This adventure has drained you physically, mentally and even emotionally. Attacking a powerful necromancer in his homeland might not be the best idea right now. Another day perhaps…

You approach the portal and give one last look at Nicodemus who stands by watching you. You can't figure him out. A lot of what he said was very condescending yet he seemed to pity you rather than be angry. He was also very nihilistic in his views on how achievements don't matter, not even life, though at the same he seemed to be trying to give you advice and help you in some strange way.

You step into the portal and find yourself transported back to the Emperor's chambers. Chambers that seem so empty now. Empty as you feel. Something is bothering you and it's a strange thing to worry about considering it would've lead to your death, but you can't shake it.

Why did the Emperor's ritual fail? Nicodemus said you were not a suitable vessel for the transference spell, but if you weren't, what does that mean? Would one of the other Eternals been a better choice, or was the plan always destined to fail?

You believe there have to be some notes on the subject of your alterations somewhere. Jacob probably has several papers about the Eternal Project in his office, but you search the Emperor's rooms first.

After hours of searching you manage to find several bits of private writings about various subjects. You don't have time to read all of them now, but you focus on anything to the Eternal Project.

One of the major things you discover is that the pregnant mothers had a specific ritual cast over them while the Eternals to be were still in the womb. This ritual, while elaborate and probably quite frightening to the woman in question didn't harm her in any way; it was more of a "prep" spell. (You also read that it took several attempts to get this ritual "right" too. The number of dead pregnant women is quite sizable)

Apparently this initial ritual was a big key in whether or not the final ritual was going to be successful. You can't find any other information besides how the Emperor was REALLY betting everything on this plan as he'd run out of ideas on to extend his life any further short of going back to Mortos and apologizing to Nicodemus for his behavior.

Still wanting more information you go search through Jacob's office. It is actually easy to find everything since he kept everything in immaculate order. Naturally he had everything locked, but you easily remove such annoyances. Nothing is going to stop you from seeking out your origins.

And after hours more searching you find more than you ever wanted to know in Jacob's journal…

I can't believe those idiots! Trent and Stravid grabbed the wrong fucking infant! We only found out just yesterday when I found their list on the floor of the privy room covered in piss!

I went back to check the Empire nursery numbers hoping that MAYBE they grabbed the correct child anyway, but no such luck. The infant that was supposed to be selected was already disposed of as a rejected candidate. Meanwhile the wrong infant is already going through his magical alterations.

I'm not exactly on the Emperor's good side at the best of times, and I'm not getting into fucking trouble for this. Those two morons are going to be executed. As for the baby I'm going to have to grovel to get that svelk bitch to help me with this. She can probably perform the same ritual over this new brat so the Emperor won't be able to detect anything is amiss with it. I don't understand why the Emperor doesn't just perform this ritual in person rather than relying on the svelk to do it anyway.

And HOPEFULLY that will work. It has to work. Maybe I'm worrying about this too much, what are the chances that this kid will live through training and meet the Emperor anyway?

And there it is, your "origins." You weren't even meant to be an Eternal. You were a clerical mistake, a bureaucratic mishap, and the Emperor's death was caused by it. Hell, it's almost like you went through with Jacob and Semra's plan to assassinate the Emperor anyway.

One might think something like this would cause you to doubt the meaning of your entire existence and drive you into depression. Possibly even suicide. An end to this life of misplaced duty, obedience and blind devotion to ultimately an ungrateful master.

Just like Nicodemus said.

But you don't really think about any of that. Instead you start to laugh. You laugh for a very long time.

"He…he didn't even know I wasn't originally chosen! What a fool! Why the hell did I ever follow this man? Because I'm an even bigger fool!" you say to yourself in between the guffaws.

Perhaps you're still being a fool. Casimir lied to you and deep down never really cared save for what he thought you were, but none of that nor his death invalidate your beliefs in the Empire. His idea that the world needs order, that the masses need to be kept in line, that some elements are better off exterminated for the overall good.

Maybe part of you still can't quite shake being the "dutiful" son, but you fully intend on continuing in your "father's footsteps." Of course the difference now being that your life is truly your own now. Since destiny has conspired to thrust you into the position of a ruler, you will play the role that it would have you play.

Now you just have to convince everyone else.

Within the week you call for a meeting of the most important leaders of the Empire. Ranging from generals to economists to advisors and other infrastructure types you've had little to no contact with before. Everyone is told to gather in the throne room, which is a room that hasn't been used in centuries; or rather Casmir stopped using it after he decided to become a recluse.

You won't be doing that. You'll be leading from the front rather than hiding in the shadows causing people to wonder if you exist at all. This is your time now.

When everyone finally arrives they naturally all wonder what's going on, you get right to the point.

"The Emperor as most of us knew him has moved on from this world. As his only logical successor I will be taking his place. If anyone has a problem with this we can have a civilized discussion about it on the battlefield which I have no doubt I will be seeing a lot of when several pretenders, dissidents and outright anarchists attempt to dethrone me. They will fail. The Empire will not fall today or anytime soon. This is just a new era for it and one I fully intend on making successful. The Empire currently is doing well, but I'm confident that with your loyalty and obedience we can make it even stronger."

You take a pause in your speech and scan your audience. None of them are interrupting. They all seem to be captivated, of course maybe some are just planning on trying to assassinate you later, but for now you'll take their attention as a positive sign.

"Join me and the Empire will live forever. YOU will live forever! Who's with me?"

No sooner have you finished your statement, several of the advisors bend their knee and bow towards you. The soldiers draw their weapons and raise them in air pledging their loyalty.

"Hail to the new Emperor!"
"Long live the Empire!"

Well that went better than you expected.

The only "important" person that didn't attend your meeting was Marik though you didn't really expect him to being a derro and all. Not to mention you didn't invite him anyway and had planned on meeting with him personally.

You have no idea how he's going to react to the news and he's erratic at the best of times. You and he weren't exactly getting along the last time you saw him, so for all you know he may just attack you. Part of you hopes he does, just so you never have to deal with him anymore. Besides Semra, Marik was the next one you never liked dealing with just because his demeanor irritated you.

When you get to his personal factory, it's as silent and as empty as it was when you had to clean out those escaped trolls. You hope that isn't the damn problem again. On your guard, you cautiously walk through the factory and make your way down to the underground portion and continue to find nobody around.

"Marik! If this is an ambush, let's just get this over with now because I don't have time for it!" you shout.

You see the door to the tank baby room open up, but it isn't Marik, it's a young girl. In fact it's the tank baby that you spared before your trip to Mortos. She looks like she's been healing well.

"He…he's not here sir. I mean my Emperor. I apologize for not addressing you properly." She remarks nervously.
"That's fine…so word of my ascension has reached down here eh? Wasn't sure if it did, so where's Marik? In fact where is everyone? I know there's still usually a skeleton crew that works in the factory above and there are usually derro guards wandering around down here. In fact shouldn't there be more of you tank babies running around training?" you ask.
"Marik killed them all. He shut down the machine that was keeping the rest alive inside the tanks. Said if the Emperor was gone then his debt was paid and he wasn't going to spend the remainder of his years toiling for the likes of you and called you a…uh…um…"
"Oh just say it, I'm pretty sure it isn't going to surprise me."

"He called you a svelk fucker."
"Is that all?"
"Well then he sort of ranted. He said that you had a svelk lover that would strap on a…uh…sexual device and made you bend over like a woman when you would have relations."
"Sheesh. Can't say Marik didn't have a colorful imagination." You remark shaking your head.
"Then he said the pair of you fellated kobolds and ate the dung of…"
"Okay, I think I got the idea." You say holding up your hand.
"He was very angry at you my Emperor."
"Mmh, sounds like. So why did he kill all you tankies?"
"Oh, well he also said he wasn't going to waste any more of his genius for you to use, so he decided to kill all of us in the tanks. He tried to kill me as well by having his men shoot at me and lob several firebombs at me." She says and points over to a partially collapsed bit of the room where blacked equipment and fallen rock now lays.
"Guessing it didn't work."
"I managed to duck under one of the desks and made a blood curdling scream as the explosions went off and the rocks fell down around me. After they let up, I heard Marik laugh at how I feared death in my final moments and after a few minutes I heard them leave at which point I started digging myself out of the rubble."
"Hrm, I see faking your own death actually worked for you this time, good. You shouldn't disregard a tactic just because it fails in one instance." You say as you glance over a pile of papers lying on another table in the room.

"Marik was brilliant in some ways, but he was an idiot in others. The fool left all his notes behind. I can easily restart all the work he did." You add.
"You're going to restart the Eternal Project? But I thought you didn't like…tankies as you call us."
"Well, I was in a different state of mind at the time. Now that I'm Emperor, I'm thinking that I'm going to need dedicated loyal soldiers to help in the expansion of the Empire in the future. Just need to rebuild the factory, get some babies, throw them into the tanks and grow my new army. Of course I'll be overseeing it and making my own alterations to whatever Marik's original design was."
"What about me, my Emperor?" The tank baby asks.

"Yes, what about you? Well considering you managed to survive not one, but two major attempts on your life within weeks of being out of your little tank, I suppose you deserve a place somewhere. To be honest, I did spare you in the first place because you showed more promise and strength than your siblings by merely surviving my assault. You know I was singled out too, on several occasions. I grew stronger from the challenges. You will have the same opportunity I did and I'm going to personally train you. Then depending on how well you do, I'll decide where you're best needed." You tell her.
"You're…you're too kind my Emperor." She says with a gratuitous expression on her face.

You start laughing.

"You won't be thinking that when we actually start training. Let's go. By the way it'll be useful to have something to call you other than tank baby, so what's your name?"
"Name? I don't have one, my Emperor. Marik never saw fit to give me one. I do have a number though. Ten."
"No, I'm not going to call you ten. That's silly, especially since there's only one of you now. Let's see…I'll call you… Decena. You like that name?"
"I don't have any objections to it, my Emperor."
"Good. Let us be on our way."

With this last bit of business out of the way, you feel you're getting off on a good start as the Empire's new Emperor.

You just wish Alison were here to share it with you.

You tilda Zookwinkle (Casimir's dark secret)

You must have spent a lot of your down time searching through Casimir's libraries and personal items in an attempt to possibly find some sort of magic or treasure or secret that could increase your own power, but you haven't had much luck in that regard. Most of Casimir's power came from his own magic strength along with his mind and had little reason to have such trinkets lying around.

Surprisingly most of his notes and journals are of the more mundane sort. You don't find the discovery of some powerful spell he didn't teach you or anything. Again, such things would've probably been locked up in his own mind, which of course is inaccessible now.

Still, one thing that you found stands out and it's something that completely surprised you.

Dearest Tilda,

In all my years, I have never met a woman that makes me feel the way you do and I've met many in my travels. Never did I think that I would find paradise in the arms of a gnome woman.

It's like you've known me all my life, I don't need to explain myself to you. You just know and understand. If I didn't know better I'd swear you were some sort of trickster demon. Of course I know that cannot be the case, because you have such a kind and gentle spirit despite also being grounded in realism.

I am not ashamed to tell you that I love you. I never thought I could experience such a wonderful emotion. I know your people are not magical by nature, but I cannot help think that you must've cast a powerful spell over me!

I vow from here on out, that you will always be major factor in my future goals. I want to share everything with you.

You find several, no a multitude of these sorts of love letters. Apparently Casimir once loved a gnome woman by the name of Tilda. Many of these letters were obviously sent and read, but you wonder how he got them back.

After scanning through a few more of them, you find one letter that answers more questions to this mystery. It's not Casimir's writing, its Tilda's.

Casimir,

When you find this letter, it will be on my dead body and hopefully most of my people will have escaped your bloody purge. You are a man of unspeakable evil, I always knew this, but within these last few months you proved it tenfold when you committed genocide on our Halfling cousins.

Why? They wanted nothing more than equality, yet you would rather kill them all rather than grant that tiny bit of dignity. There will be a day of reckoning for all your evil, mark my words and when that day comes, I shall be watching and laughing at your downfall in the afterlife.

You claimed that you loved me with all your heart, but you proved time and time again that you have no heart. You did not truly love me. You wished to possess me as a favored toy. Someone to pat you on the head whenever you whined about how the people just "don't understand" why you have to do the terrible things you do. You're pathetic, and I curse the day your eyes set their sights on me.

Do you know how much I rolled my eyes at your sorry attempts of writing me love letters?

Do you know how it made my skin crawl every time I had to lay with you?

Do you know how much I utterly hated you from the moment you enslaved my people? Yes, ENSLAVED. No matter how "favored" our position we were still SLAVES. And you made me your personal one.

I go to my grave happily knowing that I did everything I could to distract you from realizing the truth of our exodus before you could act in time. Know how a simple gnome woman fooled the mighty Emperor.

And if by some bizarre twist that you actually did have genuine feelings of love for me in that black heart of yours, then my revenge is even sweeter. Live with a broken heart, and may it hurt as much as all the pain you've ever inflicted onto others.

You will also find all the worthless letters you wrote to me. Take them back, and keep them as a reminder of your utter failure.

Tilda Zookwinkle: Proud gnome woman

Wow. This letter isn't even addressed to you and you can feel the viciousness dripping from it. Good enough to rival the cruel ruthlessness of a svelk you think. It's very apparent now why Casimir hated gnomes so much. You always knew it had to be more than what he told you.

She obviously was still having an effect on him for centuries as he kept his grudge and the letters rather than destroying them. Makes you think back to when he was trying to tell you that he knew about love and loss and how he was trying to guide you away from such things.

Of course you know the main reason was due to his own agenda, but now upon reading these letters, you can't help but think a small portion was truthful and him speaking from this experience.

Casimir certainly kept his promise in one of his letters though; he did say Tilda would always be a major factor in his future goals. While Tilda may have gotten a little revenge, she didn't exactly do her people any favors given what happened.

You wonder if she knew what lengths Casimir would ultimately go to utterly destroy her people, would she have done it anyway?