The 'Invisible Cloth' Is Real This Time: AND The Emperor Is Still Vain, But In This Case, Also Very Clever...

Emperor Hengist the Vain sat on his throne observing the parade of people seeking to offer his august personage gifts to delight and amuse him.

The vast majority utterly failed.

He'd seen it all, the 'delightful' little tarts paled in comparison to those his own chefs produced, the miraculous flying machines, A: mostly failed to fly, and B: were nothing compared to the ones the Royal Guild of Artificers made a new prototype for every few months and the army used the most stable types of which for thier recognizance runs routinely: the jugglers and jesters were hacks, if he wanted a play he'd wear a disguise and visit the Cross Keys Theater to take in the best of the Empire, and as for those trying to give him assorted 'magical' cloths, HA!

Once, long ago, there had been true wonder workers in the world: those with such incredible skill at their art or craft that they could make true MAGIC happen. Such things were from bygone ages now, for no such Magisters were seen in the world today... Well, that wasn't QUITE true, a tiny number still remained, though with each year they grew fewer. Emperor Hengist made it a point of pride to attract all that he could to his own court: with offers of power, prestige, and lives of hard work, yes, but not TOO hard, and well compensated for their efforts! Yet, though he gloried in the presence of those such as Magister-Smith Weiland, Magister-Apothecary Minerva, Magister-Agronomist Lono, and the Magister-Spinstress Perchta, never had he found what he secretly desired above all else: a Magister-Weaver and a Magister-Tailor!

Perchta's threads were things of beauty, finer than spiderweb and stronger than steel! Yet, though she made the best of thread in all the world, she, like almost all magisters in all of history, was supreme in one art: but utterly useless in all others... Though her threads could be woven into truly magical cloth, the magic in them was weakened by being woven at the hands of lesser artisans than herself. The cloth they made had magic in it, yes, but not the sort of magic it would-have had if it had been woven by a Magister-Weaver.

And of course: even if the Emperor had such a man or woman that wouldn't have been enough! What he desired needed still a third individual to be made manifest, a tailor. Only a Magister-Tailor would be able to work the cloth produced from Magister-Spinstress Perchta's thread into a garment such as the Emperor desired: a suit of clothes which would forever be recognized as the incontestable and indisputable pinnacle of fashion! This would then mean that HE, the man for whom this suit was made, would also be the most fashionable man that had ever been, was now, or ever would be throughout all of history!

Emperor Hengist the Vain deserved his epithet. Five Emperor Hengist's had there been in the history of the empire, and none of them had been nearly as Vain as the current one. It was Hengist the Fifth's great vice, he was unabashedly vain! He erected statues to himself throughout the empire, commemorating every little victory he won on his people's behalf, every minor accomplishment of his reign*. He insisted on the finest clothing that could be had at any price: and I do mean ANY. Thrice the Empire had gone to war to secure access to the choicest fabrics and dyes for the Emperor's clothes: and each time Hengist had led them to brilliant victories! That said, even the most cunningly executed military campaign, and for a certainty, Hengist the 5th was incredibly cunning, is not without its costs: and it's casualties... Though in each case less than a hundred soldiers died out of the thousands sent to prosecute the invasion, many still said that this was too high a price to pay for nothing more than the Emperor to have the most luxurious clothing in the world...

*(However, only ONE statue per 'event' and each one in a different city, town, or village. The largest, of course, was built in the capital, atop an immense brick plinth covered with sheet marble, and had bronze plaques affixed along the sides commemorating Hengist's accomplishments: exact copies of the ones which went with each of his hundreds of other statues to inform those that saw them what each one commemorated...)

Even so, Emperor Hengist the Vain could not be dissuaded. There had been complaints after the first invasion, criticisms after the second, and now, following the third of what historians were already calling the "Wars of the Wardrobe", there was hushed and secret talk that the Emperor was mad: which would mean he must be removed from power...

However, today the Emperor would receive his ultimate desire: both a Magister-Weaver and a Magister-Tailor would come before him to fulfill his secret dream of creating the ULTIMATE suit of finery for his august personage...