EVENTS

Chingi Te-Wuan Lecture

Chingi Te-Wuan
Kamia' ata! As Curator of the Jen-Laï Archives, I was brought to work on an amber cube about the history of the Great Dragon Cult.

Its author having been murdered by the cult in 2553, I started again from the works of the previous curator to restore the altered amber cube. It took time, but it was of importance to me to offer the Imperial Academy this work on the occasion of this Summit.

He hands Euphanyx Apotheps an amber cube.

Now, let's turn to the facts. What does this amber cube tell us?

The Great Dragon Cult is a sect that arose in the Desert of Ancient Lands in 2435, following the Fire of Coriolis. It almost disappeared a first time on the occasion of the First Great Swarming since the leaders of the cult did not flee it and all died praying to Fyrak, the Dragon, for him to spare them.

The fyrakists (followers of Fyrak) who had been able to reach the New Lands have then lived in Pyr before being banished from the Empire in 2504 by Dexton for having violently opposed conversions to the Ma-Duk Order. They were then welcomed in the Whitherings.

The division came between the fyrakist refugees of the Witherings in 2506 when Mabreka became Great Mask. The most fanatical went to Prime Roots. They would have took refuge in a town called Leron, which has since disappeared in a wildfire. It is in these depths that the Cult would have been re-founded by Aetis Mekops.

In the 2530s, ritual abductions and sacrifices took place all over the New Lands and were charged to the Grand Dragon Cult. Also, a small swarming plagued Pyr and some saw it as the work of the Cult.

Euphanyx Apotheps taught me that a book belonging to the Cult was discovered by the Empire: the Book of the Dragon. The author of the cube I restored suggests that this Book of the Dragon was written by Aetis Mekops himself.

Several times in History, it has been believed that the Great Dragon Cult has disappeared, but it has an unfortunate tendency to rise from its ashes. We must therefore assume that this sect still exists.

Euphanyx Apotheps
akep Chingi Te-Wuan. As for me, I would have a question: what happened to the Witherings' fyrakists?

Chingi Te-Wuan
The Fyrakist community of the Whiterings has now virtually disappeared. Some of them must have ended up converting to Kamism. It is known that others, such as the author of this book, have been victims of the Great Dragon Cult during the 2550s.

During my seventeen years of practice, I have not had any fyrakist assistant at the Jen-Laï Archives, unlike my predecessors. It is very likely that the past exactions of the Cult are responsible for the near-disappearance of moderate fyrakists...

Euphanyx Apotheps
I see. akep for these precisions.

Be’cauer Handan Storytelling

Be’cauer Handan
Y know a tale that might interest you! It's titled "The Child and the Dragon".

Euphanyx Apotheps
With pleasure, but who are you?

Be’cauer Handan
Be' cauer Handan. I'm a itinerant storyteller.

Euphanyx Apotheps
All right, fine. We're listening to you.

Be’cauer Handan
The Child and the Dragon

The fyros people have always been fascinated by the Great Dragon, a legendary creature of pure destruction. Those who know how to perceive its manifestations and fight them are exceptional beings. The story of one of them was told to me on my first journey to the Burning Desert. I had been kindly welcomed by a small tribe, and in the evening, around a fire, an old toothless Fyros began to tell a tale.
We were brought small bits of meat that had most likely spent too much time under the desert sun; I did not dare touch them and to put a brave face on it, and I listened with all my attention while taking notes.

Lekos Daraan was only a child when he saw the Incendiary for the first time. A wave of drought had fallen on the Burning Desert. One day when his games had lured him out of his parents' surveillance, Lekos sensed the emanation of powerful energy around him. He was at that point east of the Flaming Forest, in a perimeter secured by his tribe. As he sought out what could provoke this sensation, the surrounding bothayas began to glow in a strange way, progressively releasing the Incendiary from its hindrance of bark.

Before the child had had time to understand the threat and take shelter, the first sparks emerged from a bothaya to pursue him. A threatening voracity seemed to animate the nascent brazier which soon grew in intensity while the acrid scent exuding from a fumarole elicited a coughing fit from the young fyros in full rout. In a breath, the Dragon exhaled a dark smoke that obscured the child's vision and finally disoriented him. Around him, the swift burning of the plants seemed to be driven by the will of the Dragon whose footsteps began to boom on the Bark in terrifying crunches. Lekos felt his heart sink when a zerx covered with burn marks knocked him down in its frantic flight. Failing to get up, the child took up a small branch he waved vainly towards the ground, bravely defying the Great Incendiary. The sweat and smoke that stung his eyes blinded him and he thought for a moment that the monster of the myth was there, facing him, preparing to devour him.

Shouts suddenly sounded around him. His tribe was fighting valiantly against the flames. A chain of homins had formed coming from a nearby tank. Buckets of water fell in rhythm all around the fire start, confining the threat in a circle of wet sawdust. Powerful hands seized Lekos and, with a sigh of relief, his father raised him to press him against him. Bringing his son back to their encampment, he then revealed to him: “What you have seen, you must never forget! Remember that your vigilance will always be your best weapon because never will its fire weaken. One day, in your turn, you will be in charge of watching over the sleep of the Dragon but today you have just learned what it is like to be a Watcher.”

Raising my eyes from my parchment, I crossed the mischievous glance of the old Fyros. I was going to question him when we were interrupted by two children who had been sitting ahead of me to enjoy the tale. The first shouted emphatically: “Rooaar! I am the Incendiary! I'll devour you!” provoking the hilarity of his young comrade who replied in the same tone: “Don't scare me! First, I have Watcher's powers!” The two children then simulated an epic combat, mimicking a joust with much detail, while chasing each other around the campfire. As you can imagine, one of them was soon burnt by a small branch that unfortunately jutted out of the hearth. I immediately took out of my bag a first aid kit in order to help him with a bandage. The boy offered me a sly smile while telling me in fyrk: “akep, atalmalos”*. Losing not his mocking air, my friend storyteller stood up taking care to stretch his joints before dispersing his young audience by shouting: "Go, out! Get back to your games now, but don't forget: one does not play with fire!"

* Thanks, nunky

Salazar Caradini’s Lecture

Euphanyx Apotheps
Since everything is back to normal, I now call Salazar Caradini, Royal Historian, to tell us about the place of the Dragon in the teaching of the Karavan.

She applauds Salazar Caradini.

Salazar Caradini
Deles silam esteemed colleagues! First, I would like to thank Euphanyx Apotheps and the Pyr Academy for the invitation to this Congress and the opportunity to contribute to it. It is much appreciated.

As Serae Euphanyx Apotheps said in her introduction to this congress, the existence of the Dragon was announced to homins by the Karavan. He is also called the Prince of Darkness because he had deprived hominkind of light until the Goddess returned it to them by locking the Dragon in the bowels of Atys.

According to the prophecy delivered by the Karavan, a day will come when the Dragon will wake up from his sleep to consume Atys and the Goddess will rescue Her followers by guiding them to a safe place.

The reason why the Karavan is suspicious of the Dragon quest is due to the Great Beast's ability to corrupt those who seek him.
This corruption is not only expressed in the blind fanaticism of the Great Dragon Cult, nec! The danger is that it may be wearing far more subtle finery.

Thus, a member of the Karavan had been sneakily corrupted by the Dragon. In 2481, Elias Tryton was one of Karavan's agents fighting against the Great Swarming, which was part of the Dragon's machinations. In order to save hominity from eradication, Elias supposedly agreed to a pact with the Dragon.

The power the Dragon granted him had the desired effect, but in turn it started corrupting Elias who began to wilfully weaken the Powers. He rose up as a false prophet - a real prophet in the eyes of some homins, whom he took to himself but he took them away from the light of the Goddess.

While his homin followers are probably not aware they serve the Great Incendiary's purposes, they do no other thing by undermining the established order and weakening Jena's forces before the day of judgment.

The Church of Light and the Karavan have always fought to protect hominity from the Dragon's threat and believe that the Guild of Elias, while probably having good intentions, is since then an integral part of this threat.

Indeed, in the unlikely event that Elias and his followers succeed in preventing the end of the prophecy from fulfilment, the Dragon's breath would obliterate us all and that would be the end of the hominity.

Intervention of an helmeted homin

Helmeted homin
The Dragon Quest is the manifestation of the Pillar of Truth. While this pillar may require us to depart from the dogmas of the Powers, at the risk of attracting their wrath, it is nonetheless essential to our culture. Let us be proud to be Fyros! Let us not be content with the false explanations of the Karavan or the Kamis, and let us pursue the quest, no matter what the sacrifices are!

The mystery of Leron's downfall must be solved. It is time for the secrets of the Empire's past to be unravelled!

Summoned to unveil his identity, the homin shows his face and it is Epus.
Epus is arrested by a guard. When leaving the room, he throws a last sentence:
 
Epus
If that is the price to pay for the Empire to take Truth up again,  I am ready for the ultimate sacrifice! And you, Euphanyx, would you be ready to do likewise?

(*) [OOC] Zeit: Monday, 26 February 2018 20:00:00 UTC (7 years ago) [/OOC]

Lykos introduction

oren pyr, everyone,

I am very pleased with the success of the Summit organized by our Imperial Academy and the participation of eminent experts from a variety of backgrounds. Our four nations share the same thirst for knowledge and it is good to see the healthy emulation that arises from such gatherings.

The Imperial Academy has been reformed by me, and it is, from now on, up to the Patriots to appoint whoever takes the head of this institution. That is why the masters of the chambers of Discipline and Truth are now standing for election.

I would therefore ask you to welcome Messedos Syagrus and Euphanyx Apotheps.

Messedos Syagrus

oren pyr,

Building on my years of practice as Master of the Chamber of Discipline, I intend to lead the Academy toward an era of innovation.

Our institution must provide our people with the technical means to continue building the sharùk of tomorrow for the future generations.

Euphanyx Apotheps

oren pyr,

My experience as an Imperial Archivist qualifies me to lead the Academy in the search for the mysteries that lie within our people's past and more generally to continue to deepen our understanding of Atys and its natural laws.

Lykos

akep to the candidates for their presentation. Now, may the Patriots wishing to participate in the vote prepare their ballot paper then line in front of me and present me with a document attesting to their citizenship.

When your turn comes, please give me your ballot. Only ballot papers mentioning one of the two candidates will be taken into account.

He recounts the ballots.

I have the honour of announcing that the new Chancellor of the Imperial Academy is: Euphanyx Apotheps!

Lykos Conclusion

Let us now turn to the first task that will fall to the Chancellor, because it is important. It follows the annoying incident which took place during the Congress of History.

Epus' involvement in a wide-ranging conspiracy against me and the fact that he violated the terms of the judgment the sharùk put on him should not obscure our judgment on the matter of his recent address.

I have therefore decided to entrust the Academy of Pyr and its new Chancellor to shed light on the causes of the demise of the city of Leron and to discover the secrets hidden in the ruins of this city.

The flame of Truth will enlighten this little-known part of our collective history, such is my will and that of the Empire!

sharùk pyrèkud!

But for now, the time has come to properly close this Academic Summit! I therefore call our Master Pyrotechnician, Plerilus Mecus, for him to exert his art for us.