Astrum Irae

I wake up casually while feeling strangely refreshed.

Why did I just wake up out of nowhere? I don't remember going to sleep… ah. I forgot. That pink bastard just showed up in my eternal solitude and started promising me things. Then, threw me wherever this is.

I roll over onto my stomach and stand up. My surroundings consist of one forest.

I give myself a pat-down and discover a worn piece of paper in my back pocket. I pull it in front of me and start eagerly reading, wanting more information.

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It's me. As I previously said, this letter contains the details of what exactly is going on.

It's about you. I froze your body's time, which means that your body will loosely never again change in any shape or form. Wounds cannot be formed, you will not age, and your nails and hair won't grow. However, your consciousness is largely unaffected; you can gain new memories and feel different emotions and various internal hormones can still affect you. The downsides to this are that you can't eat or drink anything, and blood will no longer flow to your nether regions in excess. However, the negatives aren't all that negative. By not allowing you to perform the sins of gluttony or lust, you'll stay focused towards your "condition" for this situation. Said condition is building a nation that will stand the test of time. You'll need to have an entire empire at your fingertips before you can proceed to the next step. That's simply to prove your competency. Good luck and best of wishes.

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What? I have no choice but to believe him for now. The fact that I can't eat or enjoy the nightlife is truly troubling, but this is my chance! I had a hard time in my previous world because I had a rather bad start, but now I have an opportunity to firmly shape my own future, and mold the world to how I want it.

First, I need to get allies and gain power and status. The two main ways I'll be able to start a country would be purchasing land and starting off small, or invoking a rebellion in a country without stability. As for the rebellion, it would probably be easiest to travel to an anti-slavery country and push a pro-slavery faction into power.

Well, that's far off into the future. For now, I need to get some money and allies. I am a bit worried about the pink dude, who I've decided to dub 'God'. His whims could easily lead to my downfall, so gathering enough power to challenge 'God' could become a goal in the future. I guess I'll just play the lapdog for now and pray for the best results.

I look around the forest and don't see anything other than trees and the works. I listen intently for any signs of human life, but hear nothing other than trees swaying gently. As I'm rotating in place, looking for any hints on where to go, I see a deer that's on alert due to my presence. It stares at me, then abruptly turns and runs away deep into the vegetation.

Before I know it, I feel a strong force hit the back of my head and I stumble into the dirt. I crawl up onto my feet then swivel around to see my attacker. He's a middle-aged man dressed in hunting attire and has a bow mounted on his back. In his hand is a small hunting knife which possesses an abstract hue.

I guess I was just stabbed in the back of the head, or hit with the butt of the knife. I guess that proves I'm immortal. Although, this man is undoubtedly my enemy. I mean, who the hell just straight up tries to kill someone?! I am in another world, though. So I guess there might be some curious circumstances that would put a person in the position to kill on sight. I guess I'll try and start a conversation. After all, making enemies at an early stage sounds like a poor strategy.

"Um, hey. What's up?"

Damn it, I totally whiffed it. What kind of conversation starter is that? Oh, wait. He's actually really freaked out. I suppose most people can't receive a blade to the back of the head. Maybe I could abuse my power and start a cult.

"I don't really want any trouble, and I certainly didn't do anything wrong. You see, I think I have amnesia as I can't remember anything at all, and I just woke up right here a couple of minutes ago. I also don't have anything on me except the clothes on my skin."

That sentence came out pretty good. I wonder if he'll buy the amnesia thing. If he does it would certainly be very helpful, as it could prove to be invaluable to me. I could gather information easily without causing too many flags to be raised. After all, an adult that doesn't know of technology in my previous world would certainly be very strange, and many would probably pry for more information. The situation would probably be very similar here, and I'd like to avoid any unnecessary suspicion and/or conflict.

"What nonsense are you spouting? You Dreidans have fallen awfully far if you think that'll work on us."

Ah, so he spoke. That's good, I was starting to worry that he didn't speak whatever language I'm using. Well, just from that, I've figured out that this is most likely a border between 2 countries, and he thinks that I am a "Dreidan". The problem here is that I have no clue how to convince him that I'm not hostile.

"Ah, you misunderstand. I am not a Dreidan, and like I said earlier, I am merely extremely confused where I am, and what this place is."

That should do it. I'm looking him dead in the eyes when I'm talking, too, so he should hopefully realize that I'm not lying.

"Of course you certainly don't look like a soldier, but you could easily be a scout."

God damn this skeptical bastard. I should be able to force this, but if he decides that I'm an enemy and he alerts nearby towns of me, that'd be problematic.

"Well, I really can't prove I'm not Dreidan, however, I still think you should show me to the nearest village so I can be on my way. Also, explain to me what this world is like, as I can't remember anything."

I slowly raise my arms into the air to show I mean no harm.

"Well, I suppose that's fine. I would still like to know how you got out here to the border. Also, there's no towns anywhere near here. Our country, Empyrea, pushed our borders into disputed territory a few years back, so there's nothing around here for now except our main fort. I'll bring you back there."

Oo, here are some results. The situation here sounds rather annoying, but I smell an opportunity. If I can enlist into the military at the fort and abuse my power on the front lines, hopefully, I could gain prestige and recognition. If the king or council of the country rewards me I could get off to a great start. Well, I better reply to the man.

"Ah, I thank you for your generosity. If possible, could I perhaps enlist in the military at the base? I don't believe I have any talent with the sword, but it would be good to get some revenue."

He ponders the idea for a moment, and turn around and starts walking off. I put my arms down and jog up next to him.

"You know of war?"

He asked an interesting question. Of course, I know of war from history classes, but mainly wars with guns. We never got in depth with the crusades, but I do know that the crusades were much worse than even the Civil War or WW1. I think.

"Yes, I'm familiar with the term. I do know that it's supposedly hell on the battlefield, and depending on your point of view, being a soldier is the worst job."

I think that's vague enough that my story about amnesia is still believable. Well, I can't act too nervous around this guy or he'll be suspicious. He seems like a nice guy, though. He's probably a husband with a young child as he has been giving me the benefit of the doubt. From what I know, in war it's kill first, ask questions later. That's why I believe he has a kid, as someone of his age in an RPG world must be rather familiar with death. So, he must've had an event recently in his life which would cause him to reevaluate the value of life. Of course, I could be dead wrong and he's about to stab me in the gut as we're walking side by side.

"So, you do understand. Then why would you want to do this? Since you have amnesia, your sense of nationalism should be nonexistent. The only people that willingly enlist are nationalists that truly believe that this country is the best in the world. Which, is still a surprising amount. That, and the desperate for cash."

"Ah, well, I would fall into the latter category,- I was trying to convey that, at least. I'm rather confident with my survivability. In fact, you experienced it first hand. I think you tried to stab me in the back of the head just earlier, no? Anyways, I'm pretty sure that I won't go dying to small fries out of the battlefield. I don't know how I know, but I instinctively know that it'll take more than a lance or 2 to kill me."

That should be good enough, I guess.

"Ah, yes. I was going to ask you about that. I did connect with the back of your head with a hard thrust from my trusty combat knife. I do apologize for that, by the way. I simply saw someone who wasn't clad in Empyrean clothes and thought you were from The Holy Dreida Empire. Well, I guess I'll explain a bit about our country. In exchange, you've gotta tell me about this power of yours. I've never seen anything like it.

"Well, first, the formal name is just Empyrea and it is an oligarchy. The members of the oligarchy are the royal family and the pope and his cardinals. They work together to support our country and religion simultaneously.

"The main religion here is Empyreanism. Well, I say main, but any other religious practices are considered heretical and pagan. Heathens are locked up deep beneath the earth until the end of their days. The reason for this is that we don't believe in a Hell, so sending them up into Heaven would be pointless, so we take it upon ourselves to punish sinners before they can experience tranquility eternally."

That's a ton of information. I'm thankful to this old man, but I need a second to process this goldmine. So, politics and religion are working one and the same, and said religion is rather harsh. In fact, it could be rather dangerous for me in the near future. I guess I'll support this crazy church for now. Like I said, enemies will hinder my progress. Although… I could use the extremist side of the church to jump-start a revolution. More options can never hurt.