"There are some things we were not meant to know, they say. But you wouldn't be down here if you took that seriously."
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"INT: An ancient throne room, built and bathed in the light of Law. On a throne of fire sits the KING WHO SPEAKS. On a throne of obsidian sits the KING WHO WARS. They are the TWIN KINGS OF ELEUTHERIA, united in ruling."[1]
The King Who Speaks was the other half of the Halved - the brother of the King Who Wars.
Cleft in Twain[]
In a time when Eleutheria was still bright, the King Who Speaks ruled alongside the King Who Wars as a duumvirate, and were known collectively as the Binary.[2] A mysterious figure known as the Prophet Exile began fomenting revolution in Eleutheria under the banner of the nascent Solonacean Conjunction,[3][4] recruiting the Binary's servants, the devils, to his cause.[5][6]
At what was intended to be a peace conference,[7] the Binary was petitioned by the Solonacean Conjunction to adopt an ideology similar to the Liberation of Night;[8] the King Who Speaks expressed interest,[9] but his brother shot down the plan.[10] That night, the King Who Speaks visited the Conjunction's camp,[11] lowered his guard,[12][13] and submitted to them as their disciple[14] - and then he was betrayed and assassinated by the vengeful members.[15] Fueled by grief and rage, the King Who Wars went on a rampage against the Prophet and his followers[16] - killing at least a few Grand Devils,[17] whose remains still linger near Pan.[18][19] The Prophet Exile himself was condemned to the Well of Wonders, imprisoned for all eternity.[20]
The King who Speaks might have been a ruler who valued change,[9] as opposed to his brother, who preferred stagnation and preservation.[10] He claimed that he and his brother were growing dim, so he resolved to "let the old Order fall" to allow the Binary to become greater than what they already were.[21]
↑I. A Prologue, Sunless Skies"Here a Prophet came, with Princes of Ambition / Bearing the spark of celestial revolution."
↑The Prophet Exile spoke to the Princes of Light, Sunless Skies"My Apostle. The first to shield me from the light that burned away my existence. The light of the arrogant Kings. Their Princes were not willing to languish in service in the hope of a glory that the Kings would never offer them. Ah, but wrapped up in stories of inevitable victory and cowering bravely behind my figurehead, their resentment became my serrated blade."
↑Listen to the lecture on 'the Binary', Sunless Skies"Apparently when the Halved had a twin, it was collectively called 'the Binary'. The Supplicant speaks of devils in the Binary's service [...] "But they betrayed their master," she says. Amid a fresh chorus of shouting, she begins to talk about a doomed 'peace conference' – a peace with who, you couldn't catch."
↑The Messenger returned!, Sunless Skies"The Messenger came, resplendent in black robes / Offering an olive branch of peace to the Prophet and Princes. / The Twin Kings had granted a hearing. / A conclave to discuss matters of transformation."
↑The Prophet began to speak, Sunless Skies"Not words of injustice, but of change. Of the Laws that bound the Makers of Law tighter than any. Of another place, where chaos flourished."
↑ 9.09.1The Prophet began to speak, Sunless Skies"THE KING WHO SPEAKS: But brother! What in our sight has ever flourished in stasis? Must we reject even the notion of change? What good is our rule if it only causes stagnation?"
↑ 10.010.1The Prophet began to speak, Sunless Skies"THE KING WHO WARS: The Chain binds us all. It is our privilege to enforce it. To question it? No. You forget your place. This matter is settled. I have spoken."
↑V. A Night Of Transfiguration, Sunless Skies"The PRINCES OF LIGHT and the PROPHET EXILE welcome their latest Disciple — the KING WHO SPEAKS. [...] At their Prophet's signal, the Princes drew their knives! They stabbed the King's unprotected soul."
↑The King Who Wars mounted his chariot, Sunless Skies"This was how a King fought, with fire and light / And the Princes learned the folly of their youth. [...] THE KING WHO WARS: Scream not for the comfort of oblivion / Such mercy is not for traitors to know / As you burn forever in my palace / In the flames of anger you have ignited."
↑Listen to the lecture on 'the Binary', Sunless Skies"The Supplicant speaks of devils in the Binary's service, responsible for preparing a raiment of killing light for one of their masters before he went to war, and a mantle of merciful radiances when the other went to parley. "But they betrayed their master," she says."
↑VI. The King In Mourning, Sunless Skies "The PROPHET EXILE is bound in chains of sorrow. At the King's gesture, a guard extracts a molten metal mask from a forge. No eyes. No mouth. Never to see the outside world. Never to speak treason again."
↑Enter the King Who Speaks, Sunless Skies"My other Half would quash all change / I see we must evolve. Become greater. / Let the old Order fall and from the ashes rebuild."
