The Seven

The Old World, Protectorate of Ramuh,

The female masked Inquisitor paused in her steps and looked over the battlement at the field packed with soldiers and airships. The field was outside the church walls was large enough to hold an entire fleet of airships and it was not the only field to do so. All over the country, similar scenes were unfolding as more and more ships and troops were marshalled.

"Chief Inquisitor Nerissa! Justice be upon you!" A paladin gave a prayer salute to the Chief Inquisitor and handed a scroll over. "A message from the highest order!"

Chief Inquisitor Nerissa nodded and accepted the scroll. She unfurled it and scanned through its contents rapidly before she tossed the scroll to one of her aides. She laughed as she turned her attention back to the field and said, "Send the order down, it is time to assault the lawless ones!"

The message which informed her of the current state of affairs in the Iron Kingdom made her mood extremely good. The whole Protectorate has been waiting for this moment for generations. Supplies and weapons have been stockpiled while troops were constantly trained and warships built just for this day.

A tremendous amount of magic crystals was required to empower the Grand Array to bring about Judgement Day and due to this reason, the will of the faithful could not bring justice to the entire world. But now, there was hope, and that hope was found inside the flying island of the lawless kingdom of iron! There was something more important and powerful compared to the magic crystals found inside.

But the Grand Jury only have eyes for magic crystals and the Judgement Day Grand Array. The Chief Inquisitor smiled to herself as she knew if she released news of the magic crystals, the Grand Jury would surely move all their forces to take those magic crystals. What she was after was beyond that, for the flying island brought back something else, unknown to all except for the Inquisition Judges has foretold it. There was a piece of the Seven there!

Inquisitor Mathias had brought back three of the Seven, and with the Inquisition holding another three, they have a total of six of the artefacts. Too bad about the fate of Mathias and Rism, both were exceptional Inquisitors and she watched and pitted them against each behind their backs to simulate their growth but both have gone missing in the New World. It was a real pity, but talent could always be trained and the matter of the Seven was greater than anything.

The Inquisition Judges had suddenly felt the pull of the final piece and with great cost and difficulty, located the final piece coming from the direction of the Iron Kingdom. Inquisition spies that lurked outside the lawless lands, had gathered enough intelligence to pinpoint the final piece of the Seven was actually on board the flying island that returned from the New World.

The disappearance of the lawless has to be something to do with the piece of the Seven as, without proper seals and handling, its power was deadly to the arrogant. The Grand Jury has no idea of the Seven Artifacts, for it was only mentioned in sacrilege texts confiscated by the Inquisitions over the years.

The Seven Artifacts came from the period of the Age of Gods where Ramuh the Just was the only Greater God that survived. The deeds of the other Old Gods were sketchy, only with bits of records still surviving spoke of many who had fallen in the war with the New Gods. The Seven Artifacts seemed to be related to the Seven Old Gods, as discovered by the Inquisition, many generations ago.

There were eight Greater Gods that watched over the Old World in the past. Ramuh the Just was the God of Creation and Justice, Aster the Beautiful was the Goddess of Love and Wisdom, Planes the Heavy was the God of Mountains, Halea the Warm was the Goddess of Spring and Nature, Ultron the Fierce was the God of Summer and Fire, Morgen the Sad was the Goddess of Autumn and Light, Nader the Cold was the God of Winter and Water, and finally, Kragon the Grim, was the God of Death and Promises.

Each of the Greater Gods has its own domain and worshipers, and not only that, the Gods jealously guarded their own followers and waged religious wars to gain more converts. After the war with the New Gods that came from another realm, all the Greater and Lesser Gods seemed to fade away into history and only Ramuh the Just remained prominent in the Old World.

But Ramuh the Just had fallen silent through the ages and each generation of the Grand Jury believed that the Grand Array will bring about Judgement Day which will rekindle the fires of justice into the entire world. The Protectorate would then march across the entire known world and bring the lawless into the fold of Ramuh and with the surge of faith, Ramuh the Just would be awakened from His slumber!

The Chief Inquisitor knew deep inside, that such a move was not guaranteed to succeed as she knew the will and faith of the lawless were weak. Even if they repent and devoted themselves to Ramuh, their ingrained greed and gluttony would only taint the true followers of Ramuh!

After rising to the position of Chief Inquisitor, Nerissa was given access to all the secrets of the Inquisition and the Protectorate. The previous Chief Inquisitor personally handed over a sacred duty and the secrets of the Seven Artifacts were passed on to her.

For each generation that took on the role of Chief Inquisitor, he or she would take over the sacred duty of finding the Seven. Only each Chief Inquisitor knew that the Seven Artifacts were not just a powerful divine artefact, but were actual containers that imprisoned the other Greater Gods!

Seven Artifacts, one for each God and Goddess. Ramuh the Just was the only God that remained in this realm, but the war with the other New Gods has damaged His divinity. The previous Inquisition's Chiefs had all came to the same conclusion was that Seven Artifacts could be used to restore the slumbering Ramuh with the divinity of the imprisoned Gods.

"Just a little time more!" Chief Inquisitor Nerissa whispered to herself. "Soon the all mighty glory of Ramuh shall shine upon the world once again!"

-----

The Old World, The Free City of Ender, Ivory Palace

"We demand an apology and compensation for the lives and destruction wrought by your fleets!" Veins could be seen popping out from the side of the Iron Kingdom Ambassador as he shouted at the representative of the Tri State. "And an immediate retreat of all your forces or face the wrath of the Iron Kingdom!"

"Release the Duchess and her ships!" The Tri State representative shot back. "We will not yield to your threats!"

"So be it!" The Iron Kingdom Ambassador roared angrily, "War it is!"

"Calm down, calm down!" The Ambassador for the Loose Confederation tried to appease both sides at the table. The rest of the representatives and ambassadors for the Great Nations remained quiet, watching the showdown between the Iron Kingdom and the Tri State. "We can work something out that benefits both sides and end this war!"

"Sure! As long they return our Duchess, our people and ships," The Tri State statesman said sternly. "And a thousand stones weight of magic crystals! Then we will pull our forces back!"

"HMPH!" The Iron Kingdom Ambassador let out a snort of disdain. "Your Duchess is involved in the disappearance of our Crown Prince! She must be investigated properly before her fate is to be decided! And a thousand stones weight of magic crystals? You must be dreaming!"

The fat Green Dragon from the Domain of Dragons laid on his cushions and watched the argument with interest. His mouth never stopped moving as he threw piece after piece of sweet meats into his jaws. He glanced over to the Suugon side and saw Lord Lei sitting calmly and sipping tiny cups of wine. Lord Lei seemed to noticed his glance and he looked back to the Green Dragon and gave a small barely noticeable nod.

Dragon Lord Alder gave a small nod back in return before he turned his attention back to he bickering, but in his mind, he was trying to figure what the Suugons would gain by inciting a war between the Iron Kingdom and the Tri State. The current events were certainly caused by the plot against the Third Prince and the Duchess taken by the Iron Kingdom was just an excuse the Tri State used to mobilize their fleets.

In fact, the Green Dragon was certain everyone here knew that, but were just keeping quiet. The true reason was for the invasion was the magic crystals found inside the flying island! Despite all the efforts made by the Iron Kingdom to keep the contents inside the vaults of the flying island hidden, the influx of magic was too strong and like a mighty beacon in the darkest of nights, everyone with even a tiny bit of magical ability could feel it in their blood despite the vast distances.

This in turn made the Iron Kingdom the focus of interest by every nation. Plans and plots were hatched, every nation wanting to get their hands on the horde of magic crystals. Out of the Seven Great Nations, only the Protectorate and the Cartel were successful in gaining some resources from the New World. Suddenly now, the Iron Kingdom came into a great fortune that could tip the balance of power in the Old World. This made the other nations jealous, worried, and greedy.

"War it shall be!" The Tri State representative smiled coldly, but in his heart, he laughed. His objective to gloat the Iron Kingdom into war has been successful. "The Tri State hereby issues a formal declaration of war with the Iron Kingdom!"

The Iron Kingdom Ambassador's eyes narrowed and he frowned, knowing that he had fallen into a trick of the Tri State. But nevertheless, he banged the table with his fist and said, "We accept!"

He turned to the Cartel diplomat and asked, "Will the Cartel stand together with the Iron Kingdom?"

The Cartel diplomat rubbed his thick beard before he shook his head, "Rock and stone! This is bad business! We want no part of this!"

The Iron Kingdom Ambassador angrily turned his glance to the Suugon envoy who continued to sip his wine. He placed the wine cup down and gently shook his head, "The Eternal Emperor has no wish for wars to befall his subjects. We will not take any sides."

The Green Dragon licked his claws and said, "The Domain of the Dragons will not join this folly either!"

"Erm... the Loose Confederation will also be not involved in this... matter..." The Loose Confederation representative looked away from the glare of the Iron Kingdom Ambassador in embarrassment.

"Good! Very good!" The Iron Kingdom Ambassador glared at everyone on the table before settling his glare at the smiling Tri State representative. He jabbed a finger at the direction of the Tri State representative and growled. "I hope your damn Grand Marshal is prepared for this treachery!"

He stormed out of the chambers. headed towards the Iron Kingdom wing of the Ivory Palace to relay the results of the meeting back to the Iron Kingdom through a very expensive magic communication array.

The only person that did not speak throughout the entire session was a crimson robed delegate from the Protectorate of Ramuh. He watched the entire fiasco without interest and kept chanting under his hood. He ignored everyone and the others also happily ignored him back, unwilling to have any contact with the fanatic Protectorate envoy.

The Protectorate envoy only raised his head when the chamber emptied, leaving him alone inside. He mumbled another prayer to the Judge before he smiled, "These infidels shall soon be judged and justice shall once more prevail in this foul land!"