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Chapter 1: Born to Kill
Year 0
"Is this the one?"
"Yeah I guess."
"What do you mean you guess? It either is or it isn't."
"I dunno I lost the list."
"You what? That's just great. You realize how much we're going to get our asses chewed out because of your fuck up? I'm sick of paying for your mistakes."
"Will you calm down? How the hell are they gonna know anyway? You seen one ugly little baldy, you've seen 'em all. All babies look the same."
"Not the elven ones."
"Enough with your elf fetish. These babies are all under the care of the Empire anyway, they're here for the taking.
"Yeah, the key word being the Empire. You know we need the proper paper work, which you just fucking lost!"
"So what, I can forge it. You really worry too much, there's so much red tape they ain't gonna know the difference and what does it matter? The Empire's getting a body for their purposes anyway."
"Yeah, but you know how they like the best."
"How the fuck can they really tell at this age? They do all the real testing later. Look he's got all his limbs, and he doesn't display any signs of impurity. I'd say he's a prime candidate for whatever they have in store for this poor little bastard."
"Yeah I guess…damn. I can't imagine what it's like being brought up like that."
"Me either, this program has only been going on a few years, but I've already heard some fucked up stories about it…y'know its things like this that sometimes make me question the logic of our glorious leaders."
"Shhhh! Are you mad? Don't talk like that! It's not our place to question anything, we're just supposed to do our jobs! Besides, the logic is quite obvious. If they train people from birth they'll have superior combat skills and utter loyalty to the Empire."
"That's my point though. Is it really necessary? The Empire already produces so much propaganda that it does the job pretty well in producing loyal citizens and if that doesn't work it also instills so much fear in most that even if someone wanted to start a rebellion; it's highly unlikely they would."
"Don't be so sure, it has happened in the past."
"The past? When? Like four hundred years ago when the Empire was still in its own infancy? Pfft. Wouldn't happen anymore and as for having elite combat troops, again what's the point? We've already got camps to train elite groups like the Shadow Guard who are not to be fucked with and we have more than enough resources to create an army of golems that would be just as loyal and kick the shit out of our enemies."
"Look, I don't want to talk about this anymore! Our superiors have their reasons, as does the Emperor! Let us just take this baby and be done with this task!"
The two clerks left the infirmary with you that day where upon you were accepted as a suitable candidate and put into The Eternal Program.
You don't remember too much during the time of your very young years, except that you are mostly confined to a room where all your basic needs are met. On a daily basis, a couple bigger people come in to check on you. They have you perform various physical tasks as well as spending time to teach you things like basic reading and writing. Sometimes they ask you various questions and write down your responses while other times they come in and stab you with painful needles with fluid in them. (You don't like those times)
You don't really understand it all, except that you know that the Emperor is always watching you. He is everywhere even if you don't see him. He is keeping an eye on your actions and you must always obey his will, lest you be punished. You know this to be true because you have this repeatedly told to you.
Eventually your relative isolation would come to an end.
> Years later...
Year 5
You are sitting in a gray room at a desk with several other children your age. All of you glance at each other a lot and it is obvious that there is much curiosity, but nobody speaks. This is very unusual for you, up until now, you have only had minimal contact with others. Most of them are male like you, but a few of them are female.
Soon the silence comes to an end when a dark skinned woman walks into the room. She has long hair and sharp features. One thing you notice is that despite her long hair covering her ears you can still see that the tips of them are pointed. She must be elven, but in the pictures you've seen in books, you've never seen one with dark skin before.
"Hello children, and congratulations on maintaining dignified silence during your time by yourselves. It's nice to see that your previous human minders aren't totally incompetent. Still, if you were Svelk children you would've been much better trained by now. Ah, but it is not my place to dwell on the limitations of the lesser born. I am merely here to oversee your training into proper Eternals so that you may serve the Emperor to your fullest capabilities. Now before we begin, I suggest you all ask questions now, because this will probably be the only time I will be in the mood for your ignorance."
For a moment nobody speaks, but when the elven lady insists, one brave soul raises their hand.
"Yes, you."
"Are you an elf?"
"Yes, I am. While the ignorant would use the vulgar term dark elf to describe me, my kind are more properly known as the Svelk. In fact WE are the purest of the elven race. All others you may have the misfortune of meeting are merely diluted members of our bloodline. They are truly pitiful creatures really only fit for extermination. Remember this."
"Yes, you."
"What is your name?"
"My name is unimportant, but you and the rest will always address me as Mistress. Failure to do so will earn my wrath, and more importantly the wrath of the Emperor. Remember this."
"Yes, you."
"What will you teach us?"
A second passes after the question, when a small bolt of light from the Svelk's finger tips and hits the child in the chest asking the question. He falls backwards out of his chair and on to the floor. The rest of you jump in your own chairs and look back at him. He is breathing very erratically.
"I will teach you to OBEY my commands when I give them!" Mistress shouts, she then warns the rest of you.
"Don't you dare touch him, let alone help him! (Sigh) And here I thought you lot had been trained better! It occurs to me that I will have to be extra strict in my discipline. As to the question about what I will teach you… I will teach you to be warriors. I will teach you to be wizards if you display the talent. I will teach you to shed yourselves of weakness. I will teach you to serve the Emperor without question and kill without mercy and you will always obey for you will find strength in obedience. You will find joy in order. You will find love in murder. You shall be instruments of terror and genocide if he so wishes it. You will be Eternals…or you will die. Remember this."
After Mistress' speech, the child she struck down eventually struggles back up and gets back in his seat, clutching his chest and still wheezing.
"I trust you have learned your lesson?"
"Y…yes…Mistress…" he gasps.
"Good, now one more question before we begin…you there. What is your question? Speak up!" Mistress demands while pointing at you, though you have not raised your hand.
You don't wish to disagree with Mistress, so you stumble and try to think up a question.
"Uh…er…I was just wondering when will you teach us to fight Mistress?"
Mistress raises an eyebrow and gives a smirk as she approaches you.
"Fight? And what makes you think that YOU are even ready to learn yet? Do you have even the slightest knowledge of combat tactics?"
"No, Mis…" before you can even complete the sentence Mistress knocks you out of your chair with a quick jab with her hand, the pain from your face spreads to your chest when Mistress steps on it with her boot. She digs it into you and presses all her weight on it, while the rest of your class looks on.
"Damn right, no you don't. You weren't even alert enough to anticipate my attack. You let me get in close and now look at you, you're completely at my mercy. I am in a position to do whatever I like with you, while you are only in a position to beg or die. So what will it be worm? Are you going to beg for your miserable life, or should I save the Empire's time and money by killing you now?"
> You beg
The pain is great and you want it to be over with as quickly as possible so you cry out and scream for mercy to Mistress. To this, she merely laughs cruelly and continues to step on your chest.
"Ha ha ha ha! If this was a real fight do you think an enemy would should you mercy? You truly are pathetic, how did the Empire ever decide that YOU would be a worthy candidate to be an Eternal? Begging for your wretched life as if it was important. It isn't. Your life is nothing! ALL of your lives are nothing! Your lives will never be anything more than warm bodies to serve the Emperor! The question is, will you even be able to live up to that honored status? The answer is no, if you do not learn mercy is for the weak. Remember this."
At this point Mistress finally takes her foot off of you and much like your other classmate hit by her magic bolt, you slowly get up and back in your seat, clutching your chest. You sniffle and try to keep yourself from crying, but the tears are still there. A glare from Mistress causes you to quickly wipe your eyes and try to compose yourself the best you can.
Time passes by under the harsh guidance of Mistress. She teaches you all that she promised she would and then some. Your lessons are not only that of a combat nature, but of an academic one as well. You wouldn't be aware of it, but you and your classmates are probably much better educated than other children your age.
As for you, Mistress never lets you forget of how you begged for your life in front of everyone. While it is true that she sadistically taunts everyone at one time or another, it doesn't make your emotional and psychological scars go away.
This shame you experience causes you to become more insecure and you constantly feel the need to prove to everyone that you aren't weak. When you are called upon to spar with your fellow classmates, you always fight aggressively. For the most part you usually win, and you typically break a few bones of some of your fellow classmates. The lessons of being humiliated by Mistress have not been forgotten. You can't ever let yourself be put in a vulnerable position again and you must be brutal, it's the only way you'll be able to please the Emperor.
Your personality doesn't go unnoticed by your instructor and watchers, they make note of it and decide how you should be handled in the next step of your training.
Year 12
You are in a room with a few of your fellow classmates standing in a row. Most of your class has been separated for reasons unknown to you. All you know right now is there is a scarred orc in worn battle armor arguing with a well dressed man who is human. They are speaking about you, but not actually speaking TO you…
"What? I thought the whole point of this program was to create an elite fighting group like the Shadow Guard, why are you splitting them up and intending to put some of them in regular military units?" the orc questions.
"Things have changed since the program's inception. Besides, if the latest military reports are any indication I'd say you could use a better quality of recruits, or at least I hope that's the problem and it isn't due to a lack of proper training." the man dressed in black formal wear calmly retorts.
"Hey! I train every grunt I get to be the best killer they can be! I've conquered more territory for the Empire than anyone! My record speaks for itself and I could do a hell of a lot more if you put me on the front lines again, so don't try to tell me I'm not doing my fucking job!"
"Be that as it may, I'd say you still could benefit by having a few Eternals in your ranks, if nothing else than to be a good example."
"Good example? HAH! We haven't even seen one of these so-called Eternals in action yet! It's all been just speculation, and a waste of time and money if you ask me! The Empire should be providing better equipment and more of it, for soldiers on the Rask Frontier, it's a fucking meat grinder out there and we're constantly having to put down rebellions by the natives."
"Well nobody ASKED you, captain and your problems are not mine to deal with. This is the Emperor's project and he has his reasons. If I were you I'd watch your tone. Victories or not, you are a servant of the Emperor and you will obey orders or you will be replaced."
The orc captain steps back from the well dressed man then he takes a deep breath, before speaking.
"You are lucky that I do serve the Emperor, for that is the only thing keeping me from ripping out your throat, human…very well I shall take these so called Eternal whelps, but let it be known that I shall be testing them to the limit and then some. If they fail, they shall die like anyone else unable to keep up."
"As you wish commander, I leave it in your capable hands. You will keep me apprised of their progress on a weekly basis. Good day." The well dressed man says and leaves the room, leaving you all alone with the orc commander. You've never seen a real orc in person before, but he looks every bit as intimidating from what you've read about them, even if he is much more articulate than you expected.
He walks up and down the row sizing you all up before speaking.
"I am Captain Gruz, and I will be in charge of the rest of your training until the Emperor deems otherwise. I imagine that your former instructor was that dark elven bitch, so I trust you all know by now that failure and weakness have no place here. Correct?"
"Yes Captain!" you all shout in unison.
"Heh, well glad to see her skills in teaching discipline are still as effective as ever. Good. Now let's see how good your combat skills are…"
At this point you and your fellow classmates instinctively start to pair up to spar with each other, but Gruz stops you.
"What are you lot doing? I didn't tell you to get out of formation!"
"But captain, you said to prove our combat skills." One boy speaks up.
"I…oh wait I see. She had you fighting each other. Typical dark elven training. Create mistrust and loathing even when there is no need for it. (Sigh) I can see I'm going to have to undo some of the shit she instilled in you if I'm going to mold you into the proper killing tools."
Time goes by and Captain Gruz begins to train you in various forms of combat, though it's different. He teaches you and your classmates to fight as a team. This usually involves various large beasts similar to what you have already fought or even small groups of goblinoids. It takes awhile for you to adapt, but after seeing the first couple of casualties, you and the rest manage to pull together to defeat your enemies.
Academically speaking, you are not taught much. Captain Gruz figures that Mistress taught you enough math and literacy to get by in life. Besides not much need for all that fancy learnin' stuff when you're going to be chopping people's heads off on the battlefield.
Captain Gruz is just as uncompromising as Mistress in his training, but he seems less gleeful about it. His verbal abuse is more direct and to the point rather than gloating about your failures. He still reminds you all regularly about how it is your sworn duty to serve the Emperor, but you hardly need him to tell you that, to believe otherwise is unthinkable.
As for you, you find yourself given a role of leadership. Captain Gruz noted your tendency to be one of the first to charge into battle. He however also has some advice for you.
"I respect your desire for battle, but if you do not control your insecurities you will one day find yourself needlessly unprepared. I suspect that dark elven bitch did something humiliating to you that has resulted in your behavior. Effective in some ways I suppose, but if you truly want to be a leader of men and command respect, you need to master your emotions as you would your weapons. You must do away with insecurities and be fully confident in your abilities. You must walk into battle already KNOWING that you will win, not charging in with a chip on your shoulder with some misguided desire to prove yourself. That's a quick way to get yourself killed. Contrary to popular belief, your goal is NOT to die for the Emperor. Your goal is to survive and make the other dumb bastards die so that you may continue to serve the Emperor. Think on this when you lead your fellows into your next training assignment."
The captain's words carry much weight with you and in the years during your training you manage to purge most of your doubts about yourself as well as becoming an accomplished warrior.
Your instructor and watchers once again note your growth and skills, and as usual they make decisions on how you will best serve the Emperor.
>
Year 16
You are called into Captain Gruz's office, when you arrive you see the well dress man that you saw four years ago standing with him… and debating with him again.
"I'm telling you Mr. Mol, I think they should work in the same unit. They've trained together and they've worked together so well at this point that splitting them up would be folly. Hell, these people have known each other since birth! You know that better than anyone!" Gruz says.
"Yes, captain I'm well aware of the situation, and normally I might agree if their were more of them, but I think their expertise would better serve if we deployed them separately in problem areas of the Empire." Mr. Mol replies.
"You don't break up a well oiled machine! I guarantee having them all in the same unit will be a better idea. I mean we still haven't sent them into a real battle yet! Wouldn't it be better to see if they can get the job done first before placing them in charge of others?"
"And what a perfect opportunity to lose them all, if something unexpected should happen."
"Oh for…look that could've happened here! And if you're so worried about them all getting killed in battle then what was the fucking point then? Besides, if they do prove to be useless in battle, better we find that out sooner rather than later when they're in charge of others and getting them killed as well!"
Mr. Mol thinks for a moment and then replies.
"Hmmm, very well you do have a point captain. We'll try it your way at first and go from there. Have them deployed in the Nalin province. Your services here have been useful as ever. Good day."
Mr. Mol, steps out and commander Gruz addresses you.
"Well you heard all that, you and your fellow Eternal babies are being sent to the Nalin province. It's not the Rask Frontier, but it's a suitable first challenge for you guys. We've been trying to settle the conquest of that place for a few years now, and technically it is part of the Empire, but we're still having problems with the Kobold population there. Little bastards are determined to resist and have been conducting a fairly effective guerilla war since we arrived. Though I blame that more on the incompetence of the commander in that region. If I was stationed there, this shit would've been taken care of a long time ago…but I'm not, so unfortunately you will have to report to Captain Pollo."
Captain Gruz approaches you closer before continuing.
"Now I'm putting you in charge of your unit for reasons I'm sure you're aware of. While I'm confident I've made the right choice, the burden will ultimately be on you to prove to be an effective leader. Remember, you're not just a normal soldier, you're supposed to be an Eternal. An instrument of destruction ordered by the Emperor himself. Failure is never an option for you. Even now there are rumors about your kind, and when you finally show yourselves you will be met by fear, awe, hatred and even distain. Prove yourselves and you will live up to the name that your were given. Anyway, the caravan picking you up will arrive tomorrow. Good luck and dismissed."
With this you leave and tell the rest of your people about where you're going and the general nature of what to expect. They all seem pretty excited to prove themselves, and to be honest so are you. At last you will get the chance to prove yourself and can only imagine that the Emperor will be pleased by what he will see.
The next day, you and your unit are picked up and the ride there is uneventful, but your unit spends a little time talking about things they see on the way. This is the first time all of you have probably been away from the training center you've spent all your lives in. Curiosity about some of the surroundings is natural, but it isn't just the casual talk that's different.
Your comrades are different. They are less reserved than they once were. Captain Gruz might've been a strict instructor, but in addition to encouraging teamwork he was also prone to encourage you guys to have a few hours of free time. This loosening of the reigns a bit, allowed a certain amount of familiarity with each other that wasn't just on a professional level anymore. Even you have felt yourself changing personality wise.
Still you are all Eternals, and you are loyal to the Emperor. You will never forget that your duty comes first.
Eventually you all arrive at Fort Glory in the Nalin province where you are stared at by several soldiers who whisper among themselves. None of you pay it any mind though, you simply report to Captain Pollo. He doesn't look anything like Captain Gruz. He's human for one thing and wears lighter armor which is impeccably clean. When he sees you, he almost looks bored, like you were interrupting him, but you when you came in he was reclined in his chair and not doing anything of importance.
"So…you are the Eternals I've heard so much about. Humph. I don't see anything special except that pretty one over there. Oh no, not you dear. That blonde muscular one in the back. Yes, delicious." Captain Pollo says pointing to one of your men and not even getting out of his chair.
"Captain Pollo, we are here for our assignments so that we may serve the Emperor." You say.
"(Sigh) I suppose you are this unit's leader?"
" Yes, captain. I am currently their leader and holding the rank of sergeant due to my excellence in my training exercises."
"Sergeant? YOU? Why you're a mere boy! All of you are just children! I ask them for more men and they send me children! The only thing you all would be good for is cleaning the fort! In fact that's what you can go do right now, starting with the toilets!"
This is exactly what Captain Gruz said would happen. This is your first test.
"Captain, we have been trained in several forms of combat and fully ready to fight. Send us into battle and we will prove ourselves. We are here to perform our duty for the Emperor and all that entails."
"All that entails eh? Okay, you want a fight? A few miles east of here, you'll find a town called Dalt. Its filled with ignorant peasants that constantly whine to us that there are a nest of kobolds lurking in the hills near them. We're stretched out as it is and can't spare anymore troops to waste on towns that are of no military importance in the grand scheme of things. Go there and take care of their problem, then maybe we'll have more to talk about."
You nod and all of you leave, but before you are able to Pollo calls you back.
"Oh one more thing sergeant. Order one of your men to stay here with me. I think you know by now which one I mean."
At this point you're in genuine shock. You may be young, and even a little detached from normal 'society" but you know exactly what Captain Pollo is implying. You can honestly feel more than surprised by this though.
"Captain, I will need all of my team to have the best chance to succeed in this mission." You say.
"Oh? Well sorry, but you'll have to make do like everyone else here does. Or you could clean the fort like I first ordered you to do, which you chose to ignore."
It's a no win situation, though you try to figure out a loophole that takes the responsibility off of you.
"Captain, you are of a higher rank than me, surely you could just order him yourself."
"Ha ha, nice try. No. You want to be a leader of men? You need to make this decision yourself. Tis quite easy I would think. Sacrifice one for the good of the rest. If anything I'd say he's the lucky one. He gets to stay here enjoying the pleasures of the flesh, and won't have to be mucking about with kobolds and dealing with idiotic peasants."
> You leave him behind
Unfortunately Pollo is right, the only decision that makes sense is to leave Gerald behind.
Still, you aren't fond of the idea though not necessarily for the moral reasons that most would be. This is an unproductive use of your team's talents and pointless in the scheme of things. You can't believe the Empire would allow such a petty man to be in charge of the safety of a province and why isn't the Emperor aware of such inefficiency?
"Very well."
"I knew you'd see things my way. Have fun playing with the kobolds. You're dismissed."
You leave Pollo's office where your team is still waiting for you.
"Gerald, I regret that you will not be coming with us on this mission. The Captain wants you to stay with him." You say.
"What?! But I'm ready to fight!" he protests.
"There will be other missions, I promise you. We will prove ourselves so well on this one, that they will have no choice but to send us out on a regular basis. However, your orders are clear in this matter, you are to remain here with Captain Pollo."
"B…yes sir."
Just before Gerald goes into the captain's office, you whisper into his ear.
"Accidents happen."
He's a little puzzled by this comment, but you and the rest of your team proceed to your assignment and nobody says anything more about it.
When you finally get to the town, it's a sorry sight. A lot of the buildings are damaged and the streets are filled with debris. There are a few people attempting to clean up the place, but it's clear that they're all very demoralized.
'Oh, I see the Empire has finally decided to help us; well you're too late! The kobolds raided this town last night and as you can see completely trashed the place!" says a disheveled man.
"The Empire has many places it has to protect citizen. It is regrettable that your town was attacked, but we are here now to eliminate the problem."
"You're here now? Where the fuck were you last night when my wife was killed by those ugly little bastards?" the man says getting in your face.
"Calm yourself citizen, this will not help your situation."
"My situation? I just said my wife is fucking DEAD! I don't give a shit about my situation anymore you fucking Empire dickhead! Fuck you and your fucking Emperor!"
It is at this point the man unwisely pushes your chest with his hand and you instantly grab it and break his whole arm. He predictably crumples in excruciating pain, screaming as the bone juts out of the skin and blood runs out of his body into the mud. All the other towns people who have seen this back off or hide, as they are rightfully worried about what you're going to do next.
"Now listen up citizens of Dalt! I understand that you've all been through a lot, but that is not a reason to give in to insolence! You are all Empire subjects and you will show proper respect or what's left of this town will suffer in such a manner that you'll think what the kobolds did was a birthday party."
The man whose arm you broke begins to scream more obscenities at you in between his regular howls of pain. You look at Kane and nod. Kane finishes the man off by quickly decapitating him. You take his head and throw it before one of the crowd of peasants who look on in horror.
"Remember this." You say.
You remain in the town of Dalt for the night and get rooms from an overly cooperative innkeeper. He also tells you a little information about the kobolds such what direction they came from, what sort of equipment they were using and how many there were during the attack. Before getting some rest you spend a little of the time discussing strategy with your team. You all don't show it too much, but you are all a little excited about tomorrow.
The next day you set off towards the wooded hills, it doesn't take long before you see a kobold patrol wandering around. They look exactly like how you've seen them in books, sort of like scaly goblins, but from what you've heard, a lot more cunning.
Your team attempts to be stealthy, but perhaps it's due to the excitement of this first "real" battle. Edgar isn't as silent as he should be and clumsily steps on a few twigs alerting the patrols.
The kobold patrol sees all of you, yell excitedly in their language and run away. Edgar is about to chase them, but you knock him to the ground.
"What the hell?" he says wondering why you stopped him.
"Trap, Edgar. Look." You say and point to a tripwire that would've triggered a spiked log that he almost stepped on.
"Oh." He says.
"You were trained better than that Edgar and we went over this last night! This area is probably going to be filled with traps. Now come on, we don't have the luxury of a surprise attack any more."
The remainder of this attack is a tedious exercise in cautiousness broken up by quick battles. The kobolds really have set up traps everywhere and take full advantage of your team's slow movement to launch periodic ambushes themselves. Fortunately they are very poor warriors even in large numbers and you easily dispatch them. All your fighting eventually leads to a cave, which you sort of figured it would. You warn your team that this place is probably going to be a maze and heavily trapped as well.
"Should we split up so we can cover more ground?" Brenda asks.
"No, we're going to be neck deep in them when we go into that cave. They may be poor warriors, but even enough of them could overwhelm one or two of us. If we stick together we'll be fine. Besides, we're going to be here awhile anyway."
There "awhile" isn't an exaggeration. You spend the remainder of the day and night killing kobolds. Your team seems to enjoy it, but you eventually start to get bored of the monotony. You don't even bat an eye when you come across what seems to be a breeding chamber and you exterminate all the female kobolds and their young. Eventually you reach a large cave clearing where you meet the leader.
"Sssss! Defilersss! Murderersss!" a slightly larger kobold hisses at you from some sort of primitive throne and then orders his guards to attack. It's rather pathetic, as they fare no better than the rest. A few quick sword and axe blows and this kobold chieftain is alone.
While the rest of your team is eager to kill him like the rest, you have a slightly better idea for him. You engage him in singles combat, which is over pretty quickly. You then subdue him with some rope you have in your pack.
"Why are we taking him as prisoner? We're Eternals! We don't take prisoners!" Edgar shouts.
"Yeah, we also aren't supposed to miss obviously placed traps either, so there's a first time for everything. Besides I've got a good idea for this one."
You drag the kobold leader back to town who curses you the whole time in a mixture of his language and yours. When you arrive it is now dawn and the townspeople are surprised to see you back, let alone with a kobold in tow.
You tie the kobold leader to a tree near the center of the town and address everyone.
"Citizens of Dalt! The kobold nest has been completely destroyed. This…thing was the leader of this particular nest and most likely orchestrated the raid; do with him as you will. There of course are other kobold nests in this province, but the Eternals will be taking care of this long overdue problem. All the Empire needs in this matter is your continued obedience and loyalty."
After giving this speech you and your team take your leave and hear the screams of the kobold leader as the villagers torture and rip him apart.
When you arrive back at Fort Glory, other soldiers are surprised to see all of you back alive. It was assumed that at best, half of you would be dead. There is a possible thought of whether you actually succeeded and didn't just come back in failure, but given that Kane took it upon himself to take "trophies" his gruesome necklace of kobold ears makes it pretty clear that the job was done.
When you report however, it seems the fort has undergone a change in leadership
"I'm Lieutenant Anu and now in charge of Fort Glory until further notice. First things first, did you accomplish your mission?
"Mission accomplished, we killed them all lieutenant. All of their warriors, all of their women, all of their babies, pets, their leader, all of them."
"Well always helps to be sure. Which brings me to the next point. Your man Gerald is currently in the stockade. In fact he may be facing execution."
"Might I inquire why, sir?"
"I'd say you'd probably know as much about it as I do, but if I had to guess? Captain pervert put the moves on him and your man took exception to it and killed him. He claims it was an accident, but there's no way the captain twisted his own head ALL THE WAY AROUND just by tripping and falling over."
"If Gerald says it was an accident, then I believe him sir."
"Okay look, I'm not going to sit here and say that the captain wasn't complete scum. I should know I had to serve along side him for the past five years. I saw how he'd have teenage boys brought to his office. Now I know you guys are these Eternals that we've all heard about, but dammit man, we can't just have murders within the ranks, we have to respect some sort of order here!"
"We're all about respecting order sir…I suppose if it is absolutely necessary to execute Gerald, then that will be regrettable. I would however say that Gerald's actions actually contributed to more order here and will better for the Empire in general."
"How so?"
"The removal of captain Pollo, has allowed you to move up in rank and judging by your feelings on this matter you are a person who respects military decorum. I have no doubt, the fort will be run more efficiently now."
Lieutenant Anu chuckles a bit. "I'd almost think you were trying to butter me up to save your guy, but I already know you genuinely believe what you're saying and you're right anyway. (Sigh) Well…I suppose accidents do happen. Nobody here is going to miss Pollo, so I'll have Gerald released and write up a report."
"Sir, can I make a request?"
"Don't you think you're pushing your luck?"
"Not my intention sir, but I was going to ask if there's anything my group could do here that's a little more challenging than killing kobolds?"
"Hmm, yes I imagine you would feel that way...well on the furthest southern edge of the province there have been bands of nomadic raiders and there have been rumors of them organizing under some sort of shaman. Dunno if it's true or not. Of course we could also transfer you someplace where the battle is a little more suited to your violence level."
> You request transfer
You don't see much point in staying in this place anymore, you would most likely serve the Empire better elsewhere. Captain Anu grants the request, though he mentions he knows that a Mr. Mol is taking interest in your progress here, so it'll have to go through him first.
A couple days pass and it is all straightened out. Mr. Mol approves, but he goes with his original plan of separating you all. Brenda and Gerald remain in the Nalin province, Roldan and Warrick go to the Felkan border. You, Kane and Edgar all wind up at the Rask frontier, specifically Fort Defiance. The split is a little odd for all of you, considering you've all been together so long.
You say your goodbyes to Brenda and Gerald first when the caravan comes for you. Next you say your goodbyes to Warrick and Roldan when they make their stop. The remainder of the trip is in relative silence, though sometimes Edgar remarks about how he can't wait to display his true combat skills against better challenges.
Eventually you arrive at the Rask frontier and make your stop at Fort Defiance. You haven't gotten off the caravan five minutes when a man wearing battle armor approaches you.
"Hey are you the Eternals?"
"Yes we are."
"I'm Captain Ian, I've heard about you and while you don't look like much, we'll take anyone at this point. Though I would've preferred more battle mages or even orcs at this point.
Captain Ian begins to give you a run down on the entire area. He mentions that the mortality rate here is high so morale isn't the best. He goes on to mention that Shadow Guard detachments have been assigned here to help out, but between the ogres and the giants there's only so much that even they can do. He mentions since you three have already worked together he's just going to leave you together, but will be assigning you to a new unit where you will have others to command as well.
With the caravan leaving, the three of you head to your new unit. When you see them, quite a few of them are predictably much older than you, but surprisingly you see that half of them are around your age.
"So, you're those Eternals huh?" one the older soldiers says almost dismissively.
"Yes? Did you need something corporal?" you say sensing the hostility.
"Nothing, sergeant. I just wondered if you were." He says backing down from confrontation.
The three of you settle in as you begin your assignment at Fort Defiance.
Year 18
"Kane watch out!" you shout as the wind whips around you and the snowfall nearly blinds your vision.
You can just make out the figure, which you know to be Kane roll out of the way of a club strike from an ogre attempting to attack him from behind.
You look around and see the bloody dead bodies of several members of your team and the ogres that ambushed you. You knew that patrolling the Kragen Pass during a blizzard was a stupid idea, but Captain Ian insisted that you had to go and do it. It's no wonder progress hasn't been made up here with the captain making inept decisions at every turn. He's not like Captain Pollo, but he's not much better. You are starting to seriously wonder about how the Empire keeps allowing such incompetence to pass through.
You run as fast as you can in the snow to help Kane battle the last two ogres. You cleave at the legs of one of the large monsters causing him to fall into the snow then finish him off with another strike through his head. Kane dispatches his own ogre opponent and the battle is finally over.
"Looks like we're the only two left again." Kane says.
"Yeah, I'm getting used to that scenario. Come on, let's head back. This blizzard isn't letting up and we've done all we can here."
You and Kane leave behind the bodies and make your way through the blizzard in silence. It's times like this you half expect Edgar to start going on about how well he did in battle, of course he hasn't done that ever since you lost him in that battle against some giants last year. You never exactly approved of his reckless ways and it's ultimately what got him killed, but you still miss him sometimes.
You are almost at the end of the pass when a large rumbling is heard. You look overhead and even in this blizzard you can see the large figures looming on the cliffs and it's what you originally were concerned about when you had to patrol this path.
"GIANTS! RUN!" you yell and the pair of you attempt to make it out of the pass. Large boulders crash down along side the cliffs with an equally large amount of ice and snow. Kane runs faster and makes it ahead of you, but this only results in you seeing him crushed completely by a falling boulder. You are engulfed in snow and swept up and buried in the stuff. You're disorientated, tired, freezing and slowly suffocating, but with determination, you manage to dig yourself out.
Unfortunately several giants face you when you do dig yourself out. You're out numbered and trapped in the pass. You know that this is most likely going to be your last battle.
You draw your sword and walk towards the giants. It will be a good death, but your only regret is that you will not survive to serve the Empire for longer than you would've liked. |
Unfortunately Pollo is right, the only decision that makes sense is to leave Gerald behind.
Still, you aren't fond of the idea though not necessarily for the moral reasons that most would be. This is an unproductive use of your team's talents and pointless in the scheme of things. You can't believe the Empire would allow such a petty man to be in charge of the safety of a province and why isn't the Emperor aware of such inefficiency?
"Very well."
"I knew you'd see things my way. Have fun playing with the kobolds. You're dismissed."
You leave Pollo's office where your team is still waiting for you.
"Gerald, I regret that you will not be coming with us on this mission. The Captain wants you to stay with him." You say.
"What?! But I'm ready to fight!" he protests.
"There will be other missions, I promise you. We will prove ourselves so well on this one, that they will have no choice but to send us out on a regular basis. However, your orders are clear in this matter, you are to remain here with Captain Pollo."
"B…yes sir."
Just before Gerald goes into the captain's office, you whisper into his ear.
"Accidents happen."
He's a little puzzled by this comment, but you and the rest of your team proceed to your assignment and nobody says anything more about it.
When you finally get to the town, it's a sorry sight. A lot of the buildings are damaged and the streets are filled with debris. There are a few people attempting to clean up the place, but it's clear that they're all very demoralized.
'Oh, I see the Empire has finally decided to help us; well you're too late! The kobolds raided this town last night and as you can see completely trashed the place!" says a disheveled man.
"The Empire has many places it has to protect citizen. It is regrettable that your town was attacked, but we are here now to eliminate the problem."
"You're here now? Where the fuck were you last night when my wife was killed by those ugly little bastards?" the man says getting in your face.
"Calm yourself citizen, this will not help your situation."
"My situation? I just said my wife is fucking DEAD! I don't give a shit about my situation anymore you fucking Empire dickhead! Fuck you and your fucking Emperor!"
It is at this point the man unwisely pushes your chest with his hand and you instantly grab it and break his whole arm. He predictably crumples in excruciating pain, screaming as the bone juts out of the skin and blood runs out of his body into the mud. All the other towns people who have seen this back off or hide, as they are rightfully worried about what you're going to do next.
"Now listen up citizens of Dalt! I understand that you've all been through a lot, but that is not a reason to give in to insolence! You are all Empire subjects and you will show proper respect or what's left of this town will suffer in such a manner that you'll think what the kobolds did was a birthday party."
The man whose arm you broke begins to scream more obscenities at you in between his regular howls of pain. You look at Kane and nod. Kane finishes the man off by quickly decapitating him. You take his head and throw it before one of the crowd of peasants who look on in horror.
"Remember this." You say.
You remain in the town of Dalt for the night and get rooms from an overly cooperative innkeeper. He also tells you a little information about the kobolds such what direction they came from, what sort of equipment they were using and how many there were during the attack. Before getting some rest you spend a little of the time discussing strategy with your team. You all don't show it too much, but you are all a little excited about tomorrow.
The next day you set off towards the wooded hills, it doesn't take long before you see a kobold patrol wandering around. They look exactly like how you've seen them in books, sort of like scaly goblins, but from what you've heard, a lot more cunning.
Your team attempts to be stealthy, but perhaps it's due to the excitement of this first "real" battle. Edgar isn't as silent as he should be and clumsily steps on a few twigs alerting the patrols.
The kobold patrol sees all of you, yell excitedly in their language and run away. Edgar is about to chase them, but you knock him to the ground.
"What the hell?" he says wondering why you stopped him.
"Trap, Edgar. Look." You say and point to a tripwire that would've triggered a spiked log that he almost stepped on.
"Oh." He says.
"You were trained better than that Edgar and we went over this last night! This area is probably going to be filled with traps. Now come on, we don't have the luxury of a surprise attack any more."
The remainder of this attack is a tedious exercise in cautiousness broken up by quick battles. The kobolds really have set up traps everywhere and take full advantage of your team's slow movement to launch periodic ambushes themselves. Fortunately they are very poor warriors even in large numbers and you easily dispatch them. All your fighting eventually leads to a cave, which you sort of figured it would. You warn your team that this place is probably going to be a maze and heavily trapped as well.
"Should we split up so we can cover more ground?" Brenda asks.
"No, we're going to be neck deep in them when we go into that cave. They may be poor warriors, but even enough of them could overwhelm one or two of us. If we stick together we'll be fine. Besides, we're going to be here awhile anyway."
There "awhile" isn't an exaggeration. You spend the remainder of the day and night killing kobolds. Your team seems to enjoy it, but you eventually start to get bored of the monotony. You don't even bat an eye when you come across what seems to be a breeding chamber and you exterminate all the female kobolds and their young. Eventually you reach a large cave clearing where you meet the leader.
"Sssss! Defilersss! Murderersss!" a slightly larger kobold hisses at you from some sort of primitive throne and then orders his guards to attack. It's rather pathetic, as they fare no better than the rest. A few quick sword and axe blows and this kobold chieftain is alone.
While the rest of your team is eager to kill him like the rest, you have a slightly better idea for him. You engage him in singles combat, which is over pretty quickly. You then subdue him with some rope you have in your pack.
"Why are we taking him as prisoner? We're Eternals! We don't take prisoners!" Edgar shouts.
"Yeah, we also aren't supposed to miss obviously placed traps either, so there's a first time for everything. Besides I've got a good idea for this one."
You drag the kobold leader back to town who curses you the whole time in a mixture of his language and yours. When you arrive it is now dawn and the townspeople are surprised to see you back, let alone with a kobold in tow.
You tie the kobold leader to a tree near the center of the town and address everyone.
"Citizens of Dalt! The kobold nest has been completely destroyed. This…thing was the leader of this particular nest and most likely orchestrated the raid; do with him as you will. There of course are other kobold nests in this province, but the Eternals will be taking care of this long overdue problem. All the Empire needs in this matter is your continued obedience and loyalty."
After giving this speech you and your team take your leave and hear the screams of the kobold leader as the villagers torture and rip him apart.
When you arrive back at Fort Glory, other soldiers are surprised to see all of you back alive. It was assumed that at best, half of you would be dead. There is a possible thought of whether you actually succeeded and didn't just come back in failure, but given that Kane took it upon himself to take "trophies" his gruesome necklace of kobold ears makes it pretty clear that the job was done.
When you report however, it seems the fort has undergone a change in leadership
"I'm Lieutenant Anu and now in charge of Fort Glory until further notice. First things first, did you accomplish your mission?
"Mission accomplished, we killed them all lieutenant. All of their warriors, all of their women, all of their babies, pets, their leader, all of them."
"Well always helps to be sure. Which brings me to the next point. Your man Gerald is currently in the stockade. In fact he may be facing execution."
"Might I inquire why, sir?"
"I'd say you'd probably know as much about it as I do, but if I had to guess? Captain pervert put the moves on him and your man took exception to it and killed him. He claims it was an accident, but there's no way the captain twisted his own head ALL THE WAY AROUND just by tripping and falling over."
"If Gerald says it was an accident, then I believe him sir."
"Okay look, I'm not going to sit here and say that the captain wasn't complete scum. I should know I had to serve along side him for the past five years. I saw how he'd have teenage boys brought to his office. Now I know you guys are these Eternals that we've all heard about, but dammit man, we can't just have murders within the ranks, we have to respect some sort of order here!"
"We're all about respecting order sir…I suppose if it is absolutely necessary to execute Gerald, then that will be regrettable. I would however say that Gerald's actions actually contributed to more order here and will better for the Empire in general."
"How so?"
"The removal of captain Pollo, has allowed you to move up in rank and judging by your feelings on this matter you are a person who respects military decorum. I have no doubt, the fort will be run more efficiently now."
Lieutenant Anu chuckles a bit. "I'd almost think you were trying to butter me up to save your guy, but I already know you genuinely believe what you're saying and you're right anyway. (Sigh) Well…I suppose accidents do happen. Nobody here is going to miss Pollo, so I'll have Gerald released and write up a report."
"Sir, can I make a request?"
"Don't you think you're pushing your luck?"
"Not my intention sir, but I was going to ask if there's anything my group could do here that's a little more challenging than killing kobolds?"
"Hmm, yes I imagine you would feel that way...well on the furthest southern edge of the province there have been bands of nomadic raiders and there have been rumors of them organizing under some sort of shaman. Dunno if it's true or not. Of course we could also transfer you someplace where the battle is a little more suited to your violence level."
> You face the raiders
You decide that it might be wise to maintain a presence here, after all there is still work to be done and you're confident that things will be better at the fort now. Lieutenant Anu nods and says you can set out in a couple days to the town of Jekka. He mentions that the nomads have never been a problem like the kobold are, but lately they have been reaching that level. He also says they aren't native to Nalin, but rather the desert land south of it.
You spend the next couple of days at the fort are spent honing your weapon skills and telling your team to do likewise. Gerald joins you after being released from the stockade. He looks a little embarrassed and you reprimand him for his lack of finesse, but welcome him back.
Eventually you set off for the southern Nalin border. The journey isn't as uneventful as the first mission and you encounter a few kobolds attacking travelers along the roads. You easily dispatch them of course.
The town of Jekka is in much better shape than Dalt, but its obvious the people here have been suffering from attacks.
"Empire soldiers? Here? I thought you lot were chasing down kobolds to waste time with the likes of us." A man says to you. He looks to be some sort of town sheriff.
"All Empire towns are under our protection citizen. We have heard this one is suffering heavy raids from the desert nomads."
" Well, we've been doing okay so far, but a few of the other border villages have gotten it pretty bad. One of them was totally destroyed. Those lizard riders have never been this bad or numerous before. The weird thing is, they just destroy and kill, they don't actually do any proper raiding or looting, not that it really matters. but for the past few months."
"We heard rumors of a shaman uniting them."
"Yeah that's the rumor, but really nobody knows what's going on with them. They make quick attacks and then run back to their accursed desert. So when are more Empire soldiers coming?"
"They aren't."
"What?! We've been holding out for months with no hope in sight and now that you give us a little bit, you take it away again?"
"Citizen, I advise you to calm yourself." You warn, wondering if you're going to have to make another point like you did in Dalt. You don't since thought since the sheriff has more sense.
"Alright, alright, but I'm telling you there are a lot of those lizard riders! I hope you're more than just regular Empire soldiers. You guys Shadow Guard or something?"
"We're Eternals."
You set up your staging point in Jekka. The desert raiders will probably attack this town again as usual, so you might as well take advantage of the fact. The waiting is tedious, but eventually after few days it pays off.
Several of the raiders appear in the distance and make no hesitation in their attack. The raiders are trying to rely on intimidation, because they sure aren't relying on strategy and only attack the town from one direction. The lizard creatures that the raiders ride might be intimidating to the average citizen, but you've fought bigger creatures during training. They're rather clumsy beasts actually and when you and your team begin to use your own hit and run tactics, they start to collide into each other causing problems for the raiders.
As for the raiders themselves, they prove to be barely better fighters than the kobolds after dismounting several of them. Underneath the desert protection gear they wear, they don't appear to be human or any other race you're familiar with, but they bleed just like all them and that's the important thing.
As many battles often go, this one is over quicker than it felt. The remaining raiders run off and you order your people to mount up and chase them down which is fairly easy to do.
Jekka suffered some damage and a few dead, but overall the townspeople couldn't be happier with the outcome and most shower you with praise. However, you get the impression that you're going to be facing more of these raiders in the near future and you're right.
A couple days pass and another raid on the town of Jekka occurs in the same exact manner, then again a few days after that. A week passes and there are no more raids, but that doesn't mean they've stopped. You already know they've been attacking several settlements, so you tell Warrick and Roldan to scout out the closest ones to see what their situation is while you try to build some proper defenses for Jekka.
A week passes and you learn more about your foes from a villager who survived the destruction of his home. The desert raiders (or the Usksha as you've come to find out their proper name) have indeed been united under one banner by a shaman of some sort. The villager says he saw this being with his own eyes and was spared for the sole purpose to warn all that the Usksha will no longer tolerate a foreign presence encroaching on their desert. This shaman said he has been chosen personally by their god Usk to destroy all those that do and that the town of Jekka will not be able to resist the inevitable destiny that it will fall.
"So, he's coming here then? Good, saves us the trouble of hunting him down." You reply.
"Combined with this information and based on what Warrick and I have scouted out, it sounds like there will be even more of them. Possibly a full blown army. We might need reinforcements from Fort Glory." Roldan says.
"Reinforcements? Hah! We've beaten them several times with ease!"
"Would they even get here in time? We don't exactly know when the attack will come." Brenda asks.
"They might or they might not, still we should try. Find out who the best runner is in this town and have them travel to Fort Glory with this news. We can continue to prepare in the meantime." You say.
The next morning several Uskshas appear in the distance like the other times you fought them. Then more show up, then even more. The town sheriff completely panics and says he's never seen this many before. This of course causes most of the other townies to panic as well. You slap him and tell him if he and anyone else aren't going to be helpful then they need to stay out of the way and find someplace to hide.
They come at you screaming and yelling in their barbarian language and suddenly a huge worm thing comes out of the ground in the center of town.
"Ha ha! At last a real fight!" Edgar yells and runs at it immediately as it destroys the nearby tavern. You order Kane to come with you to help Edgar while the rest try to delay the rest of the usksha. You just hope the barricades hold up long enough for them to greatly whittle the numbers down.
You, Edgar and Kane approach the great worm, which bashes its great body into the side of another building, killing many townspeople hiding inside.
"YOU! You think you can destroy me? I am an avatar of Usk! How can you destroy a god when you are, but a mere child of a corrupt empire?" you suddenly hear in your mind.
It takes a split moment, but you realize that this beast is the shaman. He has used magic of some kind to transform himself into this thing. It doesn't matter how much favor he has from his god though, he isn't one and will die like the rest.
Using his daggers like climbing gear, Kane jumps as high as he can and sink them into the shaman, while you and Edgar attempt to chop at his body like it was a tree. The shaman roars and attempts to smash you with his body, but you pull Edgar out of the way and Kane jumps off before being crushed. The shaman burrows back into the hole he came from and a few moments later he breaks through in another area of the town and begins destroying the barricades. You reach the shaman just in time for him to sink back into his hole again, while usksha pour in through the broken wall.
"Shit!" Edgar shouts in exasperation.
"Plug up that opening with their dead bodies!" you shout as you chop off the head of one their lizards before doing the same to the fallen rider.
Holding the back the tide of usksha isn't exactly what you want to be doing though, you want to take down that shaman, do that and this battle is over.
When you hear him break through the ground again elsewhere in town, you tell Kane and Edgar to hold the line here, while you go see if you can get him.
You see him near the center of town again trying to finish destroying the buildings there. You chop down a few usksha near him and resume attempting to bring him down. He uses his crushing attack like last time, but this time you anticipate and not only dodge, but you manage to run your sword into his eye when his head is at your level. He bellows in pain and attempts to escape again, but you won't let go of your sword and pull it towards you as he pulls backwards. You fall to the ground as the sword finishes slicing through the shaman's flesh leaving a gapping wound where his eye and part of his "face" would be.
You then see the worm collapse to the ground and begin to glow. Some of the others nearby, human and usksha alike stop fighting to stand and watch in wonder. The shaman transforms back into his natural form, his head and body displaying heavy wounds.
"No…can't…you…why…we hate you…you aren't…wanted…your empire will die…we will reclaim what is oursss…" are the scattered words you hear in your head as you approach the shaman's broken body.
"Stop talking." You say and run your sword through his other eye.
It is at this point you hear the howls of several usksha as their mental link with their leader has been severed. You, your team and even a few vengeful townspeople butcher the remaining usksha that don't get away while attempting to retreat.
Jekka is half in ruins and many are dead, but the battle has been won.
The following day a detachment of troops arrive from Fort Glory. They look at the carnage and the platoon leader reports to you.
"I'm Corporal Delan and I'm here to help you with…shit, what the hell happened here?"
"Victory, corporal. Victory." You say.
"So…the threat is gone?"
"I wouldn't say it's gone, but it won't be rearing its head for a long time."
"I say we should march into that desert and wipe them out permanently, then we'd never have to worry about them ever again!" Edgar says.
"Well, if you decide to do that, we'll help. I know you've been busy down here so I don't know if you've heard, but we've made great strides in eliminating the kobolds, so Captian Anu told us to help you with this problem as much as we can.
> You march into the desert
The usksha are broken and on the run, the opportunity to eliminate them as a future threat is certainly there, along with extending the Empire's influence south of the Nalin province. Your recent victories have filled you with confidence and you agree you should mount an attack on the usksha.
"You can't be serious! Look I know you guys are Eternals, and I won't deny that you're the best warriors I've ever seen, but even you won't be able to conquer the usksha in their desert! They've lived there for centuries, even before the Empire existed! They know it like nobody else, you'll be outnumbered and fighting the elements themselves!" the Jekka sheriff exclaims. Somehow he survived the battle by hiding no doubt.
Perhaps he is content on being a coward all his life, but you were meant for much more! You are an Eternal and the Emperor himself will reward you himself when you make the first steps in civilizing the desert. You slap him again and tell him that you'll need as much water as everyone can carry.
After a period of rest, you, your team and Delan's men set off for the desert. You figure the best way to approach this is to follow the usksha's tracks. This works out well at first as the lizard mounts are heavy footed creatures that leave deep prints, so you come across several small bands of fleeing usksha.
When you begin to leave the Nalin province and enter the desert, the prints get harder to track. You follow tracks for two days before you find more usksha. Still, you aren't finding any large settlements.
By day four and Delan's men are starting to complain. He tries to maintain order, but it's obvious they can't take the heat of the day and cold of the night. Your own team is fairing better, but even a couple of them are starting to make comments.
On the seventh night, you're ambushed by several usksha who spring up from the sands itself; they manage to kill several of Delan's men before you dispatch them.
"Sergeant, I think we need to get the hell out of this desert. There's nothing here, but sand and death!"
"Then leave weakling! We're more than able to carry out this mission ourselves! We don't need anybody! We're Eternals!" Edgar shouts.
"I don't doubt our abilities sir, but I'm beginning to wonder if this isn't a waste of time. We've defeated the usksha and chased them deep into their own land. Maybe we've made our point." Roldan says.
"I'm finding myself agreeing sir, we could better serve the Empire elsewhere." Gerald adds.
"Duly noted. We're sticking with the original plan and as for you Delan, you're under my command too, so you aren't going anywhere either, now I advise you to find your guts and keep what men you have left in line, before I take away what little authority you still have left."
Corporal Delan obeys and silently slinks back to his men. Your own people obey as well, but you know that the voices of dissent are already there. Still, you're convinced that you'll find something of importance out here along with wiping out usksha.
On day ten, a strange reptilian creature attacks you. The first instinct is to defend yourself of course, but when it turns Warrick and Gerald to stone instantly, even you find yourself worried.
"Don't look at it! It's got some sort of magic attack!" you shout and put your shield to cover yourself.
Delan and his couple remaining men don't even stick around they turn and run completely. Edgar closes his eyes and swings wildly at the beast, but only manages to get himself mauled by the creature's sharp teeth and claws. The distraction is enough for Brenda to shoot several arrows in the beast while its back is to her. The beast gives a final bellow and dies.
You survey the damage and it's pretty bad. You've lost two men, and looking at Edgar on the ground it'll soon be three. He can't even form any words, he just looks up at the sky gurgling and spitting up blood and trying to clutch at an arm which is no longer there.
"I told you! I told you we should've gone back!" Roldan screams.
"Silence! I'm in charge here and you won't speak to me like that again!" you say.
"Somebody needs to tell you something, because…"
You lose your patience from a combination of the disrespect, the loss, the failure, the heat, all of it. You punch Roldan causing him to fall to the ground. He looks up in disbelief at first, but then begins to laugh.
"Ha ha…ha ha ha ha ha! We…ha ha ha! Found more usksha!" he laughs and points. You all turn to see a sizable group of mounted usksha in the distance. They don't move in either, instead they shoot at you with their bows.
Brenda catches an arrow to her leg before you can sound a retreat. You and Kane run, but Roldan just sits there still laughing, the next time you turn your head to look back, he's no longer sitting up. Brenda tries to keep up, but the arrow in her leg slows her down and eventually she catches two more arrows in her back, killing her much in the same way she killed that strange beast.
Eventually you and Kane get away, but in all the excitement you don't know where you are and you don't even have the tracks you were following to go back to. Under better and less stressful conditions you might get your bearings again, but you never do.
Your next few days involve wandering the desert being continually worn down by usksha ambushes and the sun. You leave Kane's dehydrated body and continue alone, but not for long as you eventually also succumb to the heat.
As you lay dying your thoughts of glory are gone and though dehydrated, you manage to shed a single tear for your failure to serve the Emperor. |
You decide that it might be wise to maintain a presence here, after all there is still work to be done and you're confident that things will be better at the fort now. Lieutenant Anu nods and says you can set out in a couple days to the town of Jekka. He mentions that the nomads have never been a problem like the kobold are, but lately they have been reaching that level. He also says they aren't native to Nalin, but rather the desert land south of it.
You spend the next couple of days at the fort are spent honing your weapon skills and telling your team to do likewise. Gerald joins you after being released from the stockade. He looks a little embarrassed and you reprimand him for his lack of finesse, but welcome him back.
Eventually you set off for the southern Nalin border. The journey isn't as uneventful as the first mission and you encounter a few kobolds attacking travelers along the roads. You easily dispatch them of course.
The town of Jekka is in much better shape than Dalt, but its obvious the people here have been suffering from attacks.
"Empire soldiers? Here? I thought you lot were chasing down kobolds to waste time with the likes of us." A man says to you. He looks to be some sort of town sheriff.
"All Empire towns are under our protection citizen. We have heard this one is suffering heavy raids from the desert nomads."
" Well, we've been doing okay so far, but a few of the other border villages have gotten it pretty bad. One of them was totally destroyed. Those lizard riders have never been this bad or numerous before. The weird thing is, they just destroy and kill, they don't actually do any proper raiding or looting, not that it really matters. but for the past few months."
"We heard rumors of a shaman uniting them."
"Yeah that's the rumor, but really nobody knows what's going on with them. They make quick attacks and then run back to their accursed desert. So when are more Empire soldiers coming?"
"They aren't."
"What?! We've been holding out for months with no hope in sight and now that you give us a little bit, you take it away again?"
"Citizen, I advise you to calm yourself." You warn, wondering if you're going to have to make another point like you did in Dalt. You don't since thought since the sheriff has more sense.
"Alright, alright, but I'm telling you there are a lot of those lizard riders! I hope you're more than just regular Empire soldiers. You guys Shadow Guard or something?"
"We're Eternals."
You set up your staging point in Jekka. The desert raiders will probably attack this town again as usual, so you might as well take advantage of the fact. The waiting is tedious, but eventually after few days it pays off.
Several of the raiders appear in the distance and make no hesitation in their attack. The raiders are trying to rely on intimidation, because they sure aren't relying on strategy and only attack the town from one direction. The lizard creatures that the raiders ride might be intimidating to the average citizen, but you've fought bigger creatures during training. They're rather clumsy beasts actually and when you and your team begin to use your own hit and run tactics, they start to collide into each other causing problems for the raiders.
As for the raiders themselves, they prove to be barely better fighters than the kobolds after dismounting several of them. Underneath the desert protection gear they wear, they don't appear to be human or any other race you're familiar with, but they bleed just like all them and that's the important thing.
As many battles often go, this one is over quicker than it felt. The remaining raiders run off and you order your people to mount up and chase them down which is fairly easy to do.
Jekka suffered some damage and a few dead, but overall the townspeople couldn't be happier with the outcome and most shower you with praise. However, you get the impression that you're going to be facing more of these raiders in the near future and you're right.
A couple days pass and another raid on the town of Jekka occurs in the same exact manner, then again a few days after that. A week passes and there are no more raids, but that doesn't mean they've stopped. You already know they've been attacking several settlements, so you tell Warrick and Roldan to scout out the closest ones to see what their situation is while you try to build some proper defenses for Jekka.
A week passes and you learn more about your foes from a villager who survived the destruction of his home. The desert raiders (or the Usksha as you've come to find out their proper name) have indeed been united under one banner by a shaman of some sort. The villager says he saw this being with his own eyes and was spared for the sole purpose to warn all that the Usksha will no longer tolerate a foreign presence encroaching on their desert. This shaman said he has been chosen personally by their god Usk to destroy all those that do and that the town of Jekka will not be able to resist the inevitable destiny that it will fall.
"So, he's coming here then? Good, saves us the trouble of hunting him down." You reply.
"Combined with this information and based on what Warrick and I have scouted out, it sounds like there will be even more of them. Possibly a full blown army. We might need reinforcements from Fort Glory." Roldan says.
"Reinforcements? Hah! We've beaten them several times with ease!"
"Would they even get here in time? We don't exactly know when the attack will come." Brenda asks.
"They might or they might not, still we should try. Find out who the best runner is in this town and have them travel to Fort Glory with this news. We can continue to prepare in the meantime." You say.
The next morning several Uskshas appear in the distance like the other times you fought them. Then more show up, then even more. The town sheriff completely panics and says he's never seen this many before. This of course causes most of the other townies to panic as well. You slap him and tell him if he and anyone else aren't going to be helpful then they need to stay out of the way and find someplace to hide.
They come at you screaming and yelling in their barbarian language and suddenly a huge worm thing comes out of the ground in the center of town.
"Ha ha! At last a real fight!" Edgar yells and runs at it immediately as it destroys the nearby tavern. You order Kane to come with you to help Edgar while the rest try to delay the rest of the usksha. You just hope the barricades hold up long enough for them to greatly whittle the numbers down.
You, Edgar and Kane approach the great worm, which bashes its great body into the side of another building, killing many townspeople hiding inside.
"YOU! You think you can destroy me? I am an avatar of Usk! How can you destroy a god when you are, but a mere child of a corrupt empire?" you suddenly hear in your mind.
It takes a split moment, but you realize that this beast is the shaman. He has used magic of some kind to transform himself into this thing. It doesn't matter how much favor he has from his god though, he isn't one and will die like the rest.
Using his daggers like climbing gear, Kane jumps as high as he can and sink them into the shaman, while you and Edgar attempt to chop at his body like it was a tree. The shaman roars and attempts to smash you with his body, but you pull Edgar out of the way and Kane jumps off before being crushed. The shaman burrows back into the hole he came from and a few moments later he breaks through in another area of the town and begins destroying the barricades. You reach the shaman just in time for him to sink back into his hole again, while usksha pour in through the broken wall.
"Shit!" Edgar shouts in exasperation.
"Plug up that opening with their dead bodies!" you shout as you chop off the head of one their lizards before doing the same to the fallen rider.
Holding the back the tide of usksha isn't exactly what you want to be doing though, you want to take down that shaman, do that and this battle is over.
When you hear him break through the ground again elsewhere in town, you tell Kane and Edgar to hold the line here, while you go see if you can get him.
You see him near the center of town again trying to finish destroying the buildings there. You chop down a few usksha near him and resume attempting to bring him down. He uses his crushing attack like last time, but this time you anticipate and not only dodge, but you manage to run your sword into his eye when his head is at your level. He bellows in pain and attempts to escape again, but you won't let go of your sword and pull it towards you as he pulls backwards. You fall to the ground as the sword finishes slicing through the shaman's flesh leaving a gapping wound where his eye and part of his "face" would be.
You then see the worm collapse to the ground and begin to glow. Some of the others nearby, human and usksha alike stop fighting to stand and watch in wonder. The shaman transforms back into his natural form, his head and body displaying heavy wounds.
"No…can't…you…why…we hate you…you aren't…wanted…your empire will die…we will reclaim what is oursss…" are the scattered words you hear in your head as you approach the shaman's broken body.
"Stop talking." You say and run your sword through his other eye.
It is at this point you hear the howls of several usksha as their mental link with their leader has been severed. You, your team and even a few vengeful townspeople butcher the remaining usksha that don't get away while attempting to retreat.
Jekka is half in ruins and many are dead, but the battle has been won.
The following day a detachment of troops arrive from Fort Glory. They look at the carnage and the platoon leader reports to you.
"I'm Corporal Delan and I'm here to help you with…shit, what the hell happened here?"
"Victory, corporal. Victory." You say.
"So…the threat is gone?"
"I wouldn't say it's gone, but it won't be rearing its head for a long time."
"I say we should march into that desert and wipe them out permanently, then we'd never have to worry about them ever again!" Edgar says.
"Well, if you decide to do that, we'll help. I know you've been busy down here so I don't know if you've heard, but we've made great strides in eliminating the kobolds, so Captian Anu told us to help you with this problem as much as we can.
> You leave it alone
Marching into the desert without a grand plan other than simple slaughter isn't much of a plan. The usksha are nomads anyway, you'd never be able to catch all of them in their home turf.
"No, I believe we've taken care of the major problem, but I think you should stay here and oversee the safety of this town now. We'll head back to Fort Glory and report the situation." You tell Delan.
As you pack up and start to leave, Edgar begins to complain.
"What are we doing? We should be trying to hunt down the rest of the usksha!"
"Our mission here is done, the usksha have been defeated. If we get ordered to mount an expedition into the desert then we shall do so."
"Bah! Anu is probably going to assign us to fight kobolds again! We should be taking the initiative!"
"It seems every time you take the initiative, I end up having to help you in some way. I'd recommend that you worry less about fighting and more about your combat techniques."
At this point Edgar gets noticeably mad, but says nothing and walks off. You're starting to get slightly concerned about him. You'd rather not have to teach him a lesson like you did when you were still training under Mistress.
When you arrive at Fort Glory and report to Captain Anu he's pleased with what you've accomplished and is impressed. He says he'd like to keep you here to finish up wiping out the kobold infestation, but he's received word from the top that your team is to be transferred elsewhere.
"Where are we going sir?"
"The Rask frontier and I don't mind saying I don't envy you."
"I've heard of the place before. What is the situation there?"
"Bad, worse and downright horrible. As far as I know the Empire has been trying to establish order there for decades and not making any progress."
"Captain, I certainly hope you don't make it a habit of saying disparaging things about the Empire." A man says walking into the room. It's Mr. Mol.
"Uh no sir. Sorry sir." Captain Anu says sheepishly.
Mr. Mol overlooks his comments and speaks to you directly.
"Ignore the captain's words, everyone exaggerates the situation at the Rask frontier. While the area is having some problems, the fact remains if it really was so bad there, we would've pulled out a long time ago. Anyway, congratulations on your latest mission. Couldn't help overhearing your report in the next room, quite impressive. Which makes me believe it was a good idea to transfer you now."
"The Eternals are ready to serve the Emperor wherever he may need us sir." You say.
"And the Emperor will always appreciate your service. He has been watching you, you know. He always is. That is why he believes you would be most effective apart from each other."
"Sir?"
"You are Eternals, m'boy. You were bred to lead as well as fight. You've already proven yourself to be able to do both, but your fellow Eternals will never reach their fullest potential if they live under your shadow. All of you will be separated and given your own commands in territories the Emperor needs you the most. I have no doubt you all will be successful and honor the Emperor with your future victories."
"W..we will sir, but you said territories. Are we not all being sent to the Rask frontier?"
"Oh I think the captain misunderstood. A few of you are being sent there, but some of you are staying here, and others are yet being sent elsewhere. Here, here's your orders, you can inform the rest of your team, I'm sure they'll be excited to hear this news too, oh and consider yourself promoted to lieutenant. The rest of your team members will probably be promoted to sergeant rank when they officially get their assignments. I think that's about it. A caravan will be here to transfer some of you to your new assignments in a few days. Good day."
As Mr. Mol goes walking out the office, you feel a little strange. Your team has been together so long, it feels weird to know that you're going to be split apart.
"Sorry for the wrong information, I thought all of you would be sent to the Rask frontier. Well I guess I'm glad to know some of your are staying, heh…are you okay?" Captain Anu asks.
"Huh? Oh yes. I'm okay captain. If you'll excuse me I have to inform my team of their new assignments."
"Certainly. Dismissed."
You inform your team of the news and there is a mixture of feelings. There is some excitement of gaining their own commands, but are still a little apprehensive about splitting up. Well all of them except Edgar who seems to be solely overjoyed that he's getting his own command.
"Okay, Roldan and Brenda, you're staying here."
"Damn, I was hoping I'd at least get to go some place different." Brenda says.
"Make no mistake, this area still needs order established. I believe you and Roldan will do a fine job in continuing the reputation of excellence that we have built here."
You continue with the list.
"Gerald and Warrick, you're being assigned along the Felkan border. Apparently the non-aggression treaty the Empire had with the Felkan Kingdom has expired and tensions have been high. War with them may even break out."
"Interesting. Well if war does break out, we'll be the first one to show the Felkans the error of defying the Emperor's mercy." Warrick says.
"Yeah, yeah! Let's get on with it, where am I going?" Edgar interrupts.
You glare at Edgar and then continue.
"You, Kane and I are all being sent to the Rask frontier."
"As it should be. My skills were going to waste here."
"Edgar, I'm going to say this while I'm still your superior. I certainly hope you realize that this isn't a game and you'll prove yourself to be a competent leader."
"Hey, I'm just as much of a leader as you are! The difference is I take risks and that will be a trait that will necessary in a place like the Rask frontier! I will rise up in the ranks and bring honor to the name Eternal and glory to the Emperor!"
"You mean glory to yourself because you feel like you have something to prove." You say.
"And you don't? You're a hypocrite anyway! Always were ever since we trained under Mistress! I still recall you begging for your life to her as she crushed you under her boot. From that day on you were always trying to prove yourself and beating the bloody pulp out everyone."
"And as I recall you were on that end several times Edgar. Is that why you're still trying to prove yourself?"
"You wanna try that now?" Edgar says getting in your face and at this point all of your fellow Eternals intervene to break up a potential fight.
"Hey come on you guys! We can't be seen fighting each other like this! We're Eternals, we put all that stuff behind us back in training. We're professionals and supposed to be setting the example for the Empire!" Roldan says.
Edgar brushes himself and backs off.
"Tell you what Roldan. You set the example for the Empire. All of you set the example. In the meantime, I'll be scoring victories and actually serving the Emperor by conquering land in his name."
And with these last words, he takes his leave all of you.
The last few days together are a little awkward with what transpired between you and Edgar. Still you say your goodbyes to Roldan and Brenda when the caravan comes.
A few days after that, you then say your goodbyes to Warrick and Gerald.
You, Edgar and Kane sit in silence for the remainder of the trip. Eventually you arrive at the Rask frontier and make your stop at Fort Destiny. You haven't gotten off the caravan five minutes when a woman wearing battle armor approaches you.
"Hey are you the Eternals?"
"Yes we are."
"I'm Captain Krozer, I've heard a lot about you and wanted to meet you personally. Welcome to hell."
Captain Krozer begins to give you a run down on the entire area. She mentions that the mortality rate here is high so morale isn't the best, but she hopes that you and the other Eternals assigned here can rally some sort hope here again.
Captain Krozer also goes on to tell you that there's been a slight change of plans in your assignments. She says that you're still staying here, but that Kane and Edgar are going to Fort Defiance, which is further north. Probably for the best considering what transpired between you and Edgar.
Kane nods a dignified goodbye to you, and gets back on the caravan; Edgar of course isn't as pleasant and gives you a hostile glare before leaving.
With the caravan leaving, you head to your new unit. When you see them, quite a few of them are predictably much older than you, but surprisingly you see that half of them are around your age.
"So, you're one those Eternals huh?" one the older soldiers says almost dismissively. You're in no mood to warn anyone this time, so you go straight to the point and throw him to the floor with his arm painfully twisted behind his back.
"Correct, and you'll address me as sir or lieutenant if you want to keep this arm, because it'll be very hard to continue doing your duty for the Emperor with just a stump. Understand?"
"Argh. Y..yes sir!"
And so begins your assignment in the Rask frontier.
>
Chapter 2A: For The Empire!
Year 20
"Watch it the last ones are coming from the left side!" you shout, pointing at the barbarian wolfmen breaking through the barricade.
Two of your number go down before the might of the wolfmen. As always you find yourself having to do things yourself. Not that you're adverse to placing yourself in the thick of battle, but sometimes you get a little tired of having to micromanage.
One of the wolfmen goes down by your blade with ease, the other three however are shot full of bolts, though you were very nearly in the crossfire.
"DAMMIT, watch where you're shooting!" You shout at the dark elven mercenaries.
"Oh stop being so dramatic, we've been shooting with these crossbows longer than you've even been alive I'd wager." One of them replies, followed by a few snickers.
You shake your head at the fact that you have to routinely work with them, let alone having to put up with their kind. Then again you've had to put up with a lot around here for the past four years.
"Are we done fighting these dogs now? When are we going to get back to killing more sveld? That's a lot more fun." One of the mercenaries says.
"You aren't getting paid to have fun svelk! You're getting paid to do your job. If you really want to go murder your tree loving cousins so bad, we're not stopping you." You say.
"Whatever monkey, our job here is done, we're heading back. Let us know when you need our help again." The mercenary says and they leave.
You survey the damage to the logging camp and it's going to be awhile before this place is up and running to it's full capabilities again. Still, today is a victory and despite everything, you've managed to eliminate more enemies even if it does seem like they are everywhere in this harsh cold land.
Unfortunately nowadays the Rask frontier isn't the only place where the Empire has been having problems. Open war broke out with the Felkan Kingdom a couple years ago. Sometimes you wonder how things are going with Warrick and Gerald, but you've never heard anything about them, or from them.
In fact you rarely hear news from anywhere unless it directly concerns you defending mining towns, logging town, or outposts from barbarians or the forest elves. It's never pretty here, but you can only imagine what they deal with up at Fort Defiance where they routinely face ogres and sometimes even giants. You have heard that Edgar has made quite a name for himself with some of his actions. In a way you're glad, because he's living up to the title of an Eternal and doing honor by serving with distinction…still, knowing him he's doing it all to try to "beat" you.
As for you, you've made quite a name for yourself as well. You have improved the mortality rate of the soldiers here a little (most notably the ones serving under you), but you've also managed to successfully defend several towns with low citizen casualties too.
The greatest accomplishments of yours are the complete destruction of several hostile barbarian tribes. The Black Wolves, the Enclave of the Bear, the Blood Boars, and other minor shape changing tribes have all been exterminated thanks to your relentless nature. Indeed, you've become so infamous that the barbarian tribes in this land have come to call you the "The Bane of Rask."
This recent battle was a last desperate regroup attack by one of the tribes, the "Silver Fangs" after you wiped out all their women and children in an attack on their camp. Grim business to be sure, but it wasn't first time and it certainly won't be the last. These tribes must learn that they cannot stand against the might of the Empire or the Emperor. If they can only learn that with their extinction then so be it.
You report your victory to Captain Krozer.
"Excellent as always lieutenant. I know time after time I can count on you. Which leads me to the next major task. From what I can tell we've managed to eliminate the major threats in this particular area of the Rask frontier, but we have two left. The forest elves and the Wendigo tribe are the two in question and I'm wondering which one we should focus our attention on first."
"Well I can tell you that the Wendigo tribe will be a challenge. They're the biggest, toughest and meanest of all the barbarian shape shifters. So far we haven't had a large battle with them yet, but with our extermination of the other tribes, the time is getting closer. As for the elves, it will be more tedious than anything as they use a lot of guerilla tactics and such. We've still never found any sort of home, base or camp of theirs, but I suppose those dark elven mercs will be more than willing to help us with eliminating them. I'm sure their leader, Edolith will most likely demand a high price as usual though." You say.
"(Sigh) Yeah, I'm sure she will. Things are never easy here. Fuck it; we're pushing forward on both groups right now and putting an end to it once and for all. The question is, would you prefer to lead a company against the Wendigo tribe or go on a seek and destroy mission on the forest elves."
> You attack the Wendigo tribe
"While I have every desire to see both of these blights erased from the Empire's lands, I believe my abilities would be best served in leading the attack against the Wendigo tribe, captain." You say.
"I had a feeling you'd be more drawn to that idea, and you are probably the best person for it, seeing how many victories you have against the barbarians tribes here. Very well, I shall send another officer to lead the mission against the elves and I hope those mercenaries lower their price in exchange for a chance to kill their tree loving kin. In fact I may go along on that mission." Captain Krozer replies.
"You are captain?"
"Yes, someone needs to keep an eye on those shifty bastards. Besides I find that I've been getting stuck behind the desk too much lately. It'll be good to be back out in the field. Don't want to become like one of those fat self-important generals that do nothing except point to maps and make equally fat musings on tactics. A true leader should lead from the front, I'm sure you agree."
"It is preferable yes…but I do understand the need to keep those with keen military minds safe from major war zones. Such people have their place as all do in their service of the Emperor."
"Why lieutenant, are you complimenting me on my intelligence? It's not like you to flirt." Captain Krozer asks in a tone slightly friendlier than usual, it catches you a little off guard.
"I…no! I mean yes, you are very intelligent, but…"
"Relax lieutenant, just having a little fun, didn't mean to put you on the spot. Anyway, we'll pick this up later, you better get prepared for your mission, and good luck."
You do exactly that, get prepared. You know this will not be an easy battle. You fought a member of the wendigos by yourself before and it was one of your greatest fights. Fighting an entire tribe of them even with an entire company behind you will not make it easier. Most of the men while capable soldiers, they are still just recruits in some ways when facing the shear might and savagery of these barbarians, let alone a tribe like the wendigos. At this point you wish you had a few battle wizards or even orcs in your ranks, but most of those have been assigned either at Fort Defiance or on the frontlines of the Felkan War.
You march through the ice and snow towards wendingo territory, along the way you come across a small village completely decimated. Looks like it was a fairly new one made up of some determined settlers. Still, no amount of determination could have possibly made it a good idea to start building a new settlement that was so close to wendigo territory without Empire protection.
Houses have been burned, and the gory bodies of the dead are everywhere and in pieces. Some of the bodies have even been partially eaten. Not surprising, considering the wendigo tribe will cannibalize their own people if necessary. A couple of the newer recruits throw up at the grisly sight.
The march eventually leads you a wooded hill area where they make their home. It's there where you have your first major encounter with the wendigos. Their aren't a lot of them, but they're completely vicious and without fear. They think nothing of attacking you despite being outnumbered and bellow their terrible howl. A howl so dreadful it can affect the mind and causes a few of your men to lose their courage completely.
"It's all in your head! The Emperor's Will protects us! Find your nerve or die!" you shout and clash with the nearest wendigo.
It's just the first of many such battles. The only good thing is the wendigos are pretty easy to find and make no attempts to hide from you, meaning you don't really need to make a big effort at hunting them down. The bad thing of course is little by little your company is worn down by their attacks along with the land already being harsh and food being scarce.
It's not just that though, this land of theirs, it's making you feel weird, to say nothing of your men. The howls of the wendingos seem to be on the very winds here. It's constantly there sapping your mind and making yourself feel strange thoughts.
"Lieutenant, I'm starting to feel really hungry. A lot of the men are." Your second says to you.
"We just stopped to eat."
"I know, but I dunno I'm still hungry."
"Well we're not stopping again. We need to keep moving the quicker we do this, the quicker we can go back home and have a proper meal."
"Yes, a proper meal with meat. Lots of meat. Heh heh." Your second says and walks away.
By the fifth day, you finally come across a large wendigo encampment and it is there where you see some sort of leader. You knew they had to have one, these types always do. He's predictably the largest of his kind and covered in pure white fur. When your company arrives, the wendigos make their howl, but more disturbingly some of your men make a rival howl of their own and charge into battle even before you give the command.
The battle is a slaughter on both sides. You struggle against the wendigo leader striking several blows that would kill a normal man, but of course then you're not fighting a man. He swipes you across the chest destroying your breast plate and lands another blow to your head which probably would've killed you had you not been wearing a helmet. It is enough to knock you down however.
"Your combat skill is impressive, Bane of Rask. It will be an honor to add it my own when I devour your heart." You suddenly hear in your head as you struggle to get up. You've heard this sort of talk before. Namely when you were fighting against the usksha shaman.
You shake off the wendingo leader's mental attempts to throw you off guard and narrowly avoid his foot stomping on your head. You grab your sword nearby and with all your might, you swing it at the very foot that just tried to crush your head and chop it clean off.
The wendigo leader howls again, but this is one of pain as he tumbles to the ground. You waste no time and shove the blade down the beast's gullet. While this would be enough to kill most, the leader manages punch you aside with all his thrashing and then tries to stand up on one foot with a sword still stuck through his mouth and coming out the other side of his head.
It would be a darkly comical sight under different circumstances watching this beast hop around trying to pull a sword out of his head, but you're in no mood to laugh. You charge into him as hard as you can to knock him down and grab the sword yanking it back and forth until you succeed in sawing off the top part of his head.
To their credit, the remaining wendigos continue to fight and die with their leader. The battle is won and even you take a moment to rest.
This rest is to be short lived.
"Bane of Rask, you've just won a fierce battle wouldn't it be nice to celebrate by filling your belly with meat? There is a lot in the pot over there."
"…what?" you say to yourself and hold your head in your hands.
"The pot over there. Lots of tasty meat that this tribe was going to eat before you so rudely interrupted them. No sense in letting it go to waste."
"…no I just killed you."
"Did you? Of course if you wish you could just pick a body on the ground and start eating. Why not? You deserve it."
You know what's going on here. The wendigos aren't truly flesh and blood creatures! They're some sort of spirits or something otherworldly. No wonder you've felt strange the entire time you've been here.
You get up and call your men to leave immediately, only to see some of them have already fully succumbed to the wendigo curse. Eating the bodies laying on the ground and beginning to look less than human and more feral.
> You run
The longer you stay here, the more likely all of you are going to get possessed. This entire land is cursed and you need to get out of here. You and the rest of your unprocessed troops begin to back off while still keeping an eye on the new wendigos. Their preoccupation with fresh bodies is limited however and they soon begin to turn towards you.
They howl that dreadful noise again and begin to transform. It is at this point some of your men run as fast as then can, others begin to hold their heads telling a voice to shut up.
"Bane of Rask, join us or die here today!" you hear the voice hiss.
Several wendigos run after the men who fled, while the others stay to attack you. For whatever reason, they're not fighting with as much reckless abandon anymore, it's almost as if they've absorbed the fighting skills of your soldiers. Despite this, you manage to pull out a victory, but you're exhausted and wounded. You see some of your other men already beginning to transform having been possessed by the wendigos and you spare no time in killing them before they can transform as well.
"Your skills for killing are misused, if you just embraced the primal instinct, you would be able to use your skills to the fullest extent and without the shackles of any higher authority."
"SHUT UP!" you shout.
Between the constant assaults to your mind and your wounds, you struggle to make your way out of wendigo territory. It doesn't help that you're also still being periodically attacked by the wendigos that presumably finished off the rest of your men who ran away.
You run your sword through the face of a wendigo and ignore his claws ripping through your own armor and your flesh. You're tired, but a rage is growing within you due to these constant assaults. You grab the already mortally wounded wendigo and as hard as you can you summon all your strength to break its neck. It falls to the snow in a heavy heap and you do as well.
"Do it…nobody is around…feed to sustain your strength…" you hear.
You sink your teeth into the body of the wendigo and begin to feed…or rather the carcass of its former host as the wendigo itself has left its body and managed to weave itself into your mind. Your barrier against it finally shattered, your mind is truly not your own anymore. While you are "alive" you are merely a puppet now.
You spend the remainder of your days seeking out fresh flesh, until ultimately your mind is completely absorbed and under control of the wendigo. |
"While I have every desire to see both of these blights erased from the Empire's lands, I believe my abilities would be best served in leading the attack against the Wendigo tribe, captain." You say.
"I had a feeling you'd be more drawn to that idea, and you are probably the best person for it, seeing how many victories you have against the barbarians tribes here. Very well, I shall send another officer to lead the mission against the elves and I hope those mercenaries lower their price in exchange for a chance to kill their tree loving kin. In fact I may go along on that mission." Captain Krozer replies.
"You are captain?"
"Yes, someone needs to keep an eye on those shifty bastards. Besides I find that I've been getting stuck behind the desk too much lately. It'll be good to be back out in the field. Don't want to become like one of those fat self-important generals that do nothing except point to maps and make equally fat musings on tactics. A true leader should lead from the front, I'm sure you agree."
"It is preferable yes…but I do understand the need to keep those with keen military minds safe from major war zones. Such people have their place as all do in their service of the Emperor."
"Why lieutenant, are you complimenting me on my intelligence? It's not like you to flirt." Captain Krozer asks in a tone slightly friendlier than usual, it catches you a little off guard.
"I…no! I mean yes, you are very intelligent, but…"
"Relax lieutenant, just having a little fun, didn't mean to put you on the spot. Anyway, we'll pick this up later, you better get prepared for your mission, and good luck."
You do exactly that, get prepared. You know this will not be an easy battle. You fought a member of the wendigos by yourself before and it was one of your greatest fights. Fighting an entire tribe of them even with an entire company behind you will not make it easier. Most of the men while capable soldiers, they are still just recruits in some ways when facing the shear might and savagery of these barbarians, let alone a tribe like the wendigos. At this point you wish you had a few battle wizards or even orcs in your ranks, but most of those have been assigned either at Fort Defiance or on the frontlines of the Felkan War.
You march through the ice and snow towards wendingo territory, along the way you come across a small village completely decimated. Looks like it was a fairly new one made up of some determined settlers. Still, no amount of determination could have possibly made it a good idea to start building a new settlement that was so close to wendigo territory without Empire protection.
Houses have been burned, and the gory bodies of the dead are everywhere and in pieces. Some of the bodies have even been partially eaten. Not surprising, considering the wendigo tribe will cannibalize their own people if necessary. A couple of the newer recruits throw up at the grisly sight.
The march eventually leads you a wooded hill area where they make their home. It's there where you have your first major encounter with the wendigos. Their aren't a lot of them, but they're completely vicious and without fear. They think nothing of attacking you despite being outnumbered and bellow their terrible howl. A howl so dreadful it can affect the mind and causes a few of your men to lose their courage completely.
"It's all in your head! The Emperor's Will protects us! Find your nerve or die!" you shout and clash with the nearest wendigo.
It's just the first of many such battles. The only good thing is the wendigos are pretty easy to find and make no attempts to hide from you, meaning you don't really need to make a big effort at hunting them down. The bad thing of course is little by little your company is worn down by their attacks along with the land already being harsh and food being scarce.
It's not just that though, this land of theirs, it's making you feel weird, to say nothing of your men. The howls of the wendingos seem to be on the very winds here. It's constantly there sapping your mind and making yourself feel strange thoughts.
"Lieutenant, I'm starting to feel really hungry. A lot of the men are." Your second says to you.
"We just stopped to eat."
"I know, but I dunno I'm still hungry."
"Well we're not stopping again. We need to keep moving the quicker we do this, the quicker we can go back home and have a proper meal."
"Yes, a proper meal with meat. Lots of meat. Heh heh." Your second says and walks away.
By the fifth day, you finally come across a large wendigo encampment and it is there where you see some sort of leader. You knew they had to have one, these types always do. He's predictably the largest of his kind and covered in pure white fur. When your company arrives, the wendigos make their howl, but more disturbingly some of your men make a rival howl of their own and charge into battle even before you give the command.
The battle is a slaughter on both sides. You struggle against the wendigo leader striking several blows that would kill a normal man, but of course then you're not fighting a man. He swipes you across the chest destroying your breast plate and lands another blow to your head which probably would've killed you had you not been wearing a helmet. It is enough to knock you down however.
"Your combat skill is impressive, Bane of Rask. It will be an honor to add it my own when I devour your heart." You suddenly hear in your head as you struggle to get up. You've heard this sort of talk before. Namely when you were fighting against the usksha shaman.
You shake off the wendingo leader's mental attempts to throw you off guard and narrowly avoid his foot stomping on your head. You grab your sword nearby and with all your might, you swing it at the very foot that just tried to crush your head and chop it clean off.
The wendigo leader howls again, but this is one of pain as he tumbles to the ground. You waste no time and shove the blade down the beast's gullet. While this would be enough to kill most, the leader manages punch you aside with all his thrashing and then tries to stand up on one foot with a sword still stuck through his mouth and coming out the other side of his head.
It would be a darkly comical sight under different circumstances watching this beast hop around trying to pull a sword out of his head, but you're in no mood to laugh. You charge into him as hard as you can to knock him down and grab the sword yanking it back and forth until you succeed in sawing off the top part of his head.
To their credit, the remaining wendigos continue to fight and die with their leader. The battle is won and even you take a moment to rest.
This rest is to be short lived.
"Bane of Rask, you've just won a fierce battle wouldn't it be nice to celebrate by filling your belly with meat? There is a lot in the pot over there."
"…what?" you say to yourself and hold your head in your hands.
"The pot over there. Lots of tasty meat that this tribe was going to eat before you so rudely interrupted them. No sense in letting it go to waste."
"…no I just killed you."
"Did you? Of course if you wish you could just pick a body on the ground and start eating. Why not? You deserve it."
You know what's going on here. The wendigos aren't truly flesh and blood creatures! They're some sort of spirits or something otherworldly. No wonder you've felt strange the entire time you've been here.
You get up and call your men to leave immediately, only to see some of them have already fully succumbed to the wendigo curse. Eating the bodies laying on the ground and beginning to look less than human and more feral.
> You fight
As grim as it might be and as tired as you are, you can't just let the spirits infect your men. For one thing it isn't any way for a soldier to go down. For another they'll just become the "new tribe" you just cleared out. Maybe this land is cursed, but you'll not let it be infested with hosts for the spirits that dwell here.
You draw your sword and several of your men who haven't been affected do likewise. Those that have been infected finally stop their gruesome feast and look at you.
"So hungry, must have more flesh, must be fresh, must be YOU!" your second in command screams ghoulishly and attacks you.
Another battle takes place, though not as long or nearly as hard as the first, but you and what's left of your company make a full retreat as fast as possible when it's over. It isn't a smooth retreat though. The thoughts of hunger are filling your minds constantly and being tired just makes it easier for the spirits to infect your men. Several more times you have to put down members of your own company who have turned.
It isn't until you leave those accursed wooded hills that you start to feel more like yourself, but even then the journey back isn't easy. The cold, the hunger, and the overall mental and physical exhaustion takes its toll on your last remaining men. By the time you reach the nearest friendly settlement you have six left.
"Heh, just like the old days, you silently chuckle to yourself, briefly thinking of your six Eternal fellows.
You don't think you've ever been pushed to the limit like this before. Truly it is only by the Emperor's strength that you managed to make it through. You only hope you have not shamed him too much with your failure.
Eventually you arrive at Fort Destiny and report to Captain Krozer, who is celebrating with several others in the fort. You don't know what's causing this unorthodox behavior, but you're certainly surprised by it.
"Captain, I have my mission report."
"Hey! You're back Bane of Rask! Isn't that what they call you around here? Ha ha! I'm glad you're back, I figured your mission would be as successful as mine! Have a drink!"
"Uh maybe later captain, but I…did you say there was a victory?"
"Well we wouldn't be sitting here getting drunk if there wasn't now would we? The campaign against the forest elves was completely successful. I have to give those svelk credit, they can sniff out their kin better than anyone. Was hardly even a fight, when we eventually did find their major home as it was filled mostly with non-combatant women and children. We'd killed most of the warriors trying to get there. Still, always grim business dealing with the enemy civvies. We managed to enslave most of the children at least without killing them, though if the svelk had it their way they would've raped and killed everyone. Uncivilized vicious bastards." The general says taking another drink.
"You enslaved them?" you ask being slightly confused by the idea.
"Well sure…what you think I'd just kill them? I know that's the way you do things lieutenant, and probably with those shape shifting barbarians its for the best, but let's just say I'm a little more merciful than you. Hope it doesn't ruin your perception of me."
"Uh… not at all. I'm sure you are right captain. The elven children can be indoctrinated to become productive citizens of the Empire. They will learn that our way of life is superior and the correct way."
"Ha ha, that's why I like you lieutenant. You don't know any better. Hey let's take this conversation back to my office, it's a little loud here."
You say okay and begin to follow her, but she grabs your hand in an effort to lead you. You aren't sure of how to react, so you just let her. When you get there she sits on her desk and smiles at you.
"Relax, lieutenant. I know you're an Eternal, but you're always so serious."
"It's just I really need to report my mission to you captain."
"Oh very well, I know it's important to you." She says taking another drink.
You tell her exactly what happened and she listens intently to your story.
"Well lieutenant, looks like you managed to pull out a victory against all odds once again. I figured you would." She says.
"Victory? I don't feel like it was a victory, captain. I lost most of the company." You reply.
"Normally I might agree, but from what you told me, it's amazing you survived at all, let alone bring anyone back alive. Evil spirits, cursed lands, having to kill your own men turning into insane beasts…not something I'd want to face and I've seen my fair share of battles. Besides it sounds like the spirits can't leave that area and you eliminated a majority of their hosts, as well as depriving them of more by doing what was necessary with our transformed soldiers. We'll probably always have the odd wendigo running around due to idiotic adventurers exploring places where they shouldn't, but the danger has been curtailed greatly thanks to you."
"The Emperor's will guided me and his vigor gave me the endurance to succeed."
"Perhaps, but you really should've had a battle mage with you. I have no idea why central command has not sent us any despite my requests, things can't be that bad with the Felkans! Sometimes I wonder what the hell they're doing down there. Oh well at least I had you right?" she says and gets off her desk.
"Of course, I'll be here for as long I am needed here general."
"Good." She says and puts her arms around you and kisses you on the lips. You're taken completely off guard and are completely out of your element. You're reminded of Captain Pollo's advances on Gerald, but this is different since you feel a little something for Krozer even though you've tried to not think about it. As the time you've spent here has gone by, your thoughts of Captain Krozer have sometimes been more than a little "friendly", but you've tried to suppress them.
You don't know how to react except you sort of back away.
"Is something wrong lieutenant?" the general asks
"I…uh…I don't….should we be doing this?"
"Oh the ranks? Forget about it. I just want sex, it's not like I'm planning on falling in love. Unless you really feel uncomfortable about protocol, I'd respect it of course, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed."
"Well, no, I mean… I've been having these feelings of lust for you too captain." You say untactfully.
"Ha ha! Well that's good to know I guess." The captain laughs. "So what's the problem then?"
"…I just…I've never…"
"Never…ohhhhh! Really? Though I guess it makes sense. You were trained to kill from birth; going from battlefield to battlefield quoting Empire doctrine (sigh)" the captain touches your face. "Sometimes I wonder if we go too far. Well don't worry about it; we'll have time to catch you up. And like I keep telling you, just relax… and call me Alison."
You and the cap…Alison have an interesting time. It certainly isn't anything you've experienced before, but its possibly the most pleasurable thing you've ever experienced. You understand a little more to as why other soldiers hold it in such high regard.
You know not to let it affect your duty and after a few days of down time, you are ready to serve the Emperor again. Everyone is, Captain Krozer is going to do it elsewhere though, namely the Arat province on the Felkan border.
She calls you in to tell you that someone by the name of Mr. Mol has been impressed with your abilities and thinks you are able to handle the Rask frontier without any supervision. As of now you are in charge of Fort Destiny and been promoted to captain. You don't know what to say.
"Congratulations on your new command, though I will say I don't envy it! After being here for six years myself, I'll be glad to be sent to the Arat province. Those Felkans can't possibly be any worse than the shit we've faced here."
"It was an honor to serve with you captain." You say respectfully.
"Oh come on, you don't need to put up a tough front with me, I know you'll miss me and cry in your pillows at night." She says with a smirk.
"I…won't! I mean I'll miss you, but…"
"Keep working on developing that sense of humor, but it's nice to know I'll be missed." She says and kisses you on the cheek
"Good bye and remember to take a rest from all the killing sometimes and enjoy what you can okay?"
With those last words, Alison walks out of her office…or rather your office.
And so begins your command of Fort Destiny.
>
Year 25
"Another protest? What the hell is going on now?" you say.
"I don't know the exact details, just that the miners are protesting their work conditions in the town of Keplavisk." Lieutenant Verant replies.
"I'm getting sick of these protests, the Empire provides everything for these ungrateful wretches and they complain? They ought to be lucky we haven't sent slaves to do their job! Alright send a detachment there and if they don't break it up, kill a couple to make a point and remind them that it could be much worse."
"Yes sir."
You sit stuck at your desk wondering when something worthwhile is going to happen. When you were first assigned to this job, the frontier was still dangerous. Even with the elimination of the wendigos and the elven home, there were still minor hostile barbarian tribes running around and sometimes even tribes of ogres or the odd giant who had wandered down from further north.
Eventually you eliminated all of those threats to a degree that they were no longer a factor. Then boredom set in as the area became peaceful. For a moment you tried to take Alison's advice she once gave you, but the problem is, the peace lasted too long, at least for you.
Lately though the boredom has become annoyance. There has been a shift in the average Empire citizen's attitude, namely one of insolence. many have started to complain about their jobs, their food, their freedom, everything. At first you questioned if it wasn't some sort of supernatural influence as that could at least be a rational explanation of this mass madness. When the first open protests started, you handled them in an efficient manner and they stopped for a while, but only for a while. It's as if the citizens want you to kill them.
And apparently the problem isn't just here. If anything this sort of open disobedience has been rearing its ugly head in other parts of the Empire a lot more than it has here and a lot sooner.
Don't these people understand that the Empire protects them and gives them everything? If it were not for Emperor's wisdom to expand, they wouldn't even have their homes, jobs in whatever province they hail from, never mind the constant vigilance to protect them against monsters that would rip them apart.
Sometimes you wish you had been transferred to the Arat province. At least there's a war going on there. You can only imagine that Warrick and Gerald don't have to put up with this nonsense. Assuming they are still alive, as you have heard nothing about them and despite your new ranking, you can't seem to get any information on them either. No word about about Roldan or Brenda either, but you do know that the Nalin province is known to be one of the most orderly places in the Empire now.
You would even settle for being transferred to Fort Defiance at this point, they at least have to still have to stem the tide of beasts and monsters from the north. You've also wondered about Kane and Edgar. They're the only two you do have some updated information on, but while you've all been in this territory for years you haven't seen them since the day you separated company. Oh you've heard a few stories about Edgar killing giants single handedly, but that's about it. In fact you're surprised that neither one of them has earned command of Fort Defiance like you have with Fort Destiny.
Sometimes it's funny how thinking about something causes it to happen.
You get a message from Fort Defiance and it's from Kane! He states that he's just taken command of Fort Defiance and would like to speak with you in person about some possible joint military operations. You naturally leave for Fort Defiance immediately. A certain excitement and even happiness dwells within you, it'll be good to see a fellow Eternal again, even if Edgar is probably going to still be combative with you. Who knows though? Maybe he's changed, it's been years after all.
Your trip to Fort Defiance is uneventful and when you arrive at the fort it's as large as you've heard, but then it would have to be to fend off giants. You are greeted by several heavily armored orc troops and what looks to be a battle mage. (You still never managed to get either assigned to your fort)
"Welcome to Fort Defiance captain! I am to take you to General Kane. He is most eager to see you! Come this way!" the battle mage says and as you are escorted through a series of dimly lit corridors one thought goes through your mind: "General?"
When you arrive at Kane's office he looks a little different with his head completely shaved, but other than that he hasn't changed. He also has another man in his office dressed in dark leather armor, with a cloak. You've heard of their reputation, but this is the first time you've seen a member of the Shadow Guard. You knew a few were stationed up here though.
Kane stands up and greets you.
"Well if it isn't the Bane of Rask! Ha ha ha! How are you my brother?" Kane says in a jovial manner.
"I'm fine…brother?" you reply being a little confused by Kane's demeanor and him calling you brother.
"Yes! Of course! We are brothers! We grew up together, we trained together, and we fought together, and we are Eternals! Would that not constitute a brotherly bond?" he says.
"Heh, I suppose it would. Never thought about it before I guess." You reply with a smile.
"Hey I'd like you to meet another brother of ours, this is Cyrus. Remember him? He was in our class, but he got transferred to the Shadow Guard when they first separated us."
"Cyrus…oh yes, I do remember him. I have sometimes wondered what happened to some of during that first separation. I guess the rest went to the Shadow Guard then?"
"Yes, but only a few of us survived Shadow Guard training. Very few."
"Sounds like us, a few of our class didn't make it through our training either."
"No, it was nothing like what you went through. Trust me." Cyrus says coldly.
Kane quickly intervenes.
"Don't mind Cyrus, he's a little on the serious side, sort of like you eh?"
"As I recall I don't remember you being so talkative or jolly either." You say.
"Hey what can I tell you, I've changed as the years went by! I've learned to take more joy in life and not worry so much about duty or about the Empire!"
This last comment is cause for concern.
"Not worry about the Empire? What kind of talk is that for an Eternal? And I have a few questions, how did you get promoted to general? I mean why would they need a general up here, this fort has been doing fine without one, the Rask frontier is as quiet as ever and there's a war going on with the Felkan Kingdom. In fact, where is Edgar? I've heard so much about his deeds that I would've figured that he might get promoted to command here and certainly not to general."
At this point Kane and Cyrus look at each other and Kane looks back at you with a less cheery disposition.
"Very well. It was only a matter of time before I was going to have to bring this up to you anyway. I've made myself general and as of recently this fort is no longer under Empire authority."
"You what?!"
"I saw the light, with the help of Cyrus here I suppose. The Empire is crumbling, I give it a decade at best and we need to make sure we have a good position when the shit goes down. Don't you see? That's why I called you here. You've got the plebs further south of the Rask frontier under control and if we combined forces, nobody could stop us!
You're in shock for a moment. Nothing could have prepared you for something like this.
"…Kane, you can't believe that I would go along with something like this!"
"But why not? Surely you have heard the reports of the mass civil unrest going on in the Empire, why even in your own area you have had to put civvies in their place."
"Yes, and that just means we have to work harder to preserve the Empire, not abandon it in its time of need!"
"Bah! Why bother? It had its time in the sun and now its time for something new to take its place. What better than us? We're Eternals after all. Just think we could even unite with some of our other siblings in this dying Empire to make ourselves even stronger!"
You hold your head in your hands at Kane's words of secession and treason. This is not the same man you knew, and he is certainly not your "brother." You never thought the day would come when you'd have to kill a fellow Eternal.
> You accept his offer
It takes everything in you to not attack, but you're hoping you can bide your time to gain a better advantage. You're never really lied before though, so you take deep breath before speaking.
"Kane… I think you're right. Maybe I've always known on some level, but it just took someone close to me to point it out. I will join your cause… my brother."
Kane smiles and is certainly overjoyed at your response, but Cyrus looks less than enthusiastic, in fact he's looking past you.
"That's great! I knew you'd join us! I told you Cyrus!" Kane says looking at Cyrus, but Cyrus is still looking past you, he makes a nod.
"Cyrus…wait no!" Kane shouts
"He's lying Kane! Kill him!"
You attempt to get up and attack the battle mage behind, but unfortunately he's already anticipated that and stepped far enough way for you to not get to him in time before he's already cast a lightning bolt straight in your face. If it had been your body, perhaps you would've survived, but a straight blast to your face fries not only your eyes so badly that they melt, but your brain as well.
You drop down dead before you can hear Kane's argument that you could've been "turned" to the cause. |
Year 25
"Another protest? What the hell is going on now?" you say.
"I don't know the exact details, just that the miners are protesting their work conditions in the town of Keplavisk." Lieutenant Verant replies.
"I'm getting sick of these protests, the Empire provides everything for these ungrateful wretches and they complain? They ought to be lucky we haven't sent slaves to do their job! Alright send a detachment there and if they don't break it up, kill a couple to make a point and remind them that it could be much worse."
"Yes sir."
You sit stuck at your desk wondering when something worthwhile is going to happen. When you were first assigned to this job, the frontier was still dangerous. Even with the elimination of the wendigos and the elven home, there were still minor hostile barbarian tribes running around and sometimes even tribes of ogres or the odd giant who had wandered down from further north.
Eventually you eliminated all of those threats to a degree that they were no longer a factor. Then boredom set in as the area became peaceful. For a moment you tried to take Alison's advice she once gave you, but the problem is, the peace lasted too long, at least for you.
Lately though the boredom has become annoyance. There has been a shift in the average Empire citizen's attitude, namely one of insolence. many have started to complain about their jobs, their food, their freedom, everything. At first you questioned if it wasn't some sort of supernatural influence as that could at least be a rational explanation of this mass madness. When the first open protests started, you handled them in an efficient manner and they stopped for a while, but only for a while. It's as if the citizens want you to kill them.
And apparently the problem isn't just here. If anything this sort of open disobedience has been rearing its ugly head in other parts of the Empire a lot more than it has here and a lot sooner.
Don't these people understand that the Empire protects them and gives them everything? If it were not for Emperor's wisdom to expand, they wouldn't even have their homes, jobs in whatever province they hail from, never mind the constant vigilance to protect them against monsters that would rip them apart.
Sometimes you wish you had been transferred to the Arat province. At least there's a war going on there. You can only imagine that Warrick and Gerald don't have to put up with this nonsense. Assuming they are still alive, as you have heard nothing about them and despite your new ranking, you can't seem to get any information on them either. No word about about Roldan or Brenda either, but you do know that the Nalin province is known to be one of the most orderly places in the Empire now.
You would even settle for being transferred to Fort Defiance at this point, they at least have to still have to stem the tide of beasts and monsters from the north. You've also wondered about Kane and Edgar. They're the only two you do have some updated information on, but while you've all been in this territory for years you haven't seen them since the day you separated company. Oh you've heard a few stories about Edgar killing giants single handedly, but that's about it. In fact you're surprised that neither one of them has earned command of Fort Defiance like you have with Fort Destiny.
Sometimes it's funny how thinking about something causes it to happen.
You get a message from Fort Defiance and it's from Kane! He states that he's just taken command of Fort Defiance and would like to speak with you in person about some possible joint military operations. You naturally leave for Fort Defiance immediately. A certain excitement and even happiness dwells within you, it'll be good to see a fellow Eternal again, even if Edgar is probably going to still be combative with you. Who knows though? Maybe he's changed, it's been years after all.
Your trip to Fort Defiance is uneventful and when you arrive at the fort it's as large as you've heard, but then it would have to be to fend off giants. You are greeted by several heavily armored orc troops and what looks to be a battle mage. (You still never managed to get either assigned to your fort)
"Welcome to Fort Defiance captain! I am to take you to General Kane. He is most eager to see you! Come this way!" the battle mage says and as you are escorted through a series of dimly lit corridors one thought goes through your mind: "General?"
When you arrive at Kane's office he looks a little different with his head completely shaved, but other than that he hasn't changed. He also has another man in his office dressed in dark leather armor, with a cloak. You've heard of their reputation, but this is the first time you've seen a member of the Shadow Guard. You knew a few were stationed up here though.
Kane stands up and greets you.
"Well if it isn't the Bane of Rask! Ha ha ha! How are you my brother?" Kane says in a jovial manner.
"I'm fine…brother?" you reply being a little confused by Kane's demeanor and him calling you brother.
"Yes! Of course! We are brothers! We grew up together, we trained together, and we fought together, and we are Eternals! Would that not constitute a brotherly bond?" he says.
"Heh, I suppose it would. Never thought about it before I guess." You reply with a smile.
"Hey I'd like you to meet another brother of ours, this is Cyrus. Remember him? He was in our class, but he got transferred to the Shadow Guard when they first separated us."
"Cyrus…oh yes, I do remember him. I have sometimes wondered what happened to some of during that first separation. I guess the rest went to the Shadow Guard then?"
"Yes, but only a few of us survived Shadow Guard training. Very few."
"Sounds like us, a few of our class didn't make it through our training either."
"No, it was nothing like what you went through. Trust me." Cyrus says coldly.
Kane quickly intervenes.
"Don't mind Cyrus, he's a little on the serious side, sort of like you eh?"
"As I recall I don't remember you being so talkative or jolly either." You say.
"Hey what can I tell you, I've changed as the years went by! I've learned to take more joy in life and not worry so much about duty or about the Empire!"
This last comment is cause for concern.
"Not worry about the Empire? What kind of talk is that for an Eternal? And I have a few questions, how did you get promoted to general? I mean why would they need a general up here, this fort has been doing fine without one, the Rask frontier is as quiet as ever and there's a war going on with the Felkan Kingdom. In fact, where is Edgar? I've heard so much about his deeds that I would've figured that he might get promoted to command here and certainly not to general."
At this point Kane and Cyrus look at each other and Kane looks back at you with a less cheery disposition.
"Very well. It was only a matter of time before I was going to have to bring this up to you anyway. I've made myself general and as of recently this fort is no longer under Empire authority."
"You what?!"
"I saw the light, with the help of Cyrus here I suppose. The Empire is crumbling, I give it a decade at best and we need to make sure we have a good position when the shit goes down. Don't you see? That's why I called you here. You've got the plebs further south of the Rask frontier under control and if we combined forces, nobody could stop us!
You're in shock for a moment. Nothing could have prepared you for something like this.
"…Kane, you can't believe that I would go along with something like this!"
"But why not? Surely you have heard the reports of the mass civil unrest going on in the Empire, why even in your own area you have had to put civvies in their place."
"Yes, and that just means we have to work harder to preserve the Empire, not abandon it in its time of need!"
"Bah! Why bother? It had its time in the sun and now its time for something new to take its place. What better than us? We're Eternals after all. Just think we could even unite with some of our other siblings in this dying Empire to make ourselves even stronger!"
You hold your head in your hands at Kane's words of secession and treason. This is not the same man you knew, and he is certainly not your "brother." You never thought the day would come when you'd have to kill a fellow Eternal.
> You decline his offer
The idea is so repugnant to you that you can't even bring yourself to even lie about joining him. It probably wouldn't work anyway; you've never been a good liar. You breathe deeply before speaking again.
"Kane, I am NOT going to help you. Now you do what you must, and I shall do what I must."
"Told you this was a waste of time, let us be done with this." Cyrus says and points a small crossbow on his wrist and fires it at you, though Kane knocks his hand away causing the bolt to just hit your shoulder.
You fall back in your chair and grab the battle mage who was still standing by. He falls to floor on top of you and you break his neck. You feel a little dizzy though; whatever was in that dart is putting you to sleep fast.
You hear Kane and Cyrus arguing as large orcs stomp into the office and begin kicking you as you fall unconscious.
When you wake up, you hear an unexpected familiar voice, though the most unexpected thing is that you woke up at all.
"Hey, get up. Good thing that weak ass poison doesn't work on us very well." Edgar says helping you up.
"Edgar? What's happened here?" You ask looking around and finding yourself stripped of most of your clothing and in a cell.
"I knew he wouldn't be able to convince you. I told Kane that, but he kept going on about how you'd understand, just like how in time I would come to understand. He said that siblings may have their fights, but in the end they always make up."
"Is that how come he hasn't killed us?"
"I guess so, though I don't think Cyrus would have such sentimental feelings and would have us killed if he had more say in the matter."
"Well, Cyrus at least seems to be thinking like an Eternal in that respect. Kane has apparently gone completely mad though…how the hell did this happen?!"
"You got time for a story?" Edgar asks rhetorically before explaining from the beginning.
Edgar says that when he and Kane first arrived they were met with a little hostility from everyone else and while their prowess in battle earned them respect, they still were never really "accepted" by anyone.
Edgar says he didn't care of course and was content with the respect that he had earned and getting accolades for slaying giants and such. Kane wasn't handling the isolation as well and was becoming increasingly more withdrawn. He did his job, but he behaved in a manner that even the orc soldiers found a little unnerving. Nobody wanted to even eat with him, got to a point where the captain of the fort had to send him out primarily on scouting missions by himself.
Edgar believes that Kane must've really taken the split of the team harder than any of you could've known. He suspects that might've first lead to his quirk of referring to other Eternals as siblings. He would often mention to Edgar sometimes about how much he missed spending time with you all and couldn't wait for the day when you all would be together again.
"(Sigh) All he needed was for me to interact with him on a regular basis, but I was too busy concerned with my own glory. Time in this cell has really given me time to reflect on a lot of bad choices I've made in the present and the past."
"What's done is done now, but where does Cyrus come in?" you ask.
Edgar explains that Cyrus was transferred here four years ago as part of a replacement Shadow Guard detachment to help with the latest giant incursion. He knows Kane was sent on a mission with the Shadow Guard during that time and that's probably where they started to talk more to each other. Normally Shadow Guards don't interact with anyone other than other Shadow Guards, but Kane hung around him to such a degree that Cyrus eventually began to talk with Kane on his own accord.
"I don't think Cyrus' Shadow Guard buddies approved of it too much, but he was their leader so they didn't say much." Edgar says.
"So how did they control over the whole fort?"
Edgar explains again that Cyrus and Kane must've cooked up this plan in secret for years, as in time various changes began to occur.
The only initial thing that Edgar began to notice was the increase in orc troops being sent here. Granted there was always some stationed here, but now they were starting to out number the human soldiers, and he thought they were mostly going to the front lines on the Felkan border. However, this area was still very dangerous, so ultimately more orc troops here didn't raise any immediate alarms.
The next thing he noticed was that there were less and less attacks by giants and ogres, but Edgar chalked that up to him killing so many of them that naturally they would probably have less members to spare now. Not to mention with all the orcs here now, the giants were having a tougher time of it.
The third thing he noticed was Kane becoming less introverted and more aggressive towards the orcs. He witnessed several fights that Kane himself started with various orc leaders. He won with ease of course and it appeared as if he was just being combative out of boredom, but in retrospect there was very real purpose. To establish no doubt to as who is the "real leader." Captain Ian wasn't fond of this sort of behavior in any way though and reprimanded Kane several times, but it was obvious he didn't care.
"It was at this point I finally started to talk to Kane on a serious level, just to figure out what was going on with him. All he said to me, was you'll see in another year brother, with a great big grin on his face. Of course when that year came I found out everything. His private orc army. his alliance with the neighboring giant and ogre tribes, his plans to unite this land completely under him and take on the Empire itself. As you can see I didn't agree with his plans. I know I have my faults, but disloyalty isn't one of them."
"He's allied with ogres and giants? So wait, how long has Kane taken control of this place?" You ask. "We were still getting reports from here from Captain Ian up until last month."
"Hah! Captain Ian's been dead for more than a few months now! Kane's just been going through the motions of sending reports and messengers, probably to make sure you or nobody else sent anyone to investigate before he was ready to openly defy the Empire."
"By the Emperor I can't believe I was so close and never suspected anything wrong going on up here, let alone treason!" you say.
"If it's any consolation, you weren't the only one. Besides like I said, I was here and I should've been the one to do something before anyone. Instead I got myself captured. Tried to bust out a few times, I figured I'd either escape or die trying. There's just too many of those tough orc bastards though. Even when I managed to get a weapon the blasted battle mage would cast some sort of spell and I'd go completely weak and groggy. Then I'd end up back here again. Heh, Kane's so crazy now that he still believes that I'll eventually side with him."
"Did you say battle mage? As in one?"
"Yeah, used to have two and they probably would've liked to get more stationed here before unleashing their plan, but they had to make due with the ones that cooperated. I killed one of them before my first capture."
"Well they don't have any now, because I killed the other one before I got sent here."
Edgar tries to contain his enthusiasm.
"That's great! I mean with you by my side and none of that magic shit to complicate things, you've given us a much improved chance to escape for good!"
Never thought you'd hear Edgar to be so happy to fight along side you, and normally you might even be a little happy too, but right now you're concerned with escape. The longer you're gone, the more likely Lieutenant Verant will send someone up here to investigate. They'll be killed of course and then Kane will undoubtedly push a full attack on to Fort Destiny ad you don't have the highest hopes that they'd survive an attack by a combined army of orcs, ogres and giants without being prepared at least.
You waste no time coming up with a plan. Simplest ones often work the best, Edgar tells you that it'll be feeding time soon and that you should remain "unconscious" and he'll do the rest.
You get into position and eventually hear the footsteps of your orc jailer.
"Here's yer food, Ed!" one of them says carrying a bowl.
"Hey! Why'd you dump a dead body into this cell with me?" Edgar says.
"Wha? He ain't dead he's just knocked out! I should know I was one of guys that kicked him in da head! Har har har har!"
"Well he died in his sleep then from your kick to his head. I recognize him as an Eternal and Kane's gonna be pissed that you killed him!"
"He ain't dead! He sleep!"
"I'm telling you he's dead! Don't believe me, you better check yourself."
"Oh no, I know you Ed. You gonna try bash my skull in as soon as I open door. If he really dead, then I just say you killed him."
"And you really think Kane's gonna believe that? He knows Eternal don't kill each other, that's why he's keeping me alive even though I escape!"
The orc pauses for a moment and decides he can't take the chance.
"Bah, alright, I'll check, but I'm tellin' you he's just still unconscious! That shadow guy hit 'im with one of doze bolts of his. But YOU are gonna do something first."
The orc tells Edgar to turn his back and get close to the cell bars, at which point the orc shackles him so her is unable to attack him. Thank the Emperor that most orcs are still not the brightest lanterns.
The orc approaches you and that's when you spring into action. You struggle with the orc jailer until you manage to grab his dagger and repeatedly stab him in the throat with it to the point where you nearly decapitate him.
After kicking the dead orc in the face you grab his keys and release Edgar.
"Okay I know of a route we can try to escape through, nearly made it the last time, but again the mage showed up. That won't be a problem this time and they probably won't think I'll try it again." Edgar says.
The obvious thing to do is to concentrate on escaping the fort, though another part of you wants to go back to find Kane and Cyrus to kill them.
> You escape
As much as you'd like to kill both Kane and Cyrus, you're outnumbered and you can't even be sure if you'd catch them together again in this big fort. Better to escape and come back later better prepared to punish them. Still you're going to need some sort of gear to survive the cold outside of the fort.
"We can't just escape half naked like this. We're going to need some sort of clothing or better yet armor and weapons." You say
"Yeah, there is a small supply room on the way. It isn't the main one, but it shouldn't have any guards by it either. We have to make our way to the kitchen area first, should be relatively empty right now."
It takes some sneaking around, but Edgar's knowledge of the layout gets you there with relative ease. When you do get to the room you find some old battered armor and dull weapons. It will have to do. Edgar mentions that there is a garbage dump chute in the kitchen which leads underground, from there, there's a long tunnel which eventually leads to a dead end with a hidden hatch. He says he's knows it leads into a forest area, but not much more than that since the battle mage zapped him and he was dragged back by that time.
You and Edgar sneak into the kitchen, but it isn't completely empty. The cook and a couple of his assistants are there, you and Edgar make quick work of them before they notice you, though Edgar is a little sloppier than you and the assistant that he cuts down knocks over a bunch of pots as he body hits the floor. The clatter is quite loud and you waste no time in looking for the garbage chute. It's foul and disgusting, but there's no other option. You jump in and slide down quite easy due to the slimy remains of food greasing the chute.
When you reach the bottom a giant pile of garbage cushions you. The smell is almost overpowering, but you have no time to worry about awful smells as you are attacked by larger than normal vermin feasting through the pile. Your boots squish through the disgusting muck as you swing your weapon to drive away or kill the aggressive rats. Edgar comes crashing down from the chute and helps you.
"Ugh, forgot how bad this place smelled." Edgar says kicking a rat.
"Guess you forgot about the giant rats as well?"
"No, but I figured it wouldn't be that big of a surprise for you."
You and Edgar manage to fight your way down the small mountain of trash and make your way down the tunnel until you eventually get to a built in ladder leading up to a hatch.
"Is this it? It seems like a terrible idea to have this at the fort. Anyone could sneak down here and infiltrate." You mention.
"Nah, it's pretty well hidden from the outside, in fact it can only open from the inside. Not like any ogre is bright enough to notice it and a giant certainly couldn't get down here. Plus it locks shut when you get outside. I think it was originally supposed to be an escape tunnel in the first place, but it looks like it got turned into a garbage pit instead. Come on."
Edgar opens up the hatch and holds it open for you as you make your way to the cold outside world. You look around and it is just as Edgar said, a forest area with no major distinguishing markers. You see that the sun is setting and use that as a guide for which general direction you need to go. You figure it'll probably take a few days to get back to Fort Destiny, but you should be able to make it.
You and Edgar walk a good half hour before you realize something is wrong.
"Shhh. You hear that?" you ask.
"Can't be ogres, they would've attacked us by now."
"It probably isn't…find cover!" you exclaim.
Several bolts whiz past you as you duck down rolling around in the snow and run in a zig zag fashion getting behind several trees so as to not get hit. Edgar isn't as quick as you and he is hit by two of the bolts. Not enough to kill him, but if they have that same toxin that you experienced on them he's not going to stay conscious for long.
The Shadow Guard assailants finally show themselves and jump out of the trees. Edgar is feeling the effects of the toxin, but he struggles to stay awake to defend himself. You find yourself fighting three of the shadows that circle around you. One of them attacks and you grab his arm breaking it in one quick move, when another attacks you, you shove his broken arm friend into his blade. They both fall to the ground.
The third one lands a couple of hits on your back; cutting through the poor armor you're wearing. You deliver a hefty back kick to his gut and follow up with a spinning swipe with your sword. Your sword's edge is dull and not sharp enough to cleanly decapitate the shadow, instead it makes a large cruel gash in his neck which spurts blood like a small fountain. The result is still effective and he collapses into the snow. Your other adversary has gotten up off the ground and throws a dagger at you, which you just narrowly avoid. He tries to fight you fairly, but it's clear he is no match for you and you easily dispatch him. You then finish off the shadow with the broken arm and wound in his belly.
Edgar is still fighting the two shadows attacking him. Under normal circumstances, he'd probably easily dispatch them, but the toxin is having its effect and from the front and back their short swords stab him. He falls to the ground when the shadow behind him cuts at his tendons. You strike your blade into the skull of one of the shadows when he only crumples to his knees, you slam the dull blade on his head again splitting it open and revealing the gooey brains within. The last shadow tries to run away, and climb to a nearby tree in the hopes of escaping you, but you manage to jump up and grab hi dangling legs and pull him crashing to the ground. After a small scuffle you wrap your forearms around his neck and break it.
You walk over to Edgar who is still struggling to stay awake, but he's fighting more than just the toxin now, his wounds are quite severe. You kneel down beside him, it seems odd for you given your past history, but you feel a sense of sadness.
"He…hey…did you get him?"
"Yeah, Edgar, I got him."
"That's… good. I'm sorr.."
"It's in the past Edgar. Don't worry about it." You tell him, as you know what he's going to apologize for. He then quietly loses consciousness and stops breathing altogether.
After a few moments of silence, you carry on to Fort Destiny without Edgar. You think about all the things you plan to do to Kane and Cyrus if you manage to get your hands on them the entire time you're traveling back to Fort Destiny.
Eventually you get to a town where you ride the rest of the way to Fort Destiny. Lieutenant Verant is relieved to see you. He says was just about to send someone up to Fort Defiance to see what happened to you. You'd really like to raise your entire force from the fort and march upon Fort Defiance immediately, but you question if you'd be able to take it. Other than the defenses being on full alert now, Kane may have already rallied his ogre and giant allies. It might be best if you report this back to the generals at home. Surely they'll spare you some reinforcements for something like this, not to mention they'll need to be warned anyway due to the Shadow Guard revolt that's already been in planning for quite some time. Still, it could be awhile for you to wait, not to mention they may not send you any at all. All which would be wasted time you could've spent attacking Kane so he doesn't get too dug in.
> You wait for reinforcements
With all the extra allies Kane has, you can't possibly take the fort without heavy losses and with all the problems you've been having with peasants you're still going to need enough troops to keep them in line afterwards. You need at least another army up here. You tell Verant to send a message to the generals back home about the situation and if they can provide reinforcements then to do so right away. In the meantime you're going to build up the defenses on the fort and the towns in the surrounding area.
A week or so passes before you get any sort of reply. You are given orders to hold the area, but that's about it. With this new revelation of the Shadow Guard treachery and dissention within the orc ranks the generals are busily attempting to weed out any more within the home territories as well as having to redistribute regular soldiers where Shadow Guard were keeping the peasants in line. The war with the Felkans is also still going on, so any immediate reinforcements would go to that area first anyway.
In short, you're on your own as usual and reports are already coming in about ogre attacks on the outer villages. It'll only be a matter of time before those are giants or Kane's entire army of orcs. You curse your situation and prepare yourself for a long ongoing war.
Year 26
"Shoot the bastards!" you shout at the catapult crews. They unleash another volley of rocks on the attacking giants. Several of the rocks hit their targets, but it's not like you're not taking a barrage of large boulders either, in fact the orcs have taken to lobbing large balls of dung over the walls and it's already been starting to cause sickness among your troops. Especially after days of ongoing attack, a dwindling food supply and no relief in sight.
The months of battling Kane's traitor brigade has all lead up to this, completely surrounded by them. You did your best to hold them back, but ultimately Kane could replace his losses faster thanks to the brutality of his own troops. After ogres destroyed several of the smaller villages completely along with the mere threat of giants it wasn't long that some of the peasant communities were willing to accept Kane's "rule" more readily than the Empire's, which they were already disgruntled with due to the lack of proper protection among other things.
The Shadow Guard didn't help matters as most of them that had been rooted out in the home territories fled up to the Rask under Cyrus' leadership, along with some of the orcs that had heard about the rebellion. Any towns that hadn't immediately fell under the sway of the direct fear from Kane's army fell to the subversive and terror tactics of the Shadow Guard.
"Get those orcs on the north side! They're climbing up the fucking walls!" you shout.
Boiling oil is thrown over the side of the wall, scalding the orcs on ladders. Some of them fall, others are tougher and maintain their grip. You shove the ladder back, making sure to get the ones that the oil failed to. You look around and see that the orcs have begun to break through the front door. You then have that familiar sense that you've had so many other times over the past few months. You duck down and roll while swinging your sword in front of you. You hit something and uncloak a Shadow Guard that has managed to infiltrate the fort. He isn't the only one though. Several more appear nearby to kill the remaining men you have defending the walls.
You continue to fight valiantly, cutting down many of the Shadow Guard that have managed to get inside the fort. A boulder crashes into the side of the wall destroying it and causing you to fall off the walkway and to the ground within the fort.
You get back up as quickly as you can to see orcs pouring into the front gates and the remainder of your men slaughtered. Griping your sword one last time your only regret is not taking the opportunity to kill Kane and Cyrus a year ago when you were captured at Fort Defiance. Indeed you played everything a bit too cautiously. None of it matters now though, the only thing you can do is go out like a true warrior. If not victory, then you can take comfort in that at least.
"For the Empire!" you shout and charge into the horde. |
As much as you'd like to kill both Kane and Cyrus, you're outnumbered and you can't even be sure if you'd catch them together again in this big fort. Better to escape and come back later better prepared to punish them. Still you're going to need some sort of gear to survive the cold outside of the fort.
"We can't just escape half naked like this. We're going to need some sort of clothing or better yet armor and weapons." You say
"Yeah, there is a small supply room on the way. It isn't the main one, but it shouldn't have any guards by it either. We have to make our way to the kitchen area first, should be relatively empty right now."
It takes some sneaking around, but Edgar's knowledge of the layout gets you there with relative ease. When you do get to the room you find some old battered armor and dull weapons. It will have to do. Edgar mentions that there is a garbage dump chute in the kitchen which leads underground, from there, there's a long tunnel which eventually leads to a dead end with a hidden hatch. He says he's knows it leads into a forest area, but not much more than that since the battle mage zapped him and he was dragged back by that time.
You and Edgar sneak into the kitchen, but it isn't completely empty. The cook and a couple of his assistants are there, you and Edgar make quick work of them before they notice you, though Edgar is a little sloppier than you and the assistant that he cuts down knocks over a bunch of pots as he body hits the floor. The clatter is quite loud and you waste no time in looking for the garbage chute. It's foul and disgusting, but there's no other option. You jump in and slide down quite easy due to the slimy remains of food greasing the chute.
When you reach the bottom a giant pile of garbage cushions you. The smell is almost overpowering, but you have no time to worry about awful smells as you are attacked by larger than normal vermin feasting through the pile. Your boots squish through the disgusting muck as you swing your weapon to drive away or kill the aggressive rats. Edgar comes crashing down from the chute and helps you.
"Ugh, forgot how bad this place smelled." Edgar says kicking a rat.
"Guess you forgot about the giant rats as well?"
"No, but I figured it wouldn't be that big of a surprise for you."
You and Edgar manage to fight your way down the small mountain of trash and make your way down the tunnel until you eventually get to a built in ladder leading up to a hatch.
"Is this it? It seems like a terrible idea to have this at the fort. Anyone could sneak down here and infiltrate." You mention.
"Nah, it's pretty well hidden from the outside, in fact it can only open from the inside. Not like any ogre is bright enough to notice it and a giant certainly couldn't get down here. Plus it locks shut when you get outside. I think it was originally supposed to be an escape tunnel in the first place, but it looks like it got turned into a garbage pit instead. Come on."
Edgar opens up the hatch and holds it open for you as you make your way to the cold outside world. You look around and it is just as Edgar said, a forest area with no major distinguishing markers. You see that the sun is setting and use that as a guide for which general direction you need to go. You figure it'll probably take a few days to get back to Fort Destiny, but you should be able to make it.
You and Edgar walk a good half hour before you realize something is wrong.
"Shhh. You hear that?" you ask.
"Can't be ogres, they would've attacked us by now."
"It probably isn't…find cover!" you exclaim.
Several bolts whiz past you as you duck down rolling around in the snow and run in a zig zag fashion getting behind several trees so as to not get hit. Edgar isn't as quick as you and he is hit by two of the bolts. Not enough to kill him, but if they have that same toxin that you experienced on them he's not going to stay conscious for long.
The Shadow Guard assailants finally show themselves and jump out of the trees. Edgar is feeling the effects of the toxin, but he struggles to stay awake to defend himself. You find yourself fighting three of the shadows that circle around you. One of them attacks and you grab his arm breaking it in one quick move, when another attacks you, you shove his broken arm friend into his blade. They both fall to the ground.
The third one lands a couple of hits on your back; cutting through the poor armor you're wearing. You deliver a hefty back kick to his gut and follow up with a spinning swipe with your sword. Your sword's edge is dull and not sharp enough to cleanly decapitate the shadow, instead it makes a large cruel gash in his neck which spurts blood like a small fountain. The result is still effective and he collapses into the snow. Your other adversary has gotten up off the ground and throws a dagger at you, which you just narrowly avoid. He tries to fight you fairly, but it's clear he is no match for you and you easily dispatch him. You then finish off the shadow with the broken arm and wound in his belly.
Edgar is still fighting the two shadows attacking him. Under normal circumstances, he'd probably easily dispatch them, but the toxin is having its effect and from the front and back their short swords stab him. He falls to the ground when the shadow behind him cuts at his tendons. You strike your blade into the skull of one of the shadows when he only crumples to his knees, you slam the dull blade on his head again splitting it open and revealing the gooey brains within. The last shadow tries to run away, and climb to a nearby tree in the hopes of escaping you, but you manage to jump up and grab hi dangling legs and pull him crashing to the ground. After a small scuffle you wrap your forearms around his neck and break it.
You walk over to Edgar who is still struggling to stay awake, but he's fighting more than just the toxin now, his wounds are quite severe. You kneel down beside him, it seems odd for you given your past history, but you feel a sense of sadness.
"He…hey…did you get him?"
"Yeah, Edgar, I got him."
"That's… good. I'm sorr.."
"It's in the past Edgar. Don't worry about it." You tell him, as you know what he's going to apologize for. He then quietly loses consciousness and stops breathing altogether.
After a few moments of silence, you carry on to Fort Destiny without Edgar. You think about all the things you plan to do to Kane and Cyrus if you manage to get your hands on them the entire time you're traveling back to Fort Destiny.
Eventually you get to a town where you ride the rest of the way to Fort Destiny. Lieutenant Verant is relieved to see you. He says was just about to send someone up to Fort Defiance to see what happened to you. You'd really like to raise your entire force from the fort and march upon Fort Defiance immediately, but you question if you'd be able to take it. Other than the defenses being on full alert now, Kane may have already rallied his ogre and giant allies. It might be best if you report this back to the generals at home. Surely they'll spare you some reinforcements for something like this, not to mention they'll need to be warned anyway due to the Shadow Guard revolt that's already been in planning for quite some time. Still, it could be awhile for you to wait, not to mention they may not send you any at all. All which would be wasted time you could've spent attacking Kane so he doesn't get too dug in.
> You march upon the fort now
You can't wait. You may serve the Empire and be against Kane's traitorous ways, but there is an unfortunate element in truth in what he says. If you need to get anything done around here, you'll have to do it yourself, not rely on the Empire. You tell Verant to send a message to the generals back home about the situation and if they can provide reinforcements then to do so right away, but in any case you're attacking Fort Defiance immediately.
You muster up all your forces, troops, siege weapons, everything that could help you and leaving only a skeleton crew back to guard Fort Destiny. When you begin your march, you try to remain confident that you can take the fort. As soon as you start to enter the long stretches of snowy wilderness that precede Fort Defiance, tribes of ogres attack you. Kane's already prepared.
Within a mile of Fort Defiance and you can see large looming figures in the distance almost as big as the fort itself. You have to remind your troops to find their courage and that no overgrown abomination is going to best any soldier of the Empire.
On the first day of the siege your catapults hurl their boulders at the fort and your ballistae fire at the giants. It's an impressive volley, which damages the walls and critically wounds some of their giant allies, but the counter attack is just as brutal to your side. Multiple boulders comes crashing down on your men hurled by the giants. Fort Defiance's own ballistae aim for your siege weapons, destroying several of them.
By the third day, you pull your sword out of the last giant after stabbing him several times in the neck and jump several feet to the ground just before his falling body and crush you. Your men are still attempting to break down the doors of the fort which is heavily reinforced. Attempting to scale its walls results in them being scalded to death by boiling oil. The orcs have even resorted to catapulting their dung at you; it's only going to be a matter of time before disease starts to take effect on your men. You would've tried the same thing, but orcs are notoriously resistant to such biological warfare.
By the fourth day, your troops are dwindling and you're still no closer to capturing the fort. Ogre tribes harass your people from the outside and you lead your best men to the hidden hatch you escaped from. Upon finding it again, you destroy the hatch door and descend. When you and your men arrive at the garbage pile though, you're in for a minor surprise, as a troop of orcs are waiting for you. Apparently somebody figured you might try to get in this way.
The battle with the orcs isn't a pleasant one. Along with the smell, there is also the disgusting ichor that's ankle deep as you fight the orcs. Through the filth and trash though you manage to maintain your composure and dispatch the orcs with the help of your men. After the fighting is over, your next plan is to climb up the chute and do damage from within. It takes a little exertion due to the chute being incredibly greasy, but eventually you manage to apply pressure to the sides of the chute and start climbing up it slowly. Your men do likewise.
You're about midway through this slimy tube when all of a sudden the top part opens up and your heart sinks when an orcish face appears.
"Hah, boss waz right. Time to burn now!" he says and throws at torch at you. Normally this wouldn't do much damage by itself, but with the combination of grease, oil and other flammable muck you've been rolling around it, you light up like a tinderbox along with the entire grease covered chute. You lose your grip and slide back down crashing into your men and setting them on fire as well.
When you hit the pile of garbage below, you're completely engulfed by the flames and the garbage pile goes up like an inferno. The screams of your men burning alive and your own skin crackling are the last sounds you hear. |
"The idea is so repugnant to you that you can't even bring yourself to even lie about joining him. I(...TRUNCATED) |
"\"Go get the rooms Roldan, I'll help Gerald.\" You say.\n\"Okay.\" Roldan agrees and leaves.\n\nYou(...TRUNCATED) |
"If Edgar wants to see you, then why not? If he had anything sinister planned for you like having hi(...TRUNCATED) |
"Year 75\n\nAs the years creep up on you and despite missing part of your leg, you still feel don't (...TRUNCATED) |
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