by Shyredfox
Why Run for Night Monarch?
by SRF + HF
by
HRH Princess ShyRedFox, reporting for *research purposes*, edited by
Clawdia who had to be bribed with donuts to do the editing and is pouting that her image isn't the one on the article credits
Apr 9, 2026
Rumors abound about who the next notorious Night Monarch will be, despite hopes that just maybe we might escape another war in November. HRH Princess Shyredfox has been diligently researching why people are drawn to becoming the Night Monarch. Does everyone have a darkness hiding inside, like she did?
We've just got to find a way to stop this cycle... — Shyredfox
So, the princess put out a call to the candidates of this dark election asking, "Why are you running for Night Monarch?". Answers are posted in the order they were received.
"The Lady"
The source I am calling
The Lady was the first to answer.
She eyed this reporter warily after hearing the question. "Guess I shouldn’t be surprised, you’re asking. Kind of surprised no one asked it earlier."
Page 2
Rubbing the back of her neck, she added, "You and I, Oyabun, have talked about how important family is to me. I…ahem…made a promise." Finally, pointedly staring at the book in hand, she said, "Sorry, but…" sighs. "I need to get back to the library." And she departed.
I…made a promise.— The Lady
This reporter wonders if bounds were overstepped with the query.
Talin and Marzanna
Next, the pair styling themselves as Talin and Marzanna agreed to the interview request. Talin said, "The Undead annihilated my clan. They must be destroyed. The Undead, especially the Night Monarch, is a curse. I need to destroy the curse. I haven’t found a way to destroy it from the outside. So, now it’s time to sneak in and destroy it from within. However, finding the source is the problem. I will, though. Sometimes, the only way to destroy an enemy is to become the enemy. This time, I will succeed."
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Marzanna added, "I am frustrated and fed up with my friends and House constantly struggling to survive to stay among the living. Are they truly living, then? I think not. There must be a better way. There is. Death is rebirth. There should be a balance between the Curse of the Undead and an end to hostilities. I will locate it, will use my magic and literomancy to find it, contain and alter it - even if I have to dismantle the entire thing and reprogram it to be less vicious. Then it will be a mere aspect of the cycle. It will bring stability. That possibility makes no price too high, even taking on the current manifestation of the curse myself."
And here is their official statement together. "After a referral to consider each other’s talents, we worked with each other over several months and found that we could do more by pooling our resources and working together more formally. Once we’d properly considered this, we realized that, even though our individual approaches toward the Curse of the Undead differed, some of our most personal projects aligned.
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It is best to conquer the darkness from the inside. It is, also, dangerous to go alone. — Talin and Marzanna
Where one of us might fail alone, together we could do more and fill the gaps in experience left by the other. We both agreed that something must be done to stop the current cycle. It is best to conquer the darkness from the inside. It is, also, dangerous to go alone. So, we have chosen to take a friend. Perhaps you should do the same."
This reporter too had brought friends to help her face the darkness.
Batflower
Just as this reporter was finished with the above interview, she received another call. This time from the one calling themself Batflower. They said, "I really want to help out the community, and the House Leaders. If someone like me is donning the mantle of Night Monarch for a bit, then they don't have to worry about being tempted.
...if I can fully document my entire experience as Night Monarch, then the community as a whole will benefit from that knowledge. — Batflower
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I also think if I can fully document my entire experience as Night Monarch, then the community as a whole will benefit from that knowledge."
They continued, "If we have a better understanding of what makes Night Monarchs tick, then we can be better able to enact harm reduction strategies to limit casualties in future Word Wars. With the way I document things, I think I would be well-suited to document the Undead Horde from within, which would also help with formulating strategies to reduce the number of Tome Zombies that are created each year."
This reporter made herself a note about further Night Monarch research help.
The Firefly Duet
The last response this reporter received was from the Firefly Duet, Misty and Embera. Misty shared, "Sometimes, the closest distance between point A and point B is through a wall. And maybe its time to start knocking down walls."
...maybe its time to start knocking down walls. — Misty
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Embera shrugged. "I'm gonna wind up dying anyway. I figured we may as well skip to that part."
Then the duo added, "Neither one of us wanted the other to do this alone."
This reporter nodded. Short and sweet can be effective too.
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