anahita
the mourning queen - empress of the Red Phoenix Empire
The Shimmering Knight
Eventually, Anahita tries to convince the Great Shah to locate the prisoner but she has no name or face. Anahita realizes that currently there is nothing that can be done about it. That same evening the Great Shah apparently dies from poison. This seemed impossible as there were food tasters that tested the food beforehand. In actuality, the Great Shah simply choked on his food.
This is what the Soothsayer had foreseen but had kept from Anahita.
Anahita is left alone as the widow to the Great Shah. The various leaders and noblemen of Vendihad begin to vie for power but Anahita is convinced now of the Soothsayer’s claims. She is also now driven to defeat the Sultan of Light for murdering her beloved Great Shah. She will become the new Empress of Vendihad.
The noblemen of Vendihad fear what the Sultan of Light will do and suggest a truce by giving the Sultan the Circle of Urvan. Anahita overhears this and sends the Circle of Urvan away. She sees it as an artifact that led to the current war and gives it to her servant and Majai follower named Zamya. Zamya is to take the key to the priests in Wisperad, which is an ally of Vendihad with many Majai followers. They will protect the key and keep it from the Sultan.
Anahita releases the Soothsayer and they locate the prisoner in a dungeon away from the city. Using a small group of Black Scepter Knights that are loyal to Anahita, they take the dungeon and free the captives. His name is Victor Noble but they find that he is willingly remaining a prisoner. He believes that his power is a force of destructive evil and does not wish it on anyone. Anahita tells Victor that he is not evil, he has just lost his way. He must put his power to use for good. Anahita and the Soothsayer are able to convince the young man that he will not be evil if he himself fights evil. Victor can make amends if he fights for good. If he fights for them. Victor reluctantly agrees although states that his power severely weakens him, and he cannot use it consecutively. Anahita claims that he will only need to use it once.
Anahita returns and claims the throne of Vendihad. She is christened the Mourning Queen. A small portion of the Black Scepter army remain loyal to her. The nobles have organized a coup between them to overthrow the Mourning Queen. The remaining Black Scepter army moves against the Queen but Victor Noble stands to defend her. He then uses his power to create a burst of white light and destroys the nobles and the Black Scepter army that have moved to attack her. Anahita’s enemies are completely obliterated by the blast of light.
Anahita does not wish to see her army destroyed and offers the remaining Black Scepter the opportunity to pledge their loyalty to her. After what they had just witnessed, the remaining Black Scepter lay down their arms and pledged their loyalty to Anahita. The Black Scepter is now christened the Phoenix Scepter.
Soon after, the Phoenix Scepter attack the cities of Masyana along with Victor Noble. Victor has been clad in all white armor and is now known as the Shimmering Knight. The Soothsayer gives Victor Noble the last Haoma fruit before he leaves. The cities are destroyed thanks to the assistance of the Shimmering Knight, who turns the tide with his power. In a final battle with the Sultan of Light, Victor ingests the entire Haoma fruit and can then use his power consecutively without consequence. He lays waste to the city of Masya and The Sultan of Light is destroyed.
After the war is won Anahita finally gives birth to her son with the help of the Soothsayer. She names him Sigh, the prince or Shahzadeh of the newly christened Sanguine Empire.
After this, most Masyani people flee the region and become refugees. The holy city of Estahker, which sat for many years in disrepair has been almost completely lost. The Masyani are unwilling to settle in such a Holy place. The Farsee become less of a religion and more of a fringe order outside of Masyana. Their key, the Star of Tanu is taken by the Farsee priests but there are few that know where it was taken. The Capital city now becomes the nearly deserted Valley of Masya and sits in ruin.
Soon after, the Mourning Queen will regroup and grow her forces. She will quickly begin her conquest as an Empress. She sets her sights to the north in what is considered the Eastern Provinces. Vendihad becomes the Red Phoenix Empire and the Mourning Queen becomes the Empress of Gules. Victor, as the Shimmering Knight becomes the Fist of the Empress. The Soothsayer becomes the first Eye of the Empress.
SIMON PERISH
After several years, the Empress had successfully moved north and overtaken much of the Eastern Provinces using the might of Victor Noble and the guidance of the Soothsayer. Around this time, she began to become more accustomed to ruling and the Empress considers expanding the Empire toward the Western Nations. The first kingdom to the west is the Central Nation called Meridian.
Before she can make preparations to take Meridian, the Empress’s young son begins to develop an illness that severely weakens him. He begins to exhibit white dots around his eyes and has coughing fits that often result in blood. The Empress of Gules hears of a healer in a small monastery near her acquired seat in the Eastern Province of Omitabha. She had been searching for a way to heal a strange sickness in her son and seeks out a healer at the Soothsayer’s guidance.
Attempting to cure her son of his illness, Anahita took him to the rumored healer in a monastery which was near the border of Meridian and Omitabha. The man is a Faun Elf and claimed to not remember his own name but was able to completely heal her son in a matter of minutes. The Empress wishes to repay the man but he refuses any payment. The man was greatly entranced by the Empress’s beauty and he accepted no payment, only asking her that she come back if she or her son needed anything.
The boy becomes sick several more times and each time the man heals the boy. On every visit, the man also tells the mother and son the story of what he remembers about his past. The tragic tale reminds the young prince of a storybook Faun hero named Sir Simon of the Green. From then on the man goes by the name Simon because of the boy. Anahita begins to confide in Simon during another visit to heal her son, who mysteriously keeps getting sick. Although Simon was taken by her beauty, more and more Anahita finds herself drawn to him as well.
Eventually, it comes to the point where the boy needs Simon every few days and the Empress, invites Simon to join her court permanently. Simon accepts and is introduced to another man that possesses a power like him. The Shimmering Knight is the General and head of the Empire’s military, the Phoenix Sceptre. His title is called the Fist of the Empress. His power is the ability to create a blast of white energy that tears anything apart. It is a force of Destruction. The Shimmering Knight is used as a weapon of fear in the Empire and he had helped Anahita gain her current standing. His true name is Victor Noble. A grim and serious man, Victor is nonetheless, an honorable and brave soldier.
Anahita has used Victor as well as the Soothsayer, to display the might of the Red Phoenix Empire. Simon learns of the Soothsayer, a mysterious young girl that is capable of interpreting a vision of a person's future. She holds the title of the Eye of the Empress. Fascinated by the discovery of other power users, Simon leaves the monastery and becomes Anahita's personal Cleric and Advisor. He is named Simon Perish and is christened the second Eye of the Empress alongside the Soothsayer. Although initially hesitant about Simon, the Soothsayer becomes interested in his insight about a great many things, as it appears Simon has led an unnaturally long life.
After several years, Anahita's son continually becomes ill, and despite several attempts by Perish, the sickly boy succumbs to his illness. Even though Perish blames himself, Anahita is grateful for allowing the boy more years than the other Clerics believed were in him. Even still, Simon obsessively poured himself into studying more about what could have been done and begins to search for ways to replicate his power. Simon believed that if he could have given the young prince his own power then the boy would have lived. This will eventually lead toSimon’s research on Empowered Artifacts and binding powers to an item. Despite the loss of her child, Anahita becomes closer to Simon because of his loyalty to her family and the love he had for the boy. The Empress takes great comfort in his presence. She finds herself more and more attracted to him and it becomes clear that there is something more than friendship between the Empress and Perish.
After the young prince’s death, the Empress becomes somewhat more focused and ruthless in her desire for power. She soon sets her sights on the Central Nation of Meridian.
“All that you see here. It is not yours or mine. It is ours. And there are greater forces at work that would see it taken from us. It is our great work to keep that from happening.
But at the cost of everything.
This is everything. Most toil away without path or purpose and none of them know that 6there is something after their own lives. Something worse.
They know. They have faith. Faith in something better.
They take it on faith but none truly know. If you took it away they would still have their faith and they would still never know. It changes nothing. ”