The chamber of CATAE's Assembly of the Sixteen Guardians buzzed with activity and fizzed with energy as the permanent Guardians took their seats at last.
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Eirlys Ravyn-Valtor stood in the hole in the centre of the table next to the daughter no one was aware he had. She was the Speaker of the Assembly, a virtually identical role to that of the Sheild of Empyrea.
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The newly appointed Elector Zoma Taurinè of the Glacier Electorate sat in the northmost seat as per usual. The Assembly had already allowed the North of Empyrea to become the Eighth sovereign region. The calculating and calm woman tried to hide just how pleased she was and failed only a little.
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Next to her sat the Guardian of North-Northeast, Admiral Orang of the Empyrean Aeronautical Defence Fleet, who looked amused at all the people scurrying about.
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The freshly minted Countess Valerie II and Earl Rainer occupied the Northeast and East-Northeast seats. Both glowered at the Southwestern Guardians with complete and utter contempt hidden under politeness - relations between Narciss and Cerulea were not the best quite yet as the former felt the latter had got away from the Era of the Æbyss unscathed.
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The two representatives of the East were deep in discussion about something political. Prime Minister Ellanor Etatè and Speaker of the Ubiqtorate Cafaer filled the Guardianships of the East and East-Southeast respectively.
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Two far less powerful men had been sent to ensure Aquiloria was not left out of the discussions about the future of the entire realm. Meritocrat Altruis of Wyrai was a smallish man with a coy smile on his too-young face while Artisan of Literary Arts Williams was very average to the level of being quite plain. They sat in the seats of Southeast and South-Southeast.
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The endlessly popular Chancellor of the Academies had managed to also become the Guardian of the South. The Adeptus of Sociology had been praised for his reforms and negotiations with every region already despite not even holding his role for a month. His neighbour was Guardian of West-Southwest and Captain Stalwor of the Directorate Gaurd.
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The two targets of the Narcissian scorn were the Guardians of Southwest and West-Southwest. These were Archmage Dracoyr of the Order of the Dragoon and the head of the Celestialist faith, the Archbishop of Ecclesia. They tried to ignore the hated aimed at them.
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The Umbracresti and Esrrinite representatives were getting along quite well, which was just as well as the two regions bordered each other. The Guardians of the West, West-Northwest, Northwest, and North-Northeast were all engaged in friendly conversation. Chairman Creutzfeldt Mao of the Biotechnological Commission of Umbracrest, the unnamed Viceroy to the Anocratic Union of Fire, Khagan Jiro Estrin and his wife Khatun Jennifer Astrai Estrin-Romanakov all seemed to like, or at least tolerate each other.
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The proposal for the restructuring of CATAE into a Pan Regional body called the Central Empyrean Defence Authority was accepted unanimously. It was then agreed that it would be based in the Centre of Empyrea as the Temporal Anomaly discovered and studied by the Trainee Adeptus Thuamaturgical seemed to have vanished upon the death of Æonex.
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Eirlys Ravyn-Valtor - being the pillar of ambiversion, observation, and judging that he was - was eager to jump on the opportunity to make a big fancy speech.
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"Freinds! I never thought that I would live to see the day that the Tormentor, Maelstrom, and Temptress of the Æbyss are banished from Empyrea! Never thought I would see Earl Malum toppled by his sister or Khagan Xantè displaced by his son...nor did I think I would have a hand in putting Berote and Limos into the ground a second time! It is safe to say that Empyrea has had enough of the Era of the Æbyss, of the A.E dating system! Like we cast aside Years Before Point and Years After Point, we must get rid of the cultist's mark on history now! The Age of the Æbyss is over, and the Era of Hope dawns on the realm to light up its bright future...the time of cultists, liars and deceivers, tricksters, manipulators, ventriloquists, puppetmasters, and marionettes is over! And it will not be the Last Age!"
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The applause that the former Sheild of Empyrea got for that was thunderous.
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After all...who wouldn't clap at the funeral of a fanatical coven of zealots and their evil deities?
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The end.
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