Coming of the Destroyer

“I think we agree that the First City should be preserved and the Destroyer frustrated. I have been going back through the archives at Litera Scripta Manet looking for something that might help us deal with the growing storm clouds I feel gathering on the horizon. Perhaps I have found a scintilla of information that might help someone in the right position at the the right time.

“I was looking for the reputed powers of the Azure Throne, also known as the Throne of Man. I reported the most common explanation of its powers elsewhere. But I found this in the original edition of Forged in Magic – not to be confused with the current document of the same name ::[OOC the FiM from the 1st campaign]::

“It’s last entry is the Scepter of Man and it reads:

“The Imperators of the First Imperium of Man ruled an Empire unmatched before or since. From the Mighty Azure Throne, their word was law over the teeming hordes of boundless Onara.

“Many make the error that it was the Throne of Man that held the key to their great power over the hearts and minds of humanity. Indeed, it as the Scepter of Man, a gift from the God Illiir to his chosen disciples, a gift that permitted the authority of the gods to be heard through the words of the Imperator. This gilded and bejeweled scepter is adorned with the great head of the Falcon, symbol of authority of the Imperator and sacred animal to the worshipers of Illiir. The words of the wielder bear the weight of the Gods and all those who hear such commands view the wielder as their absolute sovereign and will obey any such words without question and without even knowing they are being compelled. Even the words, when exactly spoken by one who heard from them first hand from the mouth of the Imperator will carry the same weight with second hand listeners.

“By this method the Imperator would speak to his court and ambassadors and send these servants out, by portal or other methods, to carry his word to the far reaches of his domain. Alas, for those tyrants and selfish rulers, there was a caveat … only the truth would bear this weight. As the sense of entitlement of the val’Assante of the IMperial House grew, thier powr diminished, until only those most loyal by blood, by honor or by debt would continue to follow their commands. When the First Imperium finally collapsed, the val’Assante thought Illiir had abandoned them, when in fact it was they who had abandoned Him and his Children.”

“I assume the last Imperator Osimandros val Sheem, had the Scepter on him when he sealed himself away behind the 12 locks. If the chance comes to seize the scepter, I believe someone should do so even at the expense of the Destroyer sitting on the Throne.”