A person, a historian who wrote the chronicles of the world once asked, what happened to all the kingdoms, empires, and other lands where the corrupt leaders were felled by Wraithvine the Eternal, and there ended up power vacuums? Did he leave the lands in such a state, to go to war with itself as new powers tried to claim the thrones? Or did he find a way to rule them, until ones could be found that were worthy of such seats of power? -- Anon Guest
Nature hates a vacuum. Wraithvine hates a power vacuum. After ze ended the first few reigns of terror, and learned about those who vie for power, ze never set out to disrupt a tyrant monarch without someone worthy of rule waiting in the wings. If a lost scion didn't exist, ze had ways of creating one.
And, of course, it never hurt to have a team of strong and righteous allies to provide said scion with a better ethical model than the tyrant. Including hir own.
Wraithvine never did it for vainglory. Ze had learned humility during several millennia of hir immortality. Sometimes, ze managed to skate through history without leaving a mark anywhere. This despite changing political spheres wherever ze may wander.
And then there's the Honour Guard.
An organisation of those who believed in and worked using Wraithvine's
philosophies. They, also, don't seek vainglory, but rather what is right. They have also learned about power vacuums through hard experience.
Never trust a viseer with a child heir.
The people who aggressively seek power should never have it. Wraithvine and the Honour Guard alike have learned about the power-hungry and grasping.
One of which, both Wraithvine and some of the Honour Guard were facing down.
"You dare?" said the Lordship. It didn't matter what their name and title were. They were not going to last very much longer. "I hired you to put the right power on the throne!"
"And you thought that was you," said Wraithvine. You, here pronounced as, The reason why so many bloody revolutions happen is people like you. Hello YOU. "Curious."
"I've been like a beloved relative to your scion. You won't be able to erase me from her life as easily as you disposed of the last despot. You can't kill me without earning the ire of your heir."
"Oh we were prepared for this. Meet Gor. One of Princess Melysandra's best friends," said one of the Honour Guard.
Gor was a gargantuan brute from the larger barbarian tribes. The hill folk of the outer areas where Princess Melysandra spent her summers.
"You remember the hill folk," said a second member of the Honour Guard. "You and your policies wiped out most of them. Princess Melysandra already suspects you hurt her friend. Gor's got a vengeance quest against you. For the honour of his tribe."
Gor loomed over the Lordship. "I have kept the princess safe from you. Mel says I must not kill you. She has also said only I am allowed to kill you. I will keep you very safe. Until Mel says otherwise."
"Your apartments are being searched by my men," said the Captain of the Honour Guard. "All the documentation regarding your past exploits will be laid bare. To the Princess and the people alike."
"You don't have any avenues to blame your employer any more," added Wraithvine. "Backslide to your old ways by so much as one hair... and Gor here may happen to you."
"I will keep you very safe," said Gor, as ominous as a burning fuse.
[Image (c) Can Stock Photo / styf22]
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