Emily Kaldwin Of Dunwall Analysis
All hail the Empress Emily Kaldwin of Dunwall, first of her name.
Daughter of the former Empress Jessamine Kaldwin, first of her name, may she rest in peace. Daughter of the Royal Protector and ex-assassin Corvo Attano.
The child empress who ascended to the throne following the assassination of her mother. The child empress who watched, helpless, as her kingdom deteriorating around her, her citizens dying of the Plague and the lords and ladies of the court content to ignore the suffering of the common people.
***
The Church fears her, for she is the first of her line that does not worship the Seven Scriptures, but they fear her father more. There are rumors that he is heretic, that he keeps whalebone charms carved with the mark of the …show more content…
Outsider, that he practices witchcraft, and that he never quite left his former occupation.
They wouldn’t be wrong.
The nobles hate her, for she is but a child and the only reason why she still reigns is that they cannot agree on who would rule in her place. They plot against themselves as much as they do against her, but they do so quietly.
***
There was a coup a few years back. Or rather, an attempted one. The day before it would have begun, they found the bodies of the leaders - assassinated, with no trace of the killer. The servants whisper to each other that Lady Emily was nowhere to be found last night and rumor on the streets is that she is following her father’s footsteps- in more than one way. Heathen they think, Assassin they murmur.
Emily the Heathen. Emily the Assassin.
They wouldn’t be wrong.
***
She finds a shrine one day hidden in the highest part of the Tower, covered with flowing blue silk and carved whalebone shards. On the wall, she sees the faint outlines of what was once he watches, written in her father’s measured script. “Well met, little Empress,” says a voice behind her.
When the Outsider offers his hand, she takes it without hesitation.
***
Her father, of course, is furious. Furious and afraid. He stares at the mark on the back of her hand like it’s a death sentence.
“We need an Empress, not a monster.”
She thinks of the city outside the Tower- the people starving and scrambling in the street, the nobles all trying to backstab each other in desperate bids for power, the City Guard, too corrupt to guard anything but their own self interest, and the rats that roam freely in the streets, carrying with them death and disease.
She thinks of Dunwall and imagines the kingdom falling, disappearing into the annals of history in a shower of flames and ash and betrayal.
“I can be both,” she declares. There is steel in her eyes.
***
The most important thing, her father teaches her, is to make it look like an accident.
“They must never suspect,” he says.
“If they suspect you, they will kill you, and all of his powers cannot save you then.”
She nods. She learns to stop time, to blink across space, to speak with the rats. She learns a dozen ways to kill a man and a dozen more to make it look like a coincidence.
The mark of the Outsider on her hand burns brightly.
***
Sometimes in her dreams she thinks she hears her mother’s voice.
“Oh my dear sweet daughter. What have you become?”
“I am an Empress,” she whispers, “What I do, I do for Dunwall.”
The next day, they find the body of a Nobleman who recently gave a speech calling for nobles to stand firm in the face of the Empress’ new rationing policies. The next week, the leader of the City Guard disappears. An investigation reveals that he was planning to overthrow the Empress.
The mark burns brighter each time she solidifies her rule.
***
Dissent will not be tolerated, she reminds herself. A kingdom divided is a kingdom fallen.
A less confident, more desperate, voice in her head prays fervently, “And this kingdom will not fall.”
***
Emily the Heathen, they think. Emily the Assassin. The Empress with more blood on her hands than the entirety of her Royal Guard.
They call her Emily the Wise.
They are too afraid to call her anything
else.
Daughter of the former Empress Jessamine Kaldwin, first of her name, may she rest in peace. Daughter of the Royal Protector and ex-assassin Corvo Attano.
The child empress who ascended to the throne following the assassination of her mother. The child empress who watched, helpless, as her kingdom deteriorating around her, her citizens dying of the Plague and the lords and ladies of the court content to ignore the suffering of the common people.
***
The Church fears her, for she is the first of her line that does not worship the Seven Scriptures, but they fear her father more. There are rumors that he is heretic, that he keeps whalebone charms carved with the mark of the …show more content…
Outsider, that he practices witchcraft, and that he never quite left his former occupation.
They wouldn’t be wrong.
The nobles hate her, for she is but a child and the only reason why she still reigns is that they cannot agree on who would rule in her place. They plot against themselves as much as they do against her, but they do so quietly.
***
There was a coup a few years back. Or rather, an attempted one. The day before it would have begun, they found the bodies of the leaders - assassinated, with no trace of the killer. The servants whisper to each other that Lady Emily was nowhere to be found last night and rumor on the streets is that she is following her father’s footsteps- in more than one way. Heathen they think, Assassin they murmur.
Emily the Heathen. Emily the Assassin.
They wouldn’t be wrong.
***
She finds a shrine one day hidden in the highest part of the Tower, covered with flowing blue silk and carved whalebone shards. On the wall, she sees the faint outlines of what was once he watches, written in her father’s measured script. “Well met, little Empress,” says a voice behind her.
When the Outsider offers his hand, she takes it without hesitation.
***
Her father, of course, is furious. Furious and afraid. He stares at the mark on the back of her hand like it’s a death sentence.
“We need an Empress, not a monster.”
She thinks of the city outside the Tower- the people starving and scrambling in the street, the nobles all trying to backstab each other in desperate bids for power, the City Guard, too corrupt to guard anything but their own self interest, and the rats that roam freely in the streets, carrying with them death and disease.
She thinks of Dunwall and imagines the kingdom falling, disappearing into the annals of history in a shower of flames and ash and betrayal.
“I can be both,” she declares. There is steel in her eyes.
***
The most important thing, her father teaches her, is to make it look like an accident.
“They must never suspect,” he says.
“If they suspect you, they will kill you, and all of his powers cannot save you then.”
She nods. She learns to stop time, to blink across space, to speak with the rats. She learns a dozen ways to kill a man and a dozen more to make it look like a coincidence.
The mark of the Outsider on her hand burns brightly.
***
Sometimes in her dreams she thinks she hears her mother’s voice.
“Oh my dear sweet daughter. What have you become?”
“I am an Empress,” she whispers, “What I do, I do for Dunwall.”
The next day, they find the body of a Nobleman who recently gave a speech calling for nobles to stand firm in the face of the Empress’ new rationing policies. The next week, the leader of the City Guard disappears. An investigation reveals that he was planning to overthrow the Empress.
The mark burns brighter each time she solidifies her rule.
***
Dissent will not be tolerated, she reminds herself. A kingdom divided is a kingdom fallen.
A less confident, more desperate, voice in her head prays fervently, “And this kingdom will not fall.”
***
Emily the Heathen, they think. Emily the Assassin. The Empress with more blood on her hands than the entirety of her Royal Guard.
They call her Emily the Wise.
They are too afraid to call her anything
else.