Landsraad and Politics

"Beware of the creatures of the Old Night..."

Source Unknown

***

Codex: Rune Knights

Rune knights were an ultimate display of power amongst the humans. Originally archers, defenders, frontliners, or even mages, they all had the ability to bear runes on their bodies. A Mid-Tier rune would raise the might of a melee fighter by thirty percent, putting a Level 1 Knight on the same Level as Level 2.

Rune knights were strategic forces, and legendary mages were strategic deterrents. Knights that have more than 3 Runes on their body. They are the elite of the Holy Arcadia Empire's armies and the turning point in his arms race and development of combat tactics for war.

Rune knights differed based on the Rune sets they used, but the threshold to form a Rune Knight was very high. This made many Noble Houses vie for the creation of Rune Knights among their Household Guards as the core of the Guard and elite force.

And thus, many powerful families had accumulated forces that were unique to them, the Winter Knights of the House Sark an Russ, Iron-Blood Knights of the House Orleáns, or Sardaukar Knights of the House Atreides.

***

"Combination of the Old Blood, Runes, Nightwell, Grail Essence and Holy Empowerment of the Great Ones would indeed push the standard to Level 4."

Maria stated as she thought it over... reaching Level 4 was probably the highest that they could create. Still, with all of these augmentation methods, they could create a top-notch Level 4 Professional.

Above that, everything else was incredibly challenging, even with the usage of the Old Blood and mastering it to a great degree. While the Old Blood gave off tremendous benefits, it was actually very difficult to master, like very, very hard to master.

Only a tiny percentage of people could reach Level 5 and higher Levels; they could be counted on one hand as it was relatively rare. Still, if everything were combined together, they would create a very powerful Level 4 warrior.

With great versatility, combat prowess, and even the potential to reach Level 5 for some of the more lucky ones . Still, even if they didn't reach Level 5, I predicted that with their capabilities, training, equipment and skills, one squad of Stormcast Eternals would be able to defeat even Level 5 beings.

The concept of Level wasn't really good, but it was the closest thing that we have come up with to categorize the strength of various beings so we could adequately send soldiers at them...

It would be rather a foolish thing to send ordinary footsoldiers at the Nobz, for example, as they would just pick them apart like nothing.

So for that one, the concept of Levels was pretty useful, but physical strength and speed weren't everything in the fight, so even though the concept of Levels was widespread across the Lordran, it wasn't everything.

Not for every species, it was very accurate, like it was for Daemons, Danger Beasts, Cleric Beasts, or some species of the Greenskins. For example, in the case of humans, it was sometimes very hard to accurately say someone's Level or his combat prowess.

Even though I was Level 6, I would have a solid chance against even Level 7 Greenskins and many of the Omega Danger Beasts. Naturally, I wouldn't really dare to fight Daemon Princes because those were entirely different realms of power due to their connection with the Chaos Gods.

"I also plan in the future to expand the Silver Knights at least by two Legions... having additionally 20,000 Silver Knights patrolling the Lordran would do us only good and with a finished wall at the borders with the Orklands, we may as we need it."

Maria agreed with my words...

Now that we have finished building an enormous wall entirely severing the Orklands from the rest of the Holy Arcadia Empire, it would create hell. Yeah, the idea was to hold Greenskins from the lands of the Empire, but this would only motivate them to attack us even more.

But at least most of the residential areas would be safe from the raids and attacks by the Greenskins. The Greenskins were a plague to the territories of the Holy Arcadia Empire; they were the ones who ravaged our lands the most and thus, they were considered as one of the prime threats.

"That seems rational... the presence of Silver Knights is needed to complement the standardized Imperial Legions. And with the wall separating the lands of the Empire from the Orklands, the Ork Tribes and Klanz would launch frenzy attacks... probably even more than till now."

The raids of the Greenskins on the territory of the Holy Arcadia Empire were the prime source of resources for the Greenskins. The Orks didn't build; they didn't farm or produce anything; they couldn't really create things; they could only wage wars, conquer and destroy things.

They were as simple as that.

"Even right now, they are attacking it, but not in great numbers; apparently, some of the greater Tribes got into conflict with each other, so right now, they are busy killing themselves."

I said one of the most typical Orkish things that could ever happen. The entire society of the Greenskins was separated into Warbands, Tribes, and Klanz. A Tribe consisted of multiple Warbands that consisted in turn of Orks and other species that were creating the Greenskins as a whole.

On the contrary, the Klanz were a more permanent thing because they were a permanent social grouping of like-minded fighters often marked out by the colors and crude Ork glyphs they displayed on their bodies and banners.

An Ork Klan is a massive group of Orks who share an enduring philosophical viewpoint on Greenskin's life. The great Greenskin thinker Orkimedes once postulated that "thinkin' iz for gitz, but everyone'z a git, so's ya might as well think like some other gitz" which has come, through the years, to mean the klanz.

While Ork tribes are constantly changing groups of Greenskins, breaking apart and reforming, Klan ties are more stable and enduring. Ork Klanz are the philosophical delineations representing the various aspects of the Orkish character.

Each klan has its own colors, markings, defining characteristics and ways of waging war.

"Stupid Greenskins... still, we need to reinforce the wall; when the Greenskins within the Orklands cease their conflicts, they will attack the fortifications with their full force."

Nobody exactly knew the size of the Orklands because it was almost night impossible to go around it with ships due to the Green Energy that was all around the Orklands. And nobody would really dare to wander into the Orklands because it was pure suicide.

While the forces of the Holy Arcadia Empire had some preliminary understanding of the Orklands, there were some minor expeditions into the Orklands done by the Empire or by the House Orleáns, so we knew some things about that dammed land.

"Should we retire to our chambers?"

Seeing Maria's stare at me, I nodded as we went to address some important "issues".

He was away for several weeks and now, Maria certainly had some tensions that she needed to release because her fianceé was away from her for a long time.

'Life is good... indeed...'

I thought, certainly a bit weirded by the statement inside my head, considering my past life on Earth.

***

3rd POV

Imperial Palace of the Anor Londo, several days later.

Days were passing relatively fast within the Anor Londo, the City of Gods.

Of course, they were for the Holy Imperator when he was spending the majority of his time with Maria as they were literarily fucking like rabbits, or he was helping Cersei to accommodate better to the Imperial Palace.

The Imperial Palace of the Anor Londo was enormous, so it took a good few days for Karl Franz to show his newest fainceé everything around here. Yesterday, he also took her to the animal/danger beast zone...

If it could be called that way because it was more luxurious than the entire Red Keep of Westeros.

And it was a place for Griffon Deathclaw to live, though not only him but also his mate, who now laid a clutch of eggs, so soon enough, there would be small griffons flying around the Imperial Palace.

Aside from that, after lazying around for a few days, he knew that it was time to get back to work, so he was already sitting inside his office. On the contrary to his status, his own office was a relatively small, cozy place.

There were a few leather chairs and a leather sofa of dark black color made from the leather of powerful Dangers Beasts. At the same time, there were a few pieces of furniture around the room, as the Holy Imperator himself was sitting behind a huge wooden table with stacks of documents in front of him.

On the table was a huge Lacrima Crystal that served as a transmitter for messages that needed to be delivered directly to him. Since the morning, he was tending to his paperwork, and there was already a considerable amount of it for the three weeks that he was away.

It wasn't a lot; he would actually have it done in a few hours because of the sturdy bureaucratic system that he had created in the Holy Arcadia Empire. If not for that, then there would be much more paperwork than it is right now.

"What is the next thing... Report about Euron Greyjoy... I kinda forgot about him that he was still within the Imperial Dungeons."

Karl Franz stroked his chin as he thought over the matter; he then made a mental note to solve this later, but not to forget, he also signed the paper to transfer the prisoner into a different part of the Imperial Dungeons for the VIP Guests...

It seemed that the madman was making a problem in the prison and constantly provoking guards, and he even managed to attack one of the guards who let himself be provoked by him...

He would need soon to deal with him; his experiences with naval warfare would certainly be useful for the Navy of the Holy Arcadia Empire. Now, our Navy was in a rather pathetic state; the Holy Arcadia Empire never really invested a lot of resources into the Navy.

The Empire, in the first place, never really needed a powerful naval presence for because there was no need for it till now... Most, if not all, fights and battles that the Empire led were done on the ground or in the air.

The Navy was put on secondary priority, and it was used only for delivering supplies and nothing more. Yet, with the addition of the contacts with the Westeros and now with potential expansion to the Essos, Sothoryos and Ulthos, there was now a great need for the Navy and even strengthening the Air Force.

"Now... what is there now... Nation Wide Portal Network Act?"

This was something that was talked about for a long time already because many were proposing to interconnect all of the major Cities and points of interest within the Holy Arcadia Empire with the nationwide portal network.

Right now, only six places were connected, and those were Anor Londo, Yharnam, Cainhurst, Faust, Skycrown Gate, and Ironblood Fortress at the Grand Province of Orleáns, which was the main defensive point against the Greenskins.

"It indeed has a great merit... though it will cost a lot of Reichscrowns and the maintenance won't be cheap either... but I guess we can still commercialize it and let it make money on its own maintenance, maybe even make back the initial costs..."

Of course, using the Portal Network won't be free and would require some money to use; Karl Franz was already thinking of how to make money from it. And what new taxes he would get to create... but not many or too high, as that would be detrimental to the Empire.

As the time continued to flow, soon enough, Karl Franz noticed that it was time for the Landsraad meeting, or rather, the meeting of the Landsraad would take place in one hour, so it would be prudent to be there ahead of time.

***

MC POV

"Do you want to go with me to the Landsraad meeting?"

I asked Cersei and Maria, or more like, the question itself was directed more at the golden lioness than the Lady of the Vilebloods because Maria would never voluntarily go to something as boring as the meeting of the Landsraad.

"I would be naturally delighted to go."

Cersei answered first with glee in her eyes because she was curious about the politics of the Empire, but to my shock, even Maria agreed with it and would go with us. This was something that I wasn't really expecting.

"Maria, you wanna go? Are you okey?"

I asked with faux concern as her brown twitched in anger.

"Of course I am okey, you dolt!"

Nobody could blame me for this because it was indeed really weird for Maria to actually participate in the meeting of the Landsraad. So, I suspected that something interesting would be taking place today within the Landsraad.

Perhaps judgment of some unruly nobles? Or Kanly between some hours... who knew...

"Yeh, yeh... we should come to be there ahead of time; I want to avoid flooding in."

Maria nodded at my words while Cersei looked confused until Maria explained that "flooding in" was that, when the meeting of the Landsraad was starting, most people and representatives of the Noble Houses would typically arrive in the last half an hour before the meeting started.

***

The building that houses the Landsraad was located within the heart of the Administration Discritct of the Anor Londo and looked like an enormous dome with a much smaller building adjusted to the dome.

The dome of the Landsraad was to rise from a massive granite podium 315 by 315 meters and 74 meters high to a total inclusive height of 290 meters. The diameter of the dome was 250 meters.

Inside the building of the Landsraad was a massive apse covered with gold mosaics and enclosing a giant silver statue of the symbol of the Holy Arcadia Empire, depicted as a Griffon beneath which is situated a throne for the Emperor and seats for the High Council.

From the podium there, speakers would be able to address more than several thousand people altogether. The entire place could house a few thousand people seated in three tiers of seats enclosing a giant circular arena.

"It is huge..."

I heard Cersei say when we were seated in our seats, with Maria sitting next to me and not in the seat for the High Lord Magistrate of the Cainhurst, the City of Silver.

The Imperial Nobles were divided based on their rank and affiliated with the Lesser Noble Houses, Greater Noble Houses, or the Healing Church and also had voting rights with the Landsraad...

'Though soon their votes would even formally belong to the Imperial House.'

"Yes, it's actually the building of the Landsraad is one of the biggest administrative buildings within the entire Holy Arcadia Empire."

I said as the huge building started getting full of people, most of them belonging to the Lesser Houses of the Nobility, as the Greater Houses consisted only of the Elector Counts and Lords High Magistrates.

About the next twenty minutes, more and more people were arriving at the meeting of the Lnadsraad, and soon enough, the entire meeting would start. Even the members of the High Council of the Landsraad were in their places, sitting beneath chairs beneath us.

"Order!"

Soon enough, throughout the entire place, the voice of the High Chancellor of the Holy Arcadia Empire was heard as he officially started this meeting.

"Now it seemed that everyone had arrived. I would like to ask for Elector Counts of Fenris and Khaz-Modan to maintain the civility of this fine institution and avoid any inappropriate behavior."

High Chancellor Luca Brewster said as he looked at the Elector Count of League of Khaz-Modan, Magni Bronzebeard and Leman Star an Russ Elector Count of Grand Province of Fenris sternly because both of them made a mess in the past few meetings.

"Now that we have all calmed down, we can start with the program and first voting. The program shall be as follows. 1st theme would be the Judgement of the Viceroy House of Mussilon of the Grand Province of Brettonia for misconduct, poor administration, abuse of power and other things. 2nd thing on the program is Kanly between Houses Lothbrok and Rundstadt. 3rd point on the program is the situation with the Barbarians at the Grand Province of Stormwind and the proposal for the Crusade by Elector Countess Klauda Cross and the last thing would be a speech for the Landsraad by His Majesty, Holy Imperator. Now let's proceed to the vote for the program."

After the lengthy reading done by the High Chancellor Luca Brewster, the members of the Landsraad started voting and soon enough, the program for today's meeting passed with 0:1,000.

"Now let's start with the first topic on the program, the Judgement of the House Mussilon."

As he said, everyone turned their sight in great anticipation because the last situation like this happened more than four hundred years ago. Rarely did the Viceroy Houses mismanage their territories enough for the Landsraad to intervene.

Most things are solved just by written notice from the Ministry of Domestic Affairs and some warnings and fines.

"Why does everyone look like we are going to watch some mummers play or what?"

Cersei asked as both me and Maria chuckled in amusement hearing that question.

"Because, technically speaking, this is the show... last time Viceroy House was judged at the Landsraad was 512 years ago with the House Bergenrein, where entire lineage was executed, so everyone is rather excited to see the drama."

When I said that, I could feel her shock because things like this would almost never happen in Westeros. Even if in the Westeros, the noble killed a few peasants, nobody would care, but in the Lordran, the situation was different.

Mainly because it was required to enforce very strict order and due to how developed the society of the Holy Arcadia Empire was, I knew that common people needed some sort of security against the members of the Nobility or they would cause problems.

And this wasn't talking about the fact that it gave me a perfect reason to sort out the bad apples that were leeching on my nation and have them all killed.

Soon enough, members of the Imperial Legion, more precisely the 1st Imperial Legion, together with one Grail Knight, dragged there a refined middle-aged man, who looked rather fat and sweaty as he was dragged into the meeting in chains.

"Julius Mussilon of the Viceroy House Mussilon of the Grand Province of Brettonia, you stand before the judgment panel of the Landsraad for abuse of power, mismanagement of your territory, non-action against the Ork WAAAGH! that appeared within your Viceroyalty three months ago which led to the death of several hundred of commoners. Furthermore, members of your House are or already were convicted for the murder of several commoners, and your Heir has been convicted guilty and executed for disobeying military orders of the Provincial Army under the leadership of Commander du'Lac."

Hearing all of that made the Nobility murmur among themselves, as everyone's body whispered while the main star of the event was sweating even more. Hearing the accusation, he knew that if he managed to get swift death, it would be considered a good result.

"How do you plead?"

The High Chancellor asked, as all eyes were on Justin Mussilon, who looked like he was about to faint at any given moment.

***

3rd POV

"He looks like a pig seeing butcher."

Now, hearing and seeing this, Cersei understood why her finaceé told her that this was a show. Because it indeed was, the fat man who was previously very important and rather powerful nobleman of the Empire was now sweating like a pig and he was stuck at what to see.

She remembered that Viceroys were the highest rank of the Lesser Noble Houses and were, technically speaking, the highest nobility status that one could get elevated to within the Holy Arcadia Empire.

If she had to compare it with the standards of the Seven Kingdoms of the Westeros, then Viceroys would be the most powerful Bannermen of the Wardens, though their military and economic power was far more powerful.

"Justin Mussilon, do you plead guilty or not?"

The High Chancellor Luca Brewster asked for the third time already, as the fat man in question was looking around, unsure of what to say, before his sight fell on the figures sitting on the highest parts of the Landsraad.

"Your Majesty! Please! I served well, paid taxes, and took care of the territory as it was ordered! Your Highnesses, please spare my life!"

So the only thing that he could do was, technically speaking, a rather crafty move because he planned to appeal to the youngest woman with golden hair and emerald green eyes who was sitting next to the Holy Imperator and plead for his life.

Considering the fact that she looked very young, probably around fourteen or fifteen years old, he thought that his plan might succeed. Unfortunately for him... If there was one thing that Cersei Lannister wasn't good at, it was forgiving people...

The golden lioness meanwhile looked at the Grail Knight standing behind Justin Mussilon and gave him a subtle nod, which made the Viceroy smile as he thought that he had succeeded, only to be met with an armored fist on his face as he fell on the ground groveling in pain.

Instantly afterward, one swift kick to the head knocked him unconscious.

"As it seemed that the Viceroy Mussilon refused to cooperate, it would be taken that he chose not to plead guilty. In regard to gathered evidence, the House Mussilon shall be stripped of their Title, their lands and wealth shall be confiscated by the state and all members of the House Mussilon connected with offenses shall be executed. Members of the House Mussilon who were not involved in any criminal activity but were aware of them were sentenced to a lifetime in the Death Battalions. The rest of the members of the House Mussilon shall lose all of their privileges and will return all possessions that they got from the House Mussilon."

With the judgment passed, the guards took the unconscious head of the former House of Mussilon to the chopping block. All people within the Landsraad understood the very moment when the accusations were read that the House Mussilon was done for.

"You did good for the first time... I knew that he would try to use you to get mercy for him or perhaps his House."

Karl Franz knew that the moment the accusations were read and he brought Cersei, that they would try to manipulate her for her to plead with him...

It could have probably worked with anyone else from Westeros because in Westeros, it was almost impossible to send entire Hosue to their death for something that most if not all, Nobles consider as something inconsequential.

With Cersei, who was a pretty ruthless and cruel person...

There was no chance, so for him, he was curious to see the situation develop.

Interestingly enough, the situation developed as Karl Franz predicted; she wasn't the person who was moved by something like this, not to mention in her head that all traitors deserved to die with their whole families.

"Now that the judgment of House Mousillon has been concluded, we can move on to the secondary topic. House Rundstedt has declared Kanly against the House Lothbrok."

As the High Chancellor proclaimed that, most of the people grinned hearing that; Maria looked amused by that, The High Chancellor was tired and Cersei looked confused as she leaned over to me.

"What is Kanly?"

She whispered and I proceeded to explain the fundamental nature of the word, term or even tradition at this point.

"Knaly is basically an enactment of formal feud or vendetta in a matter that complies with the Great Convention between Noble Houses, or even other subjects of the Empire; there is even a list of those who are entitled to declare Kanly. Basically, the act of Kanly is a way to allow bitter disputes to be resolved without a declaration of war and unnecessary destruction."

She looked genuinely surprised that the Empire had something like this.

In Westeros, one of the reasons why the Seven Kingdoms never really advanced beyond something other than what they already were was the fact that most of the Lords of Westeros were busy fighting with each other for petty reasons or scheming against one another.

Karl Franz created the concept of Kanly for this very own reason. Soon enough, two people walked up onto the podium. One of them was a gruff-looking man with blonde hair, a beard in the style of braid and electric blue eyes; basically, everything around him screamed the word viking.

Meanwhile, the other one looked like a refined gentleman and was much younger-looking than the blonde-haired man. He was also wearing a three-piece suit of the latest fashion within the Empire, contrary to the armor and wolf skins worn by his opponent.

"Now, please, Viceroy Berengar Rundstedt, to step forward with the reason for the Kanly and proposal."

Berengar Rundstedt was the son of General Rundstedt of the 6th Imperial Legion and certainly, he inherited some demeanor of his father.

"Thank you, Your Excellency. The reason for this Kanly is simple... this barbarian with a half-frozen brain has impregnated my sister and refused to take her as her wife and I demand satisfaction for his dishonor."

Karl Franz scoffed because this looked like a boring reason for a Kanly...

Though it was amusing to have two similar things taking place within the premises of the Landsraad.

Last time, it was Head of the Elector Count House Orleáns attacking Elector Count Leman Russ an Stark for sleeping with his daughter...

Within the Empire, the Landsraad was responsible for resolving conflicts or even hearing out the petitioners. In Westeros, the practice of hearing out the petitioners was up to the King, but Karl didn't really want to deal with this, so he delegated this responsibility to the Landsraad.

He dealt with only the most serious cases that required his attention.

"So, how would this be resolved?"

Cersei asked Karl from the side as she watched with interest.

"Depends... Fenrisians have a lot of rivalry with the Nobles of the Reikland and Brettonia to a certain degree, mainly due to differences with their cultures and traditions..."

The people of the Holy Arcadia Empire were gruff and hard people; considering the conditions they were living in, it wasn't anything that surprising as the danger was in every single corner.

So, the Imperial Nobility was much less focused on their petty squabbles with each other and rather focused on working for the "greater good" if it could be called such.

"They would probably shout at each other for some time, then fight in single combat to decide the conditions... Lothbrok certainly made a mistake, as he made the woman pregnant and if he didn't care for the child, then he would be viewed as a coward, especially among the Fenrisians; it would be a stain on their honor."

Maria said from the side, though hearing this was a rather great shock for the young Lannister from Westeros because Westerosi's practice of bastardy was completely opposite to the beliefs of the Empire.

"Ygnyrd Lothbrok, you have a podium."

Before the two of them started shouting at each other, High Chancellor Luca Brewster said with tired sight because this was the part that he hated when mediating meetings within the Landsraad.

Fortunately, most of the nobles, according to the Imperial Tradition, decided their own conflicts with single combat and only some more serious cases that would typically create scandals were brought to the Landsraad.

"Thank you, Your Excellency... It was not my fold that the woman spread her legs for me when she was so frustrated."

As expected from the Fenrisians... their tact was nowhere to be found, while most of the people here just chuckled hearing that, including the Emperor and Maria Vileblood, but Cersei gasped.

"You bastard! I will put your head on pike!"

Berengar Rundstedt lunged at the Fenrisian and threw him a punch directly in his face.

Unsurprisingly, the gruff-looking Ygnyrd Lothbrok dodged to the side, as his electric blue eyes narrowed his eyes and returned the punch and knocked the Berengar Rundstedt to the ground.

"Order! Order!"

Swiftly, both of them were separated by the soldiers of the Imperial Legion, separating the two brawling noblemen.

"For breaching the sanctity of the Landsraad, Berengar Rundstet, you are fined with a fine of 50,000 Golden Reichscrowns."

50,000 Golden Reichscrowns was a relatively high penalty.

"Now, as usual, we will proceed with the single combat to decide the outcome. Viceroy Rundstedt, what do you wish for as a form of satisfaction from the House Lothbrok and Ygnyrd Lothbrok?"

High Chancellor Luca Brewster asked tiredly as the Head of the House Rundstedt collected himself; whole he was enraged, he didn't really care about the fine, but he was more fearing the reaction of his father.

Old General Rundstedt would be actually delighted that his eldest daughter, Adelheid Rundstedt, would finally be married and even have a child. She was always pretty much unruly, and for the past decades, the only thing she was doing was dedicating her life to the Imperial Legion.

"I demand that he marries my sister or provides remuneration to the House Rundstedt..."

He said after some time of consideration because this was the best thing that he could get from the Lothbrok. He was also aware that the Kanly must be resolved to prevent any conflicts between the Nobility to prevent them from not working together.

"I never said that I won't marry her, though..."

Ygnyrd Lothbrok voiced his opinion from the side, which made the Berengar Rundstedt narrow his eyes at him. This one statement basically buried the hot-headed Berendar Rundstedt because it made the entire Kanly pointless, so the entire procedure went forward very quickly.

"Now that Ygnyrd Lothbrok said his piece, the Kanly of the House Rundstedt has been resolved before it could even start. Now for the last part of the program, which is a proposal of the Crusade against the Barbarian Tribes of Badlands by the Elector Countess Klauda Marian."

With each word, the situation was getting increasingly tense because the Barbarians in the Badlands became more and more powerful. Soon enough, they would represent a grave threat to the Empire.

Even right now, they were representing a significant threat, with their military potential, which was very strong and the Empire would need to take them seriously if they decided to launch the Crusade against the Barbarians.