Chapter Text
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George Frederick Ernest Albert the king of the United Kingdom, is watching another attempt of using magic to do something with the rotten piece of wood that the ghosts of his grandparents had given him. A search for anyone who can use magic has gone out throughout the empire and nothing has been found. He has given the job offer of court magician to anyone who can preform real magic, and besides some con men and stage magicians showing up, nothing.
The war has ended and terms for peace was given by Germany and the Ottomans, they had asked for more but his niece Sunset told them to be reasonable and just end the war already. It was still in the Centeral Powers favor to end the war, both Germany and Ottoman Empire following Russia’s example in using the Klabautermanns to rebuild their nations. Using the magic ability that all of the Klabautermann process in restocking whatever is stored in their real ship bodies, by eating. By eating just about anything the Klabautermanns are able to supply the rebuilding efforts and feed the hungry population of each nation and with extra supplies going to their allies.
Both nations and their allies are rebuilding fast, thanks to their Klabautermann fleets. They’re also securing their nations thanks to the Klabautermanns being loyal to the royal families, as long as they’re treated well. Seeing what a mess the United States is right now because of the country not having a royal family for the American Klabautermanns to be attached to and how the nation treats non whites. Both countries are making sure to avoid that from happening with their fleets.
His cousin Wilhelm controls the German Klabautermanns with the scepter their niece given him, the scepter of Sacrifice. Which Wilhelm had given up his good arm to gain, that he used to show his people what personal sacrifice he’s willing to do for his people. A magic item like how sultan Mehmed uses the sword of Osman to control his Klabautermann fleet. Both rulers are able to summon more Klabautermanns from ships that are made apart of their navy. The captured ships taken by the Russian ships and given over to the Ottomans have been made apart of their navy and sultan Mehmed using the show of Osman summon the Klabautermanns of said ships and now they’re apart of the Ottoman navy as spoils of war.
According to the spies, both nations are retraining the navy to work with the Klabautermanns and the human crew. Even talks about letting women serve in the navy so that the human women can better handle the female Klabautermanns. As once angered the Klabautermanns have made the crewmen on them walk the plank, or while on shore left broken bodies behind.
George himself is pushing for the laws to be change and for the parliament to make other changes, so that once they figure out how to use magic, they won’t have to deal with the same problems the Americans are dealing with. The Klabautermanns reflect the people of whatever nation they’re apart of and where they were built. Which is why there are so many Native American Klabautermanns, as they were there first. And with how wide spread the British empire is, there be a great amount of different races. So the laws have to be changed so that the British Klabautermanns won’t be asking why they should be loyal to an empire that doesn’t treat them well.
George looks over to the reports on the state of Russiaon a nearby table. The country is still rebuilding from the ground up from both the war and civil war, using the genius of Nikola Tesla who now works for his niece and having all but unlimited resources for his inventions. Showing what advancements he could have brought to the United States.
Dams are being build using his hydroelectric power generators, to power the nation. Tesla towers are being built for wireless power transmission systems, that also acts as a wireless communications system. So many inventions that the rich and powerful men of industries say was a waste of time and money, is rapidly rebuilding and improving the lives of Russian people.
From what Roosevelt told of why Sunset wanted Tesla as part of the deal, is because of how smart he is and able to create things highly advance. He’s also smart enough to know the mathematical formulas that magic means, as one needs to be able to do high level mathematical formulas in their heads to use magic. According to Roosevelt, Tesla is working on the magic cube which is a key part of the summoning ritual. But once the civil war was won and Sunset was crowned by her grandmother, Roosevelt’s job was done as general and he with the USA army unit that came with him let go to return to their country.
Roosevelt returned as a war hero again, having lead the Klabautermanns to victory with his war experience. With him saying he wished that he was young enough to lead the Klabautermanns as a front line commander again. He’s currently teaching younger military officers in how to lead the Klabautermanns and how to treat them.
George shakes his head seeing the ritual once again ending in failure. They need to find someone who can use magic, if the empire was to remain as a world power.
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Kingdom of Greece -
The region is a mountainous region of Greece. The region of Valdelobos has culturally been isolated from the rest of the country for most of its history, being a former Roman city state and the home of Iluminados, a primal religion which survived while others faded away. The religion of Iluminados is base around the immortal sirens, a trio of sirens who made the region their home and protected it since ancient times when the Roman Empire was still around. Using their powers to cause any invading force to fight among themselves, allowing the defenders to slaughter the rest. Or transform into dragons unleashing their rage on the invaders. Causing a religion to form around the sirens who displayed powers and magic unseen.
Valdelobos was given control to the Dazzlings noble family who are said to have been started by said sirens, after a visit from the Roman emperor of the time to see the sirens for himself. After allying themselves to the Empire, they were given rulership of the region. It’s said that the reason why the Roman Empire lasted after the fall of the empire is because of the sirens aiding the empire. Till a betrayal told in the epic of ‘Siren Song’ where a power mad emperor tried to make the sirens his wives and cause the fall of the western empire when the sirens transform into dragons and lay waste to the city of Rome, with only the eastern empire surviving till its own fall to the Ottoman Empire.
The Dazzlings house continue to rule over the region, creating a sense of order while the surrounding lands, had kingdoms raise and fall. Merchants and traders came and did business in the region, with noble families moving to the area during the Black Death where the Dazzling house making sure that the chaos that the plague cause didn’t happen in their region. As they made it well known that the rats and their fleas are the cause of the plague and made examples of any of the people who tried to throw blame elsewhere or start witch hunts. By having the leaders being burn at the stake instead. Creating a safe zone while the other countries tore themselves apart, with soldiers keeping the few safe roads into the region under heavy guard to stop any spread. Which cause the region to become quite wealthy thanks to the Siren bank, seen as the most stable financial institution in the world. (1)
The city of Siren is built around the bank that the stories said to been started by the sirens themselves and still owned by the Dazzlings house. The bank loans to countries and invest in others, with the bank being very trusted thanks to how stable the bank is in managing the money that is put in. Other banks are more powerful but the Siren bank being the oldest is seen as the most stable. The bank is also known for their legendarily secretive bank accounts, which is a tax haven for many with ill-gotten gains.
Causing many companies and guilds to setup shop in the city. Which caused many of the smaller villagers to lose their young people who moved to the city for more opportunities and get an education. That gives the region a wall of protection, the city being a hub of economic power, few leaders dare to even think about invading as it would just bring down the wrath of other countries who depend on the bank to continue to operate.
Over the centuries, the Dazzlings house descendants continued to oversee and enforce matters in the region as feudal lords and castellans. While the land’s political and technological climate changed radically over the course of the centuries, the region itself remained a time capsule, being a remnant of the Roman Empire. Which is seen well among the oldest of the villages and Siren Castle, with some buildings having been around since those ancient times, being rebuilt and repaired over the centuries.
The soldiers of the Dazzlings House are of the remnants of the 27th Roman Legion, who served under the command of the Dazzlings house. Maintaining their ranking system, training, and discipline for centuries. The soldiers are still used as a military police force and during the war kept the peace as refugees came to the region and acted as neutral ground during talks between the two sides.
Far from Siren City is Siren castle that is built on a hill and separated from the city by a deep riven with a river at the bottom. Several old bridges and a newer one are built over the riven. Protected by an outer wall and an inner wall. It started off as a temple to the sirens before being built upon in the passing centuries. The castle has survived fires, sieges, natural disasters, and many other things that has damaged the castle. The castle has been rebuilt and remodeled to its current state.
The old outer walls built in Roman times is still used to keep out the wild animals that still roam in the forest and hillside areas. The forest and hillside is home to the last herd of Auroch, a specie of wild cows that died out everywhere else. The Dazzlings house has royal hunts whenever the population needs culling with them either being hunted and killed or captured and used for breeding bigger and stronger cattle. The forest also the home of elephants which the Dazzlings house collected over the centuries from side shows, privet zoos or another places, letting them loose in the forest where they bred and multiplied. There are also the flocks of dodos that one member of the Dazzlings house took a liking too and gathered up a flock and brought home with her. While the dodos died off on their home island they thrived under the care of the Dazzlings house and are now farmed like other farm birds.
Followed newer walls that protects the castle town. Between that are the smaller hamlets and farmlands which have emptied out over the years as more jobs and opportunities lay in moving to the city. The main military base is still standing at the site where the original Roman fort once stood.
The region is apart of the kingdom of Greece but as a self governing region. Which the government is happy with as the region keeps the payments and other agreements flowing to them. A deal that the Dazzlings house has always maintained with the different kingdoms and governments that raised and fall around them, while they remained.
The castle town and the remaining populated hamlets have been modernized thanks to the Dazzlings house investing to improve the living standards. Power lines connecting to the new dam and power plant, light up homes and buildings. The region still used the old Roman aqueducts and baths built and the public toilets, being repaired and maintained for centuries, with only the new water treatment plant being built to make the water clean and the sewage plant to treat the waste water. Which was dump out of a drain into the riven before the treatment plant was built.
The castle itself is protected by a dry moat, which depends on the time of the year is filled with water or dry. The wall that still have towers standing that have be changed to gun towers, cannons and machine guns were place on the towers during the war for protection. The main entrance is still the main gatehouse that still has a working drawbridge that can still be lifted up, the gatehouse also has a working portcullis. There are also several sally ports built along the wall, allowing people to get in and out from the castle from small and easily overlooked doors halfway up a wall. Unlike other castles thanks to the still working aqueducts the latrines didn’t lead to a pit where a gong farmer had to empty it out now and then, but are connected to the sewerage system that takes the waste away.
Inside the walls are several courtyards called baileys. During war times, animals and people were sheltered inside, during peacetimes the courtyards housed workshops. In the modern era the courtyard now houses 3 guest houses where workshops use to be located at. There is still a stable and a blacksmith forge, mainly used as a maintenance shed where all the tools are kept. Several store houses, a garage for the cars. A greenhouse has also been built. The guard houses are still around and used by the soldiers who guard the castle.
The castle keep has been changed and rebuilt to be more homely than a fortress. The great hall is located in the keep that is used both as the dining room and ballroom. The castle still has the shrine to the sirens, which is also a bathhouse, now serves as an indoor pool. There are plenty of bedrooms for the residents and guests, servant quarters, a guardroom for the soldiers station in the keep.
The kitchen that still has some of the old kitchen equipment still there, like the spit wheel where a small dog would run in the wheel to turn whatever is being spit roasted over the fire. Others like the larder has been turned into the refrigerator like the cold room that’s deep underground that is still in use to keep the food from rotting, has freezer AC installed to keep the room colder.
The castle is a mix of the old and new, with the current heads of the castle being the 3 Dazzlings sisters. The Dazzlings house has always been lead by women as no man has been born into the family and there is always 3 of them. The different generations would rule for some years before they would head off and never return. The steward left in charge would rule till the new generation of the house would return to the castle to rule, mirroring the appearances of the old generation but have different personalities.
Only a select few knows or managed to figure out that the Dazzlings house has always remained the same. They are the sirens of legends and are immortal, just disappearing for some years before returning as their own daughters to hide the fact that they don’t age or die. One being the current king of Greece, Constantine I, who has come to the remote region of his kingdom to talk to the 3 immortals, having received word from them to come to their castle for something that only to be revealed in person.
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Siren Castle -
Having been driven to the castle and escorted by Sonata Dust, Constantine wonders why they called him. They have kept to themselves and been happy in just ruling their region within the kingdom. Of course with what happen with the Russian royal family, everything has changed now that people know that magic is real and the Klabautermanns being summon.
They also been changing the world, as the Klabautermanns remember everything that happened to them, even after they were sunk. The Titanic remembers being broken in half when she sunk unlike what the ship company who made her said, about a giant gash being that sank her. With the Roman Klabautermanns revealing many things that happen in the Bible didn’t happen as it was written and what Jesus really looked like, has caused a big shake up. The pope and the Vatican have been trying to do damage control but the Roman Klabautermann, are the ones who were around during those times.
“Here we are,” Sonata said to Constantine and his two bodyguards with him. They had stop in front of a metal door in the underground part of the castle.
Sonata knock on the door and yells. “Open up.”
The door up by Aria Blaze, who let the group into the room. The room is the treasure room, chests of all sizes from wood and metal are kept. The walls have paintings and bookshelves of ancient books are kept. There are also swords shields and other weapons also on display. But they all pale to the 8 glowing cubes that sat on a long table, where Adagio Dazzle waited.
“Are those what I think they are?” Constantine asked.
“Yes, the same magic cubes that allow the Russian princess to summon Klabautermanns. We come across these over the centuries and already know what they do,” Adagio said.
“Wait outside,” Constantine said to his two bodyguards.
“Yes sir,” the bodyguards said leaving the room so that their king can talk in private.
“You know how to use them?” Constantine asked.
“Yes but the problem is that once you summon a Klabautermann, the cube used in the summoning is used up. Like once you use a piece of wood to start a fire, you can’t reuse it again. But somehow the Russian princess managed to figure out how to use her Equestrian magic to summon as many as she wants,” Adagio explains.
“Equestrian magic?” Constantine asked.
“The world that the unicorn princess came from, the same world that we came from,” Adagio said.
“We been waiting for centuries and now that a pony princess has showed up, it means that there should be a way back,” Aira said.
“But in the meantime, it’s time for us to act and show off what we can really do,” Sonata adds.
“We have found and kept the lost art of human magic alive. So let’s show the other countries that Russia isn’t the only one that can use magic,” Adagio said to Constantine.
“We need a plan,” Constantine said his mind racing with what this means for his country.
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