(Day 167) Aprilis 12th, 12th year of the Dragon, Age of Enlightenment

I made my way to the castle and walked in. It was almost sunset, and I could hear the uproar from more than 300 feet away. The Guards were standing around not doing much of anything.

“We must accept Henry’s claim,” a gruff male voice said

“Gabriella has the greater claim,” a second female voice said.

“That matters not if the Kingdom falls, we must accept The Council’s deal,” a 2nd younger man said.

As I stepped into the room no one even looked at me. I began Analyzing them all while I made my way around the room and listened to the heated conversation as it went to and fro. Servants were walking around providing drinks and snacks. I took a pastry and a glass of wine while I continued to walk around the outskirts of the Throne Room. My nanites were spread out to their maximum range and I was listening to every conversation in the room and a few adjacent rooms as well. Some of them were terrified, others were not. I identified the Lords and Ladies and made sure to mark any that were from the estates that had been left alone. When I had finished my pastry and my wine and I was done analyzing I had every person that was a possible traitor committed to my memory.

I strode over to the Throne and sat down as I had my nanites create a crown atop my head that was exquisite in detail. It was platinum with a huge diamond in the center. No one seemed to notice. As I waited I tapped my right pointer finger on the throne hard enough to draw the attention of the closest person to me, a young lady. She looked over at the throne, gasped, and then whispered to her friend. I acted as if I hadn’t noticed her but I watched through my nanites as she whispered to her friend, who whispered to her friend, and so on. I counted to 30 before a man bellowed across the room.

“Get off that Throne!”

I looked at the Noble disdainfully and casually said, “No.”

The crowd of people that had been yelling and screaming went silent as the man strode toward me. I checked my memory and realized this man, one Lord Bayzier, was one of the ‘alleged’ traitors. Without hesitation or another word, Lord Bayzier pulled a wand from his coat, pointed it at me, and a beam of light as bright as the sun lanced at me.

I decided to have a little fun. I quickly opened my shirt and arched my back towards the beam. “Oh yeah, that’s the ticket. Give me that beam of light. I needed to work on my tan!” I proclaimed loudly as the beam struck me for absolutely no damage.

One of the nearby ladies covered her mouth to stifle a laugh. I analyzed her quickly.

Analyze: Success: Cassandra Level 20 HP 3

So the daughter of a Noble, not one that I’d have to banish or kill and she had a sense of humor. I’d have to point her out to the new King when he took over.

Lord Bayzier put the wand away and pulled a staff out of some magical holding item. He pointed directly behind me and a brown beam struck the floor behind the Throne I was sitting in. I didn’t even turn to watch and kept my gaze on Lord Bayzier’s. Through my nanites I watched an enormous Earth Elemental made of granite and stone form then start to reach down to grab me and the Thone.

“If the throne is touched by your Elemental I will kill you where you stand, and your eldest son,” I said without breaking my gaze Lord Bayzier.

“Hold,” Lord Bayzier said which caused the Elemental to stop moving.

“The same goes for all of you. You may declare a formal duel, even unto death, I care not. You may try to assassinate me with magic or your ranged weapons, again I care not. If by your action you harm the Throne,” I moved, making three strikes against the Earth Elemental which shattered and turned it to dust as I returned to my sitting position on the Throne while I continued. “You will die just as quick as that did. Now before any of you scream and do something insanely stupid which will require me to kill you, please let me introduce myself. “ I said pausing to see if someone would be stupid enough to try to kill me.

“I am Adamantadine, Master of Adamantadine Tower and the Dungeon Master of Magical Elements right outside the city. It was by my hand that the Assassins all lost the use of their hearts this day. It is by my will that the Leader of the Assassins Guild’s leader Desirae is currently sitting in a very small room very far away from here. And it was my hand that I plucked the hearts out of the almost Divine Arch Mage Belarious and his Assassin Bitch Seraphin after they’d murdered five of the citizens of this kingdom and invaded my Place of Power while trying to assassinate me..”

“Lies! All Lies….” A large fat man wearing purple robes tried to yell as his cry turned into a gurgle looking around in surprise.

I looked at the fat man, a Lord Majour, as he staggered and our gazes locked. I had moved, plucked the heart, and been sitting back on the throne holding his beating heart up as if in tribute before he’d even realized he was dying. “I believe this was yours…Traitor!” I said to him as my nanites destroyed the blood and then the heart. “Also, I don’t believe you’ll be needing this anymore,” I said. To everyone looking at me, all traces of the heart had evaporated while I spoke.

A couple of women gasped and a few screamed. While I had been busy I’d noticed that Lord Bayzier was trying to slyly pull out a hand crossbow and aim it at me through my nanites. I deactivated my bracers and continued staring into Lord Majour’s eyes until he fell face forward onto the floor. I continued to act like I didn’t see what Lord Bayzier was doing. There was a gasp as a few people saw him shoot, but no one that saw what he was doing called out a warning. I plucked the hand crossbow dart out of the air. Looked at it then put the head into the top of my hand. Lord Bayzier smiled wickedly, most likely because he thought I was a dead man. This really wasn’t fair, but I was having fun. I looked at the dart in my hand and commented absently, “I thought this was supposed to do something?” I had of course had my nanites save the poison, which looked like a really nasty neurotoxin. I removed the dart from my body and allowed the nanites to close the hole immediately. I moved, plucked the heart out of Lord Bayzier, and returned to a sitting position on the Throne before anyone saw me move or could react.

I looked across Lord Bayzier’s heart into his eyes as I spoke in a menacing tone, “I don’t take kindly to assassination attempts either. Nice poison, it tickles.” I said as Lord Bayzier died.

The gasps had stopped and those that had fainted were being helped to seating around the outskirts of the room. None of the Nobels were talking. Everyone was silent as they realized there was someone truly dangerous in their presence. I raised my voice and spoke loud enough for everyone to hear.

“I am King Adamantadine. I hereby claim these lands in preparation for a more appropriate King to claim the throne and continue to lead this kingdom on its path to glory as the honorable and just King Liam II did. I will accept any formal challenges to the throne…”

I was cut off when one of the Nobles, not one of the traitors, started to declare “I chall….” Before he was knocked unconscious by me. I was already sitting back on the Throne before the attack had even been registered as he started to slump to the ground as I continued.

“Pardon the interruption. After I am done making my announcements and decrees I am willing to accept challenges. Now let me continue with what I was saying. First, my level of response to any that formally challenges me will be as follows. If you are one of these Nobles or a member of their family of any of these estates,” I said as I conjured a projector that displayed a map with the traitor’s mansions and properties circled in red with “Traitors?” in bright red ink on top of each circle. “I noticed while I exterminated the assassins that no one at any of the estates that are circled was attacked, nor were any of their servants harmed. If you are one of the Nobles of those families or a member of those families and you give a formal challenge, it will be to the death and yours will come one second after the challenge leaves your mouth, as any such declaration could only be a traitor attempting to take the throne to have this kingdom become one of The Councils pawns. I will not let that happen. I would like everyone to note that Lord Brazier’s and Lord Majour’s estates are circled.” I paused for a second letting that sink in before I continued.

“The noble that just spoke up was not one of the possible traitors so he will wake up shortly with a headache but nothing more. One of you should make sure he is informed of my words. Second, I killed Belarious and Seraphine as fast as I killed those two. “ I said pointing to Lord Bayzier and Lord Majour. Those of you that know Belarious power know that for someone to be able to kill him in a second would be almost unheard of unless the divines were directly affecting the affairs of mortals. That is not the case, Captain of the Guard!” I called.

“Yes, my King.”

“Have your men and women come to the throne room and look upon me. I will be sitting here until a new King is chosen. Inform them that the man sitting there is King Adamantadine and that they are to follow my commands without question. Make this happen for every guard that didn’t turn traitor

“Yes, my Lord”

“I also have a question for you. For the guards that turned traitor this day, and any lords or ladies that colluded with The Council. What would the Previous King have done?

“That’s simple my Lord. Anyone caught red-handed would have been executed immediately. The Lords and Ladies? If proof existed, they would have their possessions confiscated and also be executed. If there was no proof, it would be life as normal for the Nobles.”

I nodded as I adjusted my Dungeon Interface. “Every single guard that refused to surrender today and was knocked out by myself is a traitor. I declare so because this King witnessed them committing treason against the Kingdom they swore an Oath to. They are to be stripped down to their skivvies and thrown into the first level of the Dungeon. I have already made the necessary changes to allow this. They will keep their Oaths and give their lives to promote the security and safety of the citizens of Venoran. Those that surrendered are to be put on weaponless shit duties for the foreseeable future. I will leave their fate to the next King. Though if they complain, fight, or hurt anyone in the city again, give them to the Dungeon. Death sentences by execution will not happen unless the next King rescinds this order. As the Dungeon grows stronger, Venoran grows stronger. The next King may keep this policy or change it, they will be King after all. For now, Individuals that are being put to death will die making Venoran stronger. Once I am done, go and do as I say.” I said turning back to the Lords and Ladies.

“Third, any who sit on or damage this Throne besides a child will be fed to the Dungeon. If you want to sit on it you must take it from me.”

“Fourth, I declared myself King here because your home is close to my Place of Power, and chaos this close to my home is unacceptable. I wish to have stable neighbors. I do not want to be a King but if in doing so I serve my Goddess and the forces of Good I will do what I must. Over the next little bit of time, The Lords and Ladies of this Kingdom will work towards finding a suitable replacement for King Liam II. Once that is done and I accept their nomination. I will step aside for the new King.” I said pausing then continuing resignedly

“Or you can continuously challenge me to a duel being unable to change what will be. Those of you who decided to help The Council. After we close here for the day. You may ask to be granted an audience and you may make your case for why you did so. I will inform the next King of your willingness to confess and the reasons you did for doing so. Though be warned, if you challenge or attack me, it will be to the death for you as I have stated.” I paused for a moment, conjured a glass of water out of thin air, took a drink then continued.

“At this time there will be no questions. It is getting late and I’m sure we will all have a full day tomorrow. To those of you that were loyal to King Liam II know that I understand your loss and am working to help rectify it and ultimately bring justice to those that ordered this heinous crime. For those of you that helped, the Council's days are numbered. Either walk back into the light or stay in the shadows until the darkness utterly engulfs you. Know that the Dark will not keep you from me. Dismissed!” I sat on the Throne and watched as the Lords and Ladies started to exit the Throne Room. Some looked at my impassive gaze, contemplated their chances then, looked away and left.

Servants came into the room to recover the bodies. “Leave them,” I said and watched the servants leave. I moved over to the bodies and had my nanites convert the bodies, the messes they’d made, and any normal gear into air. Once that was done only magical items were left. I looked at what was left. As I started to identify the items one of the rings activated and 4 items disappeared. Looking over at the other pile and checking my memory I noted that three of four items were now missing from that pile as well. I analyzed what was left. On Lord Bayzier.

Analyze: Success: You have found a Ring of Spell Storing (Empty)

This ring allows the caster to place one spell in the ring with a Contingency

Analyze: Success: You have found a Dagger +5

Analyze: Success: You have found a Wand of Sunbeam Level 100

Does 10d10 x 100 points of damage 20 of 25 charges

Analyze: Success: You have found a Staff of Summon Earth Elemental 400

Allows you to summon a Level 1000 Earth Elemental once per week.

On Lord Majour I found

Analyze: Success: You have found a Ring of Spell Storing (Empty)

This ring allows the caster to place one spell in the ring with a Contingency

I picked up the items and placed them in my ring of holding. I returned to the Throne and sat down. Tomorrow was going to be a long day. I conjured a desk in front of me and pulled out one of the Belarious spell books I’d found and started looking over the spells inside. I had 33 volumes to go through. Might as well get something productive done.