Timelines: What if Spain Failed to Control the World?

Murmurandus: HOORAY ! Almost finished ! Tell me what you think

Grubnessul: Haha , but it did stop your homicidal tendencies didn't it ? XD

rcduggan: Welcome back mr. Duggy !!! Great to have you back ! How was your vacation ? Hope to see more of you soon !

Status Report: Working on another update , but fine fine I'll probably slow down for you guys since a lot of catching up to do is in order ! If you're wondering where the weekly interview is , remember that we got sponsored by the AARLander (which i'm also doing the cover page design for) so the interview will be up on that including an index page amongst other things . So I'll announce that when it's out . The interview will be up when the AARLander gets up so sometime tomorrow or the day after .

I also started asking around to start on my diversification project to get guest authors and what not to contribute to the work to make it more enjoyable so look out for those !

Hi there everyone and welcome to You’ve Been Canonized ! If you’re new to the series , I am canonized , author of Timelines: What if Spain Failed to Control the World? . As some of you might know , at Timelines we do a weekly interview segment and have been doing so since March and now we’ve been sponsored by the AARLander and have found a happy home there ! Here’s how it works: Each week we interview a friendly patron author who’s stopped by at our thread and ask them about themselves , what they think of Timelines , and their current project whether it’s an AAR , mod , or AARLand community project ! At the beginning of each new month that week’s interview will be featured on the AARLander accompanied by links and descriptions to the other three interviews done by me that month so there is lots to read if you so wish ! This week’s guest is appropriately the Editor in Chief of the new AARLander , anonymous4401 ! Let’s get to the questions .

Part I: No Longer Anonymous
Anon answers a few questions about himself .

canonized: For those of us who might not already know who you are , could you tell us how long you've been on the forum and how long you've been writing AARs ?

anonymous4401:: I have been on the forums for four long years now and have been writing AARs for three and a half years, though probably only half of that continuously.

canonized: Not only are you an established writAAR , but you're also one of the most active extra-curricular participants on the boards especially with the upcoming AARLander and of course the AARLand Choice Awards . What brought you to be so active in the community and how did you come to come up with these activities ?

anonymous4401:: Probably because I thought that if I wouldn't get recognition for my works, I'll get them as a person that says things about other people's works! Though I really do at this point think that I have made more of a positive impact on AARland through my AARland projects rather than my AARs. And I came up with them and I do them because I really do believe in AARland as a community and want to make sure that its pillars of community stand strong, even if I have to haul the marble and carve it myself. That may sound oddly sappy but that is how I really feel. That and the ulterior motives of course.

canonized: Haha; You're definitely an eccentric one , but the points on the boost to the community is well taken . What parts of the community do you believe are worth bolstering and protecting ? What is it about the AAR Community that has you doing so much for it ?

anonymous4401:: Well first of all I see a lot of very promising writers that have really researched their history and given us epic tales that would be worthy of being published if it weren't fan-fiction about a Swedish computer game. These people I want to see keep writing both for the entertainment I get from reading their works and for the improvement they'll see in their writing only if they, at the very least, keep writing. And one day I too hope to be one of these people that keep writing and get better at it. And second of all I see a unique culture that I have never found and will never find elsewhere on the internet. If you asked someone that's never seen this community and told them 'Here, write a story about your latest game' you'd probably see something like the AARs from the very early days of the EUI AAR forum. That is, a straightforward, unrefined 'I did this and that'-type report that is alien even to the most gameplay-heavy AARs of today. Occasionally you'll have someone that tries some actual writing. They stick a few characters in there like a general or a king and have them give the reports or something. But will you see a pulp tribute set in an alternate World War Two mashing together characters from dozens of period fictional works as well as historical sources? Will you see a Lovecraftian horror story set in the Middle Ages? A collection of screenshots painstakingly edited together to tell the story by itself? Sugar-addicted aliens attempting to take over the world? A fictional history book that reads exactly like a real one? People here, and only here, have turned the art of writing game fanfiction into something very interesting. And not interesting as in weird and insular and creepy like most uses of that word on the internet, but really just interesting, with a variety and vitality you just won't see anywhere else.

canonized: And what works would you say have helped solidify this opinion of the AARland as well as helped shape your own writing ?

anonymous4401:: Well with that listing I gave those who are AARland veterans should be able to pick out a few already. The first two are the Fu Manchu series by The Yogi and The Tower of Fear by MacRaith, both of which I consider to be among the best this forum has to offer. There are also AARs like The Cobras Are Smoking!, the Picture Scroll AARs in CK, Knud Knytling, Collage of CAARdinals, Peter Ebbeson's AARs and others that showed me that AARland is also quite varied and imaginative in the formats and styles they can write AARs in. And for those that have shaped my own writing, though I have read and appreciated and admired many great narrative AARs, I cannot say that they have shaped my writing, as I try to write things and they end up looking nothing like those works I admire. I might, if I decided to, sit down and be able to analyze my writing and really figure out just where my 'style', if any, comes from, but then again I might be forced to conclude that the 'style' is actually called 'bad writing' and that my life has been a LIE.

canonized: Haha , well your style indeed as a a WritAAR yourself has ranged from a ponderous evaluation of reality to slapstick surrealist comedy . How did you come to be able to create stories with this wide spectrum ?

anonymous4401:: Spectrum? Well considering that there isn't much else to work with, I suppose that you are talking about my Delusions of Grandeur II and my Secrets of the AARk. And I'd have to ask what the difference is. Narrative comedy is just that, narrative with comedy in it. If you're deficient in either the end product comes out looking terrible, and indeed a good portion of Secrets of the AARk suffers from this. Stylistically, I write Secrets of the AARk just like I would anything narrative, and if you peel away the absurd situations and the constant cutting off of sentences because I quite literally could not figure out a way to end them it readily becomes apparent. I really don't have a spectrum at all, and I can say this non-self-depreciatingly because I actually haven't even tried to write a variety of different things. Am I good at writing tearful drama? Realistic romance? Action and suspense? I honestly do not know as I have not tried to write any of them recently, but I can probably say 'Probably not'.

canonized: Last question for this section is , what kind of plans do you have for the future aside from , obviously , the continuation of the ACA and the debut of the AARlander ? What kind of changes do you also want to see in AARLand if you could implement it ?

anonymous4401:: Well a wish of mine would be some sort of AARland Wiki, which will take the strain of categorization of all of AARland's AARs off the shoulders of six LibrAARians and onto the collective shoulders of all of AARland. In fact, it would be some sort of freakish mutated Super-LibrAARy that would have way more information about each AAR than any mortal LibrAARy would, due to this division of labor. It may be a pipe dream, but there are almost seven thousand AARs out there and at least a few have enough rich story material to have a wiki about by itself, much less all of them.

Part II: ReadAARship
Anonymous tells us what he thinks about Timelines ! This section of the interview can be found at the Full Interview Post Here .

canonized: Obviously , you're someone who has been on the forum for a long time and has read a great deal of AARs ; would you say reading Timelines had been a unique experience for you ?

anonymous4401:: Well a unique part of it is that you jumped straight into Timelines as your very first AAR. Very few people try to write an epic narrative as their first AAR on the forums, few of those do it well, and as far as I know you're actually the first person to do everything: write an epic narrative as a first AAR, update it consistently, AND have the quality be among the best in the forums. And since you were new to the forum you went about it in a way that the regulars wouldn't have done. I've never seen anything like the 'You've Been Canonized!' sections before and I've never seen anybody write that many quality words that fast. In your first week you what, updated five times? And these weren't little 1000-word updates! They were behemoths that averaged 2000-3000 words! Though you update less often now than in those heady days (and who can blame you?) you still manage to stick to a regular schedule and keep your quality even.

canonized: Well thank you ! Aside from the mechanical singularities that you've noticed , what strikes at you from the story itself that you would say makes it a unique read ?

anonymous4401:: Well I suppose the nerdy references, and the story that takes place in two different time periods in parallel which is surprisingly something that I have not seen on these forums before. I would think that by now someone would have used something like it. Though now that I think about it, there have actually only been a handful of epic narrative AARs, and they're varied enough as it is, so I suppose I shouldn't be that surprised. What it reminds me of a lot is Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson. And I believe you've said that you do not plan updates ahead which was really surprising to me considering how well everything fit together. Though I do not really know how unique it is and it might turn out that all my favorite writers have been doing that all along as well!

canonized: Yes; the past and present parallel was something I've always wanted to do and I was also fascinated by the way things in the past would have affected present events . What are you thoughts so far on the extrapolation of past choices to present 'realities' ?

anonymous4401:: That it happens? Though I suppose that brings up something that I think about Timelines. The present-day world that Tom lives in just seems too much like our own, in the details. How likely is it that a world that diverged from our own in the fifteenth century has SUVs, suburbia, and internet in the twenty-first, despite two of those being actually nearly exclusive to modern-day American society? Though I admit it doesn't harm the story, and I understand that expecting somebody to map out the radically different society that would result after five hundred years of cultural and political divergence before even starting their story would be quite unreasonable. Sadly that is exactly what I would do before starting a story like this, and I would have to play the entire game in advance as well so I could know exactly what happens. That's probably why my grand epics never seem to get far past the planning stages.

canonized: In the cultural changes that have taken place ; religion , regional government , a unified world stewardship ; universality ; these themes which find their way from the past to the present and are highlighted more so than whether the internet was developed in the U.S. or in the cosmopolitan learning hubs of Spain (though , admittedly that kind of speculation would be more readily dealt with in games closer to the time period e.g. the HOI2DD arc of Timelines) : how do these themes speak to you and how have they tied the story together for you ?

anonymous4401:: They've tied together the story pretty well and the themes echo well through the centuries between the two time periods the story is set in. I'm not too sure as to how they speak to me. I wish I knew more about how they have affected the modern world that Tom lives in but that world is yours to flesh out in the updates to come. And they certainly are approached from an interesting perspective. Indeed, approaching them at all is interesting, as published works do not always have these great things to approach, much less fanfictions written about a historical simulation game!

canonized: It's been interesting to write as well ! Sometimes it's a surprise as to what kind of twist or consquences approaches when an update is being done . Speaking of twists , one of the hallmarks of Timelines is that the intrigue has been going on now for the past forty plus chapters since this interview was taken . As someone who's read through so many works , how would you describe the surprises that are prevalent in Timelines and their effectiveness ?

anonymous4401:: Well in this department, some future planning could have helped, as some of the revelations could have used more foreshadowing. Unless there was some for some of them and I missed it. But then if you don't plan ahead how could you write that foreshadowing? Admit it! The Timepiece is a time machine and YOU HAVE ONE IN REAL LIFE DON'T YOU? And yes, some of the surprises were pretty awesome. Especially reveals about this whole Timepiece and Keys business though I suppose those get an inherent advantage as they are the main focus of this story.

canonized: Haha , about those Timepieces , do you have any predictions or theories ?

anonymous4401:: If I had I wouldn't say them because I won't give you the satisfaction of showing me that I was wrong! And if no one knows that I was wrong, then it's just like I was never wrong, and the myth of my invincibility continues! Though really, I don't have a theory. I suppose I could pick one from some of the theories out there. But to me, it's a McGuffin until you reveal what it is. Okay, it's a suitcase containing Marsellus Wallace's soul, isn't it?

canonized: Haha , I wish . Well then , last question of this section : We also know that you've read through many pages to currently catch up to Timelines and as you've already mentioned it's packed with large updates . What would you say to someone who might be intimidated by the chapters and the length so far ?

anonymous4401:: Go ahead and read it and don't be a pansy, because it's worth it. If you're like me you'll be hooked when the stuff about the Timepieces and Keys kicks in. Because every non-Timelines-reading moment you'll be thinking of just what those things could be, and why Spain wants them so much, and how cool it must be to be in that Silent Room. Well here we are nearly fifty updates later and we STILL have no idea what these things are, except that the Key involves memorizing a puzzle box or something, and a nuclear bomb might suffice but probably not. You also probably shouldn't put in the sentence that I just wrote there as that might discourage or spoil things for them or something. Just like I will spoil the next Harry Potter book in the following sentence: The reason that Snape killed Dumbledore was-

Part III: Hail to the Editor in Chief
Anonymous talks to us about being the director for the new AARLander Project !

canonized: First question is: We both know that you were a fan of the Advocate before , what would you say are the defining differences of the AARLander to anything AARland has seen before ?
anonymous4401:: I wanted to work on the Advocate but I didn't remember the deadline or something and before I knew it the Advocate was dead. The closest I came was an interview I had with Singleton Mosby in which I also went into unnecessary details and tangents while answering his questions in a sarcastic manner. And the difference between the AARlander and anything AARland has seen before is that it will be run by me, which means that for the first few months I WILL get enough articles from enough writers to make each issue a full, well-rounded one, even if I have to literally strangle it out of them, which I can't because nobody lives in Hawaii but me. And then I'll probably disappear for a few months for no reason and somebody will have to pick up the slack before I return again. That by itself is sufficient difference!

canonized: Haha , what are your hopes for the AARLander and its eventual goal ?

anonymous4401:: Just like my other project, the AARland Choice AwAARds, my goal is for it to become a self-sustaining operation that will continue to operate indefinitely even if I disappear, something that didn't happen to the Advocate and the Gazette. (Such fools, if they only knew their weakness was their writers stopping writing articles!) What I mean by this is that I want people to, every month, get used to the idea of reading articles. Of writing articles and submitting them. When people get done with reading a classic AAR, or when they notice a trend in AARland, or when they try out a new mod, I want one of the thoughts firing randomly in their heads at that moment to be considering writing an article about it in the AARlander. And then, hopefully, listen to that thought and write them.

canonized: Could you share with us some of the difficulties and challenges you've had as Editor in Chief ?

anonymous4401:: Why yes. For instance this one guy said that he'd do an article but then it turned out he got a job and then didn't have time to write one! How dare he gain employment at a critical time as this, the maiden voyage of the finest and only channel of media in AARland? And for some reason writers kept sending me their articles by PM, which really filled up my PM box fast as these articles had to be broken down into two or three PMs thanks to the character limit! Clearly what they should have done is to cipher their article into some sort of code-speak, and embed this code into one of the updates of one of their own AARs, or perhaps a comment on another AAR if they don't have one, and then just send me a PM explaining the code. That would have certainly saved me a lot of inbox space.

canonized: We already know that you've planned to draw articles and , hopefully , permanent writers from all the sub-forums of AARLand ; how is this going so far ?

anonymous4401:: Well I've actually decided that it would be a lot more sensible to just have a handful of regular, or 'permanent', writers and just make sure that each subforum gets represented in each issue. Especially as many regulars frequent multiple subforums or even all of them. So far my regular writers are the ones that expressed a desire to become one. For all I know everyone who submitted an article is an aspiring 'regular writer' but probably not. The only requirements are that you promise to deliver an article every month barring an emergency, and if you have a vacation or something notify us an issue early or something. And if you fail, the consequences will be DIRE! That's right, my opinion of you will go down!

canonized: So tell us on why you decided on the text-only format and the various images you're planning on implementing such as the cover page .

anonymous4401:: I've actually decided to allow images, though I'm still struggling with how to regulate that to make them 'fit'. It would be great if I had the time and skills to do it like Singleton Mosby did with the Advocate and make the articles static images, because then I could stick pictures with captions on there all I want and make it look pretty like it was a real magazine. But simulating magazine layout is pretty difficult using simple forumcode. And I hope to have a unique cover page for each issue though I am not too sure how that will turn out considering that I am actually not good at graphically-related things.

canonized: What would you say are the highlights that you personally enjoyed of this first issue ?

anonymous4401:: I have enjoyed the fact that a lot of writers have come forward to write quality articles for this. If I had to pick one I would say that I have especially enjoyed Estonianzulu's look into what AARland was like in its infancy, which was so far back I bet it wasn't even called 'AARland'. I wouldn't know, as I wasn't there for it, and that's why it interested me.

canonized: And lastly , what are your goals for next month's issue and what should we expect ?

anonymous4401:: My goals for next month's issue is the same as my goal for the issue before it and after it: To get as many good articles from as many people as I can! You can also expect it to be the first issue of The AARlander to carry the ACA results, if voter turnout is sufficiently high to end the vote within the month of July. Aside from that, what else can I say? It depends on YOU, AARland itself, to provide the content. So get cracking!

canonized: Well thanks again Anon for being on the show ! And thanks again to our audience who tuned in again this week ! Stay tuned next week where we’ll be interviewing our friend Legolas ! Good night , everyone . If you’re interested in the Canonization series , or interested in helping with the other Timelines projects , please feel free to contact me ! Also , please support the AARLander and talk to anonymous4401 for any questions or comments ! If you would like to read some more interviews please check out this past month’s interviews as well !

bowl of soup said:

I'm reading as is. Not going too fast though so I'm not checking what the current topic is.

Anyway, Great AAR, as so many have said before me

But I was reading your own interview and had to comment on it. You were talking about a detective story for Ricky. There's this AAR by Hajji Giray I, it's also Vicky/Ricky (don't know really) and a detective, most notably it has a beautiful woman in need of help in it. Something you should keep in mind You probably already knew about it but haven't seen you lurking/commenting in it. Also it's very easy to catch up to since it's only at page 13 at the moment, and the updates aren't nearly as epic as yours

And now back to lurking/reading.

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Thank you for reading ! Always glad to have anyone comment ! I think this is the first time you've come around , hasn't it ? You'll have to forgive my memory since i'm so used to you on the Collage of CAARdinals thread ! Feel free to let us know what you think of the previous chapters always great to hear new things about the past chapters !

As for Hajji's work , I remember hearing about it when he and I were talking about which kinds of AARs we enjoy in a thread on the metaforum a while back and he spoke about mystery AARs and someone else told me about his work but I haven't read it yet . I'm still happily bogged down with my promise of prioritizing those good individuals who've come by and read my AAR so once I get done with my kind patrons i'll be able to expand a bit further ^^ thanks again !

Murmurandus: BOOOO you're boring , your avatars boring !

no really XD Thank you ! Glad to have you on board !! Hope to continue see you around as more updates come !

The Interview for this week is now up It's a few posts back since I had to use a placeholder post . Take a look at the new format and also go check out the AARLander that now sponsors our Canonization series ! We've also been Reviewed so please check it out !

Swiftthistle said:

Hey, still reading through this. Glad to see that you're keeping at it. Way to go on the interview too! Cheers!

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thanks! glad you're still enjoying it !

RGB: PAELLA IS COMING ! Gosh , this is only like 20% done remember ? Silly cossack ! Go back to your goats milk ! No Paella for you ! Oh yeah , and we've missed you ! XD

anonymous4401: oohhhhhh buurn !

RGB: Mortal ? Or perhaps I am an idea that persists and is carried on by a viral network of like minded individuals !!!

grayghost said:

Ok, I am reading again, and finished "the scarlet academy".

Aristocrats starting secret sex societies at state run schools...shocking.

Who'd a thunk it.

I am waiting to see what effect antonio's news has with the rest of the group.

Sweet is back home...hmmm...I detect...not sure.

It will be interesting for me to see what this Marcus Councilman develops into. I read the bio again. Seems to be a goth teen with too much angst and too much time on her hands. Ohhh, sounds like a Styx song.

The road to catching up continues.

Click to expand...

Haha , Talk about appropriate don't you think ? I'll leave that for later =P Glad to see you catching up !

UPDATE COMING NOW

May 3, 1583

Guiding his silver spoon and taking care not to grate the metallic ware against the porcelain and jade plate, Lex navigated the intricacy of this false court’s dinner with a skillful familiarity that naturally approached his discerning tastes. Despite the masculine broadness of his shoulders and the steep tan that complemented his noble figures, Lex’s fingers demonstrated the erudition of his talents. Preserving the high English traditions was of utmost importance to the man as much as it is to the half of their troupe who were not of Chinese origin. Nonetheless, with the sophisticated taste of an Eastern recipe filling the bowl, the inevitable synthesis of east and west in their group was represented by the swirls tapering around the scallions like a hearty marriage of taste and medium.

Already he, just like his mistress, had mastered the K-style technique which had been particular to the underground spy networks of the area. Although named for the Korean peninsula which popularized the technique, the style actually combined a dynamic understanding of Japanese kenjutsu with different varieties of the Wushu of the mainland. Such diversity, much like the veneer of the great banquet hall of Infinite Castle was a forceful reminder of the elegance of form and function dedicated towards a goal—a goal which he now hoped to preserve.

Preserve… the very thought of the word swiveled his head slowly to one side allowing a glimpse at the woman sitting at the commanding end of the long table. Jesca was as beautiful as ever in her evening dress. It was not even the embroidered silk or the intricate lace that attracted his attention but the flawless sheen of her skin and the gentle waves of her blonde hair. Even with the eye patch, she was beautiful. Yes… the eye patch. It elicited the memory of that day in the cold winter when he first gazed upon that face.

“Get away!” he had remembered himself calling out to the Ming agents. Already, he had fired one of his pistols at the thrusting arm of one of those men deflecting a spear from finding its mark on the woman’s face.

He had readied his second pistol and his saber by the time half the gang approached him while the other half slowly pulled the woman’s body from the field. “K-style technique…” he had whispered to himself, “Half-Step!” His charging body leapt a little off the ground and dashed forward; his saber slashed as he flew cutting down the first assailant while he simultaneously brought up his pistol. Incredibly—to the untrained eye—it seemed as if he lost no momentum, but in fact his slash had pushed him further ahead surprising the rear men. The pistol discharged and another man was dead. Two men dead with a single step: one man per half step.

Easily cutting down the last man approaching him, the other three who were pulling at the body now dropped her arms and began to run—not without stealing something from one of her fingers, or so Lex vaguely remembered. Opportunistic thieves, he had thought to himself at the time when he watched the Ming agents run off. It was not unheard of that Ming spies or soldiers would steal from Europeans working in the markets. Being thousands of miles away from the nearest European court or Prefect made the area dangerous for foreigners. It was for this reason why the Guild started recruiting spies and thieves to work for them among whom Lex was a captain.

She had a peaceful face despite being hurt and unconscious, he remembered himself thinking as he cradled the body carefully, but she was still alive. The bullet had grazed the side of her head and slightly burned the tissue around her right eye but she was still alive. He had transported her to the doctors stationed at Infinite Castle and she was given a priority as if she was one of Lex’s wounded agents. Lex made sure that the imperative was carried out and her condition treated properly. Perhaps he did not know at the time why it was that he went along with the rescue; after all he had received urgent news to report to Jesca—the older one, he clarified for himself—who had called him back from the field to Infinite Castle and it would have been easier to ignore such common cruelty by the Ming agents. However, he felt that this person—this woman—was special… different and it was as if some cosmic predestination urged him to make the free choice to rescue her.

“She will live,” Lex remembered the doctor explaining inside one of the many clinics littered around Infinite Castle. These establishments were present not only to serve the agents but the general and ailing population of that miniature city as well. “Unfortunately,” the doctor had continued, “she’s lost a lot of blood and will need to spend a few days in recovery. Her right eye as well…”

“I saw it,” Lex had remembered himself saying to the doctor, “It looks bad.”

The doctor had nodded to him and sat down on a chair near the entrance of the building. Although the ward within was kept cool and dry, the lobby area was just as sweltering as any of the other structures inside the intricate labyrinth of that place. The doctor cooled himself with a straw fan while looking out at the busy alleyway outside his facility. “It will heal, I believe. Already after the night you brought her here the scarring doesn’t seem permanent to me. I predict she’ll have her eyesight back within six to twelve months.”

For some reason, Lex remembered himself smiling stupidly at the remark. The doctor, being turned away, was spared from witnessing such a strange occurrence on the usually cold Lexington. Maybe it was the desire to see the twin of the sapphire moon that had hazily stared up at him as he had carried her from the field to the city; both planets like a globe of sky and a globe of sea…

“Lex…” someone whispered. Flickering a steady blink, Lex turned discretely towards the young girl sitting next to him along the flank of the table.

“What is it, Lydia?” he asked to her slightly perturbed at the disturbance of his recollection.

“Jesca wants you to check the kitchen—the chefs’ been saying that the main course is going to be running late and she wants you to go see what’s going on,” Lydia explained.

“But…”

“It’s an order, Captain,” the girl reiterated with a hint of Jesca’s imparted resolve. Understanding the urgency immediately, Lex nodded and quietly excused himself.

His move away from the table was not unnoticed but it was innocent enough. He exchanged glances with Viceroy de Fronsac and his Lions entourage as well as the mysterious Lady Nia. Duke Antonio, however, had kept his eyes on the princess the whole time. Although talking on the table exchanged rapidly and ranging from the most serious of topics to the most trivial of pursuits, there was still that strange underlying tension that Lex could see between Antonio’s gaze and Jesca’s view. Like some whispering words that only the two seemed to understand in the very nature of their looks towards each other.

“She has an interesting look,” Lex remembered the previous Jesca telling him two weeks or so before that old leader passed away.

Lex recalled how he had been surprised with the visit from the old Jesca at the clinic where he was staying the few days caring for the young lady; it was rare that the leader of the denizens of Infinite Castle condescended to a personal visit.

“Your Highness!” Lex remembered calling out in return as he rose to his feet and bowed low to his superior. It was telling, Lex ruminated, that Jesca could tell that the woman’s curious gaze was not like a normal person’s stare.

“You’re taking wonderful care of her,” the former Jesca had commented to Lex a few days after the woman’s rescue—they still had not found an appropriate name to give her. “It’s comforting to me…” Perhaps it was the fact that the woman could not remember a thing past her fateful incident on the snowy field, or perhaps because she had a sense of gratitude that pushed her towards being close to Lex; but for those few days she and he were inseparable.

As Lex traversed the long hallways towards the kitchen, he remembered those words with great clarity. He understood that the gravity of that statement would mean something greater and his hunch was correct. As Jesca began dying, she had found hope that Lex could be a stabilizing factor in the transition and would take care of the troupe in times of uncertainty.

No, Lex thought, it was more than that. Jesca had been prophetic in a way. Allowing the young woman to accompany Lex on simple missions it was soon inescapable that this person had incredible talent. She mastered the K-style and Advanced K-style techniques within a span of days as if she already knew them… and more than that, she directed and lead her own squads and operations as if there was no difference between her and the captain. She saved Michael’s life… she covered for Wei Hong… she was suddenly beloved and respected by all—and her closeness to Lex not only legitimized her but inspired the most romantic of attachments from their family to their mother and father figures.

When the old mistress was close to death, Lex recalled the great assembly of the Lords and Ladies of the court as Lex read off the candidate list that Jesca had specifically chosen. It did not take long before the other candidates recused themselves off the list in favour of this mystery woman. It was strange, Lex thought: despite the burden of the position, the woman he had rescued both seemed to flower in the responsibility while taking it with great eagerness. It was as if whoever she was, whatever her circumstance might have been, she would have taken up such a task anyway. It was, perhaps as Lex thought, her essence of nobility and her destiny to be who she was.

“When they look at you…” Lex remembered the former Jesca telling the new one during one of their closed room orientation sessions, “let them be reminded of the Church… In many ways our offices are not so different from those of nuns. Just as God created both men and women so that they may be eternal reminders to each other of the love and eventual End of humanity in God, then so too will you be as a wife and mother to all who live in Infinite Castle so that you may constantly remind all of the final goal of peace and co-existence in this far land. Let them see you dispense forgiveness, guidance, and strength like Holy Mother Church of whom we English have always been faithful Defenders of; and just as the Church gathers these gifts to give out through the sacrifice of Christ and the working of the Holy Spirit, so too shall you have the Lord as your guide. Be merciful to your enemies as best as you can and continue to fight for the righteous cause of justice for not just us Europeans here in Infinite Castle but for all who suffer under the pagan yoke of the Ming…”

It was not soon after that the 3rd Generation Jesca had passed and the 4th Generation Jesca now took command of Infinite Castle. It was this same Jesca that now bid Lex to check on the kitchen.

“What’s the delay?” he said sternly as he entered the steaming cooking area.

“My apologies, Lord Lexington!” one of the cooks said in a heavily accented English while bowing his head low in apology, “but the meat arrived a bit late…”

“The meat?” Lex asked.

“Yes, sir, apparently the butcher fell ill… fortunately a new one was sent with the proper requisites.”

Lex narrowed his eyes at the explanation. “Where were the guards who were supposed to be protecting the trolleys?”

The chef merely blinked at his Lordship with a stunned expression; the rest of the cooking staff continued to braze and boil in the background. “There… were supposed to be guards?” the cook asked dumbfounded.

Lex quickly drew his saber. “Call the other men here; quickly!” he ordered the cook who, as polite as he was, suddenly ran into the hallway with a serious alacrity. “The rest of you clear away from the meat room!” he said and the entire kitchen nearly erupted in a panic as the cooks attempted to flee.

Leveling his sword into a thrusting stance, Lex approached the wooden doorway that led into the meat preparation room. His brazen eyes scanned for any possible disturbance in the dim lighting of the lamps overhead and the stoves left burning. The steam erupted from left and right giving him a sheen of sweat and obscured his view from time to time. His boots made gentle noises as he tip toed towards the edge of the galley. His boot met the doorway and it flung open. His other hand was already on his pistol as the man near the cutting table looked up to Lex in amazement.

Lex heaved a sigh of relief as he lowered his weapon. “Trenton!” he called out familiarly, “what is this all about coming here unannounced?”

The butcher, already bloodied from cutting up various pieces of cow and pig, looked back towards his friend. “I’m sorry, Lex,” he said with a fat grin, “Edward’s been sick so I’ve been running the butchery in his stead. He only called on me today.”

“What happened to my guards?” Lex asked as he sheathed his sword cautiously.

“I sent them back to get some more of my supplies—like I said Edward’s only told me this morning so I don’t have all my equipment here. Don’t worry, dinner will be ready soon, these are prime cuts.”

Lex surveyed the room and gave the Trenton the butcher—one of many in Infinite Castle—a nodding smile. Already guards were streaming into the kitchen and Lex had to turn around to wave them off. “False alarm,” he said to them before turning back to Trenton with a silly embarrassed grin and closed the door. “Back to your posts,” he ordered the men. “And tell the cooks to come back! We’re starving!”

As the voice faded away, Trenton wiped the sweat off of his brow only to smear it with a slick of blood. The sound of cooking returned to the opposite side of the doorway but Trenton remained very still for a few moments longer before letting out his own heavy sigh.

Slippery and slimy were the noises that came from the now pulsating carcasses of boar and cow. Human beings cocooned in a film of mucus and blood began to reach out of the slits made on the bellies of these dead beasts. Where entrails and organs once were now gave birth to encased human forms pressing their way into the open air with menacing dispassion. Decrepit and full of stench, Ming agents from the several cows and other animals now birthed into the dim firelight of the butcher’s chamber.

A low and heavy breathing approached Trenton. “You… have done well,” the man said delightfully.

“Now… for your end of the bargain… tell your men back at my shop to give me back my daughter…” Trenton said shakily.

Sebastian Royce—agent of the Lord of Acid—while covered in a film of sticky liquid and cow’s blood, watched as the middle aged Trenton turn to face him resolutely. “I will honour our agreement,” he said to the butcher before unceremoniously scratching at the man’s cheek.

The stench of death did not take long to set in. Unable to speak from some strange paralysis, Trenton had backed up against a wall and began convulsing wildly. Only moments later did the sound of Trenton’s flesh sizzling off his cheek and dropping onto the floor next to his feet masked even his loudest gasps. “Say hello to your daughter in Hell for me,” Sebastian whispered to the dying man. The new butcher had indeed arrived.


“Don’t be afraid, New One! You don’t remember me?” that repugnant voice called out in the darkness.

Already, Tom was running into various hanging slabs of cow and pig as he attempted to distance himself from the sound of that man. Although the bone and flesh hit him at every direction, he did not stop a second to notice the bitter taste of blood in his mouth and the sting of the liquid in his eyes.

“Even from your dreams you don’t remember me?” the voice again said this time with a curling amusement.

Tom could not even respond with words but his panting did all the talking for him. Fear seized him and the twists and turns of the hanging carcasses contributed to a labyrinthine entrapment. Who was this person, he kept asking. His curiosity nearly surprised him as he ran blindly through the center of the large metallic chamber.

“Don’t you know who I am, Tom? I am the spirit which you hold inside of you. You are a Royce, Tom, a Royce!” the voice screamed at him almost pleadingly. The shrill nature of the call seemed to penetrate into the palpitating center of Tom’s being. It did not help that the voice continued to catch up with him—unable to be shaken away. There would be no escape.

“This is what you wished for, Tom!” the voice started again, “I am the personification of the world you want to see. Let the Empire fail, you wished, let them taste the dirt of failure! You wrote it yourself: a world of beautiful chaos swirling amongst independent potentates. Greed and incompetence, immorality and war, murder and theft all on the level of whole nations! This is what it means to wish for this world, Tom, and you know it in your heart to be true!”

A cackle interrupted the declaration and Tom could feel the bitterness swell in his eyes. Whether it was from the stain of blood coursing through his lids or the painful pang each revelation brought to his heart, Tom Royce could feel the swelling of liquid attempt to cleanse the horror away.

“Don’t fight it Tom… you know that our family has always been this way… You are now the next Butcher of this world, Thomas Royce! You have been chosen and you have chosen this yourself. Your choice has become Destiny!”

Chapter LI: Destiny (coming soon)

Hope you guys enjoyed the last update ! And now it's time to talk about something important coming up ! Quarter 2 of the AARLand Choice Awards is now open to voting !! Timelines will be shooting for 2 categories this session : Favourite EU3 AAR and Favourite Narrative AAR for EU3 !! Please Support us by going to the thread and voting us in for those two categories ! If you have any questions on how to vote please contact me or anonymous4401 . Let's hope we win this quarter just as we won last quarter; with a large turnout !! I am counting on each and everyone one of you ! If you're looking for MY personal recommendations for other categories , please keep in mind all the wonderful AARs we have interviewed here on Timelines !