The Emperor in his Labyrinth

|== Shortly after dawn, the dead Emperor's [spoon]<spoon| clinks against an empty bowl. When the empire stood, broad astride the world, backed by his own strength and wisdom, he fed each morning on [honey]<honey| and pomegranate seeds, [spices]<spices| and [gold]<gold|. Now, there is [dust]<dust|. $iz["Argus? Where have you found yourself, my pet?"] There is no answer. He nudges the lack of food around his plate. It is a [[quiet morning->arrival]] in the most gilded cage ever constructed. =| []<breakfast| (click: ?spoon)[ (replace: ?breakfast)[(display: "spoon")]] (click: ?honey)[ (replace: ?breakfast)[(display: "honey")]] (click: ?spices)[ (replace: ?breakfast)[(display: "spices")]] (click: ?gold)[ (replace: ?breakfast)[(display: "gold")]] (click: ?dust)[ (replace: ?breakfast)[(display: "dust")]]

The Emperor's filligreed spoon, etched with miniscule bas reliefs of the great emperor's life and his many victories. The final work of a great Ezomite craftsman who went blind over the course of the creation. Imagine the honour of crafting the Emperor's own implements! - Icius Perandus, a History of the Emperor's Repast, Vol. 4 (click: ?spoon)[ (replace: ?breakfast)[(display: "spoon")]] (click: ?honey)[ (replace: ?breakfast)[(display: "honey")]] (click: ?spices)[ (replace: ?breakfast)[(display: "spices")]] (click: ?gold)[ (replace: ?breakfast)[(display: "gold")]] (click: ?dust)[ (replace: ?breakfast)[(display: "dust")]]

In the forests of Karveldt in Ezomyr, the heavenly bees drink nectar only from the pear trees that grow in the first ones' sacred groves. Their venom is exceedingly deadly, and thus their honey is as dangerous to harvest and expensive as it is sweet. Its sweetness is beyond compare. - Sigmund Fairgraves, An Atlas of Wraeclast 3rd Edition (click: ?spoon)[ (replace: ?breakfast)[(display: "spoon")]] (click: ?honey)[ (replace: ?breakfast)[(display: "honey")]] (click: ?spices)[ (replace: ?breakfast)[(display: "spices")]] (click: ?gold)[ (replace: ?breakfast)[(display: "gold")]] (click: ?dust)[ (replace: ?breakfast)[(display: "dust")]]

One cult among the Marakethi believe spices grown on their far island outposts in the great inland sea to be sacred. Peasants labour for years to crush one single kernel between their teeth and inhale the odours that give them visions and grant them, some claim, an eternal link to the gods they do not speak of. - Icius Perandus, Barbarous Peoples of Wraeclast (click: ?spoon)[ (replace: ?breakfast)[(display: "spoon")]] (click: ?honey)[ (replace: ?breakfast)[(display: "honey")]] (click: ?spices)[ (replace: ?breakfast)[(display: "spices")]] (click: ?gold)[ (replace: ?breakfast)[(display: "gold")]] (click: ?dust)[ (replace: ?breakfast)[(display: "dust")]]

$iz[The Body of the Emperor is the Body of The Empire. The richness of my blood flows in our rivers, the health of my flesh is borne through the fields. Thus my oatmeal recipe will be amended to include one gram of fine grained gold per bowl.] - Izaro Phrecius, Standing Orders Concerning the Diet of the Divine Emperor (click: ?spoon)[ (replace: ?breakfast)[(display: "spoon")]] (click: ?honey)[ (replace: ?breakfast)[(display: "honey")]] (click: ?spices)[ (replace: ?breakfast)[(display: "spices")]] (click: ?gold)[ (replace: ?breakfast)[(display: "gold")]] (click: ?dust)[ (replace: ?breakfast)[(display: "dust")]]

They say that dust is what man sheds as he passes through the world, as I shed law. Man fills emptiness the way an Emperor yields order. Inadequate challengers are in the end as dust. - Izaro Phrecius, to the Goddess of Justice, over breakfast (click: ?spoon)[ (replace: ?breakfast)[(display: "spoon")]] (click: ?honey)[ (replace: ?breakfast)[(display: "honey")]] (click: ?spices)[ (replace: ?breakfast)[(display: "spices")]] (click: ?gold)[ (replace: ?breakfast)[(display: "gold")]] (click: ?dust)[ (replace: ?breakfast)[(display: "dust")]]

|== There is a grinding of gears, ancient but unbroken. The shielded portals to the emperor's labyrinth are grinding open, and there is a fresh breeze in the emperor's chambers. The [dust]<rain| swirls, long-dead challengers rising as motes to greet their new compatriot. $iz["Ah, my Goddess, it seems today we shall have some sport. Those in the gutter may yet be washed clean by the rain."] The emperor rises from his breakfast throne and speaks, through a series of [ducts]<ducts| and vents designed to carry his voice to the plaza of competitors, toward which he [[walks->walk]]. =| [ ]<anno| (click: ?rain)[(replace: ?anno)[(display: "rain")]] (click: ?ducts)[(replace: ?anno)[(display: "ducts")]]

|== It is a beautiful morning. Izaro, walking his gardens, nods with respect at the [statues]<statues| that guard his myriad courtyards. $iz["Brother, sister. You serve with all the faith that you were built to. There can be no greater gift than knowing your purpose."] In the distance, a sound of battle. Perhaps in the first courtyard, some poor challenger slogs through the armies of the labyrinth, soon to join their number. A bird, curious, alights on Izaro's outstretched hand. $iz["Little [ortolan]<ortolan|, rejoice in your freedom. I have not yet desired a cage which can hold you."] A chime sounds, off in the distance. "You are more free than an emperor, until one catches you." For now though, Izaro has [[business->weapons]] to attend to. =| [ ]<notes| (click: ?statues)[(replace: ?notes)[(display: "statues")]] (click: ?ortolan)[(replace: ?notes)[(display: "ortolan")]]

|== The first chime has sounded. It is time to perform. Izaro steps into his chambers. On the wall, an array of weapons, polished to a sheen and kept balefully sharp by ancient enchantment; the panoply of an Emperor who needs no janissaries. A weighty [hammer]<hammer| / Two [swords]<swords| / [sword and shield]<shield| / [spear]<spear| His point chosen, Izaro prepares for [[battle.->first trial]] =| []<notes| (click: ?hammer)[(replace: ?notes)[(display: "hammer")]] (click: ?swords)[(replace: ?notes)[(display: "swords")]] (click: ?shield)[(replace: ?notes)[(display: "sword and shield")]] (click: ?spear)[(replace: ?notes)[(display: "spear")]]

Hefty, slow. Its head forged from a meteor that fell in the Karui lowlands. The Karui believed that the meteor was a gift from Tukohama, or perhaps a warning from Hinekora; as they deliberated on the matter the Eternals rendered the question moot and returned it to Sarn by force. There, a master smith produced this distasteful, inelegant weapon. $iz["When one serpent survives a strike, the others think themselves immortal"] said Izaro. A weapon for an Emperor who wishes his blows to leave no questions. (click: ?hammer)[(replace: ?notes)[(display: "hammer")]] (click: ?swords)[(replace: ?notes)[(display: "swords")]] (click: ?shield)[(replace: ?notes)[(display: "sword and shield")]] (click: ?spear)[(replace: ?notes)[(display: "spear")]]

Two blades, long-ago tribute from a forgotten envoy. Izaro tries for a moment to recall his name but cannot. Each with powerful enchantments of speed and unfailingly sharp. The envoy had said "Take these blades, the finest work of my people. We have many more." A gift, rendered as an inelegant threat. The Emperor rendered the envoy, and returned him as a gift to his people. $iz["An insult, like any wound, must be salved lest it fester."] The weapon of an Emperor in need of quick cruelty. (click: ?hammer)[(replace: ?notes)[(display: "hammer")]] (click: ?swords)[(replace: ?notes)[(display: "swords")]] (click: ?shield)[(replace: ?notes)[(display: "sword and shield")]] (click: ?spear)[(replace: ?notes)[(display: "spear")]]

This shield, an heirloom from the first Phrecian emperor, Alano. Izaro had once found it too heavy to bear. Was it the mass of the thick layers of orichalc and oak, or the weight of the knowledge that he had ended his illustrious forebear's great line? It was prophecised long ago that no man who bore the shield could ever be killed. But an emperor is no man, and he is not living. $iz["Humanity's greatest virtue is that we are too soft to survive error."] The weapons of an Emperor that has known fear, will always be afraid. (click: ?hammer)[(replace: ?notes)[(display: "hammer")]] (click: ?swords)[(replace: ?notes)[(display: "swords")]] (click: ?shield)[(replace: ?notes)[(display: "sword and shield")]] (click: ?spear)[(replace: ?notes)[(display: "spear")]]

|== Rising on grinding gears into his chosen trials, Izaro stretches his back, leaning forward but unable to quite [touch his toes]<toes|.$iz["These bones grow ever older."] He looks back at the [goddess]<goddess|, mounted on him as a rider on a steed, as always. $iz["An Emperor must not show infirmity, for his body is the Empire. An Emperor must not keep secrets from the eyes of Justice, lest he keep secrets from himself. You see my conundrum."] He wanted to laugh, but he no longer remembered the sound. He did remember the sound of gears and blades, though, as he rose into his [[arena]]. =| []<notes| (click: ?toes)[(replace: ?notes)[(display: "touch his toes")]] (click: ?goddess)[(replace: ?notes)[(display: "goddess")]]

|== $iz["Let us now grant [audience]<audience|,"] Izaro says, rising to meet his challenger. Standing before him, so small, almost pitiful. A little challenger, studded with scavenged [gems]<gems| barely connected together. Some lumpen peasant convinced a strong arm gives one the right to be emperor. $iz["Even the least peasant should have the opportunity to kneel, my Goddess."] Their form is blurry to his old eyes. So many past enemies overlaid on his sight. They ready their weapons. He [[readies his weapons.]] =| []<notes| (click: ?audience)[(replace: ?notes)[(display: "audience")]] (click: ?gems)[(replace: ?notes)[(display: "gems")]]

The great Izaro, while known for his tactical brilliance and farseeing cunning, has also been known as a perfect physical ideal. Through his boundless dedication to honing his body and mind, the Emperor won first standing in the Imperial games in fencing, long jump, sprinting, and discus. Rumours that his opponents yielded for fear of reprisal are widely known to be scurrilous slander seeded by foreign agents. - Siosa, A History of the Great Phrecian Lineage Vol VII (click: ?toes)[(replace: ?notes)[(display: "touch his toes")]] (click: ?goddess)[(replace: ?notes)[(display: "goddess")]]

Her eyes are bound, and her serene face never shows a moment's discomfort. Not in all the years has he understood a single one of her thoughts. All his striving for justice has not brought them closer. Perhaps someday Izaro will reach her perfect restraint and withdrawal; a distant dream. (click: ?toes)[(replace: ?notes)[(display: "touch his toes")]] (click: ?goddess)[(replace: ?notes)[(display: "goddess")]]

A draught, lasting eleven years in the reign of the Third Phrecian emperor, became known as the Years of Bone. The Imperial soothsayers and thaumaturges tried to bring back the rains without success, until the Emperor himself went up into the mountains above highgate. He never returned, but the next moon brought monsoons that sent creeks riotously overflowing their banks, though the water was bitter and cloudy. - Tales of the Phrecius Dynasty, Hippogriff Kasten (click: ?rain)[(replace: ?anno)[(display: "rain")]] (click: ?ducts)[(replace: ?anno)[(display: "ducts")]]

The Emperor Izaro in his instructions to the master builder Xirgil did give strict demands for hidden tubes that would proclaim his voice throughout the complex. At each door, at each trial, each place throughout the maze, he may make himself heard at any time. He also requested that the ducts be shaped so as to add a certain resonance to a voice that one short-lived wag had described in a scurrilous verse as "Soft as the song of a sweet wet-nurse/and all the power of a courtesan's curse" - Tales of the Phrecius Dynasty, Hippogriff Kasten (click: ?rain)[(replace: ?anno)[(display: "rain")]] (click: ?ducts)[(replace: ?anno)[(display: "ducts")]]

The art of animating statuary, devised by the great craftsman Kasala, was reverse engineered from Vaal examples. The fallen ancients were long gone, but in their ruins could be found suits of armour that lumbered clumsily but fought well. At a cost of many assistants, the craftsman grasped how the Vaal armours trapped souls in their metal when their wearer died, so that they might never cease to fight. Modern examples of course forgo such brutality and use more refined thaumaturgy, although the principle is similar. - Principles of Kinetiscopy, Porcius Woller (click: ?statues)[(replace: ?notes)[(display: "statues")]] (click: ?ortolan)[(replace: ?notes)[(display: "ortolan")]]

A small songbird, native to the Ezomyr highlands. Baked after being drowned in brandy, it is traditionally eaten with one's mouth open and head upturned, teeth gnashing, for the first ones to observe. With precious little meat it makes for a bony meal. - Customs of the Savage Lands, Captain Sigmund Fairgraves (click: ?statues)[(replace: ?notes)[(display: "statues")]] (click: ?ortolan)[(replace: ?notes)[(display: "ortolan")]]

In Oriath's arenas, ezomyte velites fight with long supple javelins. In mockery of the sacred hunts once dedicated to the Greatwolf, the velites hunt slaves who have attempted escape through elaborate sets built on the arena floors, a labyrinth in miniature. This spear is older, with a point perpetually dripping with fresh blood; an ambiguous blessing from some long-forgotten divinity. $iz["Even a boar knows well enough to die when struck,"] Izaro once said. The weapon of an emperor who knows that he is the beast, and his subjects therefore are prey. (click: ?hammer)[(replace: ?notes)[(display: "hammer")]] (click: ?swords)[(replace: ?notes)[(display: "swords")]] (click: ?shield)[(replace: ?notes)[(display: "sword and shield")]] (click: ?spear)[(replace: ?notes)[(display: "spear")]]

|== The battle means nothing. The battle always means nothing. Only what lessons the Aspirant has learned. The first battle of three may only ever be a prelude, an opportunity for the unprepared to turn back. They never turn back. As he descends back into his apartment, the Emperor grants a brief lesson, in return for a simple victory. $iz["The crown weighs heavy on even the strongest heads, Aspirant."] The Emperor is [[weary]]. =|

|== So many have come, so many have fallen quickly, showing little promise. Impossible to say how many, in total; they blur. The Emperor's [necromancers]<necromancy|, bound to this place as surely as he is, are perpetually busy. The Emperor's halls, which are [infinite in number]<infinite|, are swollen with the dead and risen. The Emperor's blade is perpetually dripping. The Emperor's arms are strong and no longer ache. The Emperor desires a [[respite.]] =| []<notes| (click: ?infinite)[(replace: ?notes)[(display: "infinite in number")]] (click: ?necromancy)[(replace: ?notes)[(display: "necromancy")]]

|== $iz["Is it wrong of me to seek [peace]<peace| within my own life, Goddess?"] The Emperor's empty eye sockets show no emotion. $iz["As long as the Emperor rules, he must be strong. The moment he is not, he ceases to rule."] He kicks a rock aside. $iz["Is that not so, Goddess?"] A roar, loud as an avalanche or the [cataclysm]<cataclysm| or some other disaster as yet uninvented tears the quiet apart. Small birds scatter in all directions. The [[weight lifts]] from the Emperor's heart. =| []<notes| (click: ?peace)[(replace: ?notes)[(display: "peace")]] (click: ?cataclysm)[(replace: ?notes)[(display: "cataclysm")]]

|== He opens the door, stepping through, and is bowled over by Argus. The Emperor lies, weighed down, as [Argus]<Argus| nuzzles his head, licks the dome of his skull, tugs playfully at his loose ribs. They roll across the floor, Argus musters a playful growl, and Izaro's body clanks heavily against the ground as he fills with joy. Argus is a [[good boy.]] =| []<notes| (click: ?Argus)[(replace: ?notes)[(display: "Argus")]]

|== Izaro stands. In his hand, a staff dropped by some skeletal challenger. He winds up, pretends he's about to throw it, and Argus leaps with enthusiasm and starts running. $iz["Argus, if one is to rule, one must never be deceived the same way [twice]<twice|!"] This time he does throws it, arcing up, away over a fence. Argus bounds away after it, knocking aside a carefully constructed wall of spring-loaded spikes on the way and coming back, weapon in his powerful jaws. He splits it in half with a single bite, looking up through his [helmet]<helmet| with a [[sharp smile.]] =| []<notes| (click: ?twice)[(replace: ?notes)[(display: "twice")]] (click: ?helmet)[(replace: ?notes)[(display: "helmet")]]

Izaro prided himself on never falling for the same ruse more than once. When he was first poisoned, he remade his diet to avoid it. When his cousin betrayed him, he slew all of his remaining cousins. When he was locked in his labyrinth, it was the first time for that as well. - Icius Perandus, The Phrecian Lineage vol. VIII (click: ?twice)[(replace: ?notes)[(display: "twice")]] (click: ?helmet)[(replace: ?notes)[(display: "helmet")]]

Hinged to retract to allow exposure of jaws when head is tilted downwards. When head is tilted upwards, plates slide to protect neck. Supports cantilevered from shoulder plates for weight support. Why do I have to make this. - Xirgil (click: ?twice)[(replace: ?notes)[(display: "twice")]] (click: ?helmet)[(replace: ?notes)[(display: "helmet")]]

|== They tussled together playfully on the ground and, exhausted, rolled apart. $iz["Let no man know that the emperor's back too may bend"], said Izaro. And yet he stayed sitting, resting with his [halo and ornaments]<halo| against the marble wall. Legs out in front of him with Argus leaning against his side. He pets Argus slowly, scratching that spot on the [side of his ribs]<side| that made the beast purr deeply. In the distance, a chime beckons him once again, and Argus rises to his haunches with a low growl of warning. $iz["My dear foe calls me, Argus."] The emperor scratches his pet once more under its chin, and walks to his elevator, to be raised into another [[identical combat]]. =| []<notes| (click: ?halo)[(replace: ?notes)[(display: "halo and ornaments")]] (click: ?side)[(replace: ?notes)[(display: "side of his ribs")]]

|== Izaro's lift grinds back into the ground. His armour bearing the marks of the battle. $iz["To survive a challenge is not the same as victory,"] said Izaro, a parting gift. His sword arm did not ache but felt disjointed somehow, and his weapon hung limply from his hand. But who had he fought, that had left patches of his armour glowing with heat? The woman whose hands [crackled and hummed]<witch| with lightning? The [slave impertinently]<marauder| trying to rise above his station by way of the blade? Something else entirely, he could not say. It was so hard to [[remember]] sometimes. A valiant challenger, regardless. =| []<notes| (click: ?witch)[(replace: ?notes)[(display: "crackled and hummed")]] (click: ?marauder)[(replace: ?notes)[(display: "slave impertinently")]]

|== The emperor hears a bellow in the distance. Argus, in pain. He is transfixed with a sudden clarity. [Justice]<justice| demands death for any who have harmed the faithful. Who they are and how they fight is of no significance. The Emperor's age falls from his bones. He stands tall, and is assured: he is made an engine of righteous vengeance. This betrayal is unbearable. Whoever his enemy, he will [[defeat him]]. =| []<notes| (click: ?Justice)[(replace: ?notes)[(display: "justice")]]

|== The Emperor demands his revenges. The [Azmeri rite]<rite|, preferably. Let them suffer for as long as he will remember sweet Argus. He strides through the halls on his long shanks. Argus, in his kennel. Lying on his side, riddled with wounds. He does not breathe. Izaro rests his forehead on his pet's side. There is no noise. The emperor is silent. He remains there for for some time. There is a horrible familiarity to this, but Izaro does not recall ever losing someone he loves. The third chime sounds. It is time for the Aspirant's final judgment, and this aspirant [[must perish.]] =| []<notes| (click: ?rite)[(replace: ?notes)[(display: "Azmeri rite")]]

|== With a mechanical creak, Izaro falls to the floor. He stares upwards with empty sockets. The goddess remains with him, her glow brilliant as ever. Izaro remembers the colour of sunlight filtering through the [green leaves]<leaves| of the imperial gardens. She will not leave him. The challenger, victorious, stops only long enough to take [the keys]<keys| fallen at his feet. The room is quiet. His servitors are dead. The goddess is with him. His vision is darkening, and he hardly remembers how he has found himself in this extremity. And yet the [[goddess remains]] remains]] with him. He is emperor. =| []<notes| (click: ?keys)[(replace: ?notes)[(display: "the keys")]] (click: ?leaves)[(replace: ?notes)[(display: "green leaves")]]

|== The goddess, above Izaro. An abtruse function of the [maze]<maze|, forged out of a fraction of the emperor's soul. Supporting him, weaving his broken bones, setting him back in his place for the next dawn. The machinery of his body ratcheting back into position under her mindless ministrations. She will not leave the Emperor. He is the ruler of the Eternal Empire. The empire is limitless in scope and grandeur, consisting of one gilded labyrinth contained within the pocketed space in Sarn's town square, and [infinite]<infinite| in those bounds. The emperor dwells within the body of the goddess; the goddess dwells within the body of the emperor. Their reign is [[eternal.->First]] =| []<notes| (click: ?maze)[(replace: ?notes)[(display: "maze")]] (click: ?infinite)[(replace: ?notes)[(display: "infinite")]]

One traditional Azmeri means of execution, seldom practiced in these gentle days, was only seasonally available. In summer the mountains where the Azmeri dwelled were prone to sharp updrafts from the Marakthi deserts, carrying hot stinging sand. Left lashed in place at the top of cliffs, the tribe's worst offenders were left to be flensed by the windstorms. They were kept fed and watered to ensure that they did not escape that patient doom. - Siosa Foaga, A History of the Noble Azmeri

Hey guys this is hotwolf_99 here, just wanted to show off my build showcase for my Inpulsa's herald autobomber, pretty budget just about 30 ex to get it going and can clear all content up to t10 maps, pretty strong if you grind up a bit of currency for a headhunter and hatred crit/pen watcher's eye. To get through the labyrinth we're going to need 5 writhing jars. (click: ?witch)[(replace: ?notes)[(display: "crackled and hummed")]] (click: ?marauder)[(replace: ?notes)[(display: "slave impertinently")]]

Hey guys, here with my build guide for my wild strike berzerker. We're going crit with 16 abyss jewels for about 16m dps/11000 life, just needs this 550 pdps foil and 200 ex worth of jewels, and we can clear shaped vaults pretty quick - check it out and remember to smash that like and subscribe! (click: ?witch)[(replace: ?notes)[(display: "crackled and hummed")]] (click: ?marauder)[(replace: ?notes)[(display: "slave impertinently")]]

One chest containing whetstones and armourer's scraps One chest containing corrupted items, including a rare glorious plate, all golden and shimmering One chest containing virtue gems of great value, all 5% quality. - Manifest of the Emperor's vaults, Captain of the Guard's notes (click: ?keys)[(replace: ?notes)[(display: "the keys")]] (click: ?leaves)[(replace: ?notes)[(display: "green leaves")]]

The Azmeri were the first culture to devise the concept of infinity. Their metaphysicians had studied the number of Ryslatha's young, which was infinite; and they had determined the number of her young who survived when one was killed, which was both less and also infinite. This allowed the development of an opaque transfinite religious mathematics, the details of which are long lost, but which contributed greatly to early thaumatomagical theory. - Malachai, Notes on the Development of Thaumetic Theory (click: ?infinite)[(replace: ?notes)[(display: "infinite in number")]] (click: ?necromancy)[(replace: ?notes)[(display: "necromancy")]]

(align: "=><=")[The Emperor in his Labyrinth, or, The House of Izaro [[A Twine History Of The Unfallen Emperor->First]]] (set: $iz to (css: "font-variant: small-caps"))

$iz["Peace is possible only to the dead." "In times of war, a citizen is loyal. In peace, their blood roils against their betters." "For the Emperor, Peace is a noble goal to strive for, like flight, or apotheosis, or philosophy. Do not mistake an aspiration for a possiblity."] - Emperor Izaro, Aphorisms of Peace and War (click: ?peace)[(replace: ?notes)[(display: "peace")]] (click: ?necromancy)[(replace: ?notes)[(display: "necromancy")]]

The creature was found by an expedition taking water on a mountainous island far north of Wraeclast. Shoulders broad as the moon. The men raised their weapons at the sight of it, but the beast ran and dropped a whole mangled rhoa at the captain's feet, grovelling for praise. How did this monster come to be tamed? Was it man or god who abandoned it on that outcrop? - Report on the Sixth Outlands Voyage (click: ?Argus)[(replace: ?notes)[(display: "Argus")]]

The emperor shall bear on his back the celestial halo of Solaris, whose judgment and clarity is second only to his own. His heart shall be exposed to the world, as he is honest and fair. He shall be surmounted by the antler of the Phrecian Stag, symbol of his great house. - Papers of Commission for the Emperor's Reliquary Armour (click: ?halo)[(replace: ?notes)[(display: "halo and ornaments")]] (click: ?side)[(replace: ?notes)[(display: "side of his ribs")]]

I am no closer to determining the species or nature of the beast. The ligament elasticity follows similar profile to that of a cheetah or other large cat, however the musculature's structure seems more like a rhoa's. The wing flaps remain inexplicable. The Emperor's demands for answers do seem to have taken on a more personal tone and I worry about the limits of his Eminence's legendary patience. - Hanisa, Imperial Biometrician's Journal (click: ?halo)[(replace: ?notes)[(display: "halo and ornaments")]] (click: ?side)[(replace: ?notes)[(display: "side of his ribs")]]

(enchant: ?page, (text-colour: "#ecd9bf")) (enchant: ?link, (text-colour: "#697a63")) (set: $iz to (css: "font-variant: small-caps"))

The raised thing carries an aspect of its mind, more fully the more intact it is. A raised spectre carries the whole soul of its antecedent, letting it retain most thought, if not typically knowledge of speech. Something made from scratch or unliving elements is stupid and clumsy. Even the finest necromancer cannot create an intelligent animated guardian. Raise something intelligent, give it its own body and spirit and home, and it may never even realize it is dead. - Kadavrus (click: ?infinite)[(replace: ?notes)[(display: "infinite in number")]] (click: ?necromancy)[(replace: ?notes)[(display: "necromancy")]]

Izaro recalls somewhat of a to-do. A rumbling and terrible darkening in the sky, a few weeks or years ago? When twisted, dark lightning fell thick on the ground, and the things it struck rose and walked, stones forgetting that they were not men? It was not of any great concern. (click: ?peace)[(replace: ?notes)[(display: "peace")]] (click: ?cataclysm)[(replace: ?notes)[(display: "cataclysm")]]

The goddess of Justice makes no demands. Her blindfold does not cover eyes which see. Unlike the many vengeful or cruel gods of myth, no legend speaks of any desires. Does this imply that she is not concerned with the doings of man? Does it mean that her Justice is meted out by the great wheel of fate that grinds the unjust down in time? Does it mean that Justice, as a concept, is utterly without power? Was she not a god at all? - Eramir, A Catalogue of the Lost Divines

Izaro was known to retreat to his gardens whenever he encountered difficulties, either personally or in matters of state. In the gardens his temper seemed less sharp, his attention focused. Perhaps it was a measure of distance from the eyes and daggers of his court that brought peace. Perhaps, as some suggested when his High Garden project devoured the treasury, he simply should have been a gardener. - Icius Perandus, (click: ?keys)[(replace: ?notes)[(display: "the keys")]] (click: ?leaves)[(replace: ?notes)[(display: "green leaves")]]

The students had been set a task, to design an unsolvable labyrinth. "What if," the first suggested, "there were a number of paths, each of which branched subsequently, to create unlimited endpoints?" "Wasteful nonsense," said the second. "Instead, simply create a circular maze which returns to its starting point." "Ridiculous," scoffed the first student; "that is hardly a maze at all. Let us speak to the master." Their master sat, eyes closed, in his chair. The students each hurriedly explained the topology of their theories, and the master was silent. They waited for his answer, before a fly landed on their master's eye and he remained still. The students understood his final lesson imparted in death: any maze which cannot be survived is endless, and each life is an unsolvable labyrinth. (click: ?maze)[(replace: ?notes)[(display: "maze")]] (click: ?infinite)[(replace: ?notes)[(display: "infinite")]]

Each labyrinth with one entrance and one exit is in fact the same labyrinth contorted. Each book contains all other books, if one finds the key which decodes it. Each life contains in miniature a cypher for all other lives, and each moment within that life contains its entirety. - The Book of Essences, author unknown (click: ?maze)[(replace: ?notes)[(display: "maze")]] (click: ?infinite)[(replace: ?notes)[(display: "infinite")]]

|== Izaro rises, brushing away tears, not noticing he has no eyes, only dry bone. $iz["Perhaps,"] he says to the goddess alone, $iz["there can be no good Aspirant. Perhaps any who seek to work the tiller of empire do so from the drive of their own corruption. Perhaps it is my purpose here to slay them all without mercy, and prevent tyranny."] He hefts his weapon and takes a practiced swing. $iz["If so, then this fight is the truest expression of justice, Goddess? Is it not? Let us go to war, [[for I am the steed of Justice.->lossjpg]]"] =| []

Is the power inherent in the gem, waiting to be cracked open, or is it channelled by the one who carves and polishes its facets, applies the gilding? The gemcutters say that knowing what skill the gem will take to when they hold it uncut is the most important of their trade, and yet they can if desired channel it to different uses. Is it a negotiation or contract between them and whatever divine made the things? Should I seek that being? - Malachai (click: ?audience)[(replace: ?notes)[(display: "audience")]] (click: ?gems)[(replace: ?notes)[(display: "gems")]]

Eulus Perandus, Concerning Tariffs Added to Exchange of Coffee Beans Malachai, Laureate Thaumaturge, Requesting Funding for Inquiries into the Path of the Moon Kanya Dalesti, reporting on the results of the Fifth Northern Imperial Expedition 11 Applicants of lesser note Please be informed that the Emperor in his justice has cancelled all audiences for this date. - Emperor's Audiences, First day of the third moon, 1317 (click: ?audience)[(replace: ?notes)[(display: "audience")]] (click: ?gems)[(replace: ?notes)[(display: "gems")]]