Chapter 5 - This Year in Sacramento
Emperor Reuben II continues his efforts to boost Imperial authority, this time by demanding that King Thao I relinquish his claim on Sacramento. Again, the king tells the Emperor that he will not simply hand over what is his birthright.
Perhaps hoping to convince his nephew to quite his pretensions on the Imperial Throne, Prefect Graham invites the king to another feast in the Central Valley; again, King Thao I agrees to attend, but this time he does so with the plan to finally kill his uncle, as the time is perfect for his ascension to the role of Governatus of California.
Imagine his surprise when, in June of 2680, his uncle simply dies of natural causes. A little deflated that he did not have the honor of ending the man who had been a constant thorn in his side, King Thao I accepts the title of Governatus during a short ceremony in Sacramento. Once again, the office of Governatus is controlled by House Armour.
While in Sacramento, King Thao I revives the old Armour tradition of distributing grain to the populace, sparing no expense in doing so. The people of Sacramento cheer him on and compare him favorably to King Pollock the Ram, the last Governatus to distribute grain to the people. The Emperor can only fume at the king’s growing popularity with his people.
Instead of returning home to Tuolumne after receiving the role of Governatus, King Thao I decides to remain in Sacramento for the time being, with the goal of re-organizing the office of Governatus to be more in line with his vision. Prince Khais assumes control of the Valley while his brother is at the Imperial Court.
Having honed his skills for reforming the bureaucracy of the Valley, the office of Governatus is soon made into a lean, efficient machine, with the unstated goal of weakening the Emperor’s position in court. Soon, Emperor Reuben II is completely left out of the day to day decision making of the Empire, as the office of Governatus takes on more and more responsibility.
His position secure and his powers unmatched, King Thao I presents the Emperor with an ultimatum in August of 2680: turn over Sacramento to the Valley or face a war. Emperor Reuben II, sure that all of California will rise up against the Valley for such a raw display of power and disregard for Imperial authority, shouts him down and bars him from the Imperial Palace. But instead of the other kingdoms supporting the Emperor, they instead decide to sit out and allow the two to duke it out; even the Imamites of Socal, who have enjoyed Imperial protection in exchange for loyalty and vassalage, send only a token force to protect the Imperial Palace. The Emperor is said to be in a constant rage over this betrayal.
King Thao I continues to work on his book, and releases a small sample of it in September; it is said to contain a dialogue between himself and Elton the Lawgiver, which proves that House Armour are the intellectual heirs to his legacy. While it is clearly propaganda of the highest order, its quality and writing make many question whether Emperor Reuben II deserves the throne.
The Imperial and Valleyan armies engage in battle in the outskirts of Tuolumne; the Battles of Turlock and Folsom are Valleyan victories over the Imperial Palace guards, the only force that the Emperor has at his disposal. The way to Sacramento is finally open for King Thao I.
At the start of February 2681, Prefect Tubrog requests to be the next Governatus; King Thao I informs him that, while he appreciates his work as a prefect of the Valley, he fully intends to keep the office of Governatus within House Armour.
In May, Queen Opal shares joyous news with the king: she is pregnant! Almost overnight, the king’s focus shifts from the war for Sacramento to making sure his wife is taken care of during her pregnancy; he gives his court physician, Teacher Pheng, leave to study with the doctors at the Hospital of Tuolumne, with the goal of improving his understanding of pregnancy.
But with joy there must also be equal amounts of pain; May also brings the news that the Emperor has managed to bribe the Imamites into honoring their agreement. An army of four thousand Imamites attack and siege the city of Bakersfield, claiming it for the Emperor.
Still, King Thao I keeps his eyes on the real prize: Sacramento. The city itself falls in May and the king is once again walks the halls of the Imperial Palace. But while Sacramento is now in Valleyan hands, the rest of the kingdom suffers under the Imamites’ attack; the town of Oildale falls in July, yet another Imperial victory on their way to reclaim Sacramento.
As King Thao I prepares to reclaim the lands lost to the Imamite army, his court astronomer informs him that his child will be born under auspicious stars. While King Thao I doesn’t believe in such superstitious drivel, Queen Opal is elated with the news. While the queen’s head is in the clouds, the king makes sure that she has plenty of maids and friends to socialize with during her pregnancy.
The city of Arvin falls to the Imamites in September, cementing their control over the County of Bako. Despite this set back, King Thao I is feeling less and less cynical about things; the end of his intrigues feel closer and closer every day.
The Valleyans and Imamites meet outside of Hanford and the following battle quickly falls in favor of the king’s forces. With the Emperor’s last, best hope of winning the war defeated, victory seems just around the corner.
Still, King Thao I leaves nothing to chance and, with the help of his wife, manages to court the High Chief of Gadsen; while they follow the way of the Atom, High Chief Jojo finds common ground with King Thao I and the two leaders sign an alliance against Emperor Reuben II.
By December, Bako County is back in Valleyan hands and its garrison receives reinforcements to make sure it can be held against the next Imamite offensive.
December, as it turns out, is a month of joy, as King Thao I’s first child is born. The boy is named Pollock after his grandfather, and the king has great hopes for the boy’s future.
In spring of 2682, the Valleyans continue their efforts to seize the Imperial seat, the County of Sacramento. Without much resistance, the city of Roseville surrenders to King Thao I.
June sees the return of the Imamites, as their next offensive manages to take back Bakersfield before the Valleyan army can respond.
Teacher Pheng publishes a conclusive study of his time with the midwives and doctors of Tuolumne Hospital; Upon the Birth of Children is hailed by the local academic community as a major step forward in the understanding of the human body and its many, sundry functions. Outside of Tuolumne, it is seen as only a small contribution to the general body of knowledge of physiology.
The Sacramento War drags on into 2683, with a constant back and forth between the Valleyans and Imamites; the Valleyans will retake Bakersfield, return to Sacramento to lay siege to some other small city, and then rush back to retake Bakersfield once again. While it is slow going, its slowly becoming clearer and clearer that the Emperor cannot hope to keep the war going.
Hoping to break the Valleyan’s slow, but sure, grind to victory, the Imperial army, under the command of Terpen Yudkow, attempt to sneak a small force of soldiers into the Imperial Palace to retake it while the Valleyan army deals with the Imamites in Bako. Unfortunately, word reaches King Thao I just in time for him to turn around and rush back to Sacramento. The Imperial army is defeated and Terpen Yudkow is captured. The son of Emperor Mickey the Holy and the current Imperial heir, Terpen is an extremely valuable hostage; finally, it seems like Emperor Reuben II might be willing to negotiate.
With his heir in Valleyan hands, Emperor Reuben II has no choice but to surrender Sacramento to King Thao I; peace is made on May 4, 2683 and Sacramento, including the Imperial Palace, is handed over to the Valley. Emperor Reuben II is allowed to keep his chambers in the palace, but beyond that, he has no control over the city; an outraged Emperor relocates the Imperial Court to Las Vegas, but is unable to move many of the bureaucratic structures that run the Empire of California with him. Suddenly, King Thao I finds himself with the keys to the Empire, without the Emperor constantly looking over his shoulder.
A new age of Imperial politics looms, one where the entire Empire is dominated by the Governatus and his bureaucrats. Only time will tell if this is for good or for ill.