Starting in early March or thereabouts - whenever chapter 527 gets released - chapters are going to be released that will be dramatically longer than what you might be used to. I merged a bunch into some pretty damn long chapters, and I also made the decision to start writing with a 3k word minimum instead of the 2k minimum I’ve been using for the past 3 years. Nothing else will change, the chapters will still come out with the same frequency, they’ll just have a bit more meat on their bones.

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For a while, Leon and Justin’s conversation was dry and without too much emotion.  Leon, after everything that had happened over the past few hours and days, was just about done with being passionate about his enemies, especially with Nestor and Justin firmly in hand.  Justin, meanwhile, was utterly defeated, and was mostly going along with whatever Valeria wanted him to do.

Leon wondered if the man would ever snap out of this funk, but given the magnitude of what he had lost since vanishing from the Bull Kingdom, he was more than a little surprised that Valeria had gotten him to agree to continue to live at all.

Their conversation remained fairly quiet and emotionless because of their topic, as well.  Leon had Justin wax drily of the political landscape of the Nexus as it was when he left.  It was still interesting to Leon, especially since it was a world that he knew he would have to enter at some point, but it hardly roused any passionate emotions.

First, Justin told him of the greatest of those in the Nexus, those most visible at the top of the power structure, the Elemental Kings.  Their specific titles could vary according to the tastes of the specific monarch, but that was the term for them as a whole, as Justin explained.  There were supposed to be seven of these august figures, who, at least nominally, ruled over the entirety of a magical element and in theory would rule over all those beneath them who practiced that element.  An almost universal rule among the Elemental Kings was that they had to rule over at least a hundred planes outside of the Nexus where their power could be more permanently felt and consolidated; if they didn’t, then they were seen as too weak to keep their title and would be constantly fighting off challengers.

As a mage who was practicing lightning, fire, water, and wind magic, Leon had been a little concerned and confused, wondering just how they were supposed to rule over everyone of a specific element without coming into conflict with other Elemental Kings.  When he asked Justin, the broken man’s response was that it was incredibly complex and that the actual powers of the Elemental Kings were far less than what they were on paper, especially since the titles themselves conferred no magical power; they were political titles, nothing more, taken and kept by those with the power to do so, and that in practice, the Nexus was extraordinarily divided.  It also wasn’t completely unheard of for the Elemental Kings to go to war over the often-divided loyalties of their vassals and subordinate states.

But, as powerful as the Elemental Kings could be, the power and influence they could wield in a place as large and varied as the Nexus was always going to be limited in some capacity, if only due to how the Nexus destroyed and rebuilt itself every hundred thousand years, preventing how ‘permanent’ much of their infrastructure could be.  The extra-Nexus planes were usually where the bulk of an Elemental King’s political power lay since these places weren’t in danger of being regularly destroyed.

This was the level of the Thunderbird Clan before its destruction.  The Storm Kings ruled over the element of lightning—at least nominally—and were the ruling class of a vast empire that stretched across the universe.  Justin told Leon about thousands of planes that owed their allegiance to the Storm Kings of the Thunderbird Clan, and of how widespread their influence in the Nexus was.

So great was the Clan that aside from the very first Storm King, who was appointed to the position by the Great Lord Khosrow after he led humanity to victory in the wars of the Primal Age and whom the Thunderbird Clan usurped, every Storm King after was of the Thunderbird’s direct line.  In uncountable millions of years, even as their power waxed and waned, the Thunderbird Clan always held onto the title of Storm King.

At least until they came to the Divine Graveyard.

Directly below the Elemental Kings were the Anakes.  An Anax was supposed to be the most powerful position anyone could achieve short of usurping an Elemental King, and the fact that Justin claimed that at least half, if not more, of mages who claimed the title were completely independent even of the Elemental Kings, spoke volumes of their might.  If not even the Elemental Kings could exert authority over these people through all the means they had available—or, perhaps most accurately, if these people could resist the power of the Elemental Kings through any means they had—then they had certainly earned their titles of Anax.

However, Justin made sure to stress that that wasn’t to downplay the power of the Anakes that were subordinate to the Elemental Kings, it was merely to emphasize their power and level of influence.

This was the place where Leon’s enemy, the Lord named Kamran, stood.  He owed no Elemental King his allegiance, despite the traditional powers and domains that the Great Lord Khosrow had laid out.

Leon had no idea who this ‘Great Lord’ was that Justin repeatedly brought up, but he filed that name away for later.

Kamran was a powerful enemy to have, apparently.  He was powerful enough to stand against the Elemental Kings without being conquered through not only his personal power but also his vast network of allies, and he hated those with Inherited Bloodlines.  His power was effectively that of a god compared to Leon and his meager seventh-tier strength.  He’d long ago achieved Apotheosis, and had risen even higher afterward.

Once that was said, Leon had to interject into Justin’s spiel with a few questions of his own.

“Does Kamran have any enemies that I might be able to ally with or exploit?” he’d asked, though he’d frowned when he thought about actually trying to form an alliance with these people with his unique skillset.  “How about the Dragon Federation?  Aren’t they at war with Kamran?  Could I possibly get them to aid me?  Or could I aid them somehow?  I’m supposed to be a part of them, aren’t I?”

“Unlikely,” Justin had replied.  “The Dragon Federation is terrifically powerful, but also very isolationist and rather xenophobic, even by the standards of the Nexus.  Given who they are, I can’t blame them—they inspire a great deal of fear in most people who they come across, so friends are hard to come by for a dragon.  I doubt they’d accept someone like you, one who shares his blood with another, into their circles.  Maybe I’m wrong, and I certainly don’t have first-hand experience dealing with them, but that’s the impression I have of them.  Maybe you could acquire their aid, but I wouldn’t count on it, even if their conflict with Kamran is ongoing and they haven’t been defeated.”

Leon’s frown had deepened when Justin told him that.  Xenophobia didn’t mesh well with the picture of his mother that Artorias had painted, but Leon decided to reserve judgment until he could get a little more information.  For the time being, though, he took Justin at face value and decided that his mother’s Clan wasn’t going to be one that he’d immediately seek out when he arrived in the Nexus.

Not that he was planning on doing that, anyway, he didn’t want to arrive at her door a beggar hoping for a handout when he didn’t even know why she hadn’t returned to Aeterna in twenty years.

“Any other enemies of Kamran?” Leon asked.

“Kamran’s enemies are legion, though the reasons for that vary.  He is an Anax, and one does not rise to that level of power without spilling a great deal of blood and making many enemies.  You’ll have to go to the Nexus to get a better idea of who might have the power to aid you in any campaigns against Kamran, for just like here, alliances and loyalties can practically change with the tides.”

Leon nodded in understanding.  According to Justin, his Clan had done likewise for many generations, using violence and intimidation to keep their power.  He didn’t think so harshly of them as Justin seemed to, but he could still empathize with the man’s apparent dislike of the descendants of the Thunderbird, especially when he took the other crimes Justin accused them of into account.

With his questions answered, even if he wasn’t too satisfied with the answers he received, Leon listened as Justin continued with his explanation of the Nexus’ power structure.

The Elemental Kings and the Anakes were the only titles that were solely invested into singular people.  An Anax was one person, an Elemental King was a single person, both having risen to that level of personal and political power.  The remaining rungs further down the ladder, however, did not necessarily follow in that vein, for as Justin explained, the Nexus was filled with just as many governments and philosophies as the planes were.  Autocracies, democracies, oligarchies, all systems of rulership existed, but they were all organized into classes and de jure spheres of authority and legitimacy by something that Justin called, ‘Khosrow’s Law’.

Below the Anakes were the Basileis.  A Basileus was, at least in theory, the ruling body of a powerful administrative or vassal state of an Anakes.  These ‘Empires’, as Justin described them, could then be subdivided into Despotates ruled by Despots, and Themata, ruled by Strategoi.

These levels were political, not magical, and so didn’t necessarily correspond to any magical tier—though Justin was quick to explain that because the most powerful person in a political entity was often enough the person given the specific title that it usually was associated with the post-Apotheosis magical tiers, of which Leon was told numbered only five.

The example he gave was to describe the political nature of his home.  He was from the city of Antiochus, the capital city of the Theme that was ruled by a small council headed by the only man to achieve Apotheosis in the entire Theme.  This man, while not a king or hereditary ruler of any kind, was nonetheless given the title of Strategos by the council.

The Theme of Antiochus was furthermore located in a Despotate governed by a large senate that had been elected by the citizens of the Despotate’s capital city, which, in turn, elected their Despot from amongst their ranks—usually, only a handful of the most powerful men and women were elected by their fellow senators, showing how close the association between magical tier and political power was even if that association wasn’t official.

This Despotate was, in turn, ruled by a single Basileus chosen by Kamran among a dozen other Despotates within his realm.

Again, as Justin finished this explanation, Leon had to interrupt to ask a question.

“If you were so far removed from Kamran, then how is it you managed to get yourself such a mission as killing me?  You and Valeria made it sound like Kamran personally gave you this mission.”

“He did,” Justin replied.  “I was born in Antiochus, I did not live my entire life there.  Beyond that, while Antiochus is politically distant from Kamran, it’s geographically almost right next to his chosen capital city, only just far enough away for Kamran to not bother adding it to his personal domain and to assign it to a subordinate to administer.  We don’t have to get into it right this second but suffice it to say that when I was younger, I thought my prospects in Antiochus weren’t bright, so I traveled to Kamran’s capital in search of work.  I made my way through Kamran’s bureaucracy and found myself working as one of his personal agents.”

“You must’ve angered him somehow, then,” Leon observed.  “I don’t think it’s standard practice for those who keep their bosses happy to have their families kidnapped and held hostage.”

“Kamran isn’t entirely predictable,” Justin replied.  “No one grows as old as he is without accumulating some… odd behaviors and habits.”

“And you said earlier that you don’t know specifically how old he is?”

Justin replied with a shake of his head.  “He is older than most others who might count themselves his equals, though,” he said.  “He’s old enough to have accumulated a great deal of personal power.  When I was last in the Nexus, Kamran was the one most people believed would succeed Jason Keraunos as the Storm King.  He was still a ways from seizing the title, but reaching that level has always been his highest ambition.”

“That’s… somewhat worrying,” Leon murmured as he leaned back in thought.  It had always been plain enough for him to see that his enemies were going to be startlingly powerful, but now that he was getting some idea of truly how far he’d have to go, he was starting to feel more than a little daunted.

“You are still going after Kamran?” Justin asked, showing a little bit of life for the first time since their conversation began.  “Even now that you’re getting an idea of just how powerful he is?”

“I am,” Leon said as he turned his attention back to Justin.  “As… concerning as all of this is, it’s not enough to get me to turn back.  No matter what, Kamran ordered the deaths of my family, and he used you to do much of that…”

The way Leon phrased it and the tone he used made it seem like Justin was just as much a victim as he was of the situation, but the subtle wrath in his eyes told a different story, and it was one that Justin could easily pick up on.  Leon was making peace with him, but he wasn’t forgiving, and he most certainly wasn’t forgetting.  No matter the future he and Valeria might make together, he and Justin would never be close.

“Will you be able to tell me about these allies that Kamran has?” Leon asked.

“I can, at least to a certain degree of accuracy,” Justin said.  “The Nexus is not static, things change all the time as new people arrive from the planes and older generations die out.  Surprisingly few people ever achieve Apotheosis, and so immortals are relatively rare and usually in positions of greater power.  But controlling those who have time limits to their lifetimes has never been easy for anyone, so conflicts and tensions often break out and wars are waged with fairly high frequency.  As a result, alliances and friendships change just as quickly, so the exact compositions of those whom Kamran has allied himself to is nearly impossible for me to guess.

“All of that being said, Kamran has a handful of trusted allies whom you ought to watch out for.  The first is a man that you will likely come into conflict with sooner rather than later.  He is an influential Despot within the Kingdom of the Storm, those territories—or rather, vassals—that your family used to rule over.  He has a plane of his own to rule, though, meaning that he cannot be ignored by those with more power, for his influence extends beyond the Nexus.  He goes by the name of Aeschylus.”

“This man… was he once a vassal of the Thunderbird Clan?”

“He was,” Justin confirmed.  “He was never one of the most influential men around, especially since his loyalties have typically been quite fluid, but he and Kamran have become quite close since the fall of your Clan.  Aeschylus can be thought of as a protectorate of Kamran, rather than a proper vassal, and if any large-scale conflict were to break out involving Kamran, I would say it would be more likely than not that Aeschylus would join on Kamran’s side.  More than that, it is in Aeschylus’ hands that the vault of the Thunderbird Clan now lies.”

“Huh?” Leon asked, taken aback by what Justin had just said.  He had heard something about an Adamant vault in the possession of the Thunderbird Clan, and how it the most likely place where Jason Keraunos had left the Storm Diamond Universe Fragment when he came to Aeterna, but it had been so distant an idea to him that he hadn’t put much thought into it.  He’d thought that it would’ve been lost or hidden away by survivors of the Thunderbird Clan, but he hadn’t thought that someone else had taken it for themselves…

“Whatever is inside I doubt Aeschylus has taken possession of,” Justin said, providing some balm to Leon’s obvious and sudden panic.  “The vault itself is immense, as large as a city, but so well-protected that I doubt anyone not of your blood could ever access it.”

Leon nodded, though his mouth was slowly turning into a scowl.  Defenses could always be breached, nothing would stay secure forever.  But he felt lucky enough to know that the vault was still in play and that his chance to retrieve the Storm Diamond and whatever else might be inside hadn’t passed.

“Anyone else?” Leon asked through gritted teeth.

“Two more,” Justin replied.  “A woman by the name of Antipatra, a Basilissa in the Scorched Lands.  She nominally supports a prominent Anax of the Burning King, but in practice, she is much too far away from the centers of power for even these mighty men to hold much sway over her.  In fact, only a year before Kamran launched his war with the Dragon Federation, he had just concluded a war with Antipatra’s liege regarding her loyalties.”

“And Kamran won?” Leon asked.

“He did,” Justin confirmed.  “The Burning King stayed out of it, though, and let the two Anakes fight it out between themselves.  A rather blatant disregard for Khosrow’s Law, but that’s what politics are like…”

Again, Leon cocked his head at that term.  It was said too prominently for it to be much of a coincidence, and he wanted to know more, but Justin wasn’t finished telling him what he needed to know.

“And the last person?”

“A man in the Ocean Realm, Triton, I believe his name was, with the rank of Basileus.  I never saw him, myself, and Kamran didn’t have much contact with him while I was serving him, but Kamran often told us of his great friendship with Triton, and that if anything were to happen, he could count on Triton’s support, among many others.”

“How many others?”

“That depends on the time of day,” Justin quipped, a little bit more energy returning to his demeanor as he spoke.  “As I have repeated, the Nexus is not static, and alliances are constantly shifting.  However, Kamran is rather notorious for the number of alliances he has at any one time.  There’s a reason why he’s still independent and not beholden to the Burning King, and his many alliances are it, not his personal power—for the Burning King is stronger one-on-one, but his attention must always be elsewhere, keeping the rest of his domain in line.”

Leon nodded, committing these names and their importance to memory.  It might be many years yet before he ventured to the Nexus, but he wanted to have a plan ready before he showed up.  He didn’t want to go there first and meander around without a clue where he should be or what he needed to do.

‘Aeschylus, Despot, lightning region, the vault,’ Leon thought.  ‘Antipatra, Basilissa, fire region.  Triton, Basileus, water region.’

His enemies may wind up being quite numerous if Justin’s claims held any water, but at least now he had a few names and places to start.

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