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The massive Blema Von Voldark is a sassy, eccentric, and frequently sly woman. She has the capacity to be horribly cruel, manipulative, and downright sadistic; Her more devious actions have little effect on her psyche. Though she can construct well thought out plans, she often has issues with cleaning up loose ends, not letting her more playful side get involved, and secretly slacking about in places besides Stem Tower. Beyond her divine job as ruler of Stem City, she partakes in hedonistic drugs, alcohol, and casual sex. Hidden underneath the "DRUGS ARE COOL" attitude is somebody who cannot escape the chains of repeated depressive addiction.
A strange facet of her that is not seen by most is that she has a soft side for anyone displaying childhood innocence. Blema regards her childhood as being painfully forced away from her and replaced with mental hell. Anybody who fits a specific age demographic or displays innocent traits are treated to Blema's care. She'll impulsively go out of her way to help poor children she sees out on the street while she's out.
As time marches on to the prophesied year of retribution, Blema questions not only her faith's internal monologue, but her fate in the greater universe.
Blema Von Voldark rules with an iron fist over Stem City. In her Era of Chaos, many of her policies have completely reinvented the way Stem City's economy and population interact on Stem Island. Many nobles detest her, the new Outland folks favoring her a tad more than previous dictators. She frequently ignores her more important duties to feed her addictions; She goes out to parties, she goes out drinking in Gillsway, and she has random flings with horny bastards she meets as the previous two.
She waits for her Stem's Origin's prophesied day of XX821 to arrive with dread.
Clara Kalstein - Blema adores Clara. Her rough, antagonistic attitude towards the ruler is like the ball of yarn to Blema's cat paws. Whenever Blema finds herself talking with Clara, she finds her day an improved one. Though... The real reason she cares so much about the seemingly normal woman is a secret to all but her faith...
Fencien Armeldia III - Fencien might be Blema's most loved individual. Ever since Blema met Fencien, the city's dictator has felt nothing but genuine care for her cutesy, dopey demeanor. Whenever something bad happens to Fencien, Blema is racked with guilt and gives her an unmentioned Marks bonus. This dynamic is definitely something to do with the fact that she views Fencien as shockingly innocent and childlike; She subconsciously projects her childhood onto the woman. These lovey dovey feelings don't limit her capacity to manipulate her employee when required, however...
Juke Clorentine - Juke gets on her nerves. Blema's patience, confidence, and trust for her now sole scientist is dwindling each and every day as their conversations become snappier and brief. She barely asks Juke to do anything nowadays just because she'd rather do it herself than listen to the bitch in the lab downstairs. Only reason she hasn't fired her is because she hasn't found a suitable replacement for the genius.
Bally Backster - While Bally was around, Blema adored him. Even if she knew what the nosey bastard was up to in his private time, she didn't care! Their humor bounced off each other so naturally. For the last two years Bally was around, Blema and Bally had secret get-togethers to relieve themselves of their perverted frustrations. She was devastated to see him go, but it was required for the faith.
Ann Peelo - Blema gets along with Ann just fine. The dictator can tell that something is wrong with the Nexus manager's mind, but as long as it's not impacting her workflow, Blema will continue to choose to support the woman from a distance.
Keeper Tom - She only ever sees Keeper Tom on the rare occasion she goes to check up on the tortured Stichety. Has no strong opinion towards someone she basically regards as a fleshy robot.
Organia Sweloz - A previous Stemrail Lawman captain before Fencien. Blema was a little disappointed after the effective swordsman declined the offer of being rehired by Stem Tower, but Blema ultimately respected the decision.
Lord Frie IX of Stems - The previous ruler of Stem Tower. Blema carried no strong opinion on the man beyond an acquired distaste for the obvious nepotism during his rule.
Yank Yenderson - Blema couldn't care less when Yank left Stem Tower. She didn't find him very useful during their small time together.
Godgrilla - A funny looking man whom she discovered while looking for an adoptive father for her niece, Alegecia. Blema secretly attended a Gillsway BBQ and she simply adored the cooking of the lizard man. Seeing how he was nothing but kind with others, she felt it was safe enough to leave Alegecia Von Voldark in his care.
Alegecia Von Voldark - The only blood relative she cares for. Whisking the innocent child away from the same homelife that abused her all those years ago, Blema left her in the secret care of Godgrilla.
Weenlette Kaset - Her old best friend when she was still a young woman, Blema finds herself unphased by Weenlette's passive aggressive attitude and whispered stories. For Blema, that's yet another weekend around the noble neighborhood. Somewhere deep inside, she wishes things would have gone different, but she isn't too hung up over it.
Turbina Kaset - Weenlette's daughter whom Blema finds some twisted joy in talking to. She loves playing with the legislator-to-be, juggling Turbina's desired information around her.
Stephill Frie X of Stems - Nothing but hate. He's the same type of greedy scumbag she sees her family as: People who think they have the right to rule just because they have wealth. She felt great relief when she pushed his malevolent hands out of Stem City's law for good.
Stichety Hackgone - Even with the just torture Blema inflicts upon him, his mere existence still haunts her.
Becca - Blema strongarmed a special deal between the two during the height of her substance addiction. Much to Becca's dismay, Blema can shut down the bar whenever she wants to have a drink in peace.
Mistress Gwino - Furthered her socially manipulative design to further attempt to influence the world outside of Stem City. It was a massive success.
Unnun - Blema trusts Unnun more than anybody. When nobody was there for her, Unnun rose to the occasion and became Blema's saving grace. Despite the pain endured from the faith, Blema is sternly loyal to Unnun's teachings.
Cinve - Blema is terrified of Cinve's mere existence.
Blema was born into the Von Voldark noble family. They were an extensive family who owned a monopoly on the gambling scene in both the noble neighborhood and entertainment sectors in wider Stem City. Heavy pressure was forced on her from an early age to become powerful among their ranks.
She flunked a grade in primary school. Enraged that she had ruined her chance to get proper specialization classes so early on, her verbally and physically abusive father pushed her to succeed by piling additional education on top of already legally required school. Blema begged her mother to pay attention to her in the few moments she wasn't forced to stare down at pages upon pages of schoolwork. Sadly, Ms. Von Voldark was not only addicted to almost every substance possible, but she was openly cheating on her husband by alluring men back home with her heavily modified body.
As Blema carried on into secondary school, she met Weenlette Kaset. The two bonded quickly, asserting themselves among their peers as a domineering best friend duo. A mean girl clique was formed around them. As Weenlette carried on into specialization classes, Blema still hung around her group during after school hours. The group got foolishly hooked on dangerous narcotics and teenage orgies in the later years of school. This activity carried into their early 20s. Blema completely disregarded her father's studies after secondary school, being beaten and berated daily when she came home intoxicated and reeking of sweat.
The Von Voldark was spiraling downwards. Each hit, each lick, each scream of poisonous pleasure sent her further down into a rabbit hole of delusion. If she wasn't high, wasted, or getting fucked... She wanted nothing more than to kill herself to free herself from pain she could never escape. She had not a single stable person to talk to in her depressing life; The young adult's entire friend group was full of nothing but backstabbing druggies and whores, and her father was more than ready to disown his worthless daughter at any moment.
It all changed during one fateful midnight. XX795, a 24 year old Blema was out partying. The group was hanging about in a closed Burger-Walrus they broke into, banging each other like animals and chugging STEM RUM until they couldn't see straight. Drunk out of her mind, Blema went to go take a piss in the storage closet because her wobbling perception of the world couldn't care to tell the difference between it and the bathroom.
A large man appeared out from the shadows and put his hands over her mouth. He attempted to wrestle her down into submission. A completely psychotic and drug-imbed Blema scrambled for the maintenance worker's crowbar from the darkness of the closet and pounded it into his stomach several times. A small fight broke out in the back of the fast food joint. Blema's shattered mind disconnected from reality, her zombified body overpowering the gigantic beast. She tossed him to the ground and beat his head in with the crowbar over and over again. One final plunge of the crude weapon left it horribly pierced straight through his skull.
Her heart pounded. Staring into Stichety's dull eyes felt like she was staring down death itself. He raised a shaky hand towards her... Before going completely limp. Blema doesn't know how long she stood there. Nothing felt real anymore.
The thing that snapped her out of the trance was Weenlette turning the corner, calling out her name.
The gang screamed in horror as they scattered from the murder scene. Blema stumbled home as fast as her intoxicated body could manage. Her mind couldn't comprehend what was going on around her. Her father, like every other night she got home later, berated her and slapped her across her face. Normally, it stung. Tonight, she was too numb to feel it. Without a word muttered back to the monster in her home, she left to bed.
It was nightmare after nightmare. The assaulter's inhuman face stared at her every time she blinked.
Blema locked herself in her room for a week straight. Her father had lost the will to care for her wellbeing, his mom never did in the first place. It has been months since Blema had even talked to her mother.
That barbaric man's bloody smile had warped her already fragile understanding of the world around her to be nothing short of lights and colors that made zero sense. She went on STEMNET to see that he had been arrested and imprisoned. Her heart knew that wasn't enough retribution for his kind. He had taken advantage of her, just like everybody else. Her family, her friends, even strangers...
She was never going to be saved.
Blema left the house early one morning. She carried nothing with her but her father's firearm in her purse.
Leaving the noble neighborhood, the troubled Stem Ram found an unloved alleyway tucked behind several barely maintained buildings. She thought it'd be a cute, fitting place for her to leave. Kneeling down and taking out the weapon, shaking hands trembled around the trigger. The barrel was resting uncomfortably on her jaw's sharp teeth. She shut her eyes tightly.
Awful memories flashed through her mind. Her father, her mother, her jackass friends, and that ghastly man.
She couldn't stand to live in a world where that man was allowed to breathe comfortably.
A voice called out. Her eyes shot open. Nobody was there. Yet, the voice kept calling out to her.
It beckoned her to follow it in an unknown tongue. She wasn't sure how, but... She knew where it wanted her to go. A short walk down forgotten roads led her to an abandoned, ancient church squeezed between two equally unkempt buildings. She wandered inside cautiously.
Her heart pounded as she embraced the unknown.
Unnun stood in the brilliant yellow light of long forgotten stained glass.
A weakened Blema submitted herself to the nun's force without a fight. She was carried into the catacombs and placed on one of the many stems from the Grand Shroom present. The voice called out to her once more. Now with an understandable vocabulary, it told her that she needs not worry; The Grand Shroom has a use for her. All she had to do was to listen and believe in the plan.
The fragile mind of Blema Von Voldark was desperate for anything. Screaming voices in her head vied for control of her psyche.
Booming over all the screaming, the ethereal voice welcomed her to Stem's Origin.
Training began that instant. The mysterious Unnun fed Blema every minute she was able to clear her mind of the choir inside her head.
The meditation was incredibly difficult for the woman's broken brain. Between the monster's face and the symphony of voices begging her to get a hit, it was impossible.
The entire thing felt unreal, a vivid dream gone wrong. Frankly, Blema was fully convinced she was hallucinating postmortem and her real body was bleeding out in the streets of Stem City.
Blema was not fed at all the first day of training. She didn't manage to clear her mind once.
When an exhausted Blema went to leave the ancient church that night, Unnun stopped her. She told her, "Your home is here now, child. You belong with me."
Those words sparked something inside of Blema. It made her realize that this wasn't a dream. The world around her felt a bit more real as she realized that, finally, she had a place to call home. Without even a second of extra consideration, Blema returned with the bloody nun to the darkness of the church's catacombs.
For months, Blema trained how to meditate with the nun. Every day, the cycle removed her further and further from where she had come from. The piercing voices talking of sex, drugs, family, hate, pained doubts... After enough time, she could will them into nothingness. For the first time since childhood, her inner voice was the only one she could hear. That stupid little girl that couldn't complete primary school was still in there.
Blema was subjected to new classes after meditation was mastered. It went from mental strength to physical strength to emotional strength. Deep down under the busy streets of Stem City, Blema lost track of time and age. Her old friends, her old family, her old life were nothing more than discomforting ideas now.
After a year, the nun felt like it was the right time to reveal the desired role that her disciple would play.
Blema was slated to become the next in line to rule Stem City. Anxiety came rushing back. She didn't regard herself as particularly smart or capable, so...
Unnun told her that to complete her training, she must commit her body to the faith. To do so, she must not care what happens to her body.
Blema had always fancied her body... Apprehension grew...
The nun sternly told her that if she chose to decline, then Blema would once again fall back down to the path that wound up with her leaving this world.
Courage gathered, Blema submitted both her mind and body fully to the faith of Stem's Origin. Over the next several months, Blema felt nothing but constant pain as Unnun slowly and steadily warped her body. Blema's legs were extended, her forearms were monstrously scaled, her horns were methodically torn off and chipped away to where they'd grow back bulkier than before.
The most horrific transformation of all came at a great price. She sat upon the mushroom stem that she had been prompted to sit upon for every day since she came to live under the church's omnipresent gaze. The mirrors in her worshiping room were all covered up. Unnun pointed to them and asked, "Are you afraid of this?"
She was confused. Blema couldn't figure out an answer.
At the start of every meditation session, she was asked the same question by the monster. Something deep inside of her gut told her that if she answered yes... It would be a grave mistake.
She was afraid. After training for the day, she felt confident and comfortable in her developing new body. However, as soon as she awoke again, the irrational fear came back.
One day, Unnun turned to face Blema. Glowing white eyes pierced into Blema's own. "Do not be afraid. You need not to lay your eyes upon the world if you have faith in the plan."
Blema thought over that sentence for the next year. Every day, she became more faithful to the nun and the divine voice that irregularly whispered to her. The courage built up day-by-day...
Until one random day, she was ready. Blema answered yes.
Unnun handed her a freshly sharpened, previously stained knife and instructed her to cut a careful slice out of the stem she had meditated atop for years. Without thinking twice, Blema did as her mentor instructed.
The next step was so clear that there was no denying it: "Drag the blade across your eyes. I will do the rest."
She froze in place. Her body quivered. Blema stood there for hours. Faith wavered.
Eventually, her natural instinct to resist suicide faltered. Blema's massive claw gripping the blade rose to the side of her face. Blood filled her vision. Millions of colors unseen by Stem Rams were visible for split seconds. Blema tried to jerk her arm away. It was no use. The pact was complete.
The light was gone.
It would never come back.
When she awoke, Blema found herself blind. Her hands felt her bloody face. She trembled. What had she done?
The divine voice of her god returned. It whispered in its tongue so foreign. Yet, as always, her brain understood it. It told her every detail of the world around her. Blema got up shakily and looked around. Thousands of letters of alien language formed a world around her. An eldritch type of supersense replaced her vision. Unnun entered the room, proclaiming that her brain had been fused with the piece of the Grand Shroom she had extracted. Now until the day she died, she was a part of the Stem's Origin.
Her training continued for the next 2 years. Blema took a long while to get fully used to harboring two active voices in her head at all times, especially one of which she couldn't make out. Meditation was the only time it left her alone.
Blema's faith in the extradimensional god's plan grew as it whispered knowledge straight into her psyche. The world that previously scared her made more sense each passing day. Math, science, history... Anything she desired to know would be given to her by the phantom tongue.
Once nervous to take up the mantle, a now confident cultist came to be excited with her role. She would forbid the benevolentGrand Shroom's oncoming destruction in any way she could manage.
XX799 is when Lord Frie traveled to the church to meet her. She kept a confident smile up despite the divine voice confirming to her that he was frowning at her freakish appearance.
Shortly after their meeting, Blema Von Voldark made her first appearance in years at that year's Ahsonov Ball. Lord Frie announced his retirement and her upcoming duty as Stem City's administrator. As was tradition in noble culture, a crowd cheered before the new ruler. The voice inside was telling her they all were terrified of her. That only caused her to smile wider. For the first time in her life, she truly felt important.
As Blema absentmindedly mingled with the more curious nobles, her father appeared through the crowd. The immoral man rambled and raved that she was the reason her mother was gone, his business was failing, etc etc. She ignored him. Despite the fact that Blema now towered over him, the bullish man attempted to hit her. Her sixth sense saw it coming before he even got a quarter of the swing out.
Her arm shot up and ensnared his hand in her steel tight grip. With a toothy grin, she turned to look him in the eyes. Blood stained her stitches. Petrified at what his daughter had become, the man stumbled back into the crowd without another word. That was the last time Blema saw her father.
After the ball, Blema left for church. She was excited to rule over the world that once beat her down. Blema waited like a statue for the fateful year to turn and for the new century to begin. Theorized plans on how to rock the city made her giddy. Her second voice explained all the legal and economical happenings that took place during Lord Frie's reign, vast knowledge fed to her conniving brain.
The Grand Shroom was not interested in governing the city's people. As long as each and every upcoming threat to its continued existence was dealt with, it didn't care how she achieved it.
Using divinely gifted information, Blema Von Voldark formed a plan that would make create the perfect Stem City to counter the incoming interlopers' threats.
XX800 arrived.
Blema came to power. Lord Frie welcomed her to the Stem Tower personally, overseeing her as a mentor temporarily before leaving. For the first time in her life, Blema felt like she had a real, concrete purpose in the world. She was at the top.
Actions had to be taken quickly- Her god pinpointed a pivotal moment next year that would end up in its destruction if not prepared for.
Some cleaning had to be done before Blema dealt with that.
Lord Frie's WHISPER ACT was almost instantly amended to kick out the infection tumor she saw BACKBONE INDUSTRY as. After that, Blema wasted no time in doing what she had always dreamed:
She visited Stichety in The Complex. Boiling hatred filled her now holy soul. Under her strict orders, Stichety was moved to heavier containment and was to be tortured for the rest of his life. That felt great to get off her chest.
XX801 marked the appearance of the alien interlopers that were foreseen to bring an end to the Grand Shroom's ambitions. Carefully planning out a procedure, Lawmen secretly escorted Unnun out into the Fungal Wastes where she torn apart the small outpost constructed by the invaders. Blema tried to interrogate the rabbit robot brought in the invasion. Little results came from it. For safekeeping, they decided to keep it as a bargaining chip in case the external force ever returned.
Yank Yenderson resigned from Blema's Stem Tower in XX801. Frankly, she didn't care. Their time together was scarce and unimportant.
After preventing the mysterious alien's settlement in the Fungal Wastes, the divine being predicted a new upcoming fate for Blema to prevent. If the economy stayed as it was, it foresaw a potential revolution empowered by the lower classes against the nobility. When the nobility crumbled, they would come for the tower next.
Her solution? Empower the poor. Not with weapons, but with rights.
XX802 is when Blema enticed many to increase their economic status by handing over rampant firearms in Stem City via the passing of the SOFTEN ACT. Thousands of guns were exchanged for huge amounts of Marks. The nobles assumed this was to help their businesses from the constant threat of armored robberies. They could not be further from the truth.
Later that year, Blema did what Lord Frie had been afraid to do for all of his rule: She passed the WALL ACT. The Fungal Plains, a land once highly illegal to settle in, became a lawless wild wasteland. For the first time in centuries, Stem City's walls were torn down and highly secure stations were constructed to vet people in and out.
The dictator's plan was simple: If they didn't want to play the city's game, they could leave. Why revolt when you could simply go to form your own city with your own laws? Nobles were unlikely to get a foothold in their economies either from the potent hatred of such pioneers. Removing a majority of the city's dangerous guns beforehand was calculated as well. She didn't want these potential Fungal Plain cities getting any bright ideas, did she?
Blema got sick kicks as the noble dominated STEMNET exploded in outrage. Business owners raved online, cursing out the Stem Tower administration for doing this to them. Their precious profits would drop! Boohoo!
As the walls dropped, The Era of Chaos had officially begun.
Von Voldark wasn't done with her economical changes, though. She didn't want the nobles to rebel against her. So, she needed to keep people in the city to buy their worthless beauty products and poisonous junk food. How would she do that? New markets, of course! XX803's UNRESTRICT ACT had several illegal markets such as drugs, prostitution, and bounty hunting become legal over all of Stem Island. The people who had the most enterprise in these environments? Why, the shady cartels and gangs of Stem City's poor, obviously.
The once beaten down and submissive Blema felt herself become more and more tyrannical each day. The power flowed through her so perfectly. She had no need to meditate and pray anymore.
In an attempt to expand Stem City's reach, Blema modified Gwino to be much more optimistic rather than just a living propaganda doll. She gave piles of Gwinos' records to the Nexus manager, Ann Peelo, and told her to discreetly ship them off to the richest worlds they dealt with. The following months were marked by more tourists visiting Stem City than ever as Gwino became a sensation in the hypercapital nations of the outer universe.
The god connected to Blema's psyche watched her with great intrigue. It was impressed by her precise planning and careful manipulation, alien feelings of pride for the puppet it had unleashed on Stem City. The foreseen destruction undone the minute she legislated the WALL ACT, the Grand Shroom was more than happy she had been taking so much of her own initiative. The last ruler that had done this much of their own will was Counter Ahsonov.
Organia Sweloz was hired around this time to protect Stemrail cargo from a growing number of tribal train raiders. Blema ignored that issue for now, deeming it not as important as others on her list of reforms.
However, Blema wasn't perfect. Her growing megalomania caused her to swing too hard too fast. An uncomfortable amount of the city's saved wealth was spent on ordering tens of thousands of revitalized Lawmen from the outer universe's LAWCORP.
XX804 is when she got to a bone she wanted to pick for a long, long time. The DECENTRALIZE ACT had Blema target a group she despised: BACKBONE INDUSTRY's name was torn from all previous laws. The monopoly no longer held control over the Nexus, there were no longer benefits for selling companies to them, and they were chased out of Marks gold mines. The Complex's stored prisoners also began being sold as slaves to off-world companies at the Nexus in order to increase Stem Tower's own profit.
The Grand Shroom warned her of a new threat. BACKBONE INDUSTRY formed together with the Von Solstar enterprise and... the Von Voldarks gambling monopoly. The Great Nobles Union began to buy out as many companies in the city before jacking up all their prices. The homeless rate doubled. Many businesses started to topple as off-worlder families looked towards the Outlands for salvation.
XX809 was the year that the god foretold their rebellion would cause Stem Tower's, and thus the Grand Shroom's, downfall.
Blema was apathetic about it. She was more than comfortable worrying about it later. Ignoring her administrative life more and more, Blema started to show up and socialize at noble outings. Though many of the rich despised her, she was still welcomed by them as they tried to earn her favor. Blema felt wanted. People wanted her to be around. It was for selfish reasons, but Blema asked herself: Isn't everybody a little selfish inside?
Her hand trembled as she was offered a HALLUPILL. It would be the first time in years she swallowed one.
She was better now, wasn't she? She thought she was.
Her arrogance was punished. The voices came back.
The little girl inside of her that had been twisted into a prideful, powerful person wilted once more.
Blema was hooked. Weeks turned into months. She drank, smoked, got high as shit, fucked anybody she could just for sick kicks. The GNU had more and more nobles lobby behind them as her recent actions came to light. Blema kept telling herself that she'd deal with it later. Months turned to years.
It was XX808. She had just gotten back to Stem Tower from a wild party. Sweaty and exhausted from a night of sex and drugs, the socialite went to retire for the night. The shadows danced around her. She couldn't tell left from right. She stumbled her way to the bathroom...
The cold air of her Stem Tower penthouse caused her breath to shudder. Memories came flooding back in. The swirling world around her, the chilly air of Stem City's midnight, the lonely trip to the bathroom...
Stichety appeared from the darkness behind her. Deep, monstrous breathing echoed from the past into the present. Heavy hands were placed over her mouth. She screamed, reaching for her weapon. There was none. She was forced to the floor. Her mind disassociated from her body as she lost grasp of the world around her.
Blema woke up the next morning on the bathroom floor, sprawled out a puddle of her own piss. The terrified, dazed Von Voldark stumbled to her own room. The small stem present in there greeted her like an old friend. Perching on top of her, she tried to empty her mind...
The voices demanding things of her wouldn't go away. She couldn't hear that innocent little girl inside anymore. Rage filled her. The shouting wasn't overwhelming to her as it had been her young self. It was a nagging thorn that had relodged itself in the side of her damaged brain. She hated it. She despised it. She wanted nothing more to do with it.
Blema desperately called out to her god. Its divine voice parted the mental fog.
She pleaded for guidance once more. It was more than happy to deliver.
Next week, XX808's MONOPOLY ACT was penned and enacted. It viciously tore apart the GNU by targeting the core: BACKBONE INDUSTRY, Von Solstars, and the Von Voldarks had their property split up and sold off in auctions held personally by Blema in the Ahsonov ballroom. Many nobles were more than happy to abandon the GNU if it meant getting a piece of their enterprise. Stem City's market became much more competitive quickly, local off-worlder's businesses now standing even more of a chance.
Blema delivered a stern message at the beginning of every auction: Mr. Frie's group had been hurting all living inside of Stem City's wall, both noble and off-worlder, causing the number of people leaving for the Outlands to tenfold. So, to remedy these hurtful actions, Blema has come up with a simple solution: Forcing them to share. She warned all nobles that if anybody in the future wished to hold the economy hostage, Stem Tower would come down harder than before.
With that, Blema sat high in Stem Tower once more as the iron fist. The addiction's pleas still came. She couldn't help herself from relieving them. Any attempt to meditate was futile. She watched Stem Island carefully. The nobility, though still extremely dominant, were competing amongst themselves rather than focusing on pushing down the few remaining off-worlder businesses. The Outlands were prospering, small villages cropping up left and right. They were primitive and lawless, however the 6 years since the WALL ACT had given them time to form their own identity and rebellious culture.
If one group grew too big for their britches, they'd have to deal with the two other groups pushing back. Blema was surprised at her work. Strangely enough, her economy had stabilized. There was still grudges and hate for Stem Tower and the other economic groups no matter which class her eyes gazed upon, but she felt confident that she could lie back for a bit as pointless chaos ran amuck in the streets.
The Grand Shroom called out to Blema yet again.
Its fate had changed.
Under direct orders, Blema sought out and hired Bally Backster in XX809. According to her god, this unassuming scientist was already digging too far for his own good. When asked why they couldn't just get rid of him sooner rather than later, the divine voice explained that he would go on to prevent a travesty. The Grand Shroom had seen to it that his fate was sealed right when it needed to be. Blema held her faith close, trusted the divine one, and carried on.
Ann Peelo requested an emergency meeting with her in the early days of XX810's Q1. It was rare the two had impromptu talks like this, so Von Voldark made sure she kept mentally herself clean for the occasion. Blema came to be horrified by the news: An off-world empire was threatening to pull out of their Nexus agreement. If it was some small group only looking to trade metals with Stem City in order for its passage, Blema would've blown it off. However, this was the city's majority supplier of meat and fruit. A famine was not what she needed when Stem City was already at the cusp of having an economic class revolt all the time.
The reason they were pulling out? Their incoming trains kept being looted by Outlanders. In fact, the rate at which it was happening was growing every single year. This seriously pissed off Blema. She gave them rights and they proceed to start touching her stuff? She gave Ann Peelo a letter to send them that promised she'd fix the issue by increasing security. Blema also had Ms. Peelo promise that this stayed between them. The dictator did not want social hysteria on her hands.
Sweloz had recently left her position, Von Voldark having to find a new captain to guard the desired Stemrail trains. So, she traveled to the noble neighborhood in search of a competent person. Stumbling upon a local fencing dojo, Blema requested the sensei to run her through several of her students. The following days, Blema brought along specialized Lawmen and went through every single student. None of them impressed her like a teenage Sweloz once had.
Fencien Armeldia was the last student to come in. She was a nervous wreck. Yet, despite that, she knew had to handle herself. Her trembling voice, nervous attitude... Blema couldn't stop herself from smiling. She saw the Fencien as the cutest thing ever. The innocence resonated something inside of Blema, something that she had lost to time...
Blema hired Fencien and sent her through a 6 month rigorous training program to sharpen her skills and get her used to the expensive tools that being a Lawman Enforcer would give her. After her training had concluded, Blema stationed her on specific Stemrail trains that the disgruntled off-world company desired. Though the trains were still attacked, the presence of a living captain aboard often caused the raiders to scurry off with much less loot.
During one of Fencien's mission reports that Blema forced her to write, she noticed an odd detail. Fencien mentioned a rabbit-eared raider alongside the Stem Ram majority Kalstein tribe. Reviewing the footage from her bodycam, the city's dictator froze. It could have been a complete coincidence, but...
Her ears and tail looked eerily similar to the strange rabbit droid that Stem's Origin kept captive. A paranoid Blema took her first visit to the ancient church in years. She asked the robot about the unknown character. All that was understood from its broken whispers and murmurs was three words: "TARGET: CLARA KALSTEIN."
Blema approved Fencien's several requests to be boarded on the specific Stemrail track that the Kalstein tribe preferred to attack. To appease the off-world company breathing down her back, Blema drew from The Complex's limited supply of Lawmen Type-2s to cover that base. The ruler watched with interest as Fencien and the mystical Clara Kalstein. She appeared to be just a normal wild girl. Blema didn't understand.
XX812. Bally showed Blema a very interesting sight: An ex-noble Gillsway scientist named Juke Clorentine had taken Lawmen for herself and modified them. Examining her work, the two found her engineering and programming skills incredibly impressive... Minus the fact that she forgot to turn their wireless connection to the STEMNET off. But, hey, we all make mistakes.
It was a normal day in Stem City.
Clara disarmed, overwhelmed, and pierced Fencien's chest. It happened within the span of seconds.
Blema, smoking an addictive Felgood in the confines of her office to appease the mental pangs, was taken aback. It was all so sudden. It felt unreal. Attempting to sober up out of the trance she was in, the dictator wasted zero time calling the Stemrail train back home. Heading to the Nexus as fast as she could, Blema became hysterical. Fencien was declared dead upon arrival.
What had happened? Everything seemed fine, everything seemed okay...
The young woman lay bloody in front of her. She yelled at the medical staff to sustain her life.
Why did Blema care so much? Fencien was just some expendable teenager. A dumb, naive teenager at that. Blema was her boss first and foremost. They weren't blood related, and Blema had no connection to the woman beyond hiring her... People died all the time in Stem City. Why did Blema feel like a part of herself was dying?
Blema pulled all possible resources she could. Off-world medicine was delivered to the Nexus in record time. The Armeldia family arrived and were equally hysterical as Blema.
She didn't find herself praying often. Considering her god was constantly directing her throughout her life, she felt as if she was above blind worship. At that moment, she begged that the Grand Shroom would save the poor woman's life.
12 hours after dying, Fencien was resurrected. Blema hugged the recovering woman tightly and didn't let go; Fencien had to pry her off.
The innocent girl inside Von Voldark grew louder that day. Sometimes, over the domineering begging of her addictive thorn and the bellowing voice of her god, Blema understood herself momentarily.
A half year before having to return to work, she dismissed Fencien from active duty. Blema turned her attention towards the feral Clara Kalstein. A deep, boiling anger welled inside. Her fury was the mixture of two things: Righteous anger for what the rabbit had done to the innocent Fencien and an irritable distaste for not knowing something going on Stem Island. When she asked the Grand Shroom for any information upon the rabbit, it turned up clueless as Blema. All it knew was that she was born to the Kalstein tribe and the robotic interloper from over a decade ago bore a striking resemblance to her.
Blema did something never before done within Stem City's history. Stem Tower put up a Marks bounty for whoever found the "Red Rabbit" and brought it safely to Stem Tower. The only requirement is that she had to be alive. At first, many bounty hunters didn't bite. As Blema raised the price higher every day, some of them set out to find her. Many left, none returned.
Later that year, Blema got a strange surprise. Fencien brought in Juke Clorentine, the Gillsway Lawman hacker, after she attempted to assault Fencien during a Gillsway terror patrol. As she taunted Ms. Clorentine with recording of her live feed, Blema sneakily dropped questions that proved to her that Juke was nothing short of a technological genius. Right then and there, the ruler hired Juke as a second Stem Scientist. Placing her under Bally's watch at first, Blema wasn't surprised when she heard that Mr. Backster had promoted her to his equal peer within months.
Q4 of XX812 ended with a boom. The Kalstein tribe had bombed a Stemrail cargo train they were raiding. To Blema's horror, the train was carrying valuable crates and was heading towards Stem City's food suppliers. Blema attempted to make amends with them, citing her gradual work against this sort of behavior, but it was no use. They pulled out of their Nexus agreement and went back to using the outer galaxy's stardust lanes.
Ann Peelo had to spend a lot of saved Marks to secure the food required. She warned Blema that they're barely staying afloat and that any slight economical issue would cause The Complex's Marks gold vault to empty out. Blema momentarily considered taxing the nobles of Marks in order to stabilize everything. As she began to pen the TAX ACT, the divine voice in her head told her that a sooner demise had appeared. As soon as she threw the law in the trash, that potential future was whisked away.
Blema had to win back her food suppliers one way or another. Two goals were had: Destroy the Kalstein tribe to prove that Stem City wasn't letting dangerous groups run around scot free in its land, and to strike horrifying fear into all of the Outlands to get them to stop touching her beautiful Stemrails.
XX813 saw little progress. Juke requested access to The Complex to perform some experiments upon an ancient Stem Slime prisoner named Imine Green.
It took a year for Blema to form a plan she thought would work flawlessly. The nomadic Kalstein tribe was hard to track, the Grand Shroom's Stem’s unseen eyes unable to track them. The dictator had slowly pieced together how a majority of the Stemrail raiding groups operated. Under the Tower associates hired Outlanders to get their hands dirty in exchange for large amounts of food and supplies. So, the game was simple: Wait for the Kalsteins to attack a train, then quickly lay a trap to snag them.
XX814, the Kalsteins stopped and raided a train. Now was the time to strike. Blema's options were considered carefully. She had a sneaking suspicion that Lawmen wouldn't exactly scare off the Outlands bandits the way she desired. So, Blema came to Juke. After doing minimal research, Blema asked her loyal scientist to form Operation CHAINEDSLIME. Imine would be unleashed upon the tribe, killing all but Clara Kalstein.
Juke seemed more than ready to take on what Blema had asked. Operation CHAINEDSLIME began: Three days were given for Juke to wrestle Imine into a controllable state. Once the selected morning came, an empty Stemrail train rigged with explosives was wheeled out to where the Kalsteins were last spotted. Blema took it upon herself to contact a known Under the Tower grunt via the STEMNET and deliver him the information. Juke's ambush team waited with baited breath.
The tribe showed up, bombs were dropped, Imine was released. She slaughtered every single family member before turning on her captors, breaking free and escaping. Blema was stunned. Upon the wreckage, every known family member's body was accounted for... Except Clara Kalstein's. Exploring the wreckage personally, Blema's freakish hands gripped the same sword that had stabbed Fencien all those years ago.
Juke's budget was slashed immensely. Blema would be lying if she said it wasn't personal. The operation was kept a secret from as many people as possible. Of course, many outlanders eventually heard about it from their Under the Tower business partners. Some were scared of Stem City's growing disdain towards the Fungal Plain settlements, others laughed at the government's desperate attempts to keep them down.
The ruler's anger was quiet. The rabbit had escaped her grasp and the economy in which she optimistically believed was flourishing was leaving Stem Tower with little funds to keep the city's population stable. If the raider situation in the Outlands kept going on, what other off-world companies would pull out? She quivered at the thought.
Blema fell into a depression. Excess drugs, alcohol, and sex were welcomed back into her life with open, yet oh-so-apathetic arms.
XX815 felt like it came and went. The extroverted and lovable Bally kept her company through her depression, the two perverts exploring each other's bodies.
STEMNET forum posts began cropping up. The Red Rabbit, that of whose bounty kept rising all these years later, resurfaced on the streets of Stem City. Blema didn't believe them at first, managing to confirm their claims with minimal searching. She was surprised that Clara had managed to claw her way without her noticing sooner.
Now that the last Kalstein was within the confines of Stem City, the ruler kept a careful eye on her. If somebody caught her and brought her to Stem Tower? Amazing. If they didn't? Fine by her. The directionless ruler felt no motive to chase after the rabbit anymore.
An emergency report came in from a Lawman Type-3. The Outlands' Gunker Gang had kidnapped Fencien Armeldia III during a routine Gillsway patrol and was holding her for ransom. Blema paid attention for the first time in a long time. Her darling girl was being held captive by those filthy outlanders? Her deluded heart broke free of its haze and made the ruler realize she couldn't sit idly by for this.
Blema went to prepare a Lawman squad to search out and destroy the gang that held her beloved enforcer captive...
An idea popped into her head. Her deluded mind found the prospect fun.
She commenced Operation GUNKSPLAT. Blema visited Clara at her supply closet home and gave her a simple ultimatum: She saved Fencien from the Gunker Gang. In turn, Blema would wipe her name from the STEMNET, clear her bounty, give her criminal immunity in the future, and return her sword. If, for whatever reason, the wanted criminal didn't comply? Blema would give her what was rightfully hers: A cramped cell in The Complex.
Wishing Clara off from the Nexus the next morning as she set off towards the Gunker Gang's hideout, Blema pondered about the strange woman. Now that they had talked personally, Blema realized that Clara didn't seem any different from your average city punk. Obviously, there was something deeper that not even Kalstein herself appeared to know.
Clara returned to the Nexus heavily injured. A curious Blema saw to it that a sample of her blood was brought to Stem Tower's lab to analyze. Stepping into an empty section of the laboratory, Blema was guided by the divine voice on how to scan it. The results were as clear as day: Clara's DNA was 100% Stem Ram. Every comparison made against existing samples had not a single irregularity displayed in the code. Her ears and tail were an enigma to science itself.
By day's end, Blema wiped everything about the Red Rabbit from the STEMNET. Clara's bounty was cleared, her sword was returned, and her criminal database was modified to bar modifying by anyone besides the city's ruler. Before the rabbit was let loose from Blema's office, she asked to give a brief description of her past two years of activity. Both to satisfy Blema's curiosity and to fill up the missing spots in her criminal record.
Her adored Fencien appeared. After some gushing and tight hugs exchanged, Blema had to feed a nosey Fencien hidden truths and several lies to convince the clutz that Blema knew a lot more about Kalstein's recent status than she actually did. Fencien was quite upset hearing about Operation CHAINEDSLIME for the first time, but Blema's smooth wording calmed down the worried woman's claims before dismissing her.
Blema kept a watchful eye on Clara from now on. She was free, sure, but her existence still hid crucial secrets from the Stem City ruler.
Now in XX817, long awaited plans were about to unfurl. Blema was thrown off guard when her god called out that today was the day; Bally Backster's demise. Something inside the dictator doubted if this was the right option- Her worries were swept to the side by her faith's lord.
That night, Blema visited the ancient church once more. Along with the mysterious Volva and Unnun, Blema watched as the skeptical Bally Backster was betrayed by the establishment he worked for. She emotionally distanced herself from the entire encounter. Fogged memories from her conversion to Stem's Origin painted her thoughts.
A hot surge of pain overtook her body. The distracted Blema had her shoulder pierced by the scientist's bullet. Blema watched in horror as The Volva froze Backster before dragging him into a cloud of dark ash and smoke. The ruler grasped her shoulder in agony.
Bally Backster. From the start, she knew he was destined to fail. Yet, why did it hurt to see him go? Is it okay to let herself be okay with his demise after they shared such intimate moments together? As Blema laid in bed that night, she couldn't pry her mind away from the fated scene within the catacombs.
A voice that had long faded into the chorus of screaming rang out. Her mind focused on its forgotten tone.
Her father's warped voice told her a truth that she never wanted to hear: Blema was the spitting image of her long deceased mother. A broken, drug obsessed slut with so much power that she just uses to abuse others. She preyed upon Bally's genius and body while planning to discard him the entire time.
And why? Because some voice in her head tells her that it is the correct choice?
The Grand Shroom shoved the doubts to the side with its mere presence. It explained to the now trembling Blema that Backster's downfall had to happen, else it would fall.
Blema asked her god one question: When would the next moment in time come where its downfall was predicted?
It was a long time before it answered her in a tongue she comprehended. The omnipotent being admitted something dreadful to its loyal discipline: It foresaw a moment in time where Stem City would undeniably fall to its knees. Dozens of factors twisted together, it could not pinpoint a single action that would prevent all. All it knew for sure is that XX821 would be the struggle for its survival. It advised Blema to not make any major moves for the time being, biding her time gathering resources until the time of reckoning comes. It was confident that when the fated day fell upon them, quick thinking from Blema could save its dominion.
It was hard for her to sleep that night.
Is the voice really as holy as she thinks it is?
In the following years, Blema gradually managed to cut back on her addictions and partying in an ultimately futile feeling attempt to prepare her psyche for the oncoming hurricane of XX821. She found it hard to focus on any administrative duties as a ticking time bomb laid somewhere just out of view. She only got a few hours of sleep every week. She often found herself visiting Clara in her free time more for the sole purpose of toying with her. Sadism was one of the few joys she was willing to indulge.
XX819's Ahsonov Ball had Blema meet her second niece, Alegecia Von Voldark. A familiar despair covered the child's face. The obviously disturbed child had the Von Voldark's brainwashing methodically broken down by the ruler over the source of the party. Blema got the child to tell her everything.
The broken woman wanted to save herself.
XX819 and XX820 marked the elaborate plot for saving Alegecia from her family's clutches. It took a long time to settle on a good foster family, but Godgrilla's caring nature and amazing BBQ won her over. Every day she prays for the child's safety.
The Blema wears a toothy grin made of cracked china as she awaits judgment day.