Memory Registry!

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A million spinning construction gifs.

To be done when I am far less tired and more sober.

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Memory 3: Lucien Gives a Eulogy

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Lucien stands on the balcony of the royal promenade. His sister, the current interim ruler, has taken ill, and Lucien was the royal heir most connected to the military of the Golden Empire. The men and women on the field are professionals, dressed in finery normally reserved for celebration -- but the occasion is somber, the atmosphere oppressive.

Lucien had not wanted for parental figures in his life, but the old Grand Marshall had been chief among them. He had taught the young prince what he knew of warfare; not logistics and tactics, but of battlefield realities. And with the fatal nature of The Throne, the man had been what Lucien imagined a grandfather was like.

"I will speak briefly, as the Grand Marshall was not a man for speeches. For over a century, we have stood at the precipice of war with our neighbors, another conflict like the one my Great-Grandfather led us through. The Grand Marshall told me in great detail of those days. Despite being our army's commander, he had no desire to return to them. As such, we honor that. We have relayed word of his passing to our enemies; as you know, The Grand Marshall once served as the Knight Commander of the Black Forest. We hope that, in honoring his death, they will join us in accords, and there may be peace in our time."

The crowd broke into a bit of a restless murmur at that, only quieting when Lucien waved to bid the Commandant to begin the funeral procession. He stood, watching them walk past, and hoped he and his sister had made the right choice.


Takeaways:

• Even if we don't have his name, Lucien knows who the old man was now—the Grand Marshall of the Empire and former Lord Commander of the Knights.
  
• Also apparently the closest thing he had to a grandfather?
  
• Also the memory references father figures, suggesting that his parents are also dead. This war has churned through the royal family in great number.
  
• Actually it is a bit worrisome than in this memory Lucien is thinking of a sister and nothing about any brothers; it suggests they're also dead or similarly out of the picture.
  
• He has also been cut in on the decision making and he notes his sister's rule is transitory; this is probably his first address as the Crown Prince.
  
• At least at the start here, Lucien is not one given over to big speeches.
  
• Lucien has had it impressed upon him the horrors of war, and apparently unlike many other nobles has no desire for the ongoing conflict to return from cold with occasional sparks to a hot, total war.
  
• Peace talks with the Black Forest were apparently a mutual desire on both parts' sides.