A Memory of the Emperor Iter, penned by Sir Apollon Zorbakos

Despite the years that have passed, none have forgotten the Old War.

The memories of the Elderlands live within us all, binding us to the world beneath our feet. Yet, I thank whichever deity sent His Highness to the Elderlands, a savior in a time of darkness.

Supreme Emperor Andronikos Iter is no god, no deity. He is not some supreme being, that I can say with confidence. However, none can argue that he is not something... other, when standing alongside the rest of our ranks.

I remember the very day when the Emperor emerged from the sea, trailing a cloak of the deepest waters behind him. He could not speak our tongue, despite bearing our image. Some thought he was a child that had wandered too far from home when he was young, and grew with the love of his parents from afar. That would explain his appearance, and how he was called to return to Wynchestir when we needed all hands on deck.

Although others believe that the Emperor never came from the Elderlands. The Emperor was never given his first form by loving parents, never raised into centaurhood before vanishing from our lands.

I could not claim to believe the former. I have been alive for a very long time, and have no recollection of such a child being raised within the Elderlands. However, I would not know if I were older than the Emperor himself, as he does not know his own age.

None can question that the Emperor saved us, maybe not from the Chaosium, but from Dolshek Uldenroe. The Uldenroe dynasty was soon to come to an end nonetheless, and the Emperor simply sped up that process by removing Emperor Uldenroe from the picture. Uldenroe's supporters rioted against the Emperor's violent nature, but the majority of Wynchestir saw the power that the Emperor's promise of the return of Wynchestir's military held. I was one of those centaurians, gathered in the crowd as we listened to the Emperor paint a picture of what Wynchestir could look like in the future, without the fear of being left defenseless against any attacking forces.

The Emperor became the "Eater" when the oceans swallowed the Chaosium at our heels, waves forming a barrier between us and our doom. We fled the Elderlands at the command of the Shektall, with Emperor Andronikos now in the lead. Or perhaps, him being in the end would be more accurate. The Emperor's own ship was the last in the fleet, his magic calling up the great sea to protect us. That was when I knew that he would truly be the one to save Wynchestir from collapse, and to bring us back into our original power as a Holdfast.

The "Eater" became Dolshek Iter as we began rebuilding our Holdfast, now far from the forces of the Chaosium. I was invited to become a part of the Dolshek, but I declined. I had served as a Royal Guard for centuries, and I was not soon to leave my post. The Emperor allowed me to continue serving my role, and now I stand alongside the Emperor as I had done during the Old War.

The Emperor's... otherness has not abated over the course of time. A Felikynd-Dryrvoid they call him, but they do not know his appearance beneath the veils. It was his own decision to continue to wear veils of the same style as when he first emerged from the ocean, and I cannot disagree with the decision. I do wonder what would occur should more know the Emperor's true face, yet I do bear concern for such an event. The Emperor is not a Felikynd, nor a Dryrvoid. Some of his... more prominent features are enough for none to disagree, but the Emperor cannot be compared to any of our centaurian forms.

Should one happen to find this log, despite my attempts at keeping it guarded safely, I promise I do not say this out of ill intent towards the Emperor. Andronikos is... one of my dearest friends, and I do hope that he sees me in a similar way. His unusual nature has grown to be a comfort for me, knowing that this is most certainly the same man who I fought alongside when we faced the threat of the Chaosium.

Alas, I should not share so many secrets of my friend, even if this is only for my own reading, and perhaps for the reading of Wynchestirns far in the future. Maybe one day, the Emperor will make the choice to reveal his secrets on his own.