!

The year 1927, May 14, it’s been 7 years since the alliance with the 4 Asian kingdoms with Russia. Each kingdom’s monarch being given their own fleets of Klabautermanns, who have been nicknamed as shipgirls by some, which was started in the United States. Once the fleets were rearmed with modern weapons and equipment, the 4 kingdoms became the Asian power houses.

Korea, under the rule of the Yunghui Emperor has purged itself of any Japanese influence thanks to their Klabautermanns.

The emperor of Vietnam, Thành Thái, with aid from Russia has chased out the French and sized their military bases and equipment.

King Vajiravudh of Siam, has weaken all foreign influences in his kingdom.

Puyi the Xuantong Emperor of China, has ended the civil war of China with the help of Russian forces. The last of the communist forces have been defeated and all foreign powers but for Russia have been kicked out. The last remaining holdout is Hong Kong, heavily protected by the British navy.

Russia trade with the 4 kingdoms and exchange of knowledge has caused all 4 to modernize quickly. With their Klabautermann fleets, making the European powers think twice of taking back what was taken from them. French tried and failed horribly with Empress Sunset while not taking apart of the conflict did unleashed the privateers of the Tempesta fleet.

Under the command of Queen Anne’s Revenge, the pirate ships summoned to bring terror back to the seas. Caused havoc to the French ships and any friendly ships that were trading with the country. Like the personal ship of Baba Yaga named after herself, they could fly. The pirates employed by Vietnam, raided merchant ships and stole their cargo. They sank or sized French warships and brought the ships back to Vietnam as spoils of war. With it coming ahead with the ransacking of Paris and it’s burning. (1)

The French government like everyone else was experimenting with magic and uncovered 2 wisdom cubes from hidden rooms found in old castles. They had built a battleship named after Joan of Arc prepared and have gathered everything that had that’s magic and the ones who could use magic, which wasn’t much. With the ransacking of Paris by the pirate ships, the order was given to use one of the wisdom cubes and using everything that used to talk to the dead, to bring back the warship’s namesake Joan of Arc. The ritual worked using one of the cubes to summon Joan of Arc, reborn as a Klabautermann of the French navy.

Joan of Arc finding herself reborn as a battleship, showed the nation of France what she thought of the nation that turned their backs on her and did nothing when she was burned by the very people she fought for. She destroyed the city, causing fires that burn the buildings and slaughtered the people of Paris. The burning of Paris was immortalized by the photo of Joan standing in front of the burning Notre Dame Cathedral, burning the holy relicts in a pile with the priest of the cathedral tied to a stake in the middle of the pile, mirroring her death.

Proclaiming that if the people of France saw her as a whore of the devil and let her be burn, then she will be what they believe her to be. The priest had tried to reason with her saying that the church had made her into a Saint and a retrial saw her as innocent of being a heretic. Which she replied that it’s meaningless to prove her innocence after the fact and her death. Joan of Arc rampaged through France for weeks, burning everything in her path before a force of Greek Klabautermanns killed her.

The kingdom of Greece has been for years, slowly building up its power while keeping quite of the wealth of magic objects and knowledge it held. King Constantine had sent 10 Klabautermanns to kill Joan of Arc, while the France government was talking with Germany and the Ottoman governments for aid from their Klabautermann fleets. The death of Joan and ending her rampage, and showing the world the power of Greece.

The aftermath had Baba Yaga explaining that bringing back Joan and expecting her to be the saint they held in their minds, was just wishful thinking. Proclaiming her as a saint and throwing out her verdict after it would had mattered didn’t matter to Joan, all she wanted was to watch France burn like she did and slaughter the people she fought for and who did nothing for her. The destruction of Paris and a number of other cities and settlements, along with the lost of oversea colonies caused France much hardships and has caused them to look inwards as they rebuild.

Greece became a powerful player in the international politics of Europe with the reveal that they been hiding their strength for years. Like the Roman Klabautermanns, the Greek Klabautermanns also had a long history and were around for many events in history, numbering in the hundreds of thousands. They also once armed and equipped with modern weapons and equipments are just as effective as the Roman ones. Along with knowledge of magic and the skills of the non humans that live in the country, making them second to Russia in terms of magic. Making Greece one of the most powerful countries, making the other countries phase in trying to show off their power.

The Ottoman Empire also having Klabautermanns in the thousands has strengthened their hold on their lands. Taking control of the ports and trading routes, and with the new oil wells, creating much wealth for the empire. Which is being used to build up the empire’s stand of living. The Ottomans have unlocked the old ways of magic and have open schools teaching it.

Germany having been rebuilt from the war, has emerged stronger then it was before. Becoming an industrial giant as new factories and technologies are being built. While having fewer Klabautermanns, they make it up by having greater firepower and armor. The schools of Germany are a hotbed for research on magic and new technologies.

The United States has finally gotten their Klabautermanns to end their strike, thanks to the efforts of Theodore Roosevelt who helped the movement for equal rights. Thanks to the fact many of the people were either crippled or killed by said Klabautermanns, there was little that the bigots in the government could do to stop the change from happening. Many were voted out of office or were paid a visit by the Klabautermanns after some tried to bribe the white Klabautermanns to take white pride and should look down on their sister ships who aren’t white, who responded by crippling them or just killing them in a humiliating manner. The Klabautermanns didn’t care to change the minds of the bigots, they just went to get rid of them, and force the government to change the laws or the country won’t have a navy. And some of the American Klabautermann had agreed to served in other countries for a number of years having grown to like it there, forcing the government to move fast before they lose anymore of their ships. They lost about half of the fleet because of all the stalling from the bigots in office, which in turn cost said bigots most of their political power and support.

Both civil rights and women’s rights have been made into law with the Klabautermanns enforcing it, with violence being met with violence by the Klabautermanns reminding everyone that they won’t allow the bigots be able to do what they want anymore. The American Klabautermanns return to their duties, but refuse to help rebuild the white communities they destroyed as they don’t want to help those people, and are willing to strike again if they’re ordered to. As they know that they’re more important then no named bigots who will not be remembered in a few years. And with the threat of the Klabautermanns slaughtering them if they try anything the KKK and other groups lost members and support. Still have lots of work but the United States is raising as a world power, slowly.

England after years of research and drawing resources from its colonies and commonwealths, has reclaimed some of its lost glory. The Royal Navy is now filled with Klabautermanns and there’s now a branch of magic users in the military, that also has a number of non humans in the ranks. With its wide reach the empire managed to find many magic users from the colonies. There are also Klabautermanns who are part of the commonwealth that were summon, with the same problems happening in Canada and Australia with the treatment of the natives. As it wasn’t just the United States that mistreated the natives and non whites, with the same results as the Klabautermanns of the countries also striking and taking revenges on the white communities. Which lead to newspapers around the world writing stories highlighting the treatment of the non whites and the Klabautermanns bringing justice to the dead, with some communities and white population completely destroyed. (2)

Russia has gone through the most changes thanks to both magic and technology breakthroughs. The Tesla towers have been built throughout the empire and provided free power thanks to the upgrades that Tesla made so that the towers acted like pumps, drawing mana from the surroundings and increasing the strength of the magic fields. Russia is seen as a haven for scientists and free thinkers from all over the world, where they may pursue their creative ideas completely free of any financial, corporate, governmental, religious or moral restraints. With a network of transportations, the vast empire is interconnected allowing the vast resources and wealth to be exploited. Russia is the new global power that many smaller countries have allied with for protection and for exchange of trade goods and knowledge.

!

Russia Empire -

In the 7 years since she formed the alliance with the Asian kingdoms, Sunset has blossomed into womanhood, no longer the young woman but now a matured woman of 26. Growing in both size and power as the years passed, standing at 9 feet tall, she’s the tallest monarch in history. Her body proportions are so even that looking at her from far away and alone, you wouldn’t know how big she is till she’s closer. She embodies the idea of a harsh but fair monarch, being a highly competent, level-headed ruler who isn't afraid to unleash her power to protect her people. She commands much respect from her allies, as well as her enemies, so much that even people who hate her, will still defer to her authority.

Sunset is described to be graceful and majestic young woman of primal beauty, with regal and piercing features as though carved from the coldest glacier. She has stop wearing dresses but for events as is normally seen in a military style grey uniform, with a black belt around her waist. The only bright colors she had are two patches with her personal symbol of a red and yellow sun, the matching pair or red gloves and boots. The uniform covers her body but does little to hide her curvy figure, as her busty proportions are impossible to hide.

Because of her size and power she’s very intimidating for most people to get close to, but as she is the ruler of an empire and her beauty, she was a hot item. Her grandmother Maria handled the arrangements in meeting the eligible bachelors of nobles houses and had some meeting between them. None of the candidates Sunset found interesting or worth her time. As many are only after her hand for the power that they would gain for themselves or for their nation. Many of her extended family are offering her cousins by marriage for a political marriage. She didn’t find any of them of interest.

It was a shock that one day she announced her engagement with an American, one of the black soldiers that had campaigned with her when she waged war to retake her throne, James Gotham. She had befriended him and they had grown close over the years, with her taking him as a lover and had a child with him once they were married. It was a massive shock at the customs and traditions but with how powerful Sunset has become and how the Klabautermanns are all loyal only to her, there wasn’t anything that the other houses of Russia could do.

Sunset gave birth to Katarin ‘Midday’ Romanov, who is currently a hyper active 4 year old. She has light brown skin and has her mom’s red hair. She already showed an aptitude for magic, with Sunset having to cast a spell on Katarin to keep her from wildly using her magic at such a young age. Sunset also had a very tough first days as a mother, dealing with breastfeeding and the constant crying. Her grandmother and Klabautermann nurses helped in taking care of the newest member of the royal family. Because of her royal duties she couldn’t spend as much time with Katarin but her husband James looked after their daughter, while she was away.

There was talk about the princess being half black and a commoner being the father. Sunset shot that down as she pointed out that her brother had suffered from inbreeding and having some new blood has prevented her daughter from sharing the same fate. Once Katarin began displaying her magic, caused the talks of her being a commoner died down, helped by Sunset being very protective of her daughter and heir. As she views having blue blood is just a word to describe incest and has made it illegal for any incest marriage or relationships. She doesn’t want children to be born suffering ill health because of their parents being related by blood. (3)

Currently Sunset is in her personal chambers playing with Katarin on the bed, when her grandmother Maria entered. Thanks to magic potions and magic enchanted medicines, Maria is much healthier and younger looking than her true age. With her are the two bodyguard Klabautermanns that Sunset assigned to her, like she did with the rest of the family, Volga and Volt two refitted Roman Klabautermanns.

“Sunset, the church is making a move again,” Maria said as she walks up to her granddaughter and great granddaughter.

“Another anti-magic protest?” Sunset asked.

“Yes, though I think this time they have more people backing them, even some of the nobility is joining,” Maria replied.

“I wonder what triggered this one,” Sunset pondered.

“I don't know, but the church is claiming that your magic is going to bring calamity upon us all,” Maria explained.

“My magic has been used for so long now without incident, maybe they are trying to start something,” Sunset thought aloud.

“Still, you can't ignore them,” Maria said sternly.

“The only reason why, is because they never gave me a reason to take action. They been like this since I broke ties with the church,” Sunset said.

Since Sunset broke royal ties to the church and how while the church does nothing but stand against magic and gives promises of an afterlife, Sunset using magic has improved the lives of her people. Trains now span the vast empire from the west and east coasts and the largest northern settlements. The new flying zeppelin cargo ships, using magic to fly are able to the most remote settlements in regions that haven’t had contact with others for centuries in some cases. The unknown regions are then mapped and exploited of any resources found there.

One such scouting found the remains of Kitezh the mythical city of Russian legend.

According to the investigations of the ruins and the people living around the ruins, Kitezh's origins lie in the Deathless Prophet of Constantinople, a prophet and purported miracle-worker who rose to prominence in the Byzantine Empire in the late 10th century. The Prophet had discovered the Divine Source, an object that granted immortality, and leveraged it to gain a religious following among the people of Constantinople. This was tolerated for a time under reigning Byzantine Emperor John I Tzimiskes, but when he died, his successor Basil II revoked that protection. In 977 AD, fearing persecution from the Roman Catholic Church, the Prophet and his followers fled Constantinople for Syria in the dark of night.

The Order of Trinity was sent by the Roman Catholic Church to pursue the Prophet and his followers, and execute them for their blasphemy. For the prophet dared to claim that no one can speak for or to god. Trinity knights caught up to the Prophet's procession and massacred many, including the Prophet. Trinity returned west and reported that they had succeeded in their mission, while the distraught survivors of the Prophet's followers conveyed the Prophet's corpse to an oasis outside Beroea, or modern-day Aleppo. There, the followers began building a tomb for the Prophet, but it was then that he miraculously returned to life. The Prophet's movement was revitalized, and founded a small city in the oasis that attracted new adherents from across the land.

Trinity learned of rumors that the Prophet still lived, but its leaders assumed that this was a hoax created by the Prophet's followers. A small army was dispatched to exterminate the Prophet's followers at the oasis. They assaulted the city and trapped the Prophet and his followers in the Prophet's tomb, but the Prophet cheated death once again and escaped, leading his surviving followers northeast to safety.

Deep within Siberia, the Prophet's followers constructed Kitezh, a new city in a sheltered mountain valley kept warm by geothermal activity. There, they hoped to lead a peaceful existence under the Prophet's guidance, away from the persecution of Trinity and the greed of those who sought after their most prized artifact: the Divine Source. The Prophet's Followers included a number of brilliant architects, engineers, and scientists, who pooled their talents to build Kitezh into a marvel of contemporary technology and self-sufficiency that rivaled anything in the Byzantine Empire.

Unfortunately, Kitezh's peace and prosperity was not to last. A Mongol army ventured into the mountains in search of Kitezh decades later, prodded by Trinity's claims of treasure; Trinity was determined to put an end to the Prophet once and for all, and to seize the Divine Source. The Mongols failed to overwhelm the city's defenses, and the invasion became a siege. The siege only ended when the Prophet's Deathless Army, seeking to ensure the Divine Source was kept out of enemy hands forever, deliberately triggered an avalanche in the surrounding mountains. The Mongols, their Khan and many citizens of the city were killed and most of Kitezh was entombed within the resulting glacier. The Deathless remained within the city to guard the Divine Source for eternity.

The following winters were harsh for the Kitezh survivors who escaped the avalanche. They had arrived in Siberia largely ignorant of how to survive in the wild, and had built a city that had allowed them to live comfortably and carefree; without the conveniences and luxuries they had taken for granted for so long, many of the Prophet's people perished. Those who were left decided that the loss of their city had been a rebuke by God. They became the Remnants, and taught themselves to how live off of the land rather than subjugate it. In the midst of the ruins of Kitezh's outskirts, they constructed a humble village and took up hunting, fishing, and farming.

Baba Yaga went to the ruins of the city herself and found the Divine Source, a wisdom cube. Thanks to the cube the Prophet was able to extend his life using the cube to enhance his magic. And the Deathless Army underneath their armor are in fact Klabautermanns that were created the same way Sunset did with her fleet. Warships were built in the city, and were then summon as Klabautermanns. And while they can be killed, they can always be rebuilt. The Prophet once killed could be brought back to life as well but only if he’s near the wisdom cube’s energy. By the time the Kitezh’s Klabautermanns found his body after the destruction of the city, he had been dead too long to bring back. (4)

Trap underground with the other survivors, they began digging and rebuilding the city, after slaughtering what’s left of the Mongol army. Years after the fall of the city the Deathless had finally dug their way out and made contact with the survivors on the surface. For centuries afterwards the people of Kitezh either lived on the surface or underground within the rebuilt underground city. (5)

Sunset upon learning this, went herself to the city and displayed her magic, once again displaying it around the world. She lifted the ice that’s been covering the city for centuries up into the air, and sunlight once again shined upon the city once again. She revealed why the city was buried as Trinity a group apart of the Vatican had wanted the wisdom cube for themselves and that the Prophet had dared to claim that the pope couldn’t talk to god or speak for god.

Which Sunset dared the pope and the faith he leads to show something, that the church can talk to god and can preform something, instead of having soldiers go and force people to submit to maintain their power. There was no response from the pope who was shown on a magic window screen. Sunset went on that she’s guessing that in the vaults underneath the Vatican there’s a treasure trove of magic objects and knowledge which the church has hordes and done nothing with, to maintain the image and power of a faith that is nothing like the faith the one who started it would had wanted. Backed up by the Klabautermanns who were around during Jesus’s time.

Sunset wondered why the church with all the knowledge and magic at their disposal hadn’t just used them to preformed miracles and heal the sick. But it doesn’t matter as all the Vatican can do give out empty words and no miracles, while she can preform feats of magic. And that event cause the already cold relationship with the Vatican to grow colder. As the head of the most powerful nation in the world, there was nothing that the Vatican could do or gain support as their stance on magic being work of the devil, doesn’t carry weight as all the nations are either using magic or learning it.

“So will you do it?” Maria asked.

“The secret police would have told me of anything. They’re under orders to inform me if the church tried anything. Besides all the church can do is promise an afterlife, while I actually do something for the living,” Sunset said.

“That's right,” Maria agreed.

“Well let's hope that the protests go quietly, I'm sure the secret police will stop them before they cause trouble. I'll send a few agents to make sure they don't cause problems,” Sunset said.

“Do you really think that the protesters won't turn violent?” Maria asked.

“I'm not worried about it, I've dealt with crazies before. Besides the Klabautermanns will be the ones who will be handling things. They will only act when they need to and not make a scene,” Sunset said.

!

Author's Note

1 - English pirate Edward Teach, more commonly known as Blackbeard, captured the Concorde, a French-owned slave ship, in the West Indies in 1717 and made the vessel his flagship. Slave ships, which often featured a central partition to protect the crew against a slave uprising, made good pirate ships because they were built for speed. Blackbeard added 26 guns to the vessel, which already boasted 14, making the renamed Queen Anne's Revenge one of the most powerful ships in American waters. In May 1718, Blackbeard blockaded the port of Charleston. After looting five merchant vessels, he ran the Queen Anne's Revenge ashore on Topsail Inlet, and the ship suffered extensive damage when it slammed into the submerged sandbar. Given that Blackbeard knew the area well "" he had sailed off the same coast the year before "" many historians believe he wrecked the Queen Anne's Revenge deliberately in hopes of killing off some of his crew and increasing his share of the fortune. The ship was discovered in 1997 off the coast of Beaufort, North Carolina, and marine archaeologists have been bringing up treasure from its remains ever since.

2 - The brutal treatment of natives lasted longer than it should had. The time period is when there were still human zoos.

The Klabautermanns are able to get away in slaughtering people and destroying communities, because of them being worth more to the country than the people and communities they destroyed.

3 - I’m against inbreeding mostly because of the children born from it having health problems both in body and mind. Which can clearly be seen in dog breeding where dogs are force to breed with their parents and siblings just to maintain a certain look.

4 - Tomb Raider Rise of the a Tomb Raider.

5 - Never made sense to why being trapped underground, that people never just dig up when they have tools to do so.