Emperor Regius gave a sad sigh as he sat down on the throne like chair and leaned back into the comfort of its cushions. The morning had been interesting. Meeting the not-so-mysterious farmer that had prompted this whole thing had been almost painful; it was clear the boy was out of his depth, but he’d done well enough, and asked for a boon the emperor might just be willing to grant.

The town was quaint, and he could tell it held more than one master of a craft, although the fact that they were out here in the middle of nowhere meant they likely hadn’t gotten along all that well with whatever noble they’d originally been under. The dungeon he’d toured was nothing special, rodents, spiders, and slimes seemed to be its theme for all but the last level which had involved, of all things, chookers.

The really interesting bits had been some of the people he’d met. The woman called Administrator had somehow corralled a large number of players into doing what she wanted, and he could tell she had a feat that empowered her based on that; she could be a formidable opponent given the right circumstance and he thought that perhaps he should bring her to the attention of whoever ruled the barony.

Among the other ‘players’ he’d seen dozens of people plying crafts right out in the open. Alchemists, ritualists, enchanters, even a golem crafter; it was clear that the trial here was doing the local area more than a little good. He’d have to subsidize infrastructure for the new barony; it needed a craft hall at the least, and a big one at that.

All together this had been a welcome reprieve from his normal duties. Alas, these precious few hours of freedom were coming to a close. Over the last four hours the aides and servants had prepared not only this open-air building, but also laid out the feast tables, decorated the venue, corralled the local weather, and a dozen other minor and not-so-minor things. All of it would be culminating soon in the reveal of the trial devised for the baronial hopefuls.

Even now the servants were still rushing to and fro; there were still a few decorations missing and they were just now laying out the food. After a few more minutes of waiting he could see they were mostly finished so he nodded to the two liveried men standing at the large, ornate double doors. They acknowledged his signal and opened the doors to reveal a small hoard of waiting lords and ladies, all dressed in their court finery and arranged in little gaggles and cliques with only a few standing outside of established social circles.

The next hour passed in an interminable blur as each of the attendees was announced as they entered the hall. There were over two hundred of the hopefuls and each had to be introduced before they could be let in. Normally it wouldn’t be all that bad, except he’d opened the trial to anyone of noble birth, including branch families. This was, quite literally, the only chance some of them would have at becoming a noble in their own right so the swelled ranks were no surprise. Eventually, however, the last few people filtered in and it was time to begin.

“Lords and ladies,” the emperor began, “you have all traveled both far and wide to be in this place today and I shall come straight to the point. The empire is expanding, and the Runic Rock Barony will be only the first of many that I foresee arising in the coming years. While you may have been led to believe that today’s trial will be solely for the benefit of picking a singular baron or baroness, that is untrue. The reality is that any who pass the trial will have the qualities I desire in my vassals and their names will go on the short list of people who will, eventually, be elevated.”

The emperor paused to let that sink in for a moment, then continued before the whispering could get into full swing. “As this is a trial, no matter the way it came into being, there will be boons for completion, and curses for failure. Because of this you are entitled to know what this trial seeks to test, and the answer to that is ‘fairness’. If you feel you cannot show an even hand to all peoples, I urge you to bow out. There is no shame in knowing your limits, nor backing away from a task at which you know you cannot succeed.” He looked around the room at the waiting lords and ladies, none looked to be backing away and he resisted the urge to shake his head. “For those who would try the challenge. I officially bid you come forth and enter The Doorway of Trials. Once all participants have entered, the trial will begin. Good luck.”

Standing from his seat, the emperor waved his hand at the seemingly innocuous doorway set against one wall. Instantly a shimmering curtain of blue-white light filled it and several people pulled away in surprise. However, they soon came to their senses and started moving in the direction of the doorway, entering it one by one. Within minutes the entire room was deserted save for the emperor and his servants.

Happily returning to his seat he turned his attention to a mirror that he pulled from his inventory. Now all that was left to do, was wait and watch.

***

Emperor Edward Woodward, first of his name, sat upon his horrifically uncomfortable throne and held court. Today was a bad day, he was expected to give judgment over a man accused of treason, a man whom he knew, for a fact, was innocent of all supposed crimes; he even had documentation and witnesses to prove it. Alas, the man had political enemies of high birth and deep pockets who had done a thorough job of discrediting the supposed traitor and fabricating evidence from thin air.

Even as the emperor he could not simply ignore these people of means. Should he upend their schemes they’d no doubt retaliate. They would block his civic works, raise prices on goods sent to the capital, fight his plans at every turn, and in general make a nuisance of themselves. They wouldn’t stop him from doing what he needed to, of course, he was the emperor after all and there was only so much they could do; but they could make him fight for every step forward, and meanwhile the common folk would suffer for the struggle. No, this man had to die, and may the gods forgive him for his cowardice.

***

Empress Elysia Hayes, first of her name, sat upon her ridiculously uncomfortable throne and sighed. Today was a good day; she was expected to hold trial over a supposed traitor whom, she knew, was actually quite innocent. The fact of his innocence was inconsequential however, what mattered was the political capital she could wring from his execution. The man had powerful enemies amongst the peerage and she had already made sure they knew that she understood what they had done, and what she expected in return for doing her part. Yes, the ‘traitor’ would be dead by sundown, and she’d have all the support she needed going forward. Today was a good day indeed.

***

Empress Lilliana Chambers, first of her name… The man had to die, for the good of the country.

Emperor Ambrose Chapel, first of his name… The traitor had to die; the man may yet live. It was a compromise, and none would be happy, but it was the fairest he could be in the circumstances. The former duke would be well taken care of, a new home, new identity. He could make this work.

Emperor Elliot Waters, First of his name… The man would live, there would be no lies and half-truths in his court, the nobles would fight him, people would be hurt, but truth would prevail.

***

Regius sat upon his actually quite comfortable chair and watched as one by one the applicants exited the doorway. The mirror he held allowed him to watch the trials in action, but with over two hundred running at once he’d had to pick and choose so he didn’t know how each had turned out. It had been some hours now since they entered, and he was beginning to despair. There were more looks of dismay and anger that joy or eagerness. From what he’d watched and what he was seeing now there were more curses being bestowed than boons.

He knew this was a hard trial, no matter the choice that was made, someone would suffer unfairly. The reality was that there was no true way to be equally fair to all peoples, the only option was to choose the path that led to the least suffering possible. No, for a trial of fairness, this was remarkably unfair.

***

Empress Susana Oswald, first of her name, sat upon her remarkably uncomfortable throne. Today… today was the day she changed things. The day she stopped playing stupid games. A man would be brought before her today, and she would pass judgment. That he was innocent was no doubt, she had the proof to hand and would examine it openly in excruciating detail even as she deconstructed the falsehoods and lies that had brought them to this point. Then, she would strike.

The peerage believed their titles and status protected them, kept them safe because they had lands, servants, and yes, guards aplenty. Some had what amounted to small standing armies, and they believed such would make her stay her hand. Somewhere, somehow, they had forgotten how her ancestor had subjugated the five kingdoms and made an empire. Today they would remember; today, an empress went to war.

***

A tremor ran through the doorway, the magical curtain trembled and flickered. There were still twenty candidates left inside and they had been for almost two hours past the last to exit. Regius watched his mirror intently, fascinated by the choices that had been made. He’d jumped between all twenty currently running trials and each seemed to be in the midst of a war. How had their tests taken this turn? What exactly had they done to escalate to this level? The speed of the projection suggested days were passing like minutes, which no doubt explained the strain on the doorway. Eventually, the wars seemed to come to an end and the doorway stilled.

They exited the doorway, all twenty of them in a line. They were… different, not the people who had gone in, there was a resolve and confidence in each of them that hadn’t existed before; there was also a look in their eyes that spoke of hard decisions made.

Regius wasted no time in raising a monocle to his eye; it was the companion to the doorway, and let him examine the boons and curses of any who had used it. They all had a boon, the same boon.

[Boon: Dominion (Scaling)]

[Description: Where others chose the lesser evil, you overturned the board and did what was necessary to bring about a brighter future. Any land over which you rule immediately becomes part of a special type of domain, granting power to the land and its citizenry, and their power to you in turn. This boon will become more powerful based upon the prosperity of your citizenry.]

[Current Rank: Dominion I]

[Current Bonuses: Blessing of Bysem I, Blessing of Ira I]

A boon that came with two blessings? And one that scaled at that? It was unusual to say the least, and Regius quickly dug into what the blessings did.

[Name: Blessing of Bysem]

[Rank: I]

[Description: Destruction and Creation are two sides of the same coin, and in your hands that coin has been used to good effect. You, and any people over which you rule, will gain a 10% (stacking) chance to increase the quality of any item or structure created within your domain by one step.]

[Name: Blessing of Ira]

[Rank: I]

[Description: Civilizations thrive and fall based on their leaders and their subordinates, and a good leader knows how to nurture promising buds. You, and any people over which you rule, will learn artisanal and agricultural skills 10% faster.]

The emperor almost dropped his artifact. At surface glance those boons didn’t seem all that good at only ten percent, however they were scaling bonuses. If, like normal boons, they could scale up to rank twenty, then those bonuses would become one hundred percent. In other words, all goods would automatically upgrade by one rank, and the time to learn a skill would be halved.

Lowering the monocle, he took in the twenty men and women now arrayed before his dais. Almost as one they made their bows. He took a short breath and then spoke. “You may rise, and stand within my sight.”