Grimoire Imperio
The Book of Empire
◀ Chapter 1 · Chapter 2 · Chapter 3 ▶

¹And Mortivar said: O Lord of the Deep Flame, I am but dust and breath. How shall I carry so great a word unto the people, who mock the mad and slay the messenger?
²And SATANAS spake unto him, saying: Thou shalt not fear their stones, nor their scorn, for I shall make thy brow as iron and thy tongue as a blade.
³Behold, I shall put My fire in thy bones, and thou shalt speak even if thy mouth be shut; the silence shall tremble at thy burden.
⁴Thou shalt go unto the low places and the high, unto the market and the temple, and proclaim that which I have shewn thee.
⁵Say thou unto them: Lo, a power shall rise, and it shall be as a storm clad in gold, and the world shall bow before it.
⁶It shall come not as a beast, but as a lawgiver; not as a thief, but as a saviour. And men shall love their chains, for they shall be adorned with praise.
⁷The sword and the scroll shall march together, and whoso opposeth shall be cast down as a heretic and a traitor.
⁸This is the word that I give unto thee, that thou mayest rend the veil of deceit and cry out in the wilderness.
⁹Then Mortivar arose from the earth, and his limbs shook, and his heart was as wax melted before a furnace.
¹⁰And he fell upon his knees and said: Let it be unto me as Thou hast spoken. I am Thine, Lord of the Depths.
¹¹And SATANAS stretched forth His hand, and touched the brow of Mortivar, and a mark was set there, unseen by the eyes of flesh.
¹²This mark shall burn within thee, saith He; and whoso hath eyes of the spirit shall see it and know.
¹³Go forth, Prophet of the Shadowed Flame, and let not thy voice be turned aside, though kings command and councils forbid.
¹⁴Then the vision departed, and the flame was extinguished, and the stars returned unto the sky.
¹⁵But Mortivar lay upon the ground until the morning, for his flesh was as lead, and his breath shallow.
¹⁶And when the sun rose, he descended from the rise and came unto his people.
¹⁷And they beheld him and were sore afraid, for his eyes were not as they were before, but as coals from a smoldering pit.
¹⁸And some cried: He hath been with spirits! and others said: He is accursed!
¹⁹Yet Mortivar opened his mouth and began to speak that which had been given him in the night.
²⁰And his voice was as thunder, though he spake but plainly, and none could gainsay him.
²¹He spake unto the smiths, and unto the merchants, and unto the keepers of flocks, saying:
²²Hearken, O ye people! A thing is coming, and it shall be mighty, and it shall be cloaked in righteousness!
²³It shall subdue the tribes, and teach them to forget their fathers. It shall bind the tongue, and call the chain holy.
²⁴They shall kneel and think themselves standing. They shall serve and believe themselves kings.
²⁵O ye children of dust, beware the gifts of those who would rule thee! Not all who speak peace come with clean hands!
²⁶And many heard him and marveled, but few believed, for the vision was veiled unto their hearts.
²⁷Yet some whispered among themselves, saying, Is this not the madness that knoweth truth? Shall we not listen?
²⁸And thus the name of Mortivar began to pass among the hills and the plains, and the warning he carried was not wholly silenced.
²⁹But the elders took counsel, and said, We must watch this man, lest his words turn the hearts of the people against their peace.
³⁰And Mortivar, knowing this by the fire within him, departed from the town and walked among the scattered folk.
³¹Wherever he went, he spake the word, and the flame in him did not falter.
³²And thus beginneth the burden of Mortivar, whom the Lord of the Depths did choose to warn the world ere the rising of the Great Empire.


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