting to violence and using others to do her dirty work. He sent the letter and the decapitated head to the Kaiserin in Wolskoff. Days later, he and thirty volunteer warriors set sail for the Barbaross to meet with the Kaiserin himself. Upon entering the capital city of Wolskoff, the warriors stormed through the city towards the royal palace; any attempts to stop the King's advance were quickly put down. The palace guards were no match for the Sun Elves, who blew through them effortlessly on their way to find the Kaiserin. Since they were so unprepared for the attack, the royal guards could not evacuate Kaiserin Weinbach from the palace before the elves caught up to them. Once King Lykan had the Kaiserin cornered, he brought her back to her court so they could talk as two rulers should. Without her royal guards and a mob of Sun Elven warriors in their signature green armor who towered over her, she knew that her chances of survival were slim. King Lykan addressed the Kaiserin calmly and respectfully, demanding to know why she tried to kill him and attempt to resolve the issue peacefully. When she admitted to her plans to invade Crucible, he decided there couldn't be a peaceful resolution to this issue. He ordered one of his warriors to find a weapon for the Kaiserin, for just killing the middle-aged woman without giving her a chance to fight back would be against Sun Elven belief that you should only kill those who can pose a threat to your life. However, Kaiserin Halder wouldn't fight the king; instead, he planned to let her fight gravity. His logic was that her royal gown was perfectly suited to slow her fall, and with a weapon, she could easily challenge gravity to a duel. King Lykan gave her a sword, picked up the woman, and threw her out the window so that she could challenge gravity in combat; as expected, she lost and fell to her death. King Lykan and his warriors immediately left the bewildered city and sailed back to Crucible. News of what he had done spread across Nostrina quickly; the Barbarossan plans to invade Crucible dissolved with the Kaiserin's death. King Lykan would go down as the one who challenged an empire without hesitation. Funnily enough, Lykan's letter to the Kaiserin never reached the royal palace before she died. He would go on to serve one more term as king before retiring from politics. The debate on whether throwing the Kaiserin out of a window was an act of combat or a way of instigating a fight between her and gravity still rages on to this day.
Type
Text, Letter
Medium
Paper
Authoring Date
1943 1E
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