[IRP] The Dead One Calls

[Toogee]

When Cecily mentioned the Royal library, Paige nodded, confirming that much of the events since then were set in motion because she was too curious about the enigmatic emperor. She leaned closer to Cecily to keep her story confidential.

"I told Satsume much of this along with the others," she began. "Someone was burning copies of books detailing Ostia's bloodline. I was attempting research on the topic, so I eventually came across our burned copy. Whoever it was was hiding the origins of the Emperor. From the burned pages, I found his name: Emperor Coran. I was hoping to use that to derive a place of origin, but someone must have found out I was digging too deep. To avoid the Holy Guard, I had to resign my post and pursue leads elsewhere."

"We went to Santaruz, to find the author who originally copied down the Ostian lineage. ...We weren't able to save him from Imperial forces, but he was able to share something of Coran's bloodline. He has an heir, hidden from the public. He's likely a commoner with no idea of his heritage. Any other information is in Ostia's library, which I can't exactly visit on a whim."

"That's why I came to Tania. We were following a former keeper by the name of Yuri. I was hoping to sway him to our side and get into Ostia. Sadly, I lost track of him during the fighting. Now that we are in Bern, I can only hope a copy of the bloodline had made it out of Lycia."

Paige sighed in frustration as she began to take off her boots.

"Of course, it's likely that the only place for such a book would be in Castle Bern itself. Heh, I'd have better luck in Ostia..."