The Fey Conquest— Introduction/Inception

       

The truth was a fusion of different Meta-domains rolled into one. One of the ‘runes’ was the Sovereign Rune, which allowed the rune lord to invoke the Empire from Final Fantasy 6. In this game, it was possible to enslave a recurring Final Fantasy trope that has different names, but amount to the same thing. The Empire developed machines to convert celestial beings into magicite, which powered their weapons and could be used against their enemies. It was necessary to exercise perfect control, because the potential exploit was the Empire was the bad guy, and so whether the result was good or whether the result was bad depended on who wielded the Sovereign Rune. By invoking it, the rune lord enforced the presence of weaponry that could combat the demons that plagued the metaverse, but the intrinsic nature of the Empire had to be controlled. Throughout history, Empire has been wielded to commit many atrocities, and its nature is to rule by conquest. Thus, the Sovereign Rune worked best when achieving the triumph of empires rather than their oppression, which depended on the person using it.

The Rune Lord Swain began as a common swordsman conscripted in a foreign war. With a horrific leadership deficit, soldiers were used as pawns and there was no consideration for their lives or compensation. They were simply used to achieve the ends of ruthless controllers. After a mutually destructive battle, Swain led a hardbitten battalion into desertion, and was feverishly desperate to escape the blades of the enemy as well as their former king’s military police.

In truth, Swain led a campaign across a foreign countryside, exacting tolls from the peasants of an unknown territory. It was essentially robbery, though Swain was not bloodthirsty. He was simply desperate, and his charisma alone gave him authority over his rogue battalion.

It was in this territory where the various villages were different from the lands Swain hailed from. Each village had a patron celestial spirit that lived among the villagers, sometimes numerous ones. Over time, Swain eventually encountered a village with a strong spirit, who sought to protect the township. It was thought in that region that nothing could successfully oppose these beings, which are classified as espers according to FF6 canon.

In these lands, it was sacrilege to oppose espers. Swain, however, was ever of presence of mind, and as fate would have it, he decided to lead his soldiers against the espers in that region.

To the astonishment of the people of those lands, Swain and his men slew the espers. Upon its death, the esper left behind magicite, a magical mineral that allowed you to wield the esper’s power, depending on how it was used.

The magicians that had fled along with Swain’s battalion studied the magicite, and one of them, named Krest, discovered its secret. For the price of a fixed amount of pain and for unconditional love, the magicite could become a Rune, which would be permanently merged with the flesh. This sigil, depending on the quality of the blood of the human who mastered it, would allow the user to wield the power of the celestial creature, or esper, that was conquered.

The Esper Swain and his warriors had conquered was a wind spirit. It became fused with his flesh, a rune on his right arm. The primitive land where Swain and his men settled was riddled with espers, and so began a process that lasted over ten years, where Swain and his lieutenants became powerful by turning espers into magicite, and in turn into Runes to augment their power.

One of the last regions to fall was a patchland of fertile farms and groves called Sovereign Valley. It was here that resided an esper that was an irresistible fruit for Swain and his growing kingdom of runelords. The Sovereign Rune was thought to be the secret to taking revenge against Ivalice, the nation that had enslaved them and used them as chess pieces. Its power was said to ordain the conquest of whoever could master it.

However, there was a fair maiden from Sovereign Valley who was beautiful beyond that of common people. Her name was Maka. The people of Sovereign Valley knew Swain and his men had their eyes fixed on their patron esper, and as of now the only way it was believed he could be stopped was if she could simply persuade him not to… by marrying him. She had her own entourage, people whose responsibility was more or less to help her anticipate how to stop Swain.

Her mind tremulated, thinking of functional solutions of how she could save her people from Swain with her words. However, all the while she dreaded a dreadful future, a future where she was simply a meal to satiate a beast. She was simply there to have cleavage and tantalizing hips, expressive eyes and a mouth constantly trying to hide her yearning for freedom.

She dreaded how it sounded in the writings of her people. Swain was a conqueror, and she would simply be a tool for delaying his aggression. Her sparkling eyes would be given as a sacrifice to a greasy face and beard, and the pungent, brutal aroma of a man who could only climax if he could satiate his appetite for violence.

At length, the day arrived when she was ushered into the presence of Swain. It wasn’t fair. In truth, she had been willing to be a good soldier for Sovereign Valley. She venerated espers, and as far as she was concerned, Swain was defying the heavens themselves to satiate his greed. She didn’t realize it, but she secretly wanted him to have a helmet with horns, an ugly beard, and piggy eyes, so she could secretly carry on the fight against the invader.

Which is exactly why it wasn’t fair. When she finally saw Swain, Lord of all Rune Lords, entirely against her will, she instantly fell in love.