Datasets:

ToastyPigeon

/

SpringDragon

like 1

What few heretical shadows still remain isn't many and they don't exactly have any type of leadership anymore. Hunting them all down seems like a waste of your time and possibly manpower, especially since Quala is more hostile and destabilized than ever now. Chances are the heretics will eventually resort to the typical banditry that goes on here and they'll get wiped out by one of the warlord factions. Even if they manage to join up with any of the factions, they'll likely abandon their newfound religion in the process. Rebuilding what you have left seems like a better idea at this point, so you send a message out to all your people to leave this war torn land and head back to Delerg. When you arrive in Delerg, your temple seems so much emptier now. Well certainly empty of more adults. You don't have many Blades left either anymore, only about a dozen from what remains of the original amount you had. Not counting all the ones that never made it out of their tanks or failed Talia's training when she was trying to bring them into the fold of course. Orphaned children that are fairly young have so far been taken care of in more communal way as needed, though you ask if Talia wants to take charge of all them in the same way she did the eternals and eventually train them to be Blades. She declines though and says the children should probably start being assigned to a more permanent family arrangement starting with volunteers first. You're confident that the numbers will build back up since there are always people in Delerg that are drawn to join the order. Assuming you have no further major conflict, things should go back to their previous "boring" ways of simple temple routine in no time. This time though you're looking forward to a bit of boredom. This last major clash has somewhat made you realize that maybe you should be taking it easier in your later years. Not that you're ready for the grave, but you just aren't young like you used to be and you can't single handedly fight entire wars for the shadows anymore even with your increased magical powers. It's a strain and you've got so much on your plate in general. Maybe Dendrin knew this too and that's why he suggested that you not hunt down the heretics in that cryptic way that he tends to do. You think back to how you said to him that you couldn't afford to not be directly involved and relax in the way that he does, and while that is true, there really isn't any reason why you couldn't start following his lead just a little. It also makes you start to wonder if he's been right about a few things. Weeks and months pass as you go through the motions of temple routine, though it's been a little different for you somehow. Like you've actually started to attempt to find a deeper reason behind the words of all the texts you read from. You don't know if it's because you're trying to embrace this new moment of peace within the shadows (as opposed to the fidgeting boredom you usually suffer from) or if it's because you're becoming genuinely interested in the stuff. Are you finally becoming a "believer?" Dendrin claims you already are and it seems impossible, but you have noticed yourself having slightly more civilized conversations with Dendrin as the years have gone on, even agreeing with him at times. You remember practically ranting at him when you were young, in retrospect it's amazing that he didn't kill you given his power. He pretty much put up with you and he didn't have to. He hasn't helped you in probably the most direct way most of the time, but really would you have wanted him to? Your insistence on always forging your own way was always paramount to you and he probably saw that and acted accordingly by letting you make your own choices. You've only really prayed genuinely once to Dendrin and that was back when you wanted help with getting the new eternals under control. Even then it was a last ditch reason and you did it more out of selfish desperation rather than any genuine belief. You begin to wonder if it couldn't hurt to just sincerely pray to him once in a while. Not in the hopes of getting anything out of him, but just…well to show a little bit of gratitude. It is probably due to your new found attempt at piety that attracts more people to the temple and restores some of the hope that the shadows will overcome this set back like they have so many before in the past. Year 60 "One of the heretics was caught near the temple. He claims that another group stand at the border of Delerg. We confirmed this and most of them haggard and tired looking. This speaker claims that he wishes to speak with you about making peace and an urgent matter." Brother Gannon says. "Hmm, have to say I didn't think they'd last as long as they did. They didn't mention what this so called urgent matter was about?" you reply. "No, just that it was of great importance to anyone who reveres Dendrin." "Probably a trick of some sort, you should just have all of them killed." Glen remarks. "Yes, that would be the safe bet, but I suppose it wouldn't hurt to listen seeing as I'm not particularly worried about them. Drag him in, but keep a tight hold on him." "Very well Shadow Master." Glen says. The heretic is brought in and he certainly is a miserable looking wretch. It isn't due to any roughing up by your own shadows either, as he was confirmed to be in the same state as the rest of his fellows waiting for him. He's very nervous and looking around as much as he can while two of the Blades grasp his arms and several other shadows look on at the proceedings. "Well? We don't have all day. Out with it heretic scum!" Talia demands before you can say anything. "Oh! Right…uh…Shadow Master I beg you in Dendrin's name to call off your assassins! We have seen that Theo's teachings were the improper doctrine! We submit to your rule as the rightful chosen one of Dendrin himself and ask for mercy by allowing us to merge with the true and only temple dedicated to him!" the heretic whines. You certainly weren't expecting this, and you're also wondering about these assassins. "Assassins? We haven't sent anyone to seek out your destruction. If that were the case we would've done it years ago." "You…haven't? But that seems impossible." "Why? It isn't like shadows are well accepted anywhere else except Delerg as you surely know. What makes you think it isn't General Ackerson or any of the many other warlords in the area?" "No, he is too busy fighting Mog, Son of Flog's orc and ogre horde in Rask. Rumors are he's sick as well and his underlings are already squabbling over who is going to take power when he's gone. As for other warlords, they aren't a threat to us, at least not in any meaningful way, and most of them are too direct and unsophisticated to engage in the terror tactics that your assassins have. Your assassins tell us that they are the hand of justice in Dendrin's name." "As I said we have sent no assassins. I don't know what kind of game you're playing, but I'm not falling for it." "No please wait! Maybe you didn't send the assassins, but if that's true then this is more alarming news! Because they're using shadow magic to accomplish their tasks! If it isn't you or anyone in your order as you say, who are they? And will they attack you as well?" This does give you a bit of pause though it's hard to tell with someone that's supposed to be your enemy. He does look quite sincere in his words and his fear. If it wasn't any of your people, then who would it be? It's quite possible that it's just another rogue group that split off from the original heretics and formed yet a third faction of shadows. Of course if that was the case, they should know about it instead of jumping to the conclusion that it is you. Of course this could all still be just an elaborate trick. Perhaps an attempt to make you suspicious of people in your own group carrying out tasks that you didn't order. There's also the other urgent matter that they said they had to tell you, which you question the heretic on. "So what is this other urgent matter you had to tell us?" you ask. "Oh, yes that, well there are rumors that Warden Matron Brenda of Nalin is planning on invading Delerg." "What? I know she hates the shadows, but reports have always established that she has never set sights on anything north of the Nalin province. She doesn't even have an established presence in Quala." Talia remarks. "Well, I didn't say she planned on holding the territory, just that she was planning on invading it. I don't know. It is what we have heard in our travels to get here." "Could be Brenda that's sending the assassins then and using something similar to shadow magic that these blasphemous fools are taking as the real thing. Maybe we should prepare ourselves, after killing these heretics of course." Glen remarks. "But we're sincere! I'M sincere! How…how about we prove ourselves by being judged directly by Dendrin himself? You could perform the initiation ritual to open the portal to his realm. If he accepts our forgiveness then surely that would be proof that our hearts and souls are truthful, right? If he doesn't then we won't survive the process anyway." The heretic exclaims. "Well, that would be one way of ensuring their dedication I suppose." Talia says to you. > You have them killed You've spent a lot of time and effort trying to rebuild what these heretics destroyed and now they want your help? You're in no mood. "I'll spare Dendrin's time and judge you all myself. And that judgment is death, kill this traitor and go wipe out the rest hanging out near our borders." You say. "No! No wait! Please, you've…." The heretic pleads before one of the Blades cuts his throat. After disposing of him, Glen takes a small group of them to finish off the rest, from what you hear it was easy, but brutal business as usual. Of course that still leaves a few questions to as who was killing them in the first place. Your guess is if General Ackerson is as sick as the heretic claimed, then perhaps the current power struggle going on involves getting rid of potential wild cards in the nearby region like say groups of fanatical cultists. They are the only nearby major power with battle mages that could reliably emulate the sort of magic the heretics claimed to see. The only other power that you know of that has a few magic users is the Nalin Empire, but you can't see Brenda bothering with such elaborate tactics. She'd be more likely to just send a traditional group of assassins or even a small platoon of well trained warriors and even then only to get rid of the shadows closest to her borders. The rumor that she's planning to invade Delerg seem like just that, rumors. Still you tell everyone to keep alert and double your own patrols on the Delerg borders just in case. Not much more you can do except wait. Weeks and months pass and nobody has invaded or even come close to wandering near the Delerg borders. General Ackerson dies of his illness, the government collapses and Mog takes advantage of the situation, but other than that major change nothing else notable happens in Quala. As for the Nalin Empire, not a peep from them either. You stick to your usual heightened alert status for a little while longer, and then eventually relent a bit by the year is over. Year 63 "I KNEW I should've killed that bastard! I KNEW it!" you yell. "You couldn't have known he'd do something like this." Talia says in an attempt to calm you. "I should've known that he'd do SOMETHING though! Fuck! If he wasn't dead already, I'd personally find him and kill him myself!" You're speaking about Cyrus of course. Years after exiling him you have finally heard from him again in a second hand manner which will plunge you into a war with the Nalin Empire. If the rumors weren't true before, they're going to be true soon. You aren't exactly sure what Cyrus was up to during his years in exile, but if you had to guess it was planning some sort of revenge or looking for a way to redeem himself (In retrospect, it wouldn't surprise you if he had been behind the heretic killings as well)…maybe it was both. Either way the day he assassinated Warden Matron Brenda during a speech to her people the whole time shouting "Down with Empires! Dendrin Forever! Shadows Forever!" is the day he fucked all of you over. He apparently didn't survive too long after that, but you're guessing he knew it was a suicide mission anyway. Didn't take long before Brenda's successor Tarna declared war on you. Makes perfect sense, seeing as their well-respected leader was killed by a shadow. Doesn't matter if he was a nutter that was acting alone, someone has to pay. Someone also has to be a good scapegoat while Tarna consolidates her own power and gains enough popularity by destroying her predecessor's old enemies. That someone is you naturally. While the Nalin Empire has to actually march an army over Quala before reaching you, the situation isn't good. Unlike the first time you fought an Empire, you had a lot more support, even after the Gloom incident, you still had the help of the normal people pissed at the Empire everywhere. The old Empire was also already greatly weakened, corrupt and fighting multiple front battles. Now? You have no such advantage. The Nalin Empire is a strong power on the rise that is now unified by a very ambitious and focused leader who very much wants to add the destruction of the shadows to the first of her great achievements. There's also the fact that you're no longer a young man anymore. You're old, tired even. And while you'll fight harder than someone half your age, the fact remains you're not as energetic as you once were. You bury your hands in your face for a moment just thinking about the shitstorm that is to come. Talia rubs your shoulders. "We'll get through this. Dendrin saw us see victory over one Empire, he'll let us see victory over another." She says optimistically. You look up at her to see her smiling back. After all these years you still can't resist her cheerful faith in Dendrin. Quite frankly, you really wish you had listened to Dendrin decades ago when he suggested that you kill Cyrus. You might've avoided a lot of unnecessary conflict throughout your time as Shadow Master. Too late now and no looking back. You'll deal with this problem as you have with all others that have ever been thrust upon you, which is with a weapon in hand. Not really like you have a choice anyway. You tried to open a dialogue with Tarna, but she isn't interested in speaking to you. Year 65 You look over at the remainder of your shadows. You know that they will fight to the last and for every one of them that falls, they will take ten enemies with them, but this is your last stand. By your side stands Talia, even now she holds faith that Dendrin will magically turn the tide of this battle, but you don't see it happening. In fact you haven't spoken to him for quite a while. He probably knows when something is coming to an end. He must be still watching since you all have your shadow magic so he hasn't abandoned you completely. Seems like he could've at least gave you a "Good luck" speech before battle, but who knows? Maybe he doesn't like goodbyes. Still, you see no reason you can't give your own. "Shadows! The enemy is pounding down the door as I speak so I'll make it brief. Whether we live or die here today is irrelevant. What matters is that fight so furiously that we will always be remembered. If we live, then they will remember to never attack us again." You pause for the next part; because this is what you know will happen. "If we die…well they will remember the day they almost lost to a force much smaller than themselves. Perhaps a lesson will be learned that those faithful to Dendrin were a force to be reckoned with during their time on this world. And perhaps from there a seed of intrigue will be planted causing some to seek out his wisdom. For while we may die here, we will still live on forever with Dendrin in the afterlife! And there can be no greater reward than that." It is an inspiring speech and morale is raised. Talia gives you one last hug and kiss afterwards. "I love you." she says. "And I love you." you reply back. The temple doors crack at last and the stone crumbles before the might of the battering ram. Hordes of Nalin troops pour in. You embrace your final battle.

Year 55 "Theo I know you're here I can sense your presence, you might as well come on out and take your punishment with some dignity." You say looking down the dimly lit stairway. You can't believe after all these years; it's come down to you personally tracking Theo hiding in the cellar of a simple abandoned farmhouse. Several of the Blades stand behind you asking if they should go in and get him, but you decline. You can handle this yourself, in fact you'd rather do it yourself. "Just stand guard, I'll be back soon." You say to Glen who nods and has the Blades guard the perimeter. You walk down the stairs without any worry about your safety. Even if Theo does attack you, and you're fairly certain he isn't going to be in any condition to do, you'll easily be able to defend yourself. The cellar isn't large and add the fact that there are several stacks of boxes and barrels here make the cellar seem even smaller than it is. "Supplies. Supplies still here from the Empire rebellion. Never did get around to using them." Theo's voice says from the corner of the room. You see him in his torn and tattered robe and sitting against the wall. Between his missing hand and half burned face, he's a mess. "Didn't get around to using them for this one either." You say. "Honestly, I'd forgotten about this place until recently. Had so many old safehouses, I was bound to forget some of them. Don't know why I forgot about this one though…it's rather peaceful. Serene even. I guess its remoteness helps. Yeah, this would've been a good place to settle down…maybe another life. Right?" "I don't think Dendrin does reincarnation. Least of all for traitors." "Yeah, I suppose so I guess. Good thing I stopped believing in him years ago." Theo laughs weakly. "You know, if you stopped believing in him, you could've just left rather than cause a whole lot of unnecessary fighting. It's not like I would've stopped you." "And tell me Eternal, would you leave if your own wife still believed in Dendrin?" Theo asks accusingly. You don't know if he's just asking hypothetically or if he is actually implying something. "No, I suppose I wouldn't." "Of course not. Besides…I did still believe up until I found out you killed her. From that point I knew that Dendrin truly didn't support my cause, so why bother worshipping a god that doesn't? Of course had to still keep up the charade since I had managed to hold sway over some of the new converts in Quala." "And that's when you decided to just kill Sam, declare yourself in charge of his forces and repeatedly tried to invade the temple?" "Well seemed like a good idea at the time. Honestly if that bastard Ackerson had just allied with me, I believe I would've had a good chance at winning. Didn't expect him to make a separate peace with you though." "The fool has still got his sights set on Rask and doesn't want to expend any military effort that isn't focused on that endeavor. You might've done better trying to get help from Brenda in Nalin, heard she's not too fond of shadows having caused the death of her husband and all." "Believe me I tried, she sent my messengers back without heads and a note saying she wasn't helping even if I wasn't really a shadow anymore and as far as she was concerned she hoped that we all killed one another." "Well thanks to you, this was certainly another set back for the shadows. Sort of makes the whole original rebellion rather pointless." "No…not for me. I think those were the happiest days of my life. I had a purpose, my enemy was clear and I knew I would win because Dendrin was on my side. Then I won, and that's when it all started to slowly fall apart." "Hah. I can certainly understand where you're coming from on that perspective. Part of your behavior in all this probably stemmed from being a rebel for so long that you never knew quite how to adjust and when the opportunity presented itself, you immersed yourself in the role again because it was comfortable. Really, any of your other reasons were all secondary and just an excuse." Theo doesn't answer he just looks down and nods a few times in a rocking motion as he clutches where his left hand used to be. Eventually he staggers upward sliding his back against the wall in an effort to stand up. You're guessing he's ready to die now. "Just one question Eternal, does Dendrin really speak to you?" "When he feels like it, but if it makes you feel any better he hasn't cared about the shadows for a very long time and the only reason why he takes an interest in them at all is due to me." "…well I guess I was doomed from the very beginning then." "So was I Theo…so was I." you say and hit Theo with a powerful shadowfire bolt which burns directly through his chest leaving a big hole and a black mark against the wall. Theo slumps down and the leader of the "new rebellion" is dead. The damage he's caused isn't so readily repairable. In addition to losing many shadows he's also created a separate faction of them (Something you were trying to avoid), which are still located in pockets across Quala. The beliefs are basically the same (and without the indoctrination ritual obviously), with the exception that YOU or any other non-pure human for that matter shouldn't be a shadow, let alone in charge of the order. Your first thought is that you should probably hunt them all down and wipe them out before they become a problem, but then again this little conflict has been taking a toll on the shadows you have left. Some of the children don't even have mothers and fathers anymore. It might be time to pack up the gear and attempt to rebuild again. As you think on this, you make your way up the stairs and wince at a couple of the aches in your joints in doing so. You might be an Eternal, but you sure as hell aren't starting to feel like one in the past few years as old age is becoming a little more apparent to you. Makes you sort of glad that you don't have to rely solely on regular combat anymore thanks to your increased magic abilities gifted to you by your "dedication" to Dendrin no doubt. In any case you're tired and you tell Glen that Theo is dead, but you're going to stay here for the night before heading home again. Glen as usual nods and says he'll keep everyone on watch. You find an old bed that probably has been slept in years, but it doesn't look infested with bed bugs so you use it. Doesn't take long for you to slowly drift off to sleep, but you get the impression that you're not going to get a peaceful rest. "So another enemy falls before you, keep this up and you'll outlive everyone." Dendrin remarks. "Figured you'd show up eventually. Any words of advice on what to do next?" you ask. "Not really, you seem to have it under control. So…still bored?" "No, but I hate set backs." "Come now you should be used to such things by now." "I am, but that doesn't mean I have to like them. Especially when I feel like packing it all in because there's little point in going on." "So you don't intend on destroying the heretic shadows?" "I almost don't intend on going back to the temple. I feel like just leaving altogether." "You've said that before, many times. You won't though." "Of course I won't, but I feel like no matter what I do something severely sets back the shadows. Against all odds I've taken it upon myself to be their leader and protect them better than you ever do and I'm still lying about being a true believer." "Oh you're a believer, a cynical one, but you're a believer. If you weren't you would've left a long time ago because it's a little bit more than just Talia keeping you here." "I don't see what else there is, because it sure isn't to bask in the glory of your voice." "It's power pure and simple. It's being in charge. It's telling others what to do and ruling them like a king or emperor if you prefer." "I might agree with you if I actually thought I was in charge of anything so grand. Besides, it's really you they're all worshipping not me." "And is that what your problem is? That you're doing all the work and not getting any of the perks? And here I thought all that nice magical power I've been granting to you was a fine way of rewarding you." "Well it hasn't hurt. You're right though, I don't mind being in charge and I do thrive on a bit of conflict, but sometimes it just gets a bit tiring that's all." "Ah, and now you see why I stopped directly leading the shadows altogether!" "Yeah, well I don't have that luxury unless you can elevate me to godhood." "Ha ha, even if I could, obviously I wouldn't want the competition." "Too bad, maybe if you could you wouldn't suffer from boredom either." "Hmm, interesting insight as always Eternal. Well, I'll let you get back to it. Oh and just in case you did want my advice, I'd rather you not destroy the so-called heretic shadows. They might not be following you, but they do still worship me." And once again you wake up, with more dubious advice from your "god." You sometimes wonder whenever he does give you any of his wisdom if he wants you to do the exact opposite of what he says, because you practically do every time. In any case, you can't dwell on the nature of the divine at this moment. You're still left with the decision about how to fix the mess you have to clean up. > You wipe out the rest of the heretics If all your years of knowing him has taught you anything, its what's best for Dendrin hasn't always been what's best for you. While rebuilding is certainly going to be a priority, you still need to wipe out the rest of the heretics as well. It's the only way you're going to prevent problems in the future. You call Glen and the rest of the Blades and tell them that you'll be heading back to the temple for a break and get some things in order and then you'll be helping them again soon. In the meantime they can use this place as a base of sorts while attempting to hunt down the rest of the heretics. Glen nods, but has noticed your physical pain increase over the course of this conflict. He suggests that perhaps you shouldn't worry yourself about it directly as you have more important duties to the shadows and they're confident that they can handle it. "Glen, I'm not some crippled old man. I still got fight left in me. I was killing men by the dozens long before you were even thought about. Do not assume just because I have a few extra aches and pains that I'm not fully capable of combat!" you say getting angry at his innocent suggestion. "My apologies Shadow Master. Didn't mean to offend." He replies with a nod. "No…no…of course you didn't. Sorry, this is been a long ordeal and it's not over yet. Just gets tiring sometimes. Okay, I'm off, I can make it back to the temple by myself, don't worry about escorting me back." Glen is about to ask if you're sure, but he stops himself from doing so lest he be reprimanded again. The journey back to the temple is uneventful. You let everyone know that Theo has been killed, but heretics still remain. You then go on to say that the Blades and yourself will seek the rest out, but everyone else should focus on rebuilding. Talia questions if you should be going. "I think the Blades can handle whatever pathetic remnants are left of the heretics. You'd probably be better serving here where you can help in the rebuilding process. You know how the shadows like you around as an inspiration." Talia says. "They should be getting their inspiration from Dendrin and if people liked me so much we wouldn't have had a civil war. Besides, the shadows will like me more if I'm actively doing something about potential threats in the future. Part of the reason these heretics got out of control in the first place is because I wasn't paying enough attention. It's my responsibility to see this through to the end." You answer. "Are you sure that's what this is about? And not about say…getting old and trying to prove that you've still got it?" "You too? I just had to hear this before from Glen. Granted he didn't say it like you did, but I know damn well he thought it. Let me tell you something, I could still take out every one of those Blades AND the heretics on top of it all by myself!" Talia smiles a bit and rubs your shoulder. "Yes, I know you could my love. Nobody is truly suggesting that you still aren't a great warrior, but you don't have to prove anything to anyone, least of all to me. You don't need to go wading into battle anymore, those days are past, Dendrin made you Shadow Master not just for your combat skills. You're a leader and you can allow yourself to rest." "I'll rest when I'm dead. Besides, the last time I got complacent, Theo and Yvette conspired against us, but I've said this before." "Yes, you have. (Sigh) I suppose you want me to take charge of things here while you go off to prove your alpha maleness. Very well, have fun and be careful." Talia says and kisses you goodbye. Talia is right of course. You are doing this mainly to prove you still "got it." That you can still travel across the countryside getting into fights. It's silly and pointless, but its what you want to do and another part of you has missed it. The next few weeks you travel with the remaining Blades hunting down heretic hideouts all across Quala. It's actually amazing how fast some of them have spread out, and they've probably spread out even more since the news of their leaders death and how you're actively hunting them. The heretics aren't the only problem however. You also have to deal with the chaos that's currently going on in Quala. With Sam and now Theo gone, the region has destabilized again, with several would be leaders all rising up with their own little factions ready to attack anyone who is trespassing on their turf. This doesn't even include the already established warlords that are eyeing the new leaderless territory that's ripe for the taking. Even General Ackerson's troops have been seen patrolling further south than they normally do. Doesn't help that shadows aren't really popular for several reasons, but fortunately you can avoid most unnecessary battles due to cloaking. However, you probably don't do that as much as you should thanks to your mindset of trying to prove something. As a result you lose the remainder of your Blades in a skirmish with a very large group of General Ackerson's men lead by a battle mage who despite the non aggression pact, decided that you were just too tempting of a target in the "new land" they recently claimed. You manage to drag yourself back to Theo's old hideout, which you were using as a base, cursing the whole time. You're wounded and angry that once again you weren't strong enough to stop something bad from happening, yet not really realizing that it was your arrogance that was the cause of it this time. "Fuck! Shit! I'm not old! I'm not useless! I'm still a warrior!" you say to yourself as you nurse your wounds sitting in the dark farmhouse. "No, I'm afraid your time has passed." You hear a whispery voice say. At first you think its Dendrin since he's always been one to kick you while you're down, but then you're wide awake and he's never contacted you in that state. Your focus has been so preoccupied with your own pride that you didn't sense another presence in the farmhouse when you dragged yourself here… You turn around just in time to utter "Cy…" before you feel a blade slash across your throat.

Year 46 Took long enough, and sometimes it never seemed like it was going to happen, but you've finally restored Dendrin's temple. Restoring it wasn't easy either, especially not one as big and in such disrepair like Dendrin's. The surprising thing is you've not only restored it in appearance, but in use as well. The one of the first difficult things was getting the stone. Delerg isn't exactly flush with rock quarries. The second difficult thing was getting help to restore it in the first place. The shadows might be great warriors and have more knowledge than the average peasant, but nobody in your ranks is a laborer or into masonry. Obviously outside help was necessary. Fortunately since the fall of the Empire, Delerg had once again become a quiet place with no "leader." Most of the inhabitants were content to go about their simple lives like they once did before the Empire. When you arrived in Sinkhole, to ask around for workers to try to restore the temple, some couldn't volunteer fast enough to help. This need to help you, was a combination of a few things. The most important one being that Delerg was always shadow friendly. The Empire may have ruled it for a while, but the respect that its people had for the shadows was always greater. The shadows after all were once the main protectors of the area before the Empire. Combining this with the fact that the shadows were the main ones who helped influence so much rebellion and caused the destruction of the Empire, it was only natural that you were as warmly embraced like you were. Good thing too, because you certainly didn't have the coin to pay the workers in the first place! As the temple was slowly being restored, more people started flocking to your aid. Some of these were old rebels that the shadows lost contact with when you started consolidating your forces in Rask. They remember you though and offer help in any way their skills allow. While you were always a little surprised by how much free help you were always willing to get, what surprised you more is how little you really needed to do to get it. These people had no one telling them what to do or how to live anymore, and yet a lot of them seemed to be in a big hurry for that to change by becoming Dendrin worshippers! You understand gratitude, but to willingly surrender a portion of your earnings and time to serve an invisible being that you had no proof existed, while some guy claiming to be his "representative" tell you how you should live seemed like a step backwards for them at least. For you though, it was all beneficial as eventually some of these devoted souls wanted to become full-fledged shadows. Naturally you accepted them into your ranks provided they could pass through the testing. Right now things have been better for you than they have ever been. You've got a nice restored temple, a fair sized congregation, the ranks of the shadows are slowly starting to grow again and most importantly you haven't had to deal with any problems with the new eternals (Now known as the Shadow Blades) ever since they all went through the ritual. Dendrin was true to his word on that, just like you were true to yours by restoring his temple. Still, even after directly helping you, you still can't bring yourself to "worship" Dendrin. Not really. Part of you feels like it was the least he could've done after all the stuff in the past he's put you through. Another of part of you feels as if you've "repaid the debt" by restoring the temple. He's probably granted you more power as you've noticed your magical abilities becoming superior to everyone else's and it taking much less effort, but again you still feel no sense of "awe" in Dendrin that would cause you to willingly worship him as a god. To you, he's a very powerful being that is a whimsical ally at best. You've come to realize that he is probably deserving of your respect in regard to his power and you always keep that in mind when up keeping the charade of his religion. Perhaps it is enough, or at least it'll have to be since you don't see yourself changing your mind on the matter anytime soon, especially when you've been trying to figure out what your next big course of action should be. The problem with a lack of conflict is that you find yourself very bored. Even in Rask, the monotony was broken up with the occasional giant or ogre attack. Here in Delerg there are no such great dangers surprisingly enough. Most dangerous swamp beasts prefer to stick to their own stomping grounds which all seem to be away from your part of the swamp and Sul-monkeys aren't a threat so much as they're an occasional annoyance when large groups of them decide to use the temple roof as a mating area! The last time you had any true conflict was when General Ackerson's men ambushed you and part of you hasn't forgotten that incident. From what you know, he's still in power and sometimes you'd like to change that just on principle. Quala is still an area in a power struggle between competing warlords, but so far there have been no attempt by any of them to expand into Delerg, probably because there isn't much here in the first place save for swamp. Not to mention there are most likely trickles of news coming in about the return of the shadows to Delerg. Most of the warlords being ex-Empire probably would like to get some sort of revenge, but know that their losses would be considerable if they even attempted such a thing, so you are left alone. Talia and Cyrus seem to be content with how things are now, why can't you be? Funny that you were concerned about the new eternals being restless and getting themselves into trouble, while here you are considering starting a fight because your bored with peace! The only real reason you can think of is petty revenge on General Ackerson and that's not a very good one even if you could easily tell everyone that Dendrin told you all to go kill him. In your moment of introspection, you take another look at what you've accomplished. You went from being a lone unbeliever practically trapped in an organization that was determined to overthrow an enemy several times larger than itself to the victorious leader of said organization, which is now thriving under your watch. You probably could defeat Ackerson, but at what cost? Last you heard he has thousands of men at his command still and that includes a few battle mages. The shadows may be growing slowly, but that's just it, slowly. You don't have anywhere near the numbers to start raising armies. Sure, you have the entire support of probably all of Delerg, but that doesn't mean much in the scheme of things if most of the people aren't warriors. You kill Ackerson and take his territory then what? You hold it? How long can that last with the numbers you'd have left? You doubt if the people of Quala would be as supportive, if anything they probably blame the shadows for the miserable warring state they live in now. This doesn't even factor in the OTHER warlords in the area. They may all decide to gang up on you and if you're in any sort of weakened condition they may even press their attack into Delerg itself. No, the risk doesn't seem worth it compared to the petty gain. The shadows have never been about conquest and they probably shouldn't start now. However, that doesn't mean you should stay idle. Peace is fine, but perhaps there is a way of initiating conflict without actually doing it. It occurs to you that the warlords of Quala won't always be fighting. Eventually one of them is going to win or manage to unite the area in some way. When that happens then Delerg might be in potential danger, so it would be in your best interest to make sure that doesn't happen. Keep Quala weak and disorganized while keeping Delerg the opposite. You start sending in shadows into Quala to get a good idea of what the situation is there, but not to actually do anything yet. Theo is mostly in charge of this due to his previous experience of working extensively in the region during the Empire war. Eventually after a couple months you have all the information you really need and ready to put the second part of your plan into action, which is to keep the region destabilized. This is going to include sabotage, misdirection, more spying, and assassinations, all those things that play on the strengths of the shadows. "I like it. So when do we start assassinating people?" Cyrus remarks causing Draven to chuckle. "Well, we probably should decide who needs it first. Some of the leaders sound so incompetent that it might be better if we left them in charge." Talia adds. "Shouldn't we have some sort of plan before doing this?" Yvette asks. "We do have a plan, I just explained it." You say not understanding why she would ask such a question. "I…think what my wife means is should we not have a greater plan other than sewing chaos. I do not presume to disagree with your reasons Shadow Master, but I do believe that causing discord for the sake of doing it might seem a bit…well…short term." Theo says. "So you believe that we should actually take territory? I explained why I believe that would be a problem." "No, no, I agree that we shouldn't be marching armies into Quala, I guess what I mean is perhaps this would also be a good time to launch an aggressive campaign of converting unbelievers. You know send our better speakers to some of the smaller villages that are unhappy with life under the warlords and telling them how Dendrin can release them from such misery. Given enough time, we would have so many converted that we wouldn't have to worry about raising an army or Quala ever being a threat because most of the population would all be believers in Dendrin." An interesting suggestion from Theo and one you weren't really expecting from him. He also mentions he could get back in contact with some of the old rebels he knows are still living in Quala to help more directly as well. > You stick with your own plan Theo might mean well, but you're a firm believer that simple plans often work best and since you've got the last word, you're sticking with your original plan. "It's a good idea Theo, but I believe it may stir up more attention towards us, if we start attempting to convert people outside Delerg. It may even cause certain warlords to unite against us if they believe us to be threatening enough. Better that we keep our presence to a minimum and especially not try to contact any of them directly. What I want you to do instead is to just keep an eye on Anu and Sam since they're close by, but since they seem to be content on bashing each other in the head just send some Blades to perform sabotage on both sides just to keep them mired down." "As you wish Shadow Master." Theo remarks. "The western Quala warlords seem pretty occupied as well so we don't need to deal with them either. General Ackerson though I want assassinated. I know he's attempting to expand into Rask, but the man is the biggest threat as far as powers in Quala and I don't want him to improve that position in the future. Cyrus, since you're really eager about doing this, I'm going to leave it up to you who to send, but I imagine you'll want to oversee things personally." "It will be done Shadow Master, and thank you." "I believe that's about it, we can go over more details one on one later." After the meeting Talia speaks to you directly. "You sure you want to leave it to Cyrus? I would've thought you would've wanted to handle something so important yourself." "I'm confident that Cyrus can do the job efficiently. If nothing else he's enthusiastic for things like this. I thought about going too, but I'm slowly begining to realize I'll be needing to delegate and remaining at this temple more. Besides I'm sure there will be other opportunities to go kill someone. Never seems to be a shortage in fact." "Well that's true." "I'm thinking I'll spend more time looking after the security within the Delerg province. I mean yes we have potential enemies outside the province, but it doesn't hurt to keep alert in our homestead." "I suppose not, but we're pretty well liked here." "Perhaps, but if I've learned anything, its that enemies can exist anywhere of you look hard enough." Over the next few days your initial plans go off quite well. General Ackerson is assassinated successfully and there wasn't even any indication there was shadow involvement. As of now his group is fighting amongst itself and no longer united. Captain Anu and Sam Jowin have each been suffering set backs and of course blaming each other for them. You then relent a bit to let the chaos do its work in Quala until it looks like the place is going to stabilize once again and that's when you send in shadows to create strife again. It becomes routine just like any of the prayer sessions for Dendrin. Of course as good as the shadows are, you can't go undetected forever and eventually someone catches on to what's really been going happening… "There's a huddled mass of people outside the temple, Shadow Master. We're keeping them out obviously, but their speaker really wants to see you." Brother Gannon says to you. "Who are these people?" "Mostly peasants I believe, but they aren't from Delerg, they're from Quala. Under Sam's dominion I think. They say they want our help." "Our help? What's bringing this on and what makes them think we're going to help a bunch of unbelievers?" Cyrus asks. In fact you all are wondering what this is all about. "Well I guess the best way to find out is to ask them. Send in their speaker and keep the rest outside. If anything looks suspicious kill them all." You say. Brother Gannon nods and waves in the Qualans' speaker. While you expect a grubby peasant with dirty clothing to come shuffling in, you instead get a young man dressed in leather armor. Despite his warrior garb he's nervous. He's trying his best to be brave, but you sense the fear in him. "Well? Out with it, you traveled a long way just to waste our time." Talia remarks. "Yes, my apologies, um Shadowlord is it?" "Shadow Master actually, but let's just get on with why you saw fit to lead a bunch of peasants here and why you think we can even help you." you say. "Oh yes that. My name is Flynn and we all live in the Quala Freelands, which as you know is run by Sam Jowin. I myself am a soldier of relatively low rank…and uh…look there's no easy way of saying this so I guess I'll get right to it. We want you to kill Sam." You have to admit this wasn't exactly the sort of help you thought they were going to ask for. You and the rest of your council look at each other before you speak again. "And why do you think we would do that?" "Because you routinely sabotage our side and Captain Anu's? Because you were most likely involved in the assassination of General Ackerson? It wasn't apparent at first, but…" "Now stop right there for a moment Flynn, and think very carefully on your next words." "I…I'm sorry Shadow Master, but I do not know any other way to put this." "Very well then, let me help you. Even if we were involved in such activities and that's not an admission, what still makes you think that we would be willing to assassinate your beloved leader?" "He's NOT a beloved leader! Sam is no better than the tyrannical Emperor that ruled over us before! I will admit during his freedom fighter days he was an inspiration, but now? He's just another petty warlord that doesn't give a shit about anything other than his own power!" "That's a pretty bold statement. I knew Sam during the Empire War years and even fought along side him a couple times. He was always a fair man from what I knew of him and cared for those under his command." Theo remarks. "Yeah, well he's changed drastically since then, the things he's done... the things I've had to do in his service…I do not even wish to think about let alone discuss. So do you need payment? We weren't sure what we'd need to get your help. We have scraped together valuables and gold for you. I don't know if its enough, I mean I think we could scrape a bit more, but…here's what we got." At this point Flynn reaches for a small pouch on his side and extends his hand towards all of you with it. Cyrus snatches it from him and reveals a few gold coins and a couple of gems of low quality. Probably a paltry amount, but then you don't really know what the going rate is for assassination is these days never having done it for money before. "And you think we're mere thugs for hire?" Cyrus asks throwing the pouch back at Flynn who barely catches it. "No! I mean well…we uh…are also prepared to give you a virgin girl in exchange for your help if you aren't motivated by profit." "A virgin girl?" Yvette asks. "Yeah, for your sacrifices to Dendrin. Isn't that what you guys do?" At this point Cyrus gets so pissed at Flynn he punches him in the face. Theo isn't too happy with him either and begins calling Flynn names. You on the other hand, chuckle to yourself thinking that human sacrifice might actually break up the monotony around the temple sometimes. And while you're not seriously considering such a thing, you are seeing an opportunity here to change things up a bit. "Alright Cyrus that will do for now. This man obviously came to us for help and kicking the hell out of this poor bastard isn't going to help matters." "But he insulted Dendrin! And he insults the shadows by coming to us like we're some lowly criminals!" "No this man came to us looking for skilled assassins who can get the job done right. And that's what we are, aren't we? I mean that's partly how we won the war against the Empire isn't it? If there are already rumors going around by ignorant peasants that we killed General Ackerson and have been involved in sabotage in Quala then our cover has already been blown at this point. We may as well embrace it." "What are you saying?" Talia asks. "I'm saying that we should take this man up on his offer. However, our payment will be that he owes us a favor. In fact ALL of those that are with him today will owe us a favor. Be sure to get all their names before they leave here. It may be big, it may be small, it may never come at all, but when we call it in, they better deliver…are we agreed to this Flynn?" you say extending your hand to help him up. He's unsure at first, but eventually he takes it and gets up. Sam must really be some sort of bastard if Flynn is agreeing to this arrangement. "I…I accept your terms Shadow Master." "Good, it'll be taken care of as soon as possible." "Thank you! Thank you!" he says and starts to bow a lot while he steps backwards towards the door. "Excuse me, but where do you think you're going?" "I was taking my leave Shadow Master." "Not with that pouch of valuables you aren't. They were a gift to us were they not?" "Oh…yes…of course. Here you go. My apologies Shadow Master." Flynn says and tosses the bag to you. "Good. NOW you may go." After Flynn leaves the temple you remind some of the Blades to get all their names down. Meanwhile your council is a little confused by your latest decision "Are you serious about this?" Theo asks. "Of course I am, if I wasn't I wouldn't have made the offer." You answer. "But we're helping unbelievers!" Cyrus says. "So? We helped them during the Empire War too, what makes now so different? I'll tell you what makes it different, we're actually going to be profiting from it for a change. Look if we're going to stay safe, and I mean truly safe from external threats we need to get back on to the world stage. Staying isolated in this swamp is only going to work for so long and eventually someone is going to come here with an army and attempt to overwhelm us. Last time I checked our numbers are still low." "Okay, but weren't we ensuring our safety by destabilizing Quala?" Theo asks. "We were, but as I said our presence has obviously become known now. It's nobody's fault, it was bound to happen eventually, but that means we've got two options. Either we stop completely and risk Quala being united under one person who decides they want to emulate the Empire which means war in the far future. Or we continue doing what we're doing and risk pissing everyone off to such a degree that they stop fighting each other and unite against us, which means war in the near future. Neither of those sound attractive so I'm choosing the third option." "Which is?" Yvette asks. "We offer our services to the highest bidder. We become the go to organization for assassination. We spread so much fear and terror that nobody will ever want to attack us, they will instead wish to curry our favor in exchange for our help. And Cyrus I already see you're about to protest and I don't know why because you're the first one who usually wants to go practice your killing skills on someone. I'd think you of all people would be happy with this arrangement." "You may be right." Cyrus says. "But what about Dendrin?" Yvette asks. "Yes! What about the integrity of this order?" Theo adds "Dendrin is the god of shadows. Why else would he give us such powers if not to use them in such a manner? But if it will calm everyone down I will certainly consult him on this matter. At this time though I have made my decision on what is best for the shadows." None of them may see it now, but you really are taking steps to ensure the survival of the shadows. The shadows were feared during their lackey days under the Empire and during the rebellion the Empire itself learned to fear the shadows. Now? The fear still exists, but not to the extent that it needs to be. Not to the extent that it SHOULD be. You're going to get that fear back and that reputation is what going to keep you all alive and thrive. Surely Dendrin would certainly approve of that. In fact you know that sadistic bastard would. > Year 50 With all business taken care of, you tell Talia to let you know if anything important comes up since you're going to catch a few moments of sleep. Seems like you don't do much of that anymore. As you settle down for some much needed rest, you drift off thinking about all what you've managed to accomplish. Quala is essentially under your thumb and you haven't even resorted to an army to do it. You've got people from there paying you left and right to assassinate their enemies whether it is in tangible goods or simple favors that you intend on calling in some day. It doesn't stop there either; you've even had a few people travel all the way from the Arat province and even Rask to use your services. It of course helps that you've never failed to assassinate a chosen target. As a result, you've accomplished much of what you first envisioned. You've managed to put enough dread into those in power to not want to invade Delerg for fear of their own deaths or on the more pragmatic side of things they'd prefer to have you around in case they want to get rid of someone. "You're enjoying all this aren't you Eternal? I know you're playing the emotionless cold hearted assassin guild leader and all, but deep down you're enjoying every moment of it. It's okay to admit it, not like I'm going to tell anyone." "Of course I am, but not for the reasons you believe. I'm enjoying this because things are going well for the shadows for once AND I'm not terminally bored while leading them. For the longest time I could achieve one or the other but not both." "Going well? Haven't you had to execute ten shadows, including two of your own council? Theo and Yvette I believe?" "It was necessary. They were conspiring and disagreeing with the new direction the shadows needed to go in order to thrive. Besides, I didn't say we were without problems. I just meant things were good in general and you don't seem to have a problem with what I'm doing. You even encouraged me when I made the effort to consult you about it." "Of course I don't. In fact you've actually made the shadows more interesting than they have been in a long time. So…now that you're on top of the world so to speak, what's your next move?" "Nothing major though I imagine it won't stay like that for long. I don't delude myself that the calmer times last forever, just that I should enjoy them while I can." Those words prove to be true considering that Delerg sudden gets a large influx of svelk mercenaries in the town of Sinkhole one day. What's more disturbing is they weren't detected until they were in the town. This could be the precursor to an invasion for all you know and you personally go with Cyrus and several other Blades to sort this out. When you arrive, a few shadows that were in the town report that the svelk haven't been doing anything except carousing at the tavern. He says they've been obnoxious, but nothing serious yet. Besides Mistress, the only dark elves you've had to deal with were those that were hired by the Empire to kill you during your time in Rask, so your opinion of them isn't exactly high to begin with, but that probably makes you the same as everyone else in that aspect. You know damn well they have to be here for a reason other than spending money on booze though. You enter the tavern and it gets suddenly much quieter from the revelry you heard before entering. The staff looks miserable, particularly the waitresses and only a few other customers remain trying to hide in a dark corner, probably too scared to pass the dark elves to leave. "Ah! The great Shadow Master graces us with his presence! I was wondering if we could be expecting you. I told my soldiers here that if we showed up unannounced that we'd get your attention. It is truly a testament to your patrols that we found ourselves hard pressed to evade them undetected until we arrived in this dismal town." One dark elf says while sitting at a table with his fellows. You presume he's probably their leader. "What do you svelk want and make it quick." You say. "Straight to the point eh? Very well then. My name is Tyren and what I want is to hire your services." You don't believe it. "You? You want to hire the shadows to kill someone? Since when did svelk rely on assassins? Doesn't your race learn such a trade from birth and gleefully kill as a matter of course?" Suddenly Tyren stands up as if he's offended by your remark. "And what do you know of us, shadow? What do you know that you haven't heard second hand from the grubby ignorant peasants?" "Trust me, I know your kind well enough that your senseless posturing and fake attempt at being offended are not going to intimidate or second guess myself. You're a race of sadistic murderous mercenaries that go from battlefield to battlefield profiting from conflict which I don't have a problem with. What I do have a problem with is when a bunch of them suddenly show up in my backyard where there is no conflict. You come here saying you need our help, yet show up unannounced and without coming to us directly. That shows a severe lack of disrespect, and there is no reason why I shouldn't just kill the lot of you now and throw your worthless carcasses to the Sul-Monkeys." You and your shadows take a step forward and Tyren's demeanor changes immediately though he tries to play it off like he was joking. "Sheesh, calm down. I didn't realize you shadows were so fucking serious all the time. Fine I'll explain in greater detail. I want you to kill the leader of another Svelk mercenary company. She goes by the name of Edolith. Currently she's located in the eastern part of the Quala province fighting for one of the half assed warlords there. I want her dead because she's been taking all the good paying jobs for years and also with her dead I may even be able to gain her warband which has no other viable leaders to take her place." Tyren takes a drink before continuing. "Now I know what you're thinking why don't I do this myself or even join an opposing side and kill her on the battlefield that way. Well it is with great risk in front of ALL my soldiers that I admit that I am neither clever or strong enough to take her on, though I would remind my soldiers that I could easily kick all of their asses." And with those words he quickly draws a dagger and stabs one of his men in the throat. The dark elf spits out a glob of blood and falls backwards gasping for life until Tyren finishes him off with a crushing stomp to his head. Naturally all the rest of the svelk look upon this as a normal thing, Tyren then turns to you. "So I call upon you, the shadows for help, the greatest assassins ever known in recent history. I believe that your order has the skill to pull off her assassination. So do we have a deal?" "Not really considering you haven't even described payment yet. What could you possibly offer? Svelk mercenaries aren't known for their wealth and trust me you'd need a considerable amount for me to even consider this." "Hmmm, well what about we owe you a favor?" Now you laugh. "A favor from you lot? Not likely. We have no need of mercenaries and I doubt if you'd come through with it anyway. We'd probably have to slaughter you all and while that would be doing the world a favor and maybe even sort of fun, I'd like to at least have something tangible if I'm going to help you." "You're incredibly suspicious of us. You sure you don't have svelk blood? No probably not, you're pretty ugly even for a human, but what can you do seeing as you all evolved from those Sul-Monkeys out there right? Ha ha ha ha! Okay but seriously… Zarren! Get over here with that big bag!" Tyren shouts at one of his underlings. Zarren comes to Tyren's table with a big bag and dumps the contents out on it. What is revealed is more than just regular valuables. There are also some books and other objects as well. So much that part of loot falls to the floor. "Hey, I recognize that book…its one I read during my days at Gloom! I thought it was lost forever." Dravin suddenly exclaims. "In fact a lot of these objects are from Gloom! These ceremony rings, these cups…where the hell did you get this stuff?" "Oh we svelk do a lot of trading with all kinds of people in our travels, those rock eating dwarves just being one of many. We sort of thought you all might be interested in lost objects from your old stomping grounds. Along with the gems and gold, I'd say this should be more than enough payment shouldn't it?" While you aren't overly attached to any "lost objects" from Gloom, you can see Dravin is pretty fond of some of them. You imagine the older human shadows that are still around would be happy to see such things again. Even Cyrus is looking at a couple things, and you know Talia would be interested in them. The actual valuables are probably a fair payment for a job such as this. Still part of you doesn't trust the svelk. Something about all this seems a bit sketchy. You don't know what exactly, but it just doesn't feel quite right to you. > You accept the contract You don't trust the svelk, but if they have some sort of ambush planned, you're fairly confident that you can handle anything they're going to throw at you. In any event you'll be taking the payment in advance. "Very well svelk. We'll take the job. Pack up the loot and put it in the bag." "Hey wait, we didn't say we were paying you all of it now. We need some assurance you'll complete the job! Half up front, half later!" "Yeah, not going to happen. I don't trust you as it is; you really think I'm not taking all the payment now? You're delusional." You say. Tyren is perturbed by your insistence, but then he realizes he's not exactly in friendly territory and severely outnumbered. "Fine, just as long as that bitch is dead." He replies and he proceeds to give the specifics of where Edolith is located before he takes his leave. You tell Cyrus and Dravin to take the best Blades and carry out the job. "And be very careful. Don't take anything for granted. I still don't trust them." You say. "Don't worry about us, we'll be able to sense a trap." Cyrus remarks. When you make it back to the temple with the lost items from Gloom, all the older shadows are eager to look through them, hoping to find something personal of theirs. Talia is especially glad to see the return of them and reassures you that you made a good decision to take the contract. The next day Cyrus, Dravin and several other Blades have set off on their mission and its business as usual at the temple. About afternoon, several shadows report that they suddenly aren't feeling well. Given that you're in a swamp, you could chalk this up to the environment, the problem with that is the shadows tend use their magic to fend off such ailments. Plus some of the eternals are sick as well and they're naturally resilient to disease and sickness. By night time, you and Talia aren't feeling well either and a couple of the shadows have already died of this mysterious illness. Prayers to Dendrin have been made, but he's not listening as usual. "It's the fucking svelk. I know it. They caused this somehow." You say in between feeling sick. You're so dizzy you can barely think, but it suddenly occurs to you what's going on. It's what they paid you, or rather the objects from Gloom. They must've done something to them. Maybe a curse of some sort. "Get all of the objects out of this temple and we need to cast a purification ritual right now!" you say. As several shadows attempt to carry out this order, you try your best to get prepared for the ritual. Other shadows are deathly ill by this point and you're not going to save them in time. "Shadow Master, the svelk are attacking just outside the temple!" Brother Gannon wheezes. You attempt to order the temple doors locked, but the svelk have already managed to barge in by this point. Under normal circumstances, you'd be more than a match for them, but whatever this curse is, it's affected the shadows quite severely and they've taken full advantage of your weakness. Most are so sick they can't concentrate to cast any spells, and that includes you. You put up a good fight, but ultimately the effects of the curse and Tyren's sneak attack prove to be too much. You eventually fall to one of their repeating crossbows. With several bolts lodged in your vital organs your last thoughts are of the hope that Cyrus will survive whatever the svelk had planned for him.

Year 50 With all business taken care of, you tell Talia to let you know if anything important comes up since you're going to catch a few moments of sleep. Seems like you don't do much of that anymore. As you settle down for some much needed rest, you drift off thinking about all what you've managed to accomplish. Quala is essentially under your thumb and you haven't even resorted to an army to do it. You've got people from there paying you left and right to assassinate their enemies whether it is in tangible goods or simple favors that you intend on calling in some day. It doesn't stop there either; you've even had a few people travel all the way from the Arat province and even Rask to use your services. It of course helps that you've never failed to assassinate a chosen target. As a result, you've accomplished much of what you first envisioned. You've managed to put enough dread into those in power to not want to invade Delerg for fear of their own deaths or on the more pragmatic side of things they'd prefer to have you around in case they want to get rid of someone. "You're enjoying all this aren't you Eternal? I know you're playing the emotionless cold hearted assassin guild leader and all, but deep down you're enjoying every moment of it. It's okay to admit it, not like I'm going to tell anyone." "Of course I am, but not for the reasons you believe. I'm enjoying this because things are going well for the shadows for once AND I'm not terminally bored while leading them. For the longest time I could achieve one or the other but not both." "Going well? Haven't you had to execute ten shadows, including two of your own council? Theo and Yvette I believe?" "It was necessary. They were conspiring and disagreeing with the new direction the shadows needed to go in order to thrive. Besides, I didn't say we were without problems. I just meant things were good in general and you don't seem to have a problem with what I'm doing. You even encouraged me when I made the effort to consult you about it." "Of course I don't. In fact you've actually made the shadows more interesting than they have been in a long time. So…now that you're on top of the world so to speak, what's your next move?" "Nothing major though I imagine it won't stay like that for long. I don't delude myself that the calmer times last forever, just that I should enjoy them while I can." Those words prove to be true considering that Delerg sudden gets a large influx of svelk mercenaries in the town of Sinkhole one day. What's more disturbing is they weren't detected until they were in the town. This could be the precursor to an invasion for all you know and you personally go with Cyrus and several other Blades to sort this out. When you arrive, a few shadows that were in the town report that the svelk haven't been doing anything except carousing at the tavern. He says they've been obnoxious, but nothing serious yet. Besides Mistress, the only dark elves you've had to deal with were those that were hired by the Empire to kill you during your time in Rask, so your opinion of them isn't exactly high to begin with, but that probably makes you the same as everyone else in that aspect. You know damn well they have to be here for a reason other than spending money on booze though. You enter the tavern and it gets suddenly much quieter from the revelry you heard before entering. The staff looks miserable, particularly the waitresses and only a few other customers remain trying to hide in a dark corner, probably too scared to pass the dark elves to leave. "Ah! The great Shadow Master graces us with his presence! I was wondering if we could be expecting you. I told my soldiers here that if we showed up unannounced that we'd get your attention. It is truly a testament to your patrols that we found ourselves hard pressed to evade them undetected until we arrived in this dismal town." One dark elf says while sitting at a table with his fellows. You presume he's probably their leader. "What do you svelk want and make it quick." You say. "Straight to the point eh? Very well then. My name is Tyren and what I want is to hire your services." You don't believe it. "You? You want to hire the shadows to kill someone? Since when did svelk rely on assassins? Doesn't your race learn such a trade from birth and gleefully kill as a matter of course?" Suddenly Tyren stands up as if he's offended by your remark. "And what do you know of us, shadow? What do you know that you haven't heard second hand from the grubby ignorant peasants?" "Trust me, I know your kind well enough that your senseless posturing and fake attempt at being offended are not going to intimidate or second guess myself. You're a race of sadistic murderous mercenaries that go from battlefield to battlefield profiting from conflict which I don't have a problem with. What I do have a problem with is when a bunch of them suddenly show up in my backyard where there is no conflict. You come here saying you need our help, yet show up unannounced and without coming to us directly. That shows a severe lack of disrespect, and there is no reason why I shouldn't just kill the lot of you now and throw your worthless carcasses to the Sul-Monkeys." You and your shadows take a step forward and Tyren's demeanor changes immediately though he tries to play it off like he was joking. "Sheesh, calm down. I didn't realize you shadows were so fucking serious all the time. Fine I'll explain in greater detail. I want you to kill the leader of another Svelk mercenary company. She goes by the name of Edolith. Currently she's located in the eastern part of the Quala province fighting for one of the half assed warlords there. I want her dead because she's been taking all the good paying jobs for years and also with her dead I may even be able to gain her warband which has no other viable leaders to take her place." Tyren takes a drink before continuing. "Now I know what you're thinking why don't I do this myself or even join an opposing side and kill her on the battlefield that way. Well it is with great risk in front of ALL my soldiers that I admit that I am neither clever or strong enough to take her on, though I would remind my soldiers that I could easily kick all of their asses." And with those words he quickly draws a dagger and stabs one of his men in the throat. The dark elf spits out a glob of blood and falls backwards gasping for life until Tyren finishes him off with a crushing stomp to his head. Naturally all the rest of the svelk look upon this as a normal thing, Tyren then turns to you. "So I call upon you, the shadows for help, the greatest assassins ever known in recent history. I believe that your order has the skill to pull off her assassination. So do we have a deal?" "Not really considering you haven't even described payment yet. What could you possibly offer? Svelk mercenaries aren't known for their wealth and trust me you'd need a considerable amount for me to even consider this." "Hmmm, well what about we owe you a favor?" Now you laugh. "A favor from you lot? Not likely. We have no need of mercenaries and I doubt if you'd come through with it anyway. We'd probably have to slaughter you all and while that would be doing the world a favor and maybe even sort of fun, I'd like to at least have something tangible if I'm going to help you." "You're incredibly suspicious of us. You sure you don't have svelk blood? No probably not, you're pretty ugly even for a human, but what can you do seeing as you all evolved from those Sul-Monkeys out there right? Ha ha ha ha! Okay but seriously… Zarren! Get over here with that big bag!" Tyren shouts at one of his underlings. Zarren comes to Tyren's table with a big bag and dumps the contents out on it. What is revealed is more than just regular valuables. There are also some books and other objects as well. So much that part of loot falls to the floor. "Hey, I recognize that book…its one I read during my days at Gloom! I thought it was lost forever." Dravin suddenly exclaims. "In fact a lot of these objects are from Gloom! These ceremony rings, these cups…where the hell did you get this stuff?" "Oh we svelk do a lot of trading with all kinds of people in our travels, those rock eating dwarves just being one of many. We sort of thought you all might be interested in lost objects from your old stomping grounds. Along with the gems and gold, I'd say this should be more than enough payment shouldn't it?" While you aren't overly attached to any "lost objects" from Gloom, you can see Dravin is pretty fond of some of them. You imagine the older human shadows that are still around would be happy to see such things again. Even Cyrus is looking at a couple things, and you know Talia would be interested in them. The actual valuables are probably a fair payment for a job such as this. Still part of you doesn't trust the svelk. Something about all this seems a bit sketchy. You don't know what exactly, but it just doesn't feel quite right to you. > You decline the contract While it probably would make some of your shadows happy, you just don't trust Tyren at all. This all seems too straight forward and with these objects from Gloom he's offering…well its almost as if he's over eager for you to take the job. "Tyren, I'm sorry you traveled all this way from wherever you previously were and dragged a bag of treasure with you along the way, but I'm going to have to say, this contract is not in the best interest of the shadows at this time." "What?!" Dravin asks. "Are you serious?" Cyrus exclaims. "Since when do the shadows turn down a contract?" Tyren asks. "It's been known to happen. Now if you please, leave these premises and don't return." You say ignoring Dravin and Cyrus' outbursts. "But this part of our history he's got here! How can we not take the contract?" Dravin says. "I realize that, but it's the past, not the future and I believe taking this contract is not the best for our future." "But…" "Dravin! I am Shadow Master here, do NOT question me further on this!" "Hey, he's asking a valid question. You don't need to pull rank like that." Cyrus adds. "Cyrus, don't you start too. This is not the time or place." While you bicker with Cyrus and Dravin, Tyren and his men begin to snicker which causes you to snap at them. "Didn't I tell you merc scum to get the fuck out of here?" "Okay, okay, we're leaving." Tyren chuckles though they're taking their time gathering up the valuables that they spilled on the table. Meanwhile Dravin insists on arguing with Cyrus backing him up naturally. "Look, I don't mean to question you Shadow Master, but I just think Dendrin would want us to have our history back, if only part of it." "I agree. Besides I'm sure Talia would like some of these things as well." You can hardly believe the insubordination going on here. "The both of you are unbelievable right now. Questioning me and arguing in front of fucking dark elves? Did we turn into a pack of orcs overnight? Attempting to use my wife as some sort of support for your disobedience? You want the past? Fine, let's just take it!" you shout and you draw your weapon. Before anyone can do anything else you grab the nearest dark elf and run him through. "Treachery! Defend yourselves!" Tyren shouts and drops some gems to pull his crossbow. The skirmish in the tavern is quick and bloody affair. The dark elves fight the best they can, but the advantage is to you in every way. You allow none to escape and the tavern is littered with their dead and a couple of your own by the end of it. The bar staff peep out from behind their hiding places. While the rest of the shadows gather up the valuables that are now all over the floor and place them into the bag, you search Tyren's body on a hunch you had long before you engaged in this bloodbath and fortunately you find something in the form of a letter. Tyren, Make sure to wait a day before triggering the curse we put on those objects the rock eaters sold us. That should be more than enough time for the shadows to have placed them somewhere in their temple. The magic words are at the bottom of this letter and they should be simple enough even for you to memorize. As for the shadow assassin squad they'll send after me, don't worry about that, I've got that covered and have the ambush ready. You just stay near the Delerg province and monitor the situation with the after effects of the wasting curse. If it looks like they're severely weakened by it then by all means attack the temple yourself before I get there. Also remember to destroy this letter, the last thing I need is for the shadows to kill you and find this on your corpse because you were an incompetent fool. Assuming you don't mess this up on your end. We should at least be able to cripple the shadows to a degree that they'll no longer be a threat to our livelihood. Edolith You figured it was something like this. Makes sense the svelk would see the shadows as major competition. "Next time just listen to my orders instead of bitching like a couple of housewives at the market!" you say shoving the letter in Cyrus' hand. Cyrus looks it over. "Okay, so you were right, but we outsmarted them, got their stuff and we can perform a sanctify ritual on these objects. This situation turned out better than if we had just let them go." You're already angry at this whole situation and this is just the final straw for you. "Cyrus that's not the damn point. My point is you AND Dravin undermined my authority in front of not only the rest of the shadows but outsiders as well as if you knew better. When I told you to desist you continued to piss and moan…in fact you're STILL doing it!" Before Cyrus can come up with another snappy come back, you speed yourself up and punch him in the face. He reels backwards and you follow up with a kick sending him to the floor. He attempts to get up, but you kick him again in the face and then with a power stomp you smash his shin, breaking the bone through the skin. He bellows in pain and Dravin dares to try to stop you. "Shadow Master plea…" is all he utters before you give him a chop to his throat and then twist his arm behind his back before slamming his face into the table. "You! Stretch out his other arm across the table and take out your dagger." You say to closest Blade, while continuing to hover behind Dravin. The Blade obeys without hesitation and Dravin is begging for mercy when he hears the unsheathing of a dagger. You can also hear Cyrus pleading for you not to harm Dravin. Still holding on to Dravin's other arm, you half turn around to face him. "YOU shut the fuck up, before I break your other shin! I'm not killing him, but a lesson must be taught to both of you! Now you, what's your name?" you ask the Blade since you never can keep track of these new eternals' names, you swear they must've altered them all in those tanks to look similar or something. "Glen, Shadow Master." "Glen, take Dravin's pinky finger." "NO!" Dravin screams. "Okay take his ring finger too!" you say and twist Dravin's arm further. "You wanna go for the whole hand? Then keep fighting me! You're lucky I'm not taking them from your dominant hand! Glen proceed." Glen cuts off Dravin's pinky first which causes him to let out a stifled yelp. Glen moves on to the ring finger, and you're not sure if it's the combination of the shock and fear, but whatever the reason Dravin ends up passing out completely. "Wrap up his hand and carry him back to the temple." You tell Glen. Cyrus is still on the floor sitting up with his shinbone sticking out of his leg. He's still in great pain, but you believe he's more upset about Dravin. You crouch down beside him. "I'm sorry it had to be this way brother, but I spared your life once for a reason Cyrus. You agreed to obey my commands as Shadow Master and today you repeatedly defied my will. Am I going to regret that decision?" "…no…no…" Cyrus says trying not cry out. "No what?" you ask again forcing him to look directly into your eyes. "No…Shadow Master…" "Good. Good. Something like this can never happen again." You say and stand back up. You tell the other Blades to carry Cyrus and grab the ill gotten bag of loot back to the temple since you're going on ahead of everyone else. You then turn your attention to the frightened tavern staff. "Apologies for the mess. Leave them some gold to help clean up this filth off their floor and tables." You say while stepping over a dark elf corpse and then heading out the door. When you get back the temple Talia asks you what happened and where everyone else is. "Had to put down some treacherous svelk, as far as I'm concerned all of their kind now has a permanent target on their backs if any us see one of them again. But we got some things off of them I think you'll be pleasantly surprised with, you'll have to perform a sanctify ritual over them first though before bringing them into the temple. As for the rest of the Blades, they'll be along shortly with said loot I imagine, oh and I'm dissolving the Council. Really no point in it anymore." "Wha…well you are Shadow Master, but did you mention this Dravin and Cyrus?" "Oh trust me, they know." > Year 55 You wake up with yet another permanent ache in your body. Getting old really sucks and it probably doesn't help that you've spent decades fighting all your life. Who knows how many broken bones, deep cuts, head blows and other bodily trauma you've had. However, you're probably more fit than most people your age and your magic ability is certainly a great equalizer. You go over some of the newest contract requests and one catches your eye due to it suffering from multiple misspellings and the murdering of language in general. When you see that it's from Flog you're a little impressed that he was able to write as well as he did. From what you can make out in the horribly written letter, he wants to meet with some of your people because he's got a major problem on his hands and he hopes that seeing as he once helped you fight the Empire, you'd help him out in return. You shake your head at that remark considering that as you recall you basically spared his life in exchange for his support. He doesn't go into specifics about who he wants killed, but he goes on to say that he's acquired a lot of wealth in his "conquest" of Rask. A bit of stretching the truth since while its true he owns the biggest stretch on territory there, the area is far from conquered. Amusingly he wants you to meet him at Blood Tooth, which is apparently what he renamed Evergloom after he moved in years after you left. He states he'll go into more specifics then, mainly because he doesn't want the letter possibly falling into the wrong hands and also because all this writing makes his brain hurt. He also mentions that while it isn't necessary, he'd prefer to meet with you personally since he's confident in your abilities to get the job done. You can't help but smile a little at that last statement. "You're not going are you?" Talia asks. "Why not? I've been running the shadows for this long and I haven't even taken a contract myself. Seems a bit hypocritical don't you think?" "You're the Shadow Master, you don't need to concern yourself with such things." "Maybe, but I've always believed that a leader really should lead by example and I've done that for the most part." "What about that incident with the dark elves?" "Eh, I actually didn't even plan that and it really doesn't count. I just think I need to go on this one." "You just want to prove that you aren't getting old. Don't think I haven't noticed you been mentioning it lately." "Yeah…well maybe. But still…hey why don't you come with me?" "Me?" "Well why not? Flog's always liked you and it'll probably make the meeting go over better. Besides, you should be keeping your abilities up as well." "Excuse me, but I continue to spar with the Blades every day." "And so do I, but it isn't enough unless their real danger involved. Come on, you mean to say you don't miss the old days just a little bit?" "Not particularly, but I see that this is important to you, so I shall accompany you, but aren't you concerned about this being a trap?" "Not really, no. While Flog has always been a little more cunning than the average orc and an opportunistic fool, he's never been suicidal. I'm pretty sure he knows if he tried to ambush me, it wouldn't end well for him. Even if he managed to succeed, he also knows that the full force of the shadows would hunt him down personally and with as many enemies as he probably has I doubt if he needs to add more. Besides if it is an ambush, that'll just make things more interesting and Dendrin's always looking out for us anyway." Your flip remark about Dendrin gets a nod in agreement by Talia who doesn't take it as a flip remark, but rather that you're being genuine. "Well I suppose there is that and as the chosen of Dendrin you'd be even better protected, but who is going to be running things while we're gone?" "I don't think we're going to be gone for that long, but Cyrus can do it. Not like he goes on many missions anymore either." This is true. Ever since the incident with the dark elves, Cyrus and Dravin started becoming more withdrawn. Granted Dravin was never an extrovert, but with Cyrus it's a little sad. It's like you completely crushed his spirit that day. He lost his unofficial position as leader of the Blades due to the permanent limp you gave him and resigned himself to keeping up on internal security. Sometimes you feel a little bad about it, but you believe that in the long run it was a good thing. Cyrus, even though he'd pledged himself to you still harbored a bit of willfulness that was starting to come back. If allowed to flourish longer, he may have become more of a problem and would have had to been killed. Though perhaps his current fate is worse than death. When you approach Cyrus about the situation with Flog, he's surprised that you're going, let alone putting him in charge of the temple until you get back. He of course agrees and wishes you luck. Given how Flog was never his favorite person, you wonder why he didn't at least express the same concerns about meeting with him like Talia did, and then it occurs to you that perhaps he's hoping you do get killed. In any event, you're not going to worry about it. You instead hand pick some of the best Blades to come with you to Blood Tooth and set off on your journey as soon as possible. The journey to Rask is fairly uneventful. While you mostly keep to the off beaten trails, you know most in Quala are wise enough to not attack a group of shadows even if they did see you. The "stable" leader of northern Quala, First Mage Galen has practically bent over backwards to stay on your good side. You sort of wonder if that is who Flog wants you to assassinate considering all the back and forth attempts at conquest into each other's realms by the pair of them. If it is, then he better have a hell of a lot of money. When you reach the Rask it mostly looks very much how it did when you left it. Much of it untouched wilderness though the occasional battlefield markings are apparent. Some are even fairly recent. "Hey Flog didn't say anything about safe passage did he in his letter?" Talia asks. "No, but I don't think he'd be able to enforce it very well anyway. You know how tribal orcs are, even under a strong leader they tend towards chaotic acts." "Well as you said, I suppose that'll make things more interesting. Actually a battle would probably warm me up right about now. I think I got too used to the heat, though I wasn't exactly fond of the freezing cold back in the old days either." "Really? I kind of preferred it, but we're going to be making camp soon, we can warm up a little then." Later that night at your campsite you take first watch. You can't really rest anyway since your body aches a bit. As the night goes on, you remember back to the time when you doing this as a regular thing, seems like a lifetime ago. As you lose yourself in the past a bit you suddenly hear a noise. Like howling, but it isn't from any sort of wolf that you've ever heard. Doesn't even sound like a natural one and it sounds pretty close by. "Everyone get up!" you shout with your weapon drawn. As everyone starts to get up ready for battle, more of those howls can be heard. They're nearly painful at this point and several of you are clutching at least one of your ears. "What the hell is that?" Talia shouts. "Not sure, but we're about to find out." You say as all of you form a back-to-back circle for defense. Several glowing red eyes appear in the dark forest around you, when your assailants finally show themselves, they are in the form of orcs, but more feral and savage looking (even for orcs). "You think Flog set this up?" Talia asks you while eyeing her closest possible attacker. "Let's worry about it afterwards." You say and the orcs attack. You've had to fight a few unruly orcs in the past and though its been awhile, you know their tactics wouldn't have switched up that much. They almost lope at you and circle around you like an animal would, in fact animalistic is the best way to describe them since at this range you can see they aren't even wearing much clothing beyond a loin cloth and a few grisly trophies in the form of bloody body parts. Their hands resemble claws and some of them aren't even attacking with weapons at all and are just using their nails, which are unnaturally long for orcs. You cross swords with one of them and even while speeding yourself up, it's still nearly matching you blow for blow. Its face is close enough for you to get the good look and it's contorted looking with an extra wide mouth filled with teeth. Whatever the hell this thing is, it isn't any kind of orc you've ever seen or encountered. You muster up all your strength and land a powerful strike against the orc's head nearly severing the top part of it completely. It attempts to still attack you, flailing its arms wildly and still making that horrible howling sound. Then you hear a whispery voice in your mind. At first you think its Dendrin, but then you're not asleep and you don't feel the same numbness, but rather the exact opposite. A sharp pain in your head. "The battle is lost mortal. You cannot kill us. You must submit to us, it is the only way to save yourself." You look around to see Talia and most of the other shadows still fighting, but you also see a couple of them clutching their heads and falling to the ground in pain. These definitely aren't orcs you're fighting considering they're using some sort of psychic attack. You could either try to finish off the rest of the orcs to stop the attacks or cast a shield over the minds of you and your shadows, though its very difficult to concentrate right now. > You cast the spell You attempt to block everything out in your mind a concentrate on your spell. More voices invade your mind and you begin shouting out Dendrin's name loudly during your chanting in an effort to drown out the supernatural voice in your head. You also shout to everyone to try to shut out the voices you know they have to be hearing as well. "NO! You cannot escape us! You are MEAT!" you hear and the voices begin to fade a bit. You notice that your shadows aren't struggling with their mental assaults anymore either and regular combat goes a lot better. Soon, all attackers are killed and Talia comes over to you rubbing her head a bit after dispatching her orc. "What the hell are these things?" "Well I'm not exactly sure, but if I had to guess, they're wendigos. Evil spirits that take over the bodies of the living and try to consume anyone they can. Found notes written about them after we took Kane's fort. He apparently fought them all the way back to their home territory and trapped them there. Looks like these idiots let them loose again or something. We should be safe now and I've got everyone shielded, but everyone else should keep up their own shield just as added protection. We can link that mental power to each other if we just focus." "Just like back in shadow training when we all fought that brain lurker huh?" Talia asks. "I believe it was a thought lurker, but yeah something like that. Odd that we never encountered another one of those creatures." "I think I remember Brother Gray said they typically only lived underground or something." Probably some sort of "gift" from the Derro no doubt, but you stop dwelling on the past and pack up you camp so you can continue your journey. You'll have to get some sleep later. The rest of the journey is more of an endurance test against the elements rather than any more fighting. Even while sticking to the forests you feel the full strength of the cold winds and snowfall that has decided to grace you with its presence. You see a village in the distance, and briefly ponder if you should head to it and sleep at an inn, but the fact remains you don't know what you can expect there. You're guessing Flog might've enslaved most of the towns in Rask, but who knows what they've been turned into. Chances are they're probably the equivalent of slave camps now patrolled by a bunch of over eager orcs or ogres ready to attack anyone they don't know. "I certainly hope Flog told his people to expect us when we finally get to Blood Tooth!" Talia says wrapping herself up and walking on as you decide to avoid the village. When you finally arrive at Blood Tooth, you see that Flog hasn't changed your old home too much, other than the typical orc totems that their kind seem to favor. A group of orcs stand outside looking off in several direction as if they're expecting someone, but that might not necessarily be you though. They still haven't noticed you though. "Well, this is it. We might as well just approach. Be ready for anything though." You tell everyone. You reveal yourself from your cloak and begin to walk towards the group. They finally see you and begin waving you down. "Shadows! Come quickly! Not safe out here!" one shouts. "Well I'm guessing we're being welcomed at least." Talia says. "For now. Like I said be ready for anything." The orcs waste no time in calling for their fort doors to be opened and you're lead in. Now the place looks less like how you remember. It's definitely got that orcish touch now, not to mention smell. Eventually you meet Flog on his throne. The years have taken their toll on him to the point where you don't feel so old any more. Flog stands up slowly and limps over to you, refusing the use of any sort of cane. His face bear the scars of multiple battles and he's only got one hand, though the stump naturally has some sort of crude weapon grafted to it. His reign is most likely in danger being the age he is, let alone some of his obvious injuries. Still he's hanging in there somehow, you've got to give him credit. "Shadow Master, its been a long time. And your mate Talia…wait you did not bring the strange lover did you?" "Strange…oh!" you realize. "No, Cyrus is back in Delerg." "Good. Good. Never liked him. You two. Like. Treat Flog fairly and with honor. Um, let us go to my meeting room. Much to discuss. Very important. Your shadows can stay here, drink and partake of our females!" You look over and see several female orcs AND ogres attempting to look seductive towards some of your shadows. You think this is the first time you've seen any of them look genuinely scared during this mission. "Ah no, I don't think that'll be necessary Flog." You say. "All strange lovers too huh? Just as well, couldn't survive being with an orc woman anyway. Let us go." Flog takes you and Talia to the very place where you used to hold small meetings and you all sit down before he speaks. "Flog is old and will die soon. Flog know this and accepts it. Flog can only hope that Flog die in combat, but that time is not yet now. Flog cannot let it be so, so Flog call on those who may help." "Well that's the whole reason for this, but I don't understand the need for secrecy and why the hell we had to drag ourselves all the way up here. You know there are wendigo prowling about in Rask now?" "Yes, Flog well aware of it because Flog's son Mog foolishly attempted to harness them in his grab for power. Now Rask have evil spirits wandering about and Mog is making his move against Flog. Mog need to die." There's your contract, but you still don't get all of this. "Okay, but…well normally I don't ask why, however my curiosity about all this is still there. I mean in orc culture is it not the tradition of the strong to kill the current chief, most preferably one of his sons?" "Indeed that would be the case, but Flog not feel that Mog deserve it. Mog's reckless behavior with the wendigo is just one example. Mog also prove to be wasteful with slave towns. If Mog take charge, all of this will collapse. Flog not want it to collapse. Flog want orcs to continue to expand kingdom. Crush puny Galen one day and then beyond." "Beyond huh? That include the shadows Flog?" Talia asks. "Heh. Perhaps one day the shadows and orcs will do battle and on that glorious day orcs will stand on top of the burning ruins of your god's temple…but not today or even in Flog's lifetime. All Flog ask now is for help, willing to pay large fee. You shadows also left things here when you abandoned this place. Stuffed things in a storeroom, perhaps you might want them back?" That sounds very familiar. "So if you don't want Mog to take charge who did you have in mind?" Talia asks. "Next son in line of course. Skog. Skog smart like Flog but not strong enough to beat Mog. Skog from proper orc woman. Mog from terrible drunken night with an ogress. Glad cannot remember much, but Flog do remember a lot of hair and…" "Okay didn't quite need those details. So where is Mog?" you say. "Mog at Mogtown further north plotting my death and preparing to invade Bloodtooth. Be here soon, that's why he needs to die soon. Mog prefer the company of ogres and giants mostly. Mog also have slave witch with him. Human. She one who released the wendigo and try to tame. Foolish. Cannot tame spirits. Bad idea." "I see…well Talia and I need to talk privately first. Just to discuss the exact details." Flog nods and lets you and Talia go off in a corner to speak quietly to each other. "What's wrong?" Talia asks. "I dunno that part about giving us old shadow items as payment got me suspicious." "We can always sanctify them first, but I doubt if Flog put any sort of curse on them. If he's honest enough to say the orcs will wage war on us one day he's not going to bother with the same trickery the dark elves did." "Well there's that too. I'm wondering why the hell should we help a potential enemy in the future." "Really anyone we perform jobs for could be our enemies in the future." "True, but they're all human and they generally have a healthier fear of us and death in general than orcs. Flog only has some sense because he's a little smarter and he's known us longer." "Exactly, these are orcs we're talking about, do you really think it's going to matter who takes charge? While that idea in Flog's head is a nice dream for him, I think we both know it's just that. There is no way orcs are going to stay unified long enough to form some major kingdom of any kind, not for long anyway. Even with Rask more or less under their rule, its still very tribal here and prone to infighting. Besides, with Dendrin on our side, how would then even stand a chance?" "Heh, yes I suppose so. Though I'm just wondering if rather than dragging our asses further up north and facing giants, ogres, witches and who knows what else out in the open and by ourselves, if we shouldn't just make a different offer to Flog." "Like what?" "Well like staying here and helping him in a more direct way. Flog claimed that Mog would probably be coming to invade soon. There will be so much chaos going on, we could probably slip out the fort and move around behind the army to assassinate Mog that way. Might even be easier." "Yeah, but who knows how long it'll take him to invade or if he'll even come personally and I don't think Flog is going to go for that idea. Besides don't you think being involved in a siege would be even more dangerous than trying to sneak into a town when they aren't expecting trouble?" > You go ahead with the original plan Flog probably won't go for it and being here during a siege probably will be just as if not more dangerous. "Okay, we'll stay here for a moment to get some rest and then get going. I hate to admit it but with the recent wendigo encounter and traipsing across the countryside I'm eager to get this over with since I'm starting to feel my age." You quietly say to Talia. "Are you going to be okay?" "Yes, I'll be fine, just need to get this mission over with." You stay at Blood Tooth for a few hours to rest, but soon set off on your mission since the company of orcs isn't something you or any of the shadows want to endure for very long. The journey to Mogtown is a miserable one, since the snow begins to fall heavier the further north you go. The snow is so deep that you can't really speed yourself up since your legs are buried in the snow to the point where you can't even run. Cloaking is useless since you're leaving tracks everywhere. By the time you reach your destination, you've half frozen and exhausted. When you see Mogtown in the distance, you're in for a slight surprise. The front of the town is crawling with troops. Giants, orcs, and ogres are all standing around preparing to invade Blood Tooth no doubt. You expected some guards outside, but nothing like this. "We'll sneak around the back and scale the wall from there. Mog's probably still inside the town in one of the more important looking buildings." You tell everyone. Your plan is about the best you can do under the circumstances and while you manage to avoid detection from the patrols, unfortunately there are more wendigos lurking on the outskirts ready to pick anyone off that comes near. They waste no time attacking you and while you're better prepared for such creatures now, the noise ends up attracting the town garrison. "Quick, scale the walls and let's find this half breed bastard!" you shout. After scaling the walls you find yourself surrounded by more enemies waiting for you. You have to butcher your way through several orcs and ogres before you can catch a breather. You run down an alleyway to avoid more troops descending on your position. The alley way seems to have been converted into a slave pen filled with humans. You briefly consider freeing them in order to cause a little chaos, but the humans in the cages look so pathetic, you doubt if they'd have the power to even move. Suddenly large shadows loom over you in the form of a couple giants who are standing on the outside of the nearby town walls throwing great clots of snow at you.. They succeed in destroying some buildings, killing some slaves as well as slowing you down when you feel a great force slam you to the ground from above. You struggle to maintain consciousness as you try to dig your way out of an icy grave. You don't have time to morn when you notice Talia's lifeless body as you dig by it. When your head reaches air you take a deep breath, but this small comfort is cut short when you catch an arrow in the skull.

You attempt to block everything out in your mind a concentrate on your spell. More voices invade your mind and you begin shouting out Dendrin's name loudly during your chanting in an effort to drown out the supernatural voice in your head. You also shout to everyone to try to shut out the voices you know they have to be hearing as well. "NO! You cannot escape us! You are MEAT!" you hear and the voices begin to fade a bit. You notice that your shadows aren't struggling with their mental assaults anymore either and regular combat goes a lot better. Soon, all attackers are killed and Talia comes over to you rubbing her head a bit after dispatching her orc. "What the hell are these things?" "Well I'm not exactly sure, but if I had to guess, they're wendigos. Evil spirits that take over the bodies of the living and try to consume anyone they can. Found notes written about them after we took Kane's fort. He apparently fought them all the way back to their home territory and trapped them there. Looks like these idiots let them loose again or something. We should be safe now and I've got everyone shielded, but everyone else should keep up their own shield just as added protection. We can link that mental power to each other if we just focus." "Just like back in shadow training when we all fought that brain lurker huh?" Talia asks. "I believe it was a thought lurker, but yeah something like that. Odd that we never encountered another one of those creatures." "I think I remember Brother Gray said they typically only lived underground or something." Probably some sort of "gift" from the Derro no doubt, but you stop dwelling on the past and pack up you camp so you can continue your journey. You'll have to get some sleep later. The rest of the journey is more of an endurance test against the elements rather than any more fighting. Even while sticking to the forests you feel the full strength of the cold winds and snowfall that has decided to grace you with its presence. You see a village in the distance, and briefly ponder if you should head to it and sleep at an inn, but the fact remains you don't know what you can expect there. You're guessing Flog might've enslaved most of the towns in Rask, but who knows what they've been turned into. Chances are they're probably the equivalent of slave camps now patrolled by a bunch of over eager orcs or ogres ready to attack anyone they don't know. "I certainly hope Flog told his people to expect us when we finally get to Blood Tooth!" Talia says wrapping herself up and walking on as you decide to avoid the village. When you finally arrive at Blood Tooth, you see that Flog hasn't changed your old home too much, other than the typical orc totems that their kind seem to favor. A group of orcs stand outside looking off in several direction as if they're expecting someone, but that might not necessarily be you though. They still haven't noticed you though. "Well, this is it. We might as well just approach. Be ready for anything though." You tell everyone. You reveal yourself from your cloak and begin to walk towards the group. They finally see you and begin waving you down. "Shadows! Come quickly! Not safe out here!" one shouts. "Well I'm guessing we're being welcomed at least." Talia says. "For now. Like I said be ready for anything." The orcs waste no time in calling for their fort doors to be opened and you're lead in. Now the place looks less like how you remember. It's definitely got that orcish touch now, not to mention smell. Eventually you meet Flog on his throne. The years have taken their toll on him to the point where you don't feel so old any more. Flog stands up slowly and limps over to you, refusing the use of any sort of cane. His face bear the scars of multiple battles and he's only got one hand, though the stump naturally has some sort of crude weapon grafted to it. His reign is most likely in danger being the age he is, let alone some of his obvious injuries. Still he's hanging in there somehow, you've got to give him credit. "Shadow Master, its been a long time. And your mate Talia…wait you did not bring the strange lover did you?" "Strange…oh!" you realize. "No, Cyrus is back in Delerg." "Good. Good. Never liked him. You two. Like. Treat Flog fairly and with honor. Um, let us go to my meeting room. Much to discuss. Very important. Your shadows can stay here, drink and partake of our females!" You look over and see several female orcs AND ogres attempting to look seductive towards some of your shadows. You think this is the first time you've seen any of them look genuinely scared during this mission. "Ah no, I don't think that'll be necessary Flog." You say. "All strange lovers too huh? Just as well, couldn't survive being with an orc woman anyway. Let us go." Flog takes you and Talia to the very place where you used to hold small meetings and you all sit down before he speaks. "Flog is old and will die soon. Flog know this and accepts it. Flog can only hope that Flog die in combat, but that time is not yet now. Flog cannot let it be so, so Flog call on those who may help." "Well that's the whole reason for this, but I don't understand the need for secrecy and why the hell we had to drag ourselves all the way up here. You know there are wendigo prowling about in Rask now?" "Yes, Flog well aware of it because Flog's son Mog foolishly attempted to harness them in his grab for power. Now Rask have evil spirits wandering about and Mog is making his move against Flog. Mog need to die." There's your contract, but you still don't get all of this. "Okay, but…well normally I don't ask why, however my curiosity about all this is still there. I mean in orc culture is it not the tradition of the strong to kill the current chief, most preferably one of his sons?" "Indeed that would be the case, but Flog not feel that Mog deserve it. Mog's reckless behavior with the wendigo is just one example. Mog also prove to be wasteful with slave towns. If Mog take charge, all of this will collapse. Flog not want it to collapse. Flog want orcs to continue to expand kingdom. Crush puny Galen one day and then beyond." "Beyond huh? That include the shadows Flog?" Talia asks. "Heh. Perhaps one day the shadows and orcs will do battle and on that glorious day orcs will stand on top of the burning ruins of your god's temple…but not today or even in Flog's lifetime. All Flog ask now is for help, willing to pay large fee. You shadows also left things here when you abandoned this place. Stuffed things in a storeroom, perhaps you might want them back?" That sounds very familiar. "So if you don't want Mog to take charge who did you have in mind?" Talia asks. "Next son in line of course. Skog. Skog smart like Flog but not strong enough to beat Mog. Skog from proper orc woman. Mog from terrible drunken night with an ogress. Glad cannot remember much, but Flog do remember a lot of hair and…" "Okay didn't quite need those details. So where is Mog?" you say. "Mog at Mogtown further north plotting my death and preparing to invade Bloodtooth. Be here soon, that's why he needs to die soon. Mog prefer the company of ogres and giants mostly. Mog also have slave witch with him. Human. She one who released the wendigo and try to tame. Foolish. Cannot tame spirits. Bad idea." "I see…well Talia and I need to talk privately first. Just to discuss the exact details." Flog nods and lets you and Talia go off in a corner to speak quietly to each other. "What's wrong?" Talia asks. "I dunno that part about giving us old shadow items as payment got me suspicious." "We can always sanctify them first, but I doubt if Flog put any sort of curse on them. If he's honest enough to say the orcs will wage war on us one day he's not going to bother with the same trickery the dark elves did." "Well there's that too. I'm wondering why the hell should we help a potential enemy in the future." "Really anyone we perform jobs for could be our enemies in the future." "True, but they're all human and they generally have a healthier fear of us and death in general than orcs. Flog only has some sense because he's a little smarter and he's known us longer." "Exactly, these are orcs we're talking about, do you really think it's going to matter who takes charge? While that idea in Flog's head is a nice dream for him, I think we both know it's just that. There is no way orcs are going to stay unified long enough to form some major kingdom of any kind, not for long anyway. Even with Rask more or less under their rule, its still very tribal here and prone to infighting. Besides, with Dendrin on our side, how would then even stand a chance?" "Heh, yes I suppose so. Though I'm just wondering if rather than dragging our asses further up north and facing giants, ogres, witches and who knows what else out in the open and by ourselves, if we shouldn't just make a different offer to Flog." "Like what?" "Well like staying here and helping him in a more direct way. Flog claimed that Mog would probably be coming to invade soon. There will be so much chaos going on, we could probably slip out the fort and move around behind the army to assassinate Mog that way. Might even be easier." "Yeah, but who knows how long it'll take him to invade or if he'll even come personally and I don't think Flog is going to go for that idea. Besides don't you think being involved in a siege would be even more dangerous than trying to sneak into a town when they aren't expecting trouble?" > You propose to help Flog against the siege "It can't hurt to ask, if he declines we can just go through with the regular plan." You say. "I guess so, but I still don't see Flog going for this idea." You approach Flog about your idea and just as Talia said he isn't keen on it. "The whole point of having you kill Mog is so Flog doesn't get siege!" "But you have the advantage now of us helping you. Think about it Flog, if you send us to assassinate Mog you get rid of your rival, but you still need to bring his followers under control who will all break up into petty warbands that you'll have to chase down. That's time wasted. On the other hand, if Mog were to die in battle against you, that would be different. You'd not only be killing him, but also killing most of his troops on top of it. You might even get some to switch sides and pledge new allegiance to you. You'll also have the added bonus of still looking like a powerful chief who can defeat would be rivals. You could be ruling a lot longer than you think." You just said all the right things because it doesn't take long for Flog to think about your words and agree. "Hmm, you shadows might be right. Okay you help with siege instead, but must prepare quickly!" Flog says and leaves to go bark orders at his people. "Well you convinced him, but I'm curious why this change in tactic? You don't really think we couldn't have succeeded the other way?" "I'm sure we could have, but let's just say I think we would've suffered greater losses. I suppose the recent battle with the wendigo and this very trip up here has made me realize that I AM getting old and trying to prove that I can wade into battle either by myself or with only a small group isn't necessarily the best option for me anymore, especially not when your life is in danger too. Here, we can keep low and not be the main targets. Mog is going to be focused on tearing down the defenses and killing Flog first and foremost. He's not going to expect us sneaking up on him and neither are his troops. I'd prefer if we had as many orc grunts taking the brunt of the fighting." "Just like the old days huh?" "Just like." You make your plans to stay; you just hope you don't have to wait too long for an attack. A couple days pass and you get a visit. "Slumming nowadays are we?" Dendrin asks. "Trust me I'm regretting that I ever came here now." You answer. "Oh, I think we both know you had to do this, if only to see if you still could do it. After this is all over, this'll be out of your system and you'll content setting up assassinations from the safety of your desk again." "Thanks for your confidence in me, and while you're probably right, I can't help but think I've just given up and accepted mediocrity and the eventual limitations brought on by old age now." "What limitations? You've made the shadows a force of fear to entire nations. You've got some of the leaders of those nations to even show deference to you in the form of gifts just so you might not take a contract out on their miserable lives. So what if you aren't as effective with a sword anymore? You've got magic to compensate! And what is any of that compared to the influence you've spread?" You have to admit, Dendrin is right. "When that half breed moron comes marching down with his army over grown brutes, you needn't go skulking around his camp like a common thief. You don't even need to rely on ducking and weaving while casting shadowfire from behind some boulder. Stand on top of the world and tap into your full potential and most of all trust in me." "What do you mean exactly?" you ask. "You'll have to figure that out for yourself, but it's pretty easy. You don't much time though." Just as you're about to ask Dedrin what he means, you're sudden awakened by a general alarm. "Mog's coming! Everyone to arms!" you hear shouted several times throughout the fort. Talia is already preparing for battle, she sees you've awakened. "Good, you're awake we've got to get moving." She says approaching you. You slowly get up and take your time as you shake away your grogginess. "No we really don't. You go gather all the rest of the shadows and meet me on the battlements as soon as you can." "What are you going to do?" "Not sure yet, but I'm going to do something." You don't even get fully dressed in your armor. You just head to the highest battlements, which you know to be at the roof of the tower portion of the fort. When you reach the top, the cold wind whips around you and there are no orcs here. You imagine they're all on the lower battlements or reinforcing the doors. From the top of the tower you can see Mog's army in the not so far distance. Besides the orcs and ogres, he's also got several giants with him along with hordes of human slaves dragging the baggage carts and pushing war machines. You continue to watch Mog's army get into position to attack the fort. You look up into the sky and see that more snow is starting to fall. Funny, but you don't feel the cold at all now. You close your eyes and concentrate. You mentally chant in your head and try to draw on the power of Dendrin and of the shadow realm. Talia and the other shadows eventually arrive during your chanting and while you hear a couple of them call out to you, you ignore them and then you can't hear them at all. It's like your whole body has shifted into the shadow realm and nothing around you exists save for that numbness. The attack on Blood Tooth begins and a boulder goes crashing into the side of a wall and you don't even know about it. Talia and some of the shadows try to pull you back in since they fear a boulder could hit the tower next. But its silly, you have nothing to fear because you're about to bring it… The sky begins to darken unnaturally and you suddenly find yourself outside in between Blood Tooth and Mog's army except it isn't "you" its some sort of shadowy avatar of yourself. You see hundreds of Mog's orcs and ogres before you. They looked confused at first, but they should be scared and they soon will be. You move in for the attack. You cut down the first row of attackers in front of you with ease and then the next, and then the next and so forth. The hundreds of weapon blows you experience are nothing to you as they pass through your avatar. Eventually they wise up and start panicking, crying out about dark magic and running in the other direction. A couple of giants try to stop you, but they don't have any more luck than anyone else. Their large bodies eventually just become large corpses that only manage to crush a few unlucky souls that don't get out of the way in time. Eventually you make your way through to Mog's encampment where you see a very large orc with light green skin and a great fat belly. You're guessing that would be Mog. Mog still isn't fully aware of why his men are breaking and running. All he knows is his battle plans are falling into disarray. One of his lieutenants sees your shadowy form and points at you shouting several things in orcish. Mog shouts something as well, motioning a haggard looking human woman to help; you're guessing that this is his witch. She begins to cast some sort of spell, but she blinks once and you're suddenly before her eyes. This breaks her concentration, but not as much as your blade through her abdomen. Seeing his only source of magic power killed and most of his troops running away he attempts to do likewise. He may as well be running in slow motion though due to your speed. He doesn't even feel it when you thrust your blade through his back and pierce his heart. He just looks down long enough to see the tip of the blade disappearing from the newly made hole in his chest as it is being pulled back out. He doesn't have time to ponder anything else except his own death within that split second and then fall down dead. Your goal here in Rask is done and you slowly fade from the battlefield. You suddenly find yourself back in your own body, which is still standing on top of the tower. Talia and your Blades are standing by. "It is done. Mog is dead." You say. "What happened exactly? I mean we tried to approach you, but a force of some sort suddenly protected your body so we didn't wish to proceed any further. We just observed, but we could hear the fighting still going on from below." Talia says. "I tapped into my full potential like Dendrin suggested. Though I might not be doing that all the time in the near future, I actually feel a little drained from it. Still, it felt good to be on the battlefield just one more time. We better go find Flog, I'm sure he'll be wondering what the hell is going on." Your actions were seen by most of Flog's soldiers and they were in awe. Flog himself is pretty humble when talking with you again. You do not gloat over any of it though because you believe you've made a lasting impression here. Even if the orcs do manage to keep some sort of kingdom together, your actions today are going to remembered well enough for them to tell stories about to their offspring and those offspring will fear the shadows properly just as their parents do today. Eventually you take your payment and begin your journey back to Delerg. While you appreciate Dendrin's suggestion and it helped you out immensely, but if his goal was to make you more into a "believer" it didn't entirely work. One act of channeling divine power doesn't make you believe in him as your "god" so much as it makes you desire that power on a more stable basis. > Year 65 Delerg has been completely transformed. No longer is it known as just that dismal swamp where the shadows make their home. It's literally been transformed into the land of shadows. You called upon powers of Dendrin in one great ritual to forever cast a cloud of darkness over the area. Delerg is now a land of perpetual twilight. Most in Quala would not ever dare raise an army to invade it now even if they wanted to, for fear of the unnatural shadow magic that now pervades the place. Indeed the High Council of the Quala Freelands pay you tribute due their border touching Delerg. Since nobody even wants to visit Delerg anymore, you've established a smaller settlement in the Freelands for a few reasons. One being for potential recruits of which there are always a few that wish to join and another for those that have need of the shadows' services, which are still in demand. Skog's tribes of Rask may very well overrun the magiocracy of northern Quala one day, but they definitely will never set one green foot into Delerg, but then ever since your actions in Rask you didn't have much concern about that happening anyway. The svelk have all been run out of the immediate area. You've either hunted them all down, or they moved further east towards the Felkan Kingdom, which has begun to spread to the west in an attempt to establish order in the still chaotic Arat province. Still despite Delerg's fearsome appearance and reputation now, there are still those that would prefer to address you directly… "An emissary from the Nalin Empire on the Delerg border wants to see you. Says she has an offer that you'll find most enticing." Gannon tells you. "Don't they all? Very well give her passage to approach the temple." You say wondering what this could be about. The Nalin Empire is still the only major power nearby that you have not had a major effect on. It continues to be run by Warden Matron Brenda whose hatred for the shadows is quite well known. As your influence has steadily grown beyond Delerg relations between that government and your organization have grown in intensity. The Nalin Empire has made it quite clear that any shadow found within its borders or anyone enlisting the aid of shadows will be executed. Still it doesn't keep you from having a few agents still there though information is still hard to come by. At least any meaningful information. Brenda is a private person and her citizens are all fairly loyal. You've only ever gotten a few people from there actually trying to hire you and that was only in the early years. You've had no contracts from there for maybe ten years or more and never any meeting from a formal member of the government there. So to get an emissary from there now? This is an odd day indeed. When you find out this emissary is Tarna, your preoccupation dwindles a bit and focuses more on this meeting. Tarna is known to be Brenda's second in command and the one who enforces most of the laws of the land. When she arrives she looks like all the reports you've heard. Long brunette hair, swarthy skin, warrior type with a haughty air about her, etc. She travels only with a couple servant types who look scared shitless to even be in Delerg let alone the actual temple of Dendrin. Tarna though looks genuinely unimpressed and you don't even sense any fear in her. A state of combat readiness perhaps, but she'd be a damn fool not to feel that way…actually she's a damn fool as far as you're concerned seeing as she isn't afraid. She should be. Normally Talia would be with you to meet her, but Talia's currently meeting with Cyrus and Dravin in Quala to see if any of the potential shadow recruits are worthy. So you meet with Tarna privately. "So what brings such a high ranking member of the Nalin Empire to Delerg? Has the Nalin Empire finally decided to lift its ban on shadows traveling through its domain?" you ask. "Hardly, and I'm fairly certain the illegality of it doesn't stop you from doing so anyway. But I'm not here to make small talk with you fanatics, I'm here on a matter that I think you'll want to take." "Do tell." "It's about Warden Matron Brenda. She needs to be…removed." A little surprising perhaps, but not really. You've heard that Tarna has shown signs of great ambition. "Just like that eh? You wish for the death of your master so easily?" "That old bitch is NOT my master…" she begins to say, but you interrupt. "Yes she is. We ALL have a master in some way. I am master for example of all the shadows, but then Dendrin is master over all of us. Sometimes it is even natural to want to overthrow our masters…" you say with a very real double meaning, though Tarna isn't concerned with your own thoughts. "Whatever, I didn't come here for your loony shadow philosophies. I came here to hire your people. I can promise you more than payment in the form of money, I can also promise you legality. Make it so it isn't an offense for shadows to enter Nalin or to hire them." "Well, I suppose that would make things easier, and that's quite generous. However, I question why you would do such a thing. I mean what do you gain by letting us freely in your newly acquired country?" "Safety and a powerful ally." "Heh, don't think either of those terms have been ever used to describe the shadows, but I'm intrigued." "You shadows are the most powerful organization in this part of the world. More powerful than some so called governments. Far more power than you should have actually, if I had been Brenda I would've sent an army to crush you long ago before you got too entrenched. I never understood how she could hate you so much yet never act directly towards you. She claims her actions are tempered with caution, but I say they are riddled with cowardice." "Strong words…so how would putting you in charge benefit us? You just said you'd attempt to destroy us." "Because I'm pragmatic and I see such a war would bring ruin to Nalin and I wish only to bring glory to it. For far too long the Nalin Empire has remained stagnant, still clutching on to the skeletal remains of the old Empire that Brenda served. It needs to grow and I intend to make it do just that. The shadows can help in this task. I believe I should want to call upon your services many times when usual tactics aren't enough in the future. And then there are those that may want to call upon you to stop me from achieving my goals. If we have an understanding, it can be profitable for you." Sounds like Tarna really wants to be in charge. She gives you the price she's willing to pay and it certainly is reasonable, doesn't make you immediately agree to it though. "So, you desire the shadows to serve as your government's personal assassins? We had an arrangement like that once before…I believe you know how that ended." "No! This would be different! The shadows would remain completely independent. You could still worship your silly god and not answer to any government. I do not even wish to conquer Delerg, you can have this swampland. I just want the rest! Quala, Arat, Rask, even the Felkan Kingdom! And as I said the shadows would still have free reign to ply their trade anywhere in the glorious Empire of Nalin." She's certainly confident and upfront about things, of course perhaps not too much since she is here attempting to hire you after all. You can certainly see an upside to such an arrangement. It also sounds like a lot of promises that might not be kept, however it isn't necessarily because Tarna's a liar. Her big plans may just fall flat due to arrogance. If so, it'll probably be better than her being successful and you'll have your foot already in the door to start gaining more of a presence in the Nalin Empire. There is always the fact you could just kill her if she attempts to betray you, the problem though is the Nalin Empire isn't like the many mini-states of Quala, or even the orc tribal alliance in Rask, it's a much larger unified entity. A war with them could get very costly though you've certainly faced bigger and you've got the resources. A bigger concern for you is getting distracted with a war. Your growing obsession over the past few years is with wanting to somehow harness Dendrin's power independent of him. He's vaguely hinted at several times in the past that he isn't a real "god" just very powerful. What if you could do the same and somehow take his place? You've been trying to study all the old tomes you have in your possession over and over again in the hopes of finding something and you believe that you'll probably have to mix several complex incantations and rituals in order to even attempt such a thing. Most likely you'll have to study some non-shadow magic as well. You received some of those books back that Brenda snagged from the Derro lab when Flog gave those that were left behind at Evergloom to you, but you still haven't found quite what you're looking for in them. Still, you're fairly certain the magiocracy of northern Quala probably has more books that you lost years ago when you had to flee General Ackerson's attack. Flog's already at war with them, it might be time to give him a little extra help again and forget about helping Tarna achieve her petty dreams entirely. > You help Tarna You've done some questionable things, but you've always honored a deal and never pursued a war of aggression. As much as you might want to loot the Quala magiocracy for their magic treasures in an effort to pursue your own plans, you do have an agreement of non-aggression with them. That just leaves Tarna's offer which you could still decline, but you see an opportunity here. "Okay we might have an agreement, but do you have any old magical tomes laying around or treasures of a magical nature? Because that's what we're going to need to get this job done." Tarna is understandably hesitant. "You want me to deliver potential weapons that be used against us in the future?" "Well if you want to put it that way, yes. However, if you really want the throne as bad as I think you do, you'll find it to be a fair offer. Besides, I'm risking giving you the throne and taking it on your word alone that you won't ever attack us, though I'm fairly certain whatever we have now is more than enough to defeat you anyway. You really wouldn't be giving us an advantage." "Shadow arrogance…(sigh) well I mean we have a few gathering dust in our treasury. Powerful mages aren't exactly common in our realm, but I don't want to risk stealing them away and then you tell me that you don't want them for whatever reason." "Just bring what you have along with the payment you mentioned, but we're not doing the deed until we get paid first." "What?! That means I have to have an excuse to make another trip up here, which might take me a few months from now!" "Not my problem, but like I said you're the one who wants the throne, surely if you've waited this long, you can probably wait a little longer. There's always the option of sending someone else to deliver the payment though." Tarna is getting more and more frustrated, but she can't help but capitulate to your demands. "Fine you'll see me in a few months from now because quite frankly I don't trust anyone else enough to handle what I'll turn over to you." "So be it. See you then." Tarna leaves and its back to business as usual, when Talia returns she has a lot of reservations about the deal with Tarna for several reasons, but after a bit of debating she stops since you being the chosen of Dendrin means you presumably know what you're doing. After a few months pass, Tarna comes back with the payment as promised. The spell books she's hands over to you aren't quite what you hoped, but a deal's a deal and you send the best Blades to assassinate Brenda. Within the week the job is successful…though unfortunately not without a hitch since some of the shadows were killed during the job and it becomes well known who did the deed. Naturally Tarna attempts to save her own ass by accusing the shadows of aggressive behavior and proof that you all need to be invaded. This doesn't entirely work in her favor though as it was long suspected that Tarna's ambition was what caused this in the first place. The Nalin Empire ends up going through a minor power struggle and by the time the dust settles Tarna has been executed for treason and one of Brenda's loyalists takes power. Unfortunately this loyalist faction now in power decides that Tarna's suggestion that the shadows be invaded is the only good idea she ever came up with and steps are made to do just that in revenge for the death of their beloved leader. The initial phases of the Nalin Shadow conflict begin in the Quala Freelands where the shadows have an outpost. It not only serves as a way of hurting you, but also expanding their own territory. Tarna might not have gotten throne, but her dreams of a new expansionist Nalin Empire are coming true. Year 67 The shadows have been pushed back to the Delerg province entirely now. The Nalin Empire in the meantime has managed to completely annex the Quala Freelands into its territory and has even managed to "tame" a few of the eastern Quala warlords. On the shadow front, you've been doing all you can to keep the Nalinites out of Delerg to the point that it's distracted you from your original goal of attempting to figure out a way to free the shadows from Dendrin's whims and harness his power independently. Year 69 Nalin's attempts to repeatedly conquer Delerg continue to fail, but the attrition on the shadows is starting to take its toll. You just can't replace your numbers like the Nalinites can. Worse is the fact that they've been using kobold "commandos" which continue to dig underground tunnels in an effort to launch sneak attacks. The only reason why that tactic hasn't been more successful is due to the soft swampland that collapses very easily or just starts filling tunnels with water. Still there have been a few times it has worked. The shadows have had to go completely on the defensive and all involvement in assassination for hire has been stopped. The shadows are also starting to lose their aura of "fear" they once had due to the Nalinite's determination to destroy you as a result you no longer have what you could consider "allies" anymore. Year 73 It took nearly all your energy but you've just turned back an entire Nalin battalion along with their svelk mercenaries. Damned dark elves would have to come back like opportunistic scavengers. You look around at the blasted area. Your last spell probably destroyed several miles of swampland, trees, wildlife and most likely Sinkhole. The temple is still intact more or less, though you can't say too much for the shadows themselves. Cyrus, Dravin, Glen, Gannon are all dead from this war. Even your beloved Talia died in this latest attack. You've won this day, but you question the next time. There are only a few shadows left and while you probably could continue to fight you wonder why bother, the Nalin Empire has practically won at this point even if you have made it very costly for them. Your only consolation is that you've probably depleted much of their coffers in this war. Dendrin himself has been suspiciously quiet during this time and hasn't spoken to you at all. You almost wonder if he some how set up events due to his knowledge of what you were originally planning concerning him. Hardly matters you guess since that isn't a possibility anymore. You bury Talia and order the rest of your remaining shadows to prepare for the next attack. It takes a while, but eventually another attack does come. Not quite as big as last time, but it doesn't need to be. You're so tired at this point that you don't even fight as hard as you could. When the finale comes in the form of several swords and spears pointing at you, you welcome it just to put an end to it all.

Year 65 Delerg has been completely transformed. No longer is it known as just that dismal swamp where the shadows make their home. It's literally been transformed into the land of shadows. You called upon powers of Dendrin in one great ritual to forever cast a cloud of darkness over the area. Delerg is now a land of perpetual twilight. Most in Quala would not ever dare raise an army to invade it now even if they wanted to, for fear of the unnatural shadow magic that now pervades the place. Indeed the High Council of the Quala Freelands pay you tribute due their border touching Delerg. Since nobody even wants to visit Delerg anymore, you've established a smaller settlement in the Freelands for a few reasons. One being for potential recruits of which there are always a few that wish to join and another for those that have need of the shadows' services, which are still in demand. Skog's tribes of Rask may very well overrun the magiocracy of northern Quala one day, but they definitely will never set one green foot into Delerg, but then ever since your actions in Rask you didn't have much concern about that happening anyway. The svelk have all been run out of the immediate area. You've either hunted them all down, or they moved further east towards the Felkan Kingdom, which has begun to spread to the west in an attempt to establish order in the still chaotic Arat province. Still despite Delerg's fearsome appearance and reputation now, there are still those that would prefer to address you directly… "An emissary from the Nalin Empire on the Delerg border wants to see you. Says she has an offer that you'll find most enticing." Gannon tells you. "Don't they all? Very well give her passage to approach the temple." You say wondering what this could be about. The Nalin Empire is still the only major power nearby that you have not had a major effect on. It continues to be run by Warden Matron Brenda whose hatred for the shadows is quite well known. As your influence has steadily grown beyond Delerg relations between that government and your organization have grown in intensity. The Nalin Empire has made it quite clear that any shadow found within its borders or anyone enlisting the aid of shadows will be executed. Still it doesn't keep you from having a few agents still there though information is still hard to come by. At least any meaningful information. Brenda is a private person and her citizens are all fairly loyal. You've only ever gotten a few people from there actually trying to hire you and that was only in the early years. You've had no contracts from there for maybe ten years or more and never any meeting from a formal member of the government there. So to get an emissary from there now? This is an odd day indeed. When you find out this emissary is Tarna, your preoccupation dwindles a bit and focuses more on this meeting. Tarna is known to be Brenda's second in command and the one who enforces most of the laws of the land. When she arrives she looks like all the reports you've heard. Long brunette hair, swarthy skin, warrior type with a haughty air about her, etc. She travels only with a couple servant types who look scared shitless to even be in Delerg let alone the actual temple of Dendrin. Tarna though looks genuinely unimpressed and you don't even sense any fear in her. A state of combat readiness perhaps, but she'd be a damn fool not to feel that way…actually she's a damn fool as far as you're concerned seeing as she isn't afraid. She should be. Normally Talia would be with you to meet her, but Talia's currently meeting with Cyrus and Dravin in Quala to see if any of the potential shadow recruits are worthy. So you meet with Tarna privately. "So what brings such a high ranking member of the Nalin Empire to Delerg? Has the Nalin Empire finally decided to lift its ban on shadows traveling through its domain?" you ask. "Hardly, and I'm fairly certain the illegality of it doesn't stop you from doing so anyway. But I'm not here to make small talk with you fanatics, I'm here on a matter that I think you'll want to take." "Do tell." "It's about Warden Matron Brenda. She needs to be…removed." A little surprising perhaps, but not really. You've heard that Tarna has shown signs of great ambition. "Just like that eh? You wish for the death of your master so easily?" "That old bitch is NOT my master…" she begins to say, but you interrupt. "Yes she is. We ALL have a master in some way. I am master for example of all the shadows, but then Dendrin is master over all of us. Sometimes it is even natural to want to overthrow our masters…" you say with a very real double meaning, though Tarna isn't concerned with your own thoughts. "Whatever, I didn't come here for your loony shadow philosophies. I came here to hire your people. I can promise you more than payment in the form of money, I can also promise you legality. Make it so it isn't an offense for shadows to enter Nalin or to hire them." "Well, I suppose that would make things easier, and that's quite generous. However, I question why you would do such a thing. I mean what do you gain by letting us freely in your newly acquired country?" "Safety and a powerful ally." "Heh, don't think either of those terms have been ever used to describe the shadows, but I'm intrigued." "You shadows are the most powerful organization in this part of the world. More powerful than some so called governments. Far more power than you should have actually, if I had been Brenda I would've sent an army to crush you long ago before you got too entrenched. I never understood how she could hate you so much yet never act directly towards you. She claims her actions are tempered with caution, but I say they are riddled with cowardice." "Strong words…so how would putting you in charge benefit us? You just said you'd attempt to destroy us." "Because I'm pragmatic and I see such a war would bring ruin to Nalin and I wish only to bring glory to it. For far too long the Nalin Empire has remained stagnant, still clutching on to the skeletal remains of the old Empire that Brenda served. It needs to grow and I intend to make it do just that. The shadows can help in this task. I believe I should want to call upon your services many times when usual tactics aren't enough in the future. And then there are those that may want to call upon you to stop me from achieving my goals. If we have an understanding, it can be profitable for you." Sounds like Tarna really wants to be in charge. She gives you the price she's willing to pay and it certainly is reasonable, doesn't make you immediately agree to it though. "So, you desire the shadows to serve as your government's personal assassins? We had an arrangement like that once before…I believe you know how that ended." "No! This would be different! The shadows would remain completely independent. You could still worship your silly god and not answer to any government. I do not even wish to conquer Delerg, you can have this swampland. I just want the rest! Quala, Arat, Rask, even the Felkan Kingdom! And as I said the shadows would still have free reign to ply their trade anywhere in the glorious Empire of Nalin." She's certainly confident and upfront about things, of course perhaps not too much since she is here attempting to hire you after all. You can certainly see an upside to such an arrangement. It also sounds like a lot of promises that might not be kept, however it isn't necessarily because Tarna's a liar. Her big plans may just fall flat due to arrogance. If so, it'll probably be better than her being successful and you'll have your foot already in the door to start gaining more of a presence in the Nalin Empire. There is always the fact you could just kill her if she attempts to betray you, the problem though is the Nalin Empire isn't like the many mini-states of Quala, or even the orc tribal alliance in Rask, it's a much larger unified entity. A war with them could get very costly though you've certainly faced bigger and you've got the resources. A bigger concern for you is getting distracted with a war. Your growing obsession over the past few years is with wanting to somehow harness Dendrin's power independent of him. He's vaguely hinted at several times in the past that he isn't a real "god" just very powerful. What if you could do the same and somehow take his place? You've been trying to study all the old tomes you have in your possession over and over again in the hopes of finding something and you believe that you'll probably have to mix several complex incantations and rituals in order to even attempt such a thing. Most likely you'll have to study some non-shadow magic as well. You received some of those books back that Brenda snagged from the Derro lab when Flog gave those that were left behind at Evergloom to you, but you still haven't found quite what you're looking for in them. Still, you're fairly certain the magiocracy of northern Quala probably has more books that you lost years ago when you had to flee General Ackerson's attack. Flog's already at war with them, it might be time to give him a little extra help again and forget about helping Tarna achieve her petty dreams entirely. > You decline her request You've got other important things to concern yourself with; you don't have time to risk backing a potential wild card. When you decline to help her, she's surprised. "What?! Are you serious? Since when do the shadows decline a contract?" "Why does everyone assume we take everything? We only accept deals that would be in our favor and quite frankly dealing with you seems like it would be a losing game at best, so if that's all our business here…" "But you would be destroying an enemy!" "An enemy who as you just said is too cowardly to make a move against us. I think the status quo is working just fine right now. Now I suggest you leave before you make me angry." Tarna stares at you for a moment and looks exasperated, but realizes there will be no convincing you. "Fine! But remember this shadow. Brenda isn't going to be in charge forever and I will be taking power one day. You may find that declining to help me now was not a good idea. I will remember this shadow." She says and walks out of the room. You sit there for a moment thinking, and then you get up to follow her. Just as she is storming out the front temple doors with her servants you hit her in the back with a small bolt of shadowfire, not enough to kill her, because you're not done with her yet. Her servants attempt to run, but you tell the nearby shadows to dispose of them which they do so with ease and then drag Tarna's body towards you. She tries to pull her sword out, but her hand is stepped on by a shadow and then her sword taken away completely. Despite all this, she remains defiant. "Fool! You kill me and you'll have the entire might of Nalin on your head! You really think I won't be missed?" "Not really. I know for a fact, you were on a mission to meet with the High Council of the Freelands before you came on this little detour. I mean come on; you came here to hire us to assassinate your master. You weren't going to report your sidetrip here. Even if you have co-conspirators back home, I doubt if any of them have the balls you do and they'll most likely keep quiet about your disappearance. Oh they may very well try to blame the shadows for your death, but I believe at worst, Brenda will assume you were killed by bandits in the wilderness of the Freelands." "You assume much, shadow." "Perhaps, but just to be safe, I'll keep you around for maybe a few months. Just in case a Nalin army does come sniffing around, then I can drag your ragged ass out in chains where you can fully admit you were plotting treachery to them first hand and prove that not only did we not act against the Nalin Empire, but in fact helped it…heh heh. Who knows? Maybe it'll even be a brand new era of peace between our two people." Tarna is starting to break at this point, she's starting to realize that she has vastly overstepped her bounds. "You…you really think they'll believe that? You really think I would admit it?" "Oh yes, because IF they do arrive, you'll tell them everything and practically be begging them to execute you if only to end the nightmares you'll soon experience." you say and then move your face closer to hers. "I can sense your fear…funny how you should feel it only now when its too late. Take her away." Nobody will come for her, you're sure of it. Now with that out of the way you can get back to your own plans. Aggressively pursuing conflict with the magiocracy is probably going to be a violation of your agreement with them, but with Skog's help you don't see any need to worry. As for Skog, he's very much like his father in that he knows a good deal when it presents itself. The shadows will follow as long as you tell them that Dendrin commands it. You'll get no dissent, that hasn't been a problem in quite some time. You begin to make the preparations. Year 66 "We've completely looted the magiocracy's treasury of their most prized magic items and tomes. Some of them are items we lost long ago, but most of it is stuff we've never seen before. Possibly old Empire." Glen tells you as he hands you a few books. "Makes sense. Most of those mages running that place were ex-Empire after all. Well good, our mission was a success then. I trust the magiocracy is probably on its death knell?" "It is Shadow Master. While it hasn't collapsed completely yet, I believe Skog's rabble is doing its best to make sure it stomps out." "Good. Just bring in the rest of the stuff and we'll sort through it. That'll be all for now." Glen nods and takes his leave. As you leaf through the pages of one of the books, Talia addresses you. "When are we going to hold the ceremony for all those shadows lost in the service of Dendrin?" "Huh? Oh, I dunno, soon I suppose. You can take care of those details." You say without looking up. "…I will…but…" "What?" you say starting to get annoyed. "Well you could show a little more sympathy. I mean these brave shadows died. Our brothers and sisters died. They should at least be given the honor and respect they deserve." "Talia, they died serving Dendrin. That's what they're SUPPOSED to do. By all means have the ceremony honoring the dead, but I have other living concerns that require immediate attention." "And that's the other thing I've been wanting to speak to you about. I've noticed over the years, you have become obsessed with magic of all kinds. You pour over the old shadow tomes even more than I do. In fact I practically have to snatch them out of your hands if I need to look up something at times. You've also become much colder and distant. It's almost like you don't even care about any of us anymore and see us all as minions and henchmen. You talk about spreading fear to our enemies and how it is Dendrin's will, but is it absolutely necessary to treat your fellow shadows in the same manner?" "Talia, I never treat you with anything other than respect and honor. You know that." "For now, but I'm not talking about just me. I'm talking about everyone else. Look I know you're the chosen of Dendrin and you know his plan better than anyone, but have you become so far removed that you don't even feel a shred of empathy anymore? I mean remember Master Ebon? He cared for all of us…" "He's also dead, so I don't see how following his example is going to get us anywhere the shadows need to be which is what I'm trying to accomplish. You say that I'm far removed from the rest, when in actuality I've been trying to keep my knowledge of my surroundings to damn near omnipotent level. I've kept the shadows thriving by implementing changes. Changes that Dendrin obviously agrees with, but what you don't realize, what none of you realize is that I'm trying to accomplish something that will establish shadow survival long after I've shuffled off this mortal realm." "And what is that exactly? You mind at least telling me?" "I'm talking about transcending." Talia pauses and thinks she knows what you're talking about. "Are…are you talking about performing the ritual of ascension?" She's only partially right. You've read through the ritual and while you don't exactly understand all of it, you believe that you should only implement a large part of it. You do not believe it is the direction the shadows need to go and you are still seeking out a way to alter it to suit what you want to accomplish. "I cannot give you an answer yet as I'm still working on the specifics, but rest assured you will be the first to know when I figure everything out. Just trust me as you would trust in Dendrin. Have I ever lead the shadows wrong? And if I was doing something wrong, would Dendrin not smite me?" Once again invoking Dendrin's lack of action towards you manages to convince Talia that whatever you're planning it must be for the greater good of the shadows. And you are, just not for Dendrin's sake. > Year 75 "Do you really believe you can separate yourself from me? You think that you can actually steal my power without consequence?" Dendrin asks. "Yes, I have figured out a way and you will do nothing about it. You know why? Because you are a being of much power sure, but you and I know that you are no god and. More importantly we would not even be stealing any power from you, because I also know you are not even native to the shadow realm; you are merely using it as a source to act as a god. In my years of study, I have come to learn what you truly are and that is a Yequk, a whimsical being of the planes that loves to leech of the energy of a plane. Your kind also has a tendency to masquerade as gods or demons for amusement purposes and will bestow magic powers to those who believe in you or in my case, for the hell of it." You reply. There is silence for a while, but eventually Dendrin speaks. "Well done Eternal, I always thought I would manage to make you a believer though. I always thought that eventually you would come around, and for a while it looked it like you might, but ultimately you resisted. I suppose it's my own fault for not killing you immediately, but your potential for amusement value was too great to resist. However even with this knowledge do you really believe the shadows will survive without me granting them powers?" "The shadows could directly draw upon the source of the shadow realm under the right circumstances. Circumstances that I have finally unlocked, all I need to do is perform the ritual." "Well, it looks like you've got it all figured out Eternal. I just hope there aren't any unforeseen consequences to your plan…" "Is that supposed to be a threat?" "Perhaps, but not necessarily one from me because let's face it what would be the point? No, I believe your problem is of more mortal matters." "The shadows will follow me in performing the ritual." "Oh of that I have no doubt, you know why? Because you'll tell them what you've always told them, that it's my will that must be carried out! But tell me this Eternal, what is the point of this endeavor if I am most likely going to be worshipped anyway? Do you really believe that you can just expose the truth so easily? If you could, you would've done so long ago." "No! Now is different, because I can actually do something about it. I can show the shadows that they don't need you to sustain their powers. That's the whole point of this." "No, the whole point of this is I'm the only enemy that you've never been fully able to beat. You've denied me, you've ignored me, you've blatantly insulted me and you've even changed the religion to something that you prefer better…though I always agreed with what you did in that aspect. This whole thing is nothing more than an attempt to defeat me before you die of old age and it's a pointless endeavor based on your pride if you ask me." "Well nobody asked you." you say starting to get angry. "I genuinely don't understand what your problem is, because we've ALL benefited from this arrangement. You've even called on me for help in the past." "Moments of weakness, I assure you." "Yes, I'm sure seeing as you've been hung up on the whole instilling fear into everyone and no room for the weak type of thing for the past couple of decades. Your problem started when you started believing in your own rhetoric. YOU want to be the one that the shadows worship. YOU want to be the god of fear and shadows. You don't want to share any of the credit with me." "And why should I? I'm the one whose really been guiding them all these years! You've done absolutely nothing! They'd all be fucking dead if you had your way! You even admitted as much. You've claimed on several occasions that you've been bored of the shadows for years and you've only taken a more direct interest in them recently because I came along." "While all of that may be true, what you're forgetting is I've been guiding them a lot longer than you have. I gave them purpose for centuries! And what did you think other shadow masters were doing all those years? Twiddling their thumbs? No they were also guiding the shadows! You think you're not the only shadow master to have these sorts of feelings? You already know by Master Ebon's own dying admission that he never spoke to me and lied the whole time. You really think other shadow masters didn't have their own doubts of whether I was a god, or even existed? You're just the first one to figure out the entire truth and let the bitterness get to you. So by all means perform your little magic ritual and tap directly into the power of this shadow realm. I'm sure it'll be a success, but you will never be free of the religion tied to it. My name will always be attached to the shadows. Perhaps now more than ever, for a day may have soon come that I would've abandoned the shadows entirely and moved on to other things. On that day, they would've lost all their powers and undoubtedly the organization would've soon collapsed afterwards. Now? You're going to give them access to the power directly whether I'm here or not. Who do you think is going to still be worshipped? That's right." "So I'll risk exposing the truth." You say in an attempt to continue to be defiant. "Before or after the ritual? If its before, you're not even going to get a chance to complete it because you'll be strung up as a heretic or you'll be forced to kill them all. I doubt even your own mate would side with you even if she and possibly a few others might suspect you're right. Faith is a powerful thing and you know this. If it's after the ritual, you might have better success, but I doubt it. At best you'll end up getting utter chaos because you'll get rogue shadows that will see no reason to be part of the group anymore. Just think about those in the past that dared to oppose the status quo like Theo, Yvette or even Shade. Don't you think there will be MORE dissident types when they know there is absolutely no chance of them losing their powers now? The shadows will eventually splinter apart through selfishness. Of course perhaps you don't care, but I think you do care about the shadows more than you let on sometimes. If you didn't, you wouldn't be making such a grand effort of trying to free them from me." You hate it when Dendrin makes good points and this time he's made several. "I'm…not going to win this one am I?" you say. "My advice? You'd be better off letting this one go. You're a mortal and have limitations. Enjoy what little time you have left. But it's your choice, and I've always believed that you work better without guidance, so do what you will." You wake up from your mental ordeal and sit up placing your head within your hands trying to come to grips with your own short sightedness. It's almost enough to make you cry. "What's wrong? You seem upset. Bad dream?" Talia asks when she sees you after rousing from her own sleep. "No…I…no. I'm fine. Just still tired I guess." You lay back down and Talia soon goes back to sleep. You're left wondering what you're going to do, but it all seems so pointless now no matter what you decide. If you go ahead with the ritual anyway and expose the truth, you're going to face all the potential problems Dendrin mentioned. Of course you could just keep up the lie about Dendrin, but that seems to be defeating your original purpose. > You perform the ritual and tell the truth The whole point of this is to free the shadows from the lie. They'll be pissed at first and there will probably be violence, but you see this will be for the best in the long run. You get up and gather the books you've been studying and go over one more time this ritual you have planned. You don't even know if it'll even work, but you're fairly certain you haven't gotten any of the magic words or signs wrong. You send a general announcement out that after all assassination missions have been completed, no more are to be given and that all shadows are to remain at the temple until the Ritual of Ascension is to be completed. (Which is what you've called it, because you're practically performing the same thing just with some of your own alterations) Many of the shadows immediately cheer at the news, others aren't entirely sure what you're talking about which isn't surprising since the Ascension Ritual isn't common knowledge to the newer shadows. Still when you explain it, they all seem excited about the plan. When the time comes you stand outside the temple in front of the several hundred shadows with their heads down in prayer. From the ones nearly as old as you to the ones that are barely out of the crib, all shadows are lending their own energy to your own in the effort of pulling off this historical moment. Talia stands by your side as always. You look at her and wonder if you would've even come this far if you hadn't fallen in love with her. Lately you've been a bit distant with her, but you promise that'll change when this is all over. "We are shadows! We have endured for centuries no matter what the struggles. From before the Empire and through it, and after it's inevitable demise. We will continue to thrive in the years to come. We feel we are ready for this power. I feel we are ready. This is the destiny of the shadows!" you say and then begin the incantations. Most of your people recite what you say in unison while others stand at the far ends and chant supporting verses, which are essential to the ritual. Talia is also chanting yet another portion of it while making gestures with her hands to begin the first part of opening up the portal to Dendrin's realm. This part is almost like the initiation ritual, but of course much more complex and involved. A large portal opens up above all of you and even with the sky already in perpetual darkness; it seems to get even darker. There is no wind or lightning or anything that most would connect with such a grand attempt altering reality. Instead, it just gets very dark and you start to feel a tingling numbness. You begin to see some of the shadows fall to the ground. You don't know if they've died or just fainted. None of them are deterred though; they all continue to perform their parts for as long as they are able. This is like one of your personal encounters with Dendrin when you've slept, but instead everyone is experiencing it in the real world. You begin to feel all five of your senses becoming non-existent and the numbness is close to complete at this point. Eventually you can't even see most of the shadows in front of you and you can hardly hear them anymore. Still you know you're on the right path, the blackness is engulfing everything. You briefly look over at Talia who is barely visible now. She continues to chant like a true believer that she's always been. A few minutes pass and you soon can't hear anything except your own voice now and even that is very faint, though you can't be sure it's due to losing your hearing or your voice. Probably both. You look over one more time at Talia who you see start to teeter from exhaustion. You see her look over at you as well before you lose sight of her completely to the blackness. You continue to silently chant while your mind fights the fatigue you're experiencing. It feels like you've been doing this forever, but you have to finish. You wonder what's happening to everyone else. You wonder if they're still alive. You wonder if Talia is still alive. "Decided to go through with it after all eh? I thought you might." you hear inside your head. It's Dendrin, you can't talk to him though, you need to focus since you're going into the part of the ritual that you've created yourself with other non-shadow incantations. "Eternal, are you sure this is even going to work? Perhaps you should stop before you continue any further." And now you know that you've made the right decision. He's trying to talk you out it. "Eternal, are you sure this is what you want?" Of course it is. This is what will be for the best for the shadows. You've been their true master for over decades now. They would've ultimately been destroyed without you. When you're gone the shadows will fall prey to something else, whether it be from external forces or internal ones. Dendrin doesn't give a shit about them despite his fondness for you. By doing this, they'll always be strong and independent of him whether they know it or not. You begin the finishing lines of the ritual. "Very well, I can see you have made your decision." With those last words you succumb to absolute numbness and pass out. Hours later you awaken to Talia's face staring at you along with several other shadows. "Thank Dendrin, he's still alive." You hear Gannon say. "My love are you all right?" Talia asks. Yes. Yes I'm fine, just a little disorientated. How is everything else? Did it work?" "Well I suppose so. I mean we all feel a little different now. Some have expressed an increase in magical abilities. What exactly was the ritual supposed to do?" Talia asks. "It was to make us more powerful and our shadow magic stronger." You say. "You mean like make our link stronger to Dendrin?" "More like the opposite." "What do you mean?" As you attempt to explain what you did and why you did it the reactions are varied but most are not positive. Some of them are in such a state of shock they don't know what to think. Others are angry to the point of saying you have damned them all in the eyes of Dendrin. Others are angrier that you were lying to them this whole time. Faith is a powerful thing and when you directly challenge it like you've just done, it tends to result in bad things. Talia herself can't even look at you, she leaves your side as an angry mob of shadows begins to close in on you. You tell them all to back off before you're forced to destroy them, then you call them a bunch of ingrates that should be thankful for what you've done. This goes over about as well as can be expected. You end up vaporizing several shadows to ash and wounding many severely before you're eventually mobbed and restrained. They don't even give you the dignity of stabbing you to death, one of the shadows smashes your head with a rock and you crumple to the ground feeling the countless kicks and punches to your body. Eventually you're beaten to a bloody pulp, but the shadows continue to torment your body in death by ripping it apart and throwing it to the Sul Monkeys. The order of the shadows doesn't survive too much longer after your gruesome death. Most shadows are unable to come to grips with reality and commit suicide. The more cynical ones simply walk away and pursue new lives as independent "shadow wizards." Some of the more fanatical ones descend into outright insanity and continue to worship Dendrin and commit increasingly bizarre and bloody acts in order to "regain his favor". Talia ends up leading a group like this for a while before she finally loses it completely and kills herself. As for Dendrin he sticks around to watch the final death throes of the religion he once posed as a god for, and when it's finally over he moves on to new and more entertaining things.

Year 75 "Do you really believe you can separate yourself from me? You think that you can actually steal my power without consequence?" Dendrin asks. "Yes, I have figured out a way and you will do nothing about it. You know why? Because you are a being of much power sure, but you and I know that you are no god and. More importantly we would not even be stealing any power from you, because I also know you are not even native to the shadow realm; you are merely using it as a source to act as a god. In my years of study, I have come to learn what you truly are and that is a Yequk, a whimsical being of the planes that loves to leech of the energy of a plane. Your kind also has a tendency to masquerade as gods or demons for amusement purposes and will bestow magic powers to those who believe in you or in my case, for the hell of it." You reply. There is silence for a while, but eventually Dendrin speaks. "Well done Eternal, I always thought I would manage to make you a believer though. I always thought that eventually you would come around, and for a while it looked it like you might, but ultimately you resisted. I suppose it's my own fault for not killing you immediately, but your potential for amusement value was too great to resist. However even with this knowledge do you really believe the shadows will survive without me granting them powers?" "The shadows could directly draw upon the source of the shadow realm under the right circumstances. Circumstances that I have finally unlocked, all I need to do is perform the ritual." "Well, it looks like you've got it all figured out Eternal. I just hope there aren't any unforeseen consequences to your plan…" "Is that supposed to be a threat?" "Perhaps, but not necessarily one from me because let's face it what would be the point? No, I believe your problem is of more mortal matters." "The shadows will follow me in performing the ritual." "Oh of that I have no doubt, you know why? Because you'll tell them what you've always told them, that it's my will that must be carried out! But tell me this Eternal, what is the point of this endeavor if I am most likely going to be worshipped anyway? Do you really believe that you can just expose the truth so easily? If you could, you would've done so long ago." "No! Now is different, because I can actually do something about it. I can show the shadows that they don't need you to sustain their powers. That's the whole point of this." "No, the whole point of this is I'm the only enemy that you've never been fully able to beat. You've denied me, you've ignored me, you've blatantly insulted me and you've even changed the religion to something that you prefer better…though I always agreed with what you did in that aspect. This whole thing is nothing more than an attempt to defeat me before you die of old age and it's a pointless endeavor based on your pride if you ask me." "Well nobody asked you." you say starting to get angry. "I genuinely don't understand what your problem is, because we've ALL benefited from this arrangement. You've even called on me for help in the past." "Moments of weakness, I assure you." "Yes, I'm sure seeing as you've been hung up on the whole instilling fear into everyone and no room for the weak type of thing for the past couple of decades. Your problem started when you started believing in your own rhetoric. YOU want to be the one that the shadows worship. YOU want to be the god of fear and shadows. You don't want to share any of the credit with me." "And why should I? I'm the one whose really been guiding them all these years! You've done absolutely nothing! They'd all be fucking dead if you had your way! You even admitted as much. You've claimed on several occasions that you've been bored of the shadows for years and you've only taken a more direct interest in them recently because I came along." "While all of that may be true, what you're forgetting is I've been guiding them a lot longer than you have. I gave them purpose for centuries! And what did you think other shadow masters were doing all those years? Twiddling their thumbs? No they were also guiding the shadows! You think you're not the only shadow master to have these sorts of feelings? You already know by Master Ebon's own dying admission that he never spoke to me and lied the whole time. You really think other shadow masters didn't have their own doubts of whether I was a god, or even existed? You're just the first one to figure out the entire truth and let the bitterness get to you. So by all means perform your little magic ritual and tap directly into the power of this shadow realm. I'm sure it'll be a success, but you will never be free of the religion tied to it. My name will always be attached to the shadows. Perhaps now more than ever, for a day may have soon come that I would've abandoned the shadows entirely and moved on to other things. On that day, they would've lost all their powers and undoubtedly the organization would've soon collapsed afterwards. Now? You're going to give them access to the power directly whether I'm here or not. Who do you think is going to still be worshipped? That's right." "So I'll risk exposing the truth." You say in an attempt to continue to be defiant. "Before or after the ritual? If its before, you're not even going to get a chance to complete it because you'll be strung up as a heretic or you'll be forced to kill them all. I doubt even your own mate would side with you even if she and possibly a few others might suspect you're right. Faith is a powerful thing and you know this. If it's after the ritual, you might have better success, but I doubt it. At best you'll end up getting utter chaos because you'll get rogue shadows that will see no reason to be part of the group anymore. Just think about those in the past that dared to oppose the status quo like Theo, Yvette or even Shade. Don't you think there will be MORE dissident types when they know there is absolutely no chance of them losing their powers now? The shadows will eventually splinter apart through selfishness. Of course perhaps you don't care, but I think you do care about the shadows more than you let on sometimes. If you didn't, you wouldn't be making such a grand effort of trying to free them from me." You hate it when Dendrin makes good points and this time he's made several. "I'm…not going to win this one am I?" you say. "My advice? You'd be better off letting this one go. You're a mortal and have limitations. Enjoy what little time you have left. But it's your choice, and I've always believed that you work better without guidance, so do what you will." You wake up from your mental ordeal and sit up placing your head within your hands trying to come to grips with your own short sightedness. It's almost enough to make you cry. "What's wrong? You seem upset. Bad dream?" Talia asks when she sees you after rousing from her own sleep. "No…I…no. I'm fine. Just still tired I guess." You lay back down and Talia soon goes back to sleep. You're left wondering what you're going to do, but it all seems so pointless now no matter what you decide. If you go ahead with the ritual anyway and expose the truth, you're going to face all the potential problems Dendrin mentioned. Of course you could just keep up the lie about Dendrin, but that seems to be defeating your original purpose. > You perform the ritual and keep up the lie It's not the most ideal plan that you had, but at least if you perform the ritual, the shadows won't be left in the lurch whenever Dendrin decides to cut out on them. Sure they'll still be paying tribute to an uncaring and possibly empty god, but then again haven't they always? You get up and gather the books you've been studying and go over one more time this ritual you have planned. You don't even know if it'll even work, but you're fairly certain you haven't gotten any of the magic words or signs wrong. It suddenly occurs to you that maybe you should also create a new initiation ritual too. It won't be necessary for new recruits to be brainwashed into meeting with Dendrin anymore, in fact it would probably be a hindrance. And that's when you suddenly realize a bunch of things you can't believe you overlooked! You're not going to "beat" Dendrin in your lifetime. He probably won't even be beaten decades after your death, but you still have time to set the plans to do it now. First things first though. You send a general announcement out that after all assassination missions have been completed, no more are to be given and that all shadows are to remain at the temple until the Ritual of Ascension is to be completed. (Which is what you've called it, because you're practically performing the same thing just with some of your own alterations) Many of the shadows immediately cheer at the news, others aren't entirely sure what you're talking about which isn't surprising since the Ascension Ritual isn't common knowledge to the newer shadows. Still when you explain it, they all seem excited about the plan. When the time comes you stand outside the temple in front of the several hundred shadows with their heads down in prayer. From the ones nearly as old as you to the ones that are barely out of the crib, all shadows are lending their own energy to your own in the effort of pulling off this historical moment. Talia stands by your side as always. You look at her and wonder if you would've even come this far if you hadn't fallen in love with her. Lately you've been a bit distant with her, but you promise that'll change when this is all over. "Dendrin, we are your shadows! We have served your will for centuries no matter what the struggles. From before the Empire and through it, and after it's inevitable demise. We will always be your faithful servants in the years to come. We feel we are ready for this power. I feel we are ready. This is the destiny of the shadows!" you say and then begin the incantations. Most of your people recite what you say in unison while others stand at the far ends and chant supporting verses, which are essential to the ritual. Talia is also chanting yet another portion of it while making gestures with her hands to begin the first part of opening up the portal to Dendrin's realm. This part is almost like the initiation ritual, but of course much more complex and involved. A large portal opens up above all of you and even with the sky already in perpetual darkness; it seems to get even darker. There is no wind or lightning or anything that most would connect with such a grand attempt altering reality. Instead, it just gets very dark and you start to feel a tingling numbness. You begin to see some of the shadows fall to the ground. You don't know if they've died or just fainted. None of them are deterred though; they all continue to perform their parts for as long as they are able. This is like one of your personal encounters with Dendrin when you've slept, but instead everyone is experiencing it in the real world. You begin to feel all five of your senses becoming non-existent and the numbness is close to complete at this point. Eventually you can't even see most of the shadows in front of you and you can hardly hear them anymore. Still you know you're on the right path, the blackness is engulfing everything. You briefly look over at Talia who is barely visible now. She continues to chant like a true believer that she's always been. A few minutes pass and you soon can't hear anything except your own voice now and even that is very faint, though you can't be sure it's due to losing your hearing or your voice. Probably both. You look over one more time at Talia who you see start to teeter from exhaustion. You see her look over at you as well before you lose sight of her completely to the blackness. You continue to silently chant while your mind fights the fatigue you're experiencing. It feels like you've been doing this forever, but you have to finish. You wonder what's happening to everyone else. You wonder if they're still alive. You wonder if Talia is still alive. "Decided to go through with it after all eh? I thought you might." you hear inside your head. It's Dendrin, you can't talk to him though, you need to focus since you're going into the part of the ritual that you've created yourself with other non-shadow incantations. "Eternal, are you sure this is even going to work? Perhaps you should stop before you continue any further." And now you know that you've made the right decision. He's trying to talk you out it. "Eternal, are you sure this is what you want?" Of course it is. This is what will be for the best for the shadows. You've been their true master for over decades now. They would've ultimately been destroyed without you. When you're gone the shadows will fall prey to something else, whether it be from external forces or internal ones. Dendrin doesn't give a shit about them despite his fondness for you. By doing this, they'll always be strong and independent of him whether they know it or not. You begin the finishing lines of the ritual. "Very well, I can see you have made your decision." With those last words you succumb to absolute numbness and pass out. Hours later you awaken to Talia's face staring at you along with several other shadows. "Thank Dendrin, he's still alive." You hear Gannon say. "My love are you all right?" Talia asks. "Yes. Yes I'm fine, just a little disorientated. How is everything else? Did it work?" "Well I suppose so. I mean we all feel a little different now. Some have expressed an increase in magical abilities. What exactly was the ritual supposed to do?" Talia asks. "I believe that's what it was supposed to do, increase our abilities. The ritual was vague. Maybe it just brought us a little closer to Dendrin's power source…allow us to tap directly into his divine energy as it were." You say. "You mean like make our link stronger with him?" "Yes, I suppose so." You say in a non-committal way. As you are helped up and give a squeezing hug to Talia, you realize you need to get several things in order now. You aren't exactly young anymore and you have much to accomplish. After things have calmed down a bit and it's back to business as usual, you announce that you will be choosing a successor. This comes somewhat of a surprise, but not entirely as you are of advanced years. You and Talia go through a list of the potential candidates and eventually you settle on a young twenty year old girl by the name of Celia. She shows much promise in her combat and magic abilities and Glen had been considering her as a Blade before you picked her. Mentoring her begins immediately, but that isn't your only plan. The shadows are still going to believe in Dendrin for quite some time, you don't have years left in you to make such a large change in that system, but you have set up the foundation as best you can. So you begin to write a journal, a journal containing the truth. You intend on passing this on to Celia when you die. Hopefully you can mold her a bit in such a way that when she does read this, she'll be strong enough to accept the truth about the shadows, about Dendrin, about all of it. It's all a bit of a gamble, but then most of your actions have been your entire life.

You've got other important things to concern yourself with; you don't have time to risk backing a potential wild card. When you decline to help her, she's surprised. "What?! Are you serious? Since when do the shadows decline a contract?" "Why does everyone assume we take everything? We only accept deals that would be in our favor and quite frankly dealing with you seems like it would be a losing game at best, so if that's all our business here…" "But you would be destroying an enemy!" "An enemy who as you just said is too cowardly to make a move against us. I think the status quo is working just fine right now. Now I suggest you leave before you make me angry." Tarna stares at you for a moment and looks exasperated, but realizes there will be no convincing you. "Fine! But remember this shadow. Brenda isn't going to be in charge forever and I will be taking power one day. You may find that declining to help me now was not a good idea. I will remember this shadow." She says and walks out of the room. You sit there for a moment thinking, and then you get up to follow her. Just as she is storming out the front temple doors with her servants you hit her in the back with a small bolt of shadowfire, not enough to kill her, because you're not done with her yet. Her servants attempt to run, but you tell the nearby shadows to dispose of them which they do so with ease and then drag Tarna's body towards you. She tries to pull her sword out, but her hand is stepped on by a shadow and then her sword taken away completely. Despite all this, she remains defiant. "Fool! You kill me and you'll have the entire might of Nalin on your head! You really think I won't be missed?" "Not really. I know for a fact, you were on a mission to meet with the High Council of the Freelands before you came on this little detour. I mean come on; you came here to hire us to assassinate your master. You weren't going to report your sidetrip here. Even if you have co-conspirators back home, I doubt if any of them have the balls you do and they'll most likely keep quiet about your disappearance. Oh they may very well try to blame the shadows for your death, but I believe at worst, Brenda will assume you were killed by bandits in the wilderness of the Freelands." "You assume much, shadow." "Perhaps, but just to be safe, I'll keep you around for maybe a few months. Just in case a Nalin army does come sniffing around, then I can drag your ragged ass out in chains where you can fully admit you were plotting treachery to them first hand and prove that not only did we not act against the Nalin Empire, but in fact helped it…heh heh. Who knows? Maybe it'll even be a brand new era of peace between our two people." Tarna is starting to break at this point, she's starting to realize that she has vastly overstepped her bounds. "You…you really think they'll believe that? You really think I would admit it?" "Oh yes, because IF they do arrive, you'll tell them everything and practically be begging them to execute you if only to end the nightmares you'll soon experience." you say and then move your face closer to hers. "I can sense your fear…funny how you should feel it only now when its too late. Take her away." Nobody will come for her, you're sure of it. Now with that out of the way you can get back to your own plans. Aggressively pursuing conflict with the magiocracy is probably going to be a violation of your agreement with them, but with Skog's help you don't see any need to worry. As for Skog, he's very much like his father in that he knows a good deal when it presents itself. The shadows will follow as long as you tell them that Dendrin commands it. You'll get no dissent, that hasn't been a problem in quite some time. You begin to make the preparations. Year 66 "We've completely looted the magiocracy's treasury of their most prized magic items and tomes. Some of them are items we lost long ago, but most of it is stuff we've never seen before. Possibly old Empire." Glen tells you as he hands you a few books. "Makes sense. Most of those mages running that place were ex-Empire after all. Well good, our mission was a success then. I trust the magiocracy is probably on its death knell?" "It is Shadow Master. While it hasn't collapsed completely yet, I believe Skog's rabble is doing its best to make sure it stomps out." "Good. Just bring in the rest of the stuff and we'll sort through it. That'll be all for now." Glen nods and takes his leave. As you leaf through the pages of one of the books, Talia addresses you. "When are we going to hold the ceremony for all those shadows lost in the service of Dendrin?" "Huh? Oh, I dunno, soon I suppose. You can take care of those details." You say without looking up. "…I will…but…" "What?" you say starting to get annoyed. "Well you could show a little more sympathy. I mean these brave shadows died. Our brothers and sisters died. They should at least be given the honor and respect they deserve." "Talia, they died serving Dendrin. That's what they're SUPPOSED to do. By all means have the ceremony honoring the dead, but I have other living concerns that require immediate attention." "And that's the other thing I've been wanting to speak to you about. I've noticed over the years, you have become obsessed with magic of all kinds. You pour over the old shadow tomes even more than I do. In fact I practically have to snatch them out of your hands if I need to look up something at times. You've also become much colder and distant. It's almost like you don't even care about any of us anymore and see us all as minions and henchmen. You talk about spreading fear to our enemies and how it is Dendrin's will, but is it absolutely necessary to treat your fellow shadows in the same manner?" "Talia, I never treat you with anything other than respect and honor. You know that." "For now, but I'm not talking about just me. I'm talking about everyone else. Look I know you're the chosen of Dendrin and you know his plan better than anyone, but have you become so far removed that you don't even feel a shred of empathy anymore? I mean remember Master Ebon? He cared for all of us…" "He's also dead, so I don't see how following his example is going to get us anywhere the shadows need to be which is what I'm trying to accomplish. You say that I'm far removed from the rest, when in actuality I've been trying to keep my knowledge of my surroundings to damn near omnipotent level. I've kept the shadows thriving by implementing changes. Changes that Dendrin obviously agrees with, but what you don't realize, what none of you realize is that I'm trying to accomplish something that will establish shadow survival long after I've shuffled off this mortal realm." "And what is that exactly? You mind at least telling me?" "I'm talking about transcending." Talia pauses and thinks she knows what you're talking about. "Are…are you talking about performing the ritual of ascension?" She's only partially right. You've read through the ritual and while you don't exactly understand all of it, you believe that you should only implement a large part of it. You do not believe it is the direction the shadows need to go and you are still seeking out a way to alter it to suit what you want to accomplish. "I cannot give you an answer yet as I'm still working on the specifics, but rest assured you will be the first to know when I figure everything out. Just trust me as you would trust in Dendrin. Have I ever lead the shadows wrong? And if I was doing something wrong, would Dendrin not smite me?" Once again invoking Dendrin's lack of action towards you manages to convince Talia that whatever you're planning it must be for the greater good of the shadows. And you are, just not for Dendrin's sake. > You twilight of the Eternals (Year 73) It's been a strange year. You've outlived two more of the original Eternals. In both cases it was suicide and oddly enough, for similar reasons. The ruler of the Nalin Empire, Warden Matron Brenda was found dead by her own hand earlier this year. It was quite the big event, but it doesn't look like it'll fall into chaos though, as there was already another successor established soon after Tarna went "missing." You always knew nobody was going to come looking for her, hell perhaps Brenda knew of her treachery and just gave her the rope to hang herself with. Brenda apparently left no explanation other than how she had wanted to join her beloved Roldan at last and had grown weary of life without him. Right now you're in the attendance of the burial ceremony for Cyrus who did the same thing. Dravin died last year of natural causes and you know it was a major loss for Cyrus who had been with him so long. Still you thought he'd get over it eventually, but then again what else did he really have? After you established your undisputed dominance as well as crippling him, the only thing that he had to keep him going was Dravin and his faith in Dendrin. And his faith was probably a lot less than it once was given all that had happened to him. Really Dravin was his only constant and the only one who had stuck by him. Perhaps it was an eternal thing? Something within that causes eternals pre-disposed to suicide after losing their mate? Still not likely since Brenda went on for decades and none of the new eternals display such behavior, though granted they were created in a much different manner than the originals. Also while you love Talia, you can't imagine killing yourself if she died. You'd morn certainly, but you'd have to carry on. Especially with what you're attempting to accomplish. You briefly wonder if that means you love her less, but you dismiss such thoughts, after all if every person committed suicide after the death of their own mates there would be a hell of a lot less people in the world. You wonder if you died if Talia would end her life. You certainly hope she wouldn't and would go on with living life. There are enough things trying to kill you without doing it yourself. Now you and Talia are the last of the originals and it's a bit of a sobering thought. You were bred to serve the Empire and neither of you ever did. You've outlived the Empire, you've outlived all the other original eternals and you've outlived several shadows you once considered friends and peers. People like Murk. Like Bianca. Like Brother Gray. It all seems so long ago. You can't even remember their faces anymore. You've even managed to outlive most of the second-generation eternals. A handful of them still live, but it seems funny that barely any of them have survived up to this point when there were so many more than the first generation. The age old "They don't make them like they used to" statement you suppose could apply here. As you stand and stare at Cyrus' body you don't even know you're here. He's dead and that's that. You've got much more important things to do. You very nearly didn't bother to come, but Talia's insistence was a large part of your attendance. "Well Cyrus, I always thought it would come to one of us killing the other, and I suppose it nearly did a couple times, but it would seem fate had other ideas." You quietly say to Cyrus' body. Okay perhaps the other part of your attendance was out of the genuine respect you once had for him. "(Sigh) You're an idiot. You didn't need to kill yourself. What did it accomplish? I could've still used your help on certain things. You weren't useless you know, you were always loyal despite everything." Perhaps your attendance was out the genuine respect you STILL have for him. "Now you're useless of course. Now I have to have someone else look after the temple security. Heh. You probably killed yourself just to inconvenience me. Bastard. Good one though." You chuckle. You take one last look at Cyrus. He does look peaceful. Free of worry, concerns, and all of that other shit. He probably thought he was going to meet Dravin in the shadow realm where Dendrin holds a party for all loyal shadows. Of course that's a fool's idea. You know the truth about Dendrin and you need to get back to that particular problem right now. "So long Cyrus…my brother." You say and take your leave.

Year 55 You wake up with yet another permanent ache in your body. Getting old really sucks and it probably doesn't help that you've spent decades fighting all your life. Who knows how many broken bones, deep cuts, head blows and other bodily trauma you've had. However, you're probably more fit than most people your age and your magic ability is certainly a great equalizer. You go over some of the newest contract requests and one catches your eye due to it suffering from multiple misspellings and the murdering of language in general. When you see that it's from Flog you're a little impressed that he was able to write as well as he did. From what you can make out in the horribly written letter, he wants to meet with some of your people because he's got a major problem on his hands and he hopes that seeing as he once helped you fight the Empire, you'd help him out in return. You shake your head at that remark considering that as you recall you basically spared his life in exchange for his support. He doesn't go into specifics about who he wants killed, but he goes on to say that he's acquired a lot of wealth in his "conquest" of Rask. A bit of stretching the truth since while its true he owns the biggest stretch on territory there, the area is far from conquered. Amusingly he wants you to meet him at Blood Tooth, which is apparently what he renamed Evergloom after he moved in years after you left. He states he'll go into more specifics then, mainly because he doesn't want the letter possibly falling into the wrong hands and also because all this writing makes his brain hurt. He also mentions that while it isn't necessary, he'd prefer to meet with you personally since he's confident in your abilities to get the job done. You can't help but smile a little at that last statement. "You're not going are you?" Talia asks. "Why not? I've been running the shadows for this long and I haven't even taken a contract myself. Seems a bit hypocritical don't you think?" "You're the Shadow Master, you don't need to concern yourself with such things." "Maybe, but I've always believed that a leader really should lead by example and I've done that for the most part." "What about that incident with the dark elves?" "Eh, I actually didn't even plan that and it really doesn't count. I just think I need to go on this one." "You just want to prove that you aren't getting old. Don't think I haven't noticed you been mentioning it lately." "Yeah…well maybe. But still…hey why don't you come with me?" "Me?" "Well why not? Flog's always liked you and it'll probably make the meeting go over better. Besides, you should be keeping your abilities up as well." "Excuse me, but I continue to spar with the Blades every day." "And so do I, but it isn't enough unless their real danger involved. Come on, you mean to say you don't miss the old days just a little bit?" "Not particularly, but I see that this is important to you, so I shall accompany you, but aren't you concerned about this being a trap?" "Not really, no. While Flog has always been a little more cunning than the average orc and an opportunistic fool, he's never been suicidal. I'm pretty sure he knows if he tried to ambush me, it wouldn't end well for him. Even if he managed to succeed, he also knows that the full force of the shadows would hunt him down personally and with as many enemies as he probably has I doubt if he needs to add more. Besides if it is an ambush, that'll just make things more interesting and Dendrin's always looking out for us anyway." Your flip remark about Dendrin gets a nod in agreement by Talia who doesn't take it as a flip remark, but rather that you're being genuine. "Well I suppose there is that and as the chosen of Dendrin you'd be even better protected, but who is going to be running things while we're gone?" "I don't think we're going to be gone for that long, but Cyrus can do it. Not like he goes on many missions anymore either." This is true. Ever since the incident with the dark elves, Cyrus and Dravin started becoming more withdrawn. Granted Dravin was never an extrovert, but with Cyrus it's a little sad. It's like you completely crushed his spirit that day. He lost his unofficial position as leader of the Blades due to the permanent limp you gave him and resigned himself to keeping up on internal security. Sometimes you feel a little bad about it, but you believe that in the long run it was a good thing. Cyrus, even though he'd pledged himself to you still harbored a bit of willfulness that was starting to come back. If allowed to flourish longer, he may have become more of a problem and would have had to been killed. Though perhaps his current fate is worse than death. When you approach Cyrus about the situation with Flog, he's surprised that you're going, let alone putting him in charge of the temple until you get back. He of course agrees and wishes you luck. Given how Flog was never his favorite person, you wonder why he didn't at least express the same concerns about meeting with him like Talia did, and then it occurs to you that perhaps he's hoping you do get killed. In any event, you're not going to worry about it. You instead hand pick some of the best Blades to come with you to Blood Tooth and set off on your journey as soon as possible. The journey to Rask is fairly uneventful. While you mostly keep to the off beaten trails, you know most in Quala are wise enough to not attack a group of shadows even if they did see you. The "stable" leader of northern Quala, First Mage Galen has practically bent over backwards to stay on your good side. You sort of wonder if that is who Flog wants you to assassinate considering all the back and forth attempts at conquest into each other's realms by the pair of them. If it is, then he better have a hell of a lot of money. When you reach the Rask it mostly looks very much how it did when you left it. Much of it untouched wilderness though the occasional battlefield markings are apparent. Some are even fairly recent. "Hey Flog didn't say anything about safe passage did he in his letter?" Talia asks. "No, but I don't think he'd be able to enforce it very well anyway. You know how tribal orcs are, even under a strong leader they tend towards chaotic acts." "Well as you said, I suppose that'll make things more interesting. Actually a battle would probably warm me up right about now. I think I got too used to the heat, though I wasn't exactly fond of the freezing cold back in the old days either." "Really? I kind of preferred it, but we're going to be making camp soon, we can warm up a little then." Later that night at your campsite you take first watch. You can't really rest anyway since your body aches a bit. As the night goes on, you remember back to the time when you doing this as a regular thing, seems like a lifetime ago. As you lose yourself in the past a bit you suddenly hear a noise. Like howling, but it isn't from any sort of wolf that you've ever heard. Doesn't even sound like a natural one and it sounds pretty close by. "Everyone get up!" you shout with your weapon drawn. As everyone starts to get up ready for battle, more of those howls can be heard. They're nearly painful at this point and several of you are clutching at least one of your ears. "What the hell is that?" Talia shouts. "Not sure, but we're about to find out." You say as all of you form a back-to-back circle for defense. Several glowing red eyes appear in the dark forest around you, when your assailants finally show themselves, they are in the form of orcs, but more feral and savage looking (even for orcs). "You think Flog set this up?" Talia asks you while eyeing her closest possible attacker. "Let's worry about it afterwards." You say and the orcs attack. You've had to fight a few unruly orcs in the past and though its been awhile, you know their tactics wouldn't have switched up that much. They almost lope at you and circle around you like an animal would, in fact animalistic is the best way to describe them since at this range you can see they aren't even wearing much clothing beyond a loin cloth and a few grisly trophies in the form of bloody body parts. Their hands resemble claws and some of them aren't even attacking with weapons at all and are just using their nails, which are unnaturally long for orcs. You cross swords with one of them and even while speeding yourself up, it's still nearly matching you blow for blow. Its face is close enough for you to get the good look and it's contorted looking with an extra wide mouth filled with teeth. Whatever the hell this thing is, it isn't any kind of orc you've ever seen or encountered. You muster up all your strength and land a powerful strike against the orc's head nearly severing the top part of it completely. It attempts to still attack you, flailing its arms wildly and still making that horrible howling sound. Then you hear a whispery voice in your mind. At first you think its Dendrin, but then you're not asleep and you don't feel the same numbness, but rather the exact opposite. A sharp pain in your head. "The battle is lost mortal. You cannot kill us. You must submit to us, it is the only way to save yourself." You look around to see Talia and most of the other shadows still fighting, but you also see a couple of them clutching their heads and falling to the ground in pain. These definitely aren't orcs you're fighting considering they're using some sort of psychic attack. You could either try to finish off the rest of the orcs to stop the attacks or cast a shield over the minds of you and your shadows, though its very difficult to concentrate right now. > You finish them off You're having a hard enough time concentrating as it is, you aren't going to waste time trying to cast a spell. Besides you got by just fine without magic in the past and if you kill them all quick enough the danger will be over. You quickly kill the orc that Talia is fighting and just in time too since she is visibly exhausted from the battle. "Are you all right?" "Yeah…I just…my head…" "Stay out of the way and just keep fighting it, this'll be over soon." You say and Talia staggers over to a nearby tree out of the way of the major fighting. You dispatch another orc and then another and then another, but the voices seem to be growing more numerous and more powerful. "You cannot win! Cease your struggle! You are…" "SHUT UP!" you yell out as you run your sword through the neck of another orc. You barely avoid another attack, but not from an orc, but rather from one of your own shadows. When you see his face up close it has that same unnaturally wide mouth filled with sharp teeth. Its at that point you realize what you're dealing with, wendigos. You briefly read about them in Kane's journal after you took Fort Destiny. They're evil spirits that constantly crave flesh and possess bodies of the living, which explains why the voices have been getting stronger as you've been depriving them of bodies. Now they've hopped into the bodies of your shadows. You go on the defensive and put up a good fight despite being outnumbered and assaulted physically and mentally, but it all comes to an end when you suddenly feel a strong force hit your back and then through your body and out your chest. You look down to see a clawed hand drenched in blood and what looks to be part of your heart. The claw is pulled back out and you fall to the snow dead. Talia gobbles up your heart before joining the rest of the shadows devouring your body.

Theo might mean well, but you're a firm believer that simple plans often work best and since you've got the last word, you're sticking with your original plan. "It's a good idea Theo, but I believe it may stir up more attention towards us, if we start attempting to convert people outside Delerg. It may even cause certain warlords to unite against us if they believe us to be threatening enough. Better that we keep our presence to a minimum and especially not try to contact any of them directly. What I want you to do instead is to just keep an eye on Anu and Sam since they're close by, but since they seem to be content on bashing each other in the head just send some Blades to perform sabotage on both sides just to keep them mired down." "As you wish Shadow Master." Theo remarks. "The western Quala warlords seem pretty occupied as well so we don't need to deal with them either. General Ackerson though I want assassinated. I know he's attempting to expand into Rask, but the man is the biggest threat as far as powers in Quala and I don't want him to improve that position in the future. Cyrus, since you're really eager about doing this, I'm going to leave it up to you who to send, but I imagine you'll want to oversee things personally." "It will be done Shadow Master, and thank you." "I believe that's about it, we can go over more details one on one later." After the meeting Talia speaks to you directly. "You sure you want to leave it to Cyrus? I would've thought you would've wanted to handle something so important yourself." "I'm confident that Cyrus can do the job efficiently. If nothing else he's enthusiastic for things like this. I thought about going too, but I'm slowly begining to realize I'll be needing to delegate and remaining at this temple more. Besides I'm sure there will be other opportunities to go kill someone. Never seems to be a shortage in fact." "Well that's true." "I'm thinking I'll spend more time looking after the security within the Delerg province. I mean yes we have potential enemies outside the province, but it doesn't hurt to keep alert in our homestead." "I suppose not, but we're pretty well liked here." "Perhaps, but if I've learned anything, its that enemies can exist anywhere of you look hard enough." Over the next few days your initial plans go off quite well. General Ackerson is assassinated successfully and there wasn't even any indication there was shadow involvement. As of now his group is fighting amongst itself and no longer united. Captain Anu and Sam Jowin have each been suffering set backs and of course blaming each other for them. You then relent a bit to let the chaos do its work in Quala until it looks like the place is going to stabilize once again and that's when you send in shadows to create strife again. It becomes routine just like any of the prayer sessions for Dendrin. Of course as good as the shadows are, you can't go undetected forever and eventually someone catches on to what's really been going happening… "There's a huddled mass of people outside the temple, Shadow Master. We're keeping them out obviously, but their speaker really wants to see you." Brother Gannon says to you. "Who are these people?" "Mostly peasants I believe, but they aren't from Delerg, they're from Quala. Under Sam's dominion I think. They say they want our help." "Our help? What's bringing this on and what makes them think we're going to help a bunch of unbelievers?" Cyrus asks. In fact you all are wondering what this is all about. "Well I guess the best way to find out is to ask them. Send in their speaker and keep the rest outside. If anything looks suspicious kill them all." You say. Brother Gannon nods and waves in the Qualans' speaker. While you expect a grubby peasant with dirty clothing to come shuffling in, you instead get a young man dressed in leather armor. Despite his warrior garb he's nervous. He's trying his best to be brave, but you sense the fear in him. "Well? Out with it, you traveled a long way just to waste our time." Talia remarks. "Yes, my apologies, um Shadowlord is it?" "Shadow Master actually, but let's just get on with why you saw fit to lead a bunch of peasants here and why you think we can even help you." you say. "Oh yes that. My name is Flynn and we all live in the Quala Freelands, which as you know is run by Sam Jowin. I myself am a soldier of relatively low rank…and uh…look there's no easy way of saying this so I guess I'll get right to it. We want you to kill Sam." You have to admit this wasn't exactly the sort of help you thought they were going to ask for. You and the rest of your council look at each other before you speak again. "And why do you think we would do that?" "Because you routinely sabotage our side and Captain Anu's? Because you were most likely involved in the assassination of General Ackerson? It wasn't apparent at first, but…" "Now stop right there for a moment Flynn, and think very carefully on your next words." "I…I'm sorry Shadow Master, but I do not know any other way to put this." "Very well then, let me help you. Even if we were involved in such activities and that's not an admission, what still makes you think that we would be willing to assassinate your beloved leader?" "He's NOT a beloved leader! Sam is no better than the tyrannical Emperor that ruled over us before! I will admit during his freedom fighter days he was an inspiration, but now? He's just another petty warlord that doesn't give a shit about anything other than his own power!" "That's a pretty bold statement. I knew Sam during the Empire War years and even fought along side him a couple times. He was always a fair man from what I knew of him and cared for those under his command." Theo remarks. "Yeah, well he's changed drastically since then, the things he's done... the things I've had to do in his service…I do not even wish to think about let alone discuss. So do you need payment? We weren't sure what we'd need to get your help. We have scraped together valuables and gold for you. I don't know if its enough, I mean I think we could scrape a bit more, but…here's what we got." At this point Flynn reaches for a small pouch on his side and extends his hand towards all of you with it. Cyrus snatches it from him and reveals a few gold coins and a couple of gems of low quality. Probably a paltry amount, but then you don't really know what the going rate is for assassination is these days never having done it for money before. "And you think we're mere thugs for hire?" Cyrus asks throwing the pouch back at Flynn who barely catches it. "No! I mean well…we uh…are also prepared to give you a virgin girl in exchange for your help if you aren't motivated by profit." "A virgin girl?" Yvette asks. "Yeah, for your sacrifices to Dendrin. Isn't that what you guys do?" At this point Cyrus gets so pissed at Flynn he punches him in the face. Theo isn't too happy with him either and begins calling Flynn names. You on the other hand, chuckle to yourself thinking that human sacrifice might actually break up the monotony around the temple sometimes. And while you're not seriously considering such a thing, you are seeing an opportunity here to change things up a bit. "Alright Cyrus that will do for now. This man obviously came to us for help and kicking the hell out of this poor bastard isn't going to help matters." "But he insulted Dendrin! And he insults the shadows by coming to us like we're some lowly criminals!" "No this man came to us looking for skilled assassins who can get the job done right. And that's what we are, aren't we? I mean that's partly how we won the war against the Empire isn't it? If there are already rumors going around by ignorant peasants that we killed General Ackerson and have been involved in sabotage in Quala then our cover has already been blown at this point. We may as well embrace it." "What are you saying?" Talia asks. "I'm saying that we should take this man up on his offer. However, our payment will be that he owes us a favor. In fact ALL of those that are with him today will owe us a favor. Be sure to get all their names before they leave here. It may be big, it may be small, it may never come at all, but when we call it in, they better deliver…are we agreed to this Flynn?" you say extending your hand to help him up. He's unsure at first, but eventually he takes it and gets up. Sam must really be some sort of bastard if Flynn is agreeing to this arrangement. "I…I accept your terms Shadow Master." "Good, it'll be taken care of as soon as possible." "Thank you! Thank you!" he says and starts to bow a lot while he steps backwards towards the door. "Excuse me, but where do you think you're going?" "I was taking my leave Shadow Master." "Not with that pouch of valuables you aren't. They were a gift to us were they not?" "Oh…yes…of course. Here you go. My apologies Shadow Master." Flynn says and tosses the bag to you. "Good. NOW you may go." After Flynn leaves the temple you remind some of the Blades to get all their names down. Meanwhile your council is a little confused by your latest decision "Are you serious about this?" Theo asks. "Of course I am, if I wasn't I wouldn't have made the offer." You answer. "But we're helping unbelievers!" Cyrus says. "So? We helped them during the Empire War too, what makes now so different? I'll tell you what makes it different, we're actually going to be profiting from it for a change. Look if we're going to stay safe, and I mean truly safe from external threats we need to get back on to the world stage. Staying isolated in this swamp is only going to work for so long and eventually someone is going to come here with an army and attempt to overwhelm us. Last time I checked our numbers are still low." "Okay, but weren't we ensuring our safety by destabilizing Quala?" Theo asks. "We were, but as I said our presence has obviously become known now. It's nobody's fault, it was bound to happen eventually, but that means we've got two options. Either we stop completely and risk Quala being united under one person who decides they want to emulate the Empire which means war in the far future. Or we continue doing what we're doing and risk pissing everyone off to such a degree that they stop fighting each other and unite against us, which means war in the near future. Neither of those sound attractive so I'm choosing the third option." "Which is?" Yvette asks. "We offer our services to the highest bidder. We become the go to organization for assassination. We spread so much fear and terror that nobody will ever want to attack us, they will instead wish to curry our favor in exchange for our help. And Cyrus I already see you're about to protest and I don't know why because you're the first one who usually wants to go practice your killing skills on someone. I'd think you of all people would be happy with this arrangement." "You may be right." Cyrus says. "But what about Dendrin?" Yvette asks. "Yes! What about the integrity of this order?" Theo adds "Dendrin is the god of shadows. Why else would he give us such powers if not to use them in such a manner? But if it will calm everyone down I will certainly consult him on this matter. At this time though I have made my decision on what is best for the shadows." None of them may see it now, but you really are taking steps to ensure the survival of the shadows. The shadows were feared during their lackey days under the Empire and during the rebellion the Empire itself learned to fear the shadows. Now? The fear still exists, but not to the extent that it needs to be. Not to the extent that it SHOULD be. You're going to get that fear back and that reputation is what going to keep you all alive and thrive. Surely Dendrin would certainly approve of that. In fact you know that sadistic bastard would. > You adapt or die (Year 49) Theo and Yvette are brought before you restrained by two Blades each. They are heavily beaten, but still display a look of defiance on their faces. The rest of the shadows look on in anticipation of what you intend to do. Indeed some may still be in the dark about what exactly is going on. "Here they are Shadow Master, brought to you alive as you wanted." You approach the both of them, starting with Theo first. "What's wrong? Have you grown so drunk with power that you've become too lazy to do your own dirty work anymore?" Theo asks. "What's wrong? Have you grown so cowardly that you had to conspire with other shadows rather than attempt to sink the blade in my back yourself? If I was as lazy as you claimed, I wouldn't have been keeping track of your increasing insubordinate activity and your attempts of poisoning the minds of other shadows. Doesn't matter though, you were useful in that regard by saving me the trouble of determining for certain those that can't adapt with the times." "Adapt with the times? Is that what all this is called? I call it turning away from Dendrin's will! How can any of you follow this…mad man masquerading as a Shadow Master? We've become nothing more than assassins for hire and selling out our very beliefs for petty profit and corrupt favors!" "And what would YOU have us do? Continue to remain isolated in our dreary temple going through the motions of prayers all day and night until we die? The old shadows did that and look what happened, they…WE were practically enslaved by the Empire! WE were their lackies and servants for centuries! And now that we've finally cast off those shackles you want us to be put in a position again where that could happen again? I say never again." Theo naturally isn't convinced, but his fate was sealed a long time ago anyway. Yvette decides it's her turn to speak out. "You keep saying WE as if you're actually as shadow, but you aren't! You're a corruption! An abomination! You're something the Empire grew in a lab! ALL of your kind are! You treat this order like your own private caste system, with all the Eternals at the top and us pure humans at the bottom! The Empire may be dead, but from where I'm standing its legacy still lives on to continue its tyranny over us in the form of YOU!" "That's bullshit and you know it. Any human or Eternal can perform the same duties, I show no preferences. You and Theo were on my council. Trusted and well respected advisors that I thought were loyal. Dravin is on the council and he is human as well." You say "Yeah, because he's Cyrus' bitch…" Theo mutters. This causes Cyrus to lunge at Theo so quickly that you barely manage to keep him from killing him right there. "Let us kill this traitor and be done with it!" Cyrus shouts. "Yeah, let's get on with it, why draw it out, we all know what's going to happen." Theo replies. "Yes we do, but that's not nearly as important as the journey itself." You say. "What journey?" "This one. The one we're on right now. Let me ask you this so that I may show a glaring flaw in your reasoning. IF I was as bad as you claim and I've turned the shadows from the will of Dendrin why was I not stopped? Why was I even picked to be Shadow Master? Why weren't you able to succeed with your plan to kill me?" Theo is silent. He has no good answer, though you get the impression he wants to give you his own thoughts on the matter, but you interrupt before he can. "I'll tell you why. Because what I'm doing here, the direction I've taken the shadow IS Dendrin's will! He WANTED someone like me in charge, because face it; I've been a major reason why this fucking order even continues to exist! I have on more than one occasion made the hard decisions that have ensured the survival of the shadows! I fought against the very Empire, which as your wife says created me in a lab somewhere. My loyalty to the shadows and to Dendrin has ALWAYS been there if it hadn't he wouldn't have chosen me. You dare stand there and judge me after I've either directly or indirectly saved everyone here at one time or another? Nobody can judge me except Dendrin, I think you forgot that lesson." At last you've pushed the buttons that cause Theo to utter the words in front of everyone that you were waiting for. "Then maybe Dendrin doesn't know what the fuck he's doing! And maybe I've wasted my life following a so-called deity that doesn't give a shit whether we live or die! Fuck you and fuck Dendrin!" Theo snarls and you give a hidden smile while the rest of the shadows either jeer at him in disgust or show a less verbal way of disapproval such as shaking their heads. "Well there you have it brothers and sisters, an unrepentant verbal admission of disloyalty, I think we can all see who has really turned from Dendrin's will here." You say. You say nothing else and focus on Theo's mind as he stares at you with burning hatred. You begin to perform the same spell that Master Ebon did on Brother Shade when he tried to kill him. Theo dies in very much the same way, with his ears and nose bleeding first, followed by gasps. He never screams though. Eventually his brain explodes inside his head and he slumps down dead. You then turn to Yvette, she looks thoroughly beaten at this point and doesn't even look at you. You were going to ask if she wishes to say anything else, but it would be pointless and besides you've gotten what you wanted out of this. You focus on her mind and within a few agonizing moments it's all over for her. Afterwards you give a small speech about how this is a reminder of how traitors like Theo will always be brought to justice because Dendrin sees all and knows all. You also reassure them all of how good things have been going for the shadows since you've engaged in the current activities you've been doing and how loyalty to Dendrin will ultimately be rewarded in the afterlife. As you go back to your own duties, you can't help but think about Theo's few last words and how you briefly wanted to agree with him, if only to see the amusing confusion on the shadows faces.

Year 46 Took long enough, and sometimes it never seemed like it was going to happen, but you've finally restored Dendrin's temple. Restoring it wasn't easy either, especially not one as big and in such disrepair like Dendrin's. The surprising thing is you've not only restored it in appearance, but in use as well. The one of the first difficult things was getting the stone. Delerg isn't exactly flush with rock quarries. The second difficult thing was getting help to restore it in the first place. The shadows might be great warriors and have more knowledge than the average peasant, but nobody in your ranks is a laborer or into masonry. Obviously outside help was necessary. Fortunately since the fall of the Empire, Delerg had once again become a quiet place with no "leader." Most of the inhabitants were content to go about their simple lives like they once did before the Empire. When you arrived in Sinkhole, to ask around for workers to try to restore the temple, some couldn't volunteer fast enough to help. This need to help you, was a combination of a few things. The most important one being that Delerg was always shadow friendly. The Empire may have ruled it for a while, but the respect that its people had for the shadows was always greater. The shadows after all were once the main protectors of the area before the Empire. Combining this with the fact that the shadows were the main ones who helped influence so much rebellion and caused the destruction of the Empire, it was only natural that you were as warmly embraced like you were. Good thing too, because you certainly didn't have the coin to pay the workers in the first place! As the temple was slowly being restored, more people started flocking to your aid. Some of these were old rebels that the shadows lost contact with when you started consolidating your forces in Rask. They remember you though and offer help in any way their skills allow. While you were always a little surprised by how much free help you were always willing to get, what surprised you more is how little you really needed to do to get it. These people had no one telling them what to do or how to live anymore, and yet a lot of them seemed to be in a big hurry for that to change by becoming Dendrin worshippers! You understand gratitude, but to willingly surrender a portion of your earnings and time to serve an invisible being that you had no proof existed, while some guy claiming to be his "representative" tell you how you should live seemed like a step backwards for them at least. For you though, it was all beneficial as eventually some of these devoted souls wanted to become full-fledged shadows. Naturally you accepted them into your ranks provided they could pass through the testing. Right now things have been better for you than they have ever been. You've got a nice restored temple, a fair sized congregation, the ranks of the shadows are slowly starting to grow again and most importantly you haven't had to deal with any problems with the new eternals (Now known as the Shadow Blades) ever since they all went through the ritual. Dendrin was true to his word on that, just like you were true to yours by restoring his temple. Still, even after directly helping you, you still can't bring yourself to "worship" Dendrin. Not really. Part of you feels like it was the least he could've done after all the stuff in the past he's put you through. Another of part of you feels as if you've "repaid the debt" by restoring the temple. He's probably granted you more power as you've noticed your magical abilities becoming superior to everyone else's and it taking much less effort, but again you still feel no sense of "awe" in Dendrin that would cause you to willingly worship him as a god. To you, he's a very powerful being that is a whimsical ally at best. You've come to realize that he is probably deserving of your respect in regard to his power and you always keep that in mind when up keeping the charade of his religion. Perhaps it is enough, or at least it'll have to be since you don't see yourself changing your mind on the matter anytime soon, especially when you've been trying to figure out what your next big course of action should be. The problem with a lack of conflict is that you find yourself very bored. Even in Rask, the monotony was broken up with the occasional giant or ogre attack. Here in Delerg there are no such great dangers surprisingly enough. Most dangerous swamp beasts prefer to stick to their own stomping grounds which all seem to be away from your part of the swamp and Sul-monkeys aren't a threat so much as they're an occasional annoyance when large groups of them decide to use the temple roof as a mating area! The last time you had any true conflict was when General Ackerson's men ambushed you and part of you hasn't forgotten that incident. From what you know, he's still in power and sometimes you'd like to change that just on principle. Quala is still an area in a power struggle between competing warlords, but so far there have been no attempt by any of them to expand into Delerg, probably because there isn't much here in the first place save for swamp. Not to mention there are most likely trickles of news coming in about the return of the shadows to Delerg. Most of the warlords being ex-Empire probably would like to get some sort of revenge, but know that their losses would be considerable if they even attempted such a thing, so you are left alone. Talia and Cyrus seem to be content with how things are now, why can't you be? Funny that you were concerned about the new eternals being restless and getting themselves into trouble, while here you are considering starting a fight because your bored with peace! The only real reason you can think of is petty revenge on General Ackerson and that's not a very good one even if you could easily tell everyone that Dendrin told you all to go kill him. In your moment of introspection, you take another look at what you've accomplished. You went from being a lone unbeliever practically trapped in an organization that was determined to overthrow an enemy several times larger than itself to the victorious leader of said organization, which is now thriving under your watch. You probably could defeat Ackerson, but at what cost? Last you heard he has thousands of men at his command still and that includes a few battle mages. The shadows may be growing slowly, but that's just it, slowly. You don't have anywhere near the numbers to start raising armies. Sure, you have the entire support of probably all of Delerg, but that doesn't mean much in the scheme of things if most of the people aren't warriors. You kill Ackerson and take his territory then what? You hold it? How long can that last with the numbers you'd have left? You doubt if the people of Quala would be as supportive, if anything they probably blame the shadows for the miserable warring state they live in now. This doesn't even factor in the OTHER warlords in the area. They may all decide to gang up on you and if you're in any sort of weakened condition they may even press their attack into Delerg itself. No, the risk doesn't seem worth it compared to the petty gain. The shadows have never been about conquest and they probably shouldn't start now. However, that doesn't mean you should stay idle. Peace is fine, but perhaps there is a way of initiating conflict without actually doing it. It occurs to you that the warlords of Quala won't always be fighting. Eventually one of them is going to win or manage to unite the area in some way. When that happens then Delerg might be in potential danger, so it would be in your best interest to make sure that doesn't happen. Keep Quala weak and disorganized while keeping Delerg the opposite. You start sending in shadows into Quala to get a good idea of what the situation is there, but not to actually do anything yet. Theo is mostly in charge of this due to his previous experience of working extensively in the region during the Empire war. Eventually after a couple months you have all the information you really need and ready to put the second part of your plan into action, which is to keep the region destabilized. This is going to include sabotage, misdirection, more spying, and assassinations, all those things that play on the strengths of the shadows. "I like it. So when do we start assassinating people?" Cyrus remarks causing Draven to chuckle. "Well, we probably should decide who needs it first. Some of the leaders sound so incompetent that it might be better if we left them in charge." Talia adds. "Shouldn't we have some sort of plan before doing this?" Yvette asks. "We do have a plan, I just explained it." You say not understanding why she would ask such a question. "I…think what my wife means is should we not have a greater plan other than sewing chaos. I do not presume to disagree with your reasons Shadow Master, but I do believe that causing discord for the sake of doing it might seem a bit…well…short term." Theo says. "So you believe that we should actually take territory? I explained why I believe that would be a problem." "No, no, I agree that we shouldn't be marching armies into Quala, I guess what I mean is perhaps this would also be a good time to launch an aggressive campaign of converting unbelievers. You know send our better speakers to some of the smaller villages that are unhappy with life under the warlords and telling them how Dendrin can release them from such misery. Given enough time, we would have so many converted that we wouldn't have to worry about raising an army or Quala ever being a threat because most of the population would all be believers in Dendrin." An interesting suggestion from Theo and one you weren't really expecting from him. He also mentions he could get back in contact with some of the old rebels he knows are still living in Quala to help more directly as well. > You council and Blades (New Shadow Structure) Since the new eternals all went through "proper" shadow indoctrination, they've all been a lot calmer. Still killers of course, but at least now you haven't seen any signs of them acting unstable. Besides you, Cyrus and Talia, they are probably still the best warriors you have though, so you decided to still keep them a bit separate from the rest of the "rank and file" by naming them the Shadow Blades. They seem to like the designation. There are a few "normal" shadows in the Blades as well since anyone can be one if they're skilled enough. While the Eternals still tend to see Talia as their "mother" Cyrus and Draven are the ones who mostly send them out on patrols or missions nowadays. Talia's learned to let go of her "children" a bit. The other main reason for the creation of the Blades is due to the fact that a lot of the shadows have families now or are attempting to start on such. Seeing as you don't do a lot of warring nowadays, you figure it would be all right to relax the need for everyone to be on constant alert all the time. All shadows are still required to upkeep their martial and magic skills though. The other change you decided on was to create a council of sorts. As Shadow Master your word goes (Or Dendrin's "Word" as they all sometimes believe) but you've been trying to become more inclusive in some of the decision making mainly because some of the more menial tasks or administrative duties are a bore to you and it helps if you don't have to do it all by yourself. (Bad enough you've got to keep up on all the shadow lore, fortunately you let Talia handle some of that) So far the Shadow Council is made up of you, Talia, Cyrus, Draven, Yvette and Theo. Three Eternals, three humans and one of those pairings is one of each. You believe it's pretty equal all things considered.

Year 46 Took long enough, and sometimes it never seemed like it was going to happen, but you've finally restored Dendrin's temple. Restoring it wasn't easy either, especially not one as big and in such disrepair like Dendrin's. The surprising thing is you've not only restored it in appearance, but in use as well. The one of the first difficult things was getting the stone. Delerg isn't exactly flush with rock quarries. The second difficult thing was getting help to restore it in the first place. The shadows might be great warriors and have more knowledge than the average peasant, but nobody in your ranks is a laborer or into masonry. Obviously outside help was necessary. Fortunately since the fall of the Empire, Delerg had once again become a quiet place with no "leader." Most of the inhabitants were content to go about their simple lives like they once did before the Empire. When you arrived in Sinkhole, to ask around for workers to try to restore the temple, some couldn't volunteer fast enough to help. This need to help you, was a combination of a few things. The most important one being that Delerg was always shadow friendly. The Empire may have ruled it for a while, but the respect that its people had for the shadows was always greater. The shadows after all were once the main protectors of the area before the Empire. Combining this with the fact that the shadows were the main ones who helped influence so much rebellion and caused the destruction of the Empire, it was only natural that you were as warmly embraced like you were. Good thing too, because you certainly didn't have the coin to pay the workers in the first place! As the temple was slowly being restored, more people started flocking to your aid. Some of these were old rebels that the shadows lost contact with when you started consolidating your forces in Rask. They remember you though and offer help in any way their skills allow. While you were always a little surprised by how much free help you were always willing to get, what surprised you more is how little you really needed to do to get it. These people had no one telling them what to do or how to live anymore, and yet a lot of them seemed to be in a big hurry for that to change by becoming Dendrin worshippers! You understand gratitude, but to willingly surrender a portion of your earnings and time to serve an invisible being that you had no proof existed, while some guy claiming to be his "representative" tell you how you should live seemed like a step backwards for them at least. For you though, it was all beneficial as eventually some of these devoted souls wanted to become full-fledged shadows. Naturally you accepted them into your ranks provided they could pass through the testing. Right now things have been better for you than they have ever been. You've got a nice restored temple, a fair sized congregation, the ranks of the shadows are slowly starting to grow again and most importantly you haven't had to deal with any problems with the new eternals (Now known as the Shadow Blades) ever since they all went through the ritual. Dendrin was true to his word on that, just like you were true to yours by restoring his temple. Still, even after directly helping you, you still can't bring yourself to "worship" Dendrin. Not really. Part of you feels like it was the least he could've done after all the stuff in the past he's put you through. Another of part of you feels as if you've "repaid the debt" by restoring the temple. He's probably granted you more power as you've noticed your magical abilities becoming superior to everyone else's and it taking much less effort, but again you still feel no sense of "awe" in Dendrin that would cause you to willingly worship him as a god. To you, he's a very powerful being that is a whimsical ally at best. You've come to realize that he is probably deserving of your respect in regard to his power and you always keep that in mind when up keeping the charade of his religion. Perhaps it is enough, or at least it'll have to be since you don't see yourself changing your mind on the matter anytime soon, especially when you've been trying to figure out what your next big course of action should be. The problem with a lack of conflict is that you find yourself very bored. Even in Rask, the monotony was broken up with the occasional giant or ogre attack. Here in Delerg there are no such great dangers surprisingly enough. Most dangerous swamp beasts prefer to stick to their own stomping grounds which all seem to be away from your part of the swamp and Sul-monkeys aren't a threat so much as they're an occasional annoyance when large groups of them decide to use the temple roof as a mating area! The last time you had any true conflict was when General Ackerson's men ambushed you and part of you hasn't forgotten that incident. From what you know, he's still in power and sometimes you'd like to change that just on principle. Quala is still an area in a power struggle between competing warlords, but so far there have been no attempt by any of them to expand into Delerg, probably because there isn't much here in the first place save for swamp. Not to mention there are most likely trickles of news coming in about the return of the shadows to Delerg. Most of the warlords being ex-Empire probably would like to get some sort of revenge, but know that their losses would be considerable if they even attempted such a thing, so you are left alone. Talia and Cyrus seem to be content with how things are now, why can't you be? Funny that you were concerned about the new eternals being restless and getting themselves into trouble, while here you are considering starting a fight because your bored with peace! The only real reason you can think of is petty revenge on General Ackerson and that's not a very good one even if you could easily tell everyone that Dendrin told you all to go kill him. In your moment of introspection, you take another look at what you've accomplished. You went from being a lone unbeliever practically trapped in an organization that was determined to overthrow an enemy several times larger than itself to the victorious leader of said organization, which is now thriving under your watch. You probably could defeat Ackerson, but at what cost? Last you heard he has thousands of men at his command still and that includes a few battle mages. The shadows may be growing slowly, but that's just it, slowly. You don't have anywhere near the numbers to start raising armies. Sure, you have the entire support of probably all of Delerg, but that doesn't mean much in the scheme of things if most of the people aren't warriors. You kill Ackerson and take his territory then what? You hold it? How long can that last with the numbers you'd have left? You doubt if the people of Quala would be as supportive, if anything they probably blame the shadows for the miserable warring state they live in now. This doesn't even factor in the OTHER warlords in the area. They may all decide to gang up on you and if you're in any sort of weakened condition they may even press their attack into Delerg itself. No, the risk doesn't seem worth it compared to the petty gain. The shadows have never been about conquest and they probably shouldn't start now. However, that doesn't mean you should stay idle. Peace is fine, but perhaps there is a way of initiating conflict without actually doing it. It occurs to you that the warlords of Quala won't always be fighting. Eventually one of them is going to win or manage to unite the area in some way. When that happens then Delerg might be in potential danger, so it would be in your best interest to make sure that doesn't happen. Keep Quala weak and disorganized while keeping Delerg the opposite. You start sending in shadows into Quala to get a good idea of what the situation is there, but not to actually do anything yet. Theo is mostly in charge of this due to his previous experience of working extensively in the region during the Empire war. Eventually after a couple months you have all the information you really need and ready to put the second part of your plan into action, which is to keep the region destabilized. This is going to include sabotage, misdirection, more spying, and assassinations, all those things that play on the strengths of the shadows. "I like it. So when do we start assassinating people?" Cyrus remarks causing Draven to chuckle. "Well, we probably should decide who needs it first. Some of the leaders sound so incompetent that it might be better if we left them in charge." Talia adds. "Shouldn't we have some sort of plan before doing this?" Yvette asks. "We do have a plan, I just explained it." You say not understanding why she would ask such a question. "I…think what my wife means is should we not have a greater plan other than sewing chaos. I do not presume to disagree with your reasons Shadow Master, but I do believe that causing discord for the sake of doing it might seem a bit…well…short term." Theo says. "So you believe that we should actually take territory? I explained why I believe that would be a problem." "No, no, I agree that we shouldn't be marching armies into Quala, I guess what I mean is perhaps this would also be a good time to launch an aggressive campaign of converting unbelievers. You know send our better speakers to some of the smaller villages that are unhappy with life under the warlords and telling them how Dendrin can release them from such misery. Given enough time, we would have so many converted that we wouldn't have to worry about raising an army or Quala ever being a threat because most of the population would all be believers in Dendrin." An interesting suggestion from Theo and one you weren't really expecting from him. He also mentions he could get back in contact with some of the old rebels he knows are still living in Quala to help more directly as well. > You warlord Warzone (Full report on Quala) You finally get a full report on the situation in Quala, and even a little bit beyond. Theo tells you that there are three major warlords in the area still struggling for power in Quala. General Ackerson you know about and most of his forces are concentrated in the northern most region. While he still insists on going by general he's mostly shed all his old Empire trappings. Even the soldiers have different uniforms now. So far he's still the best organized and the most secure in his position. Lately he's come to a bit of a stop though since he's apparently been attempting to get a foothold into Rask probably for its resources, but with little success. The two closest to Delerg have been slugging it out nearly since the Empire fell. One of those is an ex-Empire Captain Anu and the other is apparently an old rebel leader that Theo knew by the name of Sam Jowin. Anu seems to maintain the delusion that by holding on to the completely ruined territory of the old empire that it somehow still exists. The soldiers still wear their increasingly dirty and worn out armor. His territory is mostly poor with little value anymore seeing as the capital was practically burned to the ground in the Empire's final days. The good captain took the fall pretty hard and is reportedly not the most stable man, but he's managed to stay in power due to fanaticism and determination alone. The same could be said for Sam. From what Theo remembers of his old dealings with him, was that his whole family was ripped from their homes and killed in front of him for not paying their taxes on time. When they were about to get to him, he managed to kill two of the soldiers and escape into the wilderness. Didn't take long before the shadows found him and brought him into the rebellion that was still in planning at the time. He didn't like the waiting, but fortunately for him he didn't need to wait long since all out war broke out in the next year. Theo mentions that Sam was a naturally charismatic leader type that had an absolute hatred for anything Empire. He isn't surprised that he's still fighting and determined to stomp out anything that might resemble the old Empire. Of course this is coming at a price since Sam is somewhat emulating it by declaring himself "leader of the free people of Quala" whether they want him to be or not. Theo goes on to say that the southern most region of Quala seems to be "no man's land" between Sam and one of your old classmates, an Eternal by the name of Brenda. (Probably the "last loyal" one to the Empire and widow of the Eternal Roldan) He also says that her territory extends all the way south of that to include practically the entire Nalin province. She's basically been running it all by herself and it hasn't really suffered much since the Empire fell. In fact if there were any place of the Empire that still "exists" it would be here rather than whatever Anu thinks he's defending. However, Brenda has never pressed further into Quala and only defends her borders whenever Sam gets the urge to launch a raid for whatever reason. As for the western region of Quala, it's mostly an ongoing warzone between several petty warlords. Nobody really of any note and at this point all of them are little more than bandit thugs with delusions of grandeur. The Arat province is apparently even worse in this respect and has descended into complete anarchy to the point that the overflow of banditry and lawlessness has even been giving the Felkan Kingdom minor border headaches. All of this is rather fascinating to you, and a little…well the word isn't disheartening, but you don't know…you always did slightly believe (Despite your overwhelming cynicism) that you were actually a force of "good" by toppling the Empire. Maybe the methods weren't the most pure, but the ends justified the means. Now you see that it didn't really change all that much, and made it worse in some places. And now here you are plotting to change the landscape even further and probably going to make things even worse. Still, if this all works in favor of the shadows maybe it's all worth it, after all it did the first time.

You never thought you'd ever be doing this willingly… "Dendrin, if you're still watching me, we need to have a talk and you probably know what it is about already. So have your giggles if you must about all this, but I'm asking you for your help and I mean real help, not cryptic answers or hollow words. And if you don't listen to me, then I suppose I'll figure it out myself as usual." About ten minutes later after your "prayer" you drift off to sleep and find yourself in a place you haven't been in a long time. "Been a long time Eternal. While I'm glad to see it is you who initiated the dialogue for a change, I am a little hurt though that you've only called on me because you need help. But I suppose any progress with a cynical soul like you is better than nothing. Why its almost like you're taking a leap of faith…" Great he's going to milk this for all its worth. "Anyway enough of that, what can I do for you exactly today?" "Well I figure you being all knowing and all, you're already familiar with the dilemma, so I was hoping that…in your benevolent wisdom, you'd see fit to help me." A loud chortle echos throughout your mind. "All knowing and benevolent wisdom is it? A word of advice Eternal, don't attempt to grovel, it doesn't suit you. Though I do appreciate the attempt as it shows there is hope for you after all, which I always believed would be the case. The answer is yes, I will help you." "That's it?" "Yes. What? Is there more you required from me?" "No, but…well what are you going to do exactly?" "Get rid of your problems of course." "That's what I'm talking about. You're not being specific, I mean for all I know your version of getting rid of my problems means killing me." "My dear Eternal have you gained faith in me only to lose it so quickly? (Sigh) I suppose this is a bit too much for you. Very well I shall explain MY end of the bargain. When you reach Delerg, I want you to go to my temple and in a very hidden location on one of the walls near a pillar you will find a button. Press it and you shall recover most of the lost shadow history in an area below the temple. One of the books includes the ritual to open up the portal to my realm. Send your remaining Eternals into it and I shall do the rest." "That…that's almost exactly what Talia had hoped for when she suggested this journey." "Yes, I know. That's because she's a believer. So if you're still wondering what my price is, it's just gaining more loyal followers that will no longer cause potential strife within the order… and the assurance on your part that you will be doing your best to restoring my temple to its former glory." "Of course…wait you said remaining Eternals. What did you mean?" "Oh you'll find out soon." Suddenly you are pulled out your state of numbness and into the real world. "Get up! We're being attacked!" Talia yells and picks you up by the arm. A bright light is illuminating the nighttime sky along with several fire arrows. You roll under a wagon to avoid immediate danger. It would appear General Ackerson's men have discovered you and have attacked in force. They're being smart about it too, attacking at night with archers and unfortunately also a couple of battle mages who are making the darkness disappear with their spells. "How the hell did they sneak up on us? I had scouts around the perimeter to avoid this sort of thing!" you mutter to yourself. Doesn't matter now you suppose, what you have to do is get the hell out of here as fast as possible. You don't like running, but you'll end up losing more people if you stick around and fight. Besides, there are probably more troops behind the archers or at least on their way. "Everyone, grab what you can, head for those hills, speed up and cloak!" you shout. Talia and Cyrus both repeat this order so everyone can hear it. You sort of figured you'd end up dropping most of baggage, but probably not exactly like this! The soldiers are still shooting at you of course, but they're doing it blind. Some of the mages get a few people though by blindly throwing fireballs in the general direction. Of course not every shadow has listened to you, some of them decided to run in the direction of the soldiers instead. These are some of the eternals of course. As you get closer and closer to the hills, the arrows and fireballs have seemed to have stopped altogether, it seems as if some of the eternals have managed to tie up the troops by engaging in close combat with some of them. The next few days also involve some fighting with more soldiers in the hills, but since it's mostly swordsmen you're got more of an advantage on your side and you lose no more people. Eventually the attacks stop altogether. You've either gotten far enough away, or General Ackerson has decided it's not worth losing any more men over. You take a head count to see who is still alive and you now understand what Dendrin meant by the "remaining eternals" as most of the ones who did die were eternals. (Specifically the same ones Talia gave you the names of) Talia also asks you if you consulted Dendrin's advice on what is to be done about what was discussed before. "I believe our recent attack has solved some of it, and Dendrin told me that when we reach the temple, he will solve the rest. He also said that you were right all along, we were meant to take this journey. I think we had to suffer a few losses before the shadow order can truly move forward." You tell Talia, she seems relieved that you or her aren't in trouble with Dendrin. When the hills begin to flatten and ground starts to become soft, you know that you've reached the Delerg border. Brother Theo takes the lead from here and compared to your journey through Quala its downright uneventful other than annoying groups of Sul-monkeys that throw things from the low trees every once in awhile. Eventually you arrive at the temple and everyone is filled with a great joy. You figure you should make some sort of uplifting speech about triumph and such, so you do. Then you tell everyone to start exploring the temple and get settled in where they can, you'll worry about fixing the place up later. The inside of the temple is in surprisingly good condition. You waste no time in seeking out the stone "button" that will open up a secret place in the temple. Eventually you find it (which you doubt you would've been able to do if Dendrin hadn't told you) and descend down. What you find is better than you could've hoped for when you first arrived and that's living quarters for what you presume would be for the old shadow high priests or whatever. It isn't fancy, but it's fairly clean. You imagine that this place hasn't been accessed in centuries. The walls are very solidly made so it doesn't even look like signs of any natural intrusion have occurred either. Just as Dendrin said, there is a fully stocked library which no doubt contain most of the shadow's history and wisdom, and more importantly the ritual that you can use on the eternals. Talia, immediately starts looking through the books while you and Cyrus explore the rest of the place. There is one "room" that sticks out which isn't man made and that's a small natural cavern, which seems to be an underground garden of some sort with a shallow stream of fresh water flowing through it. Blue glowing fungus lights up the place and there are no exits other than the small openings the water is flowing through. Cyrus takes some purple berries off one of the bushes and pops them in his mouth and remarks how good they taste. "Looks like we won't have to worry about clean water immediately, even our food can be supplemented here. Dendrin provides as usual." He says. "Indeed and while I know we all serve Dendrin, rank also has its privileges. I'll be sleeping down here in one of those bedrooms with Talia." You remark. "Heh, well there are three of them from what I've seen, surely the Shadow Master doesn't need ALL of them." Cyrus replies. "Well I might've needed them to store belongings, but since we dropped most of them, I suppose I don't have any problem with you and Draven taking one of the rooms. How is Draven anyway, if it wasn't for you, I'd probably forget he's even with us." "Oh he's fine. He's always been a bit more on the quiet side as you know." "Mm, well since I'm in a generous mood, I guess Brother Theo and Sister Yvette can take the third room. The pair of them have helped the shadows in more ways than I can count. Besides I know they got something going on with each other, have no idea why they haven't bonded properly yet though." "Maybe they don't want to be tied down to one person?" "If that was the case, I wouldn't see them together almost all the time. I swear since we first kicked the Empire out of Rask, those two have been practically joined at the hip." Before Cyrus can agree with your observation Talia steps in and interrupts. "I found it! I found the book! We can perform the ritual!" she exclaims. "Already? That was quick. Okay, well you study it and we'll get to it as soon as possible." "But you are Shadow Master my love, only YOU can do it properly." Talia says and thrusts the book upon you. "Oh…well I suppose my magical abilities have come a long way from what they used to be. Very well then, I shall study this tome and we can give the new eternals a proper induction into the shadows like we all were right?" Talia and Cyrus both nod at your remark. You excuse yourself and retire to your bedroom to begin a long night of studying. > You old Tomes (The Ritual of Ascension) While studying the book that contains the initiation ritual in the library, Talia comes over to see how you're doing. "Still at it? I didn't realize the ritual was that complex." She says. "It isn't actually. From what I can tell it just requires a lot of focus and belief. I'm fairly certain I can handle that. I actually got sidetracked by some of these other tomes here." You answer and point out a bunch of other books nearby. "Heh, sort of funny to see you like this. I remember a time when you weren't the most eager to perform any sort of magic mainly because you weren't very good at it." "Trust me, it's still not my favorite area, but I feel I have been growing in power and gotten better. So I figured I should learn some of the other major rituals and such." Talia nods as she looks through the books. Eventually she picks up a heavy black one and begins glancing through it. "The ritual of ascension? What's that?" "Good question. I actually wasted quite a bit of time reading through that one, before starting on reading the stuff I was supposed to be reading about. Basically I don't know what it does exactly. In fact some of it is in a language I don't even recognize." "Yeah, I see that." "The rest of the wording I have read is almost deliberately cryptic. Terribly annoying and not very helpful. You'd think whoever wrote it down, would've made it a lot clearer. Well anyway, I'll study it in length some other time. Right now I'm just going to go over the initiation ritual once more and then get some sleep." "Very well. I'll see you then." Talia says and kisses you before leaving. After she leaves, you take another glance though the book containing the ritual of ascension. Still not understanding it any better, you toss it aside and return to more immediate studies.

While you aren't convinced that going to Delerg is necessarily the best idea, maybe you do need a change of scenery. With the population being unhelpful and the troubles with Flog, it might very well be best to leave before this gets worse. Besides, while it isn't common knowledge that you made a deal with Flog to enslave the northern most towns in exchange for his help, there have always been "rumors" amongst some of the Raskians and eventually those rumors are going to become an even bigger problem. Part of you feels like you're "running away" from conflict and that somewhat bothers you. However, you spent your life running away from the Empire and striking at the right time to strengthen your own position while weakening their own. Why shouldn't you employ a similar outlook on life in general? Retreat from an unfavorable position to hopefully a better one, it couldn't hurt at this point. The next day you call all the shadows to gather in the main hall and announce that you've conversed with Dendrin and that he's told you that the shadows need to go back to reclaim the shadow homeland in Delerg and that your future is there not in Rask. Many of the human shadows seem to be enthusiastic about this idea. The Eternal shadows less so, but that might be for several reasons. In any event, you tell everyone that all of you will be packing up everything and moving on as soon as possible. Since it is looking a snowstorm is coming you'll have plenty of time to prepare and you'll leave Evergloom when it subsides. You also ask some of the older shadows if they know where the original temple is exactly located in Delerg. Brother Theo says that he knows and that he remembers visiting it once back in his youth when he was escorting some rebels to the shadow safe houses in Delerg. "Despite it being in ruins and covered in overgrowth, I still felt it to be a place of power. Not power in the traditional sense, but more like a feeling. A feeling that the cause of the Shadows was the correct one and that by trusting in Dendrin, we would eventually return to the temple of our forefathers one day. It looks like that day has finally come and I couldn't be happier." Brother Theo says. "Well brother, we aren't there yet. We've still got to get there. The Empire might be gone, but who knows what might've taken its place. The journey still might be dangerous." You reply. "I know Shadow Master, but Dendrin guided us successfully through the Empire War. I know he will guide us to our home just as easily." "Yes, I suppose he will." A month passes before you can actually get going due to the snowstorm. Everyone's glad to leave too being stuck in the fort for so long. You wish you hadn't had to eat up a lot of your food supply though, but you figure you'll worry about food along the way either by hunting for it or trading for it when possible. As you and the shadows begin your exodus from Evergloom, you look back at the old Empire fort that was your home for so long. You wonder how long it'll be before someone else takes residence there. If you had to guess, Flog will probably figure out it isn't occupied anymore, take it over and start using it as a staging ground to assault the southern towns of Rask. You'll bet the Raskians will wish you were still around when that eventually happens. The journey through Rask is slow going. You can't just speed yourselves up considering all the equipment and belongings you've got packed on wagons, carts and horses. Still, you aren't in any danger as you pass through Raskian towns. While it alarms the people to see so many shadows nobody dares attack you. You find trade easy, as they are eager to help see you on your way. You didn't really think you'd have trouble traveling through Rask though, it's after Rask that you're more concerned about. From what news has reached you, ever since the Empire fell the Quala province has fragmented into several bickering warlords, each fighting for control of what's left. In some ways the people of the land are in a worse situation than when the Empire existed, but that isn't something you can really dwell on now. Your goal is to get through the land and you're sure to run into someone's territory as you travel through and they'll no doubt be hostile about it. Not much can be done except hope for the best because much like speeding yourselves up isn't an option, neither is cloaking yourselves. Well you could, but those horses and wagons are still going to be visible. "How are we going to play this?" Talia asks as you stand at the Rask border. "I know our information structure started falling into disuse when we drove the Empire from Rask, but does anyone have any information on what the exact situation is in Quala?" you ask. "Last I heard, an ex-Empire general declared himself the local warlord of the northern most portion of Quala. A General Ackerson I believe." Cyrus remarks. "Never heard of him." "I don't think most did, even before the rebellion he wasn't a very prominent general and the Empire tended to have more than a few useless high ranking officers that never did much. I only knew about him due to all the years working in the shadow cells and keeping abreast of all the Empire military commanders. He got his rank mostly due to family connections and was never put in charge of anything important. I don't even think he was even in charge of anything during the rebellion days, at least not that know of when I was still situated in Quala. Still, I assume he must have some skill in combat and have some charisma if he's made himself a warlord now. Well that or very rich which might be more of the case." Brother Theo adds. "Okay, any other information on warlords in the area?" you ask. Nobody knows anything else other than he seems to be the top one. Funny how the most obscure people can rise to power when the opportunity presents itself. Stepping off the road, you could probably just trespass through General Ackerson's territory to reach Delerg and you'd only have him to deal with him if need be, of course it's going to be even slower going due to all your baggage. The terrain that way is known to be somewhat hilly and if gets too rough, you might even have to leave some of your stuff behind. Rough terrain aside, there's also the open fields you'd have to cross too. Not much cover if a large patrol of archers happened upon you. Of course sticking to the road will be quicker and unobtrusive to your baggage carts, but you'd still have to trespass through Ackerson's territory and assuming you got through that, you'd probably have to go through some other warlord's territory as well before you reached Delerg. On top of all this, you have no idea how you'll be treated by any towns you pass through. > You travel on road You've got a lot of baggage to travel with and the longer you can do it on road, the quicker you'll get to your destination. Whatever tolls or other harassment that any wannabe emperors have in store can be dealt with. Certainly can't be worse than what you've already faced. "Okay we're taking the roads brothers and sisters. Remember that we are potentially entering hostile territory, so keep alert and be prepared." You tell everyone before continuing on the journey. Half a day passes without incident; of course it doesn't stay that way when several people patrolling the road up ahead and immediately head your way. They aren't dressed in proper Empire armor, but the way they swagger with self-importance; you're guessing they're probably some sort of militia recruits under the command of this General Ackerson. Several of the Eternals are itching for a fight and while you don't doubt you'd win, you'd rather try to get through without doing it. Last thing you need is to fight a running battle through the Quala province. "Shadow scum! This area belongs to General Ackerson, don't you know your kind aren't wanted here? It was your kind that caused this once great nation to fall, but fortunately we have people like the general to pick up the pieces to make it stronger than ever." The leader of the soldiers says. "Uh huh, we're just passing through and have no desire to start a fight." You reply, but of course this idiot doesn't have a sense of self-preservation. "Oh no? What's all this then? A baggage train of supplies to support your war effort? I don't believe you shadow! Why should any of us trust you after the great betrayal?" "Because if we wanted to destroy you we would've done it already, empire dog!" one of the Eternals snaps. This isn't going well and several of the soldiers begin to ready their weapons. "As I said, we are merely passing through and have no desire to start a war. We already have our freedom, we don't care if you're trying to rebuild the Empire or something else to take its place. We just want to be left in peace. However if you really wish to pursue this course of action, let me remind you that you are currently outmatched and outnumbered. We whittled away the Empire with forces smaller than what you see here. It would not take more than ten of us to destroy whatever government you're trying to re-establish now. Are you such fools that you would willingly throw your lives away so easily? You say to the soldiers. The leader realizes that he'll have to swallow his overflowing pride and capitulate to your accurate assessment of the situation. "…very well…let the shadows pass." He meekly remarks and he and his men step aside. You and the shadows pass through, but you know that's just he beginning of what you'll probably have to face. Cyrus mentions that perhaps they should be killed so they don't warn anyone, but really whether they do or not isn't going to make much of a difference. You're a big enough target that anyone can see you if they just open their eyes. You soon pass through a town in the process of being rebuilt, your reception there isn't much better. The citizens all give you an evil eye and the soldiers stand ready to attack at anytime. Nobody does anything, but the second town you pass through makes up for that… "BOOOOOOO! Go home shadow shit!" "Zealots! Sheep! Go suck your god's cock!" "Get out of our town you fucking fanatics!" These citizens are obviously very upset about the shadows. So much so that not only do they call you names, they also start throwing rotten fruit at some of you. This is too much for the eternals who are were barely holding their homicidal urges in check to begin with. Before you can react, several eternals respond to the rotten fruit by shooting bolts at the peasants. Naturally none of them miss either. The town's militia steps in and before you know it, you've killed half of the town and the rest of the citizens are running for their lives. The eternals aren't contents with letting anyone live though, so they make that extra effort to chase most of them down. They seem to get a sadistic pleasure out of it and you have to rein them in. Naturally you're pretty mad, but mostly at yourself for trying to cross Quala by road in the first place. You can see now this was a really bad idea, but now you'll just have to make the best of it. The next day one of your people says they've scouted ahead and that a large army is heading your way. Worse, more troops are heading from other directions as well. Cyrus advises that you all should dump all non-essentials, cloak, and make a speed run towards the wilderness. Yvette point out that several of the shadow children or even babies in some cases don't have such abilities and their parents aren't likely to leave them. Theo says he knows of an old hide out and you could lay low there for a while and it is defensible. Talia is strangely silent on the whole matter, in fact she's been silent during most of the trip, like she's preoccupied with something else. You can't imagine what given the shit you're waist deep in right now, you'll have to ask her about it later. Eventually you take Theo's advice since running isn't a real option right now and you need a good defensible place. You do take Cyrus' advice though and have everyone dump all non-essential equipment. The trip to the old hideout is uneventful, unfortunately Theo forgot to take into consideration that some of his old hideouts might've actually been discovered since the last time he used them. This one in particular has been turned into a battle mage enclave. You didn't even know Ackerson had any under his command, but he does and they took great measures in protecting their private base with magical security. They were alerted as soon as you entered the area and took steps to ambush you. The fight with the battle mages takes a heavy toll. Along with many shadows, you also lose Yvette as well as Dravin. Cyrus launched himself into a rage cutting down several of the mages before being heavily wounded. He's still alive and being carried on a stretcher, but you doubt if he'll make it, if you ever get to the temple. Which at this point is looking less likely since you're now effectively stuck inside the hideout and surrounded by General Ackerson's troops. Many of the shadows are praying to Dendrin which you encourage if only to keep their morale up, but of course you're holding no such faith. The only ones seemingly having a good time are the new eternals who are enjoying the carnage way too much. You don't care though given the circumstances as they're about the only worthwhile fighters you've got left. While the shadows are used to fighting near impossible odds, not all of those were victories and this will unfortunately be one of those times. You think up the only possible plan that might work and that's if you take all the eternals and try to distract the majority of the army while some of the other shadows get away. When you explain your plan, everyone is content to listen and obey since there really isn't a choice in the matter. "Theo, I want you to lead the escape since you still know the area best. Talia, you're going to be in charge and possibly the new…" "I'm staying." Talia says cutting you off. "Talia, I don't know if I'm coming back from this battle." "Exactly. Why would I leave you now of all times? Besides, you're taking my…children with you. If we are to die today, then I would do it as a family." Talia says and grabs your hand. You look down at her hand and then her face. You can see that there will be no changing her mind. "Very well, then Theo, you will be the new Shadow Master. Good luck and I hope you understand Dendrin better than I did." Theo thanks you for the honor and prepares everyone to get ready to move. You, Talia and the rest of the eternals prepare for the attack. It's funny; you realize that the shadows will no longer be split anymore between human and eternal. Assuming they make it, the surviving shadows will all be human. Perhaps it's better this way, eternals were not meant to be holy men and worshipping fickle gods. They were meant to die in battle. That was what you were originally bred for after all. "You two, carry Cyrus into battle. He's one of us and he'll die like one of us." You say to two of the new eternals. Cyrus, while struggling to maintain consciousness manages a weak smile in your direction. "You ready my love?" Talia asks. "I was born for this." You answer. And with that you, Talia, Cyrus and the last of the eternals go forth and face your destiny. Your names are forgotten, but the surviving solders of that battle always remembered the day they didn't win a battle against shadows, but instead remember the day that they almost lost a battle against eternals.

Year 35 Finally after years of set backs, Rask is at last free of the Empire and the other provinces are sure to follow. Kane is dead and most of the last Empire fanatics in Rask are dead. The Empire can't send any more troops because it's barely holding on to what it has. It's the beginning of the end for it, but for the shadows it's just the beginning. For the past couple years during the mopping up process, the shadows have slowly been withdrawing from other parts of the Empire and heading to Rask. This consolidation of forces is something that Cyrus has been wanting for years, but of course you never felt it was the right time. Now with the Empire on the decline you can agree that it is something that can be done. Fort Defiance has become the new shadow home and has officially been renamed as Evergloom, not the most original name, but everyone seems to like it. Ironically Evergloom is about one of the only major beacons of "light" in Rask nowadays. The sheer destruction that Kane caused to most of the towns in Rask before he died has left little in the way of civilization. The rebuilding process is in swing, but it'll be awhile before it gets back to the way it was, perhaps it'll never be the same again and nature will reclaim the land. It hardly matters though; the shadows have their own rebuilding process to go through, one of which is how leadership is going to be settled once and for all. As it stands, you still haven't officially taken full control of the shadows yet and it's still more or less run by a "council" of sorts made up of you, Talia and Cyrus. Cyrus has been somewhat less antagonistic towards you since the Empire was driven from Rask, but that might be because he's running out of supporters. Your decisions and victories have earned the respect of most shadows and they see you as leader. There are also the new eternal shadows that have been coming along in their training very well and the well-known fact that you've spoken directly to Dendrin, though you haven't lately, not for a long time in fact. Doesn't stop the fact that you say you have though when you want to get things done. Part of you feels like the biggest hypocrite in the world for it, but then the other part of you feels like your ends have justified the means at this point so why care about it? You've kept the shadows together with lies, but really the whole organization has been kept together through lies for centuries, you're not really doing anything different. Perhaps though it isn't so much the lying that gets to you, but rather the idea of being a shadow when you've never really "felt" like one. You stayed motivated by fighting the Empire because that was something you could get behind, but now what are you supposed to do? Revere Dendrin and worship him? Not something you're really interested in doing full time especially considering your knowledge of him. Of course then there's always Talia, who is practically the only reason at this point why you'd want to stay leader for the shadows, well that and the budding desire to be in charge thanks to your Eternal heritage. There's also the fact that given how much effort you went through to hold the shadows together it would almost seem a waste to toss it all away. Yes, a decision is going to have to be made soon, but not today. You fall asleep later that night and after all this time you finally get some "divine" advice. "It's been awhile." You say. "Don't tell me you actually missed me." Dendrin remarks. "Hardly, though I was wondering if you'd lost interest at last." "In you? Not at all, I've just been quietly observing. I've found that you seem to work best with minimal influence. Keep doing what you're doing and I'm unlikely to ever lose interest in you." "Keep doing what I'm doing eh? So you want me to officially take full leadership of the shadows." "I didn't say that. Not then and not now. Do what you want. I told you that before. If you're asking me what I think, yes I would prefer you to take up as leader and quite honestly I'm surprised you haven't done it already." "I was planning to, but now that the Empire is on its way out, I'm not sure if I want to be bothered." "Nonsense, you're an Eternal. Aren't you lot sort of born to lead?" "I suppose, but I can't see myself spending the rest of my life living a priestly existence in our new monastery where all I do is tell people to kiss your ass all night and day, let alone do it myself." This remark causes a booming laugh echo throughout your mind. "So don't do that." Dendrin remarks. "Well wouldn't I sort of have to?" "You haven't for this long, why would you start now?" "I mean I know I'd be faking it, but I still see it as a dreary existence." "And like I said, don't do that. You're the leader, what you say goes. If you want to abandon the old shadow ways there isn't anything keeping you from doing it. I don't usually point out the obvious, but what you have right now is potentially very powerful. You have in your hands is the ability to guide a religion, an ideology. You shouldn't waste that. Take advantage before someone else does." "I'm not blind, I see that, but I question where do you come in? Surely if I some how lessened the shadows' reliance on prayer, they'd also lose their abilities." "Not entirely unless you made them stop worshipping me altogether." "But I don't worship you, I mean not really and I still have my powers." "Well that's because you're special, but if you did have a little more faith in me, your powers would increase too. You could be as strong as your old Master Ebon for example. That's just how it works and you have take the good with the bad, but I'm sure you knew that already." "So it would seem." You answer. Shortly after this exchange you wake up. "Something wrong?" Talia asks when she sees you waking up so suddenly. "Huh? Oh, nothing. Dendrin just spoke to me again." "He did? What were his divine words this time?" "Oh…uh he said that now is the right time to officially become the Shadow Master. "That's wonderful! Though I thought he would've told you a lot sooner…no matter though as I'm sure he had his reasons." Good old trusting Talia. You love her, but you'll never understand how naïve she can be when it comes to this. As you start to get ready to call a shadow gathering there's a knock on your room door. "Who's there?" you ask. "It's me brother. Brother Gannon. Brother Cyrus wants to see you immediately in the meeting room. He says it's extremely important." "What's it about?" "I dunno, he just said it's really important and he needs to see you immediately." "Okay then, thank you brother." You reply. As you continue to get dressed, Talia speaks to you again. "What do you think he wants?" "With Cyrus, who knows?" "Do you want me to come with you?" "What for? You might as well get all the shadows together while I'm talking to Cyrus." "But…I don't know…I'm just a little concerned." "Aren't you always telling me I should try to get along with Cyrus? Besides, he's actually been tolerable lately. Maybe with the Empire gone, he's lightened up a bit." "Maybe…well if you think it'll be okay, I'll go round up the brothers and sisters." As you and Talia part company you make your way to the meeting room. On your way it occurs to you that Cyrus may very be planning to kill you rather than talk. You aren't sensing anyone cloaked yet, but then maybe they'll all be in the room with him. If this is an ambush, the only one he's going to be able to count on to help him is probably Draven. Cyrus just doesn't have the clout he once did in fact you believe if he tried, he wouldn't be accepted as leader anyway. Of course you don't have any intention of getting killed if this is what he's planning. You open up the door and see Cyrus standing near the table by himself. You can't sense anyone else; maybe he wants this to be a one on one matter. "There you are, I wasn't sure you were coming. I want to speak to you on something very important and this has to be settled right now." No doubt he's talking about the leadership position. You know he still desperately wants it and he's just going through the motions of being civilized about it right now. You aren't waiting around… Before Cyrus even knows what's going on, you fire your armbow at him. He reacts in time to move, but not before a bolt goes into his arm. "Agh! What the fuck are you doing?!" he says clutching his arm and backing away from you. "I'm settling this right now, we both know what this is all about. You're going to kill me because you want to be in charge and that's not happening." You rush forward to attack and Cyrus once again dodges and backs away from you. He hasn't even drawn his weapon yet. "What? No! Look! I just called you in to talk! I was going to tell you that I've come to the realization that you're the worthy one to lead the shadows! I know it's taken me a long time, but I see that you're the chosen one of Dendrin." "Bullshit, you've desired to be shadow master since Master Ebon died." "And probably even a little bit before, but I see that I was wrong to think such things even if I never spoke them out loud. Perhaps Dendrin punished me for it by never speaking to me. He speaks to you and your actions have lead us to finally be free of the Empire. Why should I keep questioning your ability? It's obvious that you have a greater destiny and I realize that I should just graciously step aside. Who am I to question the will of Dendrin? I yield to you shadow master." Cyrus seems pretty sincere in his words and despite everything he has always been a dedicated disciple of Dendrin for good or ill. If he really believes that Dendrin has a plan for you, he wouldn't stand in the way of it. Now that you really think about it, he's never really done anything that would indicate that he was ever actively trying to kill you. It's possible you've just been paranoid about this whole thing. > You kill Cyrus anyway Your paranoia is justified. Cyrus might even believe his own words right now, but he still wants to be shadow master and he'll kill you to do it. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but he'll try it when you least expect it. He's probably just biding his time; you aren't fooled by this act. Cyrus may claim to be a dedicated shadow, but he's an Eternal first and he'll always have that desire to lead within him. "I'm glad you yielded to me Cyrus, because there's no point in putting off the inevitable!" you shout and lunge forward to attack. Cyrus doesn't move fast enough to dodge your attack and your sword sinks deep into his abdomen. However he also manages to unleash two smaller daggers he had hidden and swings both arms around you to plunge them into your back. The pair of you fall to the floor with each others weapons lodged in vital organs. "Why brother? I was going to join you…" he gasps. "No… you weren't. You just…stabbed me…" "You attacked…now we're both done for and along with us, the shadows…" Cyrus says and starts to fall unconscious. You attempt to grab at Cyrus' daggers in your back, but your own lifeforce starts to fade as well. "Talia still lives…she'll fix everything…she'll lead…" you mumble and then join Cyrus in death.

"I think we should take this opportunity to make them see the way of the shadows." You say. "What?!" Yvette exclaims. "Are you serious?" Talia asks. "Well okay maybe not all of them, but I'd think that with the right teaching they could become valuable assets." "NO! These are the enemy and must be destroyed! You said so yourself when we first began this mission!" Yvette says. "And perhaps I was a bit hasty. I can't be entitled to speak out of turn and make a mistake once in awhile?" "No brother, but I think leaving these…abominations alive for whatever reason is a bigger mistake." "Abominations…and I suppose you believe me and Talia are abominations too eh sister?" "Wha…no! I mean…(sputter) you're different! You…" "How? Me, Talia, and Cyrus for that matter were all brought up from birth and indoctrinated to serve the Empire, but what happened? We saw the truth of Dendrin's wisdom instead! Is it not possible that these…children who aren't even as old as we were be re-educated to do the same?" "Well…I suppose, but…" "Think about it sister, some of the greatest enemies of the Empire were brought up within the very heart of it! Let's continue to turn the Empire's obsessive need for control against itself! And better yet, bring more servants into the fold of Dendrin." Sister Yvette looks a bit hesitant, it's obvious she has some real problems with this plan, but she isn't really sure how to argue against you. Part of it stems from you making a bit of a point, and the other stems from the fact that despite her own confidence being better than it was, she still feels inferior to you…perhaps that's just the aura you have as an Eternal though. "Yes…I suppose I see the wisdom in attempting to educate these children in the ways of Dendrin." Sister Yvette says. She might not believe it now, but in time she'll either convince herself or get used to it. Either way you just need her obedience. As for the remainder of the shadows if they have anything meaningful to say on the subject they keep it to themselves. That just leaves Talia, who is going to require a little bit more convincing since you sense her look of disagreement. "Um…sister Yvette, could you and the rest leave me and sister Talia alone for a moment." As the rest of them leave, you move over to Talia who looks out over the hundreds of eternal containers. "I sense some disapproval from this plan?" "Not so much disapproval, but rather apprehension." "What about the training? I know it won't be easy, but I figure we can open up that ritual portal to Dendrin and let him decide if they're worthy or not, you know, like he did with us." "And you know how to do that? Because I sure don't! It's not like Master Ebon or Brother Gray imparted that knowledge on to me before they died!" "Well your magic is strong, and hey I know Cyrus has some old shadow tomes back at Fort Defiance, we can probably find something in there about it." "Well I'm glad you seem to have this all figured out then, just wish you would've let me on this sooner." "I would have, but this honestly just came to mind. I mean how was I to know that these kids were going to be safely locked up in oversized glass tubes? I thought we were going to be waist deep in their blood by now." "So who is going to train them? I know it's not going to be you. Me I suppose right?" "Well…you would be the best qualified…but hey Sister Yvette could help you and other shadows too! In fact I could have some transferred here just in case of an Empire attack when…" "Damn it I'm not worried about all that, I'm wondering WHY you came up with this plan at all! I know there's another reason than just turning them against the Empire or even bringing new shadows into Dendrin's fold and don't say that there isn't! We're the same and we've bonded as lovers. I know there's more going on in your head because I know YOU. Now tell me. Talia never was one to mince words and perhaps it is time you didn't either. "Very well my love. You should know everything." And from there you tell Talia everything…except you don't. You tell her that Dendrin did not only speak to you on the day Gloom was attacked, you tell her he's spoken to you in the past on several occasions. You just never said anything about it before Gloom because you didn't want to be thought a liar and be labeled a heretic. You also tell her that Dendrin has urged you to follow your own path and to seize leadership of the shadows. You didn't want to initially because you wanted to try to hold things together because things seemed so fractured, but given that Dendrin has recently warned you about Cyrus' potential treachery you thought it might be best to have another group of allies in case the worst occurs. "So…we're keeping this a secret from Cyrus?" "Yes, I think that would be for the best. If he knew about this, you know he'd be against it. Cyrus is clinging to the old shadow ways and still has clout, but that will be coming to an end soon." "I dunno…I mean I agree that Cyrus shouldn't be leader and that you would make an excellent shadow master especially since Dendrin talks to you, but hiding things from Cyrus and possibly planning for his death? I mean is there no other way? He's not just a shadow, he's one of us." "So are a few other eternals from our class if you remember. These little bastards here were going to be against us until we intervened…which bring me to my other reason and this one is harder for me to tell because it involves you and me." "All of this involves the both of us, what else could it possibly be that would trouble me more than conspiracy against one of our brothers?" You bring up the very real and unaltered truth that Dendrin told you about eternals. The fact that none of you are able to have children due how you were created. Talia gets quiet and sits down for a moment. She tries very hard not to cry, but her voice is obviously quivering when she speaks again. "…I…guess (sniff) that explains a lot…but um…I mean Dendrin could do something…I mean he…" "Dendrin… (Sigh) …how do I put this? Dendrin is…complex. It's true that he helps us directly by granting our magical abilities and perhaps in ways of major importance when he warned me about Gloom, but he's not here to collectively hold the hands of the shadows. (You can't believe you just repeated Dendrin's own words) He would prefer that the shadows made their own destiny as it were. I mean, I'm sure if he wanted to, he could've just laid waste to the Empire a long time ago, but he didn't. He wanted the shadows to endure and in enduring grow stronger from the situation they were placed in. Just like you…we will have to endure in not being able to have children. But getting back to the heart of the matter, that's part of why I decided that we should try to save these young eternals. I mean you'll get to train them first hand in the ways of Dendrin. It would almost be like you were the mother of several hundred eternal shadows." "But then they can never produce offspring either." "Well we don't know that. I mean it looks like they've been altered in a significantly different way. But even if they can't so what? If we had had children there would be no guarantee that they'd all survive to reproduce either. You mustn't worry about this, because after all is said and done, you will still be doing Dendrin's work and serving him faithfully and really isn't that what it's all about?" You look into her eyes and touch her on the shoulder. She grabs your hand on her shoulder and looks down for a moment and breathes deeply. After a couple of seconds she looks back up at you. "Very well, this does seem to be a suitable course of action. But quite frankly I don't think we can save all of these children. Some of them are going to be lost causes and if the Empire ever attacks this place in force, we're going to have to collapse this place anyway, we can't properly defend it, at least not at this time." "Of course, I agree. I trust you will do what you can." "I always do my love." With this new plan settled, you and Talia kiss each other before parting company. You tell Sister Yvette that she is to report to Talia directly now and that you'll be contacting Brother Theo about the new changes. Fortunately he's still alive, when you check to see how those other shadow cell attack turned out. No reports have even come in about the attack on the camp, which isn't too surprising given all the chaos going on elsewhere that brother Theo caused and the fact you didn't leave any survivors or let anyone escape. Eventually you make your way back to Rask which you're happy to find out Cyrus was smart enough to not risk attacking Fort Destiny. Unfortunately he caused a different set back entirely. Talia was about the only one keeping the Flog and the rest of his orcs on good terms. You rarely interacted with him and he never got along with Cyrus who was usually condescending to him. While you were gone apparently a small skirmish ensued between the orcs and shadows. Amazingly nobody was actually killed, but several were wounded and ultimately Flog left with the remainder of the orcs. "What?! They're gone? Where?!" you ask. "How should I know, further north I think where the rest of those overgrown idiots dwell. I don't care, we don't need them anyway!" Cyrus says. "And where is Sister Talia? Did you get her killed in your foolish mission?" "No our mission was a success, and she'll be taking care of some of the business we have in the south from now on because it's apparent my attention should start being more focused here." "Oh so now you've decided that, after all those times I've suggested that since you first arrived here? You know what, I've been putting in work here for nearly a decade now, what makes you even think you know what the best plan of action is here?" "Well I wouldn't have pissed off our orc allies if I had the desire to attack Fort Destiny for one. (Sigh) Cyrus I'm on your side for Dendrin's sake! I mean we're supposed to be fighting the Empire, not each other. Can't you see that brother?" Cyrus looks you up and down with distain in his face. "All I see is someone that talks a good game about serving Dendrin, but ultimately his words ring hollow to my ears. Always have. Time will tell though, brother and there will be a reckoning. Dendrin will not suffer false prophets and pretenders. I hope for your sake you aren't one because his wrath will be terrible. Do what you want." Cyrus says and leaves the room. Funny how Cyrus is probably the only one who can see through your bullshit, yet still be painfully wrong. More amusement for Dendrin you suppose. > You diplomacy (Year 31) This is really annoying. You cut down the orc you wounded from before. You knew he wasn't getting far in this blizzard. Unfortunately you've lost sight of Flog again. You'll pick up the trail again to be sure, but this whole thing is a complete waste of time. If Cyrus hadn't pissed off the orcs, they could've been sent to prevent Kane from destroying another town. Instead the Flog and his merry little band have been raiding the little villages north of Fort Defiance, villages that were supporting the shadows. This can't continue and will not continue. A cave lies up ahead, knowing Flog he's probably set up some sort of crude ambush, but that's where he's going to be. You need to get out of this blizzard anyway before you freeze. Shadows don't have any magic that keeps you warm after all. You'd like to where Cyrus is since he's supposed to be helping you in this task. (This is fault after all) You told him to not to bother chasing those other orcs as they were obviously just a distraction. The cave provides welcoming warmth from the cold outside. It also provides a welcoming committee in the form of three ogres. This would be Flog's crude ambush. You dodge the first ogre trying to cave your head in with a club and make a deep slash across his great fat belly. Innards are emptied out onto the cave floor along with a foul odor. The other two ogres knock over their mortally wounded companion in his own blood and shit to reach you. As powerful as they are, ogres in your experience have never been particular good fighters. It's over reliance on brute strength and no match for your own abilities. A lot easier than trolls that's for sure. You never want to have to fight one of those things again. You easily avoid the ogres' attacks and hamstring the pair of them before they even know what's going on. You jump on the back of one of them and put a dagger through the back of his neck. He throws you off as he gags on his own blood. The last ogre crawls at you while you shake off the cobwebs of being thrown into the cave wall. A familiar "shhh thunk!" sound is heard and you see a bolt going through the eye of the ogre. He continues to crawl at you for a moment before succumbing to brain death. You look to your left and see Cyrus loading up another bolt in his armbow. "These creatures were always unworthy of being in the presence of Dendrin's faithful to begin with." Cyrus says calmly "Where have you been?" "I got lost in the blizzard temporarily when I was chasing those orcs. I'm here now so let's finish this brother." You shake you head sometimes wondering why you don't just kill him and declare yourself shadow master, but he's still got enough followers to make that problematic and thanks to this orc distraction, you need his help. There's also the fact that Talia would still prefer you to somehow find a way to work it out with him. There have been times where you think you have, but then there is some sort of disagreement and the both of you are back where you started. You figure all of the same reasons are why Cyrus hasn't attempted to kill you and declare himself shadow master. He certainly could get away with it up here in the hinterlands and you sort of wondered if that's why he agreed to come with you on this mission. He could kill you and then claim you fell in battle. Who'd really know? But again, he needs you, probably even more than he'd like to admit. You also know that perhaps somewhere within him, he'd prefer that you'd be on better terms as well. The pair of you travel further into the cave and eventually you come across a single figure standing by a small fire. It's Flog. "Shadows, Flog sees that you have finally tracked him." "Wasn't exactly difficult considering all the raiding you were doing. You really brought this upon yourself Flog." You answer. "How else are we supposed to sustain ourselves? Can't farm in this land and orcs not farmers anyway. Hunting is scarce lately. Too much competition with giants and unfriendly ogre tribes. Humie villages have lots of supplies. They have more than enough. Stupid for having a settlement in hostile territory anyway." "It wasn't excessively hostile until you started raiding them and two, those supplies are to help the rebellion against the Empire, you do remember that war remember?" "Flog remembers. Flog remembers all too well since shadows just used orcs as sword fodder to hide behind. Shadows no better than the Empire." At this point Cyrus speaks up. "Why are we wasting words on this savage, let us kill the beast the be done with it." "Huh, you seemed to hide the most. If not for pretty female shadow, Flog would've killed you a long time ago." "Enough! Flog, your alliance with the shadows while probably not ideal, it was to your benefit. Since our split, the Empire has managed to make a small come back here in Rask. If the Empire gets strong enough to defeat us, you know you'll be next." "Bah! Flog not care anymore! Empire is weak enough now. Empire will never be able to tame the upper reaches of Rask. Flog will make his home there and be free. Empire YOU shadows problem now." "Very well Flog, but there's one problem with that plan. Namely you're not getting out of this cave to be able to live free. You won't be living at all in fact." "Oh…right…Flog see…" At this point you fully expect Flog to make a last moment attack, but he doesn't, instead he takes his hand away from his weapon. "Anyway Flog can convince shadows?" he asks. "Wait, are you seriously trying to negotiate?" you ask "Yeah, if it gets Flog to live." You can't help but chuckle a little. Talia always told you Flog was intelligent for an orc. You can only imagine how intelligent Captain Gruz was considering he was the originator of this orc rebellion. Cyrus of course isn't finding this amusing at all. "Why are you laughing? This orc scum insults Dendrin and us! I'm putting an end to this…" Cyrus attempts to shoot Flog with his armbow, but you stop him from doing so and the bolt flies harmlessly into the wall. This would be a perfect time for Flog to try to escape, but he doesn't. Either he's smart enough to know you'd just find him again, or he's serious about coming to some sort of agreement. This situation isn't totally unsalvageable with Flog, but it certainly makes your current situation with Cyrus worse. "Brother, you deal with this orc barbarian if you wish, but I'll not have any part of it! And if whatever deal you make with it bites all of us, I will be the first one to make sure you pay for your poor decisions! I make this vow to Dendrin himself!" Cyrus exclaims and storms off. After a brief moment of silence, you speak to Flog. "Alright Flog, this is a negotiation, but you won't be changing anything about them because everything is going to be on MY terms. Okay first off, you can't raid the villages north of Fort Defiance anymore. The people are expecting the shadows to protect them and we can't do that AND fight the Empire. I think you know what takes precedence, however if we can't protect them, they won't give us any supplies because they're either losing them to you or they lose faith in us and won't help." "But if Flog don't do that, what remains of my tribe will see me as weak and kill me anyway." "Yes I know. And we'd just be left with the same problem. So this is what I want you to do. I don't want you to raid the villages.I want you to enslave them." "You want Flog to enslave the villages?" "Yes, I assume you still have enough orcs to do it, and if you don't I'm sure you can also engage in your favorite past time of beating up ogres into submission to join you. In fact I'd prefer you to do that, just so we don't have to deal with those big lugs sniffing around the fort. They waste our time. So enslave the villagers and you'll never have to raid them again and you can take what you want when you want…and when the shadows want." "Hur hur…Flog see now. Won't that make shadows look bad?" "Who is going to know? It isn't like many people travel back and forth past Fort Defiance, let alone to those remote villages. Just keep anyone from escaping and we should be fine. I trust you'll be able to handle all this." "Sure, sure. Flog can do all that. Giants might still be a problem, but Flog will find a way." "Glad to hear it. I'm counting on you to keep that savage north tamed up there, while we can focus on the Empire." "Hrmmm, lotta faith in Flog. Though you shadow only place faith in your god." "I place faith in your desire to live. Talia's told me about how smart you are before. I know you can see this to be a good deal for you. You get to be practically independent and a leader and all you have to do is supply us every once in awhile. Better than dying by my hand I'd imagine." "Huh yes good deal. Liked pretty shadow female, always dealt straight with Flog. Still not as pretty as orc female. Too skinny and not green enough. Good mate for you though." "Heh, yes well I certainly think so." "Alright shadow. Flog agree…but one question. How you know that Flog not eventually raise army to attack you in the future?" "Because…" you smile. "I also have faith that you dislike Cyrus so much that you'd rather prove him wrong by NOT attacking me." With this statement Flog lets out a hearty laugh and you leave him to his mirth. He may become a problem in the future, but for now you've got him back on your side and eliminated the source of trouble to the north of you. On your way out of the cave Cyrus stands waiting and asks you if you killed Flog, you tell him you took care of the problem. Cyrus just gives one of his trademark dirty looks and walks ahead of you. One thing's for sure; if your relationship with Cyrus doesn't get better you'll be dealing with that problem before one with Flog.

"I think we should take this opportunity to make them see the way of the shadows." You say. "What?!" Yvette exclaims. "Are you serious?" Talia asks. "Well okay maybe not all of them, but I'd think that with the right teaching they could become valuable assets." "NO! These are the enemy and must be destroyed! You said so yourself when we first began this mission!" Yvette says. "And perhaps I was a bit hasty. I can't be entitled to speak out of turn and make a mistake once in awhile?" "No brother, but I think leaving these…abominations alive for whatever reason is a bigger mistake." "Abominations…and I suppose you believe me and Talia are abominations too eh sister?" "Wha…no! I mean…(sputter) you're different! You…" "How? Me, Talia, and Cyrus for that matter were all brought up from birth and indoctrinated to serve the Empire, but what happened? We saw the truth of Dendrin's wisdom instead! Is it not possible that these…children who aren't even as old as we were be re-educated to do the same?" "Well…I suppose, but…" "Think about it sister, some of the greatest enemies of the Empire were brought up within the very heart of it! Let's continue to turn the Empire's obsessive need for control against itself! And better yet, bring more servants into the fold of Dendrin." Sister Yvette looks a bit hesitant, it's obvious she has some real problems with this plan, but she isn't really sure how to argue against you. Part of it stems from you making a bit of a point, and the other stems from the fact that despite her own confidence being better than it was, she still feels inferior to you…perhaps that's just the aura you have as an Eternal though. "Yes…I suppose I see the wisdom in attempting to educate these children in the ways of Dendrin." Sister Yvette says. She might not believe it now, but in time she'll either convince herself or get used to it. Either way you just need her obedience. As for the remainder of the shadows if they have anything meaningful to say on the subject they keep it to themselves. That just leaves Talia, who is going to require a little bit more convincing since you sense her look of disagreement. "Um…sister Yvette, could you and the rest leave me and sister Talia alone for a moment." As the rest of them leave, you move over to Talia who looks out over the hundreds of eternal containers. "I sense some disapproval from this plan?" "Not so much disapproval, but rather apprehension." "What about the training? I know it won't be easy, but I figure we can open up that ritual portal to Dendrin and let him decide if they're worthy or not, you know, like he did with us." "And you know how to do that? Because I sure don't! It's not like Master Ebon or Brother Gray imparted that knowledge on to me before they died!" "Well your magic is strong, and hey I know Cyrus has some old shadow tomes back at Fort Defiance, we can probably find something in there about it." "Well I'm glad you seem to have this all figured out then, just wish you would've let me on this sooner." "I would have, but this honestly just came to mind. I mean how was I to know that these kids were going to be safely locked up in oversized glass tubes? I thought we were going to be waist deep in their blood by now." "So who is going to train them? I know it's not going to be you. Me I suppose right?" "Well…you would be the best qualified…but hey Sister Yvette could help you and other shadows too! In fact I could have some transferred here just in case of an Empire attack when…" "Damn it I'm not worried about all that, I'm wondering WHY you came up with this plan at all! I know there's another reason than just turning them against the Empire or even bringing new shadows into Dendrin's fold and don't say that there isn't! We're the same and we've bonded as lovers. I know there's more going on in your head because I know YOU. Now tell me. Talia never was one to mince words and perhaps it is time you didn't either. "Very well my love. You should know everything." And from there you tell Talia everything…except you don't. You tell her that Dendrin did not only speak to you on the day Gloom was attacked, you tell her he's spoken to you in the past on several occasions. You just never said anything about it before Gloom because you didn't want to be thought a liar and be labeled a heretic. You also tell her that Dendrin has urged you to follow your own path and to seize leadership of the shadows. You didn't want to initially because you wanted to try to hold things together because things seemed so fractured, but given that Dendrin has recently warned you about Cyrus' potential treachery you thought it might be best to have another group of allies in case the worst occurs. "So…we're keeping this a secret from Cyrus?" "Yes, I think that would be for the best. If he knew about this, you know he'd be against it. Cyrus is clinging to the old shadow ways and still has clout, but that will be coming to an end soon." "I dunno…I mean I agree that Cyrus shouldn't be leader and that you would make an excellent shadow master especially since Dendrin talks to you, but hiding things from Cyrus and possibly planning for his death? I mean is there no other way? He's not just a shadow, he's one of us." "So are a few other eternals from our class if you remember. These little bastards here were going to be against us until we intervened…which bring me to my other reason and this one is harder for me to tell because it involves you and me." "All of this involves the both of us, what else could it possibly be that would trouble me more than conspiracy against one of our brothers?" You bring up the very real and unaltered truth that Dendrin told you about eternals. The fact that none of you are able to have children due how you were created. Talia gets quiet and sits down for a moment. She tries very hard not to cry, but her voice is obviously quivering when she speaks again. "…I…guess (sniff) that explains a lot…but um…I mean Dendrin could do something…I mean he…" "Dendrin… (Sigh) …how do I put this? Dendrin is…complex. It's true that he helps us directly by granting our magical abilities and perhaps in ways of major importance when he warned me about Gloom, but he's not here to collectively hold the hands of the shadows. (You can't believe you just repeated Dendrin's own words) He would prefer that the shadows made their own destiny as it were. I mean, I'm sure if he wanted to, he could've just laid waste to the Empire a long time ago, but he didn't. He wanted the shadows to endure and in enduring grow stronger from the situation they were placed in. Just like you…we will have to endure in not being able to have children. But getting back to the heart of the matter, that's part of why I decided that we should try to save these young eternals. I mean you'll get to train them first hand in the ways of Dendrin. It would almost be like you were the mother of several hundred eternal shadows." "But then they can never produce offspring either." "Well we don't know that. I mean it looks like they've been altered in a significantly different way. But even if they can't so what? If we had had children there would be no guarantee that they'd all survive to reproduce either. You mustn't worry about this, because after all is said and done, you will still be doing Dendrin's work and serving him faithfully and really isn't that what it's all about?" You look into her eyes and touch her on the shoulder. She grabs your hand on her shoulder and looks down for a moment and breathes deeply. After a couple of seconds she looks back up at you. "Very well, this does seem to be a suitable course of action. But quite frankly I don't think we can save all of these children. Some of them are going to be lost causes and if the Empire ever attacks this place in force, we're going to have to collapse this place anyway, we can't properly defend it, at least not at this time." "Of course, I agree. I trust you will do what you can." "I always do my love." With this new plan settled, you and Talia kiss each other before parting company. You tell Sister Yvette that she is to report to Talia directly now and that you'll be contacting Brother Theo about the new changes. Fortunately he's still alive, when you check to see how those other shadow cell attack turned out. No reports have even come in about the attack on the camp, which isn't too surprising given all the chaos going on elsewhere that brother Theo caused and the fact you didn't leave any survivors or let anyone escape. Eventually you make your way back to Rask which you're happy to find out Cyrus was smart enough to not risk attacking Fort Destiny. Unfortunately he caused a different set back entirely. Talia was about the only one keeping the Flog and the rest of his orcs on good terms. You rarely interacted with him and he never got along with Cyrus who was usually condescending to him. While you were gone apparently a small skirmish ensued between the orcs and shadows. Amazingly nobody was actually killed, but several were wounded and ultimately Flog left with the remainder of the orcs. "What?! They're gone? Where?!" you ask. "How should I know, further north I think where the rest of those overgrown idiots dwell. I don't care, we don't need them anyway!" Cyrus says. "And where is Sister Talia? Did you get her killed in your foolish mission?" "No our mission was a success, and she'll be taking care of some of the business we have in the south from now on because it's apparent my attention should start being more focused here." "Oh so now you've decided that, after all those times I've suggested that since you first arrived here? You know what, I've been putting in work here for nearly a decade now, what makes you even think you know what the best plan of action is here?" "Well I wouldn't have pissed off our orc allies if I had the desire to attack Fort Destiny for one. (Sigh) Cyrus I'm on your side for Dendrin's sake! I mean we're supposed to be fighting the Empire, not each other. Can't you see that brother?" Cyrus looks you up and down with distain in his face. "All I see is someone that talks a good game about serving Dendrin, but ultimately his words ring hollow to my ears. Always have. Time will tell though, brother and there will be a reckoning. Dendrin will not suffer false prophets and pretenders. I hope for your sake you aren't one because his wrath will be terrible. Do what you want." Cyrus says and leaves the room. Funny how Cyrus is probably the only one who can see through your bullshit, yet still be painfully wrong. More amusement for Dendrin you suppose. > You treachery (Year 32) "We're going to have to clear out of here soon, the Empire is finally getting their ass in gear to retake this camp. Captain Roldan himself is supposed to be on his way and he's been pretty efficient in squashing shadow cells as of late." Talia remarks. "Yeah I know. He's proven as hard to kill as ol' butcher Kane. Both have survived several assassination attempts. Heh, this war would've been a lot easier had they been put into the Shadow Guard too." "Well, what are we going to do about him? Because while we can clear out the camp and collapse the rest, it doesn't stop the fact that Roldan is our biggest potential threat. He's proving to be the most competent Empire commander they have." "Yeah I know…I'll have to think on it. So how many of the new eternals can we save?" "Well there are still hundreds in those tanks and quite frankly I dunno if half of those are even functioning properly anymore. Some were empty to begin with too. I know we've open up at least a hundred or so of those tanks and some of the children had to be…dealt with immediately. I'd say we got around sixty or seventy that are still undergoing re-education. And of those? I'd say only about nine that have taken to it completely." You exhale deeply; you knew it was going to be tough, but only nine? That really puts a crimp in your plans for a potential army of loyal eternal shadows on your side. "Those tomes I gave you didn't help open a portal to Dendrin so you could do the indoctrination ceremony?" "I couldn't find anything in them about it. The best thing I found was in one of the Empire mage's spellbooks. A mind control spell which has helped in the conditioning process. Not shadow magic, but whatever works right?" "You'll get no argument from me. Might as well take those with you, what about derro equipment?" "Mostly hand weapons that we don't need or machinery that we can't use. However there were schematics for stuff laying about. Mostly on those explosive weapons they were using during the troll fight. Sister Yvette has mostly been studying those since I believe it troubles her less than indoctrinating these new eternals. There's a lot of that explosive stuff unused too. We'll use that to destroy this complex." "Maybe we could use it to set up a trap as well." You say forming a plan. "How so exactly? I mean I sort of get where you're going with your thought process; when Roldan arrives we could blow up his army, but there's no guarantee we'd get all of them or even him and we'd have to stick around which would most likely be suicide as his army is reportedly the best around and we severely lack in numbers. Hell, I'm not even sure some of those kids we're educating wouldn't help the Empire." "Except those nine right?" "Well yes, except them. What are you suggesting?" You explain to Talia that you all will evacuate this camp as planned, taking with you spellbooks, derro tech schematics and those children that are in the process of being re-educated. What's staying are the explosives and those nine children… "Wait, wait, you seriously want these children to sacrifice their lives?" "It's not like they're doing it for no reason. They'll be striking a blow against the Empire, and dying in the service of Dendrin. You told me they were loyal didn't you?" "Well yes, but…" "Well when the army comes through Roldan will have it searched from top to bottom. He'll probably even do a little wandering himself when everything appears to be in order. Then when he's got his guard down, these nine you've told me about will come from their hiding spots light the fuses in the strategically located areas. Just to make sure they accomplish their missions, they will also be carrying explosives on their person. They probably aren't expecting the new eternals are indoctrinated and some aren't going to expect finding so called helpless children at all. In fact maybe we should tell one to play up the victim role about the terrible shadows and when Roldan wants to hear their story…BOOM! He's no more." While this seems like a solid plan to you, Talia once again is showing reservations about your ideas. "But these children have worked so hard to devote themselves to Dendrin. The odds were so against them, yet their trust and faith helped them overcome their Empire brainwashing. It doesn't seem right for them to die when they have only just awakened. There are other shadows here. Adult ones who would also gladly sacrifice themselves, could we not use one of them instead?" "Normally I'd say yes, but an adult shadow is of much more worth in case of a major battle in the near future. Now I'm aware these children are eternals, but they are still children. They are not even the same age that we were when were first exposed to the shadow way. I can't wait for them to grow and I can't use any of ones you're still in the process of educating because I can't risk any of them not following through with the plan. Talia, I know this is grim business and I know you may have even gotten attached to them…like any mother would. But there comes a time where even a mother has to let go, and really, you knew that something like this might be a possibility. Take comfort in the fact that their actions will save other shadows and their siblings." "I know the reasons. I know the stakes, but I won't take comfort in it. And I can't be the one to send them to their deaths. You'll have to do it." Talia says and looks away from you, obviously trying to hide her eyes, which are tearing up. "Very well. I suppose I owe them that much." You say and ask where they are. When you go to the room where they're located, they are all in prayer to Dendrin. They don't even stop to notice you until they're finished. Well they're definitely loyal to Dendrin that's for sure. They recognize you as a shadow and ask who you are. When you tell them your name, their eyes get wide and they suddenly start to get very excited. "You're Mother Talia's husband!" "You're the one who speaks to Dendrin!" "You're the scourge of the Empire!" Looks like Talia's been speaking about you in high regard to these children as well. "Are you here to send us on a mission to kill Empire soldiers?" one of them asks. "Oh yes. I am here to send you all on a mission. Possibly one of the most important in the war against the Empire. We haven't much time though and I will have to explain quickly, are you all ready to serve in Dendrin's name?" "Yes! For Dendrin!" they all shout in unison. While everyone else starts evacuating the camp, you start taking the children through the plan. Sister Yvette briefly shows you and the children where she's placing the explosives to collapse the underground complex. She also shows the children how to use the explosives. She's noticeably unnerved by the fact that these children are going to sacrifice themselves. She never agreed with saving the eternals to begin with, but apparently she has now grown a little more used to the children and isn't happy about seeing them going to their deaths. You haven't been around these children long enough to get so attached to them, but you can understand it. Even within the short time you've spent with these nine you can appreciate their enthusiastic potential. It is sort of a shame since who knows what they would accomplish if they were to grow up, but there are still several dozen more that will be saved and hopefully they will eventually become just like these nine. Towards the end of the evacuation, you wave good-bye to the nine and remind them of their duty and how Dendrin will accept them when their work is done. Talia also sticks around to say her farewells. "Children, remember all that I have taught you and remember that Dendrin loves you…and that…(sniffle) I love you…(sniffle) and will always do so." "We love you too Mother Talia." They all say in unison and go up to hug her. After a couple seconds of this, Talia tells them good-bye and leaves with you. The pair of you travel behind the rest mostly in silence. No sooner have you traveled out of sight of the camp, Talia breaks down and cries. A few shadows turn around wondering what's going on, but you tell them all to go on ahead and that you'll both be along shortly. You stand beside her during her sorrow, but you offer no words of comfort since there are none. In fact chances are you'll make her feel worse as it was your decision after all. Eventually after she lets it all out, she pulls herself together. Still sad of course, but ready to put it behind her. You continue your journey to Brother Theo's hideout that he's prepared for the evacuation. A few days later you get word from contacts of an Empire army being nearly wiped out by a series of large explosions. For a brief moment the Empire first thought it might even be a Felkan attack due to their use of gunpower weaponry, however it was confirmed by the few survivors that it was another shadow ambush. Naturally you are painted to be the lowliest of villains due to children being used, but Empire propaganda has always been so over the top that you doubt if people will even believe it, and those that do…well they were probably never going to be on your side anyway. The best news is when you hear that a funeral will be held in Captain Roldan's honor as he died during one of the blasts. You have won a great victory and confirms that your decision to save the eternals was a good one. Even if all the others prove to be untrainable, those nine were more than worth it.

"I think we should take this opportunity to make them see the way of the shadows." You say. "What?!" Yvette exclaims. "Are you serious?" Talia asks. "Well okay maybe not all of them, but I'd think that with the right teaching they could become valuable assets." "NO! These are the enemy and must be destroyed! You said so yourself when we first began this mission!" Yvette says. "And perhaps I was a bit hasty. I can't be entitled to speak out of turn and make a mistake once in awhile?" "No brother, but I think leaving these…abominations alive for whatever reason is a bigger mistake." "Abominations…and I suppose you believe me and Talia are abominations too eh sister?" "Wha…no! I mean…(sputter) you're different! You…" "How? Me, Talia, and Cyrus for that matter were all brought up from birth and indoctrinated to serve the Empire, but what happened? We saw the truth of Dendrin's wisdom instead! Is it not possible that these…children who aren't even as old as we were be re-educated to do the same?" "Well…I suppose, but…" "Think about it sister, some of the greatest enemies of the Empire were brought up within the very heart of it! Let's continue to turn the Empire's obsessive need for control against itself! And better yet, bring more servants into the fold of Dendrin." Sister Yvette looks a bit hesitant, it's obvious she has some real problems with this plan, but she isn't really sure how to argue against you. Part of it stems from you making a bit of a point, and the other stems from the fact that despite her own confidence being better than it was, she still feels inferior to you…perhaps that's just the aura you have as an Eternal though. "Yes…I suppose I see the wisdom in attempting to educate these children in the ways of Dendrin." Sister Yvette says. She might not believe it now, but in time she'll either convince herself or get used to it. Either way you just need her obedience. As for the remainder of the shadows if they have anything meaningful to say on the subject they keep it to themselves. That just leaves Talia, who is going to require a little bit more convincing since you sense her look of disagreement. "Um…sister Yvette, could you and the rest leave me and sister Talia alone for a moment." As the rest of them leave, you move over to Talia who looks out over the hundreds of eternal containers. "I sense some disapproval from this plan?" "Not so much disapproval, but rather apprehension." "What about the training? I know it won't be easy, but I figure we can open up that ritual portal to Dendrin and let him decide if they're worthy or not, you know, like he did with us." "And you know how to do that? Because I sure don't! It's not like Master Ebon or Brother Gray imparted that knowledge on to me before they died!" "Well your magic is strong, and hey I know Cyrus has some old shadow tomes back at Fort Defiance, we can probably find something in there about it." "Well I'm glad you seem to have this all figured out then, just wish you would've let me on this sooner." "I would have, but this honestly just came to mind. I mean how was I to know that these kids were going to be safely locked up in oversized glass tubes? I thought we were going to be waist deep in their blood by now." "So who is going to train them? I know it's not going to be you. Me I suppose right?" "Well…you would be the best qualified…but hey Sister Yvette could help you and other shadows too! In fact I could have some transferred here just in case of an Empire attack when…" "Damn it I'm not worried about all that, I'm wondering WHY you came up with this plan at all! I know there's another reason than just turning them against the Empire or even bringing new shadows into Dendrin's fold and don't say that there isn't! We're the same and we've bonded as lovers. I know there's more going on in your head because I know YOU. Now tell me. Talia never was one to mince words and perhaps it is time you didn't either. "Very well my love. You should know everything." And from there you tell Talia everything…except you don't. You tell her that Dendrin did not only speak to you on the day Gloom was attacked, you tell her he's spoken to you in the past on several occasions. You just never said anything about it before Gloom because you didn't want to be thought a liar and be labeled a heretic. You also tell her that Dendrin has urged you to follow your own path and to seize leadership of the shadows. You didn't want to initially because you wanted to try to hold things together because things seemed so fractured, but given that Dendrin has recently warned you about Cyrus' potential treachery you thought it might be best to have another group of allies in case the worst occurs. "So…we're keeping this a secret from Cyrus?" "Yes, I think that would be for the best. If he knew about this, you know he'd be against it. Cyrus is clinging to the old shadow ways and still has clout, but that will be coming to an end soon." "I dunno…I mean I agree that Cyrus shouldn't be leader and that you would make an excellent shadow master especially since Dendrin talks to you, but hiding things from Cyrus and possibly planning for his death? I mean is there no other way? He's not just a shadow, he's one of us." "So are a few other eternals from our class if you remember. These little bastards here were going to be against us until we intervened…which bring me to my other reason and this one is harder for me to tell because it involves you and me." "All of this involves the both of us, what else could it possibly be that would trouble me more than conspiracy against one of our brothers?" You bring up the very real and unaltered truth that Dendrin told you about eternals. The fact that none of you are able to have children due how you were created. Talia gets quiet and sits down for a moment. She tries very hard not to cry, but her voice is obviously quivering when she speaks again. "…I…guess (sniff) that explains a lot…but um…I mean Dendrin could do something…I mean he…" "Dendrin… (Sigh) …how do I put this? Dendrin is…complex. It's true that he helps us directly by granting our magical abilities and perhaps in ways of major importance when he warned me about Gloom, but he's not here to collectively hold the hands of the shadows. (You can't believe you just repeated Dendrin's own words) He would prefer that the shadows made their own destiny as it were. I mean, I'm sure if he wanted to, he could've just laid waste to the Empire a long time ago, but he didn't. He wanted the shadows to endure and in enduring grow stronger from the situation they were placed in. Just like you…we will have to endure in not being able to have children. But getting back to the heart of the matter, that's part of why I decided that we should try to save these young eternals. I mean you'll get to train them first hand in the ways of Dendrin. It would almost be like you were the mother of several hundred eternal shadows." "But then they can never produce offspring either." "Well we don't know that. I mean it looks like they've been altered in a significantly different way. But even if they can't so what? If we had had children there would be no guarantee that they'd all survive to reproduce either. You mustn't worry about this, because after all is said and done, you will still be doing Dendrin's work and serving him faithfully and really isn't that what it's all about?" You look into her eyes and touch her on the shoulder. She grabs your hand on her shoulder and looks down for a moment and breathes deeply. After a couple of seconds she looks back up at you. "Very well, this does seem to be a suitable course of action. But quite frankly I don't think we can save all of these children. Some of them are going to be lost causes and if the Empire ever attacks this place in force, we're going to have to collapse this place anyway, we can't properly defend it, at least not at this time." "Of course, I agree. I trust you will do what you can." "I always do my love." With this new plan settled, you and Talia kiss each other before parting company. You tell Sister Yvette that she is to report to Talia directly now and that you'll be contacting Brother Theo about the new changes. Fortunately he's still alive, when you check to see how those other shadow cell attack turned out. No reports have even come in about the attack on the camp, which isn't too surprising given all the chaos going on elsewhere that brother Theo caused and the fact you didn't leave any survivors or let anyone escape. Eventually you make your way back to Rask which you're happy to find out Cyrus was smart enough to not risk attacking Fort Destiny. Unfortunately he caused a different set back entirely. Talia was about the only one keeping the Flog and the rest of his orcs on good terms. You rarely interacted with him and he never got along with Cyrus who was usually condescending to him. While you were gone apparently a small skirmish ensued between the orcs and shadows. Amazingly nobody was actually killed, but several were wounded and ultimately Flog left with the remainder of the orcs. "What?! They're gone? Where?!" you ask. "How should I know, further north I think where the rest of those overgrown idiots dwell. I don't care, we don't need them anyway!" Cyrus says. "And where is Sister Talia? Did you get her killed in your foolish mission?" "No our mission was a success, and she'll be taking care of some of the business we have in the south from now on because it's apparent my attention should start being more focused here." "Oh so now you've decided that, after all those times I've suggested that since you first arrived here? You know what, I've been putting in work here for nearly a decade now, what makes you even think you know what the best plan of action is here?" "Well I wouldn't have pissed off our orc allies if I had the desire to attack Fort Destiny for one. (Sigh) Cyrus I'm on your side for Dendrin's sake! I mean we're supposed to be fighting the Empire, not each other. Can't you see that brother?" Cyrus looks you up and down with distain in his face. "All I see is someone that talks a good game about serving Dendrin, but ultimately his words ring hollow to my ears. Always have. Time will tell though, brother and there will be a reckoning. Dendrin will not suffer false prophets and pretenders. I hope for your sake you aren't one because his wrath will be terrible. Do what you want." Cyrus says and leaves the room. Funny how Cyrus is probably the only one who can see through your bullshit, yet still be painfully wrong. More amusement for Dendrin you suppose. > You brutality (Year 33) The day has finally come to pass, an all out assault on Fort Destiny. Just what Cyrus always wanted. What he probably didn't want though is you organizing most of it, but really without you this wouldn't even be going through. The provinces south of Rask don't need shadow support quite as much anymore as there is now a sufficient about of chaos going on throughout. So much so that Empire troops have been getting pulled out of Rask just to keep order down south. No more support is coming to Rask, not even dark elven mercenaries and up until last year only the most desperate of them were even taking the jobs. Which is why you decided that now is the best time to pull all your strength from the south to combine with supporters in Rask drive out the Empire once and for all. The Empire's sole beacon of existence in Rask now is Fort Destiny and Captain Kane himself. Without either the Empire will have officially lost Rask. The Empire has been having a shortage in competent military leadership and losing Captain Roldan was certainly a great blow. The assault is taking place nearly the same way it was first envisioned, and attack from the north and the south. The difference is that now you've brought along derro explosives to help in your cause along with about fifty loyal eternal shadows who may be young, but are already proving their worth. Cyrus needless to say wasn't pleased to hear about that secret you'd kept from him. Cyrus also wasn't pleased when you managed to have Flog lend some of his orc and ogre subjects to help out, but what really helped was his inclusion of a couple of giants to provide "rock thrower" support. The initial attack goes about as expected. Great rocks thrown and crashing into the sides of the fort on the north side, while firebombs blow up the walls on the south side. It isn't all one sided though as catapults are fired back at your people. By day three Fort Destiny stands half in ruins with several holes in its walls and dead soldiers in the courtyard. Both giants are dead, one even lying slumped over a collapsed wall with a ballista bolt through his head. Most of the ogres have died as well. The Raskian people who have lent their support have taken a lot of casualties, but you think that thanks to Kane's past cruelty and the desire to drive out the Empire they see the losses as acceptable. Fortunately there haven't been many casualties on the shadows' side of your army. As you, Cyrus and Talia stand alongside your occupying forces; the only real structure left is the battered citadel in the center. The front door to it has been strongly barricaded from the inside, but there are enough holes in the upper parts of it that it would be a simple matter of scaling the thing and entering through one of them. "Anyone seen Kane's body in this bloody mess?" Talia asks. "He's probably in his citadel, but I'm not going to bother going through some sort of drawn out process of getting him." You reply. "So are you sending in your fancy new eternal babies to scale the walls?" Cyrus asks. "Probably could, but they'd probably get slaughtered by the likes of Kane. And Kane's most likely still got a bunch of solders locked up with him in there to help him. No, we're not sending in ANY shadows. It's just a waste of their lives at this point. Got a much better idea." You say looking up at the citadel. "Kane! Butcher of Rask! The battle is at an end, let us not draw this out any further than it needs to, come on out and face death with the honor I know you to have!" you shout. For a long moment there is silence. "If you insist on hiding in there like a eunuch I'm going to simply line this citadel's base with explosives and bring it crashing down with you in it! Is that what sort of death you want for you and your men hiding with you?" This statement causes some laughter from the upper reaches of the citadel. "My men in here are all dead! I killed them all myself when they talked about surrendering to you shadow scum! Traitors! Weaklings! All of them! This entire country is filled with the disease that infects the Empire! I have done my duty in cleansing it to the best of my abilities." Kane answers. Given Kane's reputation there's no real reason to doubt this, but something about the way he's saying it makes it apparent that he may have very well lost it. "So are you coming out to cleanse us as well?" you ask. "Any other day I would have, but no shadow parasite, my days of cleansing are indeed at an end. After having to slay my own soldiers, I have spent the remaining time thinking about the future and come to an unfortunate conclusion." "And what might that be?" "The disease that has infected the Empire is incurable. Even if I lived my days in perpetual glorious battle I still would not be able to save it. Indeed, I believe I may have already…" As Kane trails off and goes silent, Cyrus begins to get impatient. "Are we really going to listen to this twaddle? Let's get on with killing this mad bastard and be done with it!" "Yeah, I don't think this is going anywhere, it sounds like Kane has snapped or something." Talia adds. "Alright, alright, start getting the explosives ready." You answer, though you can't help but be a little curious about what Kane has to say. He's been a thorn in your side for so long, it just seems so odd for things to end this way. You honestly thought he would've been the first to rush head long into battle as soon as your forces started rushing into the fort. No sooner have your plans been put into action, Kane begins speaking again and this time he stands upon a windowsill completely naked. "What the fuck…" you say to yourself. "I don't envy you shadows. You serve a cause that is inherently corrupt and lacking in purity. My cause was pure and just, but I made a mistake…and I also feel the corruption taking place within me. As hard as I try to suppress it…it's there and I cannot allow that. I must die before I allow it to infect me completely! Though I may die here today, I will live forever! FOR THE EMPIRE AND THE EMPEROR!" he shouts and then jumps. The rest of you on the ground move out of the way to avoid his falling body which splats spectacularly when it eventually hits. "Didn't expect that to happen." Talia remarks. "I have to admit this was a bit bizarre." "Feh, obviously a coward when faced against a real opponent. I told you all for years we should've attacked him sooner, but I suppose it was easier for the both of you to follow your own agendas and hide things behind my back." Cyrus says and then turns away from the both of you. You aren't going to argue with Cyrus today, you'll have plenty of time to do that later. He may even have a point, but you really believe that it was better to wait. Kane didn't nearly have the same number of soldiers or support as he had three years ago. Still, you wonder about his odd behavior at the end. You tell some of your people to blow up the citadel door and to help you search it. When you get inside, you confirm that Kane was not lying when he said he killed his own men. Butchered would be a completely accurate one here since he didn't just kill them, he chopped most of them into pieces. As bloody as the sight is, the smell is much worse. The whole place reeks of death and some of the Raskans who enter the citadel walk right back out gagging. You dare say the inside of this citadel is as bloody as the battlefield outside. Upon a closer inspection of some of the bodies, you notice a few teeth marks, like he might've even eaten a portion of them. When you finally get to Kane's quarters you see several journals strewn about the floor, Some of the journals are shredded and others have pages ripped out, but you skim through a few of them out of curiosity. Kane's journals provide a fascinating look into his descent into madness. From what you can tell, his personality didn't start changing severely until after a mission that involved the wendigo tribe. Apparently they weren't a barbarian tribe so much as they were evil spirits that masqueraded in the bodies of them. They subsisted on eating flesh of any living beings and were always hungry. Apparently they could also possess people at will, and needed to in order to be able to leave their "home". Kane ended up finding all this out the hard way and lost an entire company. Though ultimately victorious the wendigo mental assaults on his mind took their toll it seems. He wasn't possessed, but it definitely unhinged him. From there on his behavior started getting more bloodthirsty. His faith in the Empire seemed to be a bit of a solid rock for him that allowed him to maintain a degree of normalcy, but when the Empire started loosing ground in Rask, and elsewhere, it was a cascading effect into full-blown insanity. A lot of his writing towards the end seems to be random and disjointed. His last entry mentions nearly matches what his final words were to you. You look around the room some more and find a military map of Rask. You make a note the location of where Kane said he faced the wendigo so that you know to avoid it in the future.

Year 30 "No, I say we take all of our resources and make a forward push on Fort Destiny. We can hit Captain Kane from the north and from the south." Cyrus says. "And I'm telling you that we can't do that. Our people aren't grouped together on the southern Rask border ready to strike, they're scattered all over the place and that's how they should remain! I keep telling you this, besides I've got a better plan for the shadow cells in the Quala province." You remark. "Brothers, this yelling isn't helping." Talia sighs. Another typical day on the "Shadow Council", you and Cyrus arguing, with Talia stuck in the middle. You really wish that wasn't the case, but it is just inevitable that you and Cyrus are going to always disagree on something. You don't even know why you bother meeting to discuss battle plans nowadays, what usually happens is a bunch of arguing like this and then you both go off and do your own thing. This hasn't really been a problem in the past mainly because your plans are all outside of Rask, while Cyrus' plans are always within Rask so they never conflict for the most part. Also, the Empire's attention was divided due to their war with the Felkan Kingdom. However things have changed. The Empire recently signed a non-agression pact with the Felkan Kingdom meaning they've been able to focus a hell of a lot better on the rebellion. You need to do something to swing the tide in your favor before they begin to gather enough momentum to roll right over you. Cyrus' plan is the one he's been endorsing for years. Consolidate Rask and drive out the Empire from it completely. As the war has raged on over the years this has been done for the most part. The only thing that really stands in the way are a few of the loyalist border towns and Captain Kane in Fort Destiny. The problem is that's still a big obstacle to get over and a major assault would result in considerable losses. Cyrus has in the past sent groups of shadows to assassinate Captain Kane, but so far all attempts have failed. Kane's reputation as the "Butcher of Rask" isn't just for show and him being a battle hardened Eternal means he's more than a match even for the average shadow. Cyrus probably would've sent more, but Talia convinced him that it was just pointlessly sending shadows to their deaths. You didn't necessarily think the idea was without promise, but you suggested that an assassination attempt might work if you, Talia and Cyrus actually did it since you feel that you'd have the skill to pull it off, but Cyrus dismissed that idea, claiming that Talia is right and that assassination should be taken off the table. So a major assault it is, of course this is why Cyrus wants you to gather all of your shadow cells outside of Rask and have them attack from the south in a classic pincer maneuver. It would probably work, but you'd still have heavy losses especially those attacking from the south since the Empire could redeploy reinforcements early enough that your forces could be caught in the middle too. You imagine this idea would appeal to Cyrus since then options would be limited to just focusing on Rask and you wouldn't have any forces at all anymore. You get the impression that when the Empire is finally defeated Cyrus has major plans for Rask given how badly he wants to focus on it. Perhaps he has some long-range goal of starting his own "empire." However, he's still short sighted as far as your concerned because even if you went along with his plan, it would just hold off the Empire a few extra years and wouldn't stop them from taking back Rask given the new information you've received from your contacts. The Empire has been breeding new Eternals, the number is unknown, but it's apparently enough to create an army of them. They're not "ready" yet, but in a few more years they soon will be and if that happens you might not be able to stop them if the Empire unleashed them on Rask. However, you've received the information of where this new Eternal training camp is which is a remote location in the Quala province close to the Arat border. The only other information you have on the place is that the main complex appears to be underground since children. The place doesn't appear to be heavily guarded up top, but who knows what security is like down below. Considering magic is involved in creating Eternals, it's a sure bet that there are going to be wizard types about. Your plan is to destroy this place by leading a small group of the most skilled shadows you have. While this is going on, your other cells will strike out at vital areas in the Empire at the same time to keep them from immediately sending out reinforcements to the camp. You actually wouldn't mind Cyrus to come with you since he is a skilled fighter, but you aren't even going to ask since you know what his answer will be. Cyrus doesn't even believe that it's a top priority and claims that if Rask is liberated then you can attack the camp later since these new Eternals still won't be battle ready for a while. If you go off and do your own thing, your concern is that Cyrus is going to do the same thing and get everyone under his command killed in his attempt to take Fort Destiny. Of course if you help him you're left with the same problem that it's very probable that your shadow cells are going to get hit pretty hard during the assault on Fort Destiny and Cyrus won't actually lend any help when you want to destroy the new Eternal camp. There's also the issue that you're trying to maintain the unity as always. Cyrus is really pushing for this assault on Fort Destiny and doing your own thing this time might be the "last straw" and the last thing you need is to do is start a shadow civil war. After a lot more arguing, everyone decides to call it a day and make a decision tomorrow. Talia as always says she'll side with whatever you decide, but would prefer if you and Cyrus actually worked together for once. That doesn't exactly help you and you have a hard time sleeping. When you finally do get to sleep you still don't get any rest… "So what are you going to do Eternal? You and Cyrus continue to clash and it's only a matter of time before things between you are going to end badly." Dendrin remarks. "Doesn't take a god to figure that one out." You say. "Yes, but it takes a fool to blatantly ignore the obvious. By continuing to not support Cyrus' you're just driving a wedge deeper in the shadow organization that will eventually split you in two. Something I thought you were trying to avoid given that you made such an effort to keep it together." "Well someone had to, because you certainly weren't doing it." "I'm not here to hold the collective hands of the shadows. As I've said, I've done that already and it was a boring experience. Besides you seem to be enjoying your new leadership role, who am I to take it away from you?" "I'm not leader of the shadows, I'm…." "Nonsense! You ARE leader of the shadows. Perhaps you're currently sharing that duty with your Eternal peers, but you're clearly the strongest of that group. Talia certainly has potential, but her blind devotion to certain things is her weakness. It clouds her judgement." "So she's not worthy because she's so loyal to you?" "Not just me, but to you as well. It doesn't occur to her in the slightest that you're keeping secrets or lying to her about your real feelings on the shadows. She just believes you, just like she misguidedly believes that one day she'll have eternal shadow babies with you." "Wait, she can't have kids?" "No and neither can you. Neither can Cyrus for that matter, though I doubt it that's ever going to come up with him. Don't ask me why you can't, I don't know. I can only imagine it has something to do with how they magically altered you Eternals back in the labs. I'm not a fertility god either, so her constant praying to me isn't going to help." This sudden news does explain a few things. You're going to have to inform Talia of this at some point, you just don't know when would be the best time. Yet another thing for you worry about. Dendrin continues his speech "And for all of Cyrus' bluster of being a shadow he obviously lacks as a good leader. I dare say if you weren't around, the Empire would be on the verge of driving the shadows to extinction right now. He may be better liked than you, but even that's starting to change and it certainly doesn't hold true for any shadow not stationed in your little fort. You've got allies and support in places other than Rask, Cyrus doesn't and it worries him. After all it's well known now that you were the one that heard my warning about Gloom and attempted to save who you could." "You didn't warn me, you gave a cryptic comment and it wasn't even one that urged me to return to Gloom. I just told everyone you did." "See, lying to the rest of the shadows about something I didn't actually say. You're already doing a great job of following the traditions of shadow leaders!" Dendrin laughs. Is Dendrin mocking you, is he encouraging you, is it both? You can never quite tell. "So what are you saying? Are you officially appointing me as the new leader of the shadows?" "Official? Since when have you known me to be so formal? And I'm not appointing you as anything; you don't even have faith in me anyway, but if you really want to be in charge just do it already. I'd be careful though, that Cyrus fellow might get the same idea someday soon and I suppose you'll need to decide if the expense of your own ambition is worth keeping the shadows together." Once again after Dendrin's little mind games you wake up. Whether Dendrin's encouraging you or not, you're going through with you plan and if that hurts Cyrus' fragile ego then you'll deal with it later, because the Empire is still a bigger threat right now. The next day you tell Talia that you're going through with your plan. "I figured you would, but you know Brother Cyrus isn't going to be happy about this." "Brother Cyrus needs to realize that Rask isn't only front we're fighting the Empire on and get over it." "Yes, I know. (Sigh) Well I'll try to keep things stable here while you're gone. Hopefully I can convince him that now is not a good time to assault Fort Destiny." "No, I'd rather you join me on this mission. I could use all the powerful shadows I can get, because I'm certainly not going to be able to get any other shadows to join me from here." "You want me to go? I mean of course I'll go with you, but aren't you worried about what might happen here if I don't stay to help look after things?" While Talia would certainly be a great asset to your mission, but she also serves as a bit of a counter balance to Cyrus when you're not around. > You have her stay "Perhaps you're right. Cyrus is probably going to be fuming about me going ahead with this mission instead of gathering for an assault on the Fort Destiny. Best if you stay here and make sure he doesn't go off and get everyone killed trying to do it with insufficient forces." You reply. After kissing Talia goodbye, you set off on your journey immediately figuring Talia can explain everything to Cyrus instead. You travel a couple of days to the Quala province and eventually reach the meeting spot at night. There await around twenty shadows you picked which also includes Sister Yvette. You would've picked Brother Theo as well, but you needed someone to coordinate the other shadow cells in Quala. "As soon as I got the message that you were coming, our other shadow cells got into position to strike out at the other targets across Quala. I assume you're ready to assault the camp brother?" Sister Yvette asks nearly as soon as you arrive. "Yes, let's get this over with, because this is going to be pretty grim business. Now I know some of you have already done a few necessary things, but probably not on this scale. These new eternals are only going to be children, and if the rumors are true, hundreds of them. Despite this they will still be dangerous, as they have no doubt gone through some of the Empire's brainwashing techniques and training. You are not to hesitate just because they are young. Slay all of them…for Dendrin." You add at the end. "For Dendrin!" the rest of the shadows say in unison. "Also be aware that there will no doubt be battle mages around and who knows what else. Let's try to do this as silently as possible until it's no longer an option. Everybody cloak." Sister Yvette and couple of the other shadows take the lead due to their basic knowledge of the outside of the camp and even some of the interior. When you have to go below ground though, it's going to be anything goes. You know going in that you'll be severely outnumbered, but the whole point of doing it this way is to utilize your strengths which is stealth and terror on a grand scale. As you go about your business, you can't help but start thinking about Talia, and briefly worrying about if Cyrus has given her any problems. You really should keep your mind occupied at a time like this, but you're having a hard time. Neck snaps, bolts to the head and blades to the back dispatch the patrolling soldiers quietly and quickly… Due to your distraction, you fail to get a clean hit on one of the guards and he screams out loudly alerting some of the camp. Cursing your luck you signal to the nearest shadows to start moving from bunkhouse to bunkhouse to kill any soldiers still sleeping inside them. Doesn't take long before a general alarm is raised. It isn't quite that bad as you're still easily taking them down from the cover of night and invisibility. The problem comes when one of the soldiers has gone to get extra help from below in the form of battle mages. Working together, the mages form an invisible shield to protect themselves and then dispel your cloak ability. Another one starts casting fireballs from behind the safety of the shield. Your speeding ability helps you and your shadows finish off the rest of the soldiers and once you manage to pass through the shield, you eliminate two of the mages and break their concentration. The remaining ones begin to run back to the underground portion of the camp. "Come on, we can't let them get away!" you yell to the remainder of your shadows and chase after the mages. You hack down a couple more fleeing mages as you chase them into the complex. The last few remaining are screaming for help and it comes, but not in the form that you thought. Several heavily armored figures with axes begin to fill the corridor ahead of you. Derro. You briefly look behind you and see that your own forces are insufficient to tackle such foes. You're also wondering if the new eternals are even here, as you haven't seen a single one since you arrived. "Go back! Go back!" you exclaim. "What? Why?" Yvette asks not really understanding the reality of the situation. The rest of the shadows are unsure of how to proceed. "Those are the derro! We have to go back!" you exclaim. Meanwhile during this short exchange, one of the derro has thrown one of their firebombs near your feet. You see it just in time to grab Yvette and try to speed out of the way, but the explosion just catches you in its radius. Everything seems like a blur for a few moments and the next thing you know you're face first on the floor with no feeling in one of your legs and your clothing on fire. You attempt to roll in an effort to extinguish the flames, and that's when you see Yvette's lifeless burning body nearby staring at you with dead eyes. This is soon followed by a crushing smash to your head and everything goes black. Unfortunately your life doesn't end there. When you wake up you find yourself strapped to a table in a large lab. You see a lot of alchemy equipment, other tables with mutilated bodies on them and in a far corner of the room you see several large containers with loud growling noises emanating from them. Derro stand near them with weapons drawn. "No need for you to worry about that. Those trolls can't get out of there I assure you. Good thing too, they'd rip us all apart in minutes! Heh heh heh heh!" a voice says to you. When you look over to your left, you see a short figure nearly eye level with you even though you're strapped to a table. He's bald with a gray skin color and dressed in a white robe of some sort, which is covered in blood, and several other unidentifiable fluids. You're guessing that he's an unarmored derro. "While you have caused quite a bit of a mess, I'm honestly very glad one of your kind has showed up. The Emperor sort of frowned on my suggestion to take one of their loyal Eternals for experimentation, shame about your leg getting blown off, but beggars can't be choosers right?" the derro says. He then approaches closer with a mad gleam in his eye and a bloody knife in his hand. You say a few defiant words to the derro, but he's unmoved by your futile protests. He goes on to say how your vivisection will come in handy in helping with the new eternal project. Mentally you try to prepare yourself for the pain, but nothing can prepare you for what will be your last days on this mortal plane. By day three you're begging for them to just kill you. The derro of course ignores your pleas claiming that he has to keep you alive to finish his research. By day five, you're actually screaming for Dendrin to help you. This naturally amuses the sadistic derro who says that he has to remember to strengthen the mind resistance of the new eternals so they aren't as weak willed to fall prey to such superstitions. By day nine, you feel nothing any longer and the derro tells his fellows to toss you to the trolls.

Your main purpose of coming here in the first place was to make sure Talia was safe. You can't leave now without trying to find her or at least her body if she's dead. You leave the storage room and decide your best bet would be to keep yourself cloaked the entire time while you search the fortress. You also decide to use spider crawl just to make sure you're really out of sight. As you stick to the ceilings of corridors and rooms you survey the carnage of what the Derro have wrought on the shadows. It's almost like they didn't have a chance. You now have to believe that this was why the Empire wasn't attacking Gloom, they had some sort of deal with the Derro to do it for them and since this used to be a Derro home at one time, they probably knew every ancient secret passage and entire layout of it. You progressively get more and more discouraged in your search and that's when you hear a voice in your head. Not Dendrin's though, it's distinctly a human one. "To…the left and down the hall…hurry…not much time…" you hear Master Ebon say. Lacking any other ideas, you follow his instructions and make your make to his location from where you are. As you do so, you notice there aren't any Derro in this direction, though there are a few dead ones. You're guessing that the rest of their fellows haven't searched this area as much. "The door…at the end…hurry…" Sensing that there are no Derro in the immediate area, you climb down from the ceiling and prepare to enter the door at the end of the corridor. When you arrive in front of it, you hear a loud click as it opens. "Quick, inside!" a brother says pulling you in by the arm roughly. A quick glance and you see a couple more shadows both in wounded condition. You then see Master Ebon in some sort of spell trance. He's also wounded, but his status looks a lot worse. He probably shouldn't even be alive with the deep bleeding gashes he displays across his body. A female shadow stands near him also wounded. When you see her face more clearly and recognize her as Talia, your worries are at least divided by half. "What are you doing here?" she exclaims. "I heard the voice of Dendrin and…" in that moment you realize you've just admitted you've heard his voice for the first time. You then realize this isn't the time to keep it a secret and you continue. "…he…uh gave me a warning… are you alright?" "Just a light wound…wait, you said Dendrin spoke to you? He warned you about the attack?" "Well, not in so many words. Look we need get out of here, I can explain everything later." You then hear Master Ebon's voice again. He still isn't speaking verbally though and is using his mind. "Dendrin spoke to you? Lucky lad. He hasn't spoken to me since I first became a shadow. I always thought he would eventually, but he never did. I assumed he was testing me, to make my own decisions. Perhaps I offended him by claiming those decisions came from him directly, but I didn't know what else to do…" "Master Ebon, we can discuss this later, right now we really need to leave!" "Is Master Ebon speaking to you through his mind?" Talia asks. "Yes, and what's he doing anyway? He's just sitting there with gashes in his chest deep enough for me to see his heart beating and bleeding out. As I said we need to leave before the Derro kill us all." Master Ebon interrupts you. "They've already succeeded in killing me I fear, but I still have powerful magic…enough to save the remainder of you…to carry on the fight…" Master Ebon's eyes begin to turn completely black, this is followed by his entire body. A shimmering portal then opens up nearby. "This…was to take us to strike at the very heart of the Empire…but now just an escape…to friends. Continue the fight there. The Empire will fall as long as you continue to fight. Dendrin I hope you can forgive my failures as I have served to the best of my abilities…I am ready to enter your realm of shadow if you will allow it…" "Master Ebon!" Talia shouts when she sees his body undergo his transformation. "He can't be helped and he's giving us a chance to escape. We need to take it now!" "But where is it going?" the shadow that grabbed you by the arm asks. "He said to friends, but quite frankly it could lead into the middle of an Empire battalion and I think we'd still have better chances! Now come on!" Without another word you all enter the portal. Within seconds your eyes are nearly blinded by the whiteness of snow and you feel a blast of cold air whipping around you. "DIE! Shadow bastard!" you suddenly hear and turn around just in time to avoid a sword strike to the head. Realizing that this is an Empire soldier and not a Derro, you quickly dispatch your assailant who falls turning the snow red. When you said being transported into the middle of an Empire battalion would be a better situation, you didn't actually mean it! Fortunately it isn't quite as bad as all that. Getting your bearings you notice you're on a battlefield. The bodies of several Empire troops lay on the ground and are mixed in with those of orcs and shadows. A great fortress looms in the distance. "Fort Defiance…" you say to yourself. "Brother, we're over here!" one of the shadows calls out to you and you run over to the group. (Apparently, all the others teleported to a place out of immediate danger!) "Are we in Rask?" the shadow who grabbed you asks. You still don't know his name, you can only guess he was one of the newer recruits after you joined. "Well it doesn't look like Delurg that's for sure. I'm guessing that group ahead of us fighting the Empire troops are our brothers and sisters from Fort Defiance." Talia says. "Looks like it, well no time like the present, we need to go help them." "But what about those two? They're badly wounded and can't fight properly." The new shadow asks. "(Sigh) Very well, you, what's your name anyway?" "I'm Brother Gannon. I just joined recently…" "Yes brother, we can get all that getting to know you stuff out of the way later. I want you to take those two and head over to that fort in the distance. I'm sure they can get help there. What about you Talia, I know you're wounded too, do you need any first aid?" Talia draws her weapon. "I'll worry about my minor cuts after we take care of this Empire scum." She answers in a harsh tone. "Okay then let's go down there and drive back the Empire!" you answer back. You and Talia sprint as fast as you can to where all the action is taking place. Swords are clashed, halberds are swung, skulls are smashed and heads are severed. Mostly all in your favor and the Empire troops were actually losing even before you got here. Still, it's good to be on a winning side of a fight today and you feel energized by the battle. A short reunion occurs as you finish off the last of the stubborn Empire soldiers. "What the…? What are you doing here?! I thought you were supposed to be in the Quala province!"Cyrus exclaims running his sword through an enemy. "Things change brother and how have you been doing?" you answer doing the same. "We've been getting wave after wave of Empire skirmishers recently, but nothing serious yet. Honestly I would've thought we would've had a full on assault by now. I think they're trying to whittle us down, it won't work though. We're entrenched and have people all over the area slowly turning the population of Rask against them…is that Talia over there? What's SHE doing here? Last I heard she was supposed to be back in Gloom helping with the ritual that Master Ebon and Brother Gray were doing." "Like I said, things change Cyrus." At this moment there is a lull in the fighting that allows Cyrus to actually stop fighting. He looks at you his expression is one you've never seen before. One of genuine worry. "Oh no…what happened?" You don't even know where to begin. "Cyrus let's just get through this battle and celebrate THIS victory over the Empire. We can dwell on the troubled times to come later." The pair of you say nothing more for the rest of the battle which soon ends with your victory. You just wish it was a better one, because it cannot possibly counteract the incredible loss you have suffered this dark day. You think back on how you told Murk in his dying breaths that the Empire would fall, you also think back to how Master Ebon believed it would fall in his on dying breaths. If you had to guess, you think Talia probably still believes it and you know Cyrus will even when you tell him all that has happened. The righteousness in the shadows' cause and its unwavering faith in Dendrin has always been its strength that it cannot lose no matter how bad the odds. Of course it would help if you actually believed all that nonsense. Which brings you to your next dilemma: You already let it slip to Talia that you spoke to Dendrin and Brother Gannon was also there to hear it (and maybe even the other two wounded shadows heard it as well) , so it'll probably be brought up after everyone is caught up to speed on the war front and what happened at Gloom. The fact that Dendrin spoke to you is actually why you're here in the first place. The question is should you even mention what Dendrin said to you or just lie about what he said? Your own feelings on the situation are that Dendrin, god or not, is not worth following let alone creating a fanatical religion around. He obviously doesn't give a shit about any of you and sees you all as amusing toys at best. However, given the grim situation, the misguided slavish devotion to Dendrin might be the only thing that'll keep their spirits up. Not to mention you wonder if you'd even be believed. Cyrus himself is a very dedicated believer, he may even turn violent and you aren't even sure if Talia would believe you. > You war Report (Allies & The Butcher of Rask) After the battle, Cyrus tells you more about the situation in Rask on the way back to Fort Defiance. It's mostly positive compared to what you'll have to him about Gloom and possibly Dendrin. He says that the orcs have been holding up their end and even managed to ally with some of the ogre tribes nearby (Though it's usually only after killing most of the tribes to establish dominance first) Not much luck with the giants yet, but at least they aren't attacking like they used to in the old days. He mentions that the current orc commander here, Flog has been in contact with Captain Gruz on strategies and tactics, though the letters are getting rarer. One wonders if Gruz hasn't already been discovered or if he's just having to lay low for a while. You get the impression Cyrus seems to see your orc allies as useful, but ultimately expendable tools to take the hits that the shadows don't need to. "I think after this is all over, the orcs are going their separate ways and that's fine. This has always been an alliance of convenience, but like I said, we've also been turning the population of Rask against the Empire. Though it's not exactly hard when they've got someone like Kane in charge of the area. The man has probably done more to alienate the citizens of Rask more than anyone." "Oh yes, the infamous Captain Kane, Butcher of Rask. Heard about his ruthlessness even way down in the Quala province. Didn't he earn his nickname by wiping out several barbarian tribes here? "Yeah, he was stationed at Fort Destiny, years before I got here. Showed absolutely no mercy when it came to cutting down the various barb tribes from what I heard. Same thing for the renegade elven population here too." "Didn't he recently wipe out a small hamlet because the people were complaining about food rationing?" Talia asks. "One hamlet? Try three and it was only a handful of people complaining. I don't even think they were openly criticizing the Empire's overall tyranny so much as they were just hungry. Captain Kane however took it as a threat to his authority and had the entire hamlet wiped out to the last man, woman and child. Then he did the same thing to two of the neighboring hamlets as a warning for other places to not complain anymore. That sort of thing might be effective on barbs or monsters, but it isn't effective in the long run on citizens you're supposed to be protecting. The fear eventually disappears and only instills great hatred and that's why we've been able to get help from the local population as far as hidden supplies and intelligence when they're able." You remember Kane in class and him being a very capable fighter who actually killed two of your other classmates during sparing lessons. You don't even think he did it intentionally though, he just thought that's what he was supposed to do because Mistress encouraged such behavior. Given his unassuming and quiet nature back then though, you're a little surprised he wasn't picked to be a shadow guard, though perhaps they realized his dedicated to orders would be more useful as a soldier. "Well, I can't say I'm too surprised. I mean he is one of…" you stop yourself from saying "us" since you know Cyrus would probably be insulted by it. He identifies more with being a shadow than an Eternal now. "…the Empire's lap dogs after all. They say jump and he asks how high." You finish. "True…but…" Cyrus says and stops. Now this is interesting. You didn't expect this sort of hesitation from Cyrus. "But what Cyrus?" Talia asks. "I dunno. I sometimes wonder if we all could've turned out like that, if we hadn't been picked to be shadows." "Heh, well I have to admit, I have wondered the same thing sometimes." You reply. "I know I really shouldn't, but I sometimes feel sorry for our unenlightened classmates. I mean so many of them didn't have a chance to hear the truth of Dendrin's call. "Seriously?" you ask in genuine surprise. "Yes. The worst part is I really believe I could get through to someone like Kane under the right circumstances and could turn him to our side. Show him that the Empire is a corrupt entity that needs to be destroyed. I'll never get that chance, but such is the will of Dendrin, just as it was his will that we were picked to hear his words instead of them." "I suppose…" you answer. Your private feelings on Dendrin aside, you have to admit this is a side of Cyrus you've never seen before. He has always been so dedicated to Dendrin, that to hear him express any sort of sympathy towards an unbeliever let alone an Empire enemy is unheard of. You doubt if you could have such sympathy towards people trying to kill you and you aren't even a religious fanatic like he is. In any case it doesn't make your decision on whether or not to tell the truth about what Dendrin said to you any easier.

Year 25 You settle into the bed of the dead Empire captain for the night. Normally you'd be a lot more alert, but you've got an entire group of shadows here at the conquered Empire outpost, not to mention several elven freedom fighters. You're fairly confident that they'll wake you if a counter attack comes. For now though you really need to get a good night's rest. You've been fighting non-stop for the past couple of weeks and you need a quick recharge at least. It doesn't help that the use of shadow magic drains you as well and probably why you don't use it much. Not that you really need to anyway, your natural skills work well enough. While the rebellion has only just gotten started, a lot of progress has been made. All the provinces from what you know of are suffering revolts on some scale. The worst of the lot being Rask where Cyrus has taken control of Fort Defiance. The shadow/orc alliance seems to be working well up there and the rest of the towns aren't exactly in line to help the Empire. Apparently the strongest resistance is from the second Empire fort called Destiny and another Eternal called Captain Kane is in charge. You barely remember him from class, though you heard he made a name for himself wiping out various barbarian tribes. Speaking of Eternals, one has been personally put in charge of attempting to eliminate the shadow striker cells like yours. A Captain Roldan. You do vaguely remember him from class. Tended to follow orders to the letter during training. Sort of like you in a way, but different. He was more extroverted you think, you guess that's why he was chosen to be a soldier rather than a shadow. You still don't know the reasoning was for making you a Shadow Guard candidate anyway, if you had to guess it was to try to spy on them. Of course this all makes you wonder what if you hadn't been chosen? What if you'd been a regular soldier? Would you have been content on just following Empire orders and never knowing any better? You'll never know of course. You've chosen your path and it's best to make most of it. Not that you regret your decision as the rebellion goes well. And with that positive thought you fall asleep. As you drift off you find yourself back in the numbness of the void… "It's finally happened. Rebellion across the Empire. Are you finally satisfied?" "I'm satisfied in that I'm glad we've finally stopped sitting on our hands. Why ask me anyway? You're the one that's been guiding the shadows all this time for centuries to rebel. Shouldn't you be the one that's excessively happy about it?" you ask "Oh I suppose…" "You suppose? I don't get you. You act like you don't care one way or another about it!" "Perhaps the time has passed." "What?!" "Oh don't get me wrong, I once wanted to see the Empire fall because it infringed on my own control over the mortals that were worshipping me at the time. And it's been interesting how over the decades and centuries that my little followers have been building up their strength to defeat them, but quite frankly I figured they would've done it long before then. Now? Well its okay, but I've lost a bit of interest since that time." If you weren't floating in a void of sensory deprivation you'd yell and scream at Dendrin so loudly that the rage would be felt throughout your body right now. "But that's your fucking fault. YOU were the one guiding them! If you wanted them to strike before now, you should've made some sort of sign to Master Ebon, or whoever was in charge at the time!" "Quite frankly I stopped giving them any advice centuries ago. I found it was much more interesting to see them figure out things on their own. The only time I speak to any of them is during the ceremony process." "If that's the case, why all the indoctrination, if you're such a fan of free will?" "How long do you think that actually lasts? It's only temporary! Just long enough to get them to have faith in me. Whether they continue to follow me or not is all them and on a related note, whatever so called signs the shadow leaders have been talking about are either ones they made up or made up in their heads. Glad to see Ebon finally decided to get off his ass and do something and be interesting for a change though." "So I was right! I've been right all along! You're nothing but a fucking fraud. You're not a god at all." "No, Eternal YOU got it wrong. It isn't I who is a fraud. It's the religion itself! I didn't originally call ANYONE to worship me. They did that naturally when one of those big hairless monkeys stumbled into a cave and messed around with some lost magical Derro object that opened up a portal where I dwelled. I was perfectly content spending infinity in my own realm until that time, but things change and I took an interest in these new creatures and their world. Wasn't my fault that they saw me as some deity just because they couldn't comprehend me in any other way." "You didn't exactly deter that thinking though." "Well you have me there Eternal. And I say so what? I gave these creatures purpose, meaning and even magical power! In return they worship me and serve. If you really think about it, is that not the definition of a god? And so what if I have lost interest in my subjects? True, they have proven loyal, but I grow bored with their antics. I seek other stimulus now." As strange as it may seem you sort of understand Dendrin's point of view. He views humans and mortals in general as you would watch insects. They're interesting to watch for awhile, but after some time has passed you're ready to move on. And really who's to say that if you weren't some powerful being you wouldn't do the same? Still, you have more questions. "Okay, but why not move on then if you're so bored?" "Because I'm not quite THAT bored yet. Besides when you arrived things started to get interesting again. Never had anyone resist my indoctrination so strongly before. I probably could've increased it, but that might've killed you besides I thought it would be more interesting to see if you followed me even without the indoctrination. It's interesting to see that while you have decided to follow the shadow's cause, you have been nothing but indifferent to outright hostile towards the religion even before you found all this out. That displays a grain of imagination and it's mainly why I've been in contact with you. In fact you're about the only mortal I've spoken to on a regular basis in centuries." "I guess I'm the lucky one then." You remark. "Your sarcasm aside, you actually are lucky, because I'm about to give you some friendly advice. Namely, don't go back to Gloom." "What? What are you talking about?" "That's all you get Eternal. Heed my advice or don't, it makes no difference to me. Talk to you again later perhaps." Once again you wake up though this time Dendrin gave you some direct information. Quite a bit of it really. You aren't even sure of what to make of all of it. You mean you always knew something was off with the whole shadow religion, but you didn't think he'd actually admit it all to you. Makes you wonder why he did, when he's been so cryptic in the past. Then against perhaps he knows you can't actually tell anyone, or rather you could, but wouldn't be believed and most likely attacked as a heretic. Perhaps that's his little joke on you. Yeah sounds like him. Still he's also given you a warning of not going back to Gloom. Why? Is something terrible going to happen there? Does he mean forever or just in the near future or is he just trying to play head games with you as usual? In reality, you aren't even scheduled to go back to Gloom anytime soon. Your job has been to sew as much chaos as you can across the Quala province. Still, if something bad IS going to happen there, maybe you should try to prevent it or warn somebody or something because right now Brother Gray and Master Ebon are supposed to be preparing a proper army of shadows to march directly on the capital, though not in the traditional way. Apparently they're going to try to use a magical gate to travel through the shadow world and pop up right in the heart of the Emperor's Palace. Such magic is very powerful to use, but also very time consuming and fatiguing. You know they have been going through some sort of long involved ritual which is involving several of the more powerful shadows to link their energy and even draw upon some of the weaker ones. You know Murk and Bianca are there rather than working in a shadow guerilla detachment. (They never quite looked at you the same way again after the incident with Shade.) Talia is also there, though she's one of those lending her powerful shadow magic skills to the ritual. And despite one of the most important events occurring at Gloom right now, the ONLY reason why you'd return there to possibly risk your own life is for Talia. You've grown closer to her in a way that you never thought possible. The relationship you've experienced with her is just one more reason why fighting against the Empire is the best idea you ever had. Still all of this might be for naught if something happens to Gloom. You still don't know WHAT that could be and for all you know it could just be something that will affect your life not anyone else's. (And from Dendrin's tone, not for the better) > You send another shadow back instead Knowing Dendrin, he's probably warned you after something bad has already happened at Gloom and is toying with you just to see what you'll do. You're just hoping Talia is all right, but you can't go back just for one woman and your actions here are more important to the cause right now. If some major tragedy already has happened, then you probably won't be able to do anything about it. While you're a necessity here, that doesn't mean you can't send another in your place to check on Gloom. You call to speak to one of your fellow shadows that you believe to be the most skilled. "Sister Yvette, I need you to go back to Gloom and check on things there." "What? But brother, we are to assault a supply caravan to Roldan's camp soon. You know it'll be heavily guarded and it would be best to utilize all the strength we have on it." "I know. That's why I will have these people here and the cell we have in the Guf Hills to help. Don't worry about it." "Brother, my place is here to fight along side you against the Empire. We are not due to check in at Gloom anytime soon and Master Ebon is performing the important ceremony there. I don't understand why you would want me to disturb that for no reason." You didn't really want to get into this because it's likely to bring forth more questions, but Yvette is proving to be unmoving on this request. "Sister Yvette I have reason to believe Gloom may be in danger. Call it instinct, call it a premonition or call it the will of Dendrin, I don't care, but I REALLY feel someone needs to check in on Gloom. I'd do it myself, but seeing as my mission here takes priority it would be irresponsible for me to leave my command. So I'm sending you. Now I hope you will obey my orders and if everything is in fact okay there you can make a complaint to Master Ebon at his earliest convenience. If not, well I believe we'll have bigger problems." Your explanation still doesn't tell her much and you can sense that she's very hesistant about just following through on your order based on a hunch, but given that it's Gloom then it's still worth checking out even if nothing is going on there. It also helps that you've been a very effective cell leader. Sister Yvette has certainly been a shadow longer than you, but your skills and leadership have established your dominance. Despite how everyone is supposed to be equal in the shadows there will always be those who are leaders and those who are followers. "Very well…I will go. What should I do if there is trouble?" she asks. "Help in any way you can then return to me as soon as possible unless you bump into Master Ebon and he has different order for you. As I said I will be meeting with the cell in the Guf Hills and we will probably be making that a temporary base of operations." "Okay, I'll take my leave as soon as possible. My Dendrin watch over you and guide you to success on the next mission…and I hope you're wrong about Gloom, brother." "Me too." The next day you make your way to the Guf Hills, thinking not only about Gloom, but Dendrin as well. You briefly wonder if there might be a way of telling the shadows about Dendrin, but you quickly dismiss the idea. None of them would believe you and it wouldn't do much good right now any way. The Empire is still the major threat and until that enemy is defeated only then will you even have the time to worry about the shadows's sham of a religion. When you try to make contact with Brother Theo in the Guf Hills, it isn't a straightforward process. Naturally there is always a little caution, but those under his command are a suspicious violent lot even before the rebellion broke out. The rebels he's been directing primarily consist of criminals or ignorant peasants that have always made their homes in these hills and most of them are both. Many of them make racial slurs at the elves in your own company and if you had to guess there's evidence of some inbreeding going on with some of these hill peasants. After a short stand off, Brother Theo comes out and admonishes all of them for their behavior towards you. Most of them grumble and go back to doing what they were doing. You tell your own people to find a spot and keep away from the others while you and Brother Theo talk to each other. "Glad you're here brother and with a couple of fellow shadows I see. That's good, because we could use more disciplined types here!" "Brother Theo, what is going on here? I mean I know we're using anyone who has a grudge against the Empire, but these people have to be some of the lowest dregs of humanity." "You'll get no argument from me brother. It is truly Dendrin testing my patience with these people, but I will pass that test and besides after this is all said and done, the Empire will fall and that's the major goal right now." "True, but are these people actually any good in a fight?" "Hah! That's all these people practically know. These folks might be unruly, but they know these hills better than anyone else, so we manage to stay hidden from Empire search teams for long periods of time. And if we can't, then we stay one step ahead of them before we're discovered. Having had to listen to their stories over and over, the families around this region have chaffed living under the Empire rule for almost as long as the shadows. Apparently they've been planning and building up supplies for a very long time. Pity we didn't know about them sooner, but as you can tell they aren't very trusting of anyone who isn't family." "I'm sort of surprised the Empire didn't stomp them out of the hills given their problem with authority figures." "Eh, they might seem like idiots, but they're smarter than they look and can obviously play the waiting game. Also I guess when the Empire discovered there weren't even any minerals worth mining in these hills, they took less notice of the place and basically just left the Guf people to their own devices as long as they paid their taxes on time. Most were wise enough to at least obey that one law and even those that didn't pay knew the hills so well it simply wasn't worth the Empire's time to track down an evader. Oh sure every once in awhile the Empire would sometimes send a few dark elven mercs to track down the more serious criminals, but that had mixed success and at the time the Empire was always more concerned with either conquest or territory that was actually worth something. Probably never believed that these hill folk could ever be a legitimate threat to them either. A bit short sighted of them, but then that's the Empire for you." You nod and agree. As fascinating as all this is, your mind is still on Gloom. Of course you're not going to mention any of that to Brother Theo, so you ask him what the plan is to assault Captain Roldan's supply caravan. He tells you it's a simple plan, the caravan is going to be passing through a nearby area that leads into a valley in a couple of days and in that time you'll be setting an ambush from both sides as well. "Actually I'm glad you've brought some elves with you, we could use more archers." Theo remarks. "Yeah, well don't believe all the myths. They aren't all expert marksmen, but the ones with me are still good enough for this ambush." You reply. "Still, something about this seems a bit too easy. The Empire has to know that running a supply line through that valley is an all too tempting target especially with a known enemy making their home nearby." "That supply caravan is going straight to Captain Roldan, it's going to be very heavily guarded. Chances are they're just arrogant enough to believe that any possible attack isn't going to succeed. This is the Empire after all." "Hmm, maybe…" After Brother Theo reassures you of the success of the plan you head back to your own people who thankfully haven't gotten into any fights with the hill folk. Fortunately the next two days of preparation also pass without too much incident. Some the elves get a few more slurs thrown their way, but nothing that they haven't been called before. One the hill folk actually speaks to you at great length asking you questions and such. You get the impression he was trying to get a feel of not only who you are, but the shadows in general. He wasn't hostile towards you though, they apparently know better than to anger shadows too much. In the back of your mind during all this is still Gloom. Yvette wouldn't be back yet even if she hadn't found anything, but you still fear the worst. Makes you wonder if you shouldn't have gone yourself. It's too late now though and you need to focus on the task at hand. The day finally comes and the supply caravan enters the valley. You on one side with your group and Brother Theo with his group on the other. He also has people ready to cut the supply caravan off from the front and from retreat as well. The large group of wagons and carriages are heavily guarded as expected. Several soldiers of the elite variety and you see an Empire battle mage as well. You wait for Brother Theo's signal… But before that can happen, the supply wagons suddenly stop and the battle mage suddenly casts a faint blue barrier over the entire supply caravan. Brother Theo orders his people to fire arrows at them, but they bounce harmlessly off the barrier. You shake your head cursing because you knew this was going to be too easy. "Rebellious fools, did you really think you were smart enough to ambush the Empire so easily? Flee now and enjoy your worthless lives for a little while longer or face your death with a smidgeon of honor by coming down into this valley!" the soldier in charge of the caravan shouts. "Looks like we're going to have to do this the hard way." You say to yourself. You've still got them outnumbered and surrounded even if you can't rain a bunch of arrows on them, not to mention your own combat skills are more than a match for most Empire soldiers. Still there's no reason to be foolish, you don't tell your people to charge down the valley, you let the Gufians do that, since they seem eager to do that sort of thing. Even the ones directly under Brother Theo's command are rushing past him. As for the empire troops, they seem content on waiting for you inside the safety of their barrier. Unfortunately some of them have bows too and theirs work perfectly well from inside the barrier. You, Theo and the other shadows easily dodge such attacks thanks to your shadow magic ability to speed yourself up to quickly close the gap. Most of the non-shadows aren't as lucky. The numbers are evened up a bit more by the time the major close combat occurs. The Empire battle mage releases the barrier and then casts some sort of speed spell on his own people. Again, this merely matches the shadows, but it's a severe advantage against the non-shadows. You need to eliminate that mage quick. > You fire a bolt at the mage You try to get a clear shot at the mage with your armbow. Despite the chaos your aim is true and the bolt flies directly at the mage's head…only for an Empire soldier to step in the way and get killed instead. Another shadow tries to follow your lead by firing at the mage as well, but at this point he's put up his own personal barrier. Realizing he's in danger, he raises his hand up and a large arc of electricity emanates from it hitting several of your allies as well as Empire soldiers. Fortunately you were far enough away and quickly cloak yourself to avoid being targeted more directly. You run around one of the wagons and see the mage is still focused on frying his victims. You quickly load up another bolt and fire again, this time you don't miss this time as the bolt enters his temple killing him instantly. With the mage dispatched the Empire soldiers suddenly slow down to their normal speed and the battle swings in your favor once again. Still after it's all said and done, this was more costly than it should've been. Brother Theo's lost more than half of his "hill folk" and you've suffered some losses as well and you've still got Gloom to worry about. You can't take the waiting anymore and you decide after a short rest period, you're heading back to Gloom with the remaining shadows under your command. You get some questions, but you simply tell them that Dendrin himself told you go back and much like Yvette they back down and fall in line. You half expect an encampment of Empire troops surrounding the entrance of Gloom, but instead what you find is worse. The rock that acted as the concealed entrance to Gloom is gone, or rather reduced to rubble. You and the rest of the shadows with you dig in the rubble for quite a while, but you don't even reach where the stairs would be, its just more debris. It's apparent that the entire entryway has been collapsed from beneath; possibly even all of Gloom has been buried. There's no sign of Yvette either, but you can assume since she never reported back to you, she must've entered Gloom before whatever happened here. While the rest of shadows start lamenting what might've become of Master Ebon and the rest, you on the other hand mourn quietly for Talia. You also silently curse yourself for not going back to Gloom immediately, if you had maybe you could've done something. With this destruction of Gloom, the shadows have been dealt a crippling blow. Possibly one they can't come back from. You're going to have to try to regroup what cells you can and try to alter a strategy plan. The main problem with that plan isn't so much the sheer impossibility of it, so much as with Talia gone you don't know if your heart going to be completely in the "cause" anymore. Really she was one of your main motivations, and now that Dendrin has flat out told you how he doesn't give a damn about the shadows, you sort of have inside information on how this rebellion is likely to turn out. Only time will tell you suppose… Year 30 "Has nobody been able to contact Cyrus up in Rask?" you ask. "Minimal contact brother. As I said, last time we did it was two years ago and he said he couldn't spare anyone. Reports also said he lost his orc allies up there." Brother Theo remarks. "Wonderful, the Empire is closing in on us and we can't even count on the bare minimum support." "We shouldn't give up hope brother. Dendrin has preserved us this long." You ignore Theo's remarks since you don't feel like spending what will probably your last moments in life, on a religious debate. Suffice to say, the few shadows that remain with you know full well of your feelings on Dendrin. If you weren't such a desperate situation, you'd be correct in believing that they'd kill you as a heretic. However, when someone has kept you alive for five years in a grim situation, people tend to overlook certain things they find spiritually offensive. And that's what you've been trying your best to do on sheer determination and revenge, but in the end the numbers have always been against you, and the Empire has finally managed to focus on eliminating the shadows. Stopping their war with the Felkan Kingdom helped, but the efforts of Captain Roldan have probably been the most damaging to the shadows in recent years (Along with Captain Kane in Rask). You briefly wonder why you stayed to fight seeing as you had no faith in Dendrin and Talia was gone, but ultimately it was always your desire for battle that kept you around. Maybe it always was leading you to do the things you did. And now here you are hold up in a cave in the Guf Hills where you were five years ago. The Empire has soldiers and dark elven mercs sweeping the hills looking for you. It'll only be a matter of time. You just hope Captain Roldan himself will be the one to find you. You'd like to at least face the man who's been hunting you for years in combat before you die. When the cave is swarmed with enemies, you don't get your wish. Still, you give a fight that satisfies you when sheer numbers finally bring you down. The best thing is, you never have to worry Dendrin ever speaking to you again.

Knowing Dendrin, he's probably warned you after something bad has already happened at Gloom and is toying with you just to see what you'll do. You're just hoping Talia is all right, but you can't go back just for one woman and your actions here are more important to the cause right now. If some major tragedy already has happened, then you probably won't be able to do anything about it. While you're a necessity here, that doesn't mean you can't send another in your place to check on Gloom. You call to speak to one of your fellow shadows that you believe to be the most skilled. "Sister Yvette, I need you to go back to Gloom and check on things there." "What? But brother, we are to assault a supply caravan to Roldan's camp soon. You know it'll be heavily guarded and it would be best to utilize all the strength we have on it." "I know. That's why I will have these people here and the cell we have in the Guf Hills to help. Don't worry about it." "Brother, my place is here to fight along side you against the Empire. We are not due to check in at Gloom anytime soon and Master Ebon is performing the important ceremony there. I don't understand why you would want me to disturb that for no reason." You didn't really want to get into this because it's likely to bring forth more questions, but Yvette is proving to be unmoving on this request. "Sister Yvette I have reason to believe Gloom may be in danger. Call it instinct, call it a premonition or call it the will of Dendrin, I don't care, but I REALLY feel someone needs to check in on Gloom. I'd do it myself, but seeing as my mission here takes priority it would be irresponsible for me to leave my command. So I'm sending you. Now I hope you will obey my orders and if everything is in fact okay there you can make a complaint to Master Ebon at his earliest convenience. If not, well I believe we'll have bigger problems." Your explanation still doesn't tell her much and you can sense that she's very hesistant about just following through on your order based on a hunch, but given that it's Gloom then it's still worth checking out even if nothing is going on there. It also helps that you've been a very effective cell leader. Sister Yvette has certainly been a shadow longer than you, but your skills and leadership have established your dominance. Despite how everyone is supposed to be equal in the shadows there will always be those who are leaders and those who are followers. "Very well…I will go. What should I do if there is trouble?" she asks. "Help in any way you can then return to me as soon as possible unless you bump into Master Ebon and he has different order for you. As I said I will be meeting with the cell in the Guf Hills and we will probably be making that a temporary base of operations." "Okay, I'll take my leave as soon as possible. My Dendrin watch over you and guide you to success on the next mission…and I hope you're wrong about Gloom, brother." "Me too." The next day you make your way to the Guf Hills, thinking not only about Gloom, but Dendrin as well. You briefly wonder if there might be a way of telling the shadows about Dendrin, but you quickly dismiss the idea. None of them would believe you and it wouldn't do much good right now any way. The Empire is still the major threat and until that enemy is defeated only then will you even have the time to worry about the shadows's sham of a religion. When you try to make contact with Brother Theo in the Guf Hills, it isn't a straightforward process. Naturally there is always a little caution, but those under his command are a suspicious violent lot even before the rebellion broke out. The rebels he's been directing primarily consist of criminals or ignorant peasants that have always made their homes in these hills and most of them are both. Many of them make racial slurs at the elves in your own company and if you had to guess there's evidence of some inbreeding going on with some of these hill peasants. After a short stand off, Brother Theo comes out and admonishes all of them for their behavior towards you. Most of them grumble and go back to doing what they were doing. You tell your own people to find a spot and keep away from the others while you and Brother Theo talk to each other. "Glad you're here brother and with a couple of fellow shadows I see. That's good, because we could use more disciplined types here!" "Brother Theo, what is going on here? I mean I know we're using anyone who has a grudge against the Empire, but these people have to be some of the lowest dregs of humanity." "You'll get no argument from me brother. It is truly Dendrin testing my patience with these people, but I will pass that test and besides after this is all said and done, the Empire will fall and that's the major goal right now." "True, but are these people actually any good in a fight?" "Hah! That's all these people practically know. These folks might be unruly, but they know these hills better than anyone else, so we manage to stay hidden from Empire search teams for long periods of time. And if we can't, then we stay one step ahead of them before we're discovered. Having had to listen to their stories over and over, the families around this region have chaffed living under the Empire rule for almost as long as the shadows. Apparently they've been planning and building up supplies for a very long time. Pity we didn't know about them sooner, but as you can tell they aren't very trusting of anyone who isn't family." "I'm sort of surprised the Empire didn't stomp them out of the hills given their problem with authority figures." "Eh, they might seem like idiots, but they're smarter than they look and can obviously play the waiting game. Also I guess when the Empire discovered there weren't even any minerals worth mining in these hills, they took less notice of the place and basically just left the Guf people to their own devices as long as they paid their taxes on time. Most were wise enough to at least obey that one law and even those that didn't pay knew the hills so well it simply wasn't worth the Empire's time to track down an evader. Oh sure every once in awhile the Empire would sometimes send a few dark elven mercs to track down the more serious criminals, but that had mixed success and at the time the Empire was always more concerned with either conquest or territory that was actually worth something. Probably never believed that these hill folk could ever be a legitimate threat to them either. A bit short sighted of them, but then that's the Empire for you." You nod and agree. As fascinating as all this is, your mind is still on Gloom. Of course you're not going to mention any of that to Brother Theo, so you ask him what the plan is to assault Captain Roldan's supply caravan. He tells you it's a simple plan, the caravan is going to be passing through a nearby area that leads into a valley in a couple of days and in that time you'll be setting an ambush from both sides as well. "Actually I'm glad you've brought some elves with you, we could use more archers." Theo remarks. "Yeah, well don't believe all the myths. They aren't all expert marksmen, but the ones with me are still good enough for this ambush." You reply. "Still, something about this seems a bit too easy. The Empire has to know that running a supply line through that valley is an all too tempting target especially with a known enemy making their home nearby." "That supply caravan is going straight to Captain Roldan, it's going to be very heavily guarded. Chances are they're just arrogant enough to believe that any possible attack isn't going to succeed. This is the Empire after all." "Hmm, maybe…" After Brother Theo reassures you of the success of the plan you head back to your own people who thankfully haven't gotten into any fights with the hill folk. Fortunately the next two days of preparation also pass without too much incident. Some the elves get a few more slurs thrown their way, but nothing that they haven't been called before. One the hill folk actually speaks to you at great length asking you questions and such. You get the impression he was trying to get a feel of not only who you are, but the shadows in general. He wasn't hostile towards you though, they apparently know better than to anger shadows too much. In the back of your mind during all this is still Gloom. Yvette wouldn't be back yet even if she hadn't found anything, but you still fear the worst. Makes you wonder if you shouldn't have gone yourself. It's too late now though and you need to focus on the task at hand. The day finally comes and the supply caravan enters the valley. You on one side with your group and Brother Theo with his group on the other. He also has people ready to cut the supply caravan off from the front and from retreat as well. The large group of wagons and carriages are heavily guarded as expected. Several soldiers of the elite variety and you see an Empire battle mage as well. You wait for Brother Theo's signal… But before that can happen, the supply wagons suddenly stop and the battle mage suddenly casts a faint blue barrier over the entire supply caravan. Brother Theo orders his people to fire arrows at them, but they bounce harmlessly off the barrier. You shake your head cursing because you knew this was going to be too easy. "Rebellious fools, did you really think you were smart enough to ambush the Empire so easily? Flee now and enjoy your worthless lives for a little while longer or face your death with a smidgeon of honor by coming down into this valley!" the soldier in charge of the caravan shouts. "Looks like we're going to have to do this the hard way." You say to yourself. You've still got them outnumbered and surrounded even if you can't rain a bunch of arrows on them, not to mention your own combat skills are more than a match for most Empire soldiers. Still there's no reason to be foolish, you don't tell your people to charge down the valley, you let the Gufians do that, since they seem eager to do that sort of thing. Even the ones directly under Brother Theo's command are rushing past him. As for the empire troops, they seem content on waiting for you inside the safety of their barrier. Unfortunately some of them have bows too and theirs work perfectly well from inside the barrier. You, Theo and the other shadows easily dodge such attacks thanks to your shadow magic ability to speed yourself up to quickly close the gap. Most of the non-shadows aren't as lucky. The numbers are evened up a bit more by the time the major close combat occurs. The Empire battle mage releases the barrier and then casts some sort of speed spell on his own people. Again, this merely matches the shadows, but it's a severe advantage against the non-shadows. You need to eliminate that mage quick. > You close in for the kill You cut down a nearby soldier and try to close the gap between you and the mage. Despite the chaos the mage notices you and then raise his hand up and a large arc of lightning is unleashed from it. Not only are you hit, but several of your allies and even Empire troops are hit as well. Unfortunately for you, the Empire has always considered any of their own people expendable, so the mage doesn't stop with his chain lightning spell. You feel the electricity course through your body and burn you from the inside out. By the time the mage finally releases his spell, you're one of the many smoking black corpses created by his handiwork. Ultimately you're just another forgotten body in a long line of victorious battles for the Empire.

Year 18 "And so I said to the blacksmith, well if you're intending on killing the Emperor, you better damn well have a better plan than those group of thugs you've been supplying with weapons in the sewers. At least supply them to some thugs who the Emperor wouldn't be able to smell six miles away!" you say, and this is followed by a few laughs from some of your fellow shadows. "Hah, good one brother! Tell me, what did you do to the blacksmith?" Brother Murk asks. "Oh we relocated him to our safehouse in Derlerg along with his buddies, reported that we eliminated him as a dissident…you know the usual. I must say, their surprise that we aren't going to kill them is always amusing though." You reply. "Yes, given our reputation, I imagine it is. Still, it's all for a good cause eh, brother?" "Yes brother, it certainly is." You say to Murk with a nod and take another drink of black tea. "Well I have to say I'm very glad you've finally managed to settle in brother, I have to admit, for awhile I was getting a little worried about you. You just didn't seem like yourself after our ceremony initiation." Talia says. "Yeah, well I guess I was just a late bloomer or something." "Don't worry about it brother, it's all in the past. What matters now is that we're all on the same page now." Murk replies. On the same page…the problem is you really aren't on the same page. You haven't been since you got here. The other problem? You're starting to feel like you might be getting there though. During the time you were forced to socialize you just swallowed your fear and self-doubt and proceeded like it was any mission. And you were successful. Perhaps a little too successful. Once you actually got sent out on a mission, you were paired up with Brother Murk. A fellow you had become semi-friendly with during your months of socializing. Your original plan was as soon as you left Gloom, you were going to run to the nearest Empire fort and make your report. Though for this plan to succeed in any meaningful way you would've had to kill Murk and despite your better judgment, you couldn't bring yourself to do it. You later cursed yourself for this temporary weakness and the next time you were sent out, you vowed to yourself that you'd do it again, the problem was you had only become friendlier with Murk within that time. You failed again. By the time they rotated your partnership and you were paired you with someone else, you still couldn't do it, because now you actually started to feel like the Shadow Guard really was like a family to you. And you liked that feeling. In fact it was the best you've felt in a long time. Yet, now you are in a difficult position. You are still loyal to the Empire and the Emperor first, but you haven't been able to find the fortitude to expose the Shadow Guard for what they are. You attempt to rationalize it in your mind, by claiming the longer you stay the more you learn about their exact plans, and while that's certainly true, it really isn't the TRUTH. The real truth is you're starting to believe in the Shadow Guard's cause slightly. You don't know if it's because you've spent so much time here that you've developed some sort of emotional attachment or some odd sort of subtle indoctrination. Is this what Dendrin really had in store for you? Did he know you could be turned even without his intervention? Before you had that experience everything was so certain, your feelings weren't a constant source of ups and downs. Even under Mistress, you don't remember ever feeling this. It was either success or death. It was very simple and you preferred it. Now you don't know what the hell you're doing. Are you a traitor? Are you still loyal? Are you both? Are you neither? You excuse yourself from the rest of your brothers and sister and say you have to get some rest, though in reality you have to take a long look at your priorities. Once again you spend a few more months going through your usual routines and quietly suffering in silence. That comes to a halt when Murk comes into the barracks one day… "Hey, where are brother Cyrus and sister Talia?" he immediately asks you. "Uh, sister Talia I think is in the library and brother Cyrus is probably with brother Draven somewhere." You reply. "Oh, well I'll go get Talia, someone else can look for Cyrus, but you need to report to Master Ebon right away." "What's this all about?" "I don't know, just that he wants you, Talia and Cyrus to see him. Something about someone from the Empire wanting to meet with all three of you. Sounds important." You get up and walk to Master Ebon's office which remains closed, so you wait. A few moments later, Talia joins you. "Hello, brother. Isn't master Ebon here?" "If he is, he isn't answering his door, so I've been waiting outside." "Do you know what this is about?" "Dunno, just that someone from the Empire wants to see us." Talia nods and remains silent. Soon Cyrus joins you and asks a similar question, to which you answer in a similar manner. He grunts at you and stands as far from you as possible, though he says something polite to Talia. Same old Cyrus. No sooner has Cyrus got there, when Ebon's door opens. You hear a voice that tells you to come in. You didn't even think he was inside, but you guess he was really waiting to see you all together. When you all enter, he tell Cyrus to close the door and gets right to the point. "You three have been summoned by Mr. Mol. Apparently he wants to ask you a few questions and is insisting on doing it somewhere in the capital I believe. In any case, he claims he wants to check on your progress as an Eternal, but I suspect he's fishing for information about us." "You don't think he suspects anything do you?" Talia asks. "I do not believe he knows anything about our true goals, if he or anyone did, I have no doubt we would've been moved upon by now. No, I think this is just another Empire ploy to try to get more inside intel on our organization, which for the reasons I just mentioned they cannot know about." "I won't say a word to this running dog of the Empire! My eyes have been open a long time and my loyalty is and will always be to Dendrin." Cyrus says. Master Ebon nods. "Yes, I know it will be. I have no doubt, but I still would like you all to just be on your guard when answering questions none the less. It probably won't come to this, but kill yourselves if you have to. It won't be ideal, since it'll arouse suspicion, but it'll still give us time to go ahead with our plan anyway, even if it would be a few years early. Anyway, the three of you are to make your way to the town of Lenet and from there you'll take an Empire carriage to the capital. Return immediately if you are able. May Dendrin and the shadows hide your true intentions." With those last words, Ebon sends you away and the three of you set off on your journey. You begin to feel nervous as soon as you leave Gloom, you weren't expecting this happening, but deep down you did know that something like it was going to happen eventually. You remain mostly quiet during the journey as you try to get in a certain frame of mind of what you're going to do or say. Cyrus is mostly silent as well, though you're guessing that's because he's so firmly entrenched in his belief in Dendrin, that he knows what he's going to say and do. Talia is the only talkative one and that's mainly questions about what you both think Mr. Mol will ask you. You know she's dedicated herself to Dendrin, but you sense that perhaps she's a little nervous too, though you don't know if it's due to her new loyalty to Dendrin or because she's been harboring secret loyalty to the Empire like you have. You decide to imagine it's the latter, mainly because you want to make yourself feel better. Eventually the carriage from Lenet reaches Qale, the Empire's capital and several soldiers immediately step forward to say they are here to escort you to Mr. Mol. The three of you are taken from the opulence of one of the main streets and quickly through a system of back alleys until you eventually reach a non-descript building. You enter and there you see Mr. Mol. It's the well dressed man you saw speaking to Brother Gray six years ago. He's also wearing the same formal black suit he was back then. "Ah, the Shadow Eternals. I've so wanted to catch up with your progress, but my attention was on your less subtle peers for a while. I think we've sorted them out though, so now it's time to sort you out as well. Just a formality really, we just want to see if you're achieving your full potential in the Shadow Guard. After all you're Eternals first, and we wouldn't want your talents to not be used to their fullest potential in the service of the Emperor, right?" Cyrus and Talia say nothing, but you feel obligated to acknowledge that question if only to not look suspicious. "Correct. All that we are, we owe to the Emperor's will." you say. "Glad to hear it! Now then we're just going to be asking you some questions, these soldiers will take you to a place to wait. Off you go." At this point the three of are marched out of the room and down a long hallway. The cold broken stone walls and desolation of this place almost makes Gloom look cheery by comparison. Eventually you reach a door on your left and Cyrus is told to wait inside the room. He enters without a word, but gives you and Talia a look like "Say nothing!" A few moments later you reach another door on the left, this time Talia is told to wait inside. She hesitates for a moment, but enters. She gives you a look as well, though this one is more of concern. Finally you reach the last door on the left and you are told to enter and wait. You do so without looking at anyone. The door shuts behind you and the ominous sound of a lock is heard. There isn't much you can do, so you sit down at one of the chairs in the middle of the room and wait. And wait…and wait…and wait…and wait… You don't know how much time has passed, but you get up and move about several times before sitting down again. You don't quite panic as much as you think you would, but being alone with your thoughts is definitely not the best thing for you. Right now you're already thinking they've managed to break Talia into talking and probably killed Cyrus. Maybe if you cooperate right now, there will be leniency? Why shouldn't you cooperate? The Shadow Guard ARE traitors after all, and this is just the kick in the ass you needed to remind you of that. But then there's the other part of you that feels loyal to the shadows and how you shouldn't betray them. You go back and forth what you're going to do several times, and then you hear the lock on the door. Mr. Mol enters… > You shadowy Agenda (More history and goals) In the years you've been here, you've learned much more about the Shadow Guard's plans along with their history, which of course has a much positive spin than the usual things the Empire puts out about them or the common perception. Before the Empire, the worshippers of Dendrin made their home in the Derlerg province. However, only a special few became "shadows" and they became more like protectors and holy people of the territory. Whole villages were dedicated to the worship of Dendrin, but there was no crusade or oppression of those who did not. Dendrin was not a deity that encouraged conversion by the sword, which is more than can be said for the Empire when they eventually arrived. When the Empire (Still known as the Qualan Empire at the time) came to Derlerg, the people were unsure of what to do. Most wanted to fight off this potential aggressor, but instead they asked for the guidance of their Dendrin priests. The shadows then consulted each other, and finally Dendrin. The answer to all surprised his faithful. Dendrin told them to surrender without a fight. He told them to not only surrender, but to swear loyalty to this "so called Emperor" and offer to be part of his armies. He said he knew where their true loyalties lay and that all would be revealed in time. He told them to ask for only one stipulation of the Empire and that was that they are allowed to continue their worship and to never mention his name except among each other. (Hence why you've never heard the name of Dendrin, until you joined the Shadow Guard) Trusting in Dendrin, the shadows obeyed. When they asked for an audience with the emperor they did exactly what Dendrin told them to. The Emperor was amazed and even overjoyed at such an offer. When he saw the powers that the shadows offered, he accepted their loyalty without many other questions. He was still hesitant about their insistence on their religion, but this was during a time when the Empire was less restrictive about such things and after proving themselves several times in the following years, the Emperor dismissed their worship as silly superstition, but ultimately not a threat to his power. ed to decades and the Derlerg province eventually assimilated completely to the Empire. Most of the people who once worshipped Dendrin, didn't anymore and the new generation born were completely ignorant of him. However his shadows still kept the faith like they were suppose to, but there were still so few, and that's when Dendrin came to them again. He told them that they must start actively looking for worthy candidates to join or preferably, to breed with each other to produce more shadows. This was a new order by Dendrin to actively recruit as opposed to people seeking out Dendrin themselves, but once again, the shadows obeyed. The Empire certainly didn't mind having more shadows to serve it either. It was around this time that the decree came that the Shadow Guard proper was formed to serve as a type of internal security since the Empire was growing larger and needed to weed out dissidents. Some most likely objected to this trust in the shadows, but the Emperor was convinced of their loyalty so they were elevated to the status they are today. Unfortunately for him, the Emperor would've done well to be more paranoid and to have listened to his advisors at the time. The Shadow Guard have been planning, and scheming and waiting since the very beginning to overthrow the Empire. Dendrin foresaw that if they resisted in the beginning they would've been crushed. True the Empire would've suffered losses, but his followers would've been wiped out completely, and without followers what use is a god? Now centuries have passed. The Shadow Guard is so entrenched in the Empire that if it were to rebel now, as it surely will, the Empire would surely be vastly damaged and most likely fall. Right now the shadow guard's duty is to root out dissidents and that's true up to a point. Some are immediately passed over to the Empire to keep up appearances, others are killed if they prove unhelpful, but for those that are too useful to turn over and are willing to help, then they join the "normal" resistance that the Shadow Guard has been building up over the years. When the revolution comes, it won't just be the shadows rebelling. Strangely, there doesn't seem to be any grand plans to "take over" though. The main goal seems to be overthrowing the Empire and gaining "freedom". This seems very odd to you. You could understand better if there was a system in place for the shadows to take power afterwards, but why would they want to overthrow something, only to leave anarchy behind? It would seem the shadows are intending to do just that, and then a mass exodus back to the Delerg province to rebuild their old temple and continue to worship Dendrin. Nothing more, nothing less. While you should find everything about this agenda repugnant, you can't help but respect and admire the patience and planning of such a cunning plan. You doubt if you could maintain such a facade for so long. Then again you've been blending in as one of them for two years now and your own loyalty isn't necessarily to them. Perhaps you've come to respect the Shadow Guard so much because you've started to think like them…

Year 18 "And so I said to the blacksmith, well if you're intending on killing the Emperor, you better damn well have a better plan than those group of thugs you've been supplying with weapons in the sewers. At least supply them to some thugs who the Emperor wouldn't be able to smell six miles away!" you say, and this is followed by a few laughs from some of your fellow shadows. "Hah, good one brother! Tell me, what did you do to the blacksmith?" Brother Murk asks. "Oh we relocated him to our safehouse in Derlerg along with his buddies, reported that we eliminated him as a dissident…you know the usual. I must say, their surprise that we aren't going to kill them is always amusing though." You reply. "Yes, given our reputation, I imagine it is. Still, it's all for a good cause eh, brother?" "Yes brother, it certainly is." You say to Murk with a nod and take another drink of black tea. "Well I have to say I'm very glad you've finally managed to settle in brother, I have to admit, for awhile I was getting a little worried about you. You just didn't seem like yourself after our ceremony initiation." Talia says. "Yeah, well I guess I was just a late bloomer or something." "Don't worry about it brother, it's all in the past. What matters now is that we're all on the same page now." Murk replies. On the same page…the problem is you really aren't on the same page. You haven't been since you got here. The other problem? You're starting to feel like you might be getting there though. During the time you were forced to socialize you just swallowed your fear and self-doubt and proceeded like it was any mission. And you were successful. Perhaps a little too successful. Once you actually got sent out on a mission, you were paired up with Brother Murk. A fellow you had become semi-friendly with during your months of socializing. Your original plan was as soon as you left Gloom, you were going to run to the nearest Empire fort and make your report. Though for this plan to succeed in any meaningful way you would've had to kill Murk and despite your better judgment, you couldn't bring yourself to do it. You later cursed yourself for this temporary weakness and the next time you were sent out, you vowed to yourself that you'd do it again, the problem was you had only become friendlier with Murk within that time. You failed again. By the time they rotated your partnership and you were paired you with someone else, you still couldn't do it, because now you actually started to feel like the Shadow Guard really was like a family to you. And you liked that feeling. In fact it was the best you've felt in a long time. Yet, now you are in a difficult position. You are still loyal to the Empire and the Emperor first, but you haven't been able to find the fortitude to expose the Shadow Guard for what they are. You attempt to rationalize it in your mind, by claiming the longer you stay the more you learn about their exact plans, and while that's certainly true, it really isn't the TRUTH. The real truth is you're starting to believe in the Shadow Guard's cause slightly. You don't know if it's because you've spent so much time here that you've developed some sort of emotional attachment or some odd sort of subtle indoctrination. Is this what Dendrin really had in store for you? Did he know you could be turned even without his intervention? Before you had that experience everything was so certain, your feelings weren't a constant source of ups and downs. Even under Mistress, you don't remember ever feeling this. It was either success or death. It was very simple and you preferred it. Now you don't know what the hell you're doing. Are you a traitor? Are you still loyal? Are you both? Are you neither? You excuse yourself from the rest of your brothers and sister and say you have to get some rest, though in reality you have to take a long look at your priorities. Once again you spend a few more months going through your usual routines and quietly suffering in silence. That comes to a halt when Murk comes into the barracks one day… "Hey, where are brother Cyrus and sister Talia?" he immediately asks you. "Uh, sister Talia I think is in the library and brother Cyrus is probably with brother Draven somewhere." You reply. "Oh, well I'll go get Talia, someone else can look for Cyrus, but you need to report to Master Ebon right away." "What's this all about?" "I don't know, just that he wants you, Talia and Cyrus to see him. Something about someone from the Empire wanting to meet with all three of you. Sounds important." You get up and walk to Master Ebon's office which remains closed, so you wait. A few moments later, Talia joins you. "Hello, brother. Isn't master Ebon here?" "If he is, he isn't answering his door, so I've been waiting outside." "Do you know what this is about?" "Dunno, just that someone from the Empire wants to see us." Talia nods and remains silent. Soon Cyrus joins you and asks a similar question, to which you answer in a similar manner. He grunts at you and stands as far from you as possible, though he says something polite to Talia. Same old Cyrus. No sooner has Cyrus got there, when Ebon's door opens. You hear a voice that tells you to come in. You didn't even think he was inside, but you guess he was really waiting to see you all together. When you all enter, he tell Cyrus to close the door and gets right to the point. "You three have been summoned by Mr. Mol. Apparently he wants to ask you a few questions and is insisting on doing it somewhere in the capital I believe. In any case, he claims he wants to check on your progress as an Eternal, but I suspect he's fishing for information about us." "You don't think he suspects anything do you?" Talia asks. "I do not believe he knows anything about our true goals, if he or anyone did, I have no doubt we would've been moved upon by now. No, I think this is just another Empire ploy to try to get more inside intel on our organization, which for the reasons I just mentioned they cannot know about." "I won't say a word to this running dog of the Empire! My eyes have been open a long time and my loyalty is and will always be to Dendrin." Cyrus says. Master Ebon nods. "Yes, I know it will be. I have no doubt, but I still would like you all to just be on your guard when answering questions none the less. It probably won't come to this, but kill yourselves if you have to. It won't be ideal, since it'll arouse suspicion, but it'll still give us time to go ahead with our plan anyway, even if it would be a few years early. Anyway, the three of you are to make your way to the town of Lenet and from there you'll take an Empire carriage to the capital. Return immediately if you are able. May Dendrin and the shadows hide your true intentions." With those last words, Ebon sends you away and the three of you set off on your journey. You begin to feel nervous as soon as you leave Gloom, you weren't expecting this happening, but deep down you did know that something like it was going to happen eventually. You remain mostly quiet during the journey as you try to get in a certain frame of mind of what you're going to do or say. Cyrus is mostly silent as well, though you're guessing that's because he's so firmly entrenched in his belief in Dendrin, that he knows what he's going to say and do. Talia is the only talkative one and that's mainly questions about what you both think Mr. Mol will ask you. You know she's dedicated herself to Dendrin, but you sense that perhaps she's a little nervous too, though you don't know if it's due to her new loyalty to Dendrin or because she's been harboring secret loyalty to the Empire like you have. You decide to imagine it's the latter, mainly because you want to make yourself feel better. Eventually the carriage from Lenet reaches Qale, the Empire's capital and several soldiers immediately step forward to say they are here to escort you to Mr. Mol. The three of you are taken from the opulence of one of the main streets and quickly through a system of back alleys until you eventually reach a non-descript building. You enter and there you see Mr. Mol. It's the well dressed man you saw speaking to Brother Gray six years ago. He's also wearing the same formal black suit he was back then. "Ah, the Shadow Eternals. I've so wanted to catch up with your progress, but my attention was on your less subtle peers for a while. I think we've sorted them out though, so now it's time to sort you out as well. Just a formality really, we just want to see if you're achieving your full potential in the Shadow Guard. After all you're Eternals first, and we wouldn't want your talents to not be used to their fullest potential in the service of the Emperor, right?" Cyrus and Talia say nothing, but you feel obligated to acknowledge that question if only to not look suspicious. "Correct. All that we are, we owe to the Emperor's will." you say. "Glad to hear it! Now then we're just going to be asking you some questions, these soldiers will take you to a place to wait. Off you go." At this point the three of are marched out of the room and down a long hallway. The cold broken stone walls and desolation of this place almost makes Gloom look cheery by comparison. Eventually you reach a door on your left and Cyrus is told to wait inside the room. He enters without a word, but gives you and Talia a look like "Say nothing!" A few moments later you reach another door on the left, this time Talia is told to wait inside. She hesitates for a moment, but enters. She gives you a look as well, though this one is more of concern. Finally you reach the last door on the left and you are told to enter and wait. You do so without looking at anyone. The door shuts behind you and the ominous sound of a lock is heard. There isn't much you can do, so you sit down at one of the chairs in the middle of the room and wait. And wait…and wait…and wait…and wait… You don't know how much time has passed, but you get up and move about several times before sitting down again. You don't quite panic as much as you think you would, but being alone with your thoughts is definitely not the best thing for you. Right now you're already thinking they've managed to break Talia into talking and probably killed Cyrus. Maybe if you cooperate right now, there will be leniency? Why shouldn't you cooperate? The Shadow Guard ARE traitors after all, and this is just the kick in the ass you needed to remind you of that. But then there's the other part of you that feels loyal to the shadows and how you shouldn't betray them. You go back and forth what you're going to do several times, and then you hear the lock on the door. Mr. Mol enters… > You dendrin's Disciples (Your "siblings") In the few years you've been with the Shadow Guard, you still haven't gotten used to the idea their strange hierarchy system. The part you understand is the initiate level, which are the prospects who have not yet gone through the ceremony. They are lowest and understand why as far as the shadow hierarchy goes. It's after the ceremony where it gets confusing to you. Everyone that passes through the ceremony is either a brother or sister according to gender and nobody is technically above anyone, though there is obviously still a hierarchy system in place based on experience. For example Brother Gray and Brother Murk are supposed to be equals, but Brother Gray is really his superior (along with most others) since he's been a shadow for much longer and has more knowledge than Murk. From what you know, this "equality" is part of the idea that Dendrin wanted the shadows to not fight amongst themselves and to concentrate on their true enemy the Empire. While this is a strange concept for you, it must have worked since the shadows do treat each other more like a family and you haven't observed any real power conflicts with any of them. The one exception is Master Ebon. Apparently even in a family of "siblings", there still needs to be a parental figure and Master Ebon would be that "father". It is he who supposedly speaks to Dendrin directly about his greatest visions, ideas and prophecies on how to best proceed. Though this seems questionable to you, considering if Dendrin spoke to him directly about the most important matters, why wouldn't he mention you and your doubting loyalties? In any event, you've come to know quite a few shadows since your time here and against your better judgment, even become friendly with them. You have to admit; they aren't all like what the common perception of them is. Master Ebon, as mentioned is the overall leader, and other than that you don't know too much about him personally except that he has been a meticulous planner much like his predecessors. Brother Gray would probably be the closest thing to a second in command. Brother Gray has always seemed to try to help you though perhaps not in any way you'd like. But his words of encouragement on survival during your training and his concern that you should feel welcome here like a family member display that he genuinely is trying to look out for you since he has on several occasions praised your combat skills. If there were a proper hierarchy, Brother Shade would probably be your commanding officer or sergeant since he's been here longer than the rest of you and relays a lot of orders to the rest of you. He still goes on missions as well, unlike Brother Gray. He seems a little more militant than the rest of his fellows, and you don't mean in his worship of Dendrin, but rather his desire to see the Empire fall. You get the impression he's tired of waiting. Sister Talia, or just Talia as you still think of her. During your years with her in Mistress' class she was much like you in that she kept to the background and mostly just followed instruction. She was a good fighter; you recall her shutting up one of your louder classmates (Edgar you think his name was) with one punch when they were paired up together to fight for the first time. Other than that, you didn't really talk to her and that continued even during your shadow guard training. After the ceremony however, she interacted with you more, mostly taunting your shadow magic abilities initially, but in time she began to speak to you on a friendlier level, she even apologized and claimed that she should not have mocked you so, and should have tried to help you instead. Since that time, she's been cordial with you. In different circumstances, you'd probably appreciate her friendliness in your situation; the problem is she's part of which you consider the enemy. It's even worse, since she's an Eternal like you and her brainwashed mindset is much more distressing to you. Brother Cyrus or just Cyrus as you still think of him. Much like you and Talia, he kept to the background in Mistress' class. Also like Talia he was a good fighter, though you remember having to go up against him once, and you beat him. It wasn't an easy victory, but you sometimes wonder if he continued to hold a grudge because he still remains stand offish to you. He even still says something snide about your shadow magic aptitude once in awhile. Especially since Cyrus himself has proven to be quite apt at using shadow magic Cyrus seems to have embraced the worship of Dendrin wholeheartedly, even more than Talia, though again you wonder if his new relationship with Draven has something to do with enforcing that, rather than anything Dendrin did to brainwash him. Lately though he's been away a lot and given more assignments. Apparently he's moving "up" as far as shadow responsibilities go. Brother Draven is Cyrus' special friend, or in other words his lover. You aren't exactly sure when it started, since you were concerned with your own crisis of loyalties at the time, but you really don't care anyway. Draven has never really spoken too much to you, but when he has he's at least been friendlier than Cyrus. He's mentioned he was born into the shadows, but that his own parents died when he was young though he doesn't say how exactly. From what you've seen his combat abilities are nowhere near that of you or any of the other Eternals (Then again few shadows are) but his shadow magic is much better. He's a little older than Cyrus, probably by a few years, but despite that, Cyrus is still obviously the dominant one of the relationship, but then given that Cyrus is still an Eternal at heart, which seems logical to you. Brother Murk is probably the closest thing you have to a "friend" in here. Though he probably wouldn't be, if he knew your true thoughts. He's about Draven's age, but unlike Draven he was born in the Derlerg province and actively sought out to be part of the shadows, since his family was one of the few that still quietly worshipped Dendrin even after centuries of others forgot him. Apparently it was always a dream of someone in his family to become a shadow, so Murk pestered the shadows until they finally gave him a chance. He passed and it was the happiest day of his life. Murk was one of the few that tried to reach out to you even when he saw you struggling with shadow magic (among other things). During the times when you were paired up and had to fight actual dissidents who didn't want to listen to you (Not all are willing to trust let alone join the shadow guard agenda, and some are little more than violent criminals) he's always had your back. In between missions, he likes to tell you of his latest attempts to woo Sister Bianca. It is a shame that such a worthy comrade has dedicated his life to the wrong side and it will be regrettable when the day comes that you may have to kill him yourself.

Test or not, you're not going to stand here and accept the judgment that Master Ebon has passed on you. You're more than strong enough to pass through the ceremony, you know you are and to prove it, you immediately make a run for the portal. "Master Ebon, the Eternal is running towards the portal!" you hear Brother Gray shout just as you make a leap into the shimmering portal. If Ebon said anything you didn't hear it, in fact as soon as you pass through the portal you don't hear anything. You also don't see anything or even feel anything. It's like you've stepped into a place that has sucked out all your senses. You even attempt to speak out loud, but nothing comes out, of course you wouldn't really know since you can't hear anything. You don't believe you're standing on anything and feels like you're "floating" in some sort of void. As for your mental state of mind, your feelings have become muted. You still have them, but they aren't as strong as they once were. Even before when you suppressed your feelings yourself, you never managed it to this degree. Everything has become deadened. All of this is so strange and you briefly wonder if you've made a mistake, but then you hear a voice, but it's inside your head. It isn't some sort of subconscious either. It's a very real external force speaking to you in your mind. The voice is a whisper, but loud at the same time, almost overpowering. "You were not given permission to be here. Why have you disobeyed your superior?" the voice asks. "I…I wanted to prove I was worthy." You answer. It is a strange sensation to speak with just your brain. "I see…so do you think you are worthy?" "Yes." "Your confidence is admirable. Yet, you do not even where you are, let alone WHO you are." "I am an Eternal." "Are you? Tell me, how can one be an Eternal, when one has not even experienced life outside what your superiors have told you? How can one be eternal when one is a mere baby in terms of existence? How can one be eternal when you are before a being that has existed longer than you mortals first came up with the idea of your primitive methods of measuring time? No, you are not eternal. You are confused." The voice is absolutely oppressive. Any feelings that were dead before are replaced with an extreme feeling of hopelessness and as the voice stated confusion. Within that moment you start to question everything you were taught. Not the skills, but the ideology. Still, you try to maintain your mind, by asking questions. "Are…are you the god of the Shadow Guards?" "That designation I suppose is accurate in a sense, but one should not get stuck with just one description, lest it confine you. I am many things as are you, even if you do not realize it yet, despite what your superior believes. Not to say he is wrong, just that he does not have the…insight I possess. Now your fellows that entered before you did are limited in their thought processes. Some have already failed due to their lack of complex thought. Tell me, are you loyal to your Emperor and your Empire?" "…of course!" you say, though due to your experience in this place, you feel a lot less certain of that, for the first time. This whole event is troubling to you. You almost feel suicidal for not answering with absolute certainty. "One cannot serve two masters, or at least not for long. The ones your Empire has designated the Shadow Guard are my loyal servants. They are loyal to ME, first. You cannot be a true member of this order if you place your Emperor above me. My followers have survived by hiding in plain sight and making themselves indispensable to the Empire. They have done this for centuries, but there will be a reckoning some day soon and the question is, who's side are you going to be on?" You cannot answer. The concept of not placing the Emperor about all is so abhorrent to you that you can't even comprehend it. Yet here you are being asked this question by a god no less. He's even suggested a reckoning of some sort that indicates the Shadow Guard will betray the Empire in the future! How can you argue with such a being though? If you disagree it is likely to destroy you, but in this place you almost can't help but to swear subservience to this god. You feel so helpless that it's almost like the choice Mistress gave you except even worse. > You defy the god with all your strength You aren't going to compromise your beliefs. Not even to a god. "I will never serve you! My loyalty will always be to the Emperor!" you communicate with your mind. You feel absolutely drained even having this thought. For a long time there is a silence and you're just floating in the void, with only a sense of impending doom ever growing within your head. "So be it. I respect your dedication Eternal. May you serve your Emperor in whatever afterlife finds you, because you won't be doing it in this life." The voice whispers and then you feel the numbness that has invaded your body, now invading your mind. It isn't painful. It isn't anything really. Your brain shuts down along with the rest of your body, which is then enveloped by the void. You completely cease to be and are explained to have died during the Shadow Guard ceremony to Mr. Mol when he asks for an update on your progress.

The pain is great and you want it to be over with as quickly as possible, but you know to beg for mercy would be shameful, so you gasp say you'd rather die than beg. This response surprises her to a point that she actually takes her boot off your chest giving you relief. "Truly, little one? You accept death so quickly? Have you no instinct for survival, or are you merely a fool? Still, your refusal to beg at least shows promise. It also shows that you know your place and that your life is ultimately not your own. It is nothing. ALL of your lives are nothing! Your lives will never be anything more than warm bodies to serve the Emperor! Remember this." At this point much like your other classmate hit by her magic bolt, you slowly get up and back in your seat, clutching your chest. It hurts, but you 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 doesn't treat you any worse or better than any of the other children, but your first experience with her did have an effect on your behavior. You take her lesson that your life ultimately not being important to heart and you become more and more withdrawn. So withdrawn in fact that you almost become invisible to your fellow classmates and even Mistress sometimes forgets that you're there at all. If it was not for group projects and sparring lessons you probably would be forgotten. You obey commands and do your training and that is all. Why bother worrying about anything else when your life is not your own? You must follow orders even if it means your death, it's the only way you'll be able to please the Emperor. Despite your low key nature, your personality doesn't completely 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 man in a dark robe speaking with a well dressed man. They are speaking about you, but not actually speaking TO you… "Far be it from me to question orders, but I thought the whole point of this program was to create a separate elite fighting unit. Why are they now being split up and more importantly why are some being placed with us?" "Things have changed since the program's inception. Besides I would've thought the Shadow Guard would've appreciated such an honor of receiving such worthy candidates." the man dressed in black formal wear calmly retorts. "That remains to be seen. I'm sure you're fully aware of our strict guidelines on who is accepted. There are tests and rituals to go through." "So, put 'em through whatever it is you do. Look, I'd say you could benefit by having a few Eternals in your ranks, if nothing else than to keep you from getting lax." "Lax? Our group has been the eyes and ears of the Empire for centuries, and our vigilance is beyond reproach. We haven't even seen one of these so-called Eternals can do. It's all been just speculation, and if I may be so bold, a misguided appropriation of time and funds. The Empire should be providing the regular military better equipment and more of it, so that we don't have to be sent in to help them on the frontlines when we could be doing better things with our time such as keeping the Empire safe from subversives and other internal parasites." "Your concerns are irrelevant. This is the Emperor's project and he has his reasons. If I were you I'd watch your tone. For someone who doesn't question orders, one wonders if you have to be reminded that you are a servant of the Emperor and you will obey or you will be replaced." The robed individual steps towards the well dressed man before speaking. "Fortunately for you, I do serve the Emperor, for that is the only thing keeping me from ripping out your throat. Never question my loyalty again…very well I shall take these so called Eternals, but if they fail to live up to Shadow Guard standard, then they shall die like anyone else." "As you wish brother, 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 robed man. You've never seen a Shadow Guard before, but while he doesn't look quite as menacing from what you've heard about them you know that he is a force to be reckoned with by reputation alone. He walks up and down the row sizing you all up before speaking. "I am Brother Gray, 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 svelk woman, so I trust you all know by now that failure and weakness have no place here. Correct?" "Yes Brother!" you all shout in unison. "Hmm, 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 Gray stops you and immediately knows what's going on. "Oh no, you won't be fighting each other. The svelk's cultivation of mistrust and loathing in all of you has its place, but not for our purposes. As a Shadow Guard you will learn that the reliance on such emotions to be a hindrance, as all emotions are. I can see I will have to undo some of the foolishness she has instilled in you all." Time goes by and Brother Gray begins to train you in various forms of combat. It's actually similar to some of the stuff Mistress was starting to teach you as he goes on about unconventional warfare such as poisoning water supplies and assassinations. However he also teaches you and your classmates to work better as a team. One test involves fighting a strange beast called a Thought Lurker. It is one of the most grueling battles you've ever had and it doesn't require weapons at all. It takes place all in your mind and it utterly destroys a few of your classmates. It is only when you and your classmates concentrate together as one you are ultimately successful in defeating it. Academically speaking, you are still given a well-rounded education. A strong mind and knowledge wins more battles than any blade did as Brother Gray says. Brother Gray is just as uncompromising as Mistress in his training, but he is not gleeful about it at all. His verbal abuse is a cold disappointment 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 fitting in better here. It might be due to the conditioning that emotions are a hindrance and the emphasis on duty since you already had a slightly stoic personality coming in. There is a calming peace of knowing exactly what you need to be placing importance on. Despite your nature of blending into the background, you have not gone unnoticed by Brother Gray who approaches you to give you direct advice one day. "You are a little different from your fellows. I have noticed that you adapted much better to training than they did. You may even survive the ritual when the time comes, however I will give you a little advice. I can see that you do not believe your life is truly important. You believe that you feel it is merely your duty to serve and if you die in the process, then you will die. I imagine this might be the result of something that the Svelk woman did to you…in any event, this approach will not do. There is no weakness in maintaining a survival instinct while serving. Yes, you will be called upon to perform dangerous duties or even suicidal ones in the service of the Emperor, but you should always try to survive even if the odds are against you. The Shadow Guard has been doing it for centuries. Remember, the longer you survive, the longer you can continue serving the and there is no greater honor. Think on this on your next training assignment." Brother Gray's words carry much weight with you and in the years during your training you begin to discard your overly fatalistic approach to life 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. > The Shadow Guard (History Lesson) The Shadow Guard are an elite branch of the Empire's security force. Technically they aren't military, but they do help out the rank and file soldiers when assigned to. Their main task is internal security of the Empire's core regions however. Much like anything concerning the history with the Empire, the shadow's history is also a little murky, but for as long as anyone can remember, the Shadow Guard have been serving since the early days of the Empire. While the shadows are feared and respected by most across the normal population, the higher ranking military officials tend to be suspicious of them for various reasons. One of the major reasons being their religious nature as they are practically a religious order of "warrior monks". While the shadows do serve the Empire and dedicate their loyalty to the Emperor, they also worship a deity of some sort and have always done so, indeed it is supposedly how they all maintain their more magical abilities. Something like this might normally be considered a threat and the religion stamped out, but given their order's utter dedication to the Emperor for centuries they have been given some allowances that most would not receive. Not to mention that they are absolutely vital at keeping the population in check nowadays. The Shadow Guard's procedures for choosing new recruits are almost as strict as the Eternal process. Besides the usual demanding combat training, they also have to go through some sort of ritual, which the shadows keep very private. It has something to do with their religion though, and not everyone survives the process. If the initiate survives then he or she becomes a fully-fledged shadow and all the abilities and powers that come with it.

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 struggle The pain is great and you want it to be over with as quickly as possible, but you know to beg for mercy would be shameful and you don't want to die so you desperately try to push her boot off of you. Naturally you are unsuccessful and this response only enrages her further. "Insolent fool! I said beg or die! Those were your choices and you dare defy my orders?" Mistress exclaims and takes her boot off of your chest, only to begin kicking and stomping on you. You try to escape, but she bends down and roughly picks up by the collar. "Don't you dare try to run while I discipline you! YOU… WILL… O… BEY!" Mistress says while slapping your face at intervals of her verbal abuse. Finally she throws you to back to the floor. "Now get back in your seat and never defy me again! Your life is nothing! ALL of your lives are nothing! Your lives will never be anything more than warm bodies to serve the Emperor! And you will not even be able to live up to that honored status, if you do not learn obedience. Remember this." At this point you stagger back in your seat, aching all over. It hurts a lot, but despite the beating, you don't feel fear, instead you feel anger. Anger at Mistress certainly, but more at yourself for being so powerless. 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 rides you the hardest for defying her. There are more than several times where she basically pits the rest of the class against you during the combat training sessions. You suffer horrible beatings most of the time, but eventually you adapt and manage to hold your own until Mistress finds yet another way to make the fight unfair. You are obedient and follow the orders of Mistress, but internally you are harboring thoughts of resentment, hatred and defiance towards her. And so what if you are? She isn't the Emperor. That's the only person you really have to revere. 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 by yourself sitting in a chair. Everyone else in your class has been separated for reasons unknown to you. All you know right now is Mistress is speaking with a well dressed man. They are speaking about you, but not actually speaking TO you… "So just this one? Are you sure?" the well dressed man asks. "Should be thankful you have even that. The last pathetic batch of humans you had me train didn't even survive, let alone get this far. However this one is the closest for your purposes. Though by Svelk standards he would be put in the slave pits and the rest of your so called Eternals would be killed for their poor performance." Mistress mocks. "Hmm, yes and that's why your own society is doing so well now. No, we will still find uses for the others. Perhaps as military officers, or even members of the Shadow Guard and they will still be of great service to the Emperor. Still, I wish we had more than just one, oh well he will have to do. We will improve the results of the Eternal Program with the next group." At this point Mistress begins laughing. "Is something amusing?" "Yes, yes it is. Extremely. You humans and your grand schemes to hold on to power, do you really believe that this Eternal program of yours is going to make a difference? Potential external threats are the least of your concerns. Your Empire is rotting from within and your territory is succumbing to chaos every day." "And I suppose you would be an expert on such things, seeing as your own people experienced this millennia ago and still haven't even managed to rebuild a cohesive unified government again, while your so called lesser cousins have thrived." "My people were conquering this world and more, while yours were still bumbling around trying to figure out how to make fire like the pack of monkeys you evolved from! And our rulers were the gods themselves, not petty dictators who think they are!" "Yes and again I ask, what are your people doing now? They're a race of scattered mercenaries selling their services to the highest bidders with no sense of loyalty to anyone, but to themselves. Speaking of which, you are merely a guest within the Empire. While your services are valuable to us, if you speak ill of the Emperor again you can always be replaced by another money whore of your kind." Mistress' eyes narrow and she quickly grabs the man holding a dagger to his throat before speaking. "Fortunately for you, this job is paying very well. For that is the only thing keeping me from slitting your throat. Never speak to me that way again human…now leave so that I may train this so called Eternal." She says and releases him. The well dress man looks a bit shaken up, but he composes himself. "You will keep me apprised of his progress on a weekly basis, and this incident will not be forgotten!" He says and walks quickly out of the room. At this point Mistress turns to you, and you fully expect to receive a beating, but instead she questions you. "So, what did you think of that little exchange?" "It is not my place to give an opinion on the debates of my superiors. I am merely here to be trained by you so that I may better serve the Emperor." You say. "Yes, yes, yes, very nice safe and boring answer, but what do you REALLY think…I order you to tell me." You pause to gather your thoughts and then speak. "I think it is odd that you are not an Empire citizen and hold no loyalty to him, yet you are training me Mistress." "Ha ha ha, yes well it is an odd situation, but not an uncommon one. You will find that many make compromises in life." "But Mistress, how can you tell me to believe in something, that you yourself do not believe in?" "It's easy. I'm just saying what they would have me say. What do I care, I'm profiting greatly from this and at the end of the day I'm the one coming out ahead. But I think you need a better example than me, a more personal one…namely yourself." You look confused, before Mistress continues. "You hate me. I know you do, do not deny it. You don't want to put up with me, yet you obey my commands without question. Why?" "Because you are my superior Mistress, and you have been ordered…paid to train me, by the Emperor." "Ah, so if I was training you, and the Emperor was not involved, you would still obey my commands?" "Perhaps I would Mistress, since I would most likely be killed by you if I didn't obey, as you are far more skilled than I am. I would obey until there was a way to somehow kill you or even escape. "Interesting…so you would compromise you beliefs." You didn't think about it like that, but you quickly think up a retort. "No Mistress, I do not believe it would be a compromise, I would be ensuring my survival so that I may serve the Emperor longer." "Ha ha, if you say so. But tell me, does the revelation that not everyone praises your Emperor discourage or shake your own loyalty to him?" "No Mistress." "Why not? You surely know that all of this is propaganda. You've never even met your Emperor. He could be an idiotic cripple for all you know." "It doesn't matter Mistress, I wouldn't even be here if not for him. I am being trained to be an Eternal, something he himself ordered. Because of that, I already know I have been given the highest honor and a better chance than most. I owe this training, this loyalty, and this life to him regardless of what others might think." Mistress just nods at your answer, there is no sneer or smirk in her face this time. She has perhaps a look of semi-respect for you. "Very well, let us begin your training Eternal…" > Year 16 You stand alone before Mistress face to face in the room you've been trained in by her for the past four years. You're training has been grueling to say the least, you've been forced to fight various beasts and people using traditional weapons as well as battle magic. You've been subjected to harsh environment conditions not to mention the psychological torture that Mistress seems to enjoy. You can't imagine that your classmates had training this tough. "Today is the big day Eternal. Today is the day you get to kill me with your own bare hands." Mistress says with her usual wry smile. "Think you can handle that?" "If that's what my training entails today, I shall certainly do my best, Mistress." "Your best won't be good enough I assure you. Better you should just accept your death now or beg for mercy…but I believe we know you won't do either of those things mainly because you're too stupid to know your place." "If you say so Mistress." Mistress' smile becomes a disappointed frown. She would prefer you to fear her, but that's no longer going to happen so she'd at least like you to get angry which does happen from time to time. It isn't always easy maintaining a detached demeanor given how much abuse you've put up with, but if you've learned anything, it annoys the hell out of her. "Your attempt at remaining emotionless just continues to prove what a mindless fool you are. Attempting to show bravery when today is the day you know you're…" And before she can even complete her sentence you throw a punch at her face. She dodges, but doesn't quite make it and part of your fist hits the side of her cheek, which staggers her backwards. You press your attack with another punch, but are blocked when she throws up her hand creating a force shield. "Too bad, that was the only chance you're going to get." She says and knocks you to the ground with sweeping kick to your feet. You barely have to time to roll out of the way before Mistress conjures some sort of magical sword in her hand and tries to impale you with it. You get enough distance to cast firebolts at her, but again she blocks them with her barrier. She counters with some sort of ice cone, which covers you in frost and chills you to the bone before you can counter it with your own barrier. Mistress is relentless with casting spell after spell and you're getting weaker with each passing moment just trying to keep up your defenses. Mistress' magic is not only stronger than yours, but she's also had a lot more experience in maintaining her stamina while using it. If you keep this up, she'll kill you for sure. "I've seen better magic cast by half blind hedge wizards!" Mistress mocks and casts a poison cloud that suddenly envelops you within your own protective barrier. You instantly feel sick and stagger out of the cloud, dropping your barrier in the process. Taking advantage of your distraction she throws her magic sword which probably would've decapitated you had you not had your head down and vomiting up a bit of blood at the time. As it stands you merely feel the blade graze the top of your head. You look up just in time for her to conjure a new weapon, which materializes in her hand. You waste no time in conjuring one of your own to deflect the second attack she attempts to bring down on your head. "Quit struggling monkey. You're no match for me in martial combat either!" She might be right, but just like when you were five, you're not going to just accept death. With all your might you push her back with your weapon and then drop it only to grab her by the wrist with both hands and break it. Mistress makes a yelp and drops her weapon. She kicks you in the crotch and punches you in the side of the head with her one good hand. You feel pain, but try to ignore it as you trade another couple of punches and kicks with her before pulling her to the floor while crushing all your weight on her left arm which you were still holding by her broken wrist. The pair of you rolls on the floor for a moment and at this point you're severely bleeding from scratches on your face and head. She must've had a hidden blade on her as well because you definitely feel one go into your back and being twisted around. She attempts to bite your throat out, but you headbutt her in the nose and rotate her around with her left arm. You break it to the point where the bone has snapped out from the skin. She stifles her urge to cry out and instead tries to break free, but you're doing the best you can to prevent her from going anywhere by pressing all your weight on her and using your free hand to reach around to choke her. The pair of you are a mess, but that's not the weird part, the weird part is you're starting to get…excited. "(Gasp) I can feel your enthusiasm…pressing into me. Well…(gasp) is it everything you expected Eternal?" Mistress asks, which catches you so off guard you release your grip from her neck. Heavily panting and trying to push herself up off the floor with her good arm. Mistress turns her head enough so she can see your face. Her eyes still display that coldness you're used to, but there's something else there. Something…seductive. "I bet right now, you don't know whether to kill me… or fuck me." "Wha…what?" you exclaim. "Don't deny it…you've always wanted me in this way. I know how you've looked at my body lustfully during our training sessions. I know your violent primal urges. All the hatred you've built up over the years for me could only be unleashed in this way. The need to conquer and defile your enemy in every way imaginable. And who am I, but your enemy? Finish it Eternal or am I mistaken and you're lacking in that simple task as well?" She says and begins to laugh. Her taunts, her laughter, everything about her are enough to put you over the edge. The twisted thing is she's right. You do feel some sort of…the word isn't attraction…you don't know what the correct word for it would be, but you feel it. You release her arm and painfully pull the bloody dagger out of your back to slice the back of her form fitting clothing and rip most of it off of her. While she continues to taunt you, you toss the dagger aside, proceed to pull down your own breeches and thrust into her roughly from behind. From there it gets surreal as she goes from continuing to taunt you and what are presumably sounds of ecstasy. She even demands that you to continue choking her. All of this puts you in such a state of confusion that you have a hard time even finishing. This whole experience is quite unknown to you as you've only read about such activities, but certainly never engaged in them. Surely, it isn't always like this? When you've finished you briefly collapse backwards which is all the time Mistress needs to gain her advantage. She grabs the bloody dagger you pulled out your back and stabs you in the leg with it. You think she was aiming higher, but you managed to drag yourself out of the way in time to avoid such a grievous injury. Unfortunately she still manages to cast some sort of force spell and slam you against the wall with it. You can't move no matter how hard you try. Mistress, naked and bloodied from your battle approaches you with one useless broken arm and her other hand up keeping the spell with the cruel smile on her face you're used to seeing. "Look at you, you're already spent." she remarks getting closer to you as you feel her spell continuing to crush you into the wall. "All right. That will do. I don't know what the point of all this was, but I'm putting an end to it right now." Mr. Mol suddenly says. You didn't even see him enter the room, though you were sort of pre-occupied. "Mmm, interesting that you waited until after the floor show before putting an end to it Jacob. Did our actions excite you as well? Maybe you could've joined in or perhaps you just like to watch. Yes, I imagine watching is something a eunuch like yourself is only capable of." Mistress releases her spell as Mr. Mol comes closer to the pair of you. You slump to the floor exhausted. "The Emperor says he's ready now and there is no more need to test him." Mr. Mol says. "Maybe not for your precious Emperor, but I needed to test him for myself." Mistress replies. "For what purpose?" "Just to see if he was up to the challenge, but he was severely lacking in every way just as I suspected. Take your creation Jacob, I am done with him." Still in discussion with Mr. Mol, Mistress isn't paying attention to you at all. You are beneath her notice now and you aren't sure if that makes you madder than the fact that she just defeated you in battle when you thought for sure you had her beat. You stare at the dagger in your leg and think how easy it would be to use it on that bitch while she isn't paying attention. > You stab Mistress with the dagger Mistress has been playing sadistic sick games with you for years and now she's just "done" with you? There is no way you're going to let her continue to walk this world. You pull the dagger out of your leg and as quietly as you can you stand up. Unfortunately Mr. Mol spoils your surprise attack by noticing you and speaking. "You. Report to the medical…hey what are you doing?" he says realizing that you're now rushing as fast as you can with dagger in hand. Mistress turns around just in time to stop you plunging the dagger into her. She casts some sort of lightning bolt into your chest with her hand good hand, which throws you back into the wall. Your whole body goes into a convulsion from the shock. "Insolent worm! You dare to continue with your foolish attempt to kill your betters? Since you obviously failed to learn this lesson, I'm going to have to teach it to you again!" Mistress shouts before unleashing another lighting blast and this time she hits you with a continual charge. Your body begins to sizzle from the inside out and the last thing you hear is Mr. Mol screaming at her to stop as the Emperor wants you alive. "The Emperor's just going to have to make a new Eternal then, because this one's done." She replies and kicks your blackened burned body.

Year 16 You stand alone before Mistress face to face in the room you've been trained in by her for the past four years. You're training has been grueling to say the least, you've been forced to fight various beasts and people using traditional weapons as well as battle magic. You've been subjected to harsh environment conditions not to mention the psychological torture that Mistress seems to enjoy. You can't imagine that your classmates had training this tough. "Today is the big day Eternal. Today is the day you get to kill me with your own bare hands." Mistress says with her usual wry smile. "Think you can handle that?" "If that's what my training entails today, I shall certainly do my best, Mistress." "Your best won't be good enough I assure you. Better you should just accept your death now or beg for mercy…but I believe we know you won't do either of those things mainly because you're too stupid to know your place." "If you say so Mistress." Mistress' smile becomes a disappointed frown. She would prefer you to fear her, but that's no longer going to happen so she'd at least like you to get angry which does happen from time to time. It isn't always easy maintaining a detached demeanor given how much abuse you've put up with, but if you've learned anything, it annoys the hell out of her. "Your attempt at remaining emotionless just continues to prove what a mindless fool you are. Attempting to show bravery when today is the day you know you're…" And before she can even complete her sentence you throw a punch at her face. She dodges, but doesn't quite make it and part of your fist hits the side of her cheek, which staggers her backwards. You press your attack with another punch, but are blocked when she throws up her hand creating a force shield. "Too bad, that was the only chance you're going to get." She says and knocks you to the ground with sweeping kick to your feet. You barely have to time to roll out of the way before Mistress conjures some sort of magical sword in her hand and tries to impale you with it. You get enough distance to cast firebolts at her, but again she blocks them with her barrier. She counters with some sort of ice cone, which covers you in frost and chills you to the bone before you can counter it with your own barrier. Mistress is relentless with casting spell after spell and you're getting weaker with each passing moment just trying to keep up your defenses. Mistress' magic is not only stronger than yours, but she's also had a lot more experience in maintaining her stamina while using it. If you keep this up, she'll kill you for sure. "I've seen better magic cast by half blind hedge wizards!" Mistress mocks and casts a poison cloud that suddenly envelops you within your own protective barrier. You instantly feel sick and stagger out of the cloud, dropping your barrier in the process. Taking advantage of your distraction she throws her magic sword which probably would've decapitated you had you not had your head down and vomiting up a bit of blood at the time. As it stands you merely feel the blade graze the top of your head. You look up just in time for her to conjure a new weapon, which materializes in her hand. You waste no time in conjuring one of your own to deflect the second attack she attempts to bring down on your head. "Quit struggling monkey. You're no match for me in martial combat either!" She might be right, but just like when you were five, you're not going to just accept death. With all your might you push her back with your weapon and then drop it only to grab her by the wrist with both hands and break it. Mistress makes a yelp and drops her weapon. She kicks you in the crotch and punches you in the side of the head with her one good hand. You feel pain, but try to ignore it as you trade another couple of punches and kicks with her before pulling her to the floor while crushing all your weight on her left arm which you were still holding by her broken wrist. The pair of you rolls on the floor for a moment and at this point you're severely bleeding from scratches on your face and head. She must've had a hidden blade on her as well because you definitely feel one go into your back and being twisted around. She attempts to bite your throat out, but you headbutt her in the nose and rotate her around with her left arm. You break it to the point where the bone has snapped out from the skin. She stifles her urge to cry out and instead tries to break free, but you're doing the best you can to prevent her from going anywhere by pressing all your weight on her and using your free hand to reach around to choke her. The pair of you are a mess, but that's not the weird part, the weird part is you're starting to get…excited. "(Gasp) I can feel your enthusiasm…pressing into me. Well…(gasp) is it everything you expected Eternal?" Mistress asks, which catches you so off guard you release your grip from her neck. Heavily panting and trying to push herself up off the floor with her good arm. Mistress turns her head enough so she can see your face. Her eyes still display that coldness you're used to, but there's something else there. Something…seductive. "I bet right now, you don't know whether to kill me… or fuck me." "Wha…what?" you exclaim. "Don't deny it…you've always wanted me in this way. I know how you've looked at my body lustfully during our training sessions. I know your violent primal urges. All the hatred you've built up over the years for me could only be unleashed in this way. The need to conquer and defile your enemy in every way imaginable. And who am I, but your enemy? Finish it Eternal or am I mistaken and you're lacking in that simple task as well?" She says and begins to laugh. Her taunts, her laughter, everything about her are enough to put you over the edge. The twisted thing is she's right. You do feel some sort of…the word isn't attraction…you don't know what the correct word for it would be, but you feel it. You release her arm and painfully pull the bloody dagger out of your back to slice the back of her form fitting clothing and rip most of it off of her. While she continues to taunt you, you toss the dagger aside, proceed to pull down your own breeches and thrust into her roughly from behind. From there it gets surreal as she goes from continuing to taunt you and what are presumably sounds of ecstasy. She even demands that you to continue choking her. All of this puts you in such a state of confusion that you have a hard time even finishing. This whole experience is quite unknown to you as you've only read about such activities, but certainly never engaged in them. Surely, it isn't always like this? When you've finished you briefly collapse backwards which is all the time Mistress needs to gain her advantage. She grabs the bloody dagger you pulled out your back and stabs you in the leg with it. You think she was aiming higher, but you managed to drag yourself out of the way in time to avoid such a grievous injury. Unfortunately she still manages to cast some sort of force spell and slam you against the wall with it. You can't move no matter how hard you try. Mistress, naked and bloodied from your battle approaches you with one useless broken arm and her other hand up keeping the spell with the cruel smile on her face you're used to seeing. "Look at you, you're already spent." she remarks getting closer to you as you feel her spell continuing to crush you into the wall. "All right. That will do. I don't know what the point of all this was, but I'm putting an end to it right now." Mr. Mol suddenly says. You didn't even see him enter the room, though you were sort of pre-occupied. "Mmm, interesting that you waited until after the floor show before putting an end to it Jacob. Did our actions excite you as well? Maybe you could've joined in or perhaps you just like to watch. Yes, I imagine watching is something a eunuch like yourself is only capable of." Mistress releases her spell as Mr. Mol comes closer to the pair of you. You slump to the floor exhausted. "The Emperor says he's ready now and there is no more need to test him." Mr. Mol says. "Maybe not for your precious Emperor, but I needed to test him for myself." Mistress replies. "For what purpose?" "Just to see if he was up to the challenge, but he was severely lacking in every way just as I suspected. Take your creation Jacob, I am done with him." Still in discussion with Mr. Mol, Mistress isn't paying attention to you at all. You are beneath her notice now and you aren't sure if that makes you madder than the fact that she just defeated you in battle when you thought for sure you had her beat. You stare at the dagger in your leg and think how easy it would be to use it on that bitch while she isn't paying attention. > You resist the urge As much as you would like to, you know it would be folly. You're in no condition to attack again and you've already underestimated her enough today. Besides, she's probably expecting you to attack her, perhaps even hoping you will just so she has the excuse to kill you. In the meantime, Mr. Mol has stopped speaking with her and points over at you. "You. Report to the medical ward and get yourself healed up as quickly as you can. You've got an important meeting soon and the appropriate clothing for it will be provided for while you're there. And for the Emperor's sake, put your damn pants back on before you leave this room." "Uh, yes sir." You say sheepishly. Mr. Mol gives a disapproving look and shakes his head before walking out the door. You pull the knife out of your leg and stagger up to retrieve your pants. While putting them back on, you see Mistress near the door casting some sort of spell over her broken arm. She appears to be healing it all on her own and within the moment it takes you to get over to the exit, she has healed it completely. Once again she turns her attention back to you. "Too bad you can't heal yourself so easily, but I couldn't teach you all of my tricks now could I? Mind if I have my dagger back? No wait, why don't you keep it as a reminder of our quality time together…and your complete and utter defeat." Mistress says with a big grin. She sees your hand tightening around the handle of the dagger. "Do it. I know you wanted to earlier when my back was turned to you." She grabs your hand with the knife and presses it in her stomach and then moves it upward between her breasts. She presses deep enough that the point is cutting her skin a bit. "Thrust that blade deep into me. This is your best chance Eternal." You want to, you REALLY want to…but this is just another head game she's playing. There's some sort of trick, you know it. "No, I am to report to the medical ward immediately." You say trying not to look into her eyes or focus on her naked body. "Ah yes, duty calls. Very well. Another day perhaps." She says and then lets go of your hand only to rub up against the side of you and press her lips near your ear. "You were right not to do it. I would've killed you. And this…my dear Eternal, is why you will never beat mommy. Remember this." She says and licks the side of your face followed by a sensual kiss to your lips as her hand rubs your chest. Once again your hormones impede your better judgment and the temporary distraction is just another tactic for her to hurt you in some way. She suddenly bites your lip hard enough to draw blood and then spits the blood back in your face laughing the whole time. It is at this moment that even within your short amount of years on this world, you can't ever imagine encountering a more cruel and twisted creature. If there are other such people, beings, or whatever, Mistress has managed to completely desensitize you to the point that you aren't going to be surprised by them. But then maybe that was one of the things she was trying to teach you. With Mistress' laughter still ringing in your ears, you exit the room holding your bleeding lip and head to the medical ward. While you're waiting you examine your last "gift" from Mistress. It is a very fine weapon and probably svelk made given that its blade is made of an uncommon material. You want to say its mithril, but you can't exactly be sure since studying various types of metal wasn't really in your schedule. It certainly isn't common steel that's for sure. As for the hilt you can't even guess, except that it's some sort of dark metal, sturdy and has a simple design. You eventually put it away when the medical mages are ready to help you. You're healed relatively quickly by the medical mages. Apparently you are not to waste time lying around in a bed, as this meeting of yours is very important. When you put on the new clothes that have been provided, they are of a higher quality cloth and definitely fancier than what you're used to. You don't have wait long before Mr. Mol arrives. "There you are, hmmm well you look presentable enough I suppose. I trust you're all healed up and feeling better?" Mr. Mol says looking you up and down. "Yes, much better sir." "Good, because you're going to meet the Emperor himself. This is a great honor for you Eternal, I hope you realize this." This revelation that you're going to meet the Emperor in person is more than enough to put you in better spirits. "Of course sir. I know that the Emperor is all-powerful and all seeing and I should be grateful for my existence to him. And I am." "Well, don't tell me, tell him when you meet him. Let us be on our way." You follow Mr. Mol outside, something you rarely do. You're usually cooped up inside the training facility all the time. A carriage waits for you and you enter it with Mr. Mol. Along the way to the capital Mr. Mol tells you how you should act and various other things to expect. The one thing he doesn't tell you is what the Emperor looks like, but you suppose you'll find out soon enough. When you reach the capital Qale, it's just as big as you've heard. Though you sort of thought that everyone would be dressed similar to you and the place would be practically paved in gold. Not that you're disappointed, but it's just much…different than you expected. The palace on the other hand is as impressive as you thought it would be. The inside and out. Royal guards are everywhere and you see more than a few people in the fancy clothes similar to your own and Mol's. You expect to enter a grand throne room, but Mr. Mol tells you that the Emperor hasn't used the throne room in all the time he has known him. In fact, from what he's heard, the Emperor hasn't used it in centuries since he rarely meets with anyone directly anymore except with a few trusted associates. With this sort of information, you truly realize what a really rare opportunity this is and how proud you are that you're getting to experience it. After going down a long stairway and through several corridors, you eventually come big empty room with a giant sturdy silver door with two equally large black statues on either side, which are made of some sort of crystal. They appear to be warrior figures of some sort, but when you look at the face, they have none; or rather their face is that of a skull. Each one carries a battle-axe in their hands, which arc over the top of the door. Mr. Mol approaches the door and whispers something and in a few moments, the door creeks open just enough for the pair of you to enter. The room opens up and all you see are shelves and row after row of books. You'd almost think you'd stepped into a library of some sort. After the rows of books the room opens up to a more spacious area, which consists of luxurious furnishings from the carpet to the tapestries on the walls. And there in a fancy leather chair sits an old man in a robe reading a book. You draw his attention when you and Mol approach and stands up. Is this the Emperor? If it is, your perceptions have been challenged again. He doesn't look anything like the figure you imagined. "Ah, Jacob. Good of you to be on time as usual. And this…this must be the one I've heard so much about! So am I everything you expected me to be? Well? Speak up son!" "Uh…yes my Emperor?" "You're a bad liar son. I thought your previous teacher would've taught you better in that regard. Oh well, you're still young and I can probably teach you better than anyone." "Teach me my Emperor?" "Of course teach you, you'll be learning everything you need to know from me from now on." "I…I'm honored my Emperor!" "And you can stop with that my emperor nonsense every time you address me. I'm not Mistress, or whatever the hell that svelk bitch is calling herself these days. I don't demand some sort of power trip formality." "Of course my…of course." "Ha ha! They told me you learned quick! Now let's get to…eh? Jacob you still here? Don't you have something important to do?" "Yes, but I needed your input sir, it's about the shadows, something needs to be done with them." "Don't you have those other two eternals to use as spies? Wasn't that your idea?" "Yes, but…" "Well don't bother me with it again until you find out more. Now leave us." The Emperor says and waves Jacob away. Jacob looks like he wants to say more, but he stops and instead just nods and makes his exit, leaving you alone with the Emperor who turns his attention back to you. "So, back to you son. Where do you see yourself in say…oh five years?" "Well, I suppose on the battlefield destroying your enemies and serving you of course." "Of course you would, if you were some grunt destined for sword fodder. No you're destined for much greater things. That, I promise you. But we can talk about that all in good time for right now I'll bet you have some questions of your own. Go ahead, ask me anything and I assure you there is no question that will be too personal. If you ask something I feel you do not need to know then I shall not tell you. Simple enough right?" "Yes, sounds reasonable." "Good, so why don't you start?" The first problem is that you don't even know WHERE to start. You eventually do ask some things you're curious about and the Emperor is very forth coming with information. You do not want to take advantage his kindness though so you stop after you feel most of your curiosity has been sated. Besides, there will be opportunity to learn more later. And so the Emperor begins his process of mentoring you… > Year 19 The day of reckoning is coming soon for all traitors; particularly the shadows and you're just itching to play your part. It was you after all that influenced the Emperor on such an important decision. You just wonder what that role will be since the Emperor is currently explaining part of the plan to you and you're still not entirely sure of how this is going to play out. "But isn't the military already going to wipe out the shadows?" you ask. "I told you son, I had a contingency plan for the shadows a long time ago. Our military isn't even going to be involved for the most part. Maybe a few soldiers to mop up a few escapees, but their subterranean fort called Gloom is also serving as their handy underground tomb…heh that rhymed. Anyway what I'm saying is I have an old alliance with the derro and the fort the shadows are currently using as their headquarters was originally created by the derro who abandoned it because there wasn't any worthwhile mining prospects in the area any longer. The derro still know every secret passage and inch of that place and can launch a surprise attack at anytime. And before you even ask, yes they'll be MORE than enough to finish off the shadows. Personally I wish I could use them against the Felkans, but that's not meant to be since they don't do favors like this on a regular basis." "Can we be sure to get all of the shadows though? Won't a lot of them be on topside?" "Well we're trying to coordinate the attack so there won't be a lot of shadows on the surface at the time. However we do keep track of their patrol routes and schedules, we even try to keep track of their unofficial patrol routes that they seem to prefer. Basically the derro will get most of them underground, the more tedious thing isn't getting rid of the shadows, it'll be wiping out any of non-shadow sympathizers they've recruited to their cause. I might use specialized teams to take care of that…in fact I think I'll put you in that group. It'll give you an opportunity to put those combat skills of yours to good use! And it'll also give you a good opportunity to be in demonstrating your ability to lead since I'm also putting you in charge of it." You don't know what to say. Not that you're displeased with such an opportunity, its just you really weren't expecting it. "I won't fail you Emperor." You remark. "Of course you won't since it's not an option, but as I said I have complete faith in you. Now I'm going to tell you right now all of them have got more battlefield experience and in some cases several decades, but don't let that intimidate you. YOU are in charge. Never forget that." The Emperor goes on to explain that while you'll be working with a specific group, you naturally won't be working without the full support of the Empire. He states that there will be other groups like yours scouring the countryside for shadows and any other potential rebel types. "Most of those scum are probably going to be hiding out in that backwards swamp province of Delerg, so that's where you'll be heading. It'll probably be a good idea to do a purge anyway, so you've got full permission to use whatever means to stomp out anyone who even remotely is showing signs of rebellious behavior. The derro are still getting prepared, so you'll have a little time to get to know your team before we stop this misguided revolution before it starts. You'll head to Delerg in a couple days and await further orders there." Your trip to Delerg is an uneventful carriage ride, though it does give you time to see a little more of the Empire countryside. Along the way you read up a little more about the Delerg area and how it used to be the original home of the shadows. It was there where the Emperor first made his alliance with them. You also refresh yourself on the shadows themselves and how they typically go about fighting. Their favored tactic is to remain cloaked invisibly and then launch a sneak attack followed by hasting themselves to finish off anyone else. When you reach Delerg you stop in a rundown town appropriately called Sinkhole. From there you are told the rest of your team is meeting you there. No sooner have you gotten off the carriage when you're approached by a large scarred orc in battle armor. "You the Emperor's boy?" he asks in a gruff tone, though much more coherent than you were lead to expect from his kind. "I am in his service and was sent here, if that's what you mean. Who are you?" "All business, I guess you're him. I'm Captain Gruz at your command I suppose since I've been informed that you're in charge of this thing. The most of your command is in the local barracks. The svelk mercs have been busy scouting though, better that they stay out our way until its time anyway." "Wait, svelk mercs?" "Yeah, they're trying to find any hidden safe houses and such that the shadows might have scattered about in the deeper reaches of the swamp. Figured you knew seeing as you're buddies with the Emperor and all." "I'm not his buddy, I'm his dedicated agent who is honored to serve him to the best of my ability!" you say starting to get annoyed by the orc's choice of words. "Okay, I meant no disrespect…I will say though you need to lighten up a bit lad. Even the other Eternals I trained weren't quite as serious as you seem to be." While this is news to you that he was a trainer to some of your other classmates, you don't see as that having any bearing on how he should tell you how to behave. "Well YOU didn't train me, because I surpassed my classmates! I survived ordeals that would've most likely killed them! So do not presume to tell me how I should act!" Captain Gruz's stoic expression cracks a bit, you at first think his face is going to turn into an expression of anger, but instead he smirks a bit. "Mistress trained you didn't she?" he asks. "Yes, and what of it?" you snap. "Nothing, just explains some things. Come then, I'm sure you'll want to talk to the troops and enlighten them how you're going to be running things. Now I know this is your first command, but don't worry, I'll be here to give advice and make sure the rest of the troops take you seriously." "If I want your advice, I'll ask for it captain. And the troops should be taking me seriously regardless of your presence. I am here by the orders of the Emperor himself! That should be more than enough motivation for them to obey my commands!" "…I suppose so sir." Gruz answers though you get the impression he'd like to say more. When you and Gruz enter the barracks, you're welcomed to a surprising sight. It's filled with orcs! First svelk mercenaries and now orc troops! You didn't know you were going to be leading two distinctly different races! When Gruz notices your expression, his own is one of amusement. The other orcs stop their loud discussions and begin to study you. They appear unimpressed. "Ey cappin' ooo dis humie in da fancy leather armor? You get 'im from the local 'orehouse fer me? Har har har har!" one orc says which is followed by loud laughter from the rest. "Alright everyone calm down this is…" Gruz tries to interject, but you stop him. "I can speak for myself!" you say realizing that you must take an aggressive stance. It is clear that the Emperor put you in this situation to force you to deal with surprises and how well you can handle commanding unruly troops. "All you need to know about me is that I am your superior for the duration of this operation and you will cease behaving like the near mindless beasts you are and start earning your keep for the Empire by following my orders!" This works on a few of the orcs, but the outspoken one has decided to keep pressing the issue of challenging your authority. "Beast iz it? I'll have you know ima fookin' lady!" the orc says standing up. To be quite honest you thought the orc was male, but between the battle armor and ugliness of all of them they all look alike to you. "I don't care what gender you are, you WILL follow my orders or…" "Or whut? Whachu gonna do?" the female orc says getting closer and staring down at you ready for a fight. You look over at Gruz who just gives you a look that expresses "Hey, you said you didn't need my help." and you're right you don't need his help. You know how to handle this. You scan another orc who is egging on the loud female. The orc looks fairly formidable and is on the larger side (though they're all bigger than you). "HEY YOU!" you shout out to the orc. "Huh? Whut?" "You male?" "Yeah." "Good." You say and immediately attack him after pushing past the female orc. While this battle could be over within seconds if you used magic, you can't do that here. The orcs need to respect your natural battle skills if they're going to properly respect you. Of course you need to beat said orc first and one you've decided to make an example of isn't about to just let that happen and readies his morning star. > You go for his eyes and face You attempt to slam the pommel of your sword into the orc's face, but he anticipates that move and blocks it with ease. Using his strength he manages to push you away so hard that you end up tripping backwards over a small stool on the floor. Now that he has a bit of distance he swings his morning star at you and you just barely manage to get out of the way before it crushes the stool you just tripped over. You grab the chain of the morning star in an attempt to take it away from him, but he jerks back so hard that you end up being pulled with it and land right in front of his feet. Then you get a hefty steel boot to the face, specifically the nose…which unfortunately due to the angle of the kick, the bone inside goes inside you brain. You convulse on the floor, gurgling and bleeding from the nose and mouth for a few seconds before dying. Captain Gruz is naturally furious at his subordinate who insists that he didn't mean to kill you and can't help that humans are so weak and squishy. Ever the wily one, Gruz tells some of the other orcs to get rid of your body and ultimately blames your disappearance on the svelk scouts. The svelk being who they are, are not believed when they protest their innocence and those that don't immediately flee are rounded up and executed by the Empire. The Emperor laments your death for a few days, but soon comes to the conclusion that if you were dispatched so easily then you must not have been worthy anyway.

Year 19 The day of reckoning is coming soon for all traitors; particularly the shadows and you're just itching to play your part. It was you after all that influenced the Emperor on such an important decision. You just wonder what that role will be since the Emperor is currently explaining part of the plan to you and you're still not entirely sure of how this is going to play out. "But isn't the military already going to wipe out the shadows?" you ask. "I told you son, I had a contingency plan for the shadows a long time ago. Our military isn't even going to be involved for the most part. Maybe a few soldiers to mop up a few escapees, but their subterranean fort called Gloom is also serving as their handy underground tomb…heh that rhymed. Anyway what I'm saying is I have an old alliance with the derro and the fort the shadows are currently using as their headquarters was originally created by the derro who abandoned it because there wasn't any worthwhile mining prospects in the area any longer. The derro still know every secret passage and inch of that place and can launch a surprise attack at anytime. And before you even ask, yes they'll be MORE than enough to finish off the shadows. Personally I wish I could use them against the Felkans, but that's not meant to be since they don't do favors like this on a regular basis." "Can we be sure to get all of the shadows though? Won't a lot of them be on topside?" "Well we're trying to coordinate the attack so there won't be a lot of shadows on the surface at the time. However we do keep track of their patrol routes and schedules, we even try to keep track of their unofficial patrol routes that they seem to prefer. Basically the derro will get most of them underground, the more tedious thing isn't getting rid of the shadows, it'll be wiping out any of non-shadow sympathizers they've recruited to their cause. I might use specialized teams to take care of that…in fact I think I'll put you in that group. It'll give you an opportunity to put those combat skills of yours to good use! And it'll also give you a good opportunity to be in demonstrating your ability to lead since I'm also putting you in charge of it." You don't know what to say. Not that you're displeased with such an opportunity, its just you really weren't expecting it. "I won't fail you Emperor." You remark. "Of course you won't since it's not an option, but as I said I have complete faith in you. Now I'm going to tell you right now all of them have got more battlefield experience and in some cases several decades, but don't let that intimidate you. YOU are in charge. Never forget that." The Emperor goes on to explain that while you'll be working with a specific group, you naturally won't be working without the full support of the Empire. He states that there will be other groups like yours scouring the countryside for shadows and any other potential rebel types. "Most of those scum are probably going to be hiding out in that backwards swamp province of Delerg, so that's where you'll be heading. It'll probably be a good idea to do a purge anyway, so you've got full permission to use whatever means to stomp out anyone who even remotely is showing signs of rebellious behavior. The derro are still getting prepared, so you'll have a little time to get to know your team before we stop this misguided revolution before it starts. You'll head to Delerg in a couple days and await further orders there." Your trip to Delerg is an uneventful carriage ride, though it does give you time to see a little more of the Empire countryside. Along the way you read up a little more about the Delerg area and how it used to be the original home of the shadows. It was there where the Emperor first made his alliance with them. You also refresh yourself on the shadows themselves and how they typically go about fighting. Their favored tactic is to remain cloaked invisibly and then launch a sneak attack followed by hasting themselves to finish off anyone else. When you reach Delerg you stop in a rundown town appropriately called Sinkhole. From there you are told the rest of your team is meeting you there. No sooner have you gotten off the carriage when you're approached by a large scarred orc in battle armor. "You the Emperor's boy?" he asks in a gruff tone, though much more coherent than you were lead to expect from his kind. "I am in his service and was sent here, if that's what you mean. Who are you?" "All business, I guess you're him. I'm Captain Gruz at your command I suppose since I've been informed that you're in charge of this thing. The most of your command is in the local barracks. The svelk mercs have been busy scouting though, better that they stay out our way until its time anyway." "Wait, svelk mercs?" "Yeah, they're trying to find any hidden safe houses and such that the shadows might have scattered about in the deeper reaches of the swamp. Figured you knew seeing as you're buddies with the Emperor and all." "I'm not his buddy, I'm his dedicated agent who is honored to serve him to the best of my ability!" you say starting to get annoyed by the orc's choice of words. "Okay, I meant no disrespect…I will say though you need to lighten up a bit lad. Even the other Eternals I trained weren't quite as serious as you seem to be." While this is news to you that he was a trainer to some of your other classmates, you don't see as that having any bearing on how he should tell you how to behave. "Well YOU didn't train me, because I surpassed my classmates! I survived ordeals that would've most likely killed them! So do not presume to tell me how I should act!" Captain Gruz's stoic expression cracks a bit, you at first think his face is going to turn into an expression of anger, but instead he smirks a bit. "Mistress trained you didn't she?" he asks. "Yes, and what of it?" you snap. "Nothing, just explains some things. Come then, I'm sure you'll want to talk to the troops and enlighten them how you're going to be running things. Now I know this is your first command, but don't worry, I'll be here to give advice and make sure the rest of the troops take you seriously." "If I want your advice, I'll ask for it captain. And the troops should be taking me seriously regardless of your presence. I am here by the orders of the Emperor himself! That should be more than enough motivation for them to obey my commands!" "…I suppose so sir." Gruz answers though you get the impression he'd like to say more. When you and Gruz enter the barracks, you're welcomed to a surprising sight. It's filled with orcs! First svelk mercenaries and now orc troops! You didn't know you were going to be leading two distinctly different races! When Gruz notices your expression, his own is one of amusement. The other orcs stop their loud discussions and begin to study you. They appear unimpressed. "Ey cappin' ooo dis humie in da fancy leather armor? You get 'im from the local 'orehouse fer me? Har har har har!" one orc says which is followed by loud laughter from the rest. "Alright everyone calm down this is…" Gruz tries to interject, but you stop him. "I can speak for myself!" you say realizing that you must take an aggressive stance. It is clear that the Emperor put you in this situation to force you to deal with surprises and how well you can handle commanding unruly troops. "All you need to know about me is that I am your superior for the duration of this operation and you will cease behaving like the near mindless beasts you are and start earning your keep for the Empire by following my orders!" This works on a few of the orcs, but the outspoken one has decided to keep pressing the issue of challenging your authority. "Beast iz it? I'll have you know ima fookin' lady!" the orc says standing up. To be quite honest you thought the orc was male, but between the battle armor and ugliness of all of them they all look alike to you. "I don't care what gender you are, you WILL follow my orders or…" "Or whut? Whachu gonna do?" the female orc says getting closer and staring down at you ready for a fight. You look over at Gruz who just gives you a look that expresses "Hey, you said you didn't need my help." and you're right you don't need his help. You know how to handle this. You scan another orc who is egging on the loud female. The orc looks fairly formidable and is on the larger side (though they're all bigger than you). "HEY YOU!" you shout out to the orc. "Huh? Whut?" "You male?" "Yeah." "Good." You say and immediately attack him after pushing past the female orc. While this battle could be over within seconds if you used magic, you can't do that here. The orcs need to respect your natural battle skills if they're going to properly respect you. Of course you need to beat said orc first and one you've decided to make an example of isn't about to just let that happen and readies his morning star. > You go for his legs The orc assumes you're going to go for his head, but unless you're trying to kill them, merely smashing an orc in the face with anything less than an iron maul is likely to just piss them off, so while he guards up, you strike at his legs. Naturally he's still armored down there, but he's taken a bit off guard when you duck down start chopping your sword at his shin protectors. Since your own face is now closer to his feet the orc attempts to kick you in the face and that's what you were hoping for. You drop your sword and catch his foot so he's at your complete mercy. The orc is already so off balance that you barely even need to shove him so he crashes to the floor. As he tries to get up, now you smash a heavy-duty wooden chair over his head. It doesn't break the first time, but when you do it again three more times the legs you were holding loosen enough that the rest of the chair flies from your grasp. While his helmet is protecting him somewhat, the repeated impact of the chair to his head is still enough to keep him dazed. In fact he ends up spitting out a couple of teeth. Despite this, he still seems as if he's going to continue to oppose you, but you see him briefly look at Gruz who seems to give him a certain look back. The orc then puts up a hand as if to say he yields. You accept his capitulation. Victorious, you've made it quite clear you are not to be questioned. The rest of the orcs stop their jeering at you and a few go over to help their companion. Gruz walks over to you and his expression is now one of being impressed. "Well I guess you definitely walk the walk. You recognized that by beating the head in of one of the bigger males that you'd earn more respect than beating the female that was openly mocking you. You also weren't trying to kill him, which shows that you were just trying to establish dominance rather than punishment. I'm guessing the Emperor must've told you about orc culture?" "Not really, I just sort of guessed." "Ha ha ha ha! Well I suppose we usually aren't that hard to figure out. Though you might have more problems on your hands now. Looks like you impressed the lady over there." You look over where Gruz is pointing and it's the same female orc that was mocking you earlier. Again its difficult for you to tell exactly, but from Gruz's suggestion and the way the orc is blinking (fluttering?) her eyes you can only make one conclusion. "She's…she's not flirting with me is she?" you ask in hesitation. "She was flirting with you the moment you came in the door!" Gruz laughs. Not wishing to think about that any further, you call everyone to attention and explain how things are going to be done in an organized manner and how you don't want to leave anything to chance when it comes to this mission given that it is of vital importance to the Empire. They seem to understand, though Gruz sometimes reinforces the point to them in a more direct manner. You ask Gruz when the svelk are due to arrive back with their report and he says they should be back within a day or two. Seeing as you haven't much else to do, you just wait for the svelk and your orders to proceed with your mission for the next couple days. You don't interact too much with the orcs though you do converse with Gruz about minor things concerning the mission as well as your increasing annoyance that the svelk still haven't reported in yet. "We're paying these fools good money to do a job, is it too much for them to act like professionals?" you exclaim. "With the svelk? It's too much to ask them to do anything. Though it is rather odd they haven't reported yet. Even they tend to obey the rule of money unless someone else has offered them more." "Wait, what are you saying? You think the svelk are in league with the shadows and were bribed?" "Probably not. The shadows aren't known for hording wealth and anything valuable they might own is probably sacred to their god or something. I'd be more inclined to believe they got themselves discovered and perhaps even ambushed. For all we know they're all dead and we've just tipped our hand." "Well, we'll continue to wait for the official word, besides the svelk have been the ones doing the scouting correct? We can't very well attack anything if we don't have a target." Gruz nods at your decision and goes back to what he was doing. Another couple days pass and at last the svelk do show up. "Ugh. Tyren, did we really have to come back to this place? The stench of these green beasts is offensive." One of them says as he enters. "I know, but apparently the person we're supposed to report our findings to should be here now…hey any of you foul smelling gentlemen seen our fearless leader yet?" this Tyren shouts. You guess he's the svelk captain. As irritated as the orcs are by the svelk's words, you're more irritated by them for everything else. "I'm in charge of this operation, and where the hell have you been, you were supposed to report in days ago!" You exclaim. Tyren looks at you as if he's unimpressed by you barking orders at him and continues to remain dismissive. "So we're here now, is it time to attack or something?" he replies. "No, but as I said, you should've reported in days ago." "So what's the big deal? Maybe you're not aware of this, but scouting this swamp isn't exactly the quickest thing to do." "I don't want to hear your lame excuses! You could've easily sent back a single messenger to give me an update!" "Couldn't do that, I needed all my men in case we ran into trouble. Dangerous business out there, I'm sure you know." The svelk has an answer for everything and him giving an arrogant smirk the whole time isn't helping matters. It reminds you of HER and you begin to get angrier. Captain Gruz starts to notice and even interjects trying to smooth things over. "Tyren I know it's difficult, but you might want to rein in the whole smug svelk act that your people are so proud of. This man isn't just your superior, he's a direct rep from the Emperor himself." "Maybe he's YOUR superior orc, but he's not mine. Nobody fucking tells me how to do my fucking job. And I have a very hard time believing that this young whelp is a representation of anything other than a sign of how desperate the Empire is getting for officers!" Something within you snaps and all you can see is a svelk you want to kill for all the shit Mistress put you through. "Fucking bitch!" you utter and unleash a small ball of flame into the face of Tyren. He screams in agony as the flesh on his face burns. The rest of the svelk are taken by surprise by this move, though they don't do anything to stop you. You kick Tyren to the floor while he desperately tries to put the flames on his face out. You help him put the flames out by smashing his face in with your fist repeatedly. Unlike the tougher orc bone structure, the bones of a svelk aren't as resilient and you can hear the crunching sound of his nose, jaw and skull cracking as you continue to do major mayhem on his face. Tyren's face is a mass of burnt gory meat at this point yet you still aren't done. That's when you take your dagger and scoop his eyes out with it. As you carve out the two bloody orbs, the shrieking is enough that the residents of Sinkhole who happen to be walking outside the barracks quickly run home in fear. Your actions while excessive are probably made slightly more disturbing due to the fact that you're muttering incoherently and making small giggling noises the whole time you're doing them. It's enough to establish to everyone that they're obviously in the presence of someone who isn't just in charge, but also may well be a madman. One things for sure, after Tyren's makes his last gurgling pleas while you're slitting his throat and you're up to your forearms in his blood, nobody is thinking about pissing you off now. You stand up from your bloody work feeling surprisingly much better. Happy even. "Remember this." Is all you say to the group of svelk, before you turn to go to your own private quarters. The next day Captain Gruz gives you the scout report from the svelk. You thank him and go over some strategies since you're feeling in a better mood now. Gruz is all too willing to give his opinions on how certain places should be approached and handled. He really does have some good ideas. Makes you wonder if you weren't being a little too hard on him when you first met him. "Captain, when the orders come in, I want you to be in charge of a second team. We'll cover more ground that way and they'll be less of a chance for potential rebels to escape." You say. "Are you sure sir, you don't think we'd be better off keeping a larger force together? I've always found that it's always preferable to have more numbers than you potentially need. But you're in charge of course." Just as you're about to discuss and ponder the pros and cons of each plan, a messenger walks in. It's the official orders. Looks like the time for planning is over. > You go with your plan While you're sure Gruz probably means well, you were put in charge of this mission and you're not going to second guess your own judgment, which has been sound so far in dealing with the situation. "We'll proceed with my plan and split the team up into two strike forces with you commanding one of them." You say. "As you say sir." "Did the svelk report say they saw any actual shadows at any of these places?" "Not at most of the locations as they seem to be just safe houses for normal rebels, but there was one in particular which seems to be more of an actual armed camp that they saw more than a few of shadows hanging around." "Okay then, I'll take the svelk and attack that place first and your group can concentrate on the regular rebel locations." "Are you sure you want to do that sir? I mean being alone with all the svelk?" "I'm well aware of their treacherous nature, but as you just saw I am not intimidated by them. They just saw that as well. Besides, they're being paid well for this job and I trust that their greed along with my example of their leader is not going to incur any more disobedience or grand standing." "Probably not sir, but just be careful." "Noted. Anyway, let's get going we've got traitors to purge and I'm anxious to see it through." You and Gruz get the troops ready. You give a quick briefing of the plan the pair of you take your respective groups and part ways. After a march through the swamp you reach your first target and it does indeed resemble a small military compound. It's really just a walled village though. You'd guess that this particular place is so far from normal civilization that this just went unnoticed and the shadows eventually just subverted the entire place or at least started placing sympathizers there. You order the attack and all goes well. The svelk and yourself easily scale the walls though given how pathetic the opposition is though, you almost wonder if you couldn't have taken this place all by yourself. You still haven't seen any of the rumored shadows in this place though and that slightly concerns you. Did they already flee, or did they just cloak? "Keep alert! There may be shadows still lurking about!" you shout as you cut down one of the rebels. No sooner have you said that, when you sense something amidst the chaos. A feeling like you're being targeted… Unfortunately you still don't know where the attacker is located until its too late. A female shadow decloaks and fires a bolt that sinks into your chest before you can move out of the way. Shadow bolts tend to be dipped in a poison and this one is no different as you begin to feel the affects. Fortunately being an Eternal you're immune to it killing you, unfortunately it still is enough to start making you feel dizzy. The female shadow is moving faster than anything you've ever seen and she's moving right towards you. You order the svelk in a slurring tone to fire their crossbows, but nobody answers your call. You can't be sure if it's due to the fact that in the chaos nobody could hear or understand what you said or if the svelk have conveniently decided to not follow your orders. In any event you're on your own. You block the shadow's attack with a force shield and follow up with a stream of fire from your other hand though the shadow easily dodges your attack. You feel two sharp pains in both of your sides and at first you think the shadow has moved so quick that she's gotten behind you to stab you, but it turns out it's a second shadow that has snuck up on you. In the end it doesn't really matter as the result is the same and you collapse face first into the ground. A final blade through your back finishes you off for good.

The orc assumes you're going to go for his head, but unless you're trying to kill them, merely smashing an orc in the face with anything less than an iron maul is likely to just piss them off, so while he guards up, you strike at his legs. Naturally he's still armored down there, but he's taken a bit off guard when you duck down start chopping your sword at his shin protectors. Since your own face is now closer to his feet the orc attempts to kick you in the face and that's what you were hoping for. You drop your sword and catch his foot so he's at your complete mercy. The orc is already so off balance that you barely even need to shove him so he crashes to the floor. As he tries to get up, now you smash a heavy-duty wooden chair over his head. It doesn't break the first time, but when you do it again three more times the legs you were holding loosen enough that the rest of the chair flies from your grasp. While his helmet is protecting him somewhat, the repeated impact of the chair to his head is still enough to keep him dazed. In fact he ends up spitting out a couple of teeth. Despite this, he still seems as if he's going to continue to oppose you, but you see him briefly look at Gruz who seems to give him a certain look back. The orc then puts up a hand as if to say he yields. You accept his capitulation. Victorious, you've made it quite clear you are not to be questioned. The rest of the orcs stop their jeering at you and a few go over to help their companion. Gruz walks over to you and his expression is now one of being impressed. "Well I guess you definitely walk the walk. You recognized that by beating the head in of one of the bigger males that you'd earn more respect than beating the female that was openly mocking you. You also weren't trying to kill him, which shows that you were just trying to establish dominance rather than punishment. I'm guessing the Emperor must've told you about orc culture?" "Not really, I just sort of guessed." "Ha ha ha ha! Well I suppose we usually aren't that hard to figure out. Though you might have more problems on your hands now. Looks like you impressed the lady over there." You look over where Gruz is pointing and it's the same female orc that was mocking you earlier. Again its difficult for you to tell exactly, but from Gruz's suggestion and the way the orc is blinking (fluttering?) her eyes you can only make one conclusion. "She's…she's not flirting with me is she?" you ask in hesitation. "She was flirting with you the moment you came in the door!" Gruz laughs. Not wishing to think about that any further, you call everyone to attention and explain how things are going to be done in an organized manner and how you don't want to leave anything to chance when it comes to this mission given that it is of vital importance to the Empire. They seem to understand, though Gruz sometimes reinforces the point to them in a more direct manner. You ask Gruz when the svelk are due to arrive back with their report and he says they should be back within a day or two. Seeing as you haven't much else to do, you just wait for the svelk and your orders to proceed with your mission for the next couple days. You don't interact too much with the orcs though you do converse with Gruz about minor things concerning the mission as well as your increasing annoyance that the svelk still haven't reported in yet. "We're paying these fools good money to do a job, is it too much for them to act like professionals?" you exclaim. "With the svelk? It's too much to ask them to do anything. Though it is rather odd they haven't reported yet. Even they tend to obey the rule of money unless someone else has offered them more." "Wait, what are you saying? You think the svelk are in league with the shadows and were bribed?" "Probably not. The shadows aren't known for hording wealth and anything valuable they might own is probably sacred to their god or something. I'd be more inclined to believe they got themselves discovered and perhaps even ambushed. For all we know they're all dead and we've just tipped our hand." "Well, we'll continue to wait for the official word, besides the svelk have been the ones doing the scouting correct? We can't very well attack anything if we don't have a target." Gruz nods at your decision and goes back to what he was doing. Another couple days pass and at last the svelk do show up. "Ugh. Tyren, did we really have to come back to this place? The stench of these green beasts is offensive." One of them says as he enters. "I know, but apparently the person we're supposed to report our findings to should be here now…hey any of you foul smelling gentlemen seen our fearless leader yet?" this Tyren shouts. You guess he's the svelk captain. As irritated as the orcs are by the svelk's words, you're more irritated by them for everything else. "I'm in charge of this operation, and where the hell have you been, you were supposed to report in days ago!" You exclaim. Tyren looks at you as if he's unimpressed by you barking orders at him and continues to remain dismissive. "So we're here now, is it time to attack or something?" he replies. "No, but as I said, you should've reported in days ago." "So what's the big deal? Maybe you're not aware of this, but scouting this swamp isn't exactly the quickest thing to do." "I don't want to hear your lame excuses! You could've easily sent back a single messenger to give me an update!" "Couldn't do that, I needed all my men in case we ran into trouble. Dangerous business out there, I'm sure you know." The svelk has an answer for everything and him giving an arrogant smirk the whole time isn't helping matters. It reminds you of HER and you begin to get angrier. Captain Gruz starts to notice and even interjects trying to smooth things over. "Tyren I know it's difficult, but you might want to rein in the whole smug svelk act that your people are so proud of. This man isn't just your superior, he's a direct rep from the Emperor himself." "Maybe he's YOUR superior orc, but he's not mine. Nobody fucking tells me how to do my fucking job. And I have a very hard time believing that this young whelp is a representation of anything other than a sign of how desperate the Empire is getting for officers!" Something within you snaps and all you can see is a svelk you want to kill for all the shit Mistress put you through. "Fucking bitch!" you utter and unleash a small ball of flame into the face of Tyren. He screams in agony as the flesh on his face burns. The rest of the svelk are taken by surprise by this move, though they don't do anything to stop you. You kick Tyren to the floor while he desperately tries to put the flames on his face out. You help him put the flames out by smashing his face in with your fist repeatedly. Unlike the tougher orc bone structure, the bones of a svelk aren't as resilient and you can hear the crunching sound of his nose, jaw and skull cracking as you continue to do major mayhem on his face. Tyren's face is a mass of burnt gory meat at this point yet you still aren't done. That's when you take your dagger and scoop his eyes out with it. As you carve out the two bloody orbs, the shrieking is enough that the residents of Sinkhole who happen to be walking outside the barracks quickly run home in fear. Your actions while excessive are probably made slightly more disturbing due to the fact that you're muttering incoherently and making small giggling noises the whole time you're doing them. It's enough to establish to everyone that they're obviously in the presence of someone who isn't just in charge, but also may well be a madman. One things for sure, after Tyren's makes his last gurgling pleas while you're slitting his throat and you're up to your forearms in his blood, nobody is thinking about pissing you off now. You stand up from your bloody work feeling surprisingly much better. Happy even. "Remember this." Is all you say to the group of svelk, before you turn to go to your own private quarters. The next day Captain Gruz gives you the scout report from the svelk. You thank him and go over some strategies since you're feeling in a better mood now. Gruz is all too willing to give his opinions on how certain places should be approached and handled. He really does have some good ideas. Makes you wonder if you weren't being a little too hard on him when you first met him. "Captain, when the orders come in, I want you to be in charge of a second team. We'll cover more ground that way and they'll be less of a chance for potential rebels to escape." You say. "Are you sure sir, you don't think we'd be better off keeping a larger force together? I've always found that it's always preferable to have more numbers than you potentially need. But you're in charge of course." Just as you're about to discuss and ponder the pros and cons of each plan, a messenger walks in. It's the official orders. Looks like the time for planning is over. > You go with Gruz's plan As good as you believe you are in combat, you have to admit to yourself that you don't really have too much experience in leading a large group. Perhaps it would be wiser to defer to someone who does have such experience. "Very well, you may be right. I suppose we really shouldn't worry about anyone escaping since if they do, they'll eventually be found anyway. Did the svelk report say they saw any actual shadows at any of these places?" "Not at most of the locations as they seem to be just safe houses for normal rebels, but there was one in particular which seems to be more of an actual armed camp that they saw more than a few of shadows hanging around." "We're going to hit that place first then. I just hope the svelk were as silent about their scouting as you said they claimed to be. Anyway, let's get going we've got traitors to purge and I'm anxious to see it through." You and Gruz get the troops ready. The general idea is to first have the svelk to sneak up on the target locations and then after they initiate the attack the orcs come charging in from all sides. It seems simple, but perhaps simple plans work the best due to less chance of things going wrong. At least you hope they do. After a march through the swamp you reach your first target and it does indeed resemble a small military compound. It's really just a walled village though. You'd guess that this particular place is so far from normal civilization that this just went unnoticed and the shadows eventually just subverted the entire place or at least started placing sympathizers there. You order the attack and all goes well. The svelk and yourself easily scale the walls while Gruz and the orcs bash down the pitiful gates. Given how pathetic the opposition is though, you almost wonder if you couldn't have taken this place all by yourself. You still haven't seen any of the rumored shadows in this place though and that slightly concerns you. Did they already flee, or did they just cloak? "Keep alert! There may be shadows still lurking about!" you shout as you cut down one of the rebels. No sooner have you said that, when you sense something amidst the chaos. A feeling like you're being targeted… "GET DOWN!" Gruz shouts as a female shadow decloaks and fires a bolt at you. You're just quick enough to duck down and avoid being hit. An orc attempts to strike her down, but she easily fends off the attack and eliminates him instead. She's moving faster than anything you've ever seen. "Crossbows now!" you order and the svelk mercenaries closest to you unleash their own bolts at the shadow. She may be quick, but she can't avoid all of the bolts from the repeating crossbows. She catches more than few bolts and collapses in a heap. As she attempts to crawl away you go over to her to finish her off and that's when you get that feeling again only this time you know where its coming from and instinctively pull up your sword to deflect the hit. When the shadow decloaks you're close enough to see the hatred in his eyes, you're also close enough to hear him muttering about revenge for Bianca. You're guessing that was the female shadow that's now a pincushion. He attempts to pull the same speed trick, but you prevent him from doing so by interrupting his spell with a dagger to his side. "Not such a good day to be a shadow is it traitor?" you ask as you twist the blade around. Shocked by the metal piercing his insides, he reels backwards when you pull out the blade and his death follows when Gruz smashes his axe in the side of the shadow's head. You go over to finish off the female shadow who is still desperately trying to crawl away. "There will be no escape. The Emperor's eye sees all and justice will be delivered to all who oppose him!" you exclaim before running your sword through her back. You keep alert for the possibility of more shadows lurking, but either those two were the only ones, or the rest have fled. If they have, no matter, they will be found. The rest of the battle is more of a simple matter. The non-shadow rebels are no match for your superior force and a few try to surrender, pleading for you to at least spare their families. You spare no one as traitors cannot be tolerated. Your ruthless orders to cut down every man, woman and child are not questioned, though the svelk take a bit more pleasure in it. The village is put to the torch and you're eager to move on to the next target. You want to stomp out ALL of these traitors before they even get the possibility of regrouping. Day after day you wipe out several small encampments and hideouts of the rebels. It's sickening to you that there is as many as there are. How could any citizen defy the Empire or the Emperor? Don't they know it is a losing proposition? Don't they realize and appreciate how much he has done for all of their miserable lives? As for the shadows, their treachery is even more sickening. The Emperor gave them all a grand honor of serving him in a most important way and they've been nurturing rebellion in their black hearts for centuries and enticing the weak willed into helping them. Fitting that they call themselves shadows, as they are cowards who obviously rely on tricks and subversion to gain any sort of advantage. Well that stops very soon. "This one was an easy one. They gave up almost immediately." Captain Gruz says cleaning off his axe after a short skirmish. "Yes, a pity they should only realize until it's too late the folly of their treason." You reply. "Yes, I imagine many have felt that way." Gruz answers. "And all of them are fools for doing so. And fools deserve no mercy. The loyal and dedicated on the other hand are to be rewarded. Captain, we are nearing the end of our mission and I imagine I will soon return to the Emperor to give my report. I want to tell you that I will be speaking highly of you to him and suggesting that you receive some sort of higher position." Gruz isn't sure how to respond though he thanks you. "I was just doing my duty sir, but I thank you. However if you're serious about your wanting to do something for me and it isn't too bold of me to ask, I do have specific request." "Speak freely then." Gruz looks around as if he's being watched and then moves closer toward you and speaks almost whispering. "I know I'm sort of the Empire's token intelligent orc and that's fine. However it's my people sir. I really do try to keep them in line and for the most part it works, but I'm still just one man and despite common perception, orcs do have minds of their own and think about deeper things than just looting and pillaging sometimes." "What are you getting at?" "What I'm saying sir, is all I would request is you ask the Emperor if he could give his loyal and dedicated orc soldiers a pay raise. It doesn't even have to be that large. I mean the extra fighting and danger they are always assigned to do is fun and all, but just a little something extra so they know they're being appreciated for their hard work would be welcome." Well that was bold of Gruz, but you did tell him to speak freely. However, you're suspicious of his request, since it almost sounds a bit like blackmail. > You let it pass You'd call him out on it, but you decide you'll leave this one to the Emperor to ultimately decide. Besides, you figure you owe him that much for possibly saving your life. "I don't know if I have that much pull with the Emperor, but I will mention it to him." "That's all I ask." In a few more days your task in Delerg is completed and all known targets have been eliminated. Delerg has also been effectively cowed into submission given what you did there. Stories of the ruthless young Eternal that destroyed entire villages to purge traitors are already being spread. Not exactly true since technically you only destroyed a couple and the rest were just rebel made hideouts, but if it teaches the people to fear the repercussions of treasonous behavior in the future you don't care. You tell the Emperor as much during your report, he seems pleased with your report and feelings on the matter. "The destruction of the shadows went better than I had hoped. There are probably a few shadows that fled while they were on the surface, but the derro took out all of them that were in Gloom. I think to be on the safe side I'm going to have that old ruined temple of theirs in Delerg destroyed. No need for it to become some sort of symbol or some such nonsense. Speaking of Delerg, you did an excellent job. It must've been a shock to find out you weren't just going to lead svelk, but orcs as well. Hated to surprise you like that, but I figured if you could successfully lead an operation with those two types under duress, you were definitely fit to lead anyone." "I am glad I met your expectations." "I never had any doubt…so what are your thoughts on good Captain Gruz and his request? I'm sure you had some on the subject." "Personally sir, I believe he has overstepped his bounds with this veiled threat, which is regrettable since I was beginning to respect him as a capable leader." The Emperor nods a bit. "Hm, he must've made a bit of an impression on you to acknowledge his skills. So what do you believe should be done? Should he be killed or ignored? Obviously I've already made up my mind on the subject, but as always, I'm interested in your thoughts." In the past you sometimes hesitated to give an answer, but now you know that the Emperor always wants to hear what you really think and you're more than willing to tell him. "Well…I do believe he is genuine. I do believe he only wants his people to receive a little extra recognition for their duty. Some lesser beings cannot be merely satisfied with just serving greatness and they must be rewarded in a more tangible way. If it is possible, I would grant Gruz's request. It will keep him and the rest of green skins happy for quite awhile and you'll have no problems from them in the near future. Having the orcs calm and obedient right now is also important also because we have just eliminated our internal security force as it were. We will need to rely on raw force to maintain order as well as to stomp out the remaining shadows and rebels. After the Empire has been better stabilized, we can always purge Gruz and some of the orcs later if necessary." The Emperor displays a big grin on his face and puts his hand on your shoulder. "I swear son, if I didn't know better I'd think you had the ability to read minds. Sometimes its like I'm talking to a mirror that's several centuries younger than me. Yes, I fully intend on granting his request. Time will tell if he requires purging though he's getting on in years for an orc and who knows what dangerous battlefields he may be sent to in the future? Anyway Jacob and I are already rebuilding a new internal security force. I might get Marik's help on this too, though I know he really wants to work on his current project, but there really isn't any need for it now…anyway you don't need to worry about any of this, I'm sending you to help with more shadow hunting and rebel clean up in the core province area. Don't want to let up on them yet and you seem to be good at setting an example. Putting the fear into the populace to discourage any further thoughts of treason and all of that. I'll be so glad when we've got things back to normal again, so I can focus my attention to the Felkan Kingdom again. Still, it doesn't need to be work all the time now does it? Maybe you should go out and celebrate, you have my full permission to take a week off. Go get yourself one of those high priced elven whores I'm always hearing about, its on me son!" The Emperor laughs. Sometimes you still can't get over just how relaxed the Emperor can suddenly get about everything. The funny thing is, it makes you feel relaxed too, to a certain extent anyway. Maybe it's due to this that you sometimes wonder about something he's always calling you a lot… Son. You don't know if he's using it as a term of endearment or it's his "nickname" for you, or what. The funny thing is you do find him to be a "fatherly" figure. You've resisted addressing it before, but now something is urging you to do so. "I have a question and I don't know how to ask this of you." "Well speak son, you know you can always tell or ask me anything, doesn't mean you'll get it though." The Emperor says with another chuckle. "Are you my father?" you ask and there is a short pause of silence. The Emperor doesn't look too surprised that you asked the question though. "Do you want me to be your father?" he asks back which naturally just confuses you even more and you feel a little silly for asking in the first place. "I…I just…I dunno, you're always calling me son and…just forget it. I allowed my feelings of respect and admiration of you to exceed their boundaries. Forgive me, Emperor." "You're too tightly wound sometimes. Don't worry about it; I wasn't offended by your question. But my question still stands, do you WANT me to be your father?" "I'd like to think you are, but I imagine I'm just wishing you are." "If you think I am. Then I am. If that's what pleases you then what difference does it make?" "None, I suppose." You answer, but the Emperor can see that it does make a difference to you even if you don't want it to. "Tell me, have you ever wondered about your parents? I mean you obviously know that they didn't raise you." "No. I've never really thought of them at all." You answer. Its true too, you have genuinely never wondered about who your parents were. You were far too busy with torturous training to ever really ponder such things. It's only been recently that this subject has recently popped into your head. "I didn't think so. They were never in your life and you were an orphan in the care of the Empire. And who runs the Empire?" You smile and see what the Emperor is trying to do. "You. The Empire took care of me and since you are the Empire, then really you've been responsible for raising me my whole life." "Correct! Now, do you feel better?" "A little, though how come you call me frequently call me son anyway?" "Well because of all the reasons you would think of me as your father. I've been providing for you as well as teaching you how to survive in this world. And hell, I'm even fond of you. Those factors alone already qualify me more as a father more than some of those peasants out their that just keep breeding children and never take any responsibility for them, so why not call you son?" You know it seems silly, but the fact that the Emperor practically considers you his son gives you a good feeling. Possibly the best you've ever felt. Somewhere within the hardened exterior that was beat into you, there still exists a child who would like nothing more than to just hug the Emperor right now. You resist this faint urge of course. As close as you're feeling to the Emperor at this moment, you still have this sense of duty and protocol stuck in your head even if the Emperor himself isn't quite as hung up on such things. I thank you for explaining all this and putting this all into perspective, but I think I still feel more comfortable addressing you as Emperor." "As you wish, but again if you ever let the occasional paternal label slip out every now and then, it wouldn't be something that would offend me. I'm sure more than a few of my subjects have called me much worse things." The Emperor snickers. Later that night as you preparing to go to sleep you think on the Emperor's words and just as you're basking in the comfort of them, your mind briefly wanders into something much more unpleasant. If the Emperor is your "father" does that make Mistress your "mother?" She even referred to herself as that once. While she was just being sick when she said it, the twisted thing is now you can't help but think of her as a semi-maternal figure. She was in your life longer than any other adult during your growing years and for good or ill is responsible for most of your combat skills. In fact, so far she's been in your life longer and probably more influential on your development than ANYONE. You suddenly don't feel very well pondering that and don't sleep well that night. > Chapter 2C: Fortunate Son Year 21 The time for all out war is getting closer and the Emperor is getting more impatient with delaying it any further. He probably feels he's wasted enough time with putting out the pitiful rebellious fires and the restructuring of the Empire in the past couple of years. You've been looking forward to a little action as well. You haven't had much to do in a while ever since your purges in Delerg and Quala. Ever since the official forming of the Eyes they're supposed to be the primary ones looking after the internal peace of the Empire and rebellious activity has been practically nil. Still, it was practically non-existent just as the Eyes were coming into service. One wonders if it wasn't due to the threat of a new "secret police" but rather the fact that you had already been overly efficient in purging dissension by depopulating entire areas. Indeed it was probably for the best that you were replaced before you deprived the Empire of potential soldiers for the upcoming war with the Felkans. Still, there are always those that refuse to give up. The prime one being the so-called "Last Shadow", Cyrus. Cyrus was an Eternal though you don't remember too much about him other than he always was one of the stealthier classmates that seemed to never fail in getting a cheap shot on you when Mistress was having you spar against him. You say "was" an Eternal because as far you're concerned he ceased being one the moment he betrayed the Empire. Now he is nothing more than a traitor who needs to be exterminated. Cyrus was one of those few shadows that happened to be on the surface at the time of the destruction of Gloom. He also avoided your purges due to initially being in Quala and then eventually fleeing to the rural areas in Arat. He constantly moves around a lot, making hit and run attacks on patrols or caravans. He does travel with a group, but they aren't so much rebels as they're just ambitious bandits and thugs. They probably don't give a damn about whatever Cyrus religious and philosophical views are for opposing the Empire. They're just in it for the killing and the loot. Nevertheless, they are a nuisance and given that the Arat province is the staging ground to attack the Felkan Kingdom, the Emperor is more than annoyed that the Eyes haven't succeeded in tracking him yet and he doesn't want to waste any proper military on Cyrus mainly because he sees it as Jacob's fault for various reasons… "Well he's your failure Jacob, fix it!" The Emperor exclaims. "The Eyes have been attempting to apprehend him my Emperor, but he has proven quite elusive. They just need more time to…" "Jacob when I told you to put together an efficient internal security force I expected you to succeed in this endeavor." "My Emperor the Eyes are efficient! I mean rebellious attitudes are the lowest they've been in…well probably more than I've ever seen!" "Well they aren't good enough, if they can't capture the so-called Last Shadow. I'd send in svelk mercs if I hadn't put our funding into Marik's factory to produce new weapons to combat the Felkans. You do realize we have a war with the Felkans to pursue and your bumbling is delaying that task!" "I understand that, but we shouldn't go to war until we have everything absolutely settled all internal matters in the Empire first! Cyrus is likely to start ambushing supply wagons and then where would we be?" You watch as the Emperor continues to verbally abuse Jacob. It's a scene you've seen many times in the past and will probably see many more times in the future. Jacob really does try to serve the best he can and from what you can tell he's fairly good at his job, but for whatever reason its just never good enough for the Emperor no matter what. While you normally don't interrupt such sessions, you do feel the need to interject. "I would have to agree that if we are to crush the Felkans we should just go ahead and start the process now. As much of a nuisance this last shadow has been, his impact has been minimal and certainly not enough to warrant a paralysis in our military matters. We are a large nation and we are always going to have a few internal matters to resolve." The Emperor naturally is pleased that you've backed him up in this matter, though Jacob looks less than enthused given that he's already fighting a losing argument. "Thank you son. See this Jacob? This is a TRUE Eternal! Not like the rest of those losers, traitors and ne'er do wells you oversee!" Jacob has no more words, he might continue but knows it would be a futile endeavor and he's walking on thin ice as it is given how the Emperor is really letting him have it today. Again you feel the need to interject. "If I may, I would be happy to assist in this matter with the shadow terrorist." You say. "That's not necessary, I wouldn't presume to take you away from whatever duties the Emperor has seen fit to bestow upon you." Jacob replies. "Considering how inept you've been in taking care of this, maybe I should send him to help." The Emperor says before turning to address you directly. "I did have plans for you to take a command position when we start our assault on the Felkans, but the position will still be there when you're done with bailing out Jacob if you so desire. I'll leave it up to you. In the meantime I'm going to finish up my preparations to make the first attack on the Felkans. Now go with Jacob if you wish to help him, or stay here, but in any event I don't want to hear anymore about this shadow matter from anyone until it's been resolved." Jacob makes his way slowly out the door, though while he hasn't said it you see a look in his eye that he's hoping you'll provide assistance despite his previous words of it not being necessary. > You help Jacob Maybe its because you feel slightly sorry for Jacob or maybe its because you do see Cyrus as a potential liability if left unchecked and his traitorous ways are an insult to the name Eternal, but whatever the reason you decide to help Jacob. "I believe I shall help Jacob in this matter. I started out crushing shadows and rebels, I might as well finish the job." You say the Emperor. "Very well, but I trust you won't take as long as Jacob has. Remember I need you for important tasks for the war!" You and Jacob both leave the Emperor's presence. As soon as you're out the door, Jacob addresses you. "I thank you for your assistance." "I haven't done anything yet." "I'm not talking about the situation with the shadow, I mean intervening before the Emperor found a reason to have me executed." "Oh I doubt if that would've happened." "I don't know. Lately I can't seem to do anything right by him, I really try to serve to the best of my abilities. I always have." "I know you do." Jacob and you don't speak too much too each other normally, but your relationship has always been a cordial one. "I guess I should be glad the Emperor is so fond of you, it might be the only thing that's keeping me alive. You are the Eternal that wasn't a failure of course and for that I am very thankful." Because you were directly trained by Mistress you sometimes forget that Jacob (or Mr. Mol as you once knew him) was the one that was primarily in charge of your development at least in a behind the scenes way. You've never really thought about your other classmates since you always had more pressing matters, but now you're a little curious. "Just how many of my other classmates survived?" "Not many. Besides you? Eight and three of them are already dead and one of those became a traitorous shadow." "And another one is the last shadow still giving the Empire grief." You say. "Yes. (Sigh) I had such high hopes for Cyrus, he showed so much potential. Damned shadow indoctrination. Anyway that just leaves four who I assure you are not losers or failures and are in fact very accomplished soldiers of the Empire. They finished out their training with Captain Gruz, who I'm sure you're familiar with." "Yes, I am." You say somewhat wishing that you could've been so lucky. "I still keep apprised of their activity since they are all still technically under my watch. I'm just glad the Emperor didn't take the project out of my hands and proceed with Marik's crazed ideas." "Could you tell me a little more about them?" "Certainly!" Jacob remarks perking up a bit. He's genuinely glad someone is showing an interest. He tells you that Kane has been instrumental in taming the Rask frontier. Says that he's even developing a bit of a reputation of his own given his merciless slaughter of the barbarian and ogre tribes up there. He's being considered for a fort commander position. Brenda and Roldan have been doing similar things in the Nalin province with the kobolds and usksha desert raiders that sometimes plague the area. Either one could also become a fort commander as well, though he believes Brenda might be the better candidate as he believes Roldan can go on to greater things. He goes on to say that the both of them have become unusually close though and Roldan has even requested that they be allowed to marry! Jacob sees nothing particularly unreasonable about this request and is considering allowing it. "You'll actually be working with the last one, Warrick. I assigned him to the Eyes and so far he's been the closest to catching Cyrus. Excellent tracker. I nearly considered Warrick to become an infiltrator for the shadows initially, but it's a good thing I didn't considering how things worked out with Cyrus." This is all somewhat fascinating to you as you do remember all of them, but mainly as your opponents in the fighting arena when Mistress was sending the entire class to try to kill you on regular basis. In fact Jacob realizes this and suddenly asks you if it'll be a problem working with Warrick. "No, why would it?" "Well I know that due to Mistress' training you had a less friendly relationship with your classmates than everyone else." "It's all in the past, for me it is at least. I survived and grew stronger from the experience. And it certainly wasn't his fault. He was just doing what he was told. Everyone was. Besides, might be interesting working with someone from the old class on more cooperative terms this time." "Good. I'm glad to hear you say that." Jacob says with a smile. Eventually you reach Jacob's office where you see not one but three desks piled in paperwork. Jacob grumbles about how his underlings were supposed to there to take care of some of it today, but as usual he'll probably have to do it all himself. After rummaging through a stack, he pulls out a few pieces of parchment and some scrolls and then says you're taking a carriage ride to an Eye staging ground near Bucklesburg in the Arat province. Jacob says he'll explain more about the situation along the way (as well as doing some of his paperwork. A carriage ride later, you're all caught up on the area as well as the specifics of Cyrus' most recent attacks. When you arrive in Bucklesberg you're met by who you presume are Eyes and one face that while a little older now you recognize as Warrick. He stares at you at a bit and obviously recognizes you as well, but says nothing since it isn't his time to speak. "Eyes, you may have heard of this man you see before you. He is the main reason why we managed to stop this potential full scale rebellion and keep it to a few crazed traitors that are desperately trying to hang on to their lives a little while longer." Jacob starts off telling all of them. A little bit of an exaggeration of course, but then only a few know about the derro involvement in the destruction of shadows, and most of them are currently the same rotting bodies in Gloom. Your involvement on the other hand is infamous. "Now I leave you to it." Jacob says and leaves. Since you are already up to speed on everything due to Jacob's briefing, you basically tell the Eyes that how they're planning to catch Cyrus is all wrong and how they need to do things differently. "Waiting around for Cyrus to attack patrols and caravans and then attempting to stop him in the act isn't working because Cyrus is quicker and a better warrior than all of you. You know how I know this? Because you haven't killed him yet. Even if he hasn't managed to recruit his lackies into following that silly religion of his, he's obviously trained them into an efficient hardened fighting force. Taking rebel captives and torturing them for information isn't working because Cyrus is smart enough to change his plans completely when he knows his people have been captured. Besides, I guarantee you could catch and kill all of his people and he'd just disappear for a few years and pop up again with a new group. Which brings me to the point of why trying to search the wilderness for him isn't working either, you don't have the numbers to do it." You say before turning to Warrick. "And as good as you are at tracking, Cyrus is still a shadow and he's got the magic to mask himself. If he doesn't want to be found, he won't be." Before you can continue, one of the Eyes is brave enough to question you. Unsurprisingly it's the one in charge, Sightmaster Davison. "So what's your solution?" Davison asks. At this point Warrick's own face displays a grimace with a small shake of his head knowing that his immediate superior is going to be punished for the disruption. You walk up to the Eye and backhand him in the face. "Do not interrupt." You say calmly. Davison nods quickly while holding on to the side of his face. Then you slap him a couple more times followed by a punch to his face. He falls to the floor and you launch into a speech. "MY solution is to bring down this shadow which all of you have failed to do! The Emperor is tired of your failures! We are to conquer the Felkan Kingdom soon and yet you cannot eliminate a few measly traitors! It is only because I decided to intervene that the lot of you haven't been executed for your incompetence on this matter! While you may all be the Eyes of the Emperor, I am his terrible weapon that carries out his righteous justice. Pray that justice is never to be carried out on you." Now that you've given a proper "inspirational" speech all you have to do is come up with a solution. The thing is one of their attempted tactics of trying to ambush Cyrus while he's attacking caravans could still work if YOU get a hold of him. Of course you could come up with your own plan. > You set up your own plan Cyrus obviously isn't going to be caught by something so mundane; you'll have to do something more elaborate. Like if he thought there were shadow sympathizers on the rise again. "We're going to turn this town into a hub of sedition, traitors and shadow sympathizers." You remark. Several Eyes including Warrick look at each other and WANT to question why you'd want to do such a thing, but nobody dares say anything though. "Good, Glad everyone waited for me to continue this time. Cyrus will be more likely to let his guard down if he thinks he has a solid base of operations rather than running like an animal in the wilderness. We need this town to become that base. Now here's how we're going to do it…" First thing you tell everyone is that you're going to be harassing the people of Bucklesberg to an unreasonable degree. You get to this fairly quickly and perhaps a little too zealously. You begin an inquisition of sorts to "root out" any potential shadow sympathies. Naturally all the folks of Bucklesburg protest their innocence and swear they've never even thought such a thing. Of course you don't listen and have people executed publically anyway. Wives, children, doesn't matter, the point is to become hated. When you feel you've done enough damage you call for the Eyes to pull out of the town. The next phase of your plan is to have someone disseminate subversive ideas in Bucklesberg. You have an Eye sneak back in and start by writing graffiti against the Empire on walls and placing simple pamphlets encouraging people to join Cyrus. You have to wait a couple of weeks before this starts bearing any fruit, but eventually one of the Eyes reports that the town is starting to show signs of rebelliousness. Meanwhile caravans are still being attacked and you get a message from the Emperor saying that he expected you to have settled this problem a lot quicker as he really wants to get on with attacking the Felkan Kingdom. You begin to get a little nervous. A couple more weeks pass and nothing major has happened. You had hoped that Cyrus or perhaps one of his followers had gotten the rumors about the town of Bucklesberg becoming unfriendly towards the Empire, but Warrick tells you that he hasn't seen any sign of Cyrus or his group anywhere near the town. They're still keeping to the wilderness and making their lightning raids on caravans. As for Bucklesberg itself, there have been a few meetings but not much else. Your plan is failing to produce results and you get another message from the Emperor which is noticeably more hostile in tone. All it says is you better do something about Cyrus by the end of the week or you are to report back to him immediately. Feeling the pressure you can't wait out this plan any longer, you're going to have to attempt to catch him in the act of attacking one of the caravans. Your only advantage is nobody has been defending them for several weeks so Cyrus may have been lulled into a false sense of security. You and the Eyes travel towards where the supply caravan is and maintain a respectable distance from it and keep out of sight. You travel along side it for miles and there are a couple of Eyes who start wondering if Cyrus is even going to attack it. You know he will though and of course you turn out to be right. The caravan guard hold their own against the rebel bandits, but as soon as Cyrus decloaks he begins making short work of them. It is at this point Sightmaster Davison orders the Eyes to attack. As the skirmish between the Eyes and Cyrus unfolds, you begin to concentrate. You visualize water and then that water slowly solidifying into ice. The temperature around you begins to get very cold and soon so does the entire area. It is at this point Cyrus notices you in the distance and realizes that he is outclassed this time. He panics like a true coward and calls for a retreat, but its too late, you utter the incantation and cover the surrounding area in ice. The caravan, the guards, the rebels and the Eyes are all covered in frost that causes most of them to be frozen on the spot. You run over to the site and see several of the still living shivering profusely and moaning from the pain of frost burn. A few of the hardy have managed to endure the effects of the spell, though they are busily trying to free their feet from ice before frostbite sets in. Others lie dead and frozen, Cyrus is not among them though and you catch sight of him slowly attempting to get away and heading towards a forest. His attempts to speed himself up make him only moderately faster due to the frost covering his body. You begin to concentrate in the direction Cyrus was heading. Instead of visualizing water, you now visualize fire and much like the small ice storm you created, you now create one of flame. While you're casting the spell however, Cyrus manages to turn invisible and you don't see what direction he fled in before your firestorm hits the area. The forest that Cyrus was headed towards is suddenly set ablaze along with the fielded area near it. However Cyrus must've escaped because if he had been caught in the firestorm he would've instantly decloaked. You begin to swear and curse of how you nearly had him while you're surveying the carnage you caused to your own people. Sightmaster Davison is fully encased in ice, Warrick is only just managing to free himself from his own icy restraints. You were in such a hurry to capture Cyrus that you didn't think to at least hold Warrick back so he might be able to track Cyrus in case he managed to get away again. That opportunity has been lost now. You and the remaining Eyes head back to the closest settlement which is Bucklesberg where you try to figure out what your next move is going to be. Its most likely because you're tired as well as concerned with having to possibly face the Emperor that you don't appreciate the aura of hostility in Bucklesberg. You and the Eyes are suddenly pelted with several rocks. Peasants aren't usually known for their combat abilities, but forming angry mobs and throwing rocks is certainly something they're good at. Not that you don't put up a fight and massacre several of the peasants, but the fact is they're in a nearly fanatical state and throw themselves upon you like suicidal lemmings thanks to your own actions that made them that way in the first place. Several of them are actually shouting that the shadows will rise again and that Cyrus will lead them. Your fate is ultimately an ignoble one of being beaten to death in the streets, drawn and quartered and finally your head stuck on a pole along with the remaining Eyes as a symbol of renewed defiance against the Empire. Later Bucklesberg is razed to the ground and all within are purged for treason. The Emperor doesn't morn your loss, but rather is angry with himself for wasting his time on someone who he comes to believe was an idiot.

Maybe its because you feel slightly sorry for Jacob or maybe its because you do see Cyrus as a potential liability if left unchecked and his traitorous ways are an insult to the name Eternal, but whatever the reason you decide to help Jacob. "I believe I shall help Jacob in this matter. I started out crushing shadows and rebels, I might as well finish the job." You say the Emperor. "Very well, but I trust you won't take as long as Jacob has. Remember I need you for important tasks for the war!" You and Jacob both leave the Emperor's presence. As soon as you're out the door, Jacob addresses you. "I thank you for your assistance." "I haven't done anything yet." "I'm not talking about the situation with the shadow, I mean intervening before the Emperor found a reason to have me executed." "Oh I doubt if that would've happened." "I don't know. Lately I can't seem to do anything right by him, I really try to serve to the best of my abilities. I always have." "I know you do." Jacob and you don't speak too much too each other normally, but your relationship has always been a cordial one. "I guess I should be glad the Emperor is so fond of you, it might be the only thing that's keeping me alive. You are the Eternal that wasn't a failure of course and for that I am very thankful." Because you were directly trained by Mistress you sometimes forget that Jacob (or Mr. Mol as you once knew him) was the one that was primarily in charge of your development at least in a behind the scenes way. You've never really thought about your other classmates since you always had more pressing matters, but now you're a little curious. "Just how many of my other classmates survived?" "Not many. Besides you? Eight and three of them are already dead and one of those became a traitorous shadow." "And another one is the last shadow still giving the Empire grief." You say. "Yes. (Sigh) I had such high hopes for Cyrus, he showed so much potential. Damned shadow indoctrination. Anyway that just leaves four who I assure you are not losers or failures and are in fact very accomplished soldiers of the Empire. They finished out their training with Captain Gruz, who I'm sure you're familiar with." "Yes, I am." You say somewhat wishing that you could've been so lucky. "I still keep apprised of their activity since they are all still technically under my watch. I'm just glad the Emperor didn't take the project out of my hands and proceed with Marik's crazed ideas." "Could you tell me a little more about them?" "Certainly!" Jacob remarks perking up a bit. He's genuinely glad someone is showing an interest. He tells you that Kane has been instrumental in taming the Rask frontier. Says that he's even developing a bit of a reputation of his own given his merciless slaughter of the barbarian and ogre tribes up there. He's being considered for a fort commander position. Brenda and Roldan have been doing similar things in the Nalin province with the kobolds and usksha desert raiders that sometimes plague the area. Either one could also become a fort commander as well, though he believes Brenda might be the better candidate as he believes Roldan can go on to greater things. He goes on to say that the both of them have become unusually close though and Roldan has even requested that they be allowed to marry! Jacob sees nothing particularly unreasonable about this request and is considering allowing it. "You'll actually be working with the last one, Warrick. I assigned him to the Eyes and so far he's been the closest to catching Cyrus. Excellent tracker. I nearly considered Warrick to become an infiltrator for the shadows initially, but it's a good thing I didn't considering how things worked out with Cyrus." This is all somewhat fascinating to you as you do remember all of them, but mainly as your opponents in the fighting arena when Mistress was sending the entire class to try to kill you on regular basis. In fact Jacob realizes this and suddenly asks you if it'll be a problem working with Warrick. "No, why would it?" "Well I know that due to Mistress' training you had a less friendly relationship with your classmates than everyone else." "It's all in the past, for me it is at least. I survived and grew stronger from the experience. And it certainly wasn't his fault. He was just doing what he was told. Everyone was. Besides, might be interesting working with someone from the old class on more cooperative terms this time." "Good. I'm glad to hear you say that." Jacob says with a smile. Eventually you reach Jacob's office where you see not one but three desks piled in paperwork. Jacob grumbles about how his underlings were supposed to there to take care of some of it today, but as usual he'll probably have to do it all himself. After rummaging through a stack, he pulls out a few pieces of parchment and some scrolls and then says you're taking a carriage ride to an Eye staging ground near Bucklesburg in the Arat province. Jacob says he'll explain more about the situation along the way (as well as doing some of his paperwork. A carriage ride later, you're all caught up on the area as well as the specifics of Cyrus' most recent attacks. When you arrive in Bucklesberg you're met by who you presume are Eyes and one face that while a little older now you recognize as Warrick. He stares at you at a bit and obviously recognizes you as well, but says nothing since it isn't his time to speak. "Eyes, you may have heard of this man you see before you. He is the main reason why we managed to stop this potential full scale rebellion and keep it to a few crazed traitors that are desperately trying to hang on to their lives a little while longer." Jacob starts off telling all of them. A little bit of an exaggeration of course, but then only a few know about the derro involvement in the destruction of shadows, and most of them are currently the same rotting bodies in Gloom. Your involvement on the other hand is infamous. "Now I leave you to it." Jacob says and leaves. Since you are already up to speed on everything due to Jacob's briefing, you basically tell the Eyes that how they're planning to catch Cyrus is all wrong and how they need to do things differently. "Waiting around for Cyrus to attack patrols and caravans and then attempting to stop him in the act isn't working because Cyrus is quicker and a better warrior than all of you. You know how I know this? Because you haven't killed him yet. Even if he hasn't managed to recruit his lackies into following that silly religion of his, he's obviously trained them into an efficient hardened fighting force. Taking rebel captives and torturing them for information isn't working because Cyrus is smart enough to change his plans completely when he knows his people have been captured. Besides, I guarantee you could catch and kill all of his people and he'd just disappear for a few years and pop up again with a new group. Which brings me to the point of why trying to search the wilderness for him isn't working either, you don't have the numbers to do it." You say before turning to Warrick. "And as good as you are at tracking, Cyrus is still a shadow and he's got the magic to mask himself. If he doesn't want to be found, he won't be." Before you can continue, one of the Eyes is brave enough to question you. Unsurprisingly it's the one in charge, Sightmaster Davison. "So what's your solution?" Davison asks. At this point Warrick's own face displays a grimace with a small shake of his head knowing that his immediate superior is going to be punished for the disruption. You walk up to the Eye and backhand him in the face. "Do not interrupt." You say calmly. Davison nods quickly while holding on to the side of his face. Then you slap him a couple more times followed by a punch to his face. He falls to the floor and you launch into a speech. "MY solution is to bring down this shadow which all of you have failed to do! The Emperor is tired of your failures! We are to conquer the Felkan Kingdom soon and yet you cannot eliminate a few measly traitors! It is only because I decided to intervene that the lot of you haven't been executed for your incompetence on this matter! While you may all be the Eyes of the Emperor, I am his terrible weapon that carries out his righteous justice. Pray that justice is never to be carried out on you." Now that you've given a proper "inspirational" speech all you have to do is come up with a solution. The thing is one of their attempted tactics of trying to ambush Cyrus while he's attacking caravans could still work if YOU get a hold of him. Of course you could come up with your own plan. > You catch him in the act of one of his attacks The next thing you say surprises all of the Eyes. "Now there's a caravan coming through the area north of here in the next few days that is carrying a lot of supplies for the military. Cyrus isn't going to be able to resist attacking it even if he thinks it's a set up. We're going to intercept him when he attacks it and put an end to him once and for all." Several Eyes including Warrick look at each other and WANT to question why you'd scold them about a particular idea they've used and then you want to continue using it. Nobody dares say anything though. "Good. Glad everyone waited for me to continue this time. You're probably wondering why we're going to continue to use a strategy after I just pointed out that it has failed so many times. Well, the strategy was a simple one and sometimes simple ones are best. The advantage you have now is that I am with you and I will be able to handle Cyrus and will not let him get away. Besides, you've failed so many times at stopping him that he's bound to be a little cocky now and won't be expecting any major surprises. Even if he does, he probably also thinks he's the chosen one of his god and invincible. Time to show Cyrus that his false god cannot protect him." You finish by telling them all to get themselves prepared, as you will be moving out soon. "Warrick you come over here. I want to talk with you." Warrick complies with your request probably with some concern to his well being. "I want you to stick with me during this attack. I need you alive and your chances of survival will increase if you're with me. While I don't think there will be any problems, it will still be good to have a second just in case we need to chase after Cyrus. Any questions, now is the time to ask." "I have no questions sir." "Very well." You and the Eyes travel towards where the supply caravan is and maintain a respectable distance from it and keep out of sight. You travel along side it for miles and there are a couple of Eyes who start wondering if Cyrus is even going to attack it. You know he will though and of course you turn out to be right. The caravan guard hold their own against the rebel bandits, but as soon as Cyrus decloaks he begins making short work of them. It is at this point Sightmaster Davison orders the Eyes to attack. "Not you. As I said, you're sticking with me." You say to Warrick while grabbing his shoulder to hold him back. As the skirmish between the Eyes and Cyrus unfolds, you begin to concentrate. You visualize water and then that water slowly solidifying into ice. The temperature around you begins to get very cold and soon so does the entire area. It is at this point Cyrus notices you in the distance and realizes that he is outclassed this time. He panics like a true coward and calls for a retreat, but its too late, you utter the incantation and cover the surrounding area in ice. The caravan, the guards, the rebels and the Eyes are all covered in frost that causes most of them to be frozen on the spot. "Now we get our traitor." You say to Warrick and the pair of you run over to the caravan battle site. You see several of the still living shivering profusely and moaning from the pain of frost burn. A few of the hardy have managed to endure the effects of the spell, though they are busily trying to free their feet from ice before frostbite sets in. Others lie dead and frozen, Cyrus is not among them though and Warrick catches sight of him slowly attempting to get away and heading towards a forest. His attempts to speed himself up make him only moderately faster due to the frost covering his body. Wasting no time, Warrick grabs his bow and fires several arrows at Cyrus, a couple hit their mark. Cyrus stumbles and staggers, but doesn't fall. He instead manages to turn invisible. "Shit! But he's wounded, I can track him if we hurry!" Warrick exclaims, but once again you stop him from proceeding. "You've proven your worth Warrick, but your tracking skills won't be necessary today." You say and begin to concentrate in the direction Cyrus was heading. Instead of visualizing water, you now visualize fire and much like the small ice storm you created, you now create one of flame. The forest that Cyrus was limping towards is suddenly set ablaze along with the fielded area near it. A burning figure once again decloaks and you hear the screams all the way from the caravan site which is starting to thaw due to the proximity of the heat. Desperately Cyrus tries to make his way out of the inferno and back towards the caravan site, you calmly walk to him with Warrick following. By the time you reach him, Cyrus is crawling towards you half frozen, half burned, and death closely following him. "You see what this path has brought you traitor. No so called freedom, no glory for your god, not even a heroic death. You're an embarrassment to the name Eternal and you will not be remembered save as an example of what happens to all that would oppose the Emperor." Cyrus struggles to look up at you and it's probably the first time you've been this close to each other since Mistress' class. His face is nearly unrecognizable due to the severe burns. He attempts to speak, but only the utterance of distorted grunts from a scorched throat occurs. Doesn't matter, he has nothing of value to say. Traitors never do. You kneel down and with your dagger you end his life for good. "What next?" Warrick suddenly asks. "I report the death of this traitor to Jacob and I return to my place by the Emperor's side where I wait for his further orders. As for you, I suggest you help what's left of your group. I believe I saw your Sightmaster encased in ice, meaning he will no longer be able to carry out his duty. I can't think of a more worthy replacement than you so I will make mention of it to Jacob." Warrick is surprised by your words. He looks back at the caravan site, which is still a mess from your previous ice spell, he then looks ahead and watches the flames consume the nearby forest. "Better to kill a thousand innocent men than to let one traitor sew chaos. Better to lay waste to paradise than to let it continue to house enemies of the Empire." You say, though Warrick certainly understands even if he has never truly been in such a situation until now where it was necessary. Jacob's response when you meet him again is a little less understanding when he finds out how you handled things… "Of course its good that Cyrus is dead, but… was it absolutely necessary to burn down an entire forest and sacrifice nearly an entire platoon of Eyes along with the entire compliment of caravan guards?" Jacob asks. "I saw it as the best way to be sure to put an end to Cyrus. And I would think you of all people would be happy for the matter to be handled given how worried you were about it before. The Emperor will also be happy and isn't that what's most important, that he can proceed with his war on the Felkans without further delay?" Jacob pauses before addressing your statement. "Yes and I really wish we weren't doing that." "Doing what?" "Going to war with the Felkan Kingdom." "You don't believe the Empire should crush its enemies?" you ask. "I don't believe we should waste the resources on a pointless war on a powerful nation that has never shown any signs of aggression." "Just because they don't openly display it doesn't mean they aren't planning something." You say. "Yes, I've heard the speech about the duplicitous gnome masters several times. You can't know how glad I was when I first found out that you managed to convince the Emperor to even postpone the war to take care of the shadows first. Can you imagine what might've happened had you not done that? I…look you know I serve the Empire and my loyalty will never be in question to it, but on this point I really don't think this war is a good idea in the long run. Do you not believe that it wouldn't be better if we conserved our resources and pursued other ways to enrich the Empire that don't involve war? You convinced the Emperor once to postpone a potentially damaging war, could you not sway his thoughts on this matter any further?" "Jacob, it is the Emperor's will that the Felkan Kingdom must be destroyed. The plan has already been set in motion. No words of mine would ever convince him otherwise, even if I wanted to. Which I don't because as I see it, the gnomes and by extension the Felkan Kingdom must pay for their continued insults towards the Emperor. And that insult is their mere existence. Their punishment will be death." Jacob realizes that he will have no luck in attempting to incorporate you into his desire to convince the Emperor to not go to war, so he drops the issue. "I hope so for the sake of the Empire. Well, I suppose my next task will be to find a few more recruits to fill in the gaps for the latest fallen Eyes. Warrick will certainly make a good Sightmaster. Glad to hear that the pair of you worked so well together and he survived at least. I…nevermind." Jacob once again is starting act like he wants to address something more, but stops himself again, you urge him to continue. "What is it Jacob?" "Nothing. Just... I mean your actions in Delerg and also what you just recently did to put down one traitor…well I'm just saying that it's good that you are so dedicated. Remember that Empire must survive no matter what the cost." "Of course. You don't need to remind me of such a thing." "No. Of course I don't." Jacob says and bids you goodbye. You don't understand Jacob's odd behavior, especially since it seemed a little contradictory. One moment he was nearly scolding you for your methods, the next he was praising you for them. When you tell the Emperor about you conversation with Jacob he doesn't seem to be concerned, he's too excited about finally going to war with the Felkans. "Jacob is like an old woman sometimes. He worries too much, that's what he does. The only thing we need to worry about is how to make sure none of those little gnome bastards escape this time! Ha ha!" the Emperor says. "They won't." you reply with certainty. > Year 23 With another town taken, you put your sword through the chest of a Felkan soldier begging for his life, one of many from your experience. The average Felkan soldier to you does not seem to match up to Empire ones in any capacity. They are certainly not better in the ways of martial combat or endurance. The only real advantage you can see them having is their gunpowder weaponry and better proficiency with it and even that isn't much of an advantage anymore given that the Emperor's derro friend has been evening up the odds in that way. You walk around surveying the carnage of burning buildings and Empire soldiers busily searching homes to make sure there aren't any more of the enemy hiding out. A small explosion grabs your attention and you see a single Empire soldier stagger out of a home with one of his arms blown off. He stumbles for a bit and then collapses before others rush to his aid. Traps have probably done more damage to the battalion you were assigned to rather than actual combat. This was an easy battle. In fact your whole time being assigned to Major Krozer's battalion has been a bit of a breeze for you. The southwestern front of the Felkan Kingdom isn't as heavily defended or at least from your experience it isn't defended well. Perhaps all of the better Felkan soldiers are on the other fronts. You sort of wish the Emperor had seen fit to have you aid Captain Roldan whose battalion has been seeing a lot of major fighting. However, the Emperor firmly stated that your skills would be of better use here and so you shall carry out your duty. Your main goal is to keep the Felkans from attempting to pull any sort of major flanking maneuver and keeping them boxed in. While conquest isn't the main goal, it is a secondary objective to make a slow push northward towards the Felkan heartland though you imagine you'll soon face Felkan reinforcements from the west before then. That is if they don't still have their hands full with the gnoll tribes that are currently assaulting them their eastern front. "Another victory for the Empire, eh Mr. Sunshine?" you hear a voice from behind say. It's Major Krozer. She's a competent leader and has obviously earned her position, but much like your experience with Gruz, she seems a little "relaxed" on rules of protocol at times such as her periodic insistence on being too playful with you. "I've told you before to stop calling me by that ridiculous name." you snap. "Hey, I didn't invent it. That's what the troops call you behind your back due to your…unique personality." You begin to get angry. "Are you telling me I don't have the respect of the troops and they use this name to mock me?!" "No! They're scared shitless of you, hence why they don't call it to your face. The sunshine reference is due to the fact that you're so damn grim and merciless all the time. Its supposed to be ironic I guess. If you'd like, I could tell them to start calling you Mr. Harbinger of Destruction instead. Pretty sure the Felkans already call you that." Major Krozer replies. "I'm not interested in having any sort of witty nickname and if anyone continues to refer to me other than by my name or my rank, I'll have them flogged for their impertinence and that's just for the first offence." "Hm, well I guess I better relay that to the troops. Fun and humor are cancelled until further notice." "Fun? We're at war major! This is not a time to be having fun! It is not a time for jokes! It is a time to be crushing our enemies and ensuring their extinction!" "And you're claiming that YOU don't find those two bloody past times fun for you? Let's talk seriously for a moment, I've seen you in battle and you are truly a sight to behold. It's almost like watching a work of art with how you move from enemy to enemy slaying all those that oppose you. And that's just close combat, I'm not even referring to when you're throwing flaming hunks of rocks at the enemy and then following it up with a few lightning bolts. My point is, I've seen you lay waste to our opponents and I believe it's more than just a job to you. Yes, you're serving the Empire and the Emperor, but you're having fun doing it. This war is FUN for you and that good, but some of us need to find fun in perhaps less extreme ways and sometimes that might involve the cheap joke here and there. Surely that doesn't warrant a death sentence? I mean all of our lives could be snuffed out anytime, what's the harm in a little humor as long as everyone is still doing their job?" The major's words hit a mark with you. You can't deny that you are having what might be considered "fun" when you're in battle. You enjoy it because its what you were meant to do. You also think back to what the Emperor said to you one time "Sometimes, you're too tightly wound son." This might be one of those times. "Alright, alright, you've made your point. Fine nobody will be flogged, but I better not hear the name Mr. Sunshine or any other cute nickname within earshot." "Of course sir." "Good. So…the troops say my battle techniques look like a work of art?" "No. I believe they just see you as a whirlwind of violence that they need to stay out of the way lest they get caught in the path. I'm the one who believes your battle techniques look like a work of art, but then I'm a daughter of the army, so I don't know much about real art. I just know what I like." The major says with a smile. "Oh. Uh, well thanks." You answer and not feeling quite sure of what else to say. With the debate about acceptable protocol out of the way Major Krozer goes on to tell you that despite significant damage most of the town's population is still alive. While you're usually known for razing entire settlements to the ground, the major is slightly less bloodthirsty than you are. "While I know you like to eliminate enemies of the Empire and stomp them into a red spot on the ground. I'd suggest that we not do that this time and use this town as a stopping spot for our supplies and reinforcements." "Hmm. Perhaps, but we'll have to leave a detachment here to oversee this place." "Well how big is that going to have to be? Not that big I should think since I really don't believe the population is going to give us any more trouble. I've seen most of them and they look thoroughly defeated." "True, but I believe an example should still be made just to get the point across of who is in charge. I'd say about twenty peasants should do it. A mixture of different ages and genders too just to show them that we're being serious." "I'd ask you if that is really necessary, but I know what your answer is going to be. Very well, I'll get some of our soldiers on it. I sometimes have concerns that we'll go too far and their hate will override their fear and cause a revolt." "And that's why I prefer to raze entire settlements. Nobody can revolt when they're all dead." "But then what's left to rule?" Krozer asks before taking her leave. She has a point, but it isn't one you've concerned yourself with during this war mainly because the Emperor has made it quite clear to you that he's actually more interested in destroying the Felkan Kingdom rather than conquering it. This is more of a war of annihilation rather than one of subjugation. Just as you're about to oversee the execution of peasants, a messenger arrives. "For your eyes only sir. Important message from the Emperor." The messenger says and hands you a sealed scroll. You take the scroll and quickly open it. It has been too long since you've last heard anything directly from the Emperor. Upon reading it, it states that you are to report directly to the location where Marik has been making all of the new weapons. Doesn't state why, just says you need to be there. You've never been to Marik's factory before, actually you've never even met Marik before despite having heard of him several times. Guess this will be your introduction. It is a little odd to be taken out of the fighting like this and also not explaining why, but the Emperor must have his reasons. You immediately tell the major. "You're leaving? Why?" she asks. "Can't reveal why, but I assure you that it is on the Emperor's orders." You reply. "Oh. Well I suppose you have to go then. This'll be a huge blow to the might of our forces with you gone." "You shouldn't think such things. You're soldiers of the Empire. You are more than a match for any enemy, let alone the Felkans. You're also a skilled leader and tactician that has kept our losses to a minimum. You'll do fine without me." "I suppose we can get by without your battle skills, but how will we ever cope without your cheerful personality around here?" she says with a serious face which then slowly turns into a smile. Normally this is the kind of thing that perturbs you, but maybe you're getting used to it. "Well I'm sure my sunny disposition has made such a lasting impression that its now within all of your hearts so that you may experience it wherever you go." You reply in a deadpan manner, surprising the major. "Was that a joke you just made?" "How the hell would I know, its not like I've ever made one before." "Well you're on a roll now. Hopefully you will come back so we can actually experience this less self-controlled version of yourself." "Anything's possible I suppose." You say and take your leave. Your only major decision now is whether or not to take the long way around back within all the pacified territory you've been pushing through during your time with Krozer's battalion or risk taking a short cut north through disputed territory that you know is still being battled over by both sides. > You take the long way around While it's not usually like you to play it too safe and you aren't one to avoid conflict, your present duty is to reach your destination in a timely manner. A short cut might seem quicker, but given that you know how hot the conflict is going on right now, its likely that you might very well get caught in the middle of it thus delaying your orders. Your trip is predictably uneventful save for running into a few small regiments of reinforcements that you redirect towards the town you just conquered. When you make it back to Arat you only make short stops in villages to water your horse. Eventually you see the factory within sight rather than just the permanent black cloud that hoovers over it. The factory has somewhat been a source of concern by the local population as the pollution from the place has contaminated the nearby rivers as well as the land surrounding it. However it has provided a new source of employment though its not the safest place to work, but in this world what is safe? When you get there you are met by a small contingent of Eyes standing outside the factory's gates, which are locked up. "I don't know if I should be happy or worried that the Emperor has sent his terrible weapon of righteous justice." One of the Eyes says. The Eye doesn't look familiar to you, but he obviously was with you during the capture of Cyrus. Good to know your words are remembered at least. "What's going on?" "Apparently a few days ago a giant green monster punched through one of the doors to the basement of the factory and killed several workers and guards before we got here. Someone claimed it was a troll. If it was a troll I can only imagine it dug itself up from the underground since that's where they live right?" "So I've heard, but what are you doing standing out here?" "Sightmaster Ansolom's orders. The troll hasn't left the factory for whatever reason and he wants to make sure its at least contained while he and some others try to kill the thing. Though they've been in there since yesterday, I fear the worst." "Ansolom? What happened to Warrick?" "Sightmaster Warrick is stationed elsewhere with another group of Eyes. I don't know where. So are you going in?" "Of course." "You…uh don't need us to come in with you do you?" the Eye asks while unlocking the gate. "No. Continue your little guard duty, I believe you would only get in my way anyway." You say and open up the gate. No sooner have you entered when the Eyes close the gate and lock it back up. You shake your head and cautiously walk through the factory's outer yard. You see all manner of strange machines along with hundreds of boxes of various weapons large and small set for shipping, but the place is dead silent. You're not even finding any dead bodies; you're guessing they must be inside the factory itself and probably the troll as well. You're wondering where Marik is in all this. From what you know he and a small group of derro work deep underneath this factory unknown to most, even the regular workers. There is supposed to be a battle mage that acts as the factory supervisor too. On top of everything else now you have to look for a sightmaster who is supposed to be here taking care of this problem and you still don't understand why you were dragged off the frontline just to handle a troll, or what you still assume is a troll. When you enter the factory itself, that's when you see all the damage to the place. It's a mess with broken equipment and dead bodies everywhere. While you've heard the stories about how terrible trolls are you nearly have a hard time believing it was just one of them that caused all this damage. Besides looking like a tomb the factory is about as silent as one as well. You would've thought the troll would at least be feasting on its kills or at least walking about the factory, but you've heard nothing. This of course puts you more on guard since now you're wondering if the thing is aware of your presence and silently stalking you. You climb up to one of the upper walkways to get a better view. You still can't see the creature from your position, but apparently it was up here at some point since you're finding the odd limb along the walkway. The supervisor's office is up here so you decide to head towards it hoping that maybe you'll find some answers. As you get closer you see that a battle must've taken place near there because you see a body just outside the doorway of the office. There are a couple other bloody bodies lying near it as well. Upon closer inspection the body just outside the doorway is headless but wearing a robe. This was probably the battle mage supervisor. The other bodies are a little fresher but still in mauled condition. They wear the uniform of an Eye, but you suddenly have more pressing concerns when not one, but two trolls appear on the far end of the walkways. They look every bit as vicious as you've heard. Big, green, long gangly limbs and seem to lope in a jerky manner towards you snarling and howling the whole time. You have no idea how such large creatures were able to hide from you, but they've made their presence known now and you're trapped with no easy retreat. They're quick, but you manage to unleash a single bolt of flame at one of the trolls, which causes it to immediately leap over the railing and take a long drop down to the floor below busily trying to beat the flames out of its hide. It is so focused on doing this that it fails to realize that it is in a factory with several explosive elements. All it takes is for the troll to crash its body into one of the small barrels of the volatile powder and the troll is blown to pieces though the force of the explosion is even enough to rock you to the floor of the walkway. You get up just in time for the second troll to smash its fist into your chest and you go flying into the office hitting the wall. You feel like you've been hit by a giant club and struggle to catch your breath. You scan the room and to your left you see another dead body of an Eye. This one is the sightmaster and he looks as if all his limbs have been broken. The troll advances and you manage to kick the door shut, which slows it down long enough to buy you some time. When it slams the door back open you cast a bolt of flame in its face. It reels back bellowing with pain and clutching its eyes, but unlike his friend he isn't running away. Ignoring the pain, you stand back up and with sword in hand you slash the troll across one of its knees causing it to stumble. It manages to swipe its claws across your stomach, but fortunately you dodge most of attack and only suffer ripped armor and a surface wound. The troll tries to continue its success, but even as quick as it is, you are able to get the advantage and bring your blade across its think neck. Unfortunately you fail to sever the troll's head completely and your sword gets stuck half way through it. Black blood is spraying everywhere and the troll grabs your sword arm digging its claws into the skin and muscle. It will very likely rip it off if you don't do something immediately. > You pull your dagger and stab it in the arm You pull out your dagger and begin repeatedly stabbing the troll in the arm to the point where you nearly sever it. Its grip loosens as it hisses in pain. You nearly get your head punched in by the troll's other fist, but you fall backwards on the walkway in time for it to miss. The troll fails to follow up with another attack since it attempts to remove the sword from its neck presumably to regenerate properly. Taking advantage of this breather you cast a lightning blast right at the sword, which acts as a great conductor to fry the troll inside and out. You have to back up just so the troll's flailing body doesn't hit you. Eventually when the troll's body is burned to a crisp and you're fairly certain you've fried its vital organs enough that it can't possibly regenerate you stop and the troll crashes to the floor still smoking and twitching. Then you retrieve your sword and finish decapitating the troll just to be sure. You take a small rest after your battle, though you keep alert for another troll. Thankfully no more show up, but there's still the question about Marik and where the hell the trolls came from in the first place. Both potential answers are going to lie in the basement you imagine so that's where you continue your exploration. The factory basement is in just about as much disarray as the ground floor and there are a few dead bodies, but no trolls or derro for that matter. You search until you come across a large metal door which has been partially ripped off its hinges, a long set of stairs go down. It would appear there is an even deeper part of the factory. You go down the stairway, which seems almost like forever and when you finally get to the bottom, you hear a lot of shouting in an unfamiliar language. You walk down a corridor and find a large open area with presumably more factory equipment, but some of it looks very strange. You see machines, which are emanating a lightning arc similar to the spell you can cast or what nature does during a storm. Other things look like giant tubes with something inside, though from this distance you can't tell what. Among the machinery you also see short heavily armored figures busily trying to clean up the area. You can't even see their faces, but you're guessing these are the infamous derro. "You there! Who are you surfacer? Are you one of the factory workers?" a deep voice suddenly calls to you from the right. You look and see a very pale figure wearing white coat covered in blood and a bunch of other things you can't identify. This bald wild-eyed fellow is about the same size as the armored figure so you come to one conclusion. "The Emperor sent me. Are you Marik?" "I am Marik…you must be the one he refers to as his son. But why would the Emperor send you here?" "I was only given orders to come here, but within such time I faced two trolls that apparently slaughtered not only many factory workers, but its supervisor AND several of the Emperor's Eyes! I had thought they might've killed you as well, but since that is not the case, I am hoping that you can shed some light on the situation." "Shit, I had a feeling one of them escaped up there, but not two. And I assumed that the fucking poncy wizard would at least be able to handle it. Figures that fop wouldn't have the stones when faced with such a beast, let alone two of them." "Escaped? Excuse me, but what the hell were trolls doing here in the first place? And why did you not send men to help kill the beasts?" "If you have not noticed by the mess already, but my men and I have been dealing with trolls down here as well." "It looks as if you were not fighting them when I arrived and you still have not answered why there were trolls down here in the first place?" "I know you're held in high regard by the Emperor and obviously your skills are impressive if a scrawny thing like you can handle two adult trolls, but you will cease questioning me in such a manner now surfacer!" "I will question your competence if you are the reason for this disaster! These trolls have just caused a stop in production which is vital to the Emperor's war on the Felkan Kingdom!" Marik's expression begins to show more aggression though he's smiling at the same time. He almost looks as if he's going to break into laughter. "Surfacer, I have known the Emperor much longer than YOU have even been alive! Maybe you're unfamiliar with the complexities of our relationship, so I will let your words pass as ones of a concerned child for his parent's wishes. But NEVER question my competence ever again! I am the very reason the Emperor is able to pursue a successful war on the Felkans in the first place! My work here is to find even better ways to crush his enemies! The trolls? Part of my experiments as new weapons for the war! Sometimes experiments fail! Science is not always exact! Do you think YOU were the first Eternal?" "Yes, I'm well aware I was among the first successful ones, but that still doesn't excuse why you sent no men to at least scout the factory if you believed trolls had escaped." "The Emperor should've told you more about our people then. We derro do not step foot on the surface if we can help it. My people may have an alliance with the Emperor, but that alliance does not extend to such madness." "I was lead to believe madness was a common derro trait." "It is, but even then there are limits! Indeed I may very well be among the most mad and even I will not soil myself by setting foot on your surface world." "But the factory is enclosed, you'd still be shielded from the sun if that is death to your kind." Marik begins laughing in a tone that is much different from his deep voice. It's an annoying ear piercing laugh. "Your ignorance of the derro is embarrassing as is usual for a surfacer. I suggest you learn more in your pitifully short lifespan. Ask your Emperor for guidance, perhaps he will have the patience to tell you more about us, I do not. I have work to do for the Emperor." Marik says and turns away from you. His fellow derro have been standing by watching the pair of you the entire time as if ready to act if violence should break out. Violence may still occur if Marik continues to act dismissively towards you. "Do not walk away from me derro! You still have much to answer for! What exactly is it that you are doing here? What is so important that you so carelessly endanger the war effort? You will give me answers of substance that I can give to the Emperor!" Your words cause Marik to stop. "Your loyalty to the Emperor is admirable. Tell me though, what gives you cause to believe that you'd make it out of here to able to report to him?" "Trust me derro, I may indeed not be able to take all of you, but YOU I would make an example of." Marik once again makes that annoying laugh again. "Your knowledge of the derro continues to lack. If you truly knew anything, you'd know that death is not something the derro fear." "And now it is you who do not listen. I said nothing of killing you, I said make an example of. After I beat you within an inch of your life, I'd drag your bloody body to the surface which you obviously loathe so much. I thank you for exposing your flaws within our short meeting." Marik turns to face you once again. He studies you as if to assess if you're being serious. He realizes you are. "Well, I'll be. A surfacer nearly as mad as a derro, for it is the only explanation for your threats that you speak out of your ass and ignorance. Heh. Very well then perhaps we do have something in common. Come with me then Eternal, I will satisfy your questions and then you can go tell the Emperor that we're not just playing with our dicks down here." Marik waves away the other derro and tells them to get back to work while he goes on to explain what's going on down here. He tells you that while he has provided the Emperor with the gift of gunpowder weapons to combat the Felkans he states that he is bored with creating such things. He wants to move on to other, more interesting things. You don't exactly understand everything he's saying, but apparently this includes altering trolls in such a way to use them as living weapons. Obviously success has eluded him, but Marik claims it will work eventually he just needs more time. He then goes on to say that the schematics of the weapons he's already made should be somewhat known to surfacers now and that perhaps those weapons could be built in another factory run purely by surfacers. Allowing him of course to work more unencumbered by the possibility of his experiments causing problems in the future. "I will report this to the Emperor and allow him to decide, but personally I can't say as this is a good use of time and resources. Better to perfect the weapons you've already created than to play around with uncertain ones." "Funny you should say that Eternal, because one could say the same of your kind." "There is a difference. Obviously when I was born I was still not a mindless untrainable animal like a troll." "No, but obviously an effort was made to make you better than the average human and then some. No effort was spared in perfecting you and your kind until some of you actually survived the entire process." Marik's words about the creation of the Eternals peaks your interest. "Tell me Marik, how much were you involved in the creation of the Eternals?" "Sadly very little. Most of my ideas for the…project were considered a bit too extreme, then that fool Jacob somehow managed to gain complete control of the project. The advantage of being a surfacer I suppose. If I had control, you and your fellow classmates would've been even better. In fact you wouldn't have had to endure much training at all, you would've instantly been BORN with natural skill and talent. (Sigh) If only the Emperor saw the wisdom in continuing the project with me at the helm…I could truly create some living weapons." "What are you talking about exactly?" "For someone so close to the Emperor, I see he keeps you out of the loop on things and if he is then there must be a reason for it. I have probably said too much…I suggest if you want more answers then speak with him. Go now, I have work to do. Much work to do." When Marik says this he begins making nervous twitches and see him eye a nearby metal door, which makes you suspicious. > You confront Marik Whatever Marik is hiding behind that door has peaked your interest. For all you know he's hiding something that could possibly threaten the Empire. You make your way towards the door and Marik comes just shy of physically stopping you. "Hey, where are you going?" he asks. "I wanna see what's behind that door now step aside Marik." "You can't! There's dangerous material in there. Chemicals and stuff like that. Safe for us derro, but completely toxic to a human like you." "Well as you pointed out not a few minutes ago, I'm better than the average human, now stand aside." "You can't!" Marik shrieks and begins giggling. "Marik, last chance to get outta my way…" Marik suddenly stops his annoying giggling and begins snorting and hyperventilating while giving you a hostile stare. It would almost be amusing if you could see the humorous side of it. "Alright fine! But you're going to spoil the surprise!" he shrieks and gets out of your way. You step to the metal door and open it up to a platformed level, which overlooks a huge room. It's nearly the size of a small hamlet you think. There are several ladders that descend down to the lower level which contain translucent containers all hooked up with tubing and connected with each other and large strange machines. Even from this distance you can make out small figures floating in liquid within the containers. You're about to ask Marik what all this is when suddenly you hear him scream… "SURPRISE!" And then the back of your head is blown off by Marik's personal pistol. Your lifeless body slumps to the floor soon after part of your brains do. Marik and his fellow derro cover up your death by explaining to the Emperor that the escaped trolls killed you. The Emperor temporarily mourns your death, but ultimately decides that if something like a troll killed you, then perhaps you weren't worthy of your status after all.

You pull out your dagger and begin repeatedly stabbing the troll in the arm to the point where you nearly sever it. Its grip loosens as it hisses in pain. You nearly get your head punched in by the troll's other fist, but you fall backwards on the walkway in time for it to miss. The troll fails to follow up with another attack since it attempts to remove the sword from its neck presumably to regenerate properly. Taking advantage of this breather you cast a lightning blast right at the sword, which acts as a great conductor to fry the troll inside and out. You have to back up just so the troll's flailing body doesn't hit you. Eventually when the troll's body is burned to a crisp and you're fairly certain you've fried its vital organs enough that it can't possibly regenerate you stop and the troll crashes to the floor still smoking and twitching. Then you retrieve your sword and finish decapitating the troll just to be sure. You take a small rest after your battle, though you keep alert for another troll. Thankfully no more show up, but there's still the question about Marik and where the hell the trolls came from in the first place. Both potential answers are going to lie in the basement you imagine so that's where you continue your exploration. The factory basement is in just about as much disarray as the ground floor and there are a few dead bodies, but no trolls or derro for that matter. You search until you come across a large metal door which has been partially ripped off its hinges, a long set of stairs go down. It would appear there is an even deeper part of the factory. You go down the stairway, which seems almost like forever and when you finally get to the bottom, you hear a lot of shouting in an unfamiliar language. You walk down a corridor and find a large open area with presumably more factory equipment, but some of it looks very strange. You see machines, which are emanating a lightning arc similar to the spell you can cast or what nature does during a storm. Other things look like giant tubes with something inside, though from this distance you can't tell what. Among the machinery you also see short heavily armored figures busily trying to clean up the area. You can't even see their faces, but you're guessing these are the infamous derro. "You there! Who are you surfacer? Are you one of the factory workers?" a deep voice suddenly calls to you from the right. You look and see a very pale figure wearing white coat covered in blood and a bunch of other things you can't identify. This bald wild-eyed fellow is about the same size as the armored figure so you come to one conclusion. "The Emperor sent me. Are you Marik?" "I am Marik…you must be the one he refers to as his son. But why would the Emperor send you here?" "I was only given orders to come here, but within such time I faced two trolls that apparently slaughtered not only many factory workers, but its supervisor AND several of the Emperor's Eyes! I had thought they might've killed you as well, but since that is not the case, I am hoping that you can shed some light on the situation." "Shit, I had a feeling one of them escaped up there, but not two. And I assumed that the fucking poncy wizard would at least be able to handle it. Figures that fop wouldn't have the stones when faced with such a beast, let alone two of them." "Escaped? Excuse me, but what the hell were trolls doing here in the first place? And why did you not send men to help kill the beasts?" "If you have not noticed by the mess already, but my men and I have been dealing with trolls down here as well." "It looks as if you were not fighting them when I arrived and you still have not answered why there were trolls down here in the first place?" "I know you're held in high regard by the Emperor and obviously your skills are impressive if a scrawny thing like you can handle two adult trolls, but you will cease questioning me in such a manner now surfacer!" "I will question your competence if you are the reason for this disaster! These trolls have just caused a stop in production which is vital to the Emperor's war on the Felkan Kingdom!" Marik's expression begins to show more aggression though he's smiling at the same time. He almost looks as if he's going to break into laughter. "Surfacer, I have known the Emperor much longer than YOU have even been alive! Maybe you're unfamiliar with the complexities of our relationship, so I will let your words pass as ones of a concerned child for his parent's wishes. But NEVER question my competence ever again! I am the very reason the Emperor is able to pursue a successful war on the Felkans in the first place! My work here is to find even better ways to crush his enemies! The trolls? Part of my experiments as new weapons for the war! Sometimes experiments fail! Science is not always exact! Do you think YOU were the first Eternal?" "Yes, I'm well aware I was among the first successful ones, but that still doesn't excuse why you sent no men to at least scout the factory if you believed trolls had escaped." "The Emperor should've told you more about our people then. We derro do not step foot on the surface if we can help it. My people may have an alliance with the Emperor, but that alliance does not extend to such madness." "I was lead to believe madness was a common derro trait." "It is, but even then there are limits! Indeed I may very well be among the most mad and even I will not soil myself by setting foot on your surface world." "But the factory is enclosed, you'd still be shielded from the sun if that is death to your kind." Marik begins laughing in a tone that is much different from his deep voice. It's an annoying ear piercing laugh. "Your ignorance of the derro is embarrassing as is usual for a surfacer. I suggest you learn more in your pitifully short lifespan. Ask your Emperor for guidance, perhaps he will have the patience to tell you more about us, I do not. I have work to do for the Emperor." Marik says and turns away from you. His fellow derro have been standing by watching the pair of you the entire time as if ready to act if violence should break out. Violence may still occur if Marik continues to act dismissively towards you. "Do not walk away from me derro! You still have much to answer for! What exactly is it that you are doing here? What is so important that you so carelessly endanger the war effort? You will give me answers of substance that I can give to the Emperor!" Your words cause Marik to stop. "Your loyalty to the Emperor is admirable. Tell me though, what gives you cause to believe that you'd make it out of here to able to report to him?" "Trust me derro, I may indeed not be able to take all of you, but YOU I would make an example of." Marik once again makes that annoying laugh again. "Your knowledge of the derro continues to lack. If you truly knew anything, you'd know that death is not something the derro fear." "And now it is you who do not listen. I said nothing of killing you, I said make an example of. After I beat you within an inch of your life, I'd drag your bloody body to the surface which you obviously loathe so much. I thank you for exposing your flaws within our short meeting." Marik turns to face you once again. He studies you as if to assess if you're being serious. He realizes you are. "Well, I'll be. A surfacer nearly as mad as a derro, for it is the only explanation for your threats that you speak out of your ass and ignorance. Heh. Very well then perhaps we do have something in common. Come with me then Eternal, I will satisfy your questions and then you can go tell the Emperor that we're not just playing with our dicks down here." Marik waves away the other derro and tells them to get back to work while he goes on to explain what's going on down here. He tells you that while he has provided the Emperor with the gift of gunpowder weapons to combat the Felkans he states that he is bored with creating such things. He wants to move on to other, more interesting things. You don't exactly understand everything he's saying, but apparently this includes altering trolls in such a way to use them as living weapons. Obviously success has eluded him, but Marik claims it will work eventually he just needs more time. He then goes on to say that the schematics of the weapons he's already made should be somewhat known to surfacers now and that perhaps those weapons could be built in another factory run purely by surfacers. Allowing him of course to work more unencumbered by the possibility of his experiments causing problems in the future. "I will report this to the Emperor and allow him to decide, but personally I can't say as this is a good use of time and resources. Better to perfect the weapons you've already created than to play around with uncertain ones." "Funny you should say that Eternal, because one could say the same of your kind." "There is a difference. Obviously when I was born I was still not a mindless untrainable animal like a troll." "No, but obviously an effort was made to make you better than the average human and then some. No effort was spared in perfecting you and your kind until some of you actually survived the entire process." Marik's words about the creation of the Eternals peaks your interest. "Tell me Marik, how much were you involved in the creation of the Eternals?" "Sadly very little. Most of my ideas for the…project were considered a bit too extreme, then that fool Jacob somehow managed to gain complete control of the project. The advantage of being a surfacer I suppose. If I had control, you and your fellow classmates would've been even better. In fact you wouldn't have had to endure much training at all, you would've instantly been BORN with natural skill and talent. (Sigh) If only the Emperor saw the wisdom in continuing the project with me at the helm…I could truly create some living weapons." "What are you talking about exactly?" "For someone so close to the Emperor, I see he keeps you out of the loop on things and if he is then there must be a reason for it. I have probably said too much…I suggest if you want more answers then speak with him. Go now, I have work to do. Much work to do." When Marik says this he begins making nervous twitches and see him eye a nearby metal door, which makes you suspicious. > You report to the Emperor While part of you wants to confront Marik on your suspicions that he's not telling you everything you get the impression that you've pushed your luck enough with taking an aggressive stance. There are some unknown factors going on here and you'd probably be better off just reporting back to the Emperor about all this, he knows Marik and the derro better than you do. "I'll leave you to it then and I shall tell the Emperor that the situation here has been dealt with along with your suggestions for a second factory." Marik seemingly ignores your statement and goes back to ordering his fellow derro. You make your way to the exit and Marik suddenly calls out to you. "Yes on your way Eternal, back to your accursed surface. Its days are numbered you know and that will be the day that…hehehehehe…what was I…talking about? Back to work you lot!" On your way out you tell the Eyes to continue guarding the factory until further notice and make your journey back to the capital. When you get to the Emperor's room, he's hunched over a large map and placing small metal figures in certain locations. "There you are m'boy. Did you hear? We just took Fort Soot. A great victory this day, though we'll need to shore up our own defenses there. I trust by your presence you've taken care of whatever problem happened at the factory and it is now up and running again." "I regret to tell you that the problem has only been partially solved." "Oh? I trust you have a good reason for this oversight." You explain everything to the Emperor hoping that he isn't mad, fortunately he isn't or at least he isn't mad at you. "Bah, damn that crazy derro and his experiments! I told him I just need the practical, not fancy super weapons! Trolls, what the hell is he thinking? You know his race was once on the losing end of a war with those beasts? Marik himself would've been eaten by one had I not stepped in and saved his ass. (Sigh) Okay I'll have a levy of peasants build another factory then, I probably should have several anyway, I just didn't want to waste time and resources on building them right now." "So…you're just going to give Marik what he wants?" "Why not? We gave Gruz what he wanted didn't we and he's certainly less deserving. Besides Marik's right, he's already provided the schematics for most of the cannons, muskets, pistols and other types of weapons. I'm fairly certain that we can have purely run human factory now. The common folk aren't entirely dim. Marik can have his little so called secret workshop, maybe he'll even come up with something useful." "I'm still concerned about Marik. He seemed like he was hiding something more than just experimenting on trolls though." "Of course he was. He probably has something really twisted going on behind closed doors, but for all his madness, secrets and genuine derro isolationist xenophobia, he's loyal. He'll do nothing that will harm the Empire especially since he has no desire to rule it. Derro pacts are for life and to break one would be as offensive to them as walking on the surface." The Emperor says this with a lot of certainty though you're still a little apprehensive, however the Emperor has had more dealings with the derro and known Marik much longer than you have so he's more knowledgeable on this than you. "Very well, if you are not concerned, I shall cease my own." "Good, but I'm glad you're suspicious. Being paranoid keeps your wits sharp and alert. Besides you might be partially right. While I know Marik doesn't have any intentional desires to harm the Empire his work may unintentionally harm it as shown with this incident with his troll experiment. I will have a personal talk with him just to keep him on a tighter leash so to speak." "I'm still confused one thing though, why send me?" "Because you get things done of course. What was I going to do, have Jacob send in more Eyes? You see how well that worked and given that the problem was trolls it's a good thing I sent you in rather than lose even more of them. I knew what ever it was that was the problem, you'd be able to handle it." "I see, its just I thought my role in the Felkan war was more important." "It is, it is my son and this was still related to said war and trust me it was far more important than winning some small battle somewhere." The Emperor steps forward towards you and gives you that familiar hand on your shoulder bit when he's about to tell you something he feels you should take to heart. "Listen, I know you probably would like to be fighting in the thick of the war, slaying Felkans left and right and I know you'd be successful and good at it. However you are MORE than just some glorified soldier to be sent in to fight and die. Hell, I may have even told you to take a back up of Eyes had I known about the trolls with this recent incident." "Wait, are you trying to protect me?" "Of course I am. Yes, I'm well aware that your life is built on danger and that you've never been a stranger to life and death situations, but I'd like to keep your chances of staying alive at least out of the impossible zone. You have been indispensible to me and I am not going to risk sending you into a meat grinder just because you fight well. You are much more important. I need you as not only a commander of troops, but also as my personal agent. Now is there anything else?" You take the opportunity to tell the Emperor about what exactly is going on your side of the warfront. He seems pleased with the information and tells you that you can go back to assist Krozer's battalion now that your assignment is over. The Emperor goes on to say how he continues to be proud of your accomplishments and that he means it when he says just how important you are to him. You leave the palace with a great feeling of pride and accomplishment. Not just that though, you feel like you're genuinely appreciated and coming from the Emperor… well there can be nothing better. Since you haven't been gone long, you make your way back to the ex-Felkan town you just conquered and find that Krozer's army hasn't moved yet. "You're back already? That was quick, we hardly had time to miss you." Major Krozer says. "Well I knew you'd all be lost without me, so I figured I'd better hurry back as soon as possible." "Another joke? Before you left you were attempting some of those." "So what's been going on here?" "Nothing really, after we executed the twenty you suggested, the inhabitants here are truly submissive. I was just about to pick some troops to stay here and head out with the rest. I believe the next target is a small village called Gelim. Not much of one, but then this is further away from the Felkan heartland of course." You think for a moment and say something that shocks the major. "The troops could probably due with a small rest. Let's stay here another three days, it's not going to make that much of a difference. I doubt that little village is going to provide much of a resistance, let alone be able to shore up any sort of strong defense within that time. We've got the Felkans pinned in from here and last reports say they're focusing most of their troops on the frontlines or against those gnolls to the east. " "Alright, the attempts at humor are one thing, but NOW I'm starting to worry a shape shifter has taken your place." "No worries, let's just say I'm in a less grim mood." "You are? Then the gods must truly do exist because I never thought I'd see the day. I guess whatever it is that the Emperor had you doing went well then." "It did, but this has nothing to do with that. I just want to make sure the soldiers are well rested and not run ragged. Make sure you have them gather here in the town square in a few moments, I'd like to give them a speech about how their efforts have been appreciated." "By the Emperor?" "I'm sure he does too, but I figured the troops might wants to know that someone a little closer to them appreciates their hard work even if he doesn't always say it." "I'll get them together, but I imagine they'll enjoy the fact that you're allowing them three days rest more. Still, some encouraging words do help the morale for some." "I hope you know that this appreciation includes everyone here and that especially means you. This battalion is under your command and you've done a fine job running it." "I think officially out outrank me, given that you report directly to the Emperor." "Perhaps, but while I have given my own input with strategies and battle, I have always allowed you to make the final decisions because this is still your command and I respect that and you. The Empire is stronger with you leading some of its armies." "Wow, I'm nearly speechless right now. Keep complimenting me like that and I'll start to think you've developed intimate feelings for me." "What?" "Oh you know. Saying to me I'd look prettier out of my uniform and how we should talk in private. Then the next thing I know you're telling me to drop down and give you head." "I…I wouldn't! I mean, I wouldn't abuse my position of authority like that!" you exclaim. The major laughs a bit. "Relax, I know you wouldn't. The whole time on this assignment I haven't seen you take an interest in anyone." "Why would I? I'm supposed to be focusing on the task of destroying the Felkans, not indulging in baser pleasures." "Mm, perhaps, but not everyone is so single minded in their duties or get their fun from the battlefield like you seem to do. Why do you think we have a group of whores follow our army around? Do you not think some of the soldiers sneak off with each other sometimes? I won't even get into some of the stuff we probably aren't seeing after we crush one of the Felkan population zones. And as for the abuse of power from a superior, you're probably one of the first that I know that hasn't even tried to use it as some sort of threat to have sex with someone of a lower rank." "Yes well I suppose that's the ugly side of war." You reply. Now the major starts laughing out loud even more. "You're hilarious! Brutality and carnage on a grand scale, death and destruction everywhere, and you think whores, a few random rapes and some sexual harassment is the ugly bit. That's why I like you, because you don't know any better. Anyway thanks for the compliments and know that I have also found that despite your usual overly serious demeanor it's been a pleasure serving with you as well and I look forward to our continued positive relationship." "As do I." With you and Major Krozer at a friendlier understanding of one another as well as the Emperor's earlier words to you, you feel a lot happier about your current assignment. > Year 25 While the war with the Felkans seemed to be going smoothly, the situation has changed somewhat. The Empire still has the upper hand, but unfortunately this has become a three-way entanglement. The gnolls tribes harassing the Felkans on the western borders apparently weren't just separate chaotic bands of raiders, but rather a full-fledged conquering horde. After smashing most of the Felkan defenses they have proceeded further into the heartland and that's where they finally came to blows with the Empire. So far the gnolls been more of an annoyance to the Empire, but its been distracting enough that it's given the Felkans enough time to retreat and regroup further north. The Felkans are much reduced in strength now, but they are still definitely not a defeated nation yet. If anything their resolve has gotten stronger and their defenses have too. Last reports tell of how the orcs attempted to break through the defenses of the city of Yaquan only to be nearly wiped out by large weapons mounted to the city's towers that apparently harness the power of lightning. One blast ripped through the ranks of the heavily armored orcs and spread like a chain of death killing most of them instantly. These new "lightning guns" are no doubt the inventions of the gnomes. You heard Captain Gruz was amongst the casualties which would put orc leadership in jeopardy, but since there are so few of them left, the remainder of their now decimated number have regrouped under Roldan's command who is busily trying to figure out a way to proceed without losing half of his troops in the process. So far though the gnolls have been making that task difficult with their own ongoing attacks. The only upside to all this is the Felkans seem to be playing up to their typical siege mentality and not making any sort of counter attacks probably hoping that the Empire and the gnolls will continue to kill each other to the point where nobody is in any position to attack them anymore. Of course that just means they're getting further entrenched. If enough time passes it may very well make most assaults on what's left of them extremely costly. Meanwhile you and Alison have been mostly fighting off the gnoll hordes on a regular basis. You'd like to press further west to take the fight to them, but you know you need to stay in occupied Felkan territory to either help defend the main army or to support it when the time finally comes to make the final push on the Felkans. Lately most of your days are dull waiting or slightly less dull combat since the gnolls themselves rely mostly on numbers and terror rather than skill. The terror factor isn't much of one when going against the hardened troops of the Empire and numbers account for nothing when faced with Empire discipline. Still, its frustrating not being allowed to do more and tensions are starting to run hot by everyone in the high command… "But if we continue to attack as we have, we will risk losing it all! I urge you my Emperor for the good of the Empire we should withdraw now! What can it hurt? We have proven our point and even acquired some territory in the process. Why not just let those barbaric gnolls fight over the scraps what's left of the ruins." Jacob says to the Emperor. "Jacob, I said it before I don't give a damn what the costs are, I won't let those fucking gnomes continue to mock from behind their smug little walled cities! And I didn't come this far to be turned back by the incursions of some mongrel dog men or guns that shoot a little light! I don't care what it takes we aren't going to rest until the Felkan Kingdom ceases to exist along with those fucking gnomes!" the Emperor shouts and flips a nearby table. "Why are you yelling at me? I'm just giving my honest opinion on the situation, I'm not even in charge of the military matters!" Jacob whimpers. "But you ARE in charge of the other Eternals, and guess who is leading the majority of our forces in Felkan territory? That's right, Roldan. Now I'll grant you that he's been fairly successful up until this point, but the fact that he hasn't made any progress for the past few months is severely starting to decrease my faith that he can get the job done." "He's doing the best he can under the circumstances and he's the best qualified general we have, I don't think he should be replaced." "I'm beginning to think I should start replacing SOMEONE." The Emperor unsubtly threatens. You've seen the Emperor mad before and it's never a good thing. Poor Jacob is trying to stand his ground on this matter, but its obvious the man is incredibly scared for his life. To be fair you actually can see his concerns on the situation, but this thing with the gnomes…well it's an ongoing source of irritation for the Emperor. Jacob is also taking a verbal lashing for something that really isn't his fault. True, he monitors the progress of the other Eternals, but in reality it's not anything meaningful. Not to mention it actually was you who originally convinced the Emperor that Roldan should lead on the main assault force, yet the Emperor has either forgotten this fact, or perhaps still insists on seeing it all as Jacob's fault. Since you still feel partly responsible you decide to interject to try to calm things down. "Emperor, I could take over Roldan's command if you prefer, though I would still like to keep him on as part of the command staff." "While I'm sure you would no doubt do a much better job, I'd rather have you're where you currently are." The Emperor says which somewhat disappoints you. "Of course, of course. Wouldn't want to risk your precious loyal dog." Mistress suddenly remarks, this draws an angry glance of both you and the Emperor. "What? I'm just saying what Jacob's thinking, personally I don't really give a shit what drone you decide to sacrifice in your futile war." Mistress says causing Jacob's eyes to widen, shake his head and raise his hands assuring that he thought no such thing. "Ever with the clever remarks. Too bad the rest of your race isn't half as clever, or you might not be a bunch of mercenaries." "I'm not sure why we're even relying on svelk scum anyway. Alison and I have been doing just fine fighting off the gnolls by ourselves for example." You remark. "Alison? Oh, is that the name of the dirty blonde shield maiden that I've heard you've been getting close to? Tell me, when you're sticking it to her do you try to visualize that its me?" A vulgar comment as usual from Mistress. Not unexpected either. While you'd be lying if it weren't a little annoying, you certainly aren't going to give her the satisfaction of a retort. "No answer? Are you not even going to stand up for the honor of your female plaything? Then again I suppose she isn't worthy of it. I mean given that you experienced the best, why would you bother defending something so inferior?" Mistress continues to taunt. "Emperor, we are here to discuss the important business of crushing the Felkans, do we really have to listen to the boring and predictable slurs of this…dubious ally?" you ask. "No, of course we don't. Hold your vile svelk tongue unless you've actually got something more worthwhile to contribute." "I have contributed more than my fair share to your foolish crusade. I have come to the conclusion that this war is a losing proposition for my people. I won't even go into the meat grinder you've got our mercenary bands dealing with on the Felkan front. And while I'm sure that may cause you much joy, we svelk are not mindless orc slaves and will NOT fall into your clumsy manipulative plans of convenient genocide through attrition. Yeah, we're pulling out and moving on to greener pastures." "Since when are you or any other svelk so concerned about the future of your people? You're also acting like you're in harms way and unless you've been sneaking off to fight alongside your kin, you've personally risked nothing. You're also still being paid well so what the hell do you care?" the Emperor remarks. "You humans think you always have everything figured out about everything when you really don't know shit. As I said, the price is too high, and we will be moving on to better opportunities." "(Sigh) Stop being so damn dramatic, and what the hell do you really want?" the Emperor asks in an exasperated tone. Mistress proceeds to tell the Emperor that she's quite serious about pulling out svelk aid unless she gets more support in return. "If you want our continued help, we do not believe that this General Roldan is able to accomplish his assault on the city of Yaquan in an efficient manner. So I would request that you either change the leadership or transfer us to the gnoll front at Major Krozer's war camp." Mistress says and glances at you. "No! We've been doing just fine without you! We don't need morale falling low because svelk are infesting the camp." You protest. "And here I thought you were a professional first and foremost. Open your eyes. Even you can see the benefit of our superior troops being directly added to your fighting force. Besides, I heard how you handled the first time you worked with svelk warriors before, surely if one of them gets out of line, you'll just go on a bloodthirsty rampage to make a point of who is really in charge." You look to the Emperor expecting him to say something about this matter, but he waves you over to speak with you privately. Mistress rolls her eyes and wanders over to one of the bookshelves while Jacob fumbles about with some papers. "Son, I'm going to include you in this decision, because this is something I think you feel strongly about and I'd rather have you in a positive state of mind. I don't want to lose svelk support as they have been helpful despite their…well you know. I also have doubts about Roldan getting the job done as well, so the suggestion to replace him isn't out of the question as far as I'm concerned. In any case I'm either going to have to replace him or send all the svelk to the gnoll front, but I know that won't exactly make you happy." > You suggest that Roldan be replaced While you don't agree with the idea that Roldan won't be able to get the job done, you'd rather have him replaced than get an influx of svelk troops. You'd try to suggest yourself again, but you know the Emperor has made his mind up on the matter. "If you believe General Roldan cannot get the job done, then I suppose it might be better if he's replaced." You remark which gets Jacob's disapproval. "But he can do it! Replacing Roldan at this point would be folly!" "Enough Jacob! The decision has been made! General Roldan will be replaced and demoted!" the Emperor remarks. "Demoted?" "Yes demoted! Be happy he isn't being executed for incompetence on the battlefield!" "But I thought he was just going to be replaced! My Emperor I beg you not to do this! Roldan has worked so hard for his position!" "Jacob, is there some sort of reason why you keep arguing this point with me? Delusions? Stupidity? A death wish perhaps?" the Emperor asks and Jacob shuts up immediately. Mistress stretches and yawns before commenting on the situation. "If you all are done in this pointless exercise male ineptitude, is there anything else I need to waste my time with here?" "Yes, we're done. Get the hell out of my chambers and take Jacob with you. And while I wish I could chat with you my son, I still have to speak with Marik. I sometimes wonder if he just uses his madness as an excuse to be absent minded and claim he didn't know there was a meeting. I just hope he's actually made progress on his project he convinced me to proceed with." The Emperor remarks and the rest of you leave his chambers. You expect Mistress to make some sort of remark as you're all walking out of the palace, but she ends up quickly walking ahead of you instead. Jacob doesn't speak with you either, he glances at you a couple times, but he's obviously a little upset that you supported the Emperor's decision to have Roldan replaced. Really though, you can't worry about it. As far as you're concerned hanging on to your sanity is a lot more vital. You can only imagine how the svelk would've grated on your nerves if they had been transferred, especially since you're not actively advancing any more, but rather just defending against gnoll attack. Idle svelk mercs in between the down time isn't something you want to deal with. Alison is certainly happy to hear about the close call of playing host to a bunch of svelk. "Well I'm certainly glad you supported the Emperor's first decision, I don't think morale would've been great around here with dark elves in the camp." She says. "No, but I can't say they're that great now." You reply. "What do you mean? There hasn't been any major complaining that I know of, and I tend to keep apprised of the situation with my troops." "Well, maybe it's just me then. I'd like to be actively DOING something other than sitting around waiting to be attacked." "Welcome to the army. You do know that boring waiting around in between battles is what we do right?" "I'm well aware that's part of it, but its not like we need to sit here. We could at least be attacking the gnolls so as to make them no longer a threat. I mean we should be doing that anyway. After all, we're going to have to deal with them eventually, better to do it now when we have the strength rather than later. I've heard other soldiers commenting about feeling something similar. And I would think that you probably would like to take the fight to the gnolls as well." Alison nods. "Well, I can't argue with you on that point. The troops are a little restless in that respect I suppose. I admit it would be good to get some of this pent up violence out of everyone's system, but as you've said, the Emperor's orders are to stay here." "I don't know, but I'm starting to think that maybe we should just NOT stay here." "Seriously? You'd go against a direct order from the Emperor?" At this point you don't know. You want to be loyal and follow orders, but your desire for battle is still there. Not to mention you know you could win if it came down to it. Surely the Emperor would approve if you were victorious. You decide you're going to do it, you're going to make a full attack on the gnolls. "It's about time we took the fight to those mongrel dogs." Alison says with a little enthusiasm, but then her cautious side comes out. "But what about the Emperor?" "You don't need to worry about that. I will take full responsibility if he gets angry about it. I'll just say I took command of your battalion." "Hah, I always knew you were going to do that some day, anyway." "Sorry, but I can't think of any other way." "Don't apologize to me, I won't have to face the Emperor's wrath, well I hope I won't at least." "Like I said, don't worry about that. And don't worry about me either. I don't want to sound prideful, but I'm fairly confident the Emperor won't even get too angry with me, especially since I intend on wiping out the immediate gnoll threat." A month goes by and you're initially successful on your promise. The gnolls are no match for you in straight up combat. You even manage to save a few of the occupied Felkan communities from complete destruction and are welcomed as liberators. Just when you think you can drive the gnolls out entirely you're dealt two big blows. One, the siege of Yaquan has not gone well since Roldan was replaced. It seems that General Ackerson has not only managed to fail in taking the city, but he's also managed to lose so many soldiers that there has been a call for your battalion to support his losses. This couldn't have come at a worse time mainly because now the gnolls who you thought you had on the run were craftier than it seemed. The gnolls have been breeding and training a large group of wyverns within a small mountain in the area. They've also been bringing reinforcements from beyond the Felkan borders. You're taken off guard enough that you actually have to fall back before you're completely overrun. If you leave to go to help General Ackerson, the gnolls are going to not only take back everything you gained, but will take your territory as well. However, if you stay to fight back the gnolls, you'd really be defying orders, not to mention possibly costing the Empire a needed victory against the Felkans. There isn't much for it, you'll have to split the battalion with Alison and decide which front you want to fight on. > You stay on the gnoll front As much as you wanted to be on the front lines of this war before, now you feel like you've got a score to settle with the gnolls. Not to mention you feel like you need to finish up what you started. "Are you going to be okay here?" Alison asks. "I'll be fine, you just be concerned with your assignment because it sounds like General Ackerson isn't exactly the best replacement and I'm now cursing myself for having Roldan removed at all." "You couldn't have known. Besides, do you really think having the svelk transferred here would've made things better for us?" "I dunno. Maybe we could've used the extra troops to combat the gnolls and at the same time Roldan would've still been in charge of the siege. Doesn't matter now I suppose, let's just make the best of it." Within the next few days Alison and you say your final goodbyes before she leaves. Afterwards, you try to make the best of your defenses, but you're stretched thin. You send a messenger to request reinforcements, but naturally most soldiers are being sent to the Felkan front. The gnoll hordes aren't even being considered a credible threat, which couldn't be further from the truth considering that you've been losing more territory to them and the fact is you just can't protect it all due to lack of manpower. A couple more months go by and news on the Felkan front gets worse. The siege of Yaquan has been completely abandoned and General Ackerson's forces are now in retreat. Word is he's lost more than half of those under his command, and whatever remaining svelk mercs that were helping have left. You have no idea if Alison is one of those, but you have more pressing concerns of your own. You haven't had much rest.You've had to use your magic with such regularity to combat the gnolls that its exhausting just to cast the simplest of destructive spells. Little by little your remaining soldiers have been getting whittled down. The ones still alive are drained and suffering from low morale. Within the week, there is another gnoll attack, a massive push to finally finish off the only viable defenders in the area. You make the gnolls earn every inch they take. The first two wyverns that appear in the distance, you strike down with a powerful lightning spell. Several of the initial attackers have their heads blown to gooey pieces by your troops' muskets, and then you resort to tried and true methods of slaughter. You hack down several of their number before suffering any major wounds. Even then, you continue to fight with the determination of ten men. The bodies of gnolls pile up, the blood is everywhere and you've just suffered an injury that should've rightfully killed you, but you continue to fight. All the anger you feel at this situation is being directed utterly towards the gnolls until it finally burns itself out and your body pushes itself past its limitations of physical exertion. An axe cleaves into your skull, followed by another into your arm, severing it just enough to hang from a bit of tendon. You fall to your knees, then to the floor and that's when you feel another axe to your back destroying your spine. A finally kick by a hefty boot to the face and the gibbering laughing howls of the gnolls is the last thing you hear.

While you don't agree with the idea that Roldan won't be able to get the job done, you'd rather have him replaced than get an influx of svelk troops. You'd try to suggest yourself again, but you know the Emperor has made his mind up on the matter. "If you believe General Roldan cannot get the job done, then I suppose it might be better if he's replaced." You remark which gets Jacob's disapproval. "But he can do it! Replacing Roldan at this point would be folly!" "Enough Jacob! The decision has been made! General Roldan will be replaced and demoted!" the Emperor remarks. "Demoted?" "Yes demoted! Be happy he isn't being executed for incompetence on the battlefield!" "But I thought he was just going to be replaced! My Emperor I beg you not to do this! Roldan has worked so hard for his position!" "Jacob, is there some sort of reason why you keep arguing this point with me? Delusions? Stupidity? A death wish perhaps?" the Emperor asks and Jacob shuts up immediately. Mistress stretches and yawns before commenting on the situation. "If you all are done in this pointless exercise male ineptitude, is there anything else I need to waste my time with here?" "Yes, we're done. Get the hell out of my chambers and take Jacob with you. And while I wish I could chat with you my son, I still have to speak with Marik. I sometimes wonder if he just uses his madness as an excuse to be absent minded and claim he didn't know there was a meeting. I just hope he's actually made progress on his project he convinced me to proceed with." The Emperor remarks and the rest of you leave his chambers. You expect Mistress to make some sort of remark as you're all walking out of the palace, but she ends up quickly walking ahead of you instead. Jacob doesn't speak with you either, he glances at you a couple times, but he's obviously a little upset that you supported the Emperor's decision to have Roldan replaced. Really though, you can't worry about it. As far as you're concerned hanging on to your sanity is a lot more vital. You can only imagine how the svelk would've grated on your nerves if they had been transferred, especially since you're not actively advancing any more, but rather just defending against gnoll attack. Idle svelk mercs in between the down time isn't something you want to deal with. Alison is certainly happy to hear about the close call of playing host to a bunch of svelk. "Well I'm certainly glad you supported the Emperor's first decision, I don't think morale would've been great around here with dark elves in the camp." She says. "No, but I can't say they're that great now." You reply. "What do you mean? There hasn't been any major complaining that I know of, and I tend to keep apprised of the situation with my troops." "Well, maybe it's just me then. I'd like to be actively DOING something other than sitting around waiting to be attacked." "Welcome to the army. You do know that boring waiting around in between battles is what we do right?" "I'm well aware that's part of it, but its not like we need to sit here. We could at least be attacking the gnolls so as to make them no longer a threat. I mean we should be doing that anyway. After all, we're going to have to deal with them eventually, better to do it now when we have the strength rather than later. I've heard other soldiers commenting about feeling something similar. And I would think that you probably would like to take the fight to the gnolls as well." Alison nods. "Well, I can't argue with you on that point. The troops are a little restless in that respect I suppose. I admit it would be good to get some of this pent up violence out of everyone's system, but as you've said, the Emperor's orders are to stay here." "I don't know, but I'm starting to think that maybe we should just NOT stay here." "Seriously? You'd go against a direct order from the Emperor?" At this point you don't know. You want to be loyal and follow orders, but your desire for battle is still there. Not to mention you know you could win if it came down to it. Surely the Emperor would approve if you were victorious. You decide you're going to do it, you're going to make a full attack on the gnolls. "It's about time we took the fight to those mongrel dogs." Alison says with a little enthusiasm, but then her cautious side comes out. "But what about the Emperor?" "You don't need to worry about that. I will take full responsibility if he gets angry about it. I'll just say I took command of your battalion." "Hah, I always knew you were going to do that some day, anyway." "Sorry, but I can't think of any other way." "Don't apologize to me, I won't have to face the Emperor's wrath, well I hope I won't at least." "Like I said, don't worry about that. And don't worry about me either. I don't want to sound prideful, but I'm fairly confident the Emperor won't even get too angry with me, especially since I intend on wiping out the immediate gnoll threat." A month goes by and you're initially successful on your promise. The gnolls are no match for you in straight up combat. You even manage to save a few of the occupied Felkan communities from complete destruction and are welcomed as liberators. Just when you think you can drive the gnolls out entirely you're dealt two big blows. One, the siege of Yaquan has not gone well since Roldan was replaced. It seems that General Ackerson has not only managed to fail in taking the city, but he's also managed to lose so many soldiers that there has been a call for your battalion to support his losses. This couldn't have come at a worse time mainly because now the gnolls who you thought you had on the run were craftier than it seemed. The gnolls have been breeding and training a large group of wyverns within a small mountain in the area. They've also been bringing reinforcements from beyond the Felkan borders. You're taken off guard enough that you actually have to fall back before you're completely overrun. If you leave to go to help General Ackerson, the gnolls are going to not only take back everything you gained, but will take your territory as well. However, if you stay to fight back the gnolls, you'd really be defying orders, not to mention possibly costing the Empire a needed victory against the Felkans. There isn't much for it, you'll have to split the battalion with Alison and decide which front you want to fight on. > You go to the Felkan front Given that you feel responsible for the problems going on at Yaquan you think you need to go if only to try to fix things. "I had a feeling you'd want to go to the Felkan front." Alison remarks. "Someone is going to have to fix this mess. I'm just hoping I can do something about it." Within the next few days Alison and you say your final goodbyes before you leave. You hope Alison will be able to deal with the gnolls with less troops, but she tells you to not worry about her problems and just focus on the task you'll have to accomplish. Your march to Yaquan is an uneventful one, but when you arrive you've got more than enough to deal with. General Ackerson's war camp is one of the most unorganized camps you've ever seen. He obviously isn't that well respected either as he is arguing with a couple of his lieutenants and a mage of some sort. "Galen, I'm sick of hearing your excuses, just get it done!" Ackerson exclaims to the mage. "Oh yes, its so easy for you isn't it? Just sitting in the back giving orders and not being in the line of immediate fire. Magic isn't an unlimited art that we wizards can just keep on doing for days on end with no rest! It's bad enough you wasted all of our golems and we're reduced to salvaging the remnants. By the Emperor, at least Roldan tried to think things out, I wonder if you even passed the academy or if you just had a relative that promoted you…" At this point Ackerson lunges at Galen and the pair have to be broken up. You help keep a little order and when they see who you are everyone straightens up a little more. "Is this what's been going on here? Petty bickering and incompetence on a scale that could be classified as treason? Everyone needs to shut the fuck up right now, because I'm not going to say this again…" Doesn't take long for you to establish a new order of things. Technically General Ackerson is supposed to still be in charge of this operation, but given your close ties to the Emperor you aren't debated. While you manage to reorganize the army and take new approach of attack, you can still see why Roldan was having so much trouble with this city. The gnome lightning guns are still ripping through most of the troops and its taking all the magic of the remaining mages left just to upkeep a simple barrier so the war camp can't be targeted. In fact you wish Roldan was still here just so you could promote him back up to help you, but unfortunately he was killed in battle shortly after his demotion. (Another one of Ackerson's bright ideas to make a frontal assault on the city again) The svelk mercenaries at this point have left claiming that no amount of money is worth this meat grinder. All of this makes you really wish you hadn't supported the Emperor's idea to replace Roldan. You decide to have tunnels dug under the city and bring it down that way. It takes longer than you'd like, but you can't rely on mage support to help with it due to their main concern to upkeep the barriers. Eventually your men break through to the sewer system where you believe it should be an easy victory from there, but unfortunately the gnomes trapped the hell out the sewers and you lose several troops in the process. One of the Felkans even manages to sneak about the sewers and collapse the invasion tunnels setting your victory back. Meanwhile your troops on the surface are faring no better, though they fear you more than they did Ackerson or even Roldan and that fear is enough for them to make that push to finally break down the gates. Sensing true victory at last, you decide that you're going to join the fight personally. You enter the streets of the city with your troops, mopping up whatever pitiful resistance remains. There isn't much though and soon the city is yours and you can't wait to write to Alison about your great victory. Unfortunately she will only hear of it from someone else. War being what it is, is always a messy endeavor. Just when one thinks a battle is over, there is always that last hold out or trap and that's what gets you. The city's mayor reportedly stayed in the city hall the entire time of the siege and is supposedly still alive. You, Ackerson and a couple of other officers enter the city hall for the purpose of dictating the Empire's acquisition of this city, the changes that will come AND seeing if the mayor is willing to comply. Hopefully he does since it saves time on replacing him with your own bureaucrats which might take a while. No sooner have you entered and you see the place is completely empty. At first you think its just because people went elsewhere, but it doesn't take long for you to not feel right about the place. "We need to get out of here…" is the last thing you utter before the entire place explodes. One final trap set by the Felkans. You are eventually found half burned, blown up and crushed by the rubble. You're barely breathing by the time they dig you out, and by the time they carry you out, you've already expired. Your victory and death at Yaquan is remembered and used as a propaganda point for the Empire for the remainder of their war with the Felkan Kingdom.

Year 25 While the war with the Felkans seemed to be going smoothly, the situation has changed somewhat. The Empire still has the upper hand, but unfortunately this has become a three-way entanglement. The gnolls tribes harassing the Felkans on the western borders apparently weren't just separate chaotic bands of raiders, but rather a full-fledged conquering horde. After smashing most of the Felkan defenses they have proceeded further into the heartland and that's where they finally came to blows with the Empire. So far the gnolls been more of an annoyance to the Empire, but its been distracting enough that it's given the Felkans enough time to retreat and regroup further north. The Felkans are much reduced in strength now, but they are still definitely not a defeated nation yet. If anything their resolve has gotten stronger and their defenses have too. Last reports tell of how the orcs attempted to break through the defenses of the city of Yaquan only to be nearly wiped out by large weapons mounted to the city's towers that apparently harness the power of lightning. One blast ripped through the ranks of the heavily armored orcs and spread like a chain of death killing most of them instantly. These new "lightning guns" are no doubt the inventions of the gnomes. You heard Captain Gruz was amongst the casualties which would put orc leadership in jeopardy, but since there are so few of them left, the remainder of their now decimated number have regrouped under Roldan's command who is busily trying to figure out a way to proceed without losing half of his troops in the process. So far though the gnolls have been making that task difficult with their own ongoing attacks. The only upside to all this is the Felkans seem to be playing up to their typical siege mentality and not making any sort of counter attacks probably hoping that the Empire and the gnolls will continue to kill each other to the point where nobody is in any position to attack them anymore. Of course that just means they're getting further entrenched. If enough time passes it may very well make most assaults on what's left of them extremely costly. Meanwhile you and Alison have been mostly fighting off the gnoll hordes on a regular basis. You'd like to press further west to take the fight to them, but you know you need to stay in occupied Felkan territory to either help defend the main army or to support it when the time finally comes to make the final push on the Felkans. Lately most of your days are dull waiting or slightly less dull combat since the gnolls themselves rely mostly on numbers and terror rather than skill. The terror factor isn't much of one when going against the hardened troops of the Empire and numbers account for nothing when faced with Empire discipline. Still, its frustrating not being allowed to do more and tensions are starting to run hot by everyone in the high command… "But if we continue to attack as we have, we will risk losing it all! I urge you my Emperor for the good of the Empire we should withdraw now! What can it hurt? We have proven our point and even acquired some territory in the process. Why not just let those barbaric gnolls fight over the scraps what's left of the ruins." Jacob says to the Emperor. "Jacob, I said it before I don't give a damn what the costs are, I won't let those fucking gnomes continue to mock from behind their smug little walled cities! And I didn't come this far to be turned back by the incursions of some mongrel dog men or guns that shoot a little light! I don't care what it takes we aren't going to rest until the Felkan Kingdom ceases to exist along with those fucking gnomes!" the Emperor shouts and flips a nearby table. "Why are you yelling at me? I'm just giving my honest opinion on the situation, I'm not even in charge of the military matters!" Jacob whimpers. "But you ARE in charge of the other Eternals, and guess who is leading the majority of our forces in Felkan territory? That's right, Roldan. Now I'll grant you that he's been fairly successful up until this point, but the fact that he hasn't made any progress for the past few months is severely starting to decrease my faith that he can get the job done." "He's doing the best he can under the circumstances and he's the best qualified general we have, I don't think he should be replaced." "I'm beginning to think I should start replacing SOMEONE." The Emperor unsubtly threatens. You've seen the Emperor mad before and it's never a good thing. Poor Jacob is trying to stand his ground on this matter, but its obvious the man is incredibly scared for his life. To be fair you actually can see his concerns on the situation, but this thing with the gnomes…well it's an ongoing source of irritation for the Emperor. Jacob is also taking a verbal lashing for something that really isn't his fault. True, he monitors the progress of the other Eternals, but in reality it's not anything meaningful. Not to mention it actually was you who originally convinced the Emperor that Roldan should lead on the main assault force, yet the Emperor has either forgotten this fact, or perhaps still insists on seeing it all as Jacob's fault. Since you still feel partly responsible you decide to interject to try to calm things down. "Emperor, I could take over Roldan's command if you prefer, though I would still like to keep him on as part of the command staff." "While I'm sure you would no doubt do a much better job, I'd rather have you're where you currently are." The Emperor says which somewhat disappoints you. "Of course, of course. Wouldn't want to risk your precious loyal dog." Mistress suddenly remarks, this draws an angry glance of both you and the Emperor. "What? I'm just saying what Jacob's thinking, personally I don't really give a shit what drone you decide to sacrifice in your futile war." Mistress says causing Jacob's eyes to widen, shake his head and raise his hands assuring that he thought no such thing. "Ever with the clever remarks. Too bad the rest of your race isn't half as clever, or you might not be a bunch of mercenaries." "I'm not sure why we're even relying on svelk scum anyway. Alison and I have been doing just fine fighting off the gnolls by ourselves for example." You remark. "Alison? Oh, is that the name of the dirty blonde shield maiden that I've heard you've been getting close to? Tell me, when you're sticking it to her do you try to visualize that its me?" A vulgar comment as usual from Mistress. Not unexpected either. While you'd be lying if it weren't a little annoying, you certainly aren't going to give her the satisfaction of a retort. "No answer? Are you not even going to stand up for the honor of your female plaything? Then again I suppose she isn't worthy of it. I mean given that you experienced the best, why would you bother defending something so inferior?" Mistress continues to taunt. "Emperor, we are here to discuss the important business of crushing the Felkans, do we really have to listen to the boring and predictable slurs of this…dubious ally?" you ask. "No, of course we don't. Hold your vile svelk tongue unless you've actually got something more worthwhile to contribute." "I have contributed more than my fair share to your foolish crusade. I have come to the conclusion that this war is a losing proposition for my people. I won't even go into the meat grinder you've got our mercenary bands dealing with on the Felkan front. And while I'm sure that may cause you much joy, we svelk are not mindless orc slaves and will NOT fall into your clumsy manipulative plans of convenient genocide through attrition. Yeah, we're pulling out and moving on to greener pastures." "Since when are you or any other svelk so concerned about the future of your people? You're also acting like you're in harms way and unless you've been sneaking off to fight alongside your kin, you've personally risked nothing. You're also still being paid well so what the hell do you care?" the Emperor remarks. "You humans think you always have everything figured out about everything when you really don't know shit. As I said, the price is too high, and we will be moving on to better opportunities." "(Sigh) Stop being so damn dramatic, and what the hell do you really want?" the Emperor asks in an exasperated tone. Mistress proceeds to tell the Emperor that she's quite serious about pulling out svelk aid unless she gets more support in return. "If you want our continued help, we do not believe that this General Roldan is able to accomplish his assault on the city of Yaquan in an efficient manner. So I would request that you either change the leadership or transfer us to the gnoll front at Major Krozer's war camp." Mistress says and glances at you. "No! We've been doing just fine without you! We don't need morale falling low because svelk are infesting the camp." You protest. "And here I thought you were a professional first and foremost. Open your eyes. Even you can see the benefit of our superior troops being directly added to your fighting force. Besides, I heard how you handled the first time you worked with svelk warriors before, surely if one of them gets out of line, you'll just go on a bloodthirsty rampage to make a point of who is really in charge." You look to the Emperor expecting him to say something about this matter, but he waves you over to speak with you privately. Mistress rolls her eyes and wanders over to one of the bookshelves while Jacob fumbles about with some papers. "Son, I'm going to include you in this decision, because this is something I think you feel strongly about and I'd rather have you in a positive state of mind. I don't want to lose svelk support as they have been helpful despite their…well you know. I also have doubts about Roldan getting the job done as well, so the suggestion to replace him isn't out of the question as far as I'm concerned. In any case I'm either going to have to replace him or send all the svelk to the gnoll front, but I know that won't exactly make you happy." > You accept svelk transfer You don't like disagreeing with the Emperor's strategic decisions and you certainly don't want to deal with svelk in your camp, but from what you know of Roldan replacing him now wouldn't be a good move as he is the best-qualified general. The only person you can think of that would be better is yourself, but the Emperor has made it quite clear he wants you to stay put, so you aren't going to argue the issue. "If you believe the svelk can be useful as support on the gnoll front, then I shall figure out a way to make it work." You remark, which seems to surprise the Emperor. "Mm, very well. You sure it won't be a problem?" "No, no problem. However at the slightest sign of some sort of treachery or them not pulling their weight then I'll suggest the next decree you pass be one that executes all svelk in Empire territory." Hah, trust me, I've nearly had that one on the list for centuries. I know you'll be able to handle this though. Just wish everyone was as competent as you." The Emperor says and gives a glare at Jacob who is still briskly going through some papers. "I really do think Jacob is trying his best. He only wants what's good for the Empire." "Then he better start doing a better job. Anyway let's get on with it." The Emperor proceeds to tell Mistress that the svelk mercenary bands will be assigned to the gnoll front, but that they will ultimately answer to you and that any problems from them will result in mass executions. Mistress doesn't seem at all bothered by this; in fact she simply chuckles and says that's fine. The Emperor then goes on to tell Jacob that General Roldan better start making more progress soon or he will have another general take his place. Then he says he has to meet with Marik. "I sometimes wonder if he just uses his madness as an excuse to be absent minded and claim he didn't know there was a meeting. I just hope he's actually made progress on his project he convinced me to proceed with. Okay all of you are dismissed." The Emperor remarks and the rest of you leave his chambers. You expect Mistress to make some sort of remark as you're all walking out of the palace, but she ends up quickly walking ahead of you instead. Jacob on the other hand takes the opportunity. "I just wanted to thank you for once again trying to shield me from the Emperor's wrath, though I fear that it won't be long before my services are no longer needed. That day is coming soon. I know it." "You're worrying too much as usual. The Emperor knows you're indispensible." "No YOU'RE indispensible. That crazy derro Marik is indispensible. Even that svelk bitch is considered indispensible, though I really don't know why. Me? I'm just another bureaucratic bean counting pencil-pushing advisor that's getting old. There are several just waiting to take my place. You know I had twelve attempts to poison me in the last year?" "By who?" "By other bean counting pencil-pushing bureaucrats obviously. I'm sure you know that's how I got my job. Eliminated the previous advisor. Of course with the way things are going, the Emperor himself is likely to do it personally. I just wish I could get him to see that this war is a drain on the Empire. Even if we win, the victory still won't outweigh the amount of cost in resources, gold, population we spent to pursue it. I mean sure we have the land, but a lot of it has been rendered unusable due to the slash and burn policy that's been favored. We haven't even left a lot of people alive to tax! Now this thing with Roldan, I really don't know what he expects me to do." "How is internal security lately?" you ask. "Its fine. Good all things considered. The Eyes have successfully replaced the shadows it seems as far as that is concerned. Reputation is everything." "Do you think you could re-assign some of them and it not affect domestic safety?" "What do you mean?" You explain that perhaps using some Eyes as assassins and spies might work better than the usual military scouts. Perhaps their expertise of blending in, stealth and other such tactics can get them to sneak in the city and bring it down from within. "I can't believe I didn't think of that. In fact, why didn't the Emperor think of that? It's certainly an idea worthy of consideration and Warrick would be an excellent candidate to lead such an operation. If the Emperor believes I have more input in this matter than I actually do, I might as well make such accusations true and hopefully successful for my sake." Jacob remarks. "I'm sure this plan will hasten the fall of the Felkan Kingdom. You'll have not one but two Eternals in vital positions on the front lines now." "Don't you mean three? You didn't include yourself." "Oh, well I'm doing my part sure, but…nevermind." "But you want to be where Roldan is." "I don't even necessarily want to lead the main attack force at this point, I just feel like I should at least be part of it. I know the Emperor explained to me he doesn't want to throw me into the meat grinder of war because he sees greater potential in me, but I feel like sometimes I'm not being able to live up to that potential." Jacob pats you on the side of your arm. "Now you're the one worrying too much. You are more vital to this war than you believe. This advice you just gave me proves that. The Emperor is just well…a little protective of you because he's so proud of you. Can you blame him? Don't worry; your day to really shine will come some day. Maybe even sooner than you think." After Jacob's minor pep talk you feel a little better about your own position, of course then you remember you now have a bunch of svelk assigned to your camp. Alison is probably slightly less happy about it than you are. "Was there nothing that could be done?" Alison asks. "I told you, it was either this or replace General Roldan and that would've been a major strategic mistake." "Well are you going to be okay with this?" "Me? Sure. Guidelines have already been established, I'm ultimately in charge of them and believe me I've every intention to not letting them get away with shit. I'll tell them as soon as they start arriving. In the meantime, let's make arrangements for our new allied support. Better that we do it now before they think they can just make themselves at home here." No sooner do the svelk mercenaries start arriving, you begin laying down the rules of how things are going to be to all the respective captains in private. They are of course unenthused about such things, but given that you didn't dress them down in front of everyone most grudgingly comply with your decrees. There is one captain by the name of Eldolith, however who just manages to rub you the wrong way… "Yes, yes, I've already been briefed on the situation. We all have, so you can stop wasting your time by asserting your pitiable need for dominance." Eldolith remarks. You look at the haughty svelk captain and you already know who you see before you. You're feeling a mixture of things right now, but you told the Emperor that you were going to make this work, so you're going to at least get a certain amount of enjoyment out of it. "But if I don't keep reinforcing it, then you'll never truly grasp the idea that you are subservient to me. And as we all know it's important to keep the lesser born in their place. That is the svelk way is it not?" you say. Eldolith nearly makes a retort, but stops. You aren't letting her off that easy. "Oh? You wish to say something else? Maybe that I am not a svelk and that I am the lesser born? Perhaps something about how humans are nothing more than hairless Sul Monkeys? Come on, say what you want. I've heard it all before by your kind and it's the same old shit. Come on, just give me an excuse." you say and then grab her by the throat and begin to squeeze while your hot breath invades her nostrils. Eldolith says nothing, she doesn't even try to resist she just continues to stare at you defiantly, accepting of death if necessary or whatever else you have in mind. "You don't fool me svelk bitch, deep down you're scared…or maybe…maybe you're getting excited? Yeah, I bet that's it…I know what YOU like…" you say and your other hand begins to wander touching Eldolith's body. Then you realize what you're doing and you immediately stop and make haste back to the Empire side of the camp. Alison asks you if everything went all right, and you sharply dismiss her by exclaiming that of course everything is fine. Alison doesn't take too much offense since she figures having the svelk in camp is probably going to put you in a bad mood. You wonder now if you didn't want the svelk transferred here so you could have the opportunity to unleash some of your lingering desires. To get a gleeful sadistic pleasure of verbally abusing them or sending them on dangerous missions, or even killing one of them yourself if they step out of line. You don't even want to dwell on what you felt like doing to Eldolith. Did Mistress plan this somehow? She couldn't have. It was your choice. "By the Emperor, get a hold of yourself! This is all on you. You need to fight this. This temptation will be great, but you WILL overcome it. You will act like a professional. You need to act like a disciplined agent of the Empire. You will not lower yourself. The Emperor will give me strength of mind and body." You mutter to yourself. While you're struggling with your inner demons you also need to focus on the real problem at hand which are the gnolls. Alison, like you, would prefer to do something more proactive to them rather than constantly waiting around for their attacks. Given that you're now stuck with them, here's where the svelk will come in handy. You could send them in to regularly launch guerilla raids against the gnolls in their own territory, of course this might be seen as using them as "disposable warriors" which is something that they were complaining about while on the Felkan front. About the only other purpose would be to use them as scouts in order to prepare for a large counter attack against the gnolls. Of course you really aren't supposed to be doing that, as the orders are clear that you are to remain in occupied Felkans lands just in case your support is needed elsewhere. > You use the svelk as skirmishers While you aren't going to defy direct orders you figure you can at least lessen the gnoll attacks and keep the svelk out of your hair at the same time. Alison is certainly supportive of the idea. You tell the svelk leaders what you want done and how you want it done. You get no dissension or even any grumbles. They either realize you mean business or they're all silently conspiring against you to strike at a later time. Probably both, but for right now its enough that they just obey your orders. The next few weeks are relatively calm ones. The svelk are doing a good job of keeping the gnolls so off balanced that they haven't been attacking. The troops have enjoyed the respite from battle, though you're a bit bored by the continued lack of it. Still, you're getting a bit of enjoyment out the svelk having to do all the grunt work and follow your orders. Eventually the svelk start losing some of their number and that's when the complaints begin to start. Naturally they choose the one captain that is most likely to get under your skin… "What?" you ask when Eldolith enters your tent. "My comrades and I wish to discuss the terms of our current assignment." Eldolith says. "Terms? There are no terms. You are to continue harassing the gnolls. What don't you understand? It's a simple enough task even for you." Eldolith pauses. She wants to say something insulting. Something derogatory, but she can't and she knows it. "Are we really so loathsome to you?" she asks. "Hah! Is this a trick question? I mean you are joking right?" you reply. "No, I'm being quite serious. I mean I know what you're doing, we all do. You're sending us out to fight the gnolls day after day with barely any rest. You're hoping that we'll either all get killed off, or we'll all just end up leaving." "You don't miss a thing do you, guess that's why you're part of the higher born eh? Hey, you're mercs, if you don't like the job you can always quit right?" "Right, and we already protested about our less than stellar position on the Felkan Front. If we leave this job under the same circumstances, well it isn't very good for our mercenary reputation now is it? Even if there is it the truth that the Empire is just using us as cannon fodder because they ran out of orcs!" "You're breaking my heart and the hearts of everyone else that has great love for your kind, oh wait nobody likes your kind. Get out of my tent, I've got nothing more to say on this matter…" you say and wave your hand dismissively. Eldolith is beginning to get angry. She can't even form a sentence. Instead she looks behind her and goes back to the entryway of your tent and makes sure it's closed. Then she turns around with a hostile stare. "Seriously? You really think you have a chance? Alright then, make your move." You remark expecting Eldolith to attack you. Instead she takes off her sword sheath and begins unstrapping some of her armor. "What the hell are you doing?" "I'll be doing you in a few moments. That is what you want isn't it?" she says. It takes you a moment to collect your thoughts before you can answer. "While I won't deny your beauty, if you think you can fuck your way out of this situation, you're sorely mistaken." "No, I don't. But we have to come to some sort of compromise." Eldolith says and finishes removing most of her clothing. She gets on all fours and begins crawling towards you in a seductive motion. You might not want it to, but this situation is definitely arousing you. Its not really Eldolith physical attractiveness though, it's the opportunity to see this svelk so humbled that she has no choice but to debase herself before you like a common whore. "Okay…so what did you have in mind?" you ask as you look down on Eldolith who is now kneeling before you and starting to unbuckle your own belt. "Oh perhaps maybe you could rotate the attacks on the gnolls? Like every few days perhaps your troops could launch raids on the gnolls instead? It isn't like…(mmmm) you can't spare a few. It would break up their monotony of not doing anything and we can get a chance to… (mmmm) rest." "Ahhh, alright alright, just shut up and keep doing what you're doing." You say and just let yourself enjoy being serviced and imagining that it's really Mistress. The next day you approach Alison about the new plan. While she isn't opposed to the idea, since she thinks the troops shouldn't get complacent anyway, she's a little puzzled by your sudden change. "I thought your plan was to force the svelk to leave or have them all slowly get killed off by the gnolls." "Eh, like you said. We probably shouldn't let the troops get too complacent. Besides, the occasional foray into the gnoll occupied land isn't really breaking orders." "Uh huh." Alison says with a minor smirk. "What?" "Nothing." "No, you've got something to say, so say it." You say with accusation. "Sheesh, kind of defensive aren't you? I don't care if you're sticking it to that svelk captain. I told you long ago when we started having our own intimate encounters that we didn't have any hold on each other. So enjoy your little svelk piece of ass, I know you have…a preference for that." Alison's remark makes you angry. "It's not even like that Alison! Its not about sex, its about her utter humiliation and…" "Hold on there, I don't need details! Look, I'm just going to tell you this. Whatever arrangement you have with her, just make sure you keep on top of it. Because I know you think you have everything under control, but in my eyes she's just doing what women have been doing since the beginning of time." "And what's that?" "Manipulating a man with her pussy. And she's a svelk on top of everything else, so that makes her fives times as tricky. I'd watch it if I were you." "Alison, I think I have more experience with svelk females than you do, unless you aren't telling me something." "Ha ha, you wish. And keeping within that subject, do NOT even think about trying to orchestrate some sort of bizarre three way with us. I'm not into women and I'm definitely not into svelk." Alison remarks. "Wasn't planning to." "Good, now I guess we better decide which platoon is going to go out there to raid the gnolls." The plan is set into motion and there are no major complaints from Empire soldiers, it would appear that some of them indeed were getting itchy for combat. The svelk mercs are also satisfied or at least not complaining as much. As for you, you've been able to sate your desire for battle, by taking it out on Eldolith. You enjoy bedding her whenever you can and you are in no way gentle about it. You're fairly abusive verbally and physically, but Eldolith just takes it in silence, or when you want her to, you make her beg or even thank you for the things you do to her. And the whole time you're still fantasizing that it's Mistress. You even call Eldolith that sometimes. It gets to a point where you don't even let Eldolith go out on missions, you basically make her your personal "pleasure girl." A month goes by and the siege on Yaquan is finally successful. A few Eyes managed to infiltrate and bring the walls down from within and from there, Roldan's army did the rest. While you're pleased to hear about a victory for the Empire, your own orders remain the same. You're so busy enjoying degrading Eldolith that you've lost a little sight of what you were born to do. You don't notice it, but Alison certainly does. "Is this a good time to speak with you?" Alison asks looking cautiously into your tent. "Sure. What's up?" you say as you sharpen your sword. "I just wanted to tell you that apparently we've been making so many successful raids on the gnolls that they've been pulling back. We could advance and take their territory if we wanted to. I wouldn't be surprised if the surviving Felkans even welcomed us as liberators." "That would certainly be a change from how they usually welcome us, which is not at all." "Indeed. So…?" Alison asks as if you have something more to say. "So what?" "Well, I just thought that maybe you had heard something from the Emperor. A messenger from him perhaps. I mean the Yaquan siege was successful and there are no signs that we are needed to support General Roldan's army anytime soon. I mean it's starting to get a bit frustrating just sitting here not really advancing especially when we're beginning to beat back the enemy." "Haven't heard anything, so our orders to hold this position still stand. Sorry." You say continuing to sharpen your sword. Alison stares at you with dismay. "Yeah." Alison says and starts to leave, but you stop her. "Is there a problem?" "Just getting restless because I don't feel like I've been actively doing anything lately. You know something YOU used to feel before you became so enamored with your svelk slave girl." "So…what? You want me to visit your tent sometime? Because I can do that, but you told me …" Alison interrupts you with more exasperation. "No, contrary to your belief, my world does not revolve around your dick. What I AM getting concerned about is my battalion. I had hoped this command would involve a lot more active combat and less waiting around. If I wanted to do that, I could've stayed in Rask. You used to feel the same way as I remember." "Alison, orders are orders, you should know that better than anyone. What do you want me to do? We're supposed to stay put and that's that. All I can tell you is make the best of the situation." "Like you have? Look I'm just saying, we've already bent orders by launching raids gnoll occupied land anyway. Surely we can do something similar now." Alison has a bit of a point. > You take the land Orders or not, it would be foolish to not take advantage of the situation. You're going to support Alison's decision to advance and if there are repercussions then you'll take the responsibility. Alison seems relieved that you've listened to her and goes to make preparations. "Alison, before you leave, you were also right about me getting distracted. I'm sorry I haven't been keeping my mind on what's really important lately." You say. "Well, I'm just glad you're starting to come to your senses. However, I suppose in the scheme of things, there was no major harm done. You're not the first guy to think with his dick and abuse his power. Congratulations, you're true Empire officer after all!" Alison laughs and leaves. You don't laugh because you were supposed to be better than that. When you think about it, you weren't even the aggressor when you started your involvement. Hell, Alison was probably right about that too. Eldolith was manipulating you from the start. For all you know she was planted here by Mistress for that reason. For what exact purpose you're not sure, but the best thing you can do is to put a stop to it right now. When Eldolith arrives in your tent, you're packing up some supplies. "Good, right on time. We're going to move out soon. You can go join your merc band and stay there, its over." "What?" "You heard me. Figured you'd be happy about it." Eldolith isn't. "Are you fucking kidding me? After all the nasty vile degrading shit I did, you're just tossing me aside like a common whore?!" "Well you did behave like one. And please don't act like there wasn't some sort of motive of your own. I rotated the raids. You got what you wanted as well, hope it was worth it." Eldolith doesn't answer she's too mad to speak. Instead she just storms out of the tent, which gives you a little chuckle. "Sheesh, if I'd known that would piss her off so severely I would've done that a week ago." You remark to yourself The battalion soon moves into the previously occupied gnoll territory and indeed it is as the scouts have been saying. The gnolls have completely pulled out or at least that have from the immediate area. There are probably still some attempting to hold the border territory and they are definitely still going to be beyond the border so defense is still a top priority. As for the Felkan communities, there isn't too much left. The gnolls didn't leave too many people alive. Your army makes the best of what settlements you do find in adequate condition. The Felkans offer no resistance; in fact they don't show much emotion at all. Its like most are numb from whatever terror the gnolls caused. After a couple weeks go by scouts begin sighting gnolls lurking about on the outskirts of your perimeters. Not wishing to linger about like you have before, you and Alison agree to just move in and eliminate the rest of them. The initial assault is fairly successful, but then you are caught off guard and you curse yourself for not being more careful. The gnolls have been luring you into a false sense of superiority. The gnolls have been breeding and training a large group of wyverns within a small mountain in the area. They've also been bringing reinforcements from beyond the Felkan borders. You're taken off guard enough that you actually have to fall back before you're completely overrun. It is during the chaos of one of these retreats that revenge is finally enacted. After doing battle with a small band of gnolls, you get separated from the main Empire battalion. You never do get a chance to meet up with them again, you do however bump into a group of svelk. You don't even have time to react before you're riddled with svelk crossbow bolts. You collapse to the ground, bloodied and dying. In typical svelk fashion Eldolith shows up now that you're in no condition to do anything to her. "My mother isn't going to like this, but I don't give a shit. Besides, you were starting to get cozy with that blonde monkey again, which made this whole stupid idea of hers pointless." Mother? Could Eldolith's mother be Mistress? Eldolith crouches near your body and whispers in your ear. "My only regret is that you're not going to experience the pain you fucking deserve. Don't worry though, you will be quite a sight when they find your body though." With this final threat in your mind, you die of your wounds. The svelk carry your body all the way back to Empire occupied territory where Eldolith does work to it personally. Then she orders it left so that Empire soldiers can find it before leaving the area with her group completely. Members of Alison's battalion find it and assume that perhaps the gnolls got a hold of you, but when Alison sees that your body has been practically flayed, your genitals have been cut off and stuffed in your mouth along with your own dagger shoved up your rectum, she knows it was most likely Eldolith. Alison decides the blame the gnolls anyway. Mainly because it rallies the troops to fight harder and partly because while she had no love for Eldolith, she understands why she did it.

While you aren't going to defy direct orders you figure you can at least lessen the gnoll attacks and keep the svelk out of your hair at the same time. Alison is certainly supportive of the idea. You tell the svelk leaders what you want done and how you want it done. You get no dissension or even any grumbles. They either realize you mean business or they're all silently conspiring against you to strike at a later time. Probably both, but for right now its enough that they just obey your orders. The next few weeks are relatively calm ones. The svelk are doing a good job of keeping the gnolls so off balanced that they haven't been attacking. The troops have enjoyed the respite from battle, though you're a bit bored by the continued lack of it. Still, you're getting a bit of enjoyment out the svelk having to do all the grunt work and follow your orders. Eventually the svelk start losing some of their number and that's when the complaints begin to start. Naturally they choose the one captain that is most likely to get under your skin… "What?" you ask when Eldolith enters your tent. "My comrades and I wish to discuss the terms of our current assignment." Eldolith says. "Terms? There are no terms. You are to continue harassing the gnolls. What don't you understand? It's a simple enough task even for you." Eldolith pauses. She wants to say something insulting. Something derogatory, but she can't and she knows it. "Are we really so loathsome to you?" she asks. "Hah! Is this a trick question? I mean you are joking right?" you reply. "No, I'm being quite serious. I mean I know what you're doing, we all do. You're sending us out to fight the gnolls day after day with barely any rest. You're hoping that we'll either all get killed off, or we'll all just end up leaving." "You don't miss a thing do you, guess that's why you're part of the higher born eh? Hey, you're mercs, if you don't like the job you can always quit right?" "Right, and we already protested about our less than stellar position on the Felkan Front. If we leave this job under the same circumstances, well it isn't very good for our mercenary reputation now is it? Even if there is it the truth that the Empire is just using us as cannon fodder because they ran out of orcs!" "You're breaking my heart and the hearts of everyone else that has great love for your kind, oh wait nobody likes your kind. Get out of my tent, I've got nothing more to say on this matter…" you say and wave your hand dismissively. Eldolith is beginning to get angry. She can't even form a sentence. Instead she looks behind her and goes back to the entryway of your tent and makes sure it's closed. Then she turns around with a hostile stare. "Seriously? You really think you have a chance? Alright then, make your move." You remark expecting Eldolith to attack you. Instead she takes off her sword sheath and begins unstrapping some of her armor. "What the hell are you doing?" "I'll be doing you in a few moments. That is what you want isn't it?" she says. It takes you a moment to collect your thoughts before you can answer. "While I won't deny your beauty, if you think you can fuck your way out of this situation, you're sorely mistaken." "No, I don't. But we have to come to some sort of compromise." Eldolith says and finishes removing most of her clothing. She gets on all fours and begins crawling towards you in a seductive motion. You might not want it to, but this situation is definitely arousing you. Its not really Eldolith physical attractiveness though, it's the opportunity to see this svelk so humbled that she has no choice but to debase herself before you like a common whore. "Okay…so what did you have in mind?" you ask as you look down on Eldolith who is now kneeling before you and starting to unbuckle your own belt. "Oh perhaps maybe you could rotate the attacks on the gnolls? Like every few days perhaps your troops could launch raids on the gnolls instead? It isn't like…(mmmm) you can't spare a few. It would break up their monotony of not doing anything and we can get a chance to… (mmmm) rest." "Ahhh, alright alright, just shut up and keep doing what you're doing." You say and just let yourself enjoy being serviced and imagining that it's really Mistress. The next day you approach Alison about the new plan. While she isn't opposed to the idea, since she thinks the troops shouldn't get complacent anyway, she's a little puzzled by your sudden change. "I thought your plan was to force the svelk to leave or have them all slowly get killed off by the gnolls." "Eh, like you said. We probably shouldn't let the troops get too complacent. Besides, the occasional foray into the gnoll occupied land isn't really breaking orders." "Uh huh." Alison says with a minor smirk. "What?" "Nothing." "No, you've got something to say, so say it." You say with accusation. "Sheesh, kind of defensive aren't you? I don't care if you're sticking it to that svelk captain. I told you long ago when we started having our own intimate encounters that we didn't have any hold on each other. So enjoy your little svelk piece of ass, I know you have…a preference for that." Alison's remark makes you angry. "It's not even like that Alison! Its not about sex, its about her utter humiliation and…" "Hold on there, I don't need details! Look, I'm just going to tell you this. Whatever arrangement you have with her, just make sure you keep on top of it. Because I know you think you have everything under control, but in my eyes she's just doing what women have been doing since the beginning of time." "And what's that?" "Manipulating a man with her pussy. And she's a svelk on top of everything else, so that makes her fives times as tricky. I'd watch it if I were you." "Alison, I think I have more experience with svelk females than you do, unless you aren't telling me something." "Ha ha, you wish. And keeping within that subject, do NOT even think about trying to orchestrate some sort of bizarre three way with us. I'm not into women and I'm definitely not into svelk." Alison remarks. "Wasn't planning to." "Good, now I guess we better decide which platoon is going to go out there to raid the gnolls." The plan is set into motion and there are no major complaints from Empire soldiers, it would appear that some of them indeed were getting itchy for combat. The svelk mercs are also satisfied or at least not complaining as much. As for you, you've been able to sate your desire for battle, by taking it out on Eldolith. You enjoy bedding her whenever you can and you are in no way gentle about it. You're fairly abusive verbally and physically, but Eldolith just takes it in silence, or when you want her to, you make her beg or even thank you for the things you do to her. And the whole time you're still fantasizing that it's Mistress. You even call Eldolith that sometimes. It gets to a point where you don't even let Eldolith go out on missions, you basically make her your personal "pleasure girl." A month goes by and the siege on Yaquan is finally successful. A few Eyes managed to infiltrate and bring the walls down from within and from there, Roldan's army did the rest. While you're pleased to hear about a victory for the Empire, your own orders remain the same. You're so busy enjoying degrading Eldolith that you've lost a little sight of what you were born to do. You don't notice it, but Alison certainly does. "Is this a good time to speak with you?" Alison asks looking cautiously into your tent. "Sure. What's up?" you say as you sharpen your sword. "I just wanted to tell you that apparently we've been making so many successful raids on the gnolls that they've been pulling back. We could advance and take their territory if we wanted to. I wouldn't be surprised if the surviving Felkans even welcomed us as liberators." "That would certainly be a change from how they usually welcome us, which is not at all." "Indeed. So…?" Alison asks as if you have something more to say. "So what?" "Well, I just thought that maybe you had heard something from the Emperor. A messenger from him perhaps. I mean the Yaquan siege was successful and there are no signs that we are needed to support General Roldan's army anytime soon. I mean it's starting to get a bit frustrating just sitting here not really advancing especially when we're beginning to beat back the enemy." "Haven't heard anything, so our orders to hold this position still stand. Sorry." You say continuing to sharpen your sword. Alison stares at you with dismay. "Yeah." Alison says and starts to leave, but you stop her. "Is there a problem?" "Just getting restless because I don't feel like I've been actively doing anything lately. You know something YOU used to feel before you became so enamored with your svelk slave girl." "So…what? You want me to visit your tent sometime? Because I can do that, but you told me …" Alison interrupts you with more exasperation. "No, contrary to your belief, my world does not revolve around your dick. What I AM getting concerned about is my battalion. I had hoped this command would involve a lot more active combat and less waiting around. If I wanted to do that, I could've stayed in Rask. You used to feel the same way as I remember." "Alison, orders are orders, you should know that better than anyone. What do you want me to do? We're supposed to stay put and that's that. All I can tell you is make the best of the situation." "Like you have? Look I'm just saying, we've already bent orders by launching raids gnoll occupied land anyway. Surely we can do something similar now." Alison has a bit of a point. > You stay put Alison might have a point, but you're not willing to defy the Emperor so directly. "Nothing can be done, we're just going to have to stay here." You remark. Alison throws her hands up in the air and rolls her eyes. "That's not going to change a thing you know." You say. "Oh believe me, if I thought it would, I would've done it a long time ago. I'm just going to say one more thing, and I don't give a shit if this is stepping out of my boundaries. This little arrangement you have with Eldolith is getting out of hand. I can't believe I'd actually start feeling sorry for a svelk, but a couple nights ago when I was making my own perusal of our perimeter I caught her sitting by herself actually crying. I didn't even think that was possible for a svelk. Of course she tried to play it off and told me to mind my business and called me a blonde monkey, but she wasn't fooling anyone." "Really? She was crying? Bitch doesn't cry when we're together, glad to hear she at least does though." You chuckle. Alison is shocked by your gleeful sociopathic behavior. "By the Emperor, even when I served with fucking Kane, I never heard him speak in such a manner. Look I know most of what we do for the Empire is pretty ruthless and merciless. I also know you're probably among the most cold hearted when it comes to such things. But what you're doing is…" "What am I doing Alison? What am I doing that is oh so terrible? Didn't you tell me years ago that you've run into Empire officers that take advantage of underlings via sexual favors?" "Yeah, and I never said that was right either. Also I said sexual favors. The key word being sex. Whatever it is you're doing to Eldolith is going beyond sex and you know it." "So what? She's a svelk anyway. She's not even a proper Empire citizen, let alone soldier. Hey I'll tell you this, the svelk would treat ALL of us like I treat Eldolith if they could get away with it. I know that from experience." "So that's your excuse? Because a svelk woman was cruel to you, you're going to act like her? You're going to act like a svelk?" Alison says which causes you to grab her by her throat and slam her to the ground. Alison's eyes widen in fear when she sees this person that she thought she knew stare at her with a murderous rage and squeeze tightly around her throat. "Don't you EVER fucking accuse me of that. EVER. You do that again, and you'll be in this tent right along side that svelk cunt. We'll have that three way you said you didn't want. And you know what? NOBODY is going to do a damn thing about it, because I'M in fucking charge here. Got it?" Alison continues to stare as you slowly release your grip to she can talk. "Got it." She answers. You get off of Alison who can't leave your tent quick enough. Later you begin to feel like you went a little too far with Alison. You really didn't mean to, but her words just set you off. She should've known not to compare you to a svelk. The next day you try to speak with Alison, but she's very distant. She doesn't want to talk about what happened and as far as she's concerned the pair of you should just keep things professional now. "Alison, I didn't mean…" "If you really do have any sort of respect for me at all, you'll just leave me be unless its concerning military matters." Alison remarks. You back away from Alison, you realize you've destroyed your relationship with her forever. You go back to your tent and begin pacing back and forth thinking about your mistake. The more you think about it, the angrier you get. You're angry with yourself mainly, but then you realize something. Eldolith was the initial aggressor in your arrangement. Not you. This might've been a set up right for something else right from the start. It was Mistress! She did this! She was jealous of your relationship with Alison, so Eldolith was sent to fuck it up. Even worse, you fell for it all and you hit the final nail in the coffin yourself. Now seething with fury, you storm out of your tent and head over to the svelk encampment. The svelk barely have time to realize who is attacking them before you cut down several of them. You start shouting for Eldolith to come out along with how you intend to The Empire encampment at first thinks gnolls are attacking, but when some of the troops arrive and see you massacring svelk, they aren't entirely sure what to do. "Sir, calm down! I know you don't…Ack!" a soldier says, trying to restrain you, but only gets a sword in the stomach for his trouble instead. Another soldier tries to reason with you, and you cut him down too. You're completely unreasonable at this point and the only thing that's going to stop you is either your death or Eldolith's. As you set fire to three more svelk with a fireball you begin laughing at the carnage you're causing. Still you aren't going to be truly happy until you find Eldolith. And then you see her running in the distance. You cast a lightning bolt at her, which drops her instantly. You know it isn't enough to kill her though, but that wasn't your intent anyway. You pull out your dagger and walk towards her. "It's time to learn another lesson Mistress. And its gonna hurt you a lot more than it will me." You say. "I'm…not Mistress…you crazy monkey…" Eldolith manages to utter. At this point you don't even hear her. Indeed it's probably not only irrelevant at this point, but most likely unclear if you're even mentally in the present because all you can see is Mistress' face. You saw her face on all the svelk you killed. You enjoyed killing her over and over. And now you're going to enjoy killing her again. Or at least you would have if a arrow through your neck didn't stop you first. You gasp and clutch at your throat before you slump down to the ground a few inches away from Eldolith. "Shit! He's dead!" one of the Empire soldiers remarks. "Hm. I'm surprised myself. It's been awhile since I used a bow." Alison answers. "You killed him! You really killed him!" another remarks. "Yes, but he needed to be put down. You saw him kill Empire soldiers." Alison says. "But wasn't he the Emperor's right hand man or something?" "Yes. Are there any svelk left alive?" "No, I think he killed them all." "Not all of them." Alison says. Alison takes aim with her bow again and aims for Eldolith who is just starting to shake off the effects of the lightning bolt. She slumps down dead as well. "Okay this is what we're going to do…" Alison says when turning towards her soldiers. Alison neatly explains away everything with a gnoll attack. It also helps that the gnolls did attack soon after this incident in greater force than before. Fortunately for Alison she's well respected and liked by the soldiers so nobody ever contradicts her story. Not to mention they're glad to be rid of the svelk and to a small degree you as well given how fearful they all were of you. Still, part of Alison always regretted that it had to be done at all.

You don't like disagreeing with the Emperor's strategic decisions and you certainly don't want to deal with svelk in your camp, but from what you know of Roldan replacing him now wouldn't be a good move as he is the best-qualified general. The only person you can think of that would be better is yourself, but the Emperor has made it quite clear he wants you to stay put, so you aren't going to argue the issue. "If you believe the svelk can be useful as support on the gnoll front, then I shall figure out a way to make it work." You remark, which seems to surprise the Emperor. "Mm, very well. You sure it won't be a problem?" "No, no problem. However at the slightest sign of some sort of treachery or them not pulling their weight then I'll suggest the next decree you pass be one that executes all svelk in Empire territory." Hah, trust me, I've nearly had that one on the list for centuries. I know you'll be able to handle this though. Just wish everyone was as competent as you." The Emperor says and gives a glare at Jacob who is still briskly going through some papers. "I really do think Jacob is trying his best. He only wants what's good for the Empire." "Then he better start doing a better job. Anyway let's get on with it." The Emperor proceeds to tell Mistress that the svelk mercenary bands will be assigned to the gnoll front, but that they will ultimately answer to you and that any problems from them will result in mass executions. Mistress doesn't seem at all bothered by this; in fact she simply chuckles and says that's fine. The Emperor then goes on to tell Jacob that General Roldan better start making more progress soon or he will have another general take his place. Then he says he has to meet with Marik. "I sometimes wonder if he just uses his madness as an excuse to be absent minded and claim he didn't know there was a meeting. I just hope he's actually made progress on his project he convinced me to proceed with. Okay all of you are dismissed." The Emperor remarks and the rest of you leave his chambers. You expect Mistress to make some sort of remark as you're all walking out of the palace, but she ends up quickly walking ahead of you instead. Jacob on the other hand takes the opportunity. "I just wanted to thank you for once again trying to shield me from the Emperor's wrath, though I fear that it won't be long before my services are no longer needed. That day is coming soon. I know it." "You're worrying too much as usual. The Emperor knows you're indispensible." "No YOU'RE indispensible. That crazy derro Marik is indispensible. Even that svelk bitch is considered indispensible, though I really don't know why. Me? I'm just another bureaucratic bean counting pencil-pushing advisor that's getting old. There are several just waiting to take my place. You know I had twelve attempts to poison me in the last year?" "By who?" "By other bean counting pencil-pushing bureaucrats obviously. I'm sure you know that's how I got my job. Eliminated the previous advisor. Of course with the way things are going, the Emperor himself is likely to do it personally. I just wish I could get him to see that this war is a drain on the Empire. Even if we win, the victory still won't outweigh the amount of cost in resources, gold, population we spent to pursue it. I mean sure we have the land, but a lot of it has been rendered unusable due to the slash and burn policy that's been favored. We haven't even left a lot of people alive to tax! Now this thing with Roldan, I really don't know what he expects me to do." "How is internal security lately?" you ask. "Its fine. Good all things considered. The Eyes have successfully replaced the shadows it seems as far as that is concerned. Reputation is everything." "Do you think you could re-assign some of them and it not affect domestic safety?" "What do you mean?" You explain that perhaps using some Eyes as assassins and spies might work better than the usual military scouts. Perhaps their expertise of blending in, stealth and other such tactics can get them to sneak in the city and bring it down from within. "I can't believe I didn't think of that. In fact, why didn't the Emperor think of that? It's certainly an idea worthy of consideration and Warrick would be an excellent candidate to lead such an operation. If the Emperor believes I have more input in this matter than I actually do, I might as well make such accusations true and hopefully successful for my sake." Jacob remarks. "I'm sure this plan will hasten the fall of the Felkan Kingdom. You'll have not one but two Eternals in vital positions on the front lines now." "Don't you mean three? You didn't include yourself." "Oh, well I'm doing my part sure, but…nevermind." "But you want to be where Roldan is." "I don't even necessarily want to lead the main attack force at this point, I just feel like I should at least be part of it. I know the Emperor explained to me he doesn't want to throw me into the meat grinder of war because he sees greater potential in me, but I feel like sometimes I'm not being able to live up to that potential." Jacob pats you on the side of your arm. "Now you're the one worrying too much. You are more vital to this war than you believe. This advice you just gave me proves that. The Emperor is just well…a little protective of you because he's so proud of you. Can you blame him? Don't worry; your day to really shine will come some day. Maybe even sooner than you think." After Jacob's minor pep talk you feel a little better about your own position, of course then you remember you now have a bunch of svelk assigned to your camp. Alison is probably slightly less happy about it than you are. "Was there nothing that could be done?" Alison asks. "I told you, it was either this or replace General Roldan and that would've been a major strategic mistake." "Well are you going to be okay with this?" "Me? Sure. Guidelines have already been established, I'm ultimately in charge of them and believe me I've every intention to not letting them get away with shit. I'll tell them as soon as they start arriving. In the meantime, let's make arrangements for our new allied support. Better that we do it now before they think they can just make themselves at home here." No sooner do the svelk mercenaries start arriving, you begin laying down the rules of how things are going to be to all the respective captains in private. They are of course unenthused about such things, but given that you didn't dress them down in front of everyone most grudgingly comply with your decrees. There is one captain by the name of Eldolith, however who just manages to rub you the wrong way… "Yes, yes, I've already been briefed on the situation. We all have, so you can stop wasting your time by asserting your pitiable need for dominance." Eldolith remarks. You look at the haughty svelk captain and you already know who you see before you. You're feeling a mixture of things right now, but you told the Emperor that you were going to make this work, so you're going to at least get a certain amount of enjoyment out of it. "But if I don't keep reinforcing it, then you'll never truly grasp the idea that you are subservient to me. And as we all know it's important to keep the lesser born in their place. That is the svelk way is it not?" you say. Eldolith nearly makes a retort, but stops. You aren't letting her off that easy. "Oh? You wish to say something else? Maybe that I am not a svelk and that I am the lesser born? Perhaps something about how humans are nothing more than hairless Sul Monkeys? Come on, say what you want. I've heard it all before by your kind and it's the same old shit. Come on, just give me an excuse." you say and then grab her by the throat and begin to squeeze while your hot breath invades her nostrils. Eldolith says nothing, she doesn't even try to resist she just continues to stare at you defiantly, accepting of death if necessary or whatever else you have in mind. "You don't fool me svelk bitch, deep down you're scared…or maybe…maybe you're getting excited? Yeah, I bet that's it…I know what YOU like…" you say and your other hand begins to wander touching Eldolith's body. Then you realize what you're doing and you immediately stop and make haste back to the Empire side of the camp. Alison asks you if everything went all right, and you sharply dismiss her by exclaiming that of course everything is fine. Alison doesn't take too much offense since she figures having the svelk in camp is probably going to put you in a bad mood. You wonder now if you didn't want the svelk transferred here so you could have the opportunity to unleash some of your lingering desires. To get a gleeful sadistic pleasure of verbally abusing them or sending them on dangerous missions, or even killing one of them yourself if they step out of line. You don't even want to dwell on what you felt like doing to Eldolith. Did Mistress plan this somehow? She couldn't have. It was your choice. "By the Emperor, get a hold of yourself! This is all on you. You need to fight this. This temptation will be great, but you WILL overcome it. You will act like a professional. You need to act like a disciplined agent of the Empire. You will not lower yourself. The Emperor will give me strength of mind and body." You mutter to yourself. While you're struggling with your inner demons you also need to focus on the real problem at hand which are the gnolls. Alison, like you, would prefer to do something more proactive to them rather than constantly waiting around for their attacks. Given that you're now stuck with them, here's where the svelk will come in handy. You could send them in to regularly launch guerilla raids against the gnolls in their own territory, of course this might be seen as using them as "disposable warriors" which is something that they were complaining about while on the Felkan front. About the only other purpose would be to use them as scouts in order to prepare for a large counter attack against the gnolls. Of course you really aren't supposed to be doing that, as the orders are clear that you are to remain in occupied Felkans lands just in case your support is needed elsewhere. > You use the svelk as scouts This may be the most "rebellious" idea you've had, but you can't just sit here like a Felkan waiting to get attacked. You need the battle, you were born for it. Not to mention if you're actively fighting someone it should keep your mind off of other things. Now all you have to do is to convince Alison. True she is technically in charge of the battalion and you have always respected that, but if push came to shove you could easily pull rank on her and you'd rather not do such a thing. Fortunately, it doesn't come to that. "It's about time we took the fight to those mongrel dogs." she says with a little enthusiasm, but then her cautious side comes out. "But this plan, is this approved by the Emperor?" "No, but you don't need to worry about that. I will take full responsibility if he gets angry about it. I'll just say I took command of your battalion." "Hah, I always knew you were going to do that some day, anyway." "Sorry, but I can't think of any other way." "Don't apologize to me, I won't have to face the Emperor's wrath, well I hope I won't at least." "Like I said, don't worry about that. And don't worry about me either. I don't want to sound prideful, but I'm fairly confident the Emperor won't even get too angry with me, especially since I intend on wiping out the immediate gnoll threat." "What happens if we get called to aid Roldan?" "If it's before we launch our major attack on gnoll lands then we'll comply. If it's during, well we'll give what aid we can. The main thing is to get this finished as quickly as possible hence why I'm sending svelk scouts first to give us info on key locations of where to strike." "You think we can trust them to do their job properly?" "Who knows, but they're still getting paid well and this is a much easier assignment than where they previously were, so they will most likely do their jobs. Besides I'll make sure to send some of our stealthier troops with them and make a point of how their safety is also a priority if they don't want me to think that they're up to some sort of treachery. They won't like it, but who gives a shit, they're svelk." Alison laughs at your comment and then says she'll start getting her end of things prepared. You tell the svelk leaders what you want done and how you want it done. You get no dissension or even any grumbles. They either realize you mean business or they're all silently conspiring against you to strike at a later time. Probably both, but for right now its enough that they just obey your orders. The next few weeks are semi-anxious ones while you're still waiting for svelk intelligence reports. You really hope you can take down the gnoll horde or at least cripple it before anything on Felkan front pops up. You experience a few gnoll raids during this time, but they aren't anything out of the ordinary. If the gnolls are on to any spying going on they haven't changed their usual attacks. Eventually the svelk bands start trickling back in and while most of the information is just standard intelligence that will come in useful during the main attack, one of the reports is more alarming. "The gnolls have a large group of wyverns in that small mountain in the distance. From what I can tell they've been keeping them fed just enough that they're still strong, but not enough that they're fat and happy. They're quite vicious. It's a wonder the flying beasts don't just eat the gnolls, but it would appear the mongrel dog men have a way with the creatures. Probably been training them since they hatched." Eldolith remarks. "How many wyverns exactly?" you ask. "Not exactly sure, we couldn't get that far into the caves without being detected since the place is extremely heavily guarded, but a good number of them. Enough to make things problematic if they attacked. I might hazard a guess that maybe they've been trying to lull you all into a false sense of complacency, but that almost seems a bit too cunning for gnolls. Still, its amazing what the…lesser born can accomplish when they aren't taken seriously." Eldolith says and gives you a look as if that comment was directed towards you specifically. Other svelk in the tent move a bit nervously since they know she's possibly endangering them as well. Why is she testing you like this? Ignoring her comment you get back to the business at hand. "Okay, well this changes things a bit, but we'll make arrangements. Glad you all found this out. Your actions have helped the Empire immensely. I'll make sure you all get a little extra gold for this service, dismissed." As everyone leaves your tent, Eldolith stays behind. "Is their something else you needed captain?" you ask as you mentally prepare yourself. "Funny I was going to ask the same of you. I thought that perhaps you'd like to discipline me for my earlier words." "That won't be necessary in light of your latest report on the gnolls. I'm willing to let it pass." "Oh? Well perhaps maybe I'd like my reward then for my work." Eldolith remarks and then moves over to you which causes you to move back. "What the hell do you think your doing?" "Don't worry, I'm not trying to kill you. I know I'd be no match for a great warrior like you. I just thought that maybe you'd like to take this opportunity to get to know me better. I see you still staring at me sometimes, probably wishing that you'd done what you wanted to do when we first met. Your hand clenched around my throat, your loins pulsating and wanting to violate me. Well here I am." At this point Eldolith takes your hand and wraps her lips around your index finger making "mmm" noises. While you can't deny the desires, you also can't help but find humor in this since you now know the clumsy intentions for certain. You pull your finger out of her mouth and laugh. "Why are you laughing?" Eldolith asks in annoyed tone. "You! This! This is a joke. I had my doubts at first when the svelk all got transferred here, but now I know for certain. Mistress put you up specifically to this to fuck with me. Well it won't work." "Are you sure? You seem pretty distracted." Eldolith says attempting to be seductive again. "Ha ha, I won't deny your beauty and my own fucked up cravings, but sorry your techniques in mindfuckery are sorely lacking and I've had the master, or Mistress if you prefer. You're not even worth me worrying about anymore now that I know your game, which is that you're just a pawn in Mistress' own twisted game, whatever that is." Your condescension and dismissal is bad enough, but what seems to set off Eldolith the most is… "Stop calling my mother by that ridiculous name! I don't know why she insists on adopting your lesser born titles and nicknames!" "Mother?" you ask genuinely surprised. "Yes, and I told her this was a stupid idea in the first place! She should be taking steps to return our people back to their rightful place, not playing mind games with some monkey grunt. Ugh! I can't believe I sucked on your finger." "I'm sure it was everything you dreamed about. So you're her daughter. I have to admit I thought there was a resemblance and it wasn't just that haughty strut or those cold eyes that are so common to your race… wait so what is her real name?" "Ask her yourself! I'm done here. From now on I'm just doing my duty as a merc until I'm transferred out of this human hellhole." Eldolith shouts and storms off. Well this little incident has been bizarre to say the least. Mistress basically sent her own daughter to have sex with you. You don't pretend to understand the mind of the svelk, but what kind of fucked up family dynamic do they have and for what purpose? Is this some sort of ploy to keep you unfocused so you'll make a critical mistake somewhere? Eldolith did mention about taking steps to return her people to their rightful place and how she's obviously pissed that Mistress isn't doing it. Of course knowing Mistress, maybe messing with you is part of the greater plan? But how? In any case you can't worry about it now since you do have to get back to accomplishing your immediate task. You meet back up with Alison to tell her of the new plan due to the wyverns. "So, I saw your svelk girlfriend stomp out of your tent pretty mad. Trouble in paradise?" Alison asks. "Hardly. Just more svelk bullshit. And she isn't my girlfriend." "Hey, I said we weren't betrothed to each other when we started our own little intimate encounters so you don't need to hide anything. I hear enough things around the camp about you two." NOW it hits you. "Oh shit, THAT'S what this is all about! I can't believe it!" you start laughing again. "What?" Alison asks. "She's jealous of you!" "Eldolith?" "No! Her mother, Mistress!" "Mistress is Eldolith's mother? "Yeah, and she sent her daughter to have sex with me hoping it would fuck up OUR relationship!" You tell Alison everything that happened between you and Eldolith, you even confess everything that happened the first time you met her which is probably why the rumors were going around about the two of you. Alison believes you since you've never been one to lie let alone to her. "So wait… your former instructor is jealous of me so she sent her daughter to have sex with you?" Alison says. "It's the only explanation." "I dunno, I mean…wow…that seems pretty hard to believe." "Believe it. The svelk mind is capable of some truly twisted petty shit." "Well I can believe that, but I'm just having a hard time believing that a svelk female would be jealous of the appearance of…as they would say a monkey." "Don't say that, you're beautiful." You say. "Okay I know I'm not ugly, but beautiful is pushing it." "Not at all. You're a soldier, a warrior of the Empire, a maiden of battle striking fear and terror into the hearts of our enemies. I've seen you slay many in battle with a skill that many could only hope to achieve. I've seen your sword and armor drenched in the blood of our enemies and the dirt of the battlefield. With each battle you win, with each enemy you kill you carry out the will of the Empire and the Emperor. Your cause is so pure and righteous… how could I not find that beautiful? Alison smiles at your unique attempt at compliments. "Well when you make it sound like that, how can I disagree?" You and Alison spend some intimate time that night and in the next few days you begin your risky attack on gnoll territory. It goes well at first, and you aren't suddenly taken by surprise when flocks of wyvern riders try to swoop in on the battlefield. Some of the peasants from the Felkan towns that were occupied by the gnolls actually welcome you as saviors and immediately pledge themselves to the Empire, mostly because the Felkan Kingdom failed to defend them in the first place and that any ruler is better than the gnolls. This comes somewhat as an unexpected benefit to your decision. After a month of slaughtering gnolls, two things major things happen, one of them good and one of them possibly bad. The siege on Yaquan is finally successful. A few Eyes managed to infiltrate and bring the walls down from within and from there, Roldan's army did the rest. While you're pleased to hear about a victory for the Empire, you've also just received a message telling you to return to the capital immediately. It would appear that your proactive approach to the gnolls has finally caught the Emperor's attention. You don't know if he'll be angry or pleased, or what. The second part of this dilemma is that you are still trying to make that one big push to wipe out the majority of the gnoll forces. Alison naturally says that if you have to leave she can handle it without you and you have no doubt about that, but that's not the issue. It's more that you'd like to finish what you started and that if you are going to return to the Emperor to answer for your disobedience, you'd like to at least have a complete victory under your belt. Surely when the Emperor sees that you've crushed another enemy in his name and even added more subjects and territory he couldn't be too mad could he? > You return immediately As much as it would be in your favor to return with a massive victory, you're going to have to settle on what you believe to be an assured one instead. Putting off a direct order from the Emperor would only make matters worse for you and you believe you're in enough trouble as it is. "You shouldn't worry so much, didn't you say that the Emperor probably wouldn't get mad at you?" Alison asks. "Yeah I said that to convince myself that what I wanted to do was a good idea at the time. Doesn't matter, what's done is done and I will face whatever the Emperor has in store for me and as I said before, I'll take full responsibility." "You don't need to do that. You know full well I was itching to get into it with the gnolls as too." "Well, I want to anyway because I…um…uh" Alison raises an eyebrow when you start to stumble over your words; you quickly recover and change the subject. "Look, just proceed with the plan as normal. I think we've wiped out most of their wyvern forces and even their dire wolf cavalry. We need to at least push them off of all the territory they took from the Felkans. If I return…" "WHEN you return." Alison interrupts. "Heh, okay. When I return we can figure it out from there. Oh and this goes without saying but keep an eye on the svelk. They've all been fairly professional since we started this aggressive campaign on the gnolls, but well you know, they're svelk and who knows what they might be up to." "Of course." "Okay I guess that's about it." You linger a moment longer just sort of staring at Alison wondering if this will be the last time you ever see her again. It seems silly given how the pair of you have risked your lives in battle so many times that death could've just been a sword cleave or stray arrow away. This is different though and its not because you're afraid of any execution that Emperor might inflict on you, its more because you'd hate to not have the chance to spend any more time with Alison. Is this what is known as "romantic" love? You're familiar with the concept, it just has always seemed bizarre to you or at least not a priority. Love of the Emperor, love of the Empire, love of duty and battle are concepts you understand, but your feelings towards Alison are a little different even when you attempt to make the comparisons in your head. Sensing you're more overcome with emotions than you'd admit, Alison once again takes your relationship that extra step further. "You don't need to say it. I know." She says and kisses you. With that pleasant feeling still persisting, you take your leave and make your long trip back to the capital. It's a miserable trip since it practically rains the entire way, almost like the storm is following you. You cast your shield spell to give yourself some relief from the elements though it still doesn't help when your horse has to trudge through some of the muddier back roads. Eventually you arrive at your destination. You enter the Emperor's chambers and while lately when you've met with him he's either hovering over his war table with maps and small figures on them or he's speaking with Jacob and the others, but this time he's alone and sitting in his chair. He isn't reading either, he's staring down at the floor as if deep in thought. "Why?" He asks without looking up. His voice doesn't sound angry so much as it sounds distant. This simple question could only be asking you why you disobeyed his orders. You have several elaborate answers you could give. You've practiced them all, but now that you're actually in front of the Emperor you know that no answer is going to help so you cut to chase. "I have no suitable excuse because there is none. There is no reason good enough to explain why I disobeyed your orders. I have returned merely to accept whatever punishment you have deemed suitable for my betrayal." There is a pause of silence after your words. The Emperor slowly looks up at you and you feel his eyes staring right through you. The room even starts to feel more oppressive. Its as if you aren't even alone with the Emperor, its like there are a thousand eyes upon you. Judging you. "I see. But you will not evade my question so easily. Now tell me why, I just need to know. Tell me. I will believe you my son." The Emperor says in an almost soothing voice. So you tell him your reasons; that you were merely tired of sitting on the sidelines waiting around for the gnolls to continue attacking you. That you wanted to do something of more substance for the Empire. The Emperor listens to your explanation, but you get the impression he's also studying you. "So…your reasons for disobeying my orders were entirely your idea? You were not influenced in any way?" "Of course." "There wasn't perhaps another person of the female persuasion who whispered in your ear late in the night about glory and power?" "No my Emperor. I mean unless you're speaking of a petty a svelk ploy that I recently experienced. Mistress sent her daughter to…" "No, not her and not her spawn, though I'm well aware of that weirdness going on as well. Don't worry I fully intend on having a chat with her as well since that sort of thing needs to stop. But that is somewhat related to what I'm getting at and who I KNOW you're attempting to protect. That young major you've been having a relationship with." "Alison? While our relationship is sometimes a physical one, it is always professional. It was my idea to launch the attack on the gnolls and I already gave the reasons. She had no choice but to follow my orders when I took command of her battalion. She is a good solider and was only following orders." "And I suppose right now she's still following your orders. Attacking the gnolls despite the fact that I wanted that battalion purely for defense of our current holdings or for reinforcements to our main attack force…" the Emperor at this point trails off and shakes his head with a sigh. He then gets up off his chair and walks over to you. The Emperor soon stands before you and he doesn't look angry, but he does seem disappointed. In some ways that's almost as bad and you hang your head down a little in shame. The Emperor then suddenly grabs your head with both hands and stares intently into your eyes for a few seconds, which feels like eternity as you stand completely still staring back. "Very well. I believe we are done here." He says with a smile and lets you go. "That…that's it?" "For now. Yes. You may go back to your battalion and finish your little campaign against the gnolls since I hear you are winning against them, however just kick them out of former Felkan lands and secure the borders. Do not push further into their original territory. We still can't spread ourselves too thin, remember we still have the Felkan Kingdom to destroy." "Understood." "It better be, because I'm very serious about that order. Our recent victory at Yaquan is getting the ball rolling again and I don't want to have to be worrying about you going rogue. Especially since I'm going to have need of you for the final push again the Felkans. It is obvious to me now that you do need to be on the frontlines of this war as a general even if your real position is technically higher than that." "I…I don't know what to say." "Well, don't thank me. This is probably something I should've done a long time ago. The fault is mine for wanting to protect you. I don't know why, since I know you're more than capable of handling yourself. I guess we'll just chalk it up to parental protectiveness. In any case, finish up with those mongrel half dogs quickly because you'll be called upon soon. That is all." You leave the Emperor's chambers unsure of how to feel exactly. You were expecting the worst, even death, but instead you've practically been rewarded for your actions. When you explain things to Alison she's very happy for you. "See? Nothing but good news and I told you that you'd be coming back." "Yeah…" you acknowledge. "Now what? I would think you'd be happy not only to be alive, but also be promoted to the Felkan frontlines where you always wanted to be." "I…don't know. I mean I am and it is a great honor and everything I wanted…but now…well I'm used to having you by my side." "Well that's sweet, but I'm sure you knew we'd eventually be separated at some point. I mean we are military and military gets moved around." "I know. Still, I'm going to miss all our time together." "You're not going yet are you? I thought you were here until the gnolls were booted out." "I am." "Well let's not get gloomy about things just yet, we've still got quite a few of those bastards running about. Let us spend our remaining quality time together kicking their asses and celebrating our victory afterwards." You smile and agree. Perhaps it is best that you enjoy the time you do have together now rather than mope about such things. You do wonder if you'll be able to stay in much contact with Alison when you're reassigned. You're skeptical that you'll have much time to write letters to her and have no doubt that you'll have to focus more on the Felkans. However, you can't help but think she'll still be in the back of your mind. And if it is only a memory then it's a much better replacement for who was usually in the back of your mind. Maybe you and Alison aren't exactly in love as most would see it, but as far as you're concerned you'll always love her for at least displacing the twisted memories of Mistress out of your head. > Year 28 You hate these baby-sitting missions, but when the Emperor wants something done right he always requests you personally to do it, so here you are marching hundreds of gnomes to their new home. As the army has been getting closer to the Felkan capital and conquering its other important cities, the gnome population has been larger. While The Emperor has relented slightly on a complete slash and burn policy of Felkan cities, he's still made it quite clear that ALL gnomes are to be taken as prisoners to a special place he's had built in the recently conquered Felkan territory. Its called Gnome's Home and you believe Marik had a hand in designing some of it, but it isn't something you've really kept up on since you've been focused the business of proper warfare. However you're on your way there now so you'll guess you'll see it soon. The whole reason you're overseeing this prisoner train in the first place is because too many gnomes have been escaping their chains though it's hardly surprising. Gnomes are very adept at picking locks, combine that with their fear of what's to come and one gets a lot of escapes. Of course most of them get killed shortly after their escapes, but the Emperor has made it quite clear that he wants no more of that and that he really wants them to be taken to Gnome's Home. You don't really understand why since you assume they're just going to be killed there anyway, but you're just here to follow orders. He is the Emperor and this is what he wants. Still, sometimes you have to admit that you agree with Jacob on this; The Emperor's hatred of gnomes is a bit…irrational at times. As you get closer to the location of Gnome's Home, you hear a lot of cries and whispered prayers to gods from the prisoners. Some of the guards attempt to quiet them all down, but it's a losing proposition, you just tell your troops to keep a close eye for escape attempts as usual. From a distance it looks like one of Marik's factories, as you get closer though there's something slightly more sinister about it. Granted it's a place of execution, but you get the impression something more is going on here and its not just torture. The feeling here is oppressive the closer you get to it, even for you. Eventually you get to the black iron gates and make an announcement of your arrival and you're let in almost immediately. Now you couldn't smell it before, but when those gates up, you're nearly overwhelmed by a strong smell of death and that's saying something given the battlefields you've been on and the carnage you've engaged in. "Sorry about the smell General, but we've been having some problems with our furnaces lately, among other things, so the dead bodies have been piling up. Good thing they're so small eh?" one of the guards that lets you in remarks with a laugh. As the gnomes are herded in you take a look around the "yard" and indeed you do see the largest pile of rotting gnome bodies you've ever seen. Nearby you see other guards busily attempting to load the bodies into carts to take them somewhere for proper disposal. Meanwhile you also see what you assume to be small dwellings for the prisoner gnomes since you see pitiful versions of them peeking out at times. All in all, it's not a pretty sight, but the smell is still the worst of it. Shit, piss, vomit, blood, rot, and putrification are all in full force, but none of this horror is bothering you. There is something else going on here that feels severely unnatural that's causing you to feel off. Maybe its magic, you don't know, but something about the place tells you it's more than just an oversized execution center. Just as you're about to leave, you're approached by dirty, unkept looking man with wild facial hair and even wilder hair on his head. He's dressed in medium chainmail armor and large battle axe is on his back. With him are a couple of larger ugly brutish looking creatures. They aren't green, so you know they aren't orcs. Ogres perhaps, but you weren't aware there were any that lived in this region let alone "tamed". Then it suddenly occurs to you who this is… "Its you! The Harbinger of Death! The Emperor's right hand and weapon of righteous justice! It's been a long time! Oh we heard stories about you even all the way up in Rask! What brings you here? Are you assigned here now?" he asks excitedly. This is Kane, the Butcher of Rask. He's nearly unrecognizable from when you last remember him. You've heard the stories about him as well and from his unhinged looking appearance they might be true. Though he seems to be quite friendly with you, which you wouldn't expect given the tales you've heard. "Hello Kane, it has been a long time. I have not been assigned here; I'm just dropping off these prisoners because the Emperor considers it of vital importance that I do it. But I thought you were assigned in Rask." "Oh no need for me there any longer, we pretty much tamed everything there, well as much could be, but rest assured the Empire isn't suffering from routine ogre and giant attacks there anymore. These two big lugs here are proof of that. And the barbarian tribes have been completely wiped out along with those pitiful attempts at secessionist movements! Not that those were ever a serious threat." "Well that's good. I'm glad to hear you were so instrumental in making positive changes for the Empire." You say. "Me? I was just doing what I was supposed to right? I mean killing the enemies of the Empire and slaughtering those that oppose it is what we're here for! But I don't need to tell you that, you know duty to the Emperor better than anyone! Anyway with Rask tamed they said my talents would be better spent elsewhere so I assumed I would be sent to the Felkan front to fight or even lead, but I didn't expect to be sent here. Still I'm just happy to be doing my part!" "That's a good attitude to have Kane. So…what exactly do you do here?" "Nothing much, just make sure the gnomes don't escape. None of them have either. We've got lots of things in place to make sure of that. Other than that I oversee the day to day operations. Not quite as exciting as my days in Rask, but I dunno…" At this point Kane looks at the large pile of dead gnome bodies on the other side of the yard and sort of zones out for a moment. He then begins to smile a bit before continuing. "It has its benefits." "I see." "Would you like a small tour? You know, just so you can maybe let the Emperor know or whoever that everything is running smoothly here?" "I don't think that will be necessary. It looks like you're doing a fine job here, besides I…" Before you can finish that old familiar voice that you've come to dread speaks. "Hey lover, it's about time you got here. Your services are needed for something most important." Mistress says. Normally you're on your guard, but somehow she snuck up behind you and startles you even though you attempt not to show it. Naturally this amuses her. "Aww did I scare you? Glad to see some things never change." Mistress says as she attempts to stroke your face. "What do you want and why are you here?" you ask slapping her hand away. "Sent here by the Emperor for something oh so important to him. You didn't think you were just brought here to escort these pathetic gnomes to their deaths did you? You're needed here for something else." "I was simply told to escort the prisoners, nothing more nothing less. I don't have time for whatever fucked up games you want to play with me." "I assure you this is no game this…" Mistress stops speaking and looks at Kane as if wondering why he's still around. "Don't you have something better to do like counting up the new prisoners or something? Why don't you and your two equally dimwitted friends go eat some gnomes or whatever it is you do, the superior beings are speaking now." While you're a little surprised that Mistress referred to you as a "superior being" you're more surprised by Kane's reaction. Given what you know about Kane's reputation you'd expect him to at least show a little anger towards Mistress even if he didn't display any disobedience. Kane shows nothing but subservience though. "Apologies Mistress, I will leave you two alone." Kane remarks and gives a nod to you and quickly turns away motioning to his ogre guards to follow while bellowing an order to another nearby guard. Mistress shakes her head at all this. "I don't know how Jacob convinced the Emperor to let that miserable creature oversee this place rather than putting him down like a mad dog like he deserves." "Why would he be put to death? From what I've heard and seen he's a completely loyal soldier who has done much for the Empire. His deeds in Rask alone prove that." "Not feeling sympathetic towards your old classmate are you? Yes he was useful, but he's a loose cannon and such factors shouldn't be allowed to thrive. Given your own suggestions on using the orcs as sword fodder to keep them from being a problem in the future I would think you'd see the wisdom in such things." "The orcs were numerous and a genuine threat because of their chaotic nature. Kane is a loyal Eternal even if he does have a reputation for being overly bloodthirsty and even cruelty. And I would think that last one would be a mark in his favor given that you have that in common." Mistress chuckles at your remark. "You comment asides, Kane is still not like either of us. He's…well perhaps we can discuss such things at another time and in any case its not my concern, what is my concern is this ritual I need your help with." "You? You need MY help? You're actually saying that?" "(Sigh) Yes, is it so hard to believe? The Emperor needs us to perform a soul banishment ritual. I've practically been doing all the prep work myself for a while now, since all of the mages sent to help have been unsurprisingly not up to the task. When you start using magic involving souls it can get taxing even for the most skilled. It's also been ages since I've performed one of these and its obvious that you were the best candidate to help me." You can't believe what you're hearing and at this point you're wondering if the Emperor really does want you here for what Mistress claims. He never gave such an order to you and it seems like that would be something he'd tell you. Then again you were never given the full report on the troll factory either and he did say he was going to speak with Mistress about her on going attempts at making your life miserable. This might also be another test by the Emperor. Maybe to see if you can put aside personal differences to work together? "Very well, if it is the Emperor's wish that we work together then so be it. However, do not mistake my compliance for submissiveness. I am only willing to engage in this task because it is of importance to the Emperor and I am trusting that even you would not lie about something like that for you know that any sort of underhanded trick to kill or harm me in anyway would stir his wrath that I believe even YOU do not want to stir up. Now I suggest we get on with it so we can keep our time together at a minimum." "As you wish, but there is no need for hostility or suspicion. As you've said the Emperor would be quite angry indeed if I caused you harm in anyway, not that it's ever been my intension contrary to popular belief." "Is this some sort of new tactic of yours? Acting civil in some vain attempt to get on my good side? Don't bother, you'll never be on it." "I'm getting that impression, but perhaps we can still talk about this later, for now let's get on with this as you suggested. Follow me, I'll take you to where we need to be." You follow Mistress to one of the larger buildings where a lot of smoke is coming from and guards are periodically wheeling gnome bodies into. Large furnaces burn the countless bodies. As you walk through the crematorium, you notice that there are a few gnomes that aren't quite dead yet, but are being thrown into the furnaces anyway. Eventually you come to a set of stairs going down. "Down here unfortunately." Mistress remarks and you follow her down a long flight of stairs to a great open room lit by several candles Along two of the wall you see hundreds of jars with what looks to be wisps inside. They all give off a faint blue glow making the need for candles somewhat unnecessary. "I hate these designs by Marik, he can't think past his derro mindset and create something that doesn't have an underground portion to it." Mistress remarks. "Personally I would've rather had something like this right in the center of the yard so that all those little gnomes could see just exactly what is going to happen to them every day. I mean its one thing to know they're going to die, but it's truly a thing of beauty when you completely obliterate something wouldn't you agree?" "What exactly are you talking about?" "Why those souls that you see on the walls of course! Can't very well perform a soul banishment ritual without souls obviously." "Those wispy things are souls?" "Yes, hundreds of little souls. Souls that I've had to drag out of hundreds of little gnomes. No little feat though, as I said magic involving souls gets draining very fast. Ranks up there with healing magic and other branches of necromancy…I need you to stand over there on the line of that circle across from that wall." Mistress says pointing over to a large circle on the floor. You slowly step over to where Mistress has told you to be. Given how much you've been following her orders you half feel like you're back in her class. Though her attitude is much different and that's been bothering you since this encounter. Surely she's up to something and there has to be angle in it for her. If she isn't up to something you can only believe that the Emperor's talk really put the fear into her. Mistress stands to the left of you on the line of the circle across from the other wall of souls and tells you that she's going to begin the ritual all she says she needs from you is to provide support and make sure none of the souls get away. "Get away?" "You don't think they're going to just let themselves get banished to oblivion do you? They're probably already pissed about being trapped in magic jars. Now concentrate!" Mistress begins to chant something in a language you're not familiar with and you've heard the svelk language before. The wisps in the jars begin to get even more agitated and the faint glow they give off begins to get brighter. You begin to get images of torment invading your head all at once. You see exactly everything that's been happening to the gnomes here, the torture, the humiliation, the executions and now ultimate annihilation. Even from what little you've seen from being in this place, your years on the battlefield and even your own brutal childhood training, its still pretty gruesome and sadistic, but it isn't the images that are currently affecting you. It's the voices… "Help us! Free us! It's her, she did this! Stole our souls to destroy! Hate her! Kill her! You could kill her. You hate her too. Do it! If not for us or any sort of moral conscience then for yourself. We can see what she did to you. She will always torment you and you will never know rest from her until she is dead. She could die right now. Nobody would know and no one would care." you hear several voices saying to you all at once and right now you don't have much reason to not follow their suggestions. If Mistress was to die, it could easily be explained away after all accidents happen all the time when performing dangerous magic. And it is true she's not likely to be missed by anyone save perhaps the Emperor, and you doubt he would for very long. > You sabotage the ritual You're doing it. You're getting her out of your life forever. No longer will you have to put up with whatever mind games she has planned whenever you're forced to meet with her. You step from the circle and break your magic link with Mistress. She's immediately taken off guard. "Agh! You fool! What are you doing?! Step back to the circle before you doom the both of us!" she exclaims as she is presumably psychically assaulted by the gnome souls. You know Mistress is strong and can probably fend off the attack if really pushed, but you intend on giving her another distraction by drawing your sword. She's either going to have to stop you which will expose her mind to the vengeful souls or not stop you and get stabbed which will have the same effect. Suddenly your own mind is completely shattered and multiple souls assault your mind. The pain is excruciating and you collapse on the floor and begin convulsing. You aren't innocent in all this as far as they're concerned. Your involvement in the Felkan campaign has probably resulted in most of the gnomes being rounded up and sent to Gnome's Home in the first place. For the first time you not only see the horror that has been this place, but you also experience all of it. Your mind can't take it and neither can your body, which begins to lose all control of its functions. You're leaking all manner of bodily fluids out every possible place you could be leaking from. Eventually you're nothing more than an empty shell, but not quite dead. The souls have stopped attacking and Mistress is lying on the floor not too far from you own, her own mind destroyed as well. The pair of you continue to stare upward and slack jaw in a comatose state for quite some time, until Kane eventually wanders down to investigate. Kane isn't quite sure of what to make of all of it, but sensing that he can't leave the pair of you like this he comes up with his own solution. Unknown to you, Kane was possessed by a wendigo during his tour in Rask, though his hunger is well sated here. Kane never liked Mistress' threats of exposure or taunts and proceeds to eat her alive. Of course being a vegetable she is unable to scream as his teeth sink into her flesh. You on the other hand, Kane ends your life with a blade to your throat out of respect for you before feasting on your corpse.

Year 28 You hate these baby-sitting missions, but when the Emperor wants something done right he always requests you personally to do it, so here you are marching hundreds of gnomes to their new home. As the army has been getting closer to the Felkan capital and conquering its other important cities, the gnome population has been larger. While The Emperor has relented slightly on a complete slash and burn policy of Felkan cities, he's still made it quite clear that ALL gnomes are to be taken as prisoners to a special place he's had built in the recently conquered Felkan territory. Its called Gnome's Home and you believe Marik had a hand in designing some of it, but it isn't something you've really kept up on since you've been focused the business of proper warfare. However you're on your way there now so you'll guess you'll see it soon. The whole reason you're overseeing this prisoner train in the first place is because too many gnomes have been escaping their chains though it's hardly surprising. Gnomes are very adept at picking locks, combine that with their fear of what's to come and one gets a lot of escapes. Of course most of them get killed shortly after their escapes, but the Emperor has made it quite clear that he wants no more of that and that he really wants them to be taken to Gnome's Home. You don't really understand why since you assume they're just going to be killed there anyway, but you're just here to follow orders. He is the Emperor and this is what he wants. Still, sometimes you have to admit that you agree with Jacob on this; The Emperor's hatred of gnomes is a bit…irrational at times. As you get closer to the location of Gnome's Home, you hear a lot of cries and whispered prayers to gods from the prisoners. Some of the guards attempt to quiet them all down, but it's a losing proposition, you just tell your troops to keep a close eye for escape attempts as usual. From a distance it looks like one of Marik's factories, as you get closer though there's something slightly more sinister about it. Granted it's a place of execution, but you get the impression something more is going on here and its not just torture. The feeling here is oppressive the closer you get to it, even for you. Eventually you get to the black iron gates and make an announcement of your arrival and you're let in almost immediately. Now you couldn't smell it before, but when those gates up, you're nearly overwhelmed by a strong smell of death and that's saying something given the battlefields you've been on and the carnage you've engaged in. "Sorry about the smell General, but we've been having some problems with our furnaces lately, among other things, so the dead bodies have been piling up. Good thing they're so small eh?" one of the guards that lets you in remarks with a laugh. As the gnomes are herded in you take a look around the "yard" and indeed you do see the largest pile of rotting gnome bodies you've ever seen. Nearby you see other guards busily attempting to load the bodies into carts to take them somewhere for proper disposal. Meanwhile you also see what you assume to be small dwellings for the prisoner gnomes since you see pitiful versions of them peeking out at times. All in all, it's not a pretty sight, but the smell is still the worst of it. Shit, piss, vomit, blood, rot, and putrification are all in full force, but none of this horror is bothering you. There is something else going on here that feels severely unnatural that's causing you to feel off. Maybe its magic, you don't know, but something about the place tells you it's more than just an oversized execution center. Just as you're about to leave, you're approached by dirty, unkept looking man with wild facial hair and even wilder hair on his head. He's dressed in medium chainmail armor and large battle axe is on his back. With him are a couple of larger ugly brutish looking creatures. They aren't green, so you know they aren't orcs. Ogres perhaps, but you weren't aware there were any that lived in this region let alone "tamed". Then it suddenly occurs to you who this is… "Its you! The Harbinger of Death! The Emperor's right hand and weapon of righteous justice! It's been a long time! Oh we heard stories about you even all the way up in Rask! What brings you here? Are you assigned here now?" he asks excitedly. This is Kane, the Butcher of Rask. He's nearly unrecognizable from when you last remember him. You've heard the stories about him as well and from his unhinged looking appearance they might be true. Though he seems to be quite friendly with you, which you wouldn't expect given the tales you've heard. "Hello Kane, it has been a long time. I have not been assigned here; I'm just dropping off these prisoners because the Emperor considers it of vital importance that I do it. But I thought you were assigned in Rask." "Oh no need for me there any longer, we pretty much tamed everything there, well as much could be, but rest assured the Empire isn't suffering from routine ogre and giant attacks there anymore. These two big lugs here are proof of that. And the barbarian tribes have been completely wiped out along with those pitiful attempts at secessionist movements! Not that those were ever a serious threat." "Well that's good. I'm glad to hear you were so instrumental in making positive changes for the Empire." You say. "Me? I was just doing what I was supposed to right? I mean killing the enemies of the Empire and slaughtering those that oppose it is what we're here for! But I don't need to tell you that, you know duty to the Emperor better than anyone! Anyway with Rask tamed they said my talents would be better spent elsewhere so I assumed I would be sent to the Felkan front to fight or even lead, but I didn't expect to be sent here. Still I'm just happy to be doing my part!" "That's a good attitude to have Kane. So…what exactly do you do here?" "Nothing much, just make sure the gnomes don't escape. None of them have either. We've got lots of things in place to make sure of that. Other than that I oversee the day to day operations. Not quite as exciting as my days in Rask, but I dunno…" At this point Kane looks at the large pile of dead gnome bodies on the other side of the yard and sort of zones out for a moment. He then begins to smile a bit before continuing. "It has its benefits." "I see." "Would you like a small tour? You know, just so you can maybe let the Emperor know or whoever that everything is running smoothly here?" "I don't think that will be necessary. It looks like you're doing a fine job here, besides I…" Before you can finish that old familiar voice that you've come to dread speaks. "Hey lover, it's about time you got here. Your services are needed for something most important." Mistress says. Normally you're on your guard, but somehow she snuck up behind you and startles you even though you attempt not to show it. Naturally this amuses her. "Aww did I scare you? Glad to see some things never change." Mistress says as she attempts to stroke your face. "What do you want and why are you here?" you ask slapping her hand away. "Sent here by the Emperor for something oh so important to him. You didn't think you were just brought here to escort these pathetic gnomes to their deaths did you? You're needed here for something else." "I was simply told to escort the prisoners, nothing more nothing less. I don't have time for whatever fucked up games you want to play with me." "I assure you this is no game this…" Mistress stops speaking and looks at Kane as if wondering why he's still around. "Don't you have something better to do like counting up the new prisoners or something? Why don't you and your two equally dimwitted friends go eat some gnomes or whatever it is you do, the superior beings are speaking now." While you're a little surprised that Mistress referred to you as a "superior being" you're more surprised by Kane's reaction. Given what you know about Kane's reputation you'd expect him to at least show a little anger towards Mistress even if he didn't display any disobedience. Kane shows nothing but subservience though. "Apologies Mistress, I will leave you two alone." Kane remarks and gives a nod to you and quickly turns away motioning to his ogre guards to follow while bellowing an order to another nearby guard. Mistress shakes her head at all this. "I don't know how Jacob convinced the Emperor to let that miserable creature oversee this place rather than putting him down like a mad dog like he deserves." "Why would he be put to death? From what I've heard and seen he's a completely loyal soldier who has done much for the Empire. His deeds in Rask alone prove that." "Not feeling sympathetic towards your old classmate are you? Yes he was useful, but he's a loose cannon and such factors shouldn't be allowed to thrive. Given your own suggestions on using the orcs as sword fodder to keep them from being a problem in the future I would think you'd see the wisdom in such things." "The orcs were numerous and a genuine threat because of their chaotic nature. Kane is a loyal Eternal even if he does have a reputation for being overly bloodthirsty and even cruelty. And I would think that last one would be a mark in his favor given that you have that in common." Mistress chuckles at your remark. "You comment asides, Kane is still not like either of us. He's…well perhaps we can discuss such things at another time and in any case its not my concern, what is my concern is this ritual I need your help with." "You? You need MY help? You're actually saying that?" "(Sigh) Yes, is it so hard to believe? The Emperor needs us to perform a soul banishment ritual. I've practically been doing all the prep work myself for a while now, since all of the mages sent to help have been unsurprisingly not up to the task. When you start using magic involving souls it can get taxing even for the most skilled. It's also been ages since I've performed one of these and its obvious that you were the best candidate to help me." You can't believe what you're hearing and at this point you're wondering if the Emperor really does want you here for what Mistress claims. He never gave such an order to you and it seems like that would be something he'd tell you. Then again you were never given the full report on the troll factory either and he did say he was going to speak with Mistress about her on going attempts at making your life miserable. This might also be another test by the Emperor. Maybe to see if you can put aside personal differences to work together? "Very well, if it is the Emperor's wish that we work together then so be it. However, do not mistake my compliance for submissiveness. I am only willing to engage in this task because it is of importance to the Emperor and I am trusting that even you would not lie about something like that for you know that any sort of underhanded trick to kill or harm me in anyway would stir his wrath that I believe even YOU do not want to stir up. Now I suggest we get on with it so we can keep our time together at a minimum." "As you wish, but there is no need for hostility or suspicion. As you've said the Emperor would be quite angry indeed if I caused you harm in anyway, not that it's ever been my intension contrary to popular belief." "Is this some sort of new tactic of yours? Acting civil in some vain attempt to get on my good side? Don't bother, you'll never be on it." "I'm getting that impression, but perhaps we can still talk about this later, for now let's get on with this as you suggested. Follow me, I'll take you to where we need to be." You follow Mistress to one of the larger buildings where a lot of smoke is coming from and guards are periodically wheeling gnome bodies into. Large furnaces burn the countless bodies. As you walk through the crematorium, you notice that there are a few gnomes that aren't quite dead yet, but are being thrown into the furnaces anyway. Eventually you come to a set of stairs going down. "Down here unfortunately." Mistress remarks and you follow her down a long flight of stairs to a great open room lit by several candles Along two of the wall you see hundreds of jars with what looks to be wisps inside. They all give off a faint blue glow making the need for candles somewhat unnecessary. "I hate these designs by Marik, he can't think past his derro mindset and create something that doesn't have an underground portion to it." Mistress remarks. "Personally I would've rather had something like this right in the center of the yard so that all those little gnomes could see just exactly what is going to happen to them every day. I mean its one thing to know they're going to die, but it's truly a thing of beauty when you completely obliterate something wouldn't you agree?" "What exactly are you talking about?" "Why those souls that you see on the walls of course! Can't very well perform a soul banishment ritual without souls obviously." "Those wispy things are souls?" "Yes, hundreds of little souls. Souls that I've had to drag out of hundreds of little gnomes. No little feat though, as I said magic involving souls gets draining very fast. Ranks up there with healing magic and other branches of necromancy…I need you to stand over there on the line of that circle across from that wall." Mistress says pointing over to a large circle on the floor. You slowly step over to where Mistress has told you to be. Given how much you've been following her orders you half feel like you're back in her class. Though her attitude is much different and that's been bothering you since this encounter. Surely she's up to something and there has to be angle in it for her. If she isn't up to something you can only believe that the Emperor's talk really put the fear into her. Mistress stands to the left of you on the line of the circle across from the other wall of souls and tells you that she's going to begin the ritual all she says she needs from you is to provide support and make sure none of the souls get away. "Get away?" "You don't think they're going to just let themselves get banished to oblivion do you? They're probably already pissed about being trapped in magic jars. Now concentrate!" Mistress begins to chant something in a language you're not familiar with and you've heard the svelk language before. The wisps in the jars begin to get even more agitated and the faint glow they give off begins to get brighter. You begin to get images of torment invading your head all at once. You see exactly everything that's been happening to the gnomes here, the torture, the humiliation, the executions and now ultimate annihilation. Even from what little you've seen from being in this place, your years on the battlefield and even your own brutal childhood training, its still pretty gruesome and sadistic, but it isn't the images that are currently affecting you. It's the voices… "Help us! Free us! It's her, she did this! Stole our souls to destroy! Hate her! Kill her! You could kill her. You hate her too. Do it! If not for us or any sort of moral conscience then for yourself. We can see what she did to you. She will always torment you and you will never know rest from her until she is dead. She could die right now. Nobody would know and no one would care." you hear several voices saying to you all at once and right now you don't have much reason to not follow their suggestions. If Mistress was to die, it could easily be explained away after all accidents happen all the time when performing dangerous magic. And it is true she's not likely to be missed by anyone save perhaps the Emperor, and you doubt he would for very long. > You proceed as normal You are sorely tempted. You are really sorely tempted. However, there are a couple factors at play that are preventing you from doing so. One, you're dubious about trusting a bunch of gnome souls. It isn't like they still aren't your enemy no matter what form they take or the situation at hand. The enemy of your enemy is still YOUR enemy as far as you're concerned. This could be a trick to get the upper hand on their part. Second and most importantly, this is still a mission for the Emperor. If he wanted you to work with Mistress to send a bunch of gnome souls to oblivion then that's what you're going to do regardless of your personal feelings towards her. You begin to concentrate and try to mentally shut out the voices. Its extremely difficult, in fact you don't actually succeed in doing so, but you do stay focused enough to keep up Mistress' energy. An unearthly howl invades your head as a jet-black orb appears in the center of the room. You feel like its sucking the life out of you and you instinctively start to back away. "NO! Don't move! You'll ruin the spell! It won't be much longer, look its already working!" Mistress shouts and points to the jars, which are now growing dimmer again. You then see one of the wisps completely disappear; followed by another and another, until they all begin fading away. As the souls vanish, the voices begin to get quieter and more desperate sounding as they beg you to stop. Eventually you hear nothing at all and the orb in the room disappears as well. "There, that should do it for a while, until the next batch." Mistress remarks as she wipes her forehead and fixes her hair. "Whew, that was a little more strenuous than I thought it would be, it was very helpful for you to be here. We make a pretty good team…" "Stop. Just stop." You say interrupting. "Stop what?" Mistress asks as if she doesn't know what you're talking about. "You know damn well what. I told you that this attempt to be pleasant isn't going to work and its totally transparent." Mistress smiles, but it isn't that cruel smirk that you're used to, its one more of admiration. "I guess I deserve this hostility. However, I'd rather you hate me than be weak, though I suppose in some ways you still have a few flaws common to your race…but I can overlook those because I know that they will disappear in time. I just wish you'd recognize and shed those flaws soon, because you may need to do so. As I have said before, I have always tried to help you and I won't stop just because you can't see that or harbor thoughts of ill intent on me. Like you briefly considering listening to those desperate gnome souls. You don't think I don't know how tempted you were to sabotage the ritual just to get a chance to kill me? I could hear everything they said to you." "And I didn't because my main duty was to see this mission done for the Emperor, do you have a point?" "My point is you have so much more potential than you realize. You just fended off a psychic assault by hundreds of souls. Hundreds of vengeful souls feeding off your already strong desires to do me harm and you still resisted. Not many can boast such will power even if they've had superior training by the best teachers. Now your former classmate Kane? He struggles right now with just one miserable wendigo spirit within him and it's half taken him over already." "What are you talking about?" "He's a wendigo now or rather possessed by one. It's a spirit that possesses a living host and usually turns them into a slavering beast that is constantly looking for meat and flesh to quell its everlasting hunger." Well this is a new twist on whatever angle Mistress is attempting to pull. "If that's the case, why hasn't he been going around eating everyone then?" you ask. "Who's saying he hasn't? Wendigo's may have poor impulse control, but they can be cunning when necessary. I imagine he's only managed to hide it so well because he's been associating with the savages and unsophisticated trash in Rask and turned his bloody deeds into the reputation of a ruthless warrior that could be feared and respected. Here? He's overseeing a death factory with a steady supply of meat. Who's going to miss a few dead gnome bodies or living gnomes for that matter? The wendigo probably hasn't completely taken Kane over because it's gotten lazy and happy with its current arrangement." "And of course you're the only one who knows all this." "Perhaps Jacob suspects something amiss, but I guarantee I'm the only one who knows that doesn't fear the thing that wears Kane's skin. The beast knows I can destroy it within a blink and it would rather continue to enjoy its current arrangement." "Hmm, excuse me if I'm having a difficult time believing you. In any case, it doesn't change my own opinions on you, so I'm not sure what you're trying to gain by telling me all this." "Look, believe me, or don't, but I assure you there is no gain in this for me by telling you. I merely used him as an example of how you continue to be superior to your former classmates. (Sigh) Sometimes I wonder if I should've showed you just a little more intimacy during our sessions together. Perhaps then you would've at least known to trust me." Mistress says and tries to touch your hand. Once again you recoil at her advances and step backward. "Do that again and you'll pull back a stump. And the next time you need to banish gnome souls or whatever else you can do it yourself." "Well that's ultimately not really your call now is it? If the Emperor wants you to help me, then you'll have to right? Isn't it a shame that you can't just do what you want, when you want?" Mistress says with one of her more familiar smirks. "There it is. I was waiting for one of your sneering comments." "Sneering comments? But isn't obeying the Emperor what you WANT to do? Aren't you glad to follow his every command because he is as you say infallible? How is my comment a sneering one? It just points out the facts, that's all. Your problem is you think I'm your enemy when I've done nothing but try to help you despite yourself." "Sure, whatever, I'm tired of your fat musings." you say and begin to leave, but Mistress gets in your way. "I see you've still got my dagger. Still can't completely get me out of your mind even though you have your little shield maiden fluff on the side?" "The memories I associate with this dagger are something you should be wary of, lest I share them with you." "Oh? Well why don't you use it right now, if you hate me so much? I gave you a chance to kill me once before and you didn't take it…but it wasn't because you were a coward. It wasn't even because you knew you weren't strong enough to do it. It's because deep down YOU know that you love me and I will ALWAYS be the only woman for you. ALWAYS." Mistress says and with a sudden quickness she grabs your head with both hands and kisses you hard on the lips. And for a split second that twisted part of you enjoys it. Without thinking you nearly begin to put both of your arms around her, then you come back to your senses and push her off of you and draw out the dagger. She backs off. "Ohh, you know how I like foreplay! Come on, stick it in mommy!" Mistress says with excitement. "You…you…you're one fucked up bitch and I'm not playing your game!" You sharply remark and make your way quickly back upstairs. "Remember Eternal, always AND forever! The sooner you learn that, the better off you'll be!" Mistress shouts and begins laughing. As you're storming out of the furnace building everything is a bit of a blur. You know you knock aside a couple of guards pushing big wheeled containers full of bodies, but you don't really notice anything else until you see Kane again outside in the yard bellowing orders. He looks different though, like more bestial. You look again he doesn't even look human anymore. His mouth has become enlarged with several rows of razor teeth and his hands more like claws. The strange thing is nobody else seems to notice this. You walk over closer to him and now he looks more like he did. You feel like you're having a hard time focusing. What the hell is going on? As you begin rubbing your eyes you don't notice Kane walking over to you. "Hey you're still here. I trust your business with Mistress went well?" Kane asks you as you open your eyes and there you see it again. That THING instead of Kane. Between what Mistress told you and this, you justifiably feel threatened. "Get the hell back! I know what you are!" you say and point your dagger at Kane, which was still in your hand. Kane's ogre guards look unsure of what to do, as do other nearby guards, but Kane raises his hands up. "Its okay! Its okay! Nothing to see here, get back to work!" Kane says and then gives a nervous smile, but it isn't a nervous smile to you, it seems more like he's barring his fangs. In fact to you he looks like he might even attack. You don't know what to do exactly. Obviously you're seeing something odd with Kane, why you weren't before is the strange part though. You don't know if you're really in danger here or if Mistress did something to you to make you see this and possibly do something rash. > You kill Kane You don't hesitate. You see and know what needs to be done. Without another word you lunge at Kane who makes no attempt to defend himself and plunge your dagger directly in the center of his chest. "Thank…the Emperor…" he utters and falls to the ground, though when he finally hits, his body twitches, makes snarling sounds and then stops. And that's when the wendigo attacks you. "You are a much stronger vessel anyway. Let me inside and I can make you even stronger." The wendigo voice hisses. "Get out of my fucking head!" you shout and start clutching your head. Under normal circumstances, you probably wouldn't have had as much trouble fending off the possession attack by the wendigo, but not only are you severely drained from your previous ordeal, but you weren't feeling right after it either. To make matters worse a few of the livelier gnomes watching decide to take advantage of the situation and make an escape attempt. "This is our only chance! Get his keys!" one of them shouts and you are suddenly knocked over and half trampled on by several gnome feet when they make their way towards Kane's body. In the middle of the chaos of guards chasing down gnomes and gnomes attempting to flee, you're having a seizure and losing the battle for your mind. Things get worse when Mistress arrives. "(Sigh) Why'd you go and do that for? You got yourself all riled up for no good reason, went and did something foolish and now look at you. Maybe your mind isn't as strong as I thought it was. Well, as much as you deserve it I can't let you masquerade as one of those things." Mistress casts a banishment spell and while that's a great thing to cast on them while they're still hovering about, but when they've managed to already get their hooks in their desired host it tends to have a negative effect on said host and whatever pain you were going through with the wendigo's possession is now five times worse as you now begin to experience the pain the wendigo feels as it is slowly obliterated. After it's all said and done the wendigo is gone along with your mind. While its possible you might be able to live some sort of existence if someone assisted you with things like eating, but you don't live in such a world and you certainly aren't around any such people that would be willing to do that, hell if you could express anything anymore you'd say yourself that you wouldn't want to live any more in this near vegetative state. Fortunately Mistress knows this and puts an end to your life. It's probably the kindest thing she's ever done for you.

You are sorely tempted. You are really sorely tempted. However, there are a couple factors at play that are preventing you from doing so. One, you're dubious about trusting a bunch of gnome souls. It isn't like they still aren't your enemy no matter what form they take or the situation at hand. The enemy of your enemy is still YOUR enemy as far as you're concerned. This could be a trick to get the upper hand on their part. Second and most importantly, this is still a mission for the Emperor. If he wanted you to work with Mistress to send a bunch of gnome souls to oblivion then that's what you're going to do regardless of your personal feelings towards her. You begin to concentrate and try to mentally shut out the voices. Its extremely difficult, in fact you don't actually succeed in doing so, but you do stay focused enough to keep up Mistress' energy. An unearthly howl invades your head as a jet-black orb appears in the center of the room. You feel like its sucking the life out of you and you instinctively start to back away. "NO! Don't move! You'll ruin the spell! It won't be much longer, look its already working!" Mistress shouts and points to the jars, which are now growing dimmer again. You then see one of the wisps completely disappear; followed by another and another, until they all begin fading away. As the souls vanish, the voices begin to get quieter and more desperate sounding as they beg you to stop. Eventually you hear nothing at all and the orb in the room disappears as well. "There, that should do it for a while, until the next batch." Mistress remarks as she wipes her forehead and fixes her hair. "Whew, that was a little more strenuous than I thought it would be, it was very helpful for you to be here. We make a pretty good team…" "Stop. Just stop." You say interrupting. "Stop what?" Mistress asks as if she doesn't know what you're talking about. "You know damn well what. I told you that this attempt to be pleasant isn't going to work and its totally transparent." Mistress smiles, but it isn't that cruel smirk that you're used to, its one more of admiration. "I guess I deserve this hostility. However, I'd rather you hate me than be weak, though I suppose in some ways you still have a few flaws common to your race…but I can overlook those because I know that they will disappear in time. I just wish you'd recognize and shed those flaws soon, because you may need to do so. As I have said before, I have always tried to help you and I won't stop just because you can't see that or harbor thoughts of ill intent on me. Like you briefly considering listening to those desperate gnome souls. You don't think I don't know how tempted you were to sabotage the ritual just to get a chance to kill me? I could hear everything they said to you." "And I didn't because my main duty was to see this mission done for the Emperor, do you have a point?" "My point is you have so much more potential than you realize. You just fended off a psychic assault by hundreds of souls. Hundreds of vengeful souls feeding off your already strong desires to do me harm and you still resisted. Not many can boast such will power even if they've had superior training by the best teachers. Now your former classmate Kane? He struggles right now with just one miserable wendigo spirit within him and it's half taken him over already." "What are you talking about?" "He's a wendigo now or rather possessed by one. It's a spirit that possesses a living host and usually turns them into a slavering beast that is constantly looking for meat and flesh to quell its everlasting hunger." Well this is a new twist on whatever angle Mistress is attempting to pull. "If that's the case, why hasn't he been going around eating everyone then?" you ask. "Who's saying he hasn't? Wendigo's may have poor impulse control, but they can be cunning when necessary. I imagine he's only managed to hide it so well because he's been associating with the savages and unsophisticated trash in Rask and turned his bloody deeds into the reputation of a ruthless warrior that could be feared and respected. Here? He's overseeing a death factory with a steady supply of meat. Who's going to miss a few dead gnome bodies or living gnomes for that matter? The wendigo probably hasn't completely taken Kane over because it's gotten lazy and happy with its current arrangement." "And of course you're the only one who knows all this." "Perhaps Jacob suspects something amiss, but I guarantee I'm the only one who knows that doesn't fear the thing that wears Kane's skin. The beast knows I can destroy it within a blink and it would rather continue to enjoy its current arrangement." "Hmm, excuse me if I'm having a difficult time believing you. In any case, it doesn't change my own opinions on you, so I'm not sure what you're trying to gain by telling me all this." "Look, believe me, or don't, but I assure you there is no gain in this for me by telling you. I merely used him as an example of how you continue to be superior to your former classmates. (Sigh) Sometimes I wonder if I should've showed you just a little more intimacy during our sessions together. Perhaps then you would've at least known to trust me." Mistress says and tries to touch your hand. Once again you recoil at her advances and step backward. "Do that again and you'll pull back a stump. And the next time you need to banish gnome souls or whatever else you can do it yourself." "Well that's ultimately not really your call now is it? If the Emperor wants you to help me, then you'll have to right? Isn't it a shame that you can't just do what you want, when you want?" Mistress says with one of her more familiar smirks. "There it is. I was waiting for one of your sneering comments." "Sneering comments? But isn't obeying the Emperor what you WANT to do? Aren't you glad to follow his every command because he is as you say infallible? How is my comment a sneering one? It just points out the facts, that's all. Your problem is you think I'm your enemy when I've done nothing but try to help you despite yourself." "Sure, whatever, I'm tired of your fat musings." you say and begin to leave, but Mistress gets in your way. "I see you've still got my dagger. Still can't completely get me out of your mind even though you have your little shield maiden fluff on the side?" "The memories I associate with this dagger are something you should be wary of, lest I share them with you." "Oh? Well why don't you use it right now, if you hate me so much? I gave you a chance to kill me once before and you didn't take it…but it wasn't because you were a coward. It wasn't even because you knew you weren't strong enough to do it. It's because deep down YOU know that you love me and I will ALWAYS be the only woman for you. ALWAYS." Mistress says and with a sudden quickness she grabs your head with both hands and kisses you hard on the lips. And for a split second that twisted part of you enjoys it. Without thinking you nearly begin to put both of your arms around her, then you come back to your senses and push her off of you and draw out the dagger. She backs off. "Ohh, you know how I like foreplay! Come on, stick it in mommy!" Mistress says with excitement. "You…you…you're one fucked up bitch and I'm not playing your game!" You sharply remark and make your way quickly back upstairs. "Remember Eternal, always AND forever! The sooner you learn that, the better off you'll be!" Mistress shouts and begins laughing. As you're storming out of the furnace building everything is a bit of a blur. You know you knock aside a couple of guards pushing big wheeled containers full of bodies, but you don't really notice anything else until you see Kane again outside in the yard bellowing orders. He looks different though, like more bestial. You look again he doesn't even look human anymore. His mouth has become enlarged with several rows of razor teeth and his hands more like claws. The strange thing is nobody else seems to notice this. You walk over closer to him and now he looks more like he did. You feel like you're having a hard time focusing. What the hell is going on? As you begin rubbing your eyes you don't notice Kane walking over to you. "Hey you're still here. I trust your business with Mistress went well?" Kane asks you as you open your eyes and there you see it again. That THING instead of Kane. Between what Mistress told you and this, you justifiably feel threatened. "Get the hell back! I know what you are!" you say and point your dagger at Kane, which was still in your hand. Kane's ogre guards look unsure of what to do, as do other nearby guards, but Kane raises his hands up. "Its okay! Its okay! Nothing to see here, get back to work!" Kane says and then gives a nervous smile, but it isn't a nervous smile to you, it seems more like he's barring his fangs. In fact to you he looks like he might even attack. You don't know what to do exactly. Obviously you're seeing something odd with Kane, why you weren't before is the strange part though. You don't know if you're really in danger here or if Mistress did something to you to make you see this and possibly do something rash. > You leave Kane isn't making any move against you and you aren't going to kill him based on suspicion especially with all the weirdness going on here in general. The best thing you feel you can do is just get the hell out of here. As you order the gates to be opened you continue to keep an eye on Kane and he does the same to you. You aren't seeing the monstrous traits like you were anymore which makes you believe that Mistress did do something to you. Possibly when she kissed you. Then as you begin to leave, Kane calls out to you. "Are you going to tell the Emperor?" You turn around and face Kane who now isn't even looking you in the eye. In fact you'd say he even looks ashamed. The funny thing is Kane just gave himself away, though maybe he wanted to. Since you aren't exactly sure what the situation is except what Mistress has told you, you ask Kane a simple question. "Are you still loyal to the Emperor?" "Yes." Kane says looking up, straightening himself a little and making a major effort to look you in the eye. "Then he already knows, otherwise I would've been sent here to kill you." Kane nods and begins to form disjointed sentences. You imagine he's probably going to try to explain his side of things, but quite frankly after the day you've had here, you don't care. "I don't need to know how it happened. I don't need to know why it happened. I am not your judge. Just continue to serve the Empire and the Emperor with distinction and loyally as you have been. However the moment that thing inside you takes over completely, the moment you stop doing your duty, the moment you are considered a dangerous liability to the Empire… I will be your executioner. Remember this." "I will." Kane says. Kane steps forward and raises his hand in a salute. You return the salute, which seems to make Kane happy. You get back on your horse and ride away eager to put as much distance between you and Gnome's Home as fast as possible. When you arrive back at your own war camp, your two main commanders Captain Ackerson and Battlemage Galen are arguing over the battle plans as usual. They're competent men its just too bad that they can't get along if you aren't around to bang their heads together. You learned very quickly why Roldan was quick to shove them on to you. "Sir, I'm glad you're back, I have tried to reason with this hedge wizard, but the man is being an unreasonable asshole. He doesn't see that sending in our remaining golems on a suicidal run on Fort Tinker will result in a much quicker collapse of its walls and allow the rest of the troops to just pour in and overrun the place. The quicker we take this fort the quicker we can march on the capital." Captain Ackerson says. "And do you realize the waste you're suggesting? What if we need those golems for our assault on the capital? You think golems are easy to make? No of course you don't because you're a muscle bound moron who just thinks brute strength and numbers are going to win the day!" Galen remarks. You're in no mood. "Will both of you idiots shut the fuck up, I'm sick of your petty arguing! Look, use half of the golems to bring down one of the walls and back them up with a couple cannon units. The golems will probably be destroyed and those cannon crews are probably going to get hammered by whatever new gnome invention the Felkans have, but it should be enough. Or come up with something else, I don't give a shit right now, just get it the fuck done and don't bother me again until you've made more progress!" you yell and leave the war tent to make your way to your own private tent. As soon as you open your tent, you have another unexpected encounter in your long line of unexpected encounters lately, however this one is much more pleasant. "Alison? What're you doing here?" "I figured I'd surprise you. The eastern front has been pretty quiet ever since we destroyed the majority of the gnoll horde you know. It's not like I can't sneak away every once in a while. I was actually surprised when I got here that you weren't around, so where did you sneak off to?" "Orders from the Emperor. Special mission. It was…ugh…it's done and I really don't want to talk about it right now, I'm just glad to see you. You're a welcome sight right now." "Aren't I always?" Alison remarks with a smile. You and Alison speak a bit, but you both know not to waste an opportunity like this and the pair of you get to doing what lovers normally do. It's a good feeling, but its not just the sex (though that's certainly good too) its just the fact that you still can't believe someone can make you feel this way. You wouldn't admit to this openly, but sometimes when you're with Alison you feel a bond there that might even rival your bond with the Emperor. There have even been times you've briefly worried if there will come a day where you'd have to outright choose between the Emperor or Alison. The concern though isn't that you'd have to do it, your concern is that there is the possibility that if it came down to it, you might choose Alison. You try to dismiss such thoughts however, after all when is a situation like that ever going to occur? Better to focus on the pleasant present rather than the possible grim future. As the pair of you lies together, Alison starts to drift off in your arms and says something a little strange. "Thank you." "Thank you? For what exactly? The orgasm?" "For this night. I just feel so loved right now. And I love you too. You do know that don't you?" Alison asks looking into your eyes. "Of course I know that, I love you too." "Just laying here with you makes me feel so safe." Alison remarks and cuddles into you even more. "I suppose, but I'd hardly think you'd need me to protect you when you're more than capable of doing it yourself. Is there something wrong? You don't normally talk like this." "Nothing's wrong. I guess I just felt a little girly there for a moment. Still, it's nice to hear you say it to me and it's nice to know this side of you." Alison says and begins to drift off. You briefly wonder if you lived a "normal" married life, most of your nights would be like this. Lying in bed holding your significant other. Getting up in the morning to do your mundane peasant job. Would you also have children? That's something you've never even considered, though given your several intimate encounters with Alison you're a little surprised you haven't gotten into possible baby complications. Perhaps you've just been lucky, or maybe she's been taking Stillness potions bought from Empire alchemists. Of course she might just be barren, or maybe you're sterile. abort Whatever the case she's never brought up the subject and you certainly don't intend to since it isn't a priority and as far as you're concerned, never will be. With these final thoughts you join Alison in sleep. Hours pass and you are awakened by the sounds of cannons and warfare in the distance. "Ugh, I guess they've started…(Yawn) I suppose I better get up and see what's going on before Galen and Ackerson start arguing over how to best execute the survivors. Hey did you need to…" you say and then realize that Alison is no longer laying anywhere next to you. She's not even in the tent. What you do see is a piece of parchment nearby. You pick it up and you feel something is wrong as soon as you do. Your first thoughts are perhaps it is some sort of "break up" letter. You have heard of such things occurring with soldiers that have been far away from their wives or husbands sometimes. Perhaps Alison sees the futility in your current arrangement since you have such a significant duty to the Emperor and doesn't want you to have to "choose". However, after you read the words on it you WISH it were a break up letter. The words merely say: Always and forever. Remember this. Your heart sinks. You just slept with Mistress. She must've magically disguised herself as Alison. You don't even know how to react. Your normally reserved emotions are all over the place. You feel a little sick, you definitely feel rage, but more at yourself for not being observant and falling for Mistress' tricks once again. You end up nearly destroying everything in your tent in rage screaming incoherent obscenities not giving a damn about what the soldiers or officers walking by might be wondering what's going on. In fact it's a good thing none of them pop their head to investigate since you're so angry you might've killed them. After you're spent, you fall to your knees feeling defeated. "I'm sorry Alison…I'm sorry…" you say over and over again in between catching your breath and looking at your portrait of her. And worst part of all this, is you still enjoyed your night with Mistress. Even if it really wasn't your fault, you briefly wish you hadn't allowed yourself to grow so attached to Alison so this wasn't even an issue. You should've just been concentrating on your duty to the Emperor and now you're paying the price for not staying focused. You're focused now though. With the battle of Fort Tinker already in full swing, you make your way into the war torn fort and unleash the rest of your renewed energy there. Your enemies suffer greatly that day. By the time its all over you feel slightly better even though you know you'll probably still have to deal with Mistress' shit later. Until then though there are important tasks still at hand and the major one being that the Felkan Kingdom needs to be destroyed and you intend to see that through. > Year 30 The day has come at last, the Felkan capital; Dessel has been broken wide open. Its defenses have been shattered and all that's left now is to scoop out the soft underbelly within. "How long do you think they'll hold out?" Roldan asks. "A few more hours, perhaps even a day. No more I suspect. I have to admit that I thought the remaining Felkan ruling class would've surrendered long before now, let alone fight to the bitter end. I suppose they were still carrying out the will of their gnomish masters even though most of them are dead or soon will be." You remark. "I know they had a lot of influence and were responsible for the technological inventions along with running the merchant guilds, but do you really believe the Felkan Kingdom was run by gnomes?" "Of course. Its what the Emperor believed and ultimately that's been the purpose of this whole war, to eliminate the gnome threat. Happily with this final nail in the coffin, that's been accomplished." "You know some of them probably escaped long before the war started going badly for the Felkans." "Perhaps, but I'm sure in time they will be found. The Emperor's domain has already been extended much within the past few years alone, I'm sure eventually it will cover the entire world and in the long run all those that oppose the Emperor will be brought to justice. Either by me, or by someone else loyal to his service." "Well, until such time I'm just wondering where I'll be assigned after all this. Personally I'm hoping to get a little free time so I can see my wife Brenda again. It's been so long and I miss her. I'm sure you feel something similar about Alison." You pause for a moment before speaking. "I will go where my duty takes me after this assignment. Alison understands that, she is a military woman after all." You remark. "Well of course, but I was just stating that it would be nice to take a break from duty for a moment to enjoy the company of someone you care about." "We're Eternals Roldan. So is Brenda for that matter. Our existence is duty. You would do well to remember that." "I am aware of it! I was just…oh forget it." Says and walks away from you. You and Roldan have been a little less cordial to each other lately, then again the two of you never have quite "clicked" with each other for some reason. Actually there are probably several reasons on your side as well as his, but you aren't going to waste your time pondering them since you are both able to work together in a professional manner and never engaged in anything other than the low level disagreements. As long as the respect is still there between you two, why bother analyzing it? Besides this mission is nearly over now anyway. You're fairly certain you'll be reassigned somewhere else. You do wonder if you'll get some down time as Roldan mentioned though. If you do, you're more than likely going to try to spend some of it with Alison, though you've still been going back and forth on how well that's going to go when you tell her what happened two years ago. You certainly couldn't tell her something like that in a letter and from what letters you've received from her she still doesn't know. Mistress probably wouldn't tell her to stir up chaos because it would be more fun letting you worry about it for all this time. You're just glad you never had to help assist Mistress at Gnome's Home again, though now you're even wondering if that was ever a real order from the Emperor when it did occur. You haven't spoken to the Emperor directly or even indirectly in quite some time either. That's actually been a little concerning to you as well. Still, you figure you soon will be when this is all over and the Felkans have finally been crushed once and for all. You watch the capital smoke and burn in the distance. Occasionally a small explosion causes pieces of the already breached wall fly into several directions. "Well I'm not going to miss out on all the fun, before it's over." You say to yourself and head towards the city. As it turns out you don't miss much. The city's defenders consist of mostly children and elders at this point. They don't provide too much resistance now that they have no walls to hide behind. The royal guard is still around but quick work is made of them. As for the royals themselves most of them took the coward's way out. You find several of them lying dead at their lavish dinner table with several knocked over empty wine cups. Upon further searching you find what you guess to be the royal bedroom and who you guess to be the Felkan king and queen lying dead in the bed. They must've taken the same poison since you see the same cups near the bodies. As you study the pair of them and how they are holding hands in death, you notice a crib in the corner of the room. While you're inspecting this, Warrick walks in. "Oh there you are. We've found that some of these rooms lead to a system of secret passages. We've already started to explore them, but we haven't found anyone yet. I don't even think they lead outside the city, just to other portions of the palace. Looks like we won." Warrick remarks. "Looks that way. Sort of a disappointing climax given how the Felkans insisted on dragging this out. Continue your search though; someone still might be hiding in them. You find any gnomes?" "No and I don't believe there are any in city either. At least no reports have popped up about any." "Guess we got all of them then. The Emperor will be pleased to hear that. Carry on." For the next few days you observe the destruction of Dessel. Roldan remarks that the city shouldn't be destroyed, but rather appropriated by the Empire as it wouldn't take much to rebuild the damage and would be easier than building a brand new city here. Orders are orders though. While the Emperor might've relaxed his zeal on burning every Felkan city to the ground, he was still pretty clear about the capital. You imagine he sees it as the last symbol of gnomish defiance. In the middle of this process Jacob unexpectedly visits you. "Didn't expect to see you here." You remark while sharpening your weapon. "Well the Emperor wants to see you, plus I also have to speak with Roldan and Warrick about their next assignments, so I figured I might as well come here in person." Jacob says looking around at the destruction. "So, it's finally done. The Felkan Kingdom is no more. I have to admit, I was worried about this war on more than one occasion." "You don't need to tell me, you told me on more than one occasion. You should've had more faith in the Emperor, he knew its destruction was inevitable." "Well, thanks in part to your actions no doubt." Jacob says with a brief smile. "I am merely the weapon which does the job. If you're looking for Roldan, he's in the large tent on that small hill over to the east. Warrick's probably with him. I need to get going if the Emperor wishes to see me…is Mistress going to be there?" "I don't believe so." "Good, don't really need the negativity ruining this moment." You remark and begin to leave. "Um…there's something else I need to talk to you about before you leave." Jacob says hesitantly. "What?" "It's about the Emperor, he's uh…well…" "He's what?! What is he?! Jacob, just spit it out." "He's sick." "What? Sick? That's ridiculous! I've never known him to ever show illness." "I know it may seem hard to believe, but I'm telling you last time I spoke with him, he didn't look well. He seemed very tired and just really pale." "He runs the Empire! Of course there's going to be times he's going to be tired! It has to be taxing keeping track of everything. As for being pale, he doesn't exactly go skipping about in the sunlight you know." "I know all that. Look, just when you see him you'll know what I'm talking about. I mean I'm sure the Emperor will live a very long time, but we should prepare…um…just in case…" "Just in case what Jacob?" you ask beginning to get angry at the insinuation that the Emperor may die. Jacob sensing he's overstepped a boundary quickly shuts up. "Erm…nevermind. Forget I said anything. I'm worrying too much as usual…but still…(sigh) forget it. I'll let you get on your way." You shake your head and begin to leave again, when Jacob once again stops you. "Oh one more thing. Before you go see the Emperor, you're supposed to make a visit to Gnome's Home first." "Are you fucking kidding me? Aren't all the gnomes there dead by now?" "Maybe, I dunno. Something to do with souls I think. I never did know exactly what went on there, and I don't really think I want to know. All I do know is you're supposed to assist." "Assist who? Mistress? I already assisted her once there and let's just say what transpired wasn't pleasant. She hasn't needed my assistance for the past two years since that time, why does she need it now all of a sudden? Fuck that, I'm not helping her anytime soon. In fact if I saw her again, I'd probably kill the bitch after what happened last time!" Jacob begins to step back from you. "Easy now, I'm just the messenger here. I don't even know if she's there. It's what the Emperor told me to tell you. I mean if you don't want to do it, I suggest you take it up with him personally." At this point you might just do that. Nobody can question your loyalty or your dedication to the Emperor, but this request…its just asking too much. You thought he spoke with her about leaving you alone and she's already ignored that. How long must you put up with this svelk bitch? > You head to Gnome's Home An order from the Emperor is an order from the Emperor no matter what. If you have to go to Gnome's Home, then you have to go. If you have to assist Mistress then that's what you'll have to do. Doesn't mean you have to like it though. You get on your horse and make your way to Gnome's Home. On your way you think about how you're going to handle the situation if you have to assist Mistress. Then you realize that the time has come. You're going to kill the bitch. This has been a long time coming anyway. You aren't sure if you're just going to attack her if you see her or if you'll do something a little more subtle, but one thing is certain, she's going to be dead by the time you leave that gnome murder factory. When you arrive at Gnome's Home the outside looks about the same the last time you were here and when you're let inside the gates, it smells about the same as well. Probably even a little bit worse. You step inside and see a lot less living gnomes and lot more dead ones. A few pathetic examples lay half dead outside their dwellings covered in their own filth. Whatever attempts at keeping this place slightly clean have long since stopped. The entire place is disgusting and you feel like you're going to catch something just standing here. "Hey, I heard you were coming, welcome back!" you hear a voice shout. It's Kane. He's a bit unkept and wild looking, but still friendly. You notice he doesn't have his ogre friends with him any more. "Hello Kane. You're looking…well." "Thanks. I've been feeling well. Been keeping very busy what with all the gnome killing and all. As you can see, we're almost finished. Figured we'd speed up the process by cutting back on the clean up portion, I mean this whole place is going to be shut down after we kill 'em all anyway. I'll be sort of sad to see it go, but nothing lasts forever right?" "Right, so my assignment was to assist in something?" "Oh yes, sorry. I don't get to talk to many people nowadays. Anyway Mistress is waiting for you down in the soul obliteration chamber. I'm not actually sure if that's what it's called, but given what happens there, seems as good a name as any." You thank Kane and make your way to where Mistress is located. Along the way you see the usual piles of bodies being tossed into the large furnaces by bored guards. When you get down to the chamber you see that Mistress is already in the process of preparation. You see more jars containing souls than you did last time and that gives you the idea of how to kill her. "Hey lover, you're here right on time." She remarks. "Yeah, let's just get this over with." You say. "Well, I'm certainly glad you didn't feel that way during our last encounter." "You tricked me during that last encounter!" "True, but didn't it feel so good? Besides its not like anyone knows so what's the harm?" "You know what? I'm tired of fighting it, maybe you're right." You answer. Mistress is a bit surprised to hear you say that. "Er…of course I am! I've always had your best interest in mind. That's what I've always been telling you." "And I think I finally realize it after all these years. I mean you were the one who practically taught me everything I know. Who would know better for me than you?" you say and walk over to Mistress. You grab Mistress around the waist and give her a passionate kiss. All part of the act of course and part of you hates it, but the other part is definitely getting excited. Afterwards Mistress looks at you with a glee that you've only really seen when she's torturing someone. (Which was usually you). "Okay, down boy, we've still got business to take care of here. Glad to see you're finally seeing things how they really are though. After this bit of business perhaps we can talk more about the future. Our future." "Looking forward to it." You say and slap her on her ass before taking your position on the circle line. Mistress goes on to tell you that the process will be just like before, but will require even more focus than last time. She says one of the reasons why she wanted your help this time (Other than wanting to see you again) was because she wants to dispose of more gnome souls than usual. She says that while she enjoyed the torture, suffering and extermination of an entire race she absolutely hates the smell and general dirtiness of the place and the sooner she's out of here the better. Your plan is simple. You're going to sabotage the ritual. You're fairly certain the gnome souls will try to convince you to do it like they did last time anyway. Mistress begins chanting and soon the spell begins to take effect. You begin to hear the whispers of gnome souls in your head. More than last time and saying the exact same thing. "Break the circle! Save us! Kill the svelk! Save us from oblivion!" you hear and you begin to do just that and stop focusing your energy towards Mistress. She of course realizes what you're doing, but doesn't say anything, instead she just shuts her eyes as if to concentrate harder. You decide a blade through her body should really take her off her game plan, since she's either going to have to stop you which will expose her mind to the vengeful souls or not stop you and get stabbed which will have the same effect. You draw your sword and then suddenly your own mind shield is completely shattered and multiple souls assault your mind. The pain is excruciating and you collapse on the floor and begin convulsing. "Did you really think I couldn't see through your charade?" Mistress shouts as your mind continues to be destroyed by the gnome souls. You don't know why they're not attacking Mistress, but you see why they're attacking you. You aren't innocent in all this as far as they're concerned. Your involvement in the Felkan campaign has probably resulted in most of the gnomes being rounded up and sent to Gnome's Home in the first place. For the first time you not only see the horror that has been this place, but you also experience all of it. Your mind can't take it and neither can your body which begins to lose all control of its functions. You're leaking all manner of bodily fluids out every possible place you could be leaking from. Eventually you're nothing more than an empty shell, but not quite dead. The souls have stopped attacking and Mistress stands over you. "I really had hoped you were serious, but I just couldn't take that chance. I reinforced my own mental shield and cast a repulsion spell. Of course the souls have now completely escaped annihilation, but what the hell, that's the Emperor's obsession not mine." You continue to stare upward and slack jaw in a comatose state. "(Sigh) I suppose the malicious svelk thing to do, would be to continue to keep you alive in this state for a little while longer, but I think you're probably too far gone for me to even get any enjoyment out of that. Besides, even I couldn't do that to you. I'm just a fool for love I guess." Mistress kneels down and takes her dagger that she gave you a long time ago and holds it to your throat. "Well at least I got to kiss you one last time." She says and ends what remains of your life.

Year 30 The day has come at last, the Felkan capital; Dessel has been broken wide open. Its defenses have been shattered and all that's left now is to scoop out the soft underbelly within. "How long do you think they'll hold out?" Roldan asks. "A few more hours, perhaps even a day. No more I suspect. I have to admit that I thought the remaining Felkan ruling class would've surrendered long before now, let alone fight to the bitter end. I suppose they were still carrying out the will of their gnomish masters even though most of them are dead or soon will be." You remark. "I know they had a lot of influence and were responsible for the technological inventions along with running the merchant guilds, but do you really believe the Felkan Kingdom was run by gnomes?" "Of course. Its what the Emperor believed and ultimately that's been the purpose of this whole war, to eliminate the gnome threat. Happily with this final nail in the coffin, that's been accomplished." "You know some of them probably escaped long before the war started going badly for the Felkans." "Perhaps, but I'm sure in time they will be found. The Emperor's domain has already been extended much within the past few years alone, I'm sure eventually it will cover the entire world and in the long run all those that oppose the Emperor will be brought to justice. Either by me, or by someone else loyal to his service." "Well, until such time I'm just wondering where I'll be assigned after all this. Personally I'm hoping to get a little free time so I can see my wife Brenda again. It's been so long and I miss her. I'm sure you feel something similar about Alison." You pause for a moment before speaking. "I will go where my duty takes me after this assignment. Alison understands that, she is a military woman after all." You remark. "Well of course, but I was just stating that it would be nice to take a break from duty for a moment to enjoy the company of someone you care about." "We're Eternals Roldan. So is Brenda for that matter. Our existence is duty. You would do well to remember that." "I am aware of it! I was just…oh forget it." Says and walks away from you. You and Roldan have been a little less cordial to each other lately, then again the two of you never have quite "clicked" with each other for some reason. Actually there are probably several reasons on your side as well as his, but you aren't going to waste your time pondering them since you are both able to work together in a professional manner and never engaged in anything other than the low level disagreements. As long as the respect is still there between you two, why bother analyzing it? Besides this mission is nearly over now anyway. You're fairly certain you'll be reassigned somewhere else. You do wonder if you'll get some down time as Roldan mentioned though. If you do, you're more than likely going to try to spend some of it with Alison, though you've still been going back and forth on how well that's going to go when you tell her what happened two years ago. You certainly couldn't tell her something like that in a letter and from what letters you've received from her she still doesn't know. Mistress probably wouldn't tell her to stir up chaos because it would be more fun letting you worry about it for all this time. You're just glad you never had to help assist Mistress at Gnome's Home again, though now you're even wondering if that was ever a real order from the Emperor when it did occur. You haven't spoken to the Emperor directly or even indirectly in quite some time either. That's actually been a little concerning to you as well. Still, you figure you soon will be when this is all over and the Felkans have finally been crushed once and for all. You watch the capital smoke and burn in the distance. Occasionally a small explosion causes pieces of the already breached wall fly into several directions. "Well I'm not going to miss out on all the fun, before it's over." You say to yourself and head towards the city. As it turns out you don't miss much. The city's defenders consist of mostly children and elders at this point. They don't provide too much resistance now that they have no walls to hide behind. The royal guard is still around but quick work is made of them. As for the royals themselves most of them took the coward's way out. You find several of them lying dead at their lavish dinner table with several knocked over empty wine cups. Upon further searching you find what you guess to be the royal bedroom and who you guess to be the Felkan king and queen lying dead in the bed. They must've taken the same poison since you see the same cups near the bodies. As you study the pair of them and how they are holding hands in death, you notice a crib in the corner of the room. While you're inspecting this, Warrick walks in. "Oh there you are. We've found that some of these rooms lead to a system of secret passages. We've already started to explore them, but we haven't found anyone yet. I don't even think they lead outside the city, just to other portions of the palace. Looks like we won." Warrick remarks. "Looks that way. Sort of a disappointing climax given how the Felkans insisted on dragging this out. Continue your search though; someone still might be hiding in them. You find any gnomes?" "No and I don't believe there are any in city either. At least no reports have popped up about any." "Guess we got all of them then. The Emperor will be pleased to hear that. Carry on." For the next few days you observe the destruction of Dessel. Roldan remarks that the city shouldn't be destroyed, but rather appropriated by the Empire as it wouldn't take much to rebuild the damage and would be easier than building a brand new city here. Orders are orders though. While the Emperor might've relaxed his zeal on burning every Felkan city to the ground, he was still pretty clear about the capital. You imagine he sees it as the last symbol of gnomish defiance. In the middle of this process Jacob unexpectedly visits you. "Didn't expect to see you here." You remark while sharpening your weapon. "Well the Emperor wants to see you, plus I also have to speak with Roldan and Warrick about their next assignments, so I figured I might as well come here in person." Jacob says looking around at the destruction. "So, it's finally done. The Felkan Kingdom is no more. I have to admit, I was worried about this war on more than one occasion." "You don't need to tell me, you told me on more than one occasion. You should've had more faith in the Emperor, he knew its destruction was inevitable." "Well, thanks in part to your actions no doubt." Jacob says with a brief smile. "I am merely the weapon which does the job. If you're looking for Roldan, he's in the large tent on that small hill over to the east. Warrick's probably with him. I need to get going if the Emperor wishes to see me…is Mistress going to be there?" "I don't believe so." "Good, don't really need the negativity ruining this moment." You remark and begin to leave. "Um…there's something else I need to talk to you about before you leave." Jacob says hesitantly. "What?" "It's about the Emperor, he's uh…well…" "He's what?! What is he?! Jacob, just spit it out." "He's sick." "What? Sick? That's ridiculous! I've never known him to ever show illness." "I know it may seem hard to believe, but I'm telling you last time I spoke with him, he didn't look well. He seemed very tired and just really pale." "He runs the Empire! Of course there's going to be times he's going to be tired! It has to be taxing keeping track of everything. As for being pale, he doesn't exactly go skipping about in the sunlight you know." "I know all that. Look, just when you see him you'll know what I'm talking about. I mean I'm sure the Emperor will live a very long time, but we should prepare…um…just in case…" "Just in case what Jacob?" you ask beginning to get angry at the insinuation that the Emperor may die. Jacob sensing he's overstepped a boundary quickly shuts up. "Erm…nevermind. Forget I said anything. I'm worrying too much as usual…but still…(sigh) forget it. I'll let you get on your way." You shake your head and begin to leave again, when Jacob once again stops you. "Oh one more thing. Before you go see the Emperor, you're supposed to make a visit to Gnome's Home first." "Are you fucking kidding me? Aren't all the gnomes there dead by now?" "Maybe, I dunno. Something to do with souls I think. I never did know exactly what went on there, and I don't really think I want to know. All I do know is you're supposed to assist." "Assist who? Mistress? I already assisted her once there and let's just say what transpired wasn't pleasant. She hasn't needed my assistance for the past two years since that time, why does she need it now all of a sudden? Fuck that, I'm not helping her anytime soon. In fact if I saw her again, I'd probably kill the bitch after what happened last time!" Jacob begins to step back from you. "Easy now, I'm just the messenger here. I don't even know if she's there. It's what the Emperor told me to tell you. I mean if you don't want to do it, I suggest you take it up with him personally." At this point you might just do that. Nobody can question your loyalty or your dedication to the Emperor, but this request…its just asking too much. You thought he spoke with her about leaving you alone and she's already ignored that. How long must you put up with this svelk bitch? > You go directly to the Emperor You get on your horse and make your way to the Empire capital. You're not doing it, plain and simple. The Emperor can deal with you as he sees fit, but you are not going to help Mistress for any reason. You made the attempt and it resulted in trickery again. Besides, why the hell should you follow every little menial task? You've been instrumental in keeping the damn Empire together; you shouldn't be subjugated to such indignities! Jacob just told you the Emperor is sick, well he better watch it if he wants to stick around long enough to get better. You can't believe you just thought such a thing. What the hell is wrong with you? The thoughts and acts of disobedience are bad enough, but to actually consider… You can't even think it again. Something must be seriously wrong with your mind. Maybe Mistress did something more to you. Maybe she did some sort of magic spell to your head to make you harbor thoughts of dissension. At least you hope that's case, because if she didn't then you'd have to come to grips that you thought about killing the Emperor all on your own. Whatever the reason, you'll be keeping that one to yourself. When you get to the Emperor's chambers you hear him call for you immediately. Some coughing immediately follows his voice. You've definitely never heard him do that before "There you are my son, I'm glad to see you. It's been so long since we've talked face to face." He says as he sits hunched over a desk. He almost looks like he's struggling to prop himself up. Maybe he is as sick as Jacob says. He's as pale as Jacob said and his eyes are starting to have a sunken in looking appearance. What used to look like a man in his fifties now looks more like a man in his seventies. In fact he almost looks a bit more like how you thought he was going to when you first met him. You know he's powerful. Certainly more powerful than you, but he looks so much frailer now. It makes you ashamed that you had thoughts about killing him; especially after all he's done for you. "Emperor! I was told you were sick, but I didn't believe it! How?" "Sick? (Cough cough) Well I suppose that's one way of putting it. I'm guessing Jacob told you I was practically on my death bed or something. He still worries too much and you shouldn't either. I'm not sick, I'm…well its complicated, but suffice to say, I'm not dying anytime soon. Trust me on that one. Now I'd (Cough cough) like a report on the Felkans. Have we finally destroyed them once and for all?" "Yes, the capital has been taken and is in the process of being destroyed. The battle mages will be casting defilement spells to make sure nothing ever grows there again. The ruling royals from what we can tell all committed mass suicide." "Figures. But as long as everyone's dead, it's still good. So what about gnomes? Any in the capital?" "None. I can only guess we got all of them at Gnome's Home." "One can (cough cough) only hope. So have they all been sentenced to oblivion yet?" "I don't know, I haven't been Gnome's Home." "You haven't? I thought you got here pretty quickly. Surely Jacob told you that I wanted you to go there." "Yes, he told me I was to go there to assist and I know that could only mean assisting Mistress with the destruction of gnome souls. It was with great regret that I disobeyed this order, but I simply cannot help that woman again, if ever. The last time I made the attempt was two years ago when I was assisting her at Gnome's Home and there was some…unpleasantness." "Was there now? I hadn't heard about this and I spoke to her about leaving you alone, as you well know. So what exactly happened? She try to kill you?" "No, she (sigh) made unwanted advances on me. I turned her down, and later when I went back to my camp she magically disguised herself as Alison and slept with me that way. I of course didn't now until afterwards." ""Is that all? Here I was thinking it was something serious." the Emperor replies in a bored tone followed by more coughing. "However, I can see that this is something that was very serious to you so I will of course dismiss your transgression of not following orders…again. In the future I will also make sure that you and her are never to work together under any circumstances. I guess my attempt at being peacemaker didn't work out. (cough cough) Doesn't matter anyway, but tell me what are you exactly mad concerning that situation that occurred? I get the impression it's more than just Mistress fucking with you as usual." He's right. The fact that Mistress tricked you isn't what bothered you the most; it's the fact that you unwittingly betrayed Alison. The fact that Mistress cloaked herself as someone you have feelings for…no someone you LOVE to trick you just made it all the worse. You tell the Emperor as much, he nods in between another coughing fit. "So, you do love this Alison girl then? It's not just lust or perhaps a fleeting fancy. You actually love her?" the Emperor asks. "I do." "And this girl, she feels the same way?" "I believe she does." "Hmm, you better be sure son." "Yes, I know she does." "I see… well do you want some advice?" "From you, of course." " (cough cough) Shit. (cough) Okay, here it is then, you'll save yourself some pain if you end this relationship altogether. Now just listen. I know you're an intelligent person and an excellent strategist in the matters of war, but on the matters of love you're…and I don't mean this as an insult…but you're a little inexperienced. It's okay though, even after several centuries I still haven't figured it all out yet. But I still know more than you and I'm telling you that you'll be better off not getting deeply involved with such things. Why do you think I've never had an Empress by my side? It complicates things to a whole new level and that's complications YOU don't need." You're speechless for a moment. You can't think of anything to say except… "Is this an order?" "An order? No, I'd never give such an order concerning matters of the heart; it is merely advice. You may do as you wish. In fact you may do as you wish for quite some time. I'm giving you some down time in light of our glorious victory over the Felkans. We'll of course be having some celebrations going on here in the capital so if you get the chance you should probably (cough cough) join in the (cough cough) festivities. When you're needed to return to duty, I'll send for you as usual. I also want you to know, I'm proud of you son and for all you've done for the Empire and know you'll continue to serve the Empire loyally (cough cough) and with dedication in the future." The Emperor at this point slowly gets up and heads off towards his bedroom area coughing the whole time. You almost ask him if he needs help, but you'd rather not insult him. Besides you're too busy pondering his advice to you about Alison. Even you thought about how being in a relationship with Alison put you in a position to fall for Mistress' trickery. You think about Roldan and how he's married and it doesn't seem to affect his judgment, but it's different for him. He's married to another Eternal and he doesn't have the responsibilities you have. But as they say, the heart wants what the heart wants and you've wanted to spend time with Alison ever since you were split up from her. And now that this war is finally over you have the time to do it. Should you break up with her just because of some potential problems in the future with Mistress or anything else? > You end things with Alison As much as this is going to pain you to do, you need to end your relationship with Alison, if only to save her life. The more you think about it, who knows what the hell Mistress could do next and she's already proven to ignore the Emperor's warnings before. Then there's the Emperor himself. It's obvious he doesn't approve of the relationship, and continuing it could potentially be problematic. You certainly wouldn't want to fall out of favor with the Emperor even if you do love Alison. You're going to keep this as short as possible and hopefully Alison will too. What's going to make this worse is the fact that this will be the first time you've seen each other in years. You leave the palace and the capital to make your way to where Alison is currently stationed, which means a long ride back to the new eastern frontier of the Empire. You eventually arrive at Fort Stalwart, which is actually just a renamed and rebuilt fort once held by the ex-Felkan Kingdom. Given your reputation, the gates are immediately opened for you. A few of the older soldiers are also probably aware of your relationship with their commanding officer so orders are already given to alert Alison of your sudden arrival. She meets you even before you make it to her office. She flashes a smile when she sees you and goes to put her arms around you presumably to kiss you. While you'd love for her to do so, you stop Alison, which confuses the hell out her. "What's this? Oh. The other soldiers around. You and your insistence on keeping protocol. Very well let's get to my quarters so we can get you back into your comfort zone, because its been too damn long." "It has and we should get back to your quarters, but I'm fairly sure you're not going to be in the mood for what you probably had in mind after I tell you what I have to tell you." Alison steps back and gives you a tilted look. "Hmm, sounds serious. You look even more grim than usual. Well let's get this over with." Alison says and the pair of you head towards her quarters. Her private quarters are neat and clean, as you'd expect, on the right wall you see your portrait, which is right across from her bed. Placed in such a way so the first thing she sees when she wakes up is you. "Alright. Out with it and let's see exactly how mad you think I'm going to be at you." Alison remarks closing her door. You sit on the bed and take a deep breath then exhale giving her a look on your face, which contains a hint of regret. "Geez…this must be bad. I don't think I've ever seen you like this. Its almost like you're afraid to tell me. Shit, maybe I better sit down too." Alison says taking a seat in one her chairs. "Alison…I love you. I want you to know that before I say anything else. I never thought I could ever feel this way at all about anyone. It just wasn't something I was taught or even learned. (whew) Okay enough stalling. Here it is…" You tell her that you want to end this relationship. You don't offer too much of an explanation though, just some vague reason that your duties to the Emperor are always going to take precedence and its not fair to her to have a steady relationship with you because who knows where you're going to be sent to next and for how long. You expect Alison to show some sign of emotion at this point. For the most part she remains stoically silent just listening to everything, but you can tell she is a little surprised by this news. "I see…well if that's what you want I won't try to argue with you about it. Everyone is an adult here and has the freedom of choice. I must admit this has taken me a bit off guard. I sort of thought our relationship was a bit more than just the occasional tumble, but apparently I was wrong. Wish I'd known before though, I could've…never mind. "I knew you were going to be angry." "I'm not exactly angry, I'm not sure how I feel. Look just tell me one thing because I have to know. Are you still having a sexual relationship with Mistress?" Now this statement catches you off guard. "What? No! I don't love Mistress! You know that!" "I didn't ask you that. I asked you if you were still having some sort of sexual relationship with her. You don't need to be in love with her. Hell, you don't even need to like her. But you've told me enough of your past with her to know that you both have some sort of twisted attachment to one another. Now I'm going to just ask you one more time. Have you had any sort of intimate contact with her since we parted company?" You muster up all your confidence and put on a straight face. "No. I swear to you. I haven't." Alison stares at you for a long time. Looking into your eyes and trying to ascertain if you're lying or not. You get the impression she doesn't believe you, however since you've never been known to be a liar (especially not to her) and your facial expression exhibits a look of truthfulness she can't completely jump to that conclusion. "I want to believe you. I suppose if I really wanted to know, I'd tell you to swear on the life of the Emperor, but I won't do that. It wouldn't make any difference anyway, because in the scheme of things what does it matter if you're lying or not. You still came to tell me that our relationship isn't going to work even if we do have strong feelings for each other, and you're probably right. The funny thing is before I met you; I was pretty much a free spirited type when it came to relationships. I suppose I'll return to that mindset, but I'll always wonder what if?" "Alison…" "Goodbye Eternal, I don't want you to see what is going to come next." Alison remarks as her voice starts to crack. And with those words she turns her back on you. You leave her to her sadness and feel awful about it, but you know it'll be better for her this way. As for you, you'll just keep serving the Emperor as you always have. > Year 32 You look for a seat on the palace balcony to watch Roldan's big parade celebration. Well actually it's supposed an anniversary of the Felkan Kingdom's demise, but due to Roldan's important role in the war and his popularity with the people he's certainly the major focus. Yes, Roldan's certainly made advances since the Felkan War ended. He got assigned to wipe out the rest of the gnoll tribes in the west. Something you figured you'd get assigned to do considering you did have something to do with beating back those mongrel men in the first place. Instead, the Emperor has been keeping you closer to home. With the recently acquired Felkan territory and the westward expansion, the Eyes are a little stretched so you've mostly been trying to eliminate the new bandit havens popping up in the old Felkan territory along with helping to fend off any desperate gnoll raids that attempt to sneak through. You're also supposed to be making sure the new "citizens" aren't planning to rebel, but given how badly they were beaten down, they're just glad that you're allowing them to live. So far no seditious activity has been detected. You're not jealous of Roldan, it's just that you figured you'd be something a lot more important after the Felkan War. You'd rather be out there conquering new lands for the Emperor and getting into the heat of battles rather than playing super sentinel. At least if you were in active battle it would keep your mind from wandering to thoughts of Alison. It seems like not a day goes by where you don't think about her. Even right now as you sit waiting for the parade she dwells in your thoughts, until you hear that old familiar and unwelcome voice… "Hey lover, figured you'd be here. Jacob's been looking for you. He won't shut up about how proud he is of Roldan and how he's so happy about this farce of a celebration." You ignore Mistress, but she keeps talking. "He also has Roldan's wife Brenda with him. One of your old classmates as you know. She's aged horribly. I mean this is a celebration; the least she could do is attempt to fix herself up rather than stomping around in combat boots and inadequately polished armor like a common soldier. I mean just because you have a lowly status doesn't mean you always have to look the part. Oh well, I suppose if one doesn't know, one never will. But enough about her, how have you been?" Mistress sits down next to you and puts her arm around your shoulder. You continue to try to ignore her. "Oh come on, you can't still be mad at me. You enjoyed our time together. If you hadn't you wouldn't have wisely made your decision to split with that little shield maiden of yours. I mean I'll grant you that she had a certain rustic charm that you sometimes find in lesser creatures, but you knew deep down that she wasn't for you. Hey, I've got an idea why don't you and I go back to your private quarters and relive some old times? Has to be more appealing than watching this pointless exercise in patriotism. I'll even let you ejaculate in my mouth and swallow your sweet essence. Come on, I KNOW you'd enjoy that. Seeing me on my knees and debasing myself for you in such a manner. You'd be totally in control. Or maybe you could just bend me over raw and brutally penetrate my…" At this point you can't ignore her anymore and you brush her arm off of you and stand up. "Stay away from me. I'm only going to tell you once." You say, but Mistress just sits there and smiles. "And what if I don't? Will you promise to punish me long and hard?" Mistress says a few more vulgar things causing a bit of a scene for the other spectators. You don't know if you'll even be able to stick around for this celebration. You weren't in the best of moods before and Mistress' presence is making it worse. > You leave the celebration You aren't sticking around to put up with Mistress' usual obscene suggestions; you're getting out of here. Mistress of course calls out to you as you leave, but doesn't follow you. On your way out you bump into Jacob and who you presume is probably Brenda, but you don't even acknowledge either of them you just want out of this place. You don't start feeling better until you leave the palace and even then you feel like your whole day has been ruined. You make your way through the hectic streets not paying too much attention to the fact that the parade has started. You're too pre-occupied with your self loathing on entertaining the idea of going back and taking Mistress up on her offer. Then you hear a lot of screaming and yelling. This is followed by a lot of people running in all different directions. "General Roldan's dead!" "Shadows! The shadows are back!" "They'll kill us all!" You snap out of your thoughts and process this new sudden information. You see one the Eyes nearby and question him. "Hey you! Where the hell is the rest of your unit? More importantly where the hell is Warrick?" you ask the Eye. "My unit is trying to keep this area under control while searching the nearby buildings here. As far as I know, Sightmaster Warrick was last seen near the city gates." "Well the palace needs some extra protection, I want you to get the rest of your unit over there now. Your primary concern is supposed to be defending the Emperor anyway!" You make your way towards the city gates, which is a chore, but when you finally get a clear view of the gates, you find Warrick and Brenda arguing with each in the middle of the chaos. "I've got Eyes scouring the city and mages casting detection spells to back them up, I'm doing all I can Brenda!" Warrick exclaims. "Well you're sure doing a bang up job of that eyeboy, considering you weren't even able to prevent my husband from getting fucking decapitated in front of everyone! That was a fucking shadow Warrick! It probably already left the city already!" Brenda retorts. "I'm well aware of what it was Brenda, I had to track down and fight them a lot more than you ever did!" "And given that your group was supposed to have wiped them out, you fucked up on that job too!" "Brenda if you want to go on your own personal manhunt, fine, you don't need my permission to do it. Go find and grab the nearest mage and have at it! I don't have time to argue with you, I'm having a hard enough time trying to coordinate everything in this chaos right now." Warrick looks semi-relieved when he sees you arrive. "I'm glad you're here, you've got magic abilities. Can you take Brenda with you?" Brenda turns to you though she isn't as happy to see you either. "Great, the other fuck up who was supposed to have been responsible for the extermination of the shadows." Brenda remarks. "Brenda I know you're angry right now and understandably upset, but I'm not going to tolerate the same sort of verbal abuse you've been heaping on Warrick. Now I'll certainly help you, but we're going to do this without the arguing." Your calm yet firm demeanor doesn't quell the high emotions going through Brenda right now, but they do at least establish a behavior guideline. "Alright fine." She remarks. "Good, now let's start checking the sewers." "The sewers? Are you sure?" Brenda asks. "No, but I'm making a good guess that it being a shadow, it probably hasn't gone far and is enjoying the whole idea of hiding right under our noses and possibly even planning the next step to cause further chaos. Besides, shit is often found in the sewers." "I've got people already searching the sewers." Warrick pipes up. "Yeah well, maybe if you had some stationed there and had a thorough search of the sewers before the parade none of this would be necessary now." "That's not fair, Jacob said…" "I don't want to hear it Warrick. As far as I'm concerned Brenda's got a right to be pissed at you considering you were supposed to be in charge of security for this thing." Leaving Warrick behind, you and Brenda find the nearest manhole and descend into the smelly darkness. And it does smell pretty awful. Still not as bad as Gnome's Home though, you don't think anything will ever smell worse than that place. You keep a detection spell constantly on hoping it will catch something worthwhile, but you know this is a long shot and the equivalent of looking for a needle in a haystack. Still, you couldn't just sit around doing nothing. Brenda might've been out of line speaking to you in such a manner, but in some ways you do feel a little responsible since you thought you'd wiped out all the shadows. Brenda and you are more or less silent the whole time you search the sewers. You never do run into any of Warrick's people, but then the sewers are just as large as the city itself. It's not surprising you aren't having much luck finding a shadow, if one is even hiding down here in the first place. "Damn it. I'm sorry Brenda." "What?" "I don't know where to even look, the sewers were just a blind guess. I have no real idea where to look. You probably were right; the shadow probably already left the city and if that's the case, who know where the hell it fled to." Brenda doesn't say anything at first and you fully expect her to go off on you, but she doesn't, instead she starts crying. Or rather she fails in trying not to cry. It would appear that the fact that her husband is dead is finally hitting her hard. "Brenda I…" you start to say and then a faint whistling sound is heard and you feel a sharp pain going through your back. You look down long enough to see the head of a crossbow bolt. Blood spreads across your chest and you stagger around and stare at a grinning decaying face. You then feel two blades separate your head from your body. The good news is your hunch was correct. The bad news is your detection spell couldn't work on something that was already dead and as a result so are you. You can only hope that Brenda gets her revenge and figures it all out, because you won't.

Year 32 You look for a seat on the palace balcony to watch Roldan's big parade celebration. Well actually it's supposed an anniversary of the Felkan Kingdom's demise, but due to Roldan's important role in the war and his popularity with the people he's certainly the major focus. Yes, Roldan's certainly made advances since the Felkan War ended. He got assigned to wipe out the rest of the gnoll tribes in the west. Something you figured you'd get assigned to do considering you did have something to do with beating back those mongrel men in the first place. Instead, the Emperor has been keeping you closer to home. With the recently acquired Felkan territory and the westward expansion, the Eyes are a little stretched so you've mostly been trying to eliminate the new bandit havens popping up in the old Felkan territory along with helping to fend off any desperate gnoll raids that attempt to sneak through. You're also supposed to be making sure the new "citizens" aren't planning to rebel, but given how badly they were beaten down, they're just glad that you're allowing them to live. So far no seditious activity has been detected. You're not jealous of Roldan, it's just that you figured you'd be something a lot more important after the Felkan War. You'd rather be out there conquering new lands for the Emperor and getting into the heat of battles rather than playing super sentinel. At least if you were in active battle it would keep your mind from wandering to thoughts of Alison. It seems like not a day goes by where you don't think about her. Even right now as you sit waiting for the parade she dwells in your thoughts, until you hear that old familiar and unwelcome voice… "Hey lover, figured you'd be here. Jacob's been looking for you. He won't shut up about how proud he is of Roldan and how he's so happy about this farce of a celebration." You ignore Mistress, but she keeps talking. "He also has Roldan's wife Brenda with him. One of your old classmates as you know. She's aged horribly. I mean this is a celebration; the least she could do is attempt to fix herself up rather than stomping around in combat boots and inadequately polished armor like a common soldier. I mean just because you have a lowly status doesn't mean you always have to look the part. Oh well, I suppose if one doesn't know, one never will. But enough about her, how have you been?" Mistress sits down next to you and puts her arm around your shoulder. You continue to try to ignore her. "Oh come on, you can't still be mad at me. You enjoyed our time together. If you hadn't you wouldn't have wisely made your decision to split with that little shield maiden of yours. I mean I'll grant you that she had a certain rustic charm that you sometimes find in lesser creatures, but you knew deep down that she wasn't for you. Hey, I've got an idea why don't you and I go back to your private quarters and relive some old times? Has to be more appealing than watching this pointless exercise in patriotism. I'll even let you ejaculate in my mouth and swallow your sweet essence. Come on, I KNOW you'd enjoy that. Seeing me on my knees and debasing myself for you in such a manner. You'd be totally in control. Or maybe you could just bend me over raw and brutally penetrate my…" At this point you can't ignore her anymore and you brush her arm off of you and stand up. "Stay away from me. I'm only going to tell you once." You say, but Mistress just sits there and smiles. "And what if I don't? Will you promise to punish me long and hard?" Mistress says a few more vulgar things causing a bit of a scene for the other spectators. You don't know if you'll even be able to stick around for this celebration. You weren't in the best of moods before and Mistress' presence is making it worse. > You stay for the celebration You aren't going to let her run you off, but you aren't going to put up with her either. You see a seat on the other side of the balcony and head to it. Mistress says a few more things, but eventually stops when you aren't responding to her anymore. You sit there in silence, attempting not to look in her direction, you almost feel glad when Jacob shows up with who you presume is Brenda, but he begins going on about how proud he is a of Roldan and other things you don't really care about right now. "Jacob, I'm in no mood to speak about anything, I'm only here out of formalities. No offense to you, Roldan or anyone. I just really don't want to be here right now and would like this over with as soon as possible." Jacob isn't sure how to react at first and then he looks over to his left and sees Mistress sitting over at the far end of the balcony. He gets it. "Apologies." He says and whispers to Brenda about something before turning his attention to the parade, which is just beginning to get underway. As you sit there watching you try to lose yourself in the moment, but it's difficult when you're fighting the urge to take Mistress up on her offer. Every once in a while you glance over at her and catch a glimpse of her legs. You think about how you'd love to have them wrapped around you while your hands are wrapped around her throat. While you successfully lose yourself in this violent fantasy you are suddenly snapped out of it when everyone starts cheering very loudly. General Roldan arrives on a giant extravagant platform carried by a dozen or so elven slaves. He stands there in very shiny ornamental armor with an equally ornamental weapon by his side. He waves to the crowds on both sides and accepts their cheers. Brenda and Jacob are both smiling and Jacob is shouting louder than anyone else on the balcony. Then something unexpected happens. A cloaked figure suddenly materializes right behind Roldan. From this distance you can't be sure, but it doesn't look entirely human. As the crowd's cheers become sounds of horror, you see this figure draw two curved blades and in one quick move decapitates Roldan before he even knows there is an attacker behind him. His body and head don't even hit the surface of the platform before the cloaked figure disappears again. The elven slaves at this point panic and drop the platform, this is soon followed by the rest of the citizens generally running all over the place and soldiers swarming the streets trying to maintain order. The city is in chaos. Jacob is just sitting there in shock. Alison has immediately ordered everyone on the balcony to get inside the palace. Brenda on the other hand has already left; you imagine she's taken to the streets to go find her husband's assassin herself. "That was a fucking shadow." You say to yourself and then you look over to Mistress and see her still sitting in her chair as well, but she's not in shock. You see a small smirk across her face. That same cruel smirk you've seen many times before. You KNOW she's behind this and she's gone too far this time. You push aside the panicking spectators and rush towards Mistress. She turns to your direction just in time for you to tackle her to the ground and begin punching her in the face. Nobody tries to stop you. "You fucking treacherous bitch! You did this! I'm putting an end to you once and for all!" you shout. Mistress' face is bloody and her nose is broken, but she isn't without fight left in her. She rakes her nails across your eyes, which is enough for her to wiggle out from under you. "I didn't have anything to do with this you crazy bastard!" she shouts, but you aren't listening to her lies. You don't even care that you're half blind, you continue to grab at her so she can't get away. "You're not talking your way out of this, you svelk cunt!" you say and stab her in the stomach with the dagger she gave you. She attempts to cast a spell at you, but you grab her hand and break it before she even gets a word out. You pick her up off the floor like a rag doll and slam her back against the balcony railing. Her upper half hangs vulnerably over the railing and your intention is to see that the other half soon follows. "And now I'm going to punish you. It might not take you LONG to fall, but when you hit the ground it will certainly be HARD." You remark as you hands grab both her legs to finish pushing her over, but Mistress still isn't done yet. "There you go, sweet talking me again." She says and with one last burst of energy and surprising strength she grabs your collar and pulls you forward and the pair of you go tumbling over the balcony. Your last thoughts before you hit the cold stone courtyard below are of the happier times with Alison followed by the happy thoughts that at least you got to see Mistress hit the ground a split second before you do.

You get on your horse and make your way to the Empire capital. You're not doing it, plain and simple. The Emperor can deal with you as he sees fit, but you are not going to help Mistress for any reason. You made the attempt and it resulted in trickery again. Besides, why the hell should you follow every little menial task? You've been instrumental in keeping the damn Empire together; you shouldn't be subjugated to such indignities! Jacob just told you the Emperor is sick, well he better watch it if he wants to stick around long enough to get better. You can't believe you just thought such a thing. What the hell is wrong with you? The thoughts and acts of disobedience are bad enough, but to actually consider… You can't even think it again. Something must be seriously wrong with your mind. Maybe Mistress did something more to you. Maybe she did some sort of magic spell to your head to make you harbor thoughts of dissension. At least you hope that's case, because if she didn't then you'd have to come to grips that you thought about killing the Emperor all on your own. Whatever the reason, you'll be keeping that one to yourself. When you get to the Emperor's chambers you hear him call for you immediately. Some coughing immediately follows his voice. You've definitely never heard him do that before "There you are my son, I'm glad to see you. It's been so long since we've talked face to face." He says as he sits hunched over a desk. He almost looks like he's struggling to prop himself up. Maybe he is as sick as Jacob says. He's as pale as Jacob said and his eyes are starting to have a sunken in looking appearance. What used to look like a man in his fifties now looks more like a man in his seventies. In fact he almost looks a bit more like how you thought he was going to when you first met him. You know he's powerful. Certainly more powerful than you, but he looks so much frailer now. It makes you ashamed that you had thoughts about killing him; especially after all he's done for you. "Emperor! I was told you were sick, but I didn't believe it! How?" "Sick? (Cough cough) Well I suppose that's one way of putting it. I'm guessing Jacob told you I was practically on my death bed or something. He still worries too much and you shouldn't either. I'm not sick, I'm…well its complicated, but suffice to say, I'm not dying anytime soon. Trust me on that one. Now I'd (Cough cough) like a report on the Felkans. Have we finally destroyed them once and for all?" "Yes, the capital has been taken and is in the process of being destroyed. The battle mages will be casting defilement spells to make sure nothing ever grows there again. The ruling royals from what we can tell all committed mass suicide." "Figures. But as long as everyone's dead, it's still good. So what about gnomes? Any in the capital?" "None. I can only guess we got all of them at Gnome's Home." "One can (cough cough) only hope. So have they all been sentenced to oblivion yet?" "I don't know, I haven't been Gnome's Home." "You haven't? I thought you got here pretty quickly. Surely Jacob told you that I wanted you to go there." "Yes, he told me I was to go there to assist and I know that could only mean assisting Mistress with the destruction of gnome souls. It was with great regret that I disobeyed this order, but I simply cannot help that woman again, if ever. The last time I made the attempt was two years ago when I was assisting her at Gnome's Home and there was some…unpleasantness." "Was there now? I hadn't heard about this and I spoke to her about leaving you alone, as you well know. So what exactly happened? She try to kill you?" "No, she (sigh) made unwanted advances on me. I turned her down, and later when I went back to my camp she magically disguised herself as Alison and slept with me that way. I of course didn't now until afterwards." ""Is that all? Here I was thinking it was something serious." the Emperor replies in a bored tone followed by more coughing. "However, I can see that this is something that was very serious to you so I will of course dismiss your transgression of not following orders…again. In the future I will also make sure that you and her are never to work together under any circumstances. I guess my attempt at being peacemaker didn't work out. (cough cough) Doesn't matter anyway, but tell me what are you exactly mad concerning that situation that occurred? I get the impression it's more than just Mistress fucking with you as usual." He's right. The fact that Mistress tricked you isn't what bothered you the most; it's the fact that you unwittingly betrayed Alison. The fact that Mistress cloaked herself as someone you have feelings for…no someone you LOVE to trick you just made it all the worse. You tell the Emperor as much, he nods in between another coughing fit. "So, you do love this Alison girl then? It's not just lust or perhaps a fleeting fancy. You actually love her?" the Emperor asks. "I do." "And this girl, she feels the same way?" "I believe she does." "Hmm, you better be sure son." "Yes, I know she does." "I see… well do you want some advice?" "From you, of course." " (cough cough) Shit. (cough) Okay, here it is then, you'll save yourself some pain if you end this relationship altogether. Now just listen. I know you're an intelligent person and an excellent strategist in the matters of war, but on the matters of love you're…and I don't mean this as an insult…but you're a little inexperienced. It's okay though, even after several centuries I still haven't figured it all out yet. But I still know more than you and I'm telling you that you'll be better off not getting deeply involved with such things. Why do you think I've never had an Empress by my side? It complicates things to a whole new level and that's complications YOU don't need." You're speechless for a moment. You can't think of anything to say except… "Is this an order?" "An order? No, I'd never give such an order concerning matters of the heart; it is merely advice. You may do as you wish. In fact you may do as you wish for quite some time. I'm giving you some down time in light of our glorious victory over the Felkans. We'll of course be having some celebrations going on here in the capital so if you get the chance you should probably (cough cough) join in the (cough cough) festivities. When you're needed to return to duty, I'll send for you as usual. I also want you to know, I'm proud of you son and for all you've done for the Empire and know you'll continue to serve the Empire loyally (cough cough) and with dedication in the future." The Emperor at this point slowly gets up and heads off towards his bedroom area coughing the whole time. You almost ask him if he needs help, but you'd rather not insult him. Besides you're too busy pondering his advice to you about Alison. Even you thought about how being in a relationship with Alison put you in a position to fall for Mistress' trickery. You think about Roldan and how he's married and it doesn't seem to affect his judgment, but it's different for him. He's married to another Eternal and he doesn't have the responsibilities you have. But as they say, the heart wants what the heart wants and you've wanted to spend time with Alison ever since you were split up from her. And now that this war is finally over you have the time to do it. Should you break up with her just because of some potential problems in the future with Mistress or anything else? > You continue your relationship You're sure the Emperor means well and he probably does have more knowledge on these things. But he doesn't know Alison the way you know her. You also can't and won't spend your life in fear that something might occur that will cause strife between you and Alison. That's why you're going to tell her what happened two years ago and face whatever the consequences may be. You leave the palace and the capital to make your way to where Alison is currently stationed, which means a long ride back to the new eastern frontier of the Empire. You eventually arrive at Fort Stalwart, which is actually just a renamed and rebuilt fort once held by the ex-Felkan Kingdom. Given your reputation, the gates are immediately opened for you. A few of the older soldiers are also probably aware of your relationship with their commanding officer so orders are already given to alert Alison of your sudden arrival. She meets you even before you make it to her office. She flashes a smile when she sees you and goes to put her arms around you presumably to kiss you. While you'd love for her to do so, you stop Alison, which confuses the hell out her. "What's this? Oh. The other soldiers around. You and your insistence on keeping protocol. Very well let's get to my quarters so we can get you back into your comfort zone, because its been too damn long." "It has and we should get back to your quarters, but I'm not sure if you're going to be in the mood for what you probably had in mind after I tell you what I have to tell you." Alison steps back and gives you a tilted look. "Hmm, sounds serious. You look even more grim than usual. Well let's get this over with." Alison says and the pair of you head towards her quarters. Her private quarters are neat and clean, as you'd expect, on the right wall you see your portrait, which is right across from her bed. Placed in such a way so the first thing she sees when she wakes up is you. "Alright. Out with it and let's see exactly how mad you think I'm going to be at you." Alison remarks closing her door. You sit on the bed and take a deep breath then exhale giving her a look on your face which contains a mixture of shame and guilt. "Geez…this must be bad. I don't think I've ever seen you like this. Its almost like you're afraid to tell me. Shit, maybe I better sit down too." Alison says taking a seat in one her chairs. "Alison…I love you. I want you to know that before I say anything else. I never thought I could ever feel this way at all about anyone. It just wasn't something I was taught or even learned. (whew) Okay enough stalling. Here it is…" You tell Alison everything that happened two years ago at Gnome's Home and afterwards. You also explain that you didn't want to tell her in a letter because you felt something like this should be face to face. You expect Alison to show some sign of anger at this point, but she remains stoically silent just listening to everything. Lastly, and you weren't planning on telling her this either, but you mention that the Emperor suggested that you break up with her and how you obviously ignored this advice because your feelings are just that strong for her. This one causes her eyes to widen a little. "Wow, obsessed svelk, rape through magic trickery, warnings from the Emperor, defying orders…sheesh. Bet you never thought you'd have to deal with things like this." "Rape?" you say. "Well, yes. Its not like you willingly had sex with her, you willingly had sex with what you THOUGHT was me. It might've been a civilized form of it, but it still was rape since you wouldn't have had sex with who it really was. What else would you call what that svelk bitch did to you? The act doesn't always include a bunch of men holding down a hapless young girl and ramming their dicks into her you know." Hell, you never even thought about that. For a brief moment you feel slightly…violated. "And here I thought she was just making up shit and posturing." Alison continues. "Wait a minute. You…knew? When?" you ask. "For about two years now. Though as you might expect she told things a little differently. Never mentioned about disguising herself as me." "So she visited you? You never mentioned it in your letters." "Well hey guess what, neither did you. Though in your case I can understand why. In my case it was more I thought she was just so full of shit that I didn't believe her in the first place and in the second place I knew you were so busy with the Felkans that I didn't want to distract you with unpleasant thoughts of her in my letters. Figured it would be best to keep her out of them." "What did she tell you exactly?" "She appeared in my office one night claiming that she would always be the main woman in your life. And how I didn't stand chance against her and that I should just give up now. She said this along with the predictable insults of monkey and my general appearance. Then she mentioned how she easily seduced you into having sex with her and that you would always be hers. Like I said she was so overly dramatic about everything I thought she had to be lying." "So what did you do?" "Nothing, I mostly just shrugged my shoulders and told her I thought she was lying. I also mentioned that I found it pretty sad that for all her superior svelk talent and beauty she was still jealous of a mere monkey like myself and obsessed with a man who obviously did not share the strong feelings she obviously has for you. Then to finish up my retort I also told her that even if what she said was true, that even if you did have sex with her it would only make you appreciate me all the more." "Yikes. I can imagine she didn't like that." "Oh no, she did not like it at all. Her face turned from a smug sneer to one of frothing anger. I thought she was going to attack me, some flames started emanating from her fingers and for a moment it felt like a force was keeping me from drawing my own weapon. I couldn't even call out for other soldiers to help. I guess she thought better of it though because she just stood there for a moment staring at me and then made her way out the window. Wasn't long after that incident the svelk merc support was transferred out of here, which was fine by me and everyone else of course. Not like we needed them against gnoll attacks anymore anyway." "I can't believe all this happened and you aren't mad." You say. "Oh trust me I'm mad, but if you think its with you, you're mistaken. I can't do much about it though I suppose. I'm not really concerned with your little svelk stalker. I'm a little more troubled with what you just told me about the Emperor. I get the impression he doesn't care for my influence, not that I think I really have any over you." "Oh that? I wouldn't worry about him. I believe he's just overly concerned with my well-being again. He's always been a little over protective at times, like a father with an only son I suppose. Right now though I'm just wondering how you feel about me after all is said and done." "I don't feel anything. Ha ha ha …wait that came out wrong. What I mean is I still feel the same way I always have about you. I love you. Nothing has changed." "Good, then let's get married. Let's take our relationship to its next logical step." "Married? You serious?" "Well sure. I mean don't people who feel the way we do get married?" "Usually I guess…but I dunno…seems like there some forces against us, and that's not even including one of us dying violently in battle. I mean in some ways the Emperor might be right. You might save yourself some pain if you ended our relationship now." "Perhaps, but I won't get to experience the good stuff if I did that." "Good stuff eh? Is that what you're calling it now?" Alison jokes. "Well, you sure you're ready for the pain of possibly losing me on some forsaken battlefield somewhere?" "How do you know you'll die first? You could outlive me." "Pfft, please. You'll outlive everyone. You'd outlast this entire world, if you had the time." Alison laughs. "So will you marry me?" "Yes, of course I will." As fitting for two soldiers, you and Alison don't have a fancy wedding; in fact you get married the next day in some small town in the Arat province by a local bureaucrat. Alison is still on duty for the next week so you return to her post and spend your wedding night in her quarters at Fort Stalwart. She tells you though as soon as she has time off, the pair of you are going to spend quality time doing something fun which doesn't involve the bedroom. You don't see the need since the bedroom is just fine with you, but you agree. While waiting for Alison's time off, you take it upon yourself to have a pair of proper rings made for you and Alison. You also have what possessions you actually own sent to Fort Stalwart since you don't know where you'll be stationed next and there is as good of place as any. After you've taken care of all that, you still have a day left to wait for Alison, so you go back to see the Emperor, you figure he should know what you've done and he'll know eventually anyway. When you see him again, he's still coughing a lot and moving slowly when he walks. He seems happy to see you though. "My (cough cough) son. This is an unexpected (cough) visit. I would've thought you would've been off enjoying your down time." He says. "I am, but I have also come to tell you something. I have married Alison." "Oh. I see. Well (cough cough) whatever makes you happy son. I trust she makes you happy." "Yes." "Then I'm happy for you. (cough cough) Heh, that was quick. Have to admit I didn't expect you to marry her. You should've told me though (cough cough) I could've ordered a big city celebration like what (cough cough) we're doing for the victory over the Felkans. You two could've walked down the streets with fancy guard and everything." "That would've been very generous, but I don't think that would've been either of our style." "I suppose not. Well as I (cough cough) have said, I'm happy for you, enjoy your time together and cherish it. So was there anything else?" "No, nothing of any note." "Very well…(cough cough) ugh…I'm still afflicted as you can tell. I need to just rest, so if you'll excuse me." Again, you feel like asking if he needs help, but you resist. Instead you just quietly start to leave. The Emperor speaks to you as he makes his way back to his bedroom. "Oh. Don't (cough cough) worry about Semra. I spoke with her earlier a couple days ago about bothering you again." "Semra?" "Yeah, you know (cough cough) Mistress. I made it quite clear to her if she did do it again that she'd be executed, along with every other svelk in the Empire. (cough cough) Funny thing is, she went into a complete breakdown exclaiming that I didn't need to worry about that ever again, because as far she was concerned she never wanted to see you ever again. Then she (cough) proceeded to swear in common tongue as well as her own language. Mostly about you. Then she stormed off. If I didn't know better I thought she was going to cry. I actually wondered what it was that caused all that. Now I know. I guess you had a hidden witness (cough cough) to your wedding." "Shit." You say quietly to yourself in amazement. Then you address the Emperor. "Thank you, sir." "No problem. (cough cough) Think of it as my wedding gift to you." Well you couldn't have asked for a better one, assuming she really does stay away. > Year 32 "It's not just a celebration for Roldan, it's the celebration of the victory over the Felkans." You remark. "I know that, but why is he getting a special parade? Roldan wasn't the only one who brought down the Felkan Kingdom! He wasn't even the only general!" Alison exclaims. "He was involved in the brunt of the major conflicts, including most of the vital forts and cities and most importantly the last siege on the Felkan capital." You reply. "As I recall YOU played a major role along with several others!" "Well Roldan's also been making great progress in eliminating the gnolls tribes on our western borders too. We probably won't be having any trouble with them anymore at the rate he's going." "And as I recall YOU also played a major role in that during the Felkan War! Hell, so did I and continued to do so long after you got transferred to the frontlines! Shit, if it hadn't been for us keeping those mongrel barbarians back who knows how the war would've turned out?" "Alison why are you so angry about this?" "I just don't understand why you aren't getting a big parade or accolades either." Alison says as she finishes getting dressed. "I dunno, I'm not really concerned about it though." You reply apathetically. "Besides you know I don't care for all this kind of pomp and flash that comes with these sorts of celebrations anyway. If I didn't have to be here out of formality I wouldn't even be attending." "Maybe, but it doesn't seem fair that you've been getting punished just because you married me." "Here we go, this concept again…" Alison goes into her usual rant about how since you got married to her, you've been getting less important assignments. She feels that the Emperor has been punishing you by keeping you in the background while allowing Roldan to take more of a prominent role such as sending him to conquer the gnoll tribes of the west. You can see this argument, and you have even entertained it a bit from time to time, but ultimately you've dismissed it, mainly because despite everything you're still reporting directly to the Emperor. You're still his most trusted of all his advisors. You're still his son. Besides its not like you're sitting around doing nothing. The Emperor has just been keeping you closer to home because this is where you're currently needed. With the recently acquired Felkan territory and the westward expansion, the Eyes are a little stretched so you've mostly been trying to eliminate the new bandit havens popping up in the old Felkan territory along with helping to fend off any desperate gnoll raids that attempt to sneak through. You're also supposed to be making sure the new "citizens" aren't planning to rebel, but given how badly they were beaten down, they're just glad that you're allowing them to live. So far no seditious activity has been detected. True, you'd rather be out there conquering new lands in his name and getting into the heat of battles rather than playing super sentinel, but at least you get to see Alison more often. It's a good trade off as far as you're concerned. As far as Roldan is concerned you aren't worried about him being "favored." This large celebration for Roldan is more Jacob's idea mainly because Roldan has largely become well known along with being well liked throughout the Empire. Not just by the military, but by the normal citizens as well. He's generally regarded as a hero of sorts. Jacob practically begged the Emperor for this special celebration because he felt it would be good for overall morale throughout the Empire. Well that, and the fact Jacob feels "vindicated" that his own influence on the Eternals has proved successful. Though you sort of had a major role in Jacob's fortune in that endeavor as well, something else Alison mentions in her rant. "You know, I might be getting sent to the unexplored land east of Nalin. There's been discussion about expansion in that direction." You say to Alison in the hopes that it will calm her down a bit. "Yeah? Well I certainly hope you'll get your own special celebration when you conquer whoever lives there. I'm sorry. I don't know why this is getting to me. This doesn't bother you, so it shouldn't bother me. You're right anyway, I guess if you'd really fallen out of favor you would've been sent to go tame the inhospitable usksha desert south of Nalin alone in a loin cloth welding just a wooden sword." You chuckle at Alison's scenario. "Okay how do I look? Do I look presentable for the Emperor's palace?" Alison stands before you in a black dress. It isn't excessively fancy, but it's certainly not something peasant would wear. While you've seen Alison in civilian clothing before, you've not seen her in something so elegant. "Really you didn't need to dress up for this thing, I certainly didn't. I just made sure I didn't have a tear in my trousers and polished my armor." "Maybe that's because visiting the Emperor's palace isn't that big of a deal to you. For me however this is a new experience. Just glad my mother's old dress fit me, since it's practically the only fancy thing I own." Well, you look lovely and dangerous as usual. The rapier on your hip is a nice touch. Didn't realize that's what all the upper class ladies were accessorizing with nowadays." "Ha ha, I said I wanted to look presentable, I didn't say I was going for high society. I'm still a soldier by nature, I'm not going anywhere without a weapon. " "That's my girl, let's be on our way." You remark and the pair of you set off for the capital in a carriage. Alison's mood is much better the closer you get to your destination. When you arrive, the capital is already pretty busy along with the surrounding countryside. The city guard and a few soldiers are busily trying to keep order and keep the path clear for the parade later. The palace is certainly less chaotic and you take the opportunity to show Alison some of it. She mostly enjoys the ancient armor and weapon displays along with some of the statues. You have to admit, before you came here with Alison, you never really admired them before. Doesn't take long before someone who knows you approaches. It's Jacob and a brunette woman who looks about your age. She must be a soldier of some sort because she's dressed in armor. "There you are, I was wondering when you'd arrive! When did you get here?" "I don't know, a half hour ago I guess. I was showing Alison some of the palace since she's never been here before." "Ah yes, Alison! It's a pleasure to finally meet you face to face! Better known as Major Krozer for those of us that have only known her through her military deeds. I heard how you were instrumental during the Felkan War on the gnoll front! That was great work! Between you and your husband here you really paved the way to the destruction of those barbarians." "Thank you for the recognition." Alison remarks politely. Ever the professional, she knows not to bring her personal feelings into a setting like this. "Everyone should remember that even though a special parade is being held for General Roldan, all soldiers who did their duty during that terrible war are to be honored and respected. Actually scratch that, ALL soldiers of the Empire should be." Jacob says as he looks over to the warrior woman. "Oh I'm sure I didn't do anything nearly as impressive as my husband or even the major and her husband here. But I suppose can be glad that the kobold and usksha population is a lot lower due to me." the woman says. "Brenda, don't sell yourself short! You know you've done great things as well." Jacob says. "Brenda?" you ask. You didn't even recognize her, but then it has been quite a while. "Yep, it's me. Been a long time. I figured you wouldn't recognize me right away. Oh, sorry about all that y'know…back in class." "As I've told everyone else Brenda, all in the past. All in the past." You say. The four of you speak for a moment exchanging general pleasantries. Jacob seems even happier than Brenda about Roldan's celebration. In fact in the whole time you've known him, this has to be the happiest you've ever seen him. Eventually the four of you head to one of the palace's large balconies where you can view the entire parade. Three of the five known Eternals are here, and it makes you wonder where your other classmates are since it seems like they would be important enough to be here. When you ask Jacob this question, Jacob says Warrick is indeed here, but is currently working as head of security for this celebration being Sightmaster of the Eyes and all. As for Kane, Jacob stumbles a bit over his words. "Well, erm…Kane is having personal problems…he's been reassigned to Rask while he uh…works things out. They're always having problems with the occasional giant lumbering down from the mountains and the stray feral ogre bands there anyway." "Jacob, I'm well aware of Kane's condition, you know." "You are? Yes…I suppose you would, considering you've visited Gnome's Home in the past. (Sigh) Well then you know its best that he's not around other normal people, even other soldiers. He's still loyal to the Empire, he just has to be isolated. So he's at a very remote outpost at the edge of the northern Rask Mountains. He keeps a look out for potential attacks and if he…gets hungry he's away from civilization and has the beasts from the mountains to prey upon." You shake your head. "Jacob, I can appreciate that you're trying to help Kane, but I wonder if his reassignment is really a good idea. What's stopping Kane from losing complete control and wandering to a nearby village and slaughtering it?" "He won't. He's extremely far away from the nearest civilized center and even Fort Defiance. The only victims of his will be giants and the like. And they're enemies of the Empire anyway. Look, can we discuss this later? The celebration is starting." Jacob says. You nod and return to Alison to watch the parade. It is indeed a lavish sight. You see soldiers in impression armor marching in complete unison performing drill techniques with perfect timing. You see wizards creating small extraordinary feats of magic to entertain. As you sit there watching you do sort of lose yourself in the moment and actually enjoy just being a "spectator". Being there with Alison certainly helps make you feel normal for a while. Then comes the big moment. General Roldan arrives on a giant extravagant platform carried by a dozen or so elven slaves. He stands there in very shiny ornamental armor with an equally ornamental weapon by his side. He waves to the crowds on both sides and accepts their cheers. Brenda and Jacob are both smiling and Jacob is shouting louder than anyone else on the balcony. "Sheesh, you'd think he was the one married to Roldan." Alison remarks. You snicker at her comment and then suddenly as you're watching Roldan wave on the platform, you get a very bed feeling. You don't know why or how, but all your instincts scream out at you that something very bad is going to happen… And then it does. A cloaked figure suddenly materializes right behind Roldan. From this distance you can't be sure, but it doesn't look entirely human. As the crowd's cheers become sounds of horror, you see this figure draw two curved blades and in one quick move decapitates Roldan before he even knows there is an attacker behind him. His body and head don't even hit the surface of the platform before the cloaked figure disappears again. The elven slaves at this point panic and drop the platform, this is soon followed by the rest of the citizens generally running all over the place and soldiers swarming the streets trying to maintain order. The city is in chaos. Jacob is just sitting there in shock. Alison has immediately ordered everyone on the balcony to get inside the palace. Brenda on the other hand has already left; you imagine she's taken to the streets to go find her husband's assassin herself. "That was a fucking shadow." You say to yourself. > You seek the assassin The Emperor is probably the most secure person in the area and even though he's not been well lately, you know that he's still more than capable of defending himself against some shadows. Your best bet is to some how track down the assassin before he gets away, so you tell Alison that you're going to follow Brenda's lead and chase after the assassin. "Wait, how do you even know where to look?" Alison asks. "I don't, but I have to try. Just get Jacob inside, he's still out on the balcony in shock." You answer before leaving. As frantic as the palace is, the streets of the city are much worse. You have to literally fight your way through in order to get anywhere. After pushing several citizens out of the way, you stumble upon one of the Eyes. "Hey you! Where the hell is the rest of your unit? More importantly where the hell is Warrick?" you ask the Eye. "My unit is trying to keep this area under control while searching the nearby buildings here. As far as I know, Sightmaster Warrick was last seen near the city gates." "Well the palace needs some extra protection, I want you to get the rest of your unit over there now. Your primary concern is supposed to be defending the Emperor anyway!" You make your way towards the city gates, which is a chore. You still wonder where Brenda went, but when you finally get a clear view of the gates, you find her and Warrick arguing with each in the middle of the chaos. "I've got Eyes scouring the city and mages casting detection spells to back them up, I'm doing all I can Brenda!" Warrick exclaims. "Well you're sure doing a bang up job of that eyeboy, considering you weren't even able to prevent my husband from getting fucking decapitated in front of everyone! That was a fucking shadow Warrick! It probably already left the city already!" Brenda retorts. "I'm well aware of what it was Brenda, I had to track down and fight them a lot more than you ever did!" "And given that your group was supposed to have wiped them out, you fucked up on that job too!" "Brenda if you want to go on your own personal manhunt, fine, you don't need my permission to do it. Go find and grab the nearest mage and have at it! I don't have time to argue with you, I'm having a hard enough time trying to coordinate everything in this chaos right now." Warrick looks semi-relieved when he sees you arrive. "I'm glad you're here, you've got magic abilities. Can you take Brenda with you?" Brenda turns to you though she isn't as happy to see you either. "Great, the other fuck up who was supposed to have been responsible for the extermination of the shadows." Brenda remarks. "Brenda I know you're angry right now and understandably upset, but I'm not going to tolerate the same sort of verbal abuse you've been heaping on Warrick. Now I'll certainly help you, because I want this sonofabitch almost as bad as you do, but we're going to do this without the arguing." Your calm yet firm demeanor doesn't quell the high emotions going through Brenda right now, but they do at least establish a behavior guideline. "Alright fine." She remarks. "Good, now let's start checking the sewers." "The sewers? Are you sure?" Brenda asks. "No, but I'm making a good guess that it being a shadow, it probably hasn't gone far and is enjoying the whole idea of hiding right under our noses and possibly even planning the next step to cause further chaos. Besides, shit is often found in the sewers." "I've got people already searching the sewers." Warrick pipes up. "Yeah well, maybe if you had some stationed there and had a thorough search of the sewers before the parade none of this would be necessary now." "That's not fair, Jacob said…" "I don't want to hear it Warrick. As far as I'm concerned Brenda's got a right to be pissed at you considering you were supposed to be in charge of security for this thing." Leaving Warrick behind, you and Brenda find the nearest manhole and descend into the smelly darkness. And it does smell pretty awful. Still not as bad as Gnome's Home though, you don't think anything will ever smell worse than that place. You keep a detection spell constantly on hoping it will catch something worthwhile, but you know this is a long shot and the equivalent of looking for a needle in a haystack. Still, you couldn't just sit around doing nothing. Brenda might've been out of line speaking to you in such a manner, but in some ways you do feel a little responsible since you thought you'd wiped out all the shadows. Brenda and you are more or less silent the whole time you search the sewers. You never do run into any of Warrick's people, but then the sewers are just as large as the city itself. It's not surprising you aren't having much luck finding a shadow, if one is even hiding down here in the first place. "Damn it. I'm sorry Brenda." "What?" "I don't know where to even look, the sewers were just a blind guess. I have no real idea where to look. You probably were right; the shadow probably already left the city and if that's the case, who know where the hell it fled to." Brenda doesn't say anything at first and you fully expect her to go off on you, but she doesn't, instead she starts crying. Or rather she fails in trying not to cry. It would appear that the fact that her husband is dead is finally hitting her hard. "Brenda I…" you start to say and then a faint whistling sound is heard and you feel a sharp pain going through your back. You look down long enough to see the head of a crossbow bolt. Blood spreads across your chest and you stagger around and stare at a grinning decaying face. You then feel two blades separate your head from your body. The good news is your hunch was correct. The bad news is your detection spell couldn't work on something that was already dead and as a result so are you. You can only hope that Brenda gets her revenge and figures it all out, because you won't.

Year 32 "It's not just a celebration for Roldan, it's the celebration of the victory over the Felkans." You remark. "I know that, but why is he getting a special parade? Roldan wasn't the only one who brought down the Felkan Kingdom! He wasn't even the only general!" Alison exclaims. "He was involved in the brunt of the major conflicts, including most of the vital forts and cities and most importantly the last siege on the Felkan capital." You reply. "As I recall YOU played a major role along with several others!" "Well Roldan's also been making great progress in eliminating the gnolls tribes on our western borders too. We probably won't be having any trouble with them anymore at the rate he's going." "And as I recall YOU also played a major role in that during the Felkan War! Hell, so did I and continued to do so long after you got transferred to the frontlines! Shit, if it hadn't been for us keeping those mongrel barbarians back who knows how the war would've turned out?" "Alison why are you so angry about this?" "I just don't understand why you aren't getting a big parade or accolades either." Alison says as she finishes getting dressed. "I dunno, I'm not really concerned about it though." You reply apathetically. "Besides you know I don't care for all this kind of pomp and flash that comes with these sorts of celebrations anyway. If I didn't have to be here out of formality I wouldn't even be attending." "Maybe, but it doesn't seem fair that you've been getting punished just because you married me." "Here we go, this concept again…" Alison goes into her usual rant about how since you got married to her, you've been getting less important assignments. She feels that the Emperor has been punishing you by keeping you in the background while allowing Roldan to take more of a prominent role such as sending him to conquer the gnoll tribes of the west. You can see this argument, and you have even entertained it a bit from time to time, but ultimately you've dismissed it, mainly because despite everything you're still reporting directly to the Emperor. You're still his most trusted of all his advisors. You're still his son. Besides its not like you're sitting around doing nothing. The Emperor has just been keeping you closer to home because this is where you're currently needed. With the recently acquired Felkan territory and the westward expansion, the Eyes are a little stretched so you've mostly been trying to eliminate the new bandit havens popping up in the old Felkan territory along with helping to fend off any desperate gnoll raids that attempt to sneak through. You're also supposed to be making sure the new "citizens" aren't planning to rebel, but given how badly they were beaten down, they're just glad that you're allowing them to live. So far no seditious activity has been detected. True, you'd rather be out there conquering new lands in his name and getting into the heat of battles rather than playing super sentinel, but at least you get to see Alison more often. It's a good trade off as far as you're concerned. As far as Roldan is concerned you aren't worried about him being "favored." This large celebration for Roldan is more Jacob's idea mainly because Roldan has largely become well known along with being well liked throughout the Empire. Not just by the military, but by the normal citizens as well. He's generally regarded as a hero of sorts. Jacob practically begged the Emperor for this special celebration because he felt it would be good for overall morale throughout the Empire. Well that, and the fact Jacob feels "vindicated" that his own influence on the Eternals has proved successful. Though you sort of had a major role in Jacob's fortune in that endeavor as well, something else Alison mentions in her rant. "You know, I might be getting sent to the unexplored land east of Nalin. There's been discussion about expansion in that direction." You say to Alison in the hopes that it will calm her down a bit. "Yeah? Well I certainly hope you'll get your own special celebration when you conquer whoever lives there. I'm sorry. I don't know why this is getting to me. This doesn't bother you, so it shouldn't bother me. You're right anyway, I guess if you'd really fallen out of favor you would've been sent to go tame the inhospitable usksha desert south of Nalin alone in a loin cloth welding just a wooden sword." You chuckle at Alison's scenario. "Okay how do I look? Do I look presentable for the Emperor's palace?" Alison stands before you in a black dress. It isn't excessively fancy, but it's certainly not something peasant would wear. While you've seen Alison in civilian clothing before, you've not seen her in something so elegant. "Really you didn't need to dress up for this thing, I certainly didn't. I just made sure I didn't have a tear in my trousers and polished my armor." "Maybe that's because visiting the Emperor's palace isn't that big of a deal to you. For me however this is a new experience. Just glad my mother's old dress fit me, since it's practically the only fancy thing I own." Well, you look lovely and dangerous as usual. The rapier on your hip is a nice touch. Didn't realize that's what all the upper class ladies were accessorizing with nowadays." "Ha ha, I said I wanted to look presentable, I didn't say I was going for high society. I'm still a soldier by nature, I'm not going anywhere without a weapon. " "That's my girl, let's be on our way." You remark and the pair of you set off for the capital in a carriage. Alison's mood is much better the closer you get to your destination. When you arrive, the capital is already pretty busy along with the surrounding countryside. The city guard and a few soldiers are busily trying to keep order and keep the path clear for the parade later. The palace is certainly less chaotic and you take the opportunity to show Alison some of it. She mostly enjoys the ancient armor and weapon displays along with some of the statues. You have to admit, before you came here with Alison, you never really admired them before. Doesn't take long before someone who knows you approaches. It's Jacob and a brunette woman who looks about your age. She must be a soldier of some sort because she's dressed in armor. "There you are, I was wondering when you'd arrive! When did you get here?" "I don't know, a half hour ago I guess. I was showing Alison some of the palace since she's never been here before." "Ah yes, Alison! It's a pleasure to finally meet you face to face! Better known as Major Krozer for those of us that have only known her through her military deeds. I heard how you were instrumental during the Felkan War on the gnoll front! That was great work! Between you and your husband here you really paved the way to the destruction of those barbarians." "Thank you for the recognition." Alison remarks politely. Ever the professional, she knows not to bring her personal feelings into a setting like this. "Everyone should remember that even though a special parade is being held for General Roldan, all soldiers who did their duty during that terrible war are to be honored and respected. Actually scratch that, ALL soldiers of the Empire should be." Jacob says as he looks over to the warrior woman. "Oh I'm sure I didn't do anything nearly as impressive as my husband or even the major and her husband here. But I suppose can be glad that the kobold and usksha population is a lot lower due to me." the woman says. "Brenda, don't sell yourself short! You know you've done great things as well." Jacob says. "Brenda?" you ask. You didn't even recognize her, but then it has been quite a while. "Yep, it's me. Been a long time. I figured you wouldn't recognize me right away. Oh, sorry about all that y'know…back in class." "As I've told everyone else Brenda, all in the past. All in the past." You say. The four of you speak for a moment exchanging general pleasantries. Jacob seems even happier than Brenda about Roldan's celebration. In fact in the whole time you've known him, this has to be the happiest you've ever seen him. Eventually the four of you head to one of the palace's large balconies where you can view the entire parade. Three of the five known Eternals are here, and it makes you wonder where your other classmates are since it seems like they would be important enough to be here. When you ask Jacob this question, Jacob says Warrick is indeed here, but is currently working as head of security for this celebration being Sightmaster of the Eyes and all. As for Kane, Jacob stumbles a bit over his words. "Well, erm…Kane is having personal problems…he's been reassigned to Rask while he uh…works things out. They're always having problems with the occasional giant lumbering down from the mountains and the stray feral ogre bands there anyway." "Jacob, I'm well aware of Kane's condition, you know." "You are? Yes…I suppose you would, considering you've visited Gnome's Home in the past. (Sigh) Well then you know its best that he's not around other normal people, even other soldiers. He's still loyal to the Empire, he just has to be isolated. So he's at a very remote outpost at the edge of the northern Rask Mountains. He keeps a look out for potential attacks and if he…gets hungry he's away from civilization and has the beasts from the mountains to prey upon." You shake your head. "Jacob, I can appreciate that you're trying to help Kane, but I wonder if his reassignment is really a good idea. What's stopping Kane from losing complete control and wandering to a nearby village and slaughtering it?" "He won't. He's extremely far away from the nearest civilized center and even Fort Defiance. The only victims of his will be giants and the like. And they're enemies of the Empire anyway. Look, can we discuss this later? The celebration is starting." Jacob says. You nod and return to Alison to watch the parade. It is indeed a lavish sight. You see soldiers in impression armor marching in complete unison performing drill techniques with perfect timing. You see wizards creating small extraordinary feats of magic to entertain. As you sit there watching you do sort of lose yourself in the moment and actually enjoy just being a "spectator". Being there with Alison certainly helps make you feel normal for a while. Then comes the big moment. General Roldan arrives on a giant extravagant platform carried by a dozen or so elven slaves. He stands there in very shiny ornamental armor with an equally ornamental weapon by his side. He waves to the crowds on both sides and accepts their cheers. Brenda and Jacob are both smiling and Jacob is shouting louder than anyone else on the balcony. "Sheesh, you'd think he was the one married to Roldan." Alison remarks. You snicker at her comment and then suddenly as you're watching Roldan wave on the platform, you get a very bed feeling. You don't know why or how, but all your instincts scream out at you that something very bad is going to happen… And then it does. A cloaked figure suddenly materializes right behind Roldan. From this distance you can't be sure, but it doesn't look entirely human. As the crowd's cheers become sounds of horror, you see this figure draw two curved blades and in one quick move decapitates Roldan before he even knows there is an attacker behind him. His body and head don't even hit the surface of the platform before the cloaked figure disappears again. The elven slaves at this point panic and drop the platform, this is soon followed by the rest of the citizens generally running all over the place and soldiers swarming the streets trying to maintain order. The city is in chaos. Jacob is just sitting there in shock. Alison has immediately ordered everyone on the balcony to get inside the palace. Brenda on the other hand has already left; you imagine she's taken to the streets to go find her husband's assassin herself. "That was a fucking shadow." You say to yourself. > You secure the palace If this is some sort of shadow attack then the first thing you need to do is keep the palace secure, in particular the Emperor. Besides the city streets are going to be mayhem, you doubt if you'll be able to track down the assassin that killed Roldan. Hopefully others will get him though. Despite Alison getting most of the people back into the palace, Jacob is still sitting on the balcony in shock. "He…he…he's not…he can't…" Jacob stutters. "Jacob get your ass inside now!" you shout and drag him inside. You and Alison both start taking control of the situation telling the guards to lock up every opening they can and the mages on duty to magically seal up the rest. Alison tells the guests to find some place safe to gather, but you don't really care about any of them. Your number one concern is the safety of the Emperor. "Alison, I need to…" "I know, the Emperor. Go. I can help with keeping shit together here." You rush down to the Emperor's den constantly looking around the whole time. You keep thinking that a shadow, or whatever that was that killed Roldan is going to suddenly materialize at anytime. When you get inside the Emperor's chambers, he's in bed asleep. You don't want to wake him, but he needs to know the situation. "Huh? Mmmh? Oh hey…(cough cough) what're you doing here? Are the festivities already over?" he asks. "Emperor, there's been an assassination. General Roldan was killed during the parade by what I think was a shadow. We're currently trying to secure the palace just in case this is part of a greater attack." "Sounds like a lot happened while I was taking a nap. Shadow huh? Thought we killed all of them. Guess they were just playing a waiting game as usual. Always a few loose ends aren't there? (cough) I imagine Jacob isn't taking Roldan's death too well." "Not at all, he's pretty much in shock and was babbling the last time I saw him." "Hmm, well it is a shame. Roldan did turn out to be one of our best generals. I'll have to make sure he gets a nice funeral. If we can't celebrate his successes in life, at least we can honor him in death. (cough cough)…what's wrong my son?" the Emperor asks when he notices that you're looking slightly troubled. "I was one of the ones chiefly in charge of hunting down the shadows. The fact that I missed one or possibly several so that something like this could happen…I feel like I failed." You explain. "Nonsense, you did what you could to the best of your ability. I've always known that. Don't even start playing what if for this situation, because it's not worth it. While this event has certainly been tragic in that it ruined what was supposed to be a happy day, this really isn't excessively serious in the scheme of things. (cough cough) If you were worried about me, don't be. Even in my less than magnificent state, I'm more than able to handle a shadow or even a dozen of them. Assuming they could even get in here in the first place. Its probably just one crazed shadow that somehow hid under a rock all these years from our purges and thinks this one act is going to bring us down. Foolish of course, but what can you expect from such fanatics?" "You don't think this sort of thing could cause instability in the Empire?" "Hardly. (cough cough) The citizens might panic about things for awhile, they'll be fearful of the big bad shadows' return for revenge or whatever stories they'll make up, but ultimately it all works in our benefit I'm sure you know. (cough cough) We get to continue to display how without us they would be at the mercy of dangerous forces that would have destroyed them long ago." "So…what did you want me to do now?" you ask. The Emperor begins to sit up a bit more before answering you. "Nothing. In fact (cough cough) after things calm down a bit, you can return to your regular duties in the newly acquired Gan and Ibim provinces. I can handle things here in the palace and the city, just get Jacob down here and I'll start hammering out the plans." "You really don't need me to do anything?" "No, your talents are far more useful doing what you're doing right now. Besides, with Roldan dead you might be needed more than ever on that side of the Empire. Last I heard there were still gnolls running about. (cough cough) I of course appreciate your concern as always my son." The Emperor begins to slowly get out of bed and you take your leave. When you get back upstairs everything is more or less peaceful. Alison and some of the other officers have been making sure the palace is secure. Alison tells you there have been no signs of any potential attackers. Reports from outside the palace are about the same, other than Roldan's assassination the only other causalities have been from soldiers trying to maintain order or from people getting trampled in the initial chaos. No shadows or anything else like that. "So what's the next move? What did the Emperor tell you?" Alison asks. "He told me not to worry and when things calm down outside to just return to my normal duties." You respond "That's it?!" "That's it. He wants to see Jacob though, is he in a more coherent mindset now?" "Compared to before? Yeah, but he's still pretty shaken up. I know he's been crying." You walk over to Jacob who is sitting quietly in a chair with his head in his hands. He's still very upset. You have to repeat yourself twice when telling him that the Emperor wants to see him. You and Alison stay at the palace for a few more minutes, but when you get news that a carriage is able to take you back to Fort Stalwart you decide to leave immediately. Its hectic trying to leave at first since there is still a bit of turmoil in the streets as well as the surrounding countryside, but once you're a few miles from the capital the ride becomes more relaxed. Alison asks you if you're certain about leaving. "The Emperor told me to just return to more normal duties and not to worry, so that's what I'm going to do. If he says he can handle this incident himself then I have no reason to doubt that. Besides, he also said with Roldan dead I might be needed more on the western borders anyway." You say. "Hmm. I guess all those times I worried about you being punished seem sort of silly now…sheesh…today was surreal. I mean I've seen a lot of stuff in my years of service, but nothing like this. The general consensus seems to be that it was a shadow that killed Roldan. Certainly looked like one from where I was sitting." Alison replies. "I don't see what else it could've been. Similar style of clothing, invisibility, incredibly quick, sneak attack, the elements were all there. (Sigh) Damn." "You alright?" "I just…well I dunno. I just can't believe we…I missed a shadow. Really thought we got them all when I killed Cyrus. The Emperor said it wasn't my fault and I know it really isn't but I still feel like this is a major loss." "Yeah, I can imagine you'd feel that way having worked together with Roldan during the Felkan War." "Heh, well to be honest Roldan and I were never close. I mean we were professional and civil, but we never really did become what you'd call friends. Still though he didn't deserve to die like that. He wasn't just an excellent solder and general, he was an Eternal and I guess that bond was there to an extent even if it was faint. Now there's one less of us." "I guess given that you all grew up together and were subjected more or less to the same training, the other Eternals are sort of like, your siblings?" "Yeah, I suppose in some ways they are. Funny that I never thought of that before." You remark. As you reflect on all that's happened, Alison reaches out to touch your hand, you look over at her and return her smile with one of your own. Happy that you have her. Then your smile disappears when a bolt grazes your ear and hits Alison right in the eye. Her blood splatters on your face and her body slowly goes limp in your arms. You turn your head around just in time to see the assassin hanging outside the carriage window with one hand and his other arm reeling back from having launched his bolt from his armbow. It's definitely a shadow, but from this range you can also see it's also not human. The face is either severely burned or rotten. It grins at you with blacken teeth and before you can react, it rapidly climbs up which is followed by brief scream from the carriage driver and then the ride gets a lot bumpier really quick. The shadow has probably killed the driver and is probably in the process of detaching the horses. Meanwhile you're still holding the body of you beloved Alison. > You chase the assassin With revenge filling every inch of your body you immediately open the carriage door with the intent of climbing up to meet your attacker. No sooner have you opened the door when a rotting hand from above attempts to stab you in the face with a dagger. The blade superficially wounds you as it slices across your cheek. Unfazed you immediately grab the hand and pull down as hard as you can. The moment you do so you suddenly feel an unnatural drain of energy. Magic is definitely at work here and it's sapping your strength. Despite this, the shadow tumbles off of the roof, but on its way down it grabs your own arm with its other hand and the pair of you fall from the carriage. Unfortunately, when you're pulled out of the carriage you don't clear it completely and your ankle is run over by one of the back wheels of the carriage that is still in motion. The bone snaps and you know it's broken along with your nose when you fell flat on your face on the hard road. The shadow has recovered from his own fall much better having landed on his feet. You push yourself up just in time for his foot to kick you in the ribs. You roll away struggling to put some distance between yourself and the attacker. "Y'know when I was brought back I was given very specific instructions not to kill you…but I believe I will ignore them. After all I'm already dead, what else can be done to me?" you hear the shadow hiss in a raspy tone. You attempt to raise your hand to cast a flame blast, but the shadow grabs your wrist and you feel an even greater drain on your strength than you did before. At this close range you can smell the rot more strongly. "Oh no, you burned me once before, not again." The shadow hisses as it drains your energy. With its recent comments, you realize this isn't just a shadow or even some undead horror possibly masquerading as one. It's Cyrus. Your whole body feels like its been beaten with a stone pillar yet you manage to muster the strength to pull your dagger and stab Cyrus repeatedly. You aren't even aware of where you're aiming, you stab it in the arm, in the shoulder, in the chest, in the face and wherever else you can reach until it lets you go and staggers back with your dagger still in its body. You're dizzy, weak, and have only one good foot, but try to stand up anyway. Cyrus pulls the dagger from his body and does his typical shadow speed tactic in an attempt to rush into you with the dagger. You barely manage to put up a small force shield to block the blade from going into your stomach. Still the impact of the hit knocks you back down to the ground breaking your concentration on the spell. Cyrus kneels down to grab your neck, he's not even squeezing and you feel the life leaving your body. You start to fade in and out of consciousness. "Now I'm going to show you something truly eternal. Death. They say the dead feel nothing, but that's not true. It's a lie just like the lie I believed about Dendrin meeting me for the afterlife. You know what I experienced instead? A very dark place filled with pain until I was ripped out of it and put back here on this mortal realm. That's where you're going brother. You're going to a very dark place filled with pain and I'm going enjoy every moment putting you there." At this point you have no idea what the hell Cyrus is speaking about, all you know is he's more talkative in death than he ever was in life and that if he's going to kill you, you wish he'd just shut up and do it already. Things get fuzzy again just as Cyrus' fingers release your neck. What happens next is a blur. You do hear familiar female voice though. "This one is not yours to take, revenant." This is followed by an inhuman scream and a bright light which is piercing even with your eyes nearly closed. Between the screaming, the bright light and your weakened state it's all too much for you and start to pass out. You see a female shape with long hair standing over you, but you can't make out the face. "…Alison?" you struggle to whisper. "(Sigh) Blind to your true allies and lovers as always." The figure says and then lays your dagger on your body. "Here, I know how much you treasure this gift to you." "Oh…fuck…" you say as you pass out. You don't know how long you're out for, but when you come to you're in a spare bed in the Emperor's quarters. Your ankle and nose feel tender but they don't feel broken anymore. You look to your left and see the Emperor standing nearby with a walking stick in hand. "Ah, you're awake and looking much better too. You looked about as bad as I do when Jacob first dragged you in here." The Emperor remarks, sitting in a chair near you. "Jacob found me?" "No, actually Warrick and some of the Eyes picked you up off the road when a travelling patrol reported coming across your body and an overturned carriage crashed into a tree a few feet away. I requested that you be brought to me personally when I heard the news. You were severely injured, and I was damned if I was going to let anyone else bumble in the attempt to help you get better." "Alison?" you ask. "I'm sorry son, but she's dead. If that bolt to the eye didn't do it, her neck was broken in the crash." The Emperor remarks. You want to cry out, but you just don't have the energy right now. You still feel woozy for one thing, the other is you had little hope that she was still alive anyway. The moment you saw that bolt in her eye, the moment you felt her blood on your face, the moment you felt her body go completely limp in your arms…you knew then she was dead. "Did you need some time alone?" the Emperor asks. "No…I suppose I already knew." You respond. "I'm sort of overwhelmed by everything that happened. I imagine I will grieve later for her." "I know how much she meant to you. I know she was also a loyal soldier and officer. She will be missed not just by you, but also by the Empire as a whole. Whatever type of funeral you wish for her, you know you've got it. I mean if you want a holiday to…" "That…isn't necessary. I believe I will just have a simple funeral for her. She was like me, she didn't seek out a lot of attention." "As you wish. Remember though, whatever you need. You got it." "Can you manage an execution for a certain svelk bitch?" The Emperor starts one of his coughing fits before answering. "I assume you're talking about Mistress. Yes, I fear I did uncover some evidence that it was she that was behind all this chaos. How did you know about her involvement though? Is she the one that attacked your carriage?" You explain to the Emperor what happened. He seems surprised to hear that the shadow wasn't alive and was in fact undead. He concludes that Mistress must've raised Cyrus from the dead since she certainly has the skill to do it. "Necromancy eh? Raising the dead is dangerous stuff to dabble in, especially when summoning something as powerful as a revenant. (cough cough) Very difficult to command something that's dead, yet still control of most of the skills they possessed in their old life. Too willful. Still I didn't think that even she would be insane enough to try something like this. Her obsession (cough) with you must be great indeed. I'm not even sure what she hoped to accomplish, other than more chaos and strife I suppose. Hmm, well I guess that does sound like a svelk." "All I know is she deliberately set this up. Her standing over me as if she was my savior. I'm not fucking fooled! Next time I see her, she's dead!" "Well unfortunately Miss Semra D'vessa has fled the Empire and who knows where she's gone. There aren't even many svelk mercs within borders of the Empire anymore. There still might be a few in Rask, (cough cough) if you'd like I could make that law to have all svelk executed on sight. Hell, I think I'll do that anyway. Someone needs to take the blame for this and it'll certainly make the citizens happy to have mass hangings of dark elves. I know the elves will love it." While the Emperor's attempts to cheer you up with small acts of genocide are kind, you begin to feel the need to be by yourself. Your silence and your eyes looking downward are all the signs that the Emperor needs to take his leave. "Don't worry son. We'll get her." He says and then leaves you to your solitude. You sit in bed for a long time trying to take everything in. Alison is gone. You'll never see her smile, you'll never feel her touch, you'll never hear her voice, you'll never enjoy anything involving her ever again. You almost feel like you don't want to go on living and you never thought you'd ever feel something like that especially since survival has been beat and ingrained into your very being. That isn't the worst of it though. You didn't even get revenge on the one that killed her. In fact her assassin would've killed you as well if you hadn't been saved, but that's still not the worst of it. Semra…Mistress…svelk bitch…whatever you call her. She saved your life. As far as you're concerned that's the worst of it. However you'll get over it and grow stronger from this experience. You always do. All it takes is time. > Year 35 While you've never been excessively fond of these important meetings because they take you away from the battlefield, you like them even less nowadays due to having to see the Emperor in such a weakened state. You remember when he first started displaying the signs of being unwell; you dismissed it and thought that he'd eventually get better. Five years have passed since you found out and he's only gotten worse. He barely gets out of bed anymore. Most of these important meetings take place while he remains horizontal under his blankets. He's still mobile, but he tries to conserve his strength for when it's necessary. He's never even told you what it is that's causing his decline, though you've never thought to ask. (And Jacob certainly hasn't) It may just be old age finally catching up with him which means there is nothing that can be done hence why he doesn't bother bringing it up. Its funny how when you first met him that he looked so healthy. You thought he was immortal despite him telling you that he really wasn't. Now you know he wasn't just being humble. You and Jacob have been doing your best as usual in carrying out his most important orders. Though today the order is given specifically to you. You have to go meet with Marik. Marik's been running a secret experiment for the last sixteen years and says that its finally ready. The Emperor knew about it and actually told him to abandon it on more than one occasion, but Marik insisted that it would be a good idea, so the Emperor relented as long as it didn't interfere with project that would be of a more direct benefit for the Empire. When you arrive at Marik's underground lab, he takes you through a metal door that opens up to a platformed level, which overlooks a huge room. It's nearly the size of a small hamlet you think. There are several ladders that descend down to the lower level which contain translucent containers all hooked up with tubing and connected with each other and large strange machines. Even from this distance you can make out figures floating in liquid within the containers. This experiment: Breeding a new army of Eternals. The derro has been growing them in these tanks. Literally hundreds, possibly even a thousand. "So…this is what you were hiding behind this metal door when I came here over ten years ago. Knew something else was going on." You say as you stand on a balcony overlooking all the rows of tanks. Unlike you and your siblings these Eternals were practically "made." From your understanding they went from some woman's womb to the tank immediately. (You can only hazard a guess what might've become of the mothers, but nothing good no doubt) From there they've been getting "grown" into the perfect soldiers. Marik has explained to you the "science" of what he's done, but some of it is going over your head. Personally you don't even think Marik understands all of it himself, he just believes it all works. While Marik did use human babies for this second generation of Eternals most would probably tell you that there isn't anything human about them. Given what's been said about you as well you can't really disagree. You are better than the average or even above average human in every way. You watch as two of them are released from their tanks, already teenagers and able to understand everything that is told to them. They're given weapons and display great skill with them when ordered to fight each other. Probably just as good as most Empire soldiers. Still, there's something about these Eternals that doesn't sit right with you. Maybe its because Marik was involved and that his experiments can be hit or miss. Maybe its because you feel that without the experiences of training they don't truly know what its like to struggle and earn their place. Whatever the reason, you don't feel like they are Eternals. As little in common as you have with your own siblings you still feel a small bond there. You have nothing in common with these tank babies. They're something else as far as you're concerned. However, none of this matters. What does matter is if these so called new Eternals are going to actually be an asset to the Empire. From what you've seen they aren't without skill, but they're going to need to be field tested along with drilling the concepts of loyalty and duty into them. "Sure, they look pretty, but can they fight?" you say after seeing the demonstration. This annoys Marik. He starts sputtering and stammering to the point where you think he's going to go into a seizure. "You just SAW what they're capable of! How can you even say such a thing?" "Yes, they were okay for children. I suppose we can find a place for them somewhere. Perhaps we can…" "Bah! You're just jealous!" Marik interrupts. "Excuse me? Jealous?" you ask. "Yes! They're already the perfect warriors and didn't need any training at all! They didn't need all the hand holding nonsense that you had to go through to become a killing machine. Face it, these Eternals are the future!" You stare at Marik in disbelief that he dares to say such a thing to you. To his credit, Marik doesn't back down, he stares back at you, ignoring your eyes burning through him. "You can give me that stare of death all you want Eternal." Marik remarks. "Alright…open up ten of the tanks. Let's put them to a real test." "What? So you can incinerate them with your magic?" "If they're truly as good as you claim then my advantages shouldn't matter, but since you seem to be unsure of your creations now. I'll make it easy for you. Open up twenty of the tanks and I won't use one damn cantrip." Marik starts making that annoying high pitched laugh you hate so much then he suddenly gets very serious. "Were you planning on fighting them right now?" Marik asks. "While I'm sure watching me slaughtering twenty naked teenagers would prove my point, I said I was going to make this easy. No, you go equip your twenty creations with whatever armor and weapons you wish. I'll wait." You wait as Marik orders twenty tanks opened up and has a few of his derro friends herd these children into another room presumably to get outfitted. Marik soon follows behind to oversee personally. While you wait, you reflect on the fact that they're all the same age as you were when you first got to meet the Emperor. It was one of the greatest days of your life when that happened. This happy moment passes very quickly when you have to dwell on the fact that the Emperor is now on his deathbed. You have no idea what's going to happen when the inevitable happens. Sometimes you look at the Emperor now and you wonder if that is what you have to look forward to when you get old. Is that the fate of everyone? No matter how powerful? What's the point of it all? Will the Empire even survive when the Emperor dies? He doesn't have a successor. You have often wondered if you would be it, but he's never mentioned it. Even if you were, you can't imagine ever doing the job better or even as well than he could. Leading armies is one thing, but an entire nation? You don't know if you'd have the patience for it. You're a soldier not a ruler and yet you couldn't dream of serving any other ruler except the one you think of as father. Your mood starts getting worse because you also start dwelling on less pleasant aspects of your sixteenth year before you met the Emperor. It always comes back to her. Why the hell can't you get her out of your head? Even now the woman hasn't been seen in three years and yet she still comes back to fucking torment you. Alison's dead, the Emperor's dying, these new "eternals" are obviously meant to replace you, your own future is uncertain, Semra still haunts your thoughts… At this point you wonder if it wouldn't just be best if you let these damn tank babies kill you. It would at least be a warrior's death and you'd die when the Empire was going through a second golden age of sorts. You had some good times and saw several major threats to the Empire destroyed. Why stick around to see a man you have nothing but respect for continue to whither and die? Why see the potential slow decline of a nation you spent all your life trying to keep from the brink of chaos? Maybe it is time to step aside gracefully and be replaced… > You continue your duty Sometimes the most dangerous enemy you can have is the one in the mirror. You quickly snap out of your defeatism. All this self doubt and self-pity is for weaklings. What would the Emperor say if he knew? What would Alison say? You were trained better than that. You don't have time to worry about a potential future; you have a duty to serve the Empire. And right now part of that job is to test these tank babies. The only death you should be focusing on right now is theirs. Doesn't take long before twenty tank babies along with the other two that were involved in the first demonstration come out fully decked out in armor and weapons. Surprisingly the derro didn't deck them all out in the heaviest body encasing armor they could give them, though there are at least half of them dressed in such a manner. You can't help notice that the derro didn't limit their weapons to close combat, you see some with firearms. "Well here they are. The future of the Empire. I imagine you'll want to…" Marik says and then he realizes what you're doing… "Lying bastard! Get out of the way NOW!" he shouts and runs back into the room they just came out of and slams the door. The tank babies don't entirely understand, but they soon do when you cast a bolt of chain lightning at the lot of them. The lightning arc easily fries the tank babies in the metal armor, even the ones dressed less conductive material are standing so close they suffer the shock as well. Combine this with the gunpowder weapons and you even get a couple of small explosions which take out a few of them. After you're done with the spell a couple of them are crawling away desperately trying to find cover or escape. Bodies lie on the floor still sizzling and charred from your attack. You walk over to the carnage and put your sword through the chest of one still struggling to breathe. You stomp on the neck of another who is cursing you. Another one actually begs you for mercy; you show none when you hack the top of his head off. As you continue to check the twenty two bodies for signs of life, Marik finally emerges from behind the door along with some of the other derro. "Thought the derro didn't fear death." You remark. "We don't, but we're not supposed to be the fucking targets today! You lied Eternal! You told me you weren't going to use magic!" 'Actually I think my exact words were I wasn't going to use a single cantrip, and I didn't use a cantrip." "Bah! Trickery!" "I prefer to think of it as outmaneuvering your opponents assumptions. This was not a battle of honor. I have nothing to prove to these children and even less to you. I went into battle against superior numbers, I'd be a damned fool to not use all of the tools of killing that I have at my disposal. Whenever you go into a combat situation, you ALWAYS use whatever means to destroy your enemy. Fair play, rules and honor have nothing to do with any of it." "Hm, well you don't need to tell me about it." Marik responds. "I wasn't telling you, I was teaching this important lesson to this young girl here, trying to play dead." You say suddenly grabbing the collar of one of the female tank babies. You lift her up by the collar and can smell the singed flesh and leather wafting from her body. She can barely keep her eyes open, but she's definitely still alive. She's the only one that is. "Now heed this lesson tank baby. You are NOT an Eternal. Nor are any of your siblings. You will NEVER be Eternals as long as I live. You only exist to serve the Empire and if you die in the process you will be grateful to do so. Remember this." You say as you grab her face to look into her eyes. You see the fear. She understands. Good. You let the tank baby go and she falls back to the floor while you address Marik. "I believe I'm going to have trainer come in to teach these children properly. I'd do it myself, but I don't have the time. Perhaps another Eternal like Brenda or Warrick can do it. Oh and make that one on the floor a squad or platoon leader of some sort. She obviously was strong enough to survive. She at least shows potential. Finally give them a different name as well. I don't care what, but I meant what I said, they are not Eternals." "And you think you can presume to give me orders surfacer?" Marik says. "I don't presume nothing, I'm doing it right now! I was given orders by the Emperor himself to handle this the way I saw fit! And I'm telling you WHAT I want done! You don't like it? Well, I can always go report to the Emperor about your unwillingness to follow the chain of command, unless you'd actually like to go see him yourself that is. Tell me when was the last time you actually took time out of your schedule to do that? While you sit around down here playing with your toys and walking experiments, I'm actually out there making a damn difference and serving the Emperor with ever fiber of my being!" "Now listen here you fucking sun lover, I knew the man BEFORE he was the Emperor! We fought side by side together during the Troll Wars! I saved his life and he saved mine! You have no damn idea the bond WE share. You can't tell me shit about how I should or shouldn't act and you damn sure can't tell me that I'm not helping the Empire! I'M HIS FUCKING FRIEND!" "Friend? So what have you done for him lately?" "Done? DONE? I just made a legion of soldiers for him, you little kobold shit!" You look over the tank baby bodies lying dead all over the place. You look at the female one unconscious on the floor and shake your head. "Yeah, as I said, what have you done for him lately? Maybe he's your friend, but he's my father. I'm not debating this anymore Marik." You say and take your leave. Marik begins yelling at you in his deep guttural derro language. A slew of curses and other insults fly out of his mouth. While you're semi-familiar with the derro language you can't make out all of them. They're probably pretty vicious though. Either way you're hardly concerned, Marik will follow orders because he respects the chain of command and as he said he is the Emperor's friend. The other reason is because he probably won't even be angry in another ten minutes. He'll probably be cackling about some joke he made up in his head. You've had a lot to ponder this day. You were once concerned about the future of the Empire and your own, but you see now that both will continue on even after the Emperor dies. You still have that zest of life within you and you are not ready or willing to just stand aside yet. You've come to the decision that when the Emperor dies you will be the one to take his place. While he's never said it, he doesn't have to, it's just a situation that's understood between a father and son. Still, you think you need to discuss this matter at some point with your father so that he knows that his legacy will live on after him and you will continue to make him proud. In the meantime you make your way back to the capital and the palace to report to him. What comes next is a bit of a shock. "F…father?" you ask. "Yes, its me son. I believe that's the first time you've called me that." The Emperor says standing before you. He looks exactly like he did when you first met him; in fact he even looks a little younger. A fit fortyish man dressed in fine clothing. You just continue to stare in disbelief. "Ah, yes this. I suppose this would be a bit puzzling. As you well know I haven't been feeling one hundred percent for oh…about five years now. Had to conserve my strength and power quite a bit to reinvigorate myself. This state I'm in right now isn't going to last very long, but it'll be enough for where I'm going." "What? Where are you going?" "Home. And you'll be coming with me." "I will?" "Of course! This will be a momentous occasion when I return home and your presence will be necessary just as it has been here in the Empire!" "Forgive me father, but I'm a little lost right now. What is going to happen to the Empire and where is home?" "Nothing will happen to the Empire son, it can survive a couple days or so without us around I should think. We'll let Jacob worry about it! Hah! As for my home? Well it's very very far away. It's an island to be exact. You can't get there by any ship though…at least not any more. But you don't need to worry about that, I know how to get us there. All you need to do is take a day to relax and prepare yourself for the journey." This is all so overwhelming you don't even know where to start or what to say so you just ask the first question that comes to mind and something you thought was inevitable. "Father, are you going home to die?" "Die?" the Emperor says and then walks over to you. "No son, I'm going home to be reborn!" he says and then laughs slapping you on the shoulder. "I'm sorry son if I worried you, what with me coughing all the damn time and dragging my ass around like a dead man. (Sigh) We probably should've taken this trip sooner, but we still had to finish off those damn gnomes now didn't we? Plus I wasn't sure if it was going to be necessary yet and then you got married, then Semra's bullshit, it just seemed like stuff kept cropping up. Well now is the perfect time for us to take this trip. I bet you're glad though now that you know I won't be dying anytime soon." "Yeah…" you answer The Emperor goes on to say that your report on Marik's experiment can wait since this trip is much more important. He then tells you that should go rest up and to meet him here tomorrow. You agree and take your leave. As you make your way to your private quarters in the palace, you don't know what to think now. You were so certain that the Emperor was dying. After years of denying it you at last came to accept it. You were ready to take his place. Part of you feels relieved that the Emperor is going to live. Part of you feels confused about this whole situation. And then there's that part of you that feels cheated. That part of you that wishes the Emperor was still lying on his deathbed. You think back to what you said to Marik, YOU'VE been the one out there doing things for the Empire. YOU'VE been the one destroying its enemies and keeping it stable. What the hell has the Emperor been doing? Giving orders from his easy chair? Ranting about gnomes? Lying in his bed hacking up a lung? You should be running the Empire not him. "I can't believe I'm thinking this. What is wrong with me? This man is my father!" You whisper to yourself. You didn't want to "step aside" for those tank babies because your time wasn't up. Why should the Emperor step aside for you? You begin to feel deeply ashamed of your thoughts While you're having your moral quandary, Jacob is standing outside your quarters. "We need to talk." He says. > The reveal... Jacob and you enter your room. Jacob looks almost as bad as the Emperor once did. He hasn't been the same since Roldan died, but he's also been overworked since the Emperor has been sick. The man is in his late sixties, but nowadays he looks more like he's in his late eighties. The stress has been taking a toll. "Jacob, I really hope this is important because I've got a lot going through my mind right now." You say. "I'm sure you do, but you'll have a lot more after you hear what I have to say. Though after you hear it you might just decide to kill me instead, but that's a risk I'll just have to take." "Can't be anything worse than anything I haven't thought myself today." You say. "I highly doubt that, but I just want you to at least hear me out before you make a decision." You sit down and nod telling Jacob to go ahead. "Okay. I know you just came from a meeting with the Emperor and his revitalized condition. I'm also guessing he told you to that he wants you to go back home with him." "Yes." You reply. "Do you know where his original home is?" "He said it was a very far away island that couldn't even be reached by a boat. That was about it." "Figures he'd be cryptic. His home is Mortos, an island of necromancers. It's not a well-known place to the average person. Most that have heard of it just believe it's a myth, but it exists." "What?" "The Emperor is a necromancer. I mean it makes sense doesn't it? How else would he have the knowledge to extend his life for so long?" "Okay, so what?" "You are aware of what necromancers do don't you?" "I'm aware of the branch of magic. Most just believe it's about raising the dead, but it deals with life force in general. Healing mages use it all time at a cost of course. Only the strongest of wizards can use the art, let alone master it. Hence why there aren't many around and why stories about necromancers creeping about graveyards raising armies of undead horrors are mostly reserved for parents trying to scare their children." You say. Jacob gets a little frustrated at your apathy at this revelation. "Perhaps I'm not making myself clear enough…the Emperor is a necromancer. Roldan was KILLED by a revenant. YOUR WIFE was KILLED by a revenant." That got your attention. You stand up and Jacob can't help but step back even though he knows you'd easily catch him if he tried to run. "You're treading on very thin ice Jacob." "Believe me I'm well aware." "Then you must also be aware that you sound crazier than Marik right now. What you're implying doesn't even make sense." "Why not? It does if you really think about it." "Semra was responsible for my wife's death and Roldan's death! She is also a powerful sorceress that is more than capable of raising the dead!" "Yes, and she's also a perfect patsy for your wrath. The Emperor wanted you to think it was her, but it wasn't. Think man, even if she did have your wife killed why would she bother having Roldan killed? She had no grudge. There was no profit in it. Chaos for the sake of chaos? Not Semra's style and you know it. That woman didn't do anything without purpose even if she was chaotic about it at times. Besides if she REALLY wanted to kill your wife, she would've just done it herself." You think back to when Alison told you she met Semra face to face and entertain Jacob's theory. "Even if Semra wasn't responsible, why would the Emperor have Roldan and Alison killed?" "Because of you. It's all because of you." "Me? How? Why?" "(Sigh) It's a very long and complex plot. I've only been piecing some of it together myself. I'll try to tell you what I know." Jacob starts off by explaining that it all goes back to your birth and the Eternal Project. You and all of your "siblings" were picked for it for a reason. You weren't just to become super soldiers for the Empire. One of you was going to be chosen to be the new vessel for the Emperor, but only if that Eternal showed promise. Apparently you did. Jacob explains that while the chosen needed to be a great warrior with magical skill and be put to the test, the Emperor didn't want to risk your life excessively, hence why he initially wanted to keep you out of very heavy fighting. Also he didn't want any of the potential vessels to complicate things by potentially producing offspring so sterility was something that ensured during your "enhancement" period as a baby. You were a perfect soldier that was utterly loyal, so much so that you saw the Emperor as your father. Then Alison came along. Alison was the only other person that you had a close relationship with and that distracted you from your duty. Or more precisely, it made your loyalties potentially divided. The Emperor couldn't take a chance with another person turning your devotion elsewhere or corrupting his influence over you so she had to die. The assassination of Roldan was just a simple matter of taking out a potential future rival. Roldan's fame was at least as much as your own, and he was probably better liked. Even if Roldan was loyal, the Emperor couldn't take a chance of another potential domestic rebellion with a charismatic leader. Jacob also believes that the Emperor also just did it out of mean spiritedness since he knew how proud Jacob was of Roldan. On top of everything else he could lay all the blame on Semra. Jacob isn't sure exactly how the Emperor plans to transfer himself into your body, but given that it involves a trip to the island of Mortos, he's sure it can't be good and that you as a person will cease to be so that the Emperor can continue his immortal reign. While this is all very interesting from a conspiracy point of view, you aren't convinced. "So are you seriously telling me the Emperor has been molding me into some container that is to be filled? You're telling me that this man who I see as my father and treats me as his son has been lying to me from the beginning about everything? Even if this were the case and I highly doubt it is, HOW do you know all this? What evidence do you have?" Jacob at this point is extremely nervous. "I…I have no hard evidence. I mean I've seen a few private writings, but I dared not to take them." "So what you're telling me is that you've been snooping into the Emperor's privacy and can't even back up your accusations." "No! I also have another person who can back up these facts! She…" You stop Jacob. "She? Jacob, I really hope you aren't talking about who I think you're talking about." Jacob ignores your warning and blurts out what he has to say as quickly as he can. "Look, I pieced together some of the assassination myself, but Semra told me about the true purpose of the Eternal Project. But this isn't about just you. This is about a potential danger of world proportions! The Emperor isn't just a ruler seeking everlasting life; Semra says he has a more sinister agenda that he's been planning for centuries and given that I've recently learned his original homeland is Mortos I'm inclined to believe her." "Believe Semra? Really? Then you're a damn fool along with being a traitor! Just how long have you been in contact with Semra? WHERE IS SHE?!" you ask and slam Jacob against the wall. "Please…I'm telling you the truth! I'm no traitor! I'm loyal to the Empire first and foremost and I see the Emperor's actions as something that will harm it in the long run! The Emperor needs to be stopped, whatever it is he has planned. You can't go to Mortos with him! You have to kill him!" "I'll kill YOU for speaking such treason!" and begin squeezing Jacob's neck. "(Sigh) I told you this wasn't going to work Jacob. He's too hopelessly brainwashed to listen. Not even the death of his beloved Alison will cause him to believe that the Emperor means him ill. I guess I should've just killed him long ago, but as they say love makes you do stupid things." You turn around and see Semra. You don't think, you just lunge, only to pass through Semra and crash into some furniture. Its not really Semra, its just a magic projection of some sort. "I suppose I should be flattered that you still want to get your hands on me." Semra remarks. "After I'm done killing Jacob, I'm going to find and kill you, bitch." You say getting back up. "I'm sure, but I don't have much time so I'm going to make this brief. Unlike our sniveling associate over there, I'm not going to appeal to your logic or reason, because its always been hampered by your warped sense of mindless duty. I'm going to appeal to your sense of desire and survival, because despite your warped sense of mindless duty, you can't suppress those." You draw your weapon and walk past Semra's image to butcher Jacob who pleads with you to spare his life. "Okay here it is, you WANT to kill the Emperor. You WANT to rule the Empire. Don't tell me you haven't thought about it. I know your desires better than anyone else. Even if the Emperor isn't planning on taking your body as his own and is going to just rejuvenate himself in some other way, why would you still want that? Isn't it time for him to accept his demise and step aside for someone else? Who better than you? Are you truly happy just surviving and serving like a drone or are you going to finally step up and take what is rightfully yours? You've already had a major hand in expanding the Empire and holding it together, why not take the next natural step?" You stop yourself from killing Jacob and turn back to Semra. "You don't have to like me, you don't have to believe me, just listen to me lover. I've always known what's best for you. Kill the Emperor now while he's at his weakest, there has never been a better time. You were born to rule. Its in your blood, its in your heart, its in your soul. Seize your potential and do what's meant to be." Semra says. With Jacob's damning accusations and Semra's words appealing to your ambitious aspirations, you now don't know what to do. Should you dismiss everything they say as lies and stay loyal or should you not take any chances with your own survival and kill the Emperor regardless of reasons? > You serve There's no way you'd ever murder your father least of all over allegations from Semra and Jacob. None of this makes any damn sense anyway. Semra's lying and trying to manipulate you as usual. She's taken her treachery to its next logical level, attempting to overthrow the Emperor. As for Jacob, the man is just a weak willed traitor that's easily fooled by her lies. He's also probably harboring a petty grudge for the countless times the Emperor scolded him for his incompetence. Without another word you turn back to Jacob and quickly run him through. He looks at you with a mixture of pain and surprise as if he really though Semra's words would reach you. He makes a slow groaning sound as the life drains from him. Meanwhile Semra's image continues to look on at you shaking her head. "And now your subservience is complete. I believe I really am truly done with you now. I've tried to always make you see the truth, but you continue to insist on remaining ignorant. Even when you betrayed me with your little monkey shield maiden by marrying her I at least knew you weren't completely a tool for the Emperor. I knew you at least had a modicum of free will and your own mind even if it was lost on some crude human trollop. Now? I can see I was just wasting my time and at your core, you'll always be a mindless drone longing only to serve" "Enjoy your taunts now Semra, because you won't have time to run off at the mouth when I'm cutting out your tongue." "Chances are this will be the last time we ever see each other. Enjoy your trip to Mortos, perhaps there you will finally see the truth. Of course by that time it'll be too late, but at last you will see it. Goodbye Eternal." Semra's magical projection disappears and you're left alone in your quarters with Jacob's dead body. After a bit of clean up, you go back to see the Emperor. "Hello son, is something wrong? You're a bit early for our trip." He remarks. You explain everything that just happened about Jacob and Semra. "Can't trust anyone these days can you? I mean Semra, I knew she'd pop up again trying to cause trouble, but Jacob? The man could be so timid at times, though sometimes those are the ones you have to watch right? Still, I can't believe he'd be foolish enough to actually try to talk you into siding against me. Guess Semra's lies were good enough to convince even him, not you though it seems." The Emperor replies. You don't respond. Despite the fact that you've dismissed what was told you as lies, you can't help but wonder. "I see… I guess maybe their words did convince you more than you're letting on. So what is it that's troubling you exactly?" "Everything I suppose. I don't even know where to begin and I know I shouldn't even be entertaining anything that Semra says, but…(Sigh) Semra said something that I DO know to be true. She said that I harbored a desire to kill you and take over the Empire." "And is that what you want to do?" "No! You're my father. Other than Alison, you're the only person in this world that's always been there for me. I owe you a debt that can never be repaid other than my everlasting loyalty and servitude. However, I can't deny there have been moments where I've felt negative feelings towards you. Granted they've been very fleeting, but they've become more frequent lately. As much as I don't like it, Semra does know me and if she told the truth about that, then I can't help but wonder if she has told the truth about other things as well." "Well the best liars do mix the truth with their lies. Svelk do it better than most and Semra is definitely a master. First of all with Mortos, I do intend on rejuvenating myself, but I need your help because you're the only other person with magical aptitude that I trust and I'll need your sword arm as well. Let's just say when I left, it wasn't on good terms and my return may be met with hostility." "Why didn't you tell me that before?" "I'll admit I probably should've told you about my former homeland a long time ago. Honestly, I didn't because its partly because I have my own feelings of shame tied to that place. Yes, there are things in my past I do regret. Not many, but what happened there is definitely one. Which bring me to one of your other concerns and believe me son; I had nothing to do with the murder of your wife. It is true I didn't approve, but that was just because I've had my own experiences with love and loss and didn't want you potentially going through the same pain. Pain that is greater than any wound that could come from a battlefield as I'm sure you know." You nod silently in agreement and the Emperor continues. "That lost love of mine you might even say is one of my other regrets. You are special. Unique even. Its what makes someone like you or me powerful. But it's also something that makes us doomed to follow a lonely solitary path. I knew that long ago, but I also knew you had to experience it first hand, so I let you do your own thing. Who knows though, if it hadn't been for Semra, you may very well have had a long happy marriage or you may have grown out of love due to unforeseen differences. I know this is of very little consolation, but at least your Alison died knowing you loved her and she loved you. A lot better than what I experienced…but that's a tale for another time." The Emperor's words make you feel a little better now that he's explained himself and defended his position a bit. Still, he didn't address your last concern. "And what of my other fear?" "Oh, yes that. Your hidden desire to kill and replace me. Heh heh. Well I'm not too worried, not because I don't think you couldn't do it, but rather because that feeling is probably no different to what all children have felt towards their parents since the beginning of time. You're not always going to think positive things about me, nor would I expect you to. As you said, Semra does know you and she just played upon your emotions. She forgot though, I also know you and I know you would never willingly harm me in any way. If you did hold that desire, you would've never killed Jacob and told me all this. You would've came busting down the door and challenging me instead. And you certainly wouldn't have been troubled about your feelings over it." Funny how the Emperor can make everything seem okay with just a few words. Maybe that's why he's right about you and that's why he knows you'd never kill him. With this last concern put somewhat at ease, you feel much more at ease. You have to ask though… "Are Eternals really unable to have children?" "Yes. An unfortunate side effect of your enhancement I'm afraid. Another regret I suppose. I do not know if you ever desired to have offspring with Alison, but if you did, you have my everlasting apologies." With this last piece of information the matter is now at rest or at least you feel less apprehensive about going to Mortos now. The Emperor says that with Jacob's death he's going to have to promote another bean counter, but that it can wait until you get back. "The Empire isn't going to suddenly collapse just because its ruler and second are gone for a day or so." "But who's technically in charge then?" you ask "Good question. I suppose Marik!" The Emperor laughs. The next morning you meet the Emperor in one of his preparation rooms where you used to practice the magic that he taught you. It is there you see a large glowing blue portal and the Emperor standing right next to it. He looks tired. "Glad you're here, I'm anxious to make this trip. Whew. I really should've had you help me open up this portal; I underestimated how taxing it would be. No matter. Are you ready?" "I suppose so, but is there anything I should really expect? I mean will there be a horde of undead horrors? Will there be ghosts trying to attack my mind? Will there be creatures as powerful like the one I faced during my wife's murder?" "I wish I could give you better information, but I don't have any since I myself haven't been there in centuries. I can only suggest to be prepared for all of the above. Though I will say there probably won't be something like a revenant there. Unlike Semra, the necromancers of Mortos have enough sense to not go around creating powerful free willed undead. Well, usually anyway. You probably should just stick close to me the whole time; Mortos can be pretty unfriendly to the living." "Well I would imagine so." "No, I don't just mean the undead roaming about, I'm talking about the very land itself. The entire island feeds on life energy, you step in the wrong area and you could suddenly find yourself transformed into a thousand year old skeleton. As you might expect the population's life expectancy isn't exactly a long one save for the necromancers." "Wait, there are living people that exist on the island?" "Sure. Quite a lot of them. Mostly in magically protected enclaves thanks to the necromancers. Mostly humans, but eh…I'd hesitate to call a lot of them that anymore. Let's just say living in an area filled with undead tends to make people either very pragmatic or bat shit insane or both." "So they're basically tall derro that live on the surface?" "Ha ha ha! Yes, I suppose is some ways they might be." With this little joke to lighten a potentially very grim trip, you and the Emperor enter the portal. Before you know it your surroundings are very different. All around you land is dead. Dead trees, rocks, barren soil, cracked ground. Everything has a gray looking appearance mostly due to the unnatural sky. Its not night, its not day, its just a dull gray and you get the impression its always this way. On top of all this you have no idea where the Emperor is. He isn't by your side and you'd start to worry, if you suddenly didn't hear his voice in your head. "Son? Are you there?" "Yes. I'm here. Where are you?" "I'm at the location. I'm communicating to you psychically since my powers are enhanced here. Blasted portal still didn't work properly though. I'm sorry son, but you're going to have to walk over here. Your destination is a small isolated temple; you won't miss it if you keep walking west from your location. You aren't too far, but you're going to have to walk through one of those inhabited settlements I was talking about earlier. Be on your guard. I'd tell you to go around it, but there's a lot of harmful energy in the area. I wouldn't want you to step into a negative zone. I'd also keep in contact with you, but I believe I'm about to be attacked by the guardians of this temple. Seems they upgraded the defenses since I was here last time. I can handle it, but do try to hurry." Acknowledging the Emperor's directions, you begin heading to the west You haven't been here a few minutes and you start to understand what the Emperor was talking about as far as it being unfriendly to the living. You can feel a slight loss not just of endurance, or even mental fatigue, but almost like hope and zest. Like the place is slowly telling you lay down and die. While it's certainly not a pleasant feeling, after years of mind fuckery from Semra, you're more than capable of shrugging off the effects. Eventually you stand on the outskirts of a small deteriorating village. You don't see anyone about at first, but then you do notice a few figures peeking out from the windows of nearby houses. Since your presence is most likely already known; you figure the best bet is to just run through as quickly as you can. You pass by several houses and begin to hear a combination of hisses, snarls and howls. Eventually the figures that you've glimpsed start to make their appearance and pour out of their homes. They look worse than you imagined. All of them have a sickly appearance with either grayish or yellowish skin and wearing either tattered rags or in some cases nothing at all. Deformities plague most of them; some have missing limbs or extra ones in the wrong places. Unsurprisingly they begin screaming at you in whatever bizarre language they speak and give chase. You don't get unnerved too often about dangerous situations, but the combination of their disfigurements, their numbers, the unnatural sounds they make and how they lope after you is a bit unsettling. You need to stop or at least slow them down quickly. > You cast a lightning blast You attempt to stop the horde chasing you by casting a lightning strike at it. It fries a couple outright, but the chain lightning effect isn't as effective as you'd like since none are wearing anything conductive and they aren't even slowed down, let alone stopped. If anything they now seem to be more charged up (literally!) and excited. Not having any more time to cast something else, you turn and run. As you run through the village more of them are coming out their homes ahead of you. Several of the inhabitants attempt to grab you and while you manage to chop them up, they slow you down enough that the bulk of them chasing you catch up. Dozens of the damn things gibbering, slobbering, laughing and howling in your ear as you try to get free of their clutches. Several misshaped hands attempt to pull you down and deprive you of your weapon. Teeth sink into your armor and some even manage to find exposed bits of flesh. You fight the best you can and slay several of the creature, but for every one you kill it seems like two more take its place. Things don't get any batter when another large group of the creatures come from the direction you were originally running towards show up as reinforcements. The sheer numbers are bad enough, but what's really making things worse is the slight drain of your energy from the very air of this accursed place. Several of you fingers are bitten off, your armor is stripped off and eventually the creatures manage pile on you so much that you fall to the ground. In your last moments you scream out for the Emperor to help you, but nobody arrives and the creatures finish eating you alive.

There's no way you'd ever murder your father least of all over allegations from Semra and Jacob. None of this makes any damn sense anyway. Semra's lying and trying to manipulate you as usual. She's taken her treachery to its next logical level, attempting to overthrow the Emperor. As for Jacob, the man is just a weak willed traitor that's easily fooled by her lies. He's also probably harboring a petty grudge for the countless times the Emperor scolded him for his incompetence. Without another word you turn back to Jacob and quickly run him through. He looks at you with a mixture of pain and surprise as if he really though Semra's words would reach you. He makes a slow groaning sound as the life drains from him. Meanwhile Semra's image continues to look on at you shaking her head. "And now your subservience is complete. I believe I really am truly done with you now. I've tried to always make you see the truth, but you continue to insist on remaining ignorant. Even when you betrayed me with your little monkey shield maiden by marrying her I at least knew you weren't completely a tool for the Emperor. I knew you at least had a modicum of free will and your own mind even if it was lost on some crude human trollop. Now? I can see I was just wasting my time and at your core, you'll always be a mindless drone longing only to serve" "Enjoy your taunts now Semra, because you won't have time to run off at the mouth when I'm cutting out your tongue." "Chances are this will be the last time we ever see each other. Enjoy your trip to Mortos, perhaps there you will finally see the truth. Of course by that time it'll be too late, but at last you will see it. Goodbye Eternal." Semra's magical projection disappears and you're left alone in your quarters with Jacob's dead body. After a bit of clean up, you go back to see the Emperor. "Hello son, is something wrong? You're a bit early for our trip." He remarks. You explain everything that just happened about Jacob and Semra. "Can't trust anyone these days can you? I mean Semra, I knew she'd pop up again trying to cause trouble, but Jacob? The man could be so timid at times, though sometimes those are the ones you have to watch right? Still, I can't believe he'd be foolish enough to actually try to talk you into siding against me. Guess Semra's lies were good enough to convince even him, not you though it seems." The Emperor replies. You don't respond. Despite the fact that you've dismissed what was told you as lies, you can't help but wonder. "I see… I guess maybe their words did convince you more than you're letting on. So what is it that's troubling you exactly?" "Everything I suppose. I don't even know where to begin and I know I shouldn't even be entertaining anything that Semra says, but…(Sigh) Semra said something that I DO know to be true. She said that I harbored a desire to kill you and take over the Empire." "And is that what you want to do?" "No! You're my father. Other than Alison, you're the only person in this world that's always been there for me. I owe you a debt that can never be repaid other than my everlasting loyalty and servitude. However, I can't deny there have been moments where I've felt negative feelings towards you. Granted they've been very fleeting, but they've become more frequent lately. As much as I don't like it, Semra does know me and if she told the truth about that, then I can't help but wonder if she has told the truth about other things as well." "Well the best liars do mix the truth with their lies. Svelk do it better than most and Semra is definitely a master. First of all with Mortos, I do intend on rejuvenating myself, but I need your help because you're the only other person with magical aptitude that I trust and I'll need your sword arm as well. Let's just say when I left, it wasn't on good terms and my return may be met with hostility." "Why didn't you tell me that before?" "I'll admit I probably should've told you about my former homeland a long time ago. Honestly, I didn't because its partly because I have my own feelings of shame tied to that place. Yes, there are things in my past I do regret. Not many, but what happened there is definitely one. Which bring me to one of your other concerns and believe me son; I had nothing to do with the murder of your wife. It is true I didn't approve, but that was just because I've had my own experiences with love and loss and didn't want you potentially going through the same pain. Pain that is greater than any wound that could come from a battlefield as I'm sure you know." You nod silently in agreement and the Emperor continues. "That lost love of mine you might even say is one of my other regrets. You are special. Unique even. Its what makes someone like you or me powerful. But it's also something that makes us doomed to follow a lonely solitary path. I knew that long ago, but I also knew you had to experience it first hand, so I let you do your own thing. Who knows though, if it hadn't been for Semra, you may very well have had a long happy marriage or you may have grown out of love due to unforeseen differences. I know this is of very little consolation, but at least your Alison died knowing you loved her and she loved you. A lot better than what I experienced…but that's a tale for another time." The Emperor's words make you feel a little better now that he's explained himself and defended his position a bit. Still, he didn't address your last concern. "And what of my other fear?" "Oh, yes that. Your hidden desire to kill and replace me. Heh heh. Well I'm not too worried, not because I don't think you couldn't do it, but rather because that feeling is probably no different to what all children have felt towards their parents since the beginning of time. You're not always going to think positive things about me, nor would I expect you to. As you said, Semra does know you and she just played upon your emotions. She forgot though, I also know you and I know you would never willingly harm me in any way. If you did hold that desire, you would've never killed Jacob and told me all this. You would've came busting down the door and challenging me instead. And you certainly wouldn't have been troubled about your feelings over it." Funny how the Emperor can make everything seem okay with just a few words. Maybe that's why he's right about you and that's why he knows you'd never kill him. With this last concern put somewhat at ease, you feel much more at ease. You have to ask though… "Are Eternals really unable to have children?" "Yes. An unfortunate side effect of your enhancement I'm afraid. Another regret I suppose. I do not know if you ever desired to have offspring with Alison, but if you did, you have my everlasting apologies." With this last piece of information the matter is now at rest or at least you feel less apprehensive about going to Mortos now. The Emperor says that with Jacob's death he's going to have to promote another bean counter, but that it can wait until you get back. "The Empire isn't going to suddenly collapse just because its ruler and second are gone for a day or so." "But who's technically in charge then?" you ask "Good question. I suppose Marik!" The Emperor laughs. The next morning you meet the Emperor in one of his preparation rooms where you used to practice the magic that he taught you. It is there you see a large glowing blue portal and the Emperor standing right next to it. He looks tired. "Glad you're here, I'm anxious to make this trip. Whew. I really should've had you help me open up this portal; I underestimated how taxing it would be. No matter. Are you ready?" "I suppose so, but is there anything I should really expect? I mean will there be a horde of undead horrors? Will there be ghosts trying to attack my mind? Will there be creatures as powerful like the one I faced during my wife's murder?" "I wish I could give you better information, but I don't have any since I myself haven't been there in centuries. I can only suggest to be prepared for all of the above. Though I will say there probably won't be something like a revenant there. Unlike Semra, the necromancers of Mortos have enough sense to not go around creating powerful free willed undead. Well, usually anyway. You probably should just stick close to me the whole time; Mortos can be pretty unfriendly to the living." "Well I would imagine so." "No, I don't just mean the undead roaming about, I'm talking about the very land itself. The entire island feeds on life energy, you step in the wrong area and you could suddenly find yourself transformed into a thousand year old skeleton. As you might expect the population's life expectancy isn't exactly a long one save for the necromancers." "Wait, there are living people that exist on the island?" "Sure. Quite a lot of them. Mostly in magically protected enclaves thanks to the necromancers. Mostly humans, but eh…I'd hesitate to call a lot of them that anymore. Let's just say living in an area filled with undead tends to make people either very pragmatic or bat shit insane or both." "So they're basically tall derro that live on the surface?" "Ha ha ha! Yes, I suppose is some ways they might be." With this little joke to lighten a potentially very grim trip, you and the Emperor enter the portal. Before you know it your surroundings are very different. All around you land is dead. Dead trees, rocks, barren soil, cracked ground. Everything has a gray looking appearance mostly due to the unnatural sky. Its not night, its not day, its just a dull gray and you get the impression its always this way. On top of all this you have no idea where the Emperor is. He isn't by your side and you'd start to worry, if you suddenly didn't hear his voice in your head. "Son? Are you there?" "Yes. I'm here. Where are you?" "I'm at the location. I'm communicating to you psychically since my powers are enhanced here. Blasted portal still didn't work properly though. I'm sorry son, but you're going to have to walk over here. Your destination is a small isolated temple; you won't miss it if you keep walking west from your location. You aren't too far, but you're going to have to walk through one of those inhabited settlements I was talking about earlier. Be on your guard. I'd tell you to go around it, but there's a lot of harmful energy in the area. I wouldn't want you to step into a negative zone. I'd also keep in contact with you, but I believe I'm about to be attacked by the guardians of this temple. Seems they upgraded the defenses since I was here last time. I can handle it, but do try to hurry." Acknowledging the Emperor's directions, you begin heading to the west You haven't been here a few minutes and you start to understand what the Emperor was talking about as far as it being unfriendly to the living. You can feel a slight loss not just of endurance, or even mental fatigue, but almost like hope and zest. Like the place is slowly telling you lay down and die. While it's certainly not a pleasant feeling, after years of mind fuckery from Semra, you're more than capable of shrugging off the effects. Eventually you stand on the outskirts of a small deteriorating village. You don't see anyone about at first, but then you do notice a few figures peeking out from the windows of nearby houses. Since your presence is most likely already known; you figure the best bet is to just run through as quickly as you can. You pass by several houses and begin to hear a combination of hisses, snarls and howls. Eventually the figures that you've glimpsed start to make their appearance and pour out of their homes. They look worse than you imagined. All of them have a sickly appearance with either grayish or yellowish skin and wearing either tattered rags or in some cases nothing at all. Deformities plague most of them; some have missing limbs or extra ones in the wrong places. Unsurprisingly they begin screaming at you in whatever bizarre language they speak and give chase. You don't get unnerved too often about dangerous situations, but the combination of their disfigurements, their numbers, the unnatural sounds they make and how they lope after you is a bit unsettling. You need to stop or at least slow them down quickly. > You cast a flame blast You take the logical approach that most things don't like fire and cast a few quick flame bolts at the horde. This works to a small degree in that it sets a few on fire and causes them to fall to the ground trying to put the flames out, which stops the momentum a bit as the non flaming "villagers" trip over the burning ones. As you run through the village more of them are coming out their homes ahead of you. Several of the inhabitants attempt to grab you, but you cut them down instead. They're tougher and stronger than they look and seemingly very resistant to the concept of pain. You sliced into the neck of one and the hideous thing actually began laughing. The end of the village is in sight and a little further in the distance you can see another structure, which you guess is the temple. Naturally your line of sight is quickly blocked by another horde of the villagers get in your way. With one group ahead and the other group still behind you, you'd actually be in danger of being trapped if you weren't the quick thinking one. You quickly climb up the side of one of the houses up to its roof. It isn't the climb that's difficult, but rather the fact that the house is in such terrible condition that part of it starts crumbling. You nearly fall through the rotting roof when you get to the top. The villagers howl and moan at you as you stand out of their reach, but they begin to correct that by trying to climb up as well. You lob a couple of fireballs into the horde, but that soon turns out to be a bit of a mistake as the blast back (along with burning villagers running around on fire) end up setting the house on fire along with others nearby it. The only way you're getting away from this madness is by rooftop jumping and hoping you don't fall through them. You make your escape across the rooftops while a raging inferno starts to slowly envelop other houses and will most likely burn down the whole cursed village. The villagers don't give up on you that easily, some of them actually make it up to the roofs as well and continue their pursuit, while the non burning ones start trying to pelt you with nearby stones. You get to the last house roof before you need to jump down and one of the bastards manages to grab you at the same time another hits you in the head with a rock. "Shit!" you utter as you fall off the roof taking the villager who grabbed your arm with you. With some quick moving you pull the villager so he lands on the ground first and all your weight lands on top of him. With your elbow in his neck when you both hit the ground you hear a satisfying snap. When you scramble to get up, you see that you're out of the village, but not out of danger. You cut down a few more of the villagers that have caught up with you and distance yourself from the damned place by running towards the temple which is looking much closer now. You expect the villagers to chase you all the way there, but they don't go much past the outskirts of their village, which continues to burn. Your journey to the temple isn't far, but it certainly starts to feel like it is. The closer you get to the temple the more you start feel the effects of the island's toxic environment. Soon each step is an effort and you can hardly concentrate on even walking towards the temple. "Give in…join ussssss…lay down…diiiiiiiiiiiiie…" you suddenly hear in your head. You hate these psychic spirit attacks. "NO! The Emperor will give me strength to carry out my mission!" you yell out and redouble your efforts to shake off the mind assault. Eventually you reach the temple and the signs of battle are very obvious here. You see one of the silver doors blown off the hinges. Several large bones lie strewn about and from the looks of it; these weren't from any ordinary skeleton. You also notice two ruined black statues on either side of the temple. While they have great large chunks missing from them, you notice that these statues resemble the ones the Emperor has just outside his chambers; they're just on a smaller scale. "Son? Is that you outside?" you hear the Emperor ask from within. "Yes, it's me. Are you okay?" you answer. "Yes! Just get in hear quickly, we don't have much time!" You enter the temple which actually isn't all that large inside. In fact it looks more like a shrine rather than a temple since the only thing inside is a small pedestal against the far wall. You see the Emperor who is holding an old looking book and he seems very excited. More excited than you've ever seen, even when all the gnomes were reportedly exterminated he wasn't this excited. You notice he's drawn several circles and symbols on the floor. "Good, good, you're here! We have to begin immediately! Step into that circle…no I mean that one!" he exclaims. "Erm, okay. You know I got attacked by a whole village of freaks?" "I'm sure you did. Probably ghouls. Generations of inbreeding and cannibalism tends to make folks insane and unfriendly to outsiders. Please, now we have to begin, they'll be here soon!" You step inside one of the circles and the Emperor steps into another one and obsessively fondles the book he has in his hand. "Who'll be here? The ghouls?" "No! The…nevermind, look I'll explain everything to you afterwards, but right now I have to concentrate and you will have to as well. Now begin this chant with me." The Emperor starts chanting and you try to follow along as best you can. The circles and symbols on the floor begin to glow. As much as you don't want to interrupt, you're a little lost on what exactly is going on. "Father, what is…" "Silence!" the Emperor screams and then you hear a second voice, but this one is from no spirit. "Casimir, is that you? I see you've finally returned. Always knew you would. Have you come back because you've seen the error of your ways or is this just a visit for a mad dash of power? Judging by the mess, I'd say the latter." You hear the voice shout from outside the temple. The Emperor suddenly looks very nervous. Worried even. You've never seen such an expression from him before. "Yes! It's me, Nicodemus! And you'll not be stopping me this time!" the Emperor shouts and then a red barrier materializes in the temple entryway. You see a robed figure walk up to it, but can't make out much more than that. "Casimir, you have to know this cheap trick isn't going to stop me. If you just let down the barrier we might be able to talk about this. " "Never! I wasn't deterred then, and I won't be deterred now! I have the book and after this rejuvenation ritual, you and the entire council won't be able to stop me from my destiny!" The Emperor shouts and starts making elaborate hand gestures. "Don't you think over six hundred centuries of this nonsense is long enough? You've had your fun and now its time to realize you need to act your damn age. Casimir I'm coming in and I assure you if you attack me, you will be destroyed this time." The Emperor ignores this threat and continues his spell. He begins to eminate a purple glow and you soon follow. "Am I supposed to have this purple glow?" you ask. "Shhh! It'll all be over soon. Just have to cast one last spell." The Emperor quickly says before beginning another spell. About this time the barrier disappears and an ancient looking man in a black robe steps in. He doesn't look very imposing, but it's pretty apparent he exudes great power. He completely ignores you and looks directly at the Emperor. Its one of disapproval, but there's no anger at all behind it. "Casimir, you have to know this isn't even necessary. If you desire immortality so much, you could've just stayed here to begin with, you could still stay here if you'd just recognize the error of your ways." The Emperor looks out the corner of his eye at Nicodemus, but doesn't stop his spell. Meanwhile Nicodemus now looks over at you and begins studying you. He then closes his eyes and lifts up his own hand while mumbling something. You have no idea what he's doing, but at this point you're starting to feel like you're genuinely threatened. The circle you're in will probably protect you, but he broke through the other barrier with ease. Who's to say he won't do the same with the circle? There's also the matter of risking ruining the elaborate ritual the Emperor is currently casting…which you're also starting to have separate concerns about. Semra's words: "You will learn the truth too late." begin to ring in your mind. > You defend yourself While the Emperor may or may not being lying to you, your immediate concern is Nicodemus. He's right in the room and casting a spell, if that isn't an indication of dire threat, you don't know what is. Summoning all your energy you unleash a double spray of frost at him in the hopes of freezing him into a block of ice. Its enough to interrupt him, but not for long. He merely turns his gaze towards you and you feel a sudden drain of your energy. Like when Cyrus was clutching your throat, but this is even faster. You fall to the floor instantly meanwhile the Emperor has to stop his own spell casting. "DAMN IT! You've ruined everything!" he shouts and casts some sort of green ray at Nicodemus. You crawl out of the way of the ensuing magic battle. You can't even see who is winning; you're just trying to get the hell out of the temple so you can gather your strength. The next few moments are a blur, though you manage to stand yourself up and make it to the doorway. You stagger outside and hear the final outcome of the battle. "Casimir, you've brought this fate upon yourself." Nicodemus remarks and this followed by a long scream. The sound of it gives you the shivers as it's an obvious sign the Emperor has lost his battle with Nicodemus and most certainly his life. You push past your lingering weakness and start running in a random direction, you don't get far when you suddenly feel that all encompassing drain again. At first you think its Nicodemus, but its something less personal. Its one of those negative zones that the Emperor mentioned, you just ran into one. His comment that stepping into one could instantly turn you into a thousand year skeleton isn't quite accurate. It takes you at least five minutes before something similar happens. The strange thing is you end up feeling every agonizing second of decomposition before you are no more.

You take the logical approach that most things don't like fire and cast a few quick flame bolts at the horde. This works to a small degree in that it sets a few on fire and causes them to fall to the ground trying to put the flames out, which stops the momentum a bit as the non flaming "villagers" trip over the burning ones. As you run through the village more of them are coming out their homes ahead of you. Several of the inhabitants attempt to grab you, but you cut them down instead. They're tougher and stronger than they look and seemingly very resistant to the concept of pain. You sliced into the neck of one and the hideous thing actually began laughing. The end of the village is in sight and a little further in the distance you can see another structure, which you guess is the temple. Naturally your line of sight is quickly blocked by another horde of the villagers get in your way. With one group ahead and the other group still behind you, you'd actually be in danger of being trapped if you weren't the quick thinking one. You quickly climb up the side of one of the houses up to its roof. It isn't the climb that's difficult, but rather the fact that the house is in such terrible condition that part of it starts crumbling. You nearly fall through the rotting roof when you get to the top. The villagers howl and moan at you as you stand out of their reach, but they begin to correct that by trying to climb up as well. You lob a couple of fireballs into the horde, but that soon turns out to be a bit of a mistake as the blast back (along with burning villagers running around on fire) end up setting the house on fire along with others nearby it. The only way you're getting away from this madness is by rooftop jumping and hoping you don't fall through them. You make your escape across the rooftops while a raging inferno starts to slowly envelop other houses and will most likely burn down the whole cursed village. The villagers don't give up on you that easily, some of them actually make it up to the roofs as well and continue their pursuit, while the non burning ones start trying to pelt you with nearby stones. You get to the last house roof before you need to jump down and one of the bastards manages to grab you at the same time another hits you in the head with a rock. "Shit!" you utter as you fall off the roof taking the villager who grabbed your arm with you. With some quick moving you pull the villager so he lands on the ground first and all your weight lands on top of him. With your elbow in his neck when you both hit the ground you hear a satisfying snap. When you scramble to get up, you see that you're out of the village, but not out of danger. You cut down a few more of the villagers that have caught up with you and distance yourself from the damned place by running towards the temple which is looking much closer now. You expect the villagers to chase you all the way there, but they don't go much past the outskirts of their village, which continues to burn. Your journey to the temple isn't far, but it certainly starts to feel like it is. The closer you get to the temple the more you start feel the effects of the island's toxic environment. Soon each step is an effort and you can hardly concentrate on even walking towards the temple. "Give in…join ussssss…lay down…diiiiiiiiiiiiie…" you suddenly hear in your head. You hate these psychic spirit attacks. "NO! The Emperor will give me strength to carry out my mission!" you yell out and redouble your efforts to shake off the mind assault. Eventually you reach the temple and the signs of battle are very obvious here. You see one of the silver doors blown off the hinges. Several large bones lie strewn about and from the looks of it; these weren't from any ordinary skeleton. You also notice two ruined black statues on either side of the temple. While they have great large chunks missing from them, you notice that these statues resemble the ones the Emperor has just outside his chambers; they're just on a smaller scale. "Son? Is that you outside?" you hear the Emperor ask from within. "Yes, it's me. Are you okay?" you answer. "Yes! Just get in hear quickly, we don't have much time!" You enter the temple which actually isn't all that large inside. In fact it looks more like a shrine rather than a temple since the only thing inside is a small pedestal against the far wall. You see the Emperor who is holding an old looking book and he seems very excited. More excited than you've ever seen, even when all the gnomes were reportedly exterminated he wasn't this excited. You notice he's drawn several circles and symbols on the floor. "Good, good, you're here! We have to begin immediately! Step into that circle…no I mean that one!" he exclaims. "Erm, okay. You know I got attacked by a whole village of freaks?" "I'm sure you did. Probably ghouls. Generations of inbreeding and cannibalism tends to make folks insane and unfriendly to outsiders. Please, now we have to begin, they'll be here soon!" You step inside one of the circles and the Emperor steps into another one and obsessively fondles the book he has in his hand. "Who'll be here? The ghouls?" "No! The…nevermind, look I'll explain everything to you afterwards, but right now I have to concentrate and you will have to as well. Now begin this chant with me." The Emperor starts chanting and you try to follow along as best you can. The circles and symbols on the floor begin to glow. As much as you don't want to interrupt, you're a little lost on what exactly is going on. "Father, what is…" "Silence!" the Emperor screams and then you hear a second voice, but this one is from no spirit. "Casimir, is that you? I see you've finally returned. Always knew you would. Have you come back because you've seen the error of your ways or is this just a visit for a mad dash of power? Judging by the mess, I'd say the latter." You hear the voice shout from outside the temple. The Emperor suddenly looks very nervous. Worried even. You've never seen such an expression from him before. "Yes! It's me, Nicodemus! And you'll not be stopping me this time!" the Emperor shouts and then a red barrier materializes in the temple entryway. You see a robed figure walk up to it, but can't make out much more than that. "Casimir, you have to know this cheap trick isn't going to stop me. If you just let down the barrier we might be able to talk about this. " "Never! I wasn't deterred then, and I won't be deterred now! I have the book and after this rejuvenation ritual, you and the entire council won't be able to stop me from my destiny!" The Emperor shouts and starts making elaborate hand gestures. "Don't you think over six hundred centuries of this nonsense is long enough? You've had your fun and now its time to realize you need to act your damn age. Casimir I'm coming in and I assure you if you attack me, you will be destroyed this time." The Emperor ignores this threat and continues his spell. He begins to eminate a purple glow and you soon follow. "Am I supposed to have this purple glow?" you ask. "Shhh! It'll all be over soon. Just have to cast one last spell." The Emperor quickly says before beginning another spell. About this time the barrier disappears and an ancient looking man in a black robe steps in. He doesn't look very imposing, but it's pretty apparent he exudes great power. He completely ignores you and looks directly at the Emperor. Its one of disapproval, but there's no anger at all behind it. "Casimir, you have to know this isn't even necessary. If you desire immortality so much, you could've just stayed here to begin with, you could still stay here if you'd just recognize the error of your ways." The Emperor looks out the corner of his eye at Nicodemus, but doesn't stop his spell. Meanwhile Nicodemus now looks over at you and begins studying you. He then closes his eyes and lifts up his own hand while mumbling something. You have no idea what he's doing, but at this point you're starting to feel like you're genuinely threatened. The circle you're in will probably protect you, but he broke through the other barrier with ease. Who's to say he won't do the same with the circle? There's also the matter of risking ruining the elaborate ritual the Emperor is currently casting…which you're also starting to have separate concerns about. Semra's words: "You will learn the truth too late." begin to ring in your mind. > You trust in your current defenses You've believed in the Emperor this long and this far. You and he have overcome all obstacles and enemies together. This Nicodemus is just another in a long line of them. You don't know all the history that he and the Emperor have, but all you know is he will fall like all others. If the Emperor's next conquest is to be this island then that is what will be done. If it is you that will be needed to help in this mission, then you will gladly serve and die if necessary. And if… And if the Emperor has lied to you about everything, it doesn't matter because you have been loyal to the end and have played your role perfectly. The Emperor gave you purpose so if you are to be his new vessel of destruction to accomplish his destiny then there can be no greater honor. You are ready to make that sacrifice. You were created for it. Nicodemus lowers his hand and stops mumbling. If he's cast a spell it either hasn't worked or it has no obvious effects. "Casimir, I know what you're trying to do and this isn't going to work. I urge you to stop before it's too late." "Yes, it is too late FOR YOU!" the Emperor shouts and finishes his spell with a laugh. He then turns to you. "Goodbye my son, I'm sorry I lied to you, but know that your last sacrifice will help me achieve my destiny at last." The Emperor suddenly looks unwell again. Like he did when he was sick except now it's happening at an accelerated rate. You see him rapidly age before your eyes. "NO! WHAT'S HAPPENING TO ME?! THE SPELL! THE RITUAL! THE PREPARATION! I HAD THE PERFECT VESSEL! I WAS GOING TO RULE THE WORLD! I WAS GOING TO LIVE FOREVER!" At this point the Emperor collapses to the floor as his body continues to decay. Meanwhile nothing is happening to you though you're in a state of shock watching the Emperor die in front of you. "Son…help….meeeee…" the Emperor says in a dying raspy tone. "I don't know how. I'm sorry father…I have failed you…" you reply sadly. "I…want…to live…foreverrrrrrrrr…" the Emperor says with his last dying breath before he completely decays into a skeletal corpse, then bones, then dust. And with that The Emperor, Casimir, your father is dead. You just continue to stare at the dust in disbelief; meanwhile Nicodemus walks over to the pile and picks up the book your father seemed to be so happy to have before he died. "(Sigh) I warned him it wouldn't work. When I scanned you with my identify spell I learned all I ever had to about you. You were not a suitable vessel for a transference spell." "Impossible, I am an Eternal! I was born and bred for this purpose!" "I'm well aware of what you believe, but that isn't what is. Perhaps your breeding was incorrect or perhaps a mistake was made." 'No. My father doesn't make mistakes." "Really? Recent events would dictate otherwise." You have no response you just continue to stare at the dust. "Eternal, I can tell you are feeling a great sense of loss right now and you have my sympathies. Your life seems to be filled with nothing but pain, war and loss. And tragically one of your only stable foundations was Casimir and even he lied to you. Yet you're so broken that you believe you're the one that failed him. You must've been the perfect son." You begin to gather your strength and thoughts as you are starting to become annoyed with this Nicodemus. "I still am." You reply seriously. "Hmm, I see even with Casimir dead, your indoctrination still holds. (Sigh) I hope for your sake that will fade in time lest you end up like he did or the power hungry ancestors of this place. This island was once lush and full of life you know. Makas as it once was called had a thriving civilization with a strong navy. Even the mighty Svelk Empire at the time didn't dare attack us. Then this accursed book was created and changed everything. This is why Casimir was exiled." Nicodemus says and lifts up the non-descript book while still clutching it his arm. "Did he create it?" you ask. "Hah. Casimir could've only hoped to create something so powerful. No he was just another of our kind that thought he could achieve the impossible, to become a god. This book is just an ancient mistake of our predecessors and a reminder of why we were not meant to live forever." "So what is it, a powerful book of necromantic spells?" "If it were only that, it might be less dangerous. The more dangerous part is the fact that it's not just a spellbook. It's a gateway to another dimension. Of course we didn't really realize that or what we were doing until it was nearly too late." "I don't understand." "Our civilization couldn't leave well enough alone. We had everything, but we still couldn't stop the ravages of time and ultimately death. So we did the logical thing of exploring the necromantic arts. It was an exciting time to be sure; I was actually a young and eager researcher myself back then. It took decades, but eventually we managed to unlock everything we could about the art of necromancy. We could've very well taken over the world I believe with our power, but our goals were bigger. We wanted immortality. To be as gods. Nothing less would do. In this book lies the combined knowledge of every forbidden, obscure and even common necromantic arts. We planned on using it to cast off these fragile mortal shells and ascend to a new plane of existence." "So…what happened?" "This. The ritual that was to give us immortality destroyed our civilization as we knew it and created what you see today. I was actually not involved in the ritual as at the time I was not as skilled of a wizard, but I saw the devastation that occurred. A black void opened up above the entire island and its very presence killed many weaker individuals instantly. It didn't take long for the arch mages performing this ritual to realize that they weren't being imbued with eternal life, they were opening a portal to death itself. Fortunately some of the mages weren't quite so obsessed with immortality and realized that this was a bad idea and so managed to close the gate before it engulfed the entire island…possibly even the world." "That can't be the end of it." "Oh no, it most certainly was not. The entire island had been infused with negative energy and necromantic magic to a point where it was oddly keeping those that lived a much increased life span. However it also made many mad with power. Some of the more obsessed mages were furious about the gate being closed. They desired that the gate remain open, still believing it would lead to immortality. Others settled for the lesser immortality, but desired more power. Thus began the war of the necromancers who marched armies of the dead to wage endless battles with each other and destroying the rest of the island in the process." "It was only when every inch of this place was cursed and forever tainted that the survivors finally stopped to recognize the folly of their ways. The folly that someone can have total control over death, let alone cheat it forever." "My father obviously disagreed." You say. "Yes, though he wasn't the first and sadly he probably won't be the last. Every once in awhile one of our number gets a little power hungry. Usually it's a phase and we exile them as we did with Casimir. Most soon learn that their powers gradually weaken and beg to come back, others vainly try to make it on their own and usually die expending all their energy as soon as they try to raise an army of the dead to conquer whatever it is they've set their eyes on. I have to admit though, Casimir proved to be a little more determined than most. He was smart to stop using his necromancy and rely on more traditional means to run a nation. Even his way of attempting to cheat death was rather clever. A shame he didn't focus his energy on something more worthwhile." "He did." You answer defiantly. Nicodemus seems slightly exasperated now. "And again you defend a man who cared nothing for you and would've devoured your life force just to extend his life span a little longer. What did he do that was so worthwhile? Create his Empire? Lesser men than him have done similar things and with a lot less resources, he wasn't really special in that regard. Live for centuries? He could've stayed here and lived for a lot longer than that if he'd just abandoned his mad plans. Power is fleeting Eternal. LIFE is fleeting. No one lives forever and no one rules forever. Not on this world anyway. Even necromancers die. Just takes us a little longer than most and trust me, we aren't ruling anything so much as we're doomed to act as guardians to this world's life. Most of us know or learn that lesson, because after it's all said and done, this book teaches that important message." "Message? You've been going on about how dangerous the book is. And if the book is so dangerous, why not just destroy or get rid of it?" you say. "You don't believe that's been tried? Trust me, it has by every known ability to us and then some. Getting rid of it would be unwise for it could just fall into the hands of someone who does not know its true power and they may unleash its awfulness. Better we should remain its guardians and make sure nobody else ever has to suffer the same fate we do. So if one good thing comes from the book, then it is that lesson. A reminder of what hubris does. Sadly some just fail to learn the lesson. Not everything is black and white, contrary to your worldview of things Eternal. I hope that will fade in time as well. Speaking of time, I believe yours here should be coming to an end. Your master is dead and you have no further business here." Nicodemus mutters a small incantation and a portal opens up near you. "This will take you back to your Empire. Goodbye Eternal, and I hope for your sake you find your own way, you'll find yourself a lot better off." The Emperor is dead and while this man may not have caused it directly, you still feel he is somehow responsible. Part of you wants to attack Nicodemus, but you also know that may not be wise as it is obvious the man wields great power. Then there is the book he holds. You almost feel drawn to it… > You attack Nicodemus While the Emperor might've been afraid of this man, you have no such fear. You're going to succeed where your father failed. You draw your weapon with one hand and cast a spray of ice at Nicodemus with the other. He's not even fazed; he's not even all that surprised. Ignoring the frost on his body he merely stares at you and suddenly you feel severe drain of your energy. Like when Cyrus was clutching your throat, but this is even faster. You drop like a rock in water, unable to stop Nicodemus from approaching you. "(Sigh) If I didn't know better I'd think that Casimir had succeeded in transferring himself into you, but you are not Casimir. You're not even half as powerful as he was. You are a confused child that's desperately and misguidedly still trying to prove yourself to an uncaring father figure. Under different circumstances, you'd be a figure of pity and mercy. However you do have the potential to be very dangerous and I can see that you've not listened to a single thing I've tried to tell you today. You probably never will either. May you find some sort of peace in death that you obviously couldn't find in life." Nicodemus remarks. You can't even respond back, your whole body is becoming lethargic and numb. Your heartbeat starts slowing down, and your vision begins to darken. Soon you can't see anything at all and surrender to eternal sleep.

You've believed in the Emperor this long and this far. You and he have overcome all obstacles and enemies together. This Nicodemus is just another in a long line of them. You don't know all the history that he and the Emperor have, but all you know is he will fall like all others. If the Emperor's next conquest is to be this island then that is what will be done. If it is you that will be needed to help in this mission, then you will gladly serve and die if necessary. And if… And if the Emperor has lied to you about everything, it doesn't matter because you have been loyal to the end and have played your role perfectly. The Emperor gave you purpose so if you are to be his new vessel of destruction to accomplish his destiny then there can be no greater honor. You are ready to make that sacrifice. You were created for it. Nicodemus lowers his hand and stops mumbling. If he's cast a spell it either hasn't worked or it has no obvious effects. "Casimir, I know what you're trying to do and this isn't going to work. I urge you to stop before it's too late." "Yes, it is too late FOR YOU!" the Emperor shouts and finishes his spell with a laugh. He then turns to you. "Goodbye my son, I'm sorry I lied to you, but know that your last sacrifice will help me achieve my destiny at last." The Emperor suddenly looks unwell again. Like he did when he was sick except now it's happening at an accelerated rate. You see him rapidly age before your eyes. "NO! WHAT'S HAPPENING TO ME?! THE SPELL! THE RITUAL! THE PREPARATION! I HAD THE PERFECT VESSEL! I WAS GOING TO RULE THE WORLD! I WAS GOING TO LIVE FOREVER!" At this point the Emperor collapses to the floor as his body continues to decay. Meanwhile nothing is happening to you though you're in a state of shock watching the Emperor die in front of you. "Son…help….meeeee…" the Emperor says in a dying raspy tone. "I don't know how. I'm sorry father…I have failed you…" you reply sadly. "I…want…to live…foreverrrrrrrrr…" the Emperor says with his last dying breath before he completely decays into a skeletal corpse, then bones, then dust. And with that The Emperor, Casimir, your father is dead. You just continue to stare at the dust in disbelief; meanwhile Nicodemus walks over to the pile and picks up the book your father seemed to be so happy to have before he died. "(Sigh) I warned him it wouldn't work. When I scanned you with my identify spell I learned all I ever had to about you. You were not a suitable vessel for a transference spell." "Impossible, I am an Eternal! I was born and bred for this purpose!" "I'm well aware of what you believe, but that isn't what is. Perhaps your breeding was incorrect or perhaps a mistake was made." 'No. My father doesn't make mistakes." "Really? Recent events would dictate otherwise." You have no response you just continue to stare at the dust. "Eternal, I can tell you are feeling a great sense of loss right now and you have my sympathies. Your life seems to be filled with nothing but pain, war and loss. And tragically one of your only stable foundations was Casimir and even he lied to you. Yet you're so broken that you believe you're the one that failed him. You must've been the perfect son." You begin to gather your strength and thoughts as you are starting to become annoyed with this Nicodemus. "I still am." You reply seriously. "Hmm, I see even with Casimir dead, your indoctrination still holds. (Sigh) I hope for your sake that will fade in time lest you end up like he did or the power hungry ancestors of this place. This island was once lush and full of life you know. Makas as it once was called had a thriving civilization with a strong navy. Even the mighty Svelk Empire at the time didn't dare attack us. Then this accursed book was created and changed everything. This is why Casimir was exiled." Nicodemus says and lifts up the non-descript book while still clutching it his arm. "Did he create it?" you ask. "Hah. Casimir could've only hoped to create something so powerful. No he was just another of our kind that thought he could achieve the impossible, to become a god. This book is just an ancient mistake of our predecessors and a reminder of why we were not meant to live forever." "So what is it, a powerful book of necromantic spells?" "If it were only that, it might be less dangerous. The more dangerous part is the fact that it's not just a spellbook. It's a gateway to another dimension. Of course we didn't really realize that or what we were doing until it was nearly too late." "I don't understand." "Our civilization couldn't leave well enough alone. We had everything, but we still couldn't stop the ravages of time and ultimately death. So we did the logical thing of exploring the necromantic arts. It was an exciting time to be sure; I was actually a young and eager researcher myself back then. It took decades, but eventually we managed to unlock everything we could about the art of necromancy. We could've very well taken over the world I believe with our power, but our goals were bigger. We wanted immortality. To be as gods. Nothing less would do. In this book lies the combined knowledge of every forbidden, obscure and even common necromantic arts. We planned on using it to cast off these fragile mortal shells and ascend to a new plane of existence." "So…what happened?" "This. The ritual that was to give us immortality destroyed our civilization as we knew it and created what you see today. I was actually not involved in the ritual as at the time I was not as skilled of a wizard, but I saw the devastation that occurred. A black void opened up above the entire island and its very presence killed many weaker individuals instantly. It didn't take long for the arch mages performing this ritual to realize that they weren't being imbued with eternal life, they were opening a portal to death itself. Fortunately some of the mages weren't quite so obsessed with immortality and realized that this was a bad idea and so managed to close the gate before it engulfed the entire island…possibly even the world." "That can't be the end of it." "Oh no, it most certainly was not. The entire island had been infused with negative energy and necromantic magic to a point where it was oddly keeping those that lived a much increased life span. However it also made many mad with power. Some of the more obsessed mages were furious about the gate being closed. They desired that the gate remain open, still believing it would lead to immortality. Others settled for the lesser immortality, but desired more power. Thus began the war of the necromancers who marched armies of the dead to wage endless battles with each other and destroying the rest of the island in the process." "It was only when every inch of this place was cursed and forever tainted that the survivors finally stopped to recognize the folly of their ways. The folly that someone can have total control over death, let alone cheat it forever." "My father obviously disagreed." You say. "Yes, though he wasn't the first and sadly he probably won't be the last. Every once in awhile one of our number gets a little power hungry. Usually it's a phase and we exile them as we did with Casimir. Most soon learn that their powers gradually weaken and beg to come back, others vainly try to make it on their own and usually die expending all their energy as soon as they try to raise an army of the dead to conquer whatever it is they've set their eyes on. I have to admit though, Casimir proved to be a little more determined than most. He was smart to stop using his necromancy and rely on more traditional means to run a nation. Even his way of attempting to cheat death was rather clever. A shame he didn't focus his energy on something more worthwhile." "He did." You answer defiantly. Nicodemus seems slightly exasperated now. "And again you defend a man who cared nothing for you and would've devoured your life force just to extend his life span a little longer. What did he do that was so worthwhile? Create his Empire? Lesser men than him have done similar things and with a lot less resources, he wasn't really special in that regard. Live for centuries? He could've stayed here and lived for a lot longer than that if he'd just abandoned his mad plans. Power is fleeting Eternal. LIFE is fleeting. No one lives forever and no one rules forever. Not on this world anyway. Even necromancers die. Just takes us a little longer than most and trust me, we aren't ruling anything so much as we're doomed to act as guardians to this world's life. Most of us know or learn that lesson, because after it's all said and done, this book teaches that important message." "Message? You've been going on about how dangerous the book is. And if the book is so dangerous, why not just destroy or get rid of it?" you say. "You don't believe that's been tried? Trust me, it has by every known ability to us and then some. Getting rid of it would be unwise for it could just fall into the hands of someone who does not know its true power and they may unleash its awfulness. Better we should remain its guardians and make sure nobody else ever has to suffer the same fate we do. So if one good thing comes from the book, then it is that lesson. A reminder of what hubris does. Sadly some just fail to learn the lesson. Not everything is black and white, contrary to your worldview of things Eternal. I hope that will fade in time as well. Speaking of time, I believe yours here should be coming to an end. Your master is dead and you have no further business here." Nicodemus mutters a small incantation and a portal opens up near you. "This will take you back to your Empire. Goodbye Eternal, and I hope for your sake you find your own way, you'll find yourself a lot better off." The Emperor is dead and while this man may not have caused it directly, you still feel he is somehow responsible. Part of you wants to attack Nicodemus, but you also know that may not be wise as it is obvious the man wields great power. Then there is the book he holds. You almost feel drawn to it… > You enter the portal This adventure has drained you physically, mentally and even emotionally. Attacking a powerful necromancer in his homeland might not be the best idea right now. Another day perhaps… You approach the portal and give one last look at Nicodemus who stands by watching you. You can't figure him out. A lot of what he said was very condescending yet he seemed to pity you rather than be angry. He was also very nihilistic in his views on how achievements don't matter, not even life, though at the same he seemed to be trying to give you advice and help you in some strange way. You step into the portal and find yourself transported back to the Emperor's chambers. Chambers that seem so empty now. Empty as you feel. Something is bothering you and it's a strange thing to worry about considering it would've lead to your death, but you can't shake it. Why did the Emperor's ritual fail? Nicodemus said you were not a suitable vessel for the transference spell, but if you weren't, what does that mean? Would one of the other Eternals been a better choice, or was the plan always destined to fail? You believe there have to be some notes on the subject of your alterations somewhere. Jacob probably has several papers about the Eternal Project in his office, but you search the Emperor's rooms first. After hours of searching you manage to find several bits of private writings about various subjects. You don't have time to read all of them now, but you focus on anything to the Eternal Project. One of the major things you discover is that the pregnant mothers had a specific ritual cast over them while the Eternals to be were still in the womb. This ritual, while elaborate and probably quite frightening to the woman in question didn't harm her in any way; it was more of a "prep" spell. (You also read that it took several attempts to get this ritual "right" too. The number of dead pregnant women is quite sizable) Apparently this initial ritual was a big key in whether or not the final ritual was going to be successful. You can't find any other information besides how the Emperor was REALLY betting everything on this plan as he'd run out of ideas on to extend his life any further short of going back to Mortos and apologizing to Nicodemus for his behavior. Still wanting more information you go search through Jacob's office. It is actually easy to find everything since he kept everything in immaculate order. Naturally he had everything locked, but you easily remove such annoyances. Nothing is going to stop you from seeking out your origins. And after hours more searching you find more than you ever wanted to know in Jacob's journal… I can't believe those idiots! Trent and Stravid grabbed the wrong fucking infant! We only found out just yesterday when I found their list on the floor of the privy room covered in piss! I went back to check the Empire nursery numbers hoping that MAYBE they grabbed the correct child anyway, but no such luck. The infant that was supposed to be selected was already disposed of as a rejected candidate. Meanwhile the wrong infant is already going through his magical alterations. I'm not exactly on the Emperor's good side at the best of times, and I'm not getting into fucking trouble for this. Those two morons are going to be executed. As for the baby I'm going to have to grovel to get that svelk bitch to help me with this. She can probably perform the same ritual over this new brat so the Emperor won't be able to detect anything is amiss with it. I don't understand why the Emperor doesn't just perform this ritual in person rather than relying on the svelk to do it anyway. And HOPEFULLY that will work. It has to work. Maybe I'm worrying about this too much, what are the chances that this kid will live through training and meet the Emperor anyway? And there it is, your "origins." You weren't even meant to be an Eternal. You were a clerical mistake, a bureaucratic mishap, and the Emperor's death was caused by it. Hell, it's almost like you went through with Jacob and Semra's plan to assassinate the Emperor anyway. One might think something like this would cause you to doubt the meaning of your entire existence and drive you into depression. Possibly even suicide. An end to this life of misplaced duty, obedience and blind devotion to ultimately an ungrateful master. Just like Nicodemus said. But you don't really think about any of that. Instead you start to laugh. You laugh for a very long time. "He…he didn't even know I wasn't originally chosen! What a fool! Why the hell did I ever follow this man? Because I'm an even bigger fool!" you say to yourself in between the guffaws. Perhaps you're still being a fool. Casimir lied to you and deep down never really cared save for what he thought you were, but none of that nor his death invalidate your beliefs in the Empire. His idea that the world needs order, that the masses need to be kept in line, that some elements are better off exterminated for the overall good. Maybe part of you still can't quite shake being the "dutiful" son, but you fully intend on continuing in your "father's footsteps." Of course the difference now being that your life is truly your own now. Since destiny has conspired to thrust you into the position of a ruler, you will play the role that it would have you play. Now you just have to convince everyone else. Within the week you call for a meeting of the most important leaders of the Empire. Ranging from generals to economists to advisors and other infrastructure types you've had little to no contact with before. Everyone is told to gather in the throne room, which is a room that hasn't been used in centuries; or rather Casmir stopped using it after he decided to become a recluse. You won't be doing that. You'll be leading from the front rather than hiding in the shadows causing people to wonder if you exist at all. This is your time now. When everyone finally arrives they naturally all wonder what's going on, you get right to the point. "The Emperor as most of us knew him has moved on from this world. As his only logical successor I will be taking his place. If anyone has a problem with this we can have a civilized discussion about it on the battlefield which I have no doubt I will be seeing a lot of when several pretenders, dissidents and outright anarchists attempt to dethrone me. They will fail. The Empire will not fall today or anytime soon. This is just a new era for it and one I fully intend on making successful. The Empire currently is doing well, but I'm confident that with your loyalty and obedience we can make it even stronger." You take a pause in your speech and scan your audience. None of them are interrupting. They all seem to be captivated, of course maybe some are just planning on trying to assassinate you later, but for now you'll take their attention as a positive sign. "Join me and the Empire will live forever. YOU will live forever! Who's with me?" No sooner have you finished your statement, several of the advisors bend their knee and bow towards you. The soldiers draw their weapons and raise them in air pledging their loyalty. "Hail to the new Emperor!" "Long live the Empire!" Well that went better than you expected. The only "important" person that didn't attend your meeting was Marik though you didn't really expect him to being a derro and all. Not to mention you didn't invite him anyway and had planned on meeting with him personally. You have no idea how he's going to react to the news and he's erratic at the best of times. You and he weren't exactly getting along the last time you saw him, so for all you know he may just attack you. Part of you hopes he does, just so you never have to deal with him anymore. Besides Semra, Marik was the next one you never liked dealing with just because his demeanor irritated you. When you get to his personal factory, it's as silent and as empty as it was when you had to clean out those escaped trolls. You hope that isn't the damn problem again. On your guard, you cautiously walk through the factory and make your way down to the underground portion and continue to find nobody around. "Marik! If this is an ambush, let's just get this over with now because I don't have time for it!" you shout. You see the door to the tank baby room open up, but it isn't Marik, it's a young girl. In fact it's the tank baby that you spared before your trip to Mortos. She looks like she's been healing well. "He…he's not here sir. I mean my Emperor. I apologize for not addressing you properly." She remarks nervously. "That's fine…so word of my ascension has reached down here eh? Wasn't sure if it did, so where's Marik? In fact where is everyone? I know there's still usually a skeleton crew that works in the factory above and there are usually derro guards wandering around down here. In fact shouldn't there be more of you tank babies running around training?" you ask. "Marik killed them all. He shut down the machine that was keeping the rest alive inside the tanks. Said if the Emperor was gone then his debt was paid and he wasn't going to spend the remainder of his years toiling for the likes of you and called you a…uh…um…" "Oh just say it, I'm pretty sure it isn't going to surprise me." "He called you a svelk fucker." "Is that all?" "Well then he sort of ranted. He said that you had a svelk lover that would strap on a…uh…sexual device and made you bend over like a woman when you would have relations." "Sheesh. Can't say Marik didn't have a colorful imagination." You remark shaking your head. "Then he said the pair of you fellated kobolds and ate the dung of…" "Okay, I think I got the idea." You say holding up your hand. "He was very angry at you my Emperor." "Mmh, sounds like. So why did he kill all you tankies?" "Oh, well he also said he wasn't going to waste any more of his genius for you to use, so he decided to kill all of us in the tanks. He tried to kill me as well by having his men shoot at me and lob several firebombs at me." She says and points over to a partially collapsed bit of the room where blacked equipment and fallen rock now lays. "Guessing it didn't work." "I managed to duck under one of the desks and made a blood curdling scream as the explosions went off and the rocks fell down around me. After they let up, I heard Marik laugh at how I feared death in my final moments and after a few minutes I heard them leave at which point I started digging myself out of the rubble." "Hrm, I see faking your own death actually worked for you this time, good. You shouldn't disregard a tactic just because it fails in one instance." You say as you glance over a pile of papers lying on another table in the room. "Marik was brilliant in some ways, but he was an idiot in others. The fool left all his notes behind. I can easily restart all the work he did." You add. "You're going to restart the Eternal Project? But I thought you didn't like…tankies as you call us." "Well, I was in a different state of mind at the time. Now that I'm Emperor, I'm thinking that I'm going to need dedicated loyal soldiers to help in the expansion of the Empire in the future. Just need to rebuild the factory, get some babies, throw them into the tanks and grow my new army. Of course I'll be overseeing it and making my own alterations to whatever Marik's original design was." "What about me, my Emperor?" The tank baby asks. "Yes, what about you? Well considering you managed to survive not one, but two major attempts on your life within weeks of being out of your little tank, I suppose you deserve a place somewhere. To be honest, I did spare you in the first place because you showed more promise and strength than your siblings by merely surviving my assault. You know I was singled out too, on several occasions. I grew stronger from the challenges. You will have the same opportunity I did and I'm going to personally train you. Then depending on how well you do, I'll decide where you're best needed." You tell her. "You're…you're too kind my Emperor." She says with a gratuitous expression on her face. You start laughing. "You won't be thinking that when we actually start training. Let's go. By the way it'll be useful to have something to call you other than tank baby, so what's your name?" "Name? I don't have one, my Emperor. Marik never saw fit to give me one. I do have a number though. Ten." "No, I'm not going to call you ten. That's silly, especially since there's only one of you now. Let's see…I'll call you… Decena. You like that name?" "I don't have any objections to it, my Emperor." "Good. Let us be on our way." With this last bit of business out of the way, you feel you're getting off on a good start as the Empire's new Emperor. You just wish Alison were here to share it with you. > Chapter 3C2: Successor Year 37 Ruling the Empire, it's a thankless job, but somebody's got to do it. With all the restructuring and consolidation of what holdings you do have, you haven't gotten around to actually expanding the Empire yet. You have sent quite a few scouts out though. There were a few groups sent south of Nalin and into the Usksha Desert, but if there is anything past it, it must be a very long ways off. Every scout team has reported practically nothing but endless sands and hostile usksha nomads. To say nothing of giant sand worms and creatures that can turn people to stone with a mere gaze. Further east of Delerg leads to heavy jungle to the point of it being practically impassible. Scouts that survived have told you that it almost feels like the jungle is actively trying to prevent further exploration. Apparently it's also inhabited by dark skinned Halfling like beings, but a lot more savage. (Though from what Casimir told you, Halflings could get rather savage themselves) They made no attempt to parlay and always attacked on sight. Someone mentioned that there was evidence of a few ancient ruins, but these weren't explored much due the relentless pygmy attacks. Probably just remnants of a long dead civilization that the pygmies degenerated from anyway. You didn't bother with sending scouts further north of Rask, it's well known that it's just more mountains and even if there is land past them, it would be so cold that nobody would want to live there, well not the average Empire citizen anyway. While the Empire has never really had a navy to speak of, you've been trying to make steps in correcting that problem. So far a few ships have been sent east, but there hasn't been much news yet of any other major landmasses, just few remote islands that contain nothing of worth. (And none of them are Mortos either.) Only the Empire's western borders hold any immediate promise for future expansion. Some of the scout reports have been interesting, as there seems to be a wide range of societies further west. The major one you're already having minor skirmishes with are a group of beast like people similar to the now extinct gnolls, but more "multi-racial" in nature. They refer to themselves as the "Children of Tor." (Who you assume is probably some god or ancestor figure to them.) They also call their territory "The Land" and are largely nomadic just like the usksha. As you might expect, they see the Empire as an affront to nature and the land and have been hostile at every turn. The Torites seem to consist of four major races. The most physically imposing being the great bull beings (The minotaurs). They're reportedly as strong as an ogre and twice as vicious. They probably aren't the greatest of thinkers, but to write them off as stupid would be a mistake. The second group is no less imposing. These are the ones that seem to be half human half horse (The centaurs). The horse beasts must train constantly with their bows considering how accurate they are with them. They are fairly deadly in open plains due to this and their maneuverability. The third group seems to be the most common and smaller than the other two, but no less dangerous. These are the "goat people" (The satyrs) They make up the majority of the population, but they also boast a number of wild mages, shaman and other types that tap into a natural elemental magic. The last group has only been rumored, but you can't dismiss the possibility. Apparently there is also a group of these beast people that have wings like birds that lives in the western most mountain range. Other rumors abound about less sentient beast creatures ranging from large cat like creatures with spiked tails to abominations that are mixed with a multitude of animals. This is just one current enemy however. They are other more "civilized" groups too who may or may not be enemies in the future. Some of these range from hamlets that are fairly isolated from immediate dangers to small petty backwards kingdoms, which aren't even as great as the one the Felkans had. There are other probably others as well, but it hardly matters since eventually ALL will be submitting to the Empire if you have anything to say about it. Of course you can't do it all alone even if you do attempt to have a more hands on approach than your predecessor. This is why you have your own inner circle to help. Jacob's replacement, Kivan pretty much takes care of all the things he did. Though to be honest, most of that stuff is dull administration duty that tends to bore you anyway. The funny thing is Kivan almost reminds you of a younger version of Jacob in some ways. You guess it must be the typical "bean counter" mindset those administrative types share. In retrospect it's kind of a shame you killed Jacob as he ultimately was just looking out for the best interest of the Empire, but these things happen. Warrick is still head of the Eyes, who are more in control of internal security than ever. You didn't even get a single uprising within the few months you took the throne, though there was a bit of civil unrest that had to be quelled when newborns were taken from families for the Eternal Project. Warrick is good at his job, though you get the impression that he'd like to be out there in the field sometimes. Something you can identify with since you've been growing bored due to the lack of battle due to the whole concentration on "ruling" thing. Brenda doesn't seem to have this problem. She's actually satisfied with more administrative duties, but then she's never been at the forefront of war like the rest of the Eternals have. Still, she's been instrumental in implementing some worthwhile domestic issues such as fully incorporating kobolds into the Empire (The little scalies are now some of the most loyal citizens and always willing to serve its armies!) and giving the remaining orcs their own land in Rask. Brenda reasoned that while their numbers were decimated in the Felkan War, they can probably build them back up within a couple of decades and the Empire will have a new generation of orc soldiers that can be relied upon. Not to mention the orcs are still serving in a good capacity by currently slaying the odd ogre tribe or giant that comes lumbering down from the Rask Mountains. Brenda still doesn't really get along with Warrick however. She still holds him partially responsible for Roldan's death. There really isn't anything you can do about that though, despite your best efforts. You just give a reminder to the both of them to keep it professional and they do for the most part. Which is more than can be said for General Ackerson and Grand Mage Galen, who you try to keep far away from each other since they'd kill one another if they could help it. Fortunately they aren't called to the meetings very often. Ackerson is mainly kept on the western borders (currently dealing with the Torites as of late) while Galen has been put on day-to-day duty of overseeing the magic side of things for the Eternal Project. (Though he was a great help last year in helping you banish the wendigo problem for good) He hates the job and would no doubt rather be serving as the dean at the mage academy, but you need someone there with competent magic skills when you aren't available. You've actually made cut backs to the academy anyway, There just aren't that many mages left and there haven't been many new people to show the aptitude for it, especially after the Felkan War. With the rise of technology within the Empire you wonder if eventually magic will be displaced altogether, but in the scheme of things, its of little concern to you, since you still have all your powers after all. The other one in charge of the day-to-day duties of the Eternal Project is an odd fellow by the name of Elam. He takes care of the more technical matters. He's basically the "new Marik" except that he's human, which makes him a whole lot saner, but not by much. He was once training to be a physician, but was kicked out of the guild for…unnecessary experimentation. He then drifted and somehow his interests turned to technology. He was a human supervisor at Marik's factory, but more than that, he actually was allowed into the derro portion of the factory on a regular basis. After Marik left, he became a recluse and lived in one of the more remote parts of Arat where he tinkered on things and tries to create new inventions. Kivan was the one that actually tracked him down when you stated that you needed someone who had a better grasp of all this "derro techie shit." So far he's worked out well, though Galen whines about having to keep an eye on him so he doesn't do unnecessary tinkering on the Eternal tanks. Finally there is Decena. In between running the Empire and overseeing the new Eternal Project, you've been training her. So far she's been showing steady improvement due to your harsh training lessons. Lately she has desired the need to go out on the battlefield to use what she has learned and bring glory to the Empire, which was part of your plan when you started training her. As you finish up, Decena moans in ecstasy when she climaxes. Bedding her on a regular basis really wasn't part of the original plan however. "What the fuck am I doing?" you've often asked yourself. You certainly did when you first pushed your lips against hers and groped her body during a sparring lesson. She initially thought you were attempting some sort of new attack on her, which in a way you were. One that ended up being entirely successful. You sometimes think what you did (and why you continue doing it) was due to quelling a sort of loneliness that exists within you, which is partially true. The other reason is far darker. In some strange way you were re-enacting your own training lesson with Semra. Except now YOU were taking on the role of "Mistress." (You really don't like dwelling on what possible psychological ramifications that all means, you just buried deeper in your ever growing brain box of suppressed thoughts) Of course it isn't exactly like the fucked up relationship you had with Semra, and Decena didn't exactly resist you and seemed to give in fairly quickly. Of course you can never know if it was because she genuinely felt attraction or she knew that it would've been futile to resist. She claims she did feel something, but wasn't quite sure what it was, which may or may not be true given that she spent most of her life in a fucking tank and isn't exactly an expert on the whole feelings situation herself. As it stands Decena doesn't ask questions such as if the pair of you are "husband and wife" or even a "couple." From what you can tell she just sees your sexual encounters as a form of "approval" from her Emperor. Perhaps even as some sort of "reward" for all her duty and obedience. Still, given how much time you do spend with her, she might as well be your young bride at this point. You get up off the bed and take a long look at Decena as she starts to fall asleep from your round of passion. Do you have any sort of feelings for the girl? Perhaps some, but not in the way that you had for Alison. There probably isn't a day that goes by that you don't take a good long look at Alison's portrait and mentally apologize to it. What you really need around here is a change. "Decena, get up." You say and pull at one of her arms. "Wha? Again?" she asks sleepily. "No, not that. You're not sleeping here tonight, I'm sending you away." "Did…did I do something wrong? I can do better, I…" she hastily begins to say, worrying about your reasons. "No, you've done everything right. It's just that it's time. You're not gaining anything more by staying here and the Empire needs to expand. I'm sending you to the western borders to oversee settling some military outposts out that way. Maybe start making major strides against those beast savages that have been giving us problems lately." Decena's eyes light up. "Wait, you mean you're giving me my own command?" she asks. "Yep, I'll have everything set up in a day or so. You need to be out their gaining real experience, not stuck here training." Decena at this point proceeds to leap out of bed and embrace you planting several kisses on your face. "Oh thank you Emperor! I'm so happy you've finally placed this much faith in me and believe I'm ready for this!" "Hrm. Yes, well can't let talent go to waste. I suggest you go get ready." Decena excitedly gets dressed and leaves the room. Well that's a temporary solution at least and it gets the ball rolling on expanding the Empire. Eventually though, you're going to have to make a more personal decision about her. As for you, you need something else to do with yourself as well. You'd like to go back on the battlefield yourself, but there is still so much that requires your immediate attention, the most important still being the Eternal Project. There are also still a few plans and notes that Marik left behind that show some promise. His concept of an "airship" for example is very intriguing to you. You'd like to try to get one built and the only one that's going to remotely know how to get them started is most likely Elam, so it's a trip to the Eternal Factory… When you arrive Galen immediately walks over to you. "Emperor! I'm glad you're here, I can't put up with Elam's eccentricities any longer! At this point I'd rather be working along side that idiot Ackerson! I humbly request that I MUST be transferred! One of the other mages here can easily take over for…" You grab Galen by the collar and then throw him to the floor. "Shut the hell up! Do you ever stop whining? I've known elven slaves that whimper far less." You say while Galen continues to stare at you from his new vantage point. "I…I'm not whining for just my sake. Elam has been trying to make improvements to the tanks again and he damn near blew one up if I hadn't managed to freeze the flames caused by whatever the hell he was doing." Galen remarks. "Keeps saying he's bored just monitoring the tanks, though I can't say I disagree in that regard." "Well, looks like I better give him something else to do then since he's so bored." You leave Galen and go find Elam who is excitedly explaining something to a nervous looking man though you don't know if he's nervous because you're here or because Elam's talking to him waving some sort of tool that has flame emitting from it. "Elam we need to have a talk." You say. "Huh? Oh! Yes, yes, yes, Emperor! Indeed we do! I have figured out a way to improve…" You hold up your hand as a signal that Elam should stop talking. "Stop. Not another word or I'll have your tongue removed. Just listen for a change. The tanks are fine; they don't need any more improvements. They just need daily monitoring and maintenance if needed. However since you seem to need something more stimulating, here's something you can do." You say and hand Elam a bunch of diagrams and notes which causes his eyes to widen. "That is your new project. I want you to start building one of these things. If it proves successful, you can do all the improvements you like to future ones to make them deadlier and more efficient. Does that sound good to you? You may speak now." "Yes, definitely yes! Thank you my Emperor! I will not disappoint you in this endeavor!" "I don't expect you will. Of course while you will need a crew to help you, I still need some of your engineers here." "Oh, of course. In fact how about Gregory take over here for me?" Elam says and points over to the nervous man he was just speaking to. You wave Gregory over who walks over like he thinks he's in trouble. "You, can you just do your damn job without the urge to fuck with the tanks unnecessarily?" you ask. "Yes…yes sir. I mean yes my Emperor." "Good. That's all I need from you. Now get back to work. And as for you Elam, you'll be transferred over to another factory, preferably one with a lot of space and far away from populated areas. Oh and I'll still be coming by to check on your progress. Both of you." You say and leave the pair of engineers. You don't leave the factory though as you want to make sure your future Eternals are still doing okay despite Elam's over enthusiasm to improve their current dwellings. Of course while you're doing this, once again Galen walks over to you. You swear he must have a death wish today or something. "So I overheard that you're transferring Elam out of here." Galen says. "Your hearing is as sharp as ever Galen." You answer. "While it would be a blessing to continue to work here without having to deal with him again, I still believe that my own talents are going to waste here. I mean you hardly need a wizard of my stature to oversee these tanks. Another lesser mage could easily do this job." "(Sigh) After all your bitching about Elam, you're really no better. You know what though, you're right. Your talents are going to waste here. I'll have you transferred to western borders." You say. Not exactly what Galen had in mind by the look on his face. "What? We've got enemies that need taken care of so that the Empire may expand. Goat people with magic abilities of their own if the reports are correct. You said you wanted something that was suited to your talents; well you've got it. And don't worry, I'm not sending you to Ackerson's command. You'll be assisting Decena." "Decena? You mean the young Eternal girl? When did she get a command?" "Just recently. Now I expect you that you won't have the same issues with her that you did with Ackerson AND Elam. Because if I hear about shit not running smoothly due to personality conflicts again, I'm going to be very displeased with you. Understand?" "Yes, my Emperor." Galen responds dejectedly. In the weeks to come, happily everyone seems to be doing well in their new assignments. Elam is already working hard to a degree where it's actually not detrimental. The future Eternals are now under a more cautious, but still vigilant caretaker. And from her letters it appears that Decena and Galen are working well together or at least not to any degree where there are problems. Decena's letters are always full of excitement. You get the impression she wishes she could tell you about her battles in person. It's obvious she wants you to be proud of her victories. And you are or at least you're happy to see that she's effectively using the skills that you taught her. The most concerning thing about her reports though is that so far these beast people never engage in traditional battle. She mentions how they prefer to ambush or only attack when they have vast numerical superiority. The most difficult thing about combating them is their extensive knowledge of the land, which they live off of, as they have no towns or cities to conquer. Because of their nomadic nature you anticipate that they're going to be a problem for quite awhile. Still, at least Decena seems to be handling the situation. You have a message sent back that you will send reinforcements soon. In the meantime, General Ackerson has also made strides in annexing several of the smaller isolated independent towns and villages. These places will become some of the staging areas of what will most likely be an extended conflict with the Torites. You'll eventually win though and claim the land for the Empire; you have no doubt about that. > Year 40 "I thought the plan was to keep them in the tanks until the sixteenth year." Brenda says. "No, those were Marik's original plans for the last Eternals he worked on. We're doing things differently. From Elam's earlier calculations, and my own magic theories on this project we both came to the conclusion long ago that keeping them in the tanks for as long as Marik did is asking for trouble in the long term. While it certainly accelerates their skills and abilities there's a risk for it to have a terrible affect on the mind. In fact it's probably just as well that Marik killed them all, otherwise we might've had hundreds of mental cases." You reply. "But Decena seems okay. I mean from what I know of the girl." Brenda says. "Decena's an exception, but I'm not going to tempt fate with this group. Five years seems like a good stopping point." "So are you going to be training the rest of them?" "No, you are." You say to Brenda who is speechless for a second. "What?" Brenda says. "You're going to be responsible for these new Eternals Brenda. I know you're going to need assistants, but it's going to be chiefly your responsibility to train them and to make sure they become the best of the best. What Eternals should be. What WE are." "But, why me? I mean I've never been on the frontlines like the rest of us were." "True, but I know you're no stranger to battle and you're the only one I can trust with this task. Warrick's job is to be the head of internal security and to directly oversee the Eyes, so he can't do it. And I feel it would be best if another Eternal should be fully in charge of training these new ones. That leaves you and I know you to be an honorable woman who upholds the ideals of the Empire. Who could possibly be better?" "You?" Brenda says. "Heh, well it was a rhetorical question. But besides being too busy myself, I actually don't believe I'd be the best trainer. I think due to our own experiences of how we were trained as well as our personalities, you will make a better teacher." "But we both had the same training up to our twelfth year." "Yes, and then our next four I guarantee was vastly different. And even during our twelve years together in Semra's class, MY training experience was very different from yours. I think you'd agree." Brenda nods, probably remembering that Semra took every opportunity to single you out in the class and subjecting you to the harshest punishments when it struck her fancy. "You had Captain Gruz as a teacher and from what I heard, he taught you all to fight as a team and to have a shared respect for each other and he did it without resorting to excessive measures. I know the common belief is that I'm cruel by nature, but I'm actually not. Ruthless perhaps, but not needlessly cruel. And because I'm not cruel, that's why I'd rather have a more even-tempered person with at least a less hellish childhood experience than I train these children. They may be Eternals, but they're still children that will have to be molded into good productive soldiers for the Empire with minimal problems to their mental state. I know you'll be tough, but fair." "Well, I don't know what to say, except I appreciate your confidence in me in all this and I'll do my best to carry out this task successfully. However, while I do understand that you don't really have the time to train the new Eternals I'm still slightly puzzled to as why you believe you'd be a rotten teacher. I mean you trained Decena and from what I've heard she's fanatically loyal as well as a great warrior bringing glory to the Empire." "That's right, I did. And she is." You answer and don't give any more elaboration, which prompts Brenda to just leave it alone. "Okay." She responds. There's a brief pause before Brenda decides to break up the silence by changing the subject. "So, what's next on your agenda?" "Me? Well after I go inspect the new airship that Elam is supposed to be finished with, I'm going back on the battlefield. I think its time; most of the internal reorganization and major projects have been dealt with and don't require my immediate watchful eye anymore. I'm sure if any problems crop up, someone won't hesitate to inform me. Besides, the Torites are causing all sorts of problem on Ackerson's front. And I think he may even be having issues with that petty kingdom he recently made contact with. I don't even remember what its name is, and if I have anything to say about it, neither will anyone else." "Well I'd tell you to be careful or wish you luck, but I know you'll be fine. You always are. Are you going to stay for the grand opening though?" Brenda asks and points at the rows and rows of tanks. "No. Probably best if they don't see me immediately. Keep me a semi-mysterious unapproachable figure for awhile." You reply. "Oh like what they told us?" Brenda says. "Worked didn't it? Still, when you've sufficiently got that idea into their heads, then I suppose I'll make my appearance to them, most likely unannounced. I'll want them to actually believe that I may very well pop up at any time. It'll keep them on their toes." "Ha ha, that's probably even more frightening than never seeing such a figure as I have to admit even at times I wondered if the Emperor was actually watching me all the time, though Roldan certainly thought so." Brenda at this point temporarily spins off into a pleasant memory she has of Roldan. You've never told her it was actually Casimir that had Roldan assassinated for his own reasons. You've pondered if you should tell her the truth, but ultimately decided it wouldn't do any good save for perhaps destroying her faith in the Empire, which you don't want. You know Brenda is prone to bouts of depression ever since Roldan's died, telling her that the government and its ruler that she served was directly involved in her husband's death might push her into hopelessness. Maybe even suicide. As it stands, you've been working to try to keep her spirits up. Which is another reason why you picked her to train these new Eternals. Perhaps it will give her a better sense of purpose. "Sorry, I rambled a bit there. I guess I just still miss Roldan." Brenda says. "No need to apologize, I completely understand. Roldan was a dedicated soldier of the Empire and if he were here today he'd be proud of your accomplishments. Anyway, I have to go; if I'm lucky Elam hasn't blown up this new machine he just built yet. I trust you have this?" "Yes I do." You leave Brenda to her task and make your way to your next stop, which should be very different… You look at the brand new airship you've poured money into. It certainly is as large as you thought it might be, though it is still strange to see such a machine that was only picture on a piece of parchment a few years ago. Elam is visibly anxious about what you'll think about it. He's surprisingly quiet though, which might be a good sign that he's learned to not run off at the mouth all the time. "Hrm, its impressive looking, but does it actually work?" you ask Elam. "Oh yes! We have tested its flight capabilities and it certainly works according to all the notes and plans Marik left. Had to make some adjustments of course, but I believe now that we've made one, we can easily improve upon it and make more." Elam says. "Good, glad to hear it. What about weapons?" "We've equipped it with the latest cannons and the prototype repeater. There are also firebombs that can be dropped from the sky." Elam answers. "Excellent work as always Elam." "Thank you, my Emperor. Will you be boarding it?" "Boarding it? Hmm, hadn't actually given it much thought. I mean is this final product? You don't need to do anymore testing on it?" "Well we were just going to do some weapons testing while it flying it, but the airship itself is fully operational. It won't go crashing into the ground or anything like that." While you prefer keeping your feet firmly on the ground, you have to admit you do like the idea of potentially floating through the sky towering over your enemies and all those that might oppose you. "Very well, but I still want you to go through a weapons test like you planned, before I get on it. Do another safety check as well." "As you wish, so about a week?" Elam asks. "Fine, but no more than that." You reply and leave. Seeing as you have a few more days to kick around before the airship is ready, you return to the mundane duties of rulership. A couple days later you decide to check up on Warrick to see if there is anything he's uncovered that needs your attention. The Eye Headquarters is probably the safest place in the Empire other than the palace itself. The Eyes may not be Eternals, but they're the next best thing and Warrick being both is certainly one of the best warriors at your command. That's probably why he looks so bored behind his desk when you meet him. In fact your visit is probably the most exciting thing that's happened in his life lately. "Emperor! Didn't realize you were coming, I was just busy going through all these population lists. You know like who is a potential trouble maker, who is a loyal citizen, that sort of thing." Warrick says getting up when you enter his office. "Anything interesting I should know about?" you ask. "Not really. I mean there are still some grumbles from citizens about when we took babies from some families for the Eternal Project and the free elven population is always unsatisfied with the way things are, but I'm not seeing any uprising material. Unless you want to have some dissenters whisked away in the night just to be safe." Warrick says. "I don't think that'll be necessary. They can't all be kobolds." You reply. "Heh, got that right. Still can't get over how Brenda was so successful in assimilating them the way she did. I still remember during our first major assignment in Nalin we had to wipe out caves of those vicious little bastards." "I just saw her a few days ago actually, she's going to be in charge of the new Eternals, training and such." "Is that right? Well she's probably the best candidate. I mean with you busy ruling and me busy being in charge of the Eyes and all. Um, is she still pissed at me?" "She didn't really say anything about you, but I imagine you're still not her favorite person." "(Sigh) That's a shame. You know I don't harbor any ill will against her and if I could've I would've had even tighter security that fateful day. I mean I just…" You stop Warrick "Warrick, you don't need to explain. You did everything you could that day. We all did. I mean hell even I didn't see a shadow assassination coming. A dead one that I killed no less. Just don't worry about it. Brenda will probably get over it one day, and if she doesn't, well it's still not your fault." This reassuring statement seems to make Warrick calmer. You've obviously never told him the real truth about the assassination either and again you see no reason to stir up trouble by doing so. You and Warrick talk for a while, some it about the present, some of it about the future, and some of it about the past. During your conversation, it suddenly occurs to you that maybe you could hand a small honor over to Warrick for all his hard work. He certainly could use a break in the mundane paper work that he primarily does nowadays. You wonder if you should let him take command of the new airship and see some frontline combat. > You let Warrick command the airship You figure Warrick deserves something for all his hard work and loyalty, besides you're still a little hesitant to go flying off into the sky. "Warrick, I also saw Elam a few days ago too. He told me that by the end of this week, it should be ready for flight as well as combat. Originally I was going to take the first official flight on it, but would you like to do the honors?" you ask. Warrick looks like he can't believe his ears. "Are you serious?" "Completely. I know you're probably bored at times doing this job, trust me I sympathize. The day-to-day task of ruling isn't exactly as exciting as being hip deep in the corpses of your enemies. So I'm giving you this chance to be on the frontlines for a while. I mean I assume you've got someone here that can take over for you while you're gone for a little while right?" "Sure! I'm got more than few very qualified Eyes that can do the job." Warrick says. "Okay, well it's settled, you'll report to Elam's factory in Arat in about four days. Just tell him I sent you, I'm sure there won't be any problems." "Thank you for this opportunity and this position Emperor. I won't let it go to waste. Oh, what's the name of this new vessel?" "Name? Actually I don't think it has been named yet. Or at least Elam didn't give it one. Hrm…call it the Storm. I mean you'll be floating through the sky raining death down upon your enemies in a spectacular fashion. Plus you're an Eye. I mean Eye of the Storm. Play on words, I dunno, sounds clever to me." "Heh, sounds good to me too." Warrick agrees. With Warrick obviously in better spirits, you leave the Eye headquarter and make your own preparations for heading out to the western front. You might not be riding on an airship to do it, but you'll still be engaging in battle in some capacity. In a couple days you meet up with Ackerson's company in one of the small towns that has recently been converted into army encampment. The new Empire "citizens" don't look very happy about their recent occupation and change to their way of life, but they don't have much choice in the matter and in time they'll either get used to it, or they won't and will have to be put down. No matter to you either way. General Ackerson himself looks very tired. Like he hasn't been sleeping for days. In fact many of the soldiers have a weary looking appearance. While this is somewhat expected with long drawn out conflicts, you can't imagine that they've had so much trouble that would cause them this much stress. Decena's command has had more conflict activity, but she hasn't given any reports of problems. (Though it's possible that she's not reporting such things, but given her idolization, you doubt if she'd lie, and even if she wasn't telling, you're pretty sure Galen would send you a complaining letter of sub standard conditions.) "What the hell is wrong with this camp Ackerson? Every man and woman here looks like they're hung over due to partying for weeks on end, or they've been under going months of a siege. I don't see any castles around here, so it better not be the former." you demand. "I…I don't know my Emperor. Everything was fine until recently. I mean as fine as it could be with groups of sneaking beast people attempting to bushwhack our patrols every so often. Now it's like most of us can't get a restful sleep and a lot of us are just never fully awake anymore. Just a tired feeling even if we haven't been doing much during a particular day. Some have even reported odd or bad dreams." While you can't be certain of what would cause such a thing, you feel you're pretty safe in assuming one possibility. "Sounds like magic. Or some form of it. Why haven't you had your mages check it out?" you ask. "I would have, but they're all dead my Emperor. If it isn't the blasted centaurs with their deadly accuracy, it's the damn satyrs with their own wild magic. It's like they target our mages even if they lose more than half of their own numbers in the process." "That can't be a coincidence. Seems like it's the goat wizards doing this to your command. Better double your efforts and hunt them all down within the vicinity." "Well, I have since I thought that might be the case, but I don't think it's the Torites doing this. Their mages seem to focus on earth based or elemental magic, nothing to do with the mind or similar witchery. I think they'd be more likely to summon a tornado at us, which thankfully they haven't done yet." Ackerson explains. "Perhaps, this is just a taste of their what their mages can also do, still if you don't believe its them, who else? The people here don't look happy about the Empire taking charge of this place. You sure there isn't a hidden mage here?" "No, don't think so. The people of this town have also complained about feeling tired also. In fact that's probably why they're pissed at us. To them, we brought this curse as they call it to their town." "Okay, what about that new kingdom you said you made contact with? What's the name of it?" "Oh them. The Broki Kingdom. I'm not even sure they have any mages. The whole place is backwards. Its chaotic nature reminds me of Rask before the Empire enforced order to it. It's barely even a kingdom and certainly not like the one the Felkans had. A single king runs the kingdom this is true, but he's not a strong one. The only reason why he hasn't been overthrown is because the rest of the barons are all too busy scheming against each other." "That sounds like a rather inefficient way to run a government." You say. "From what I can tell it is. Practically nothing gets accomplished other than minor civil wars over land by the barons. Some of the barons have seen our arrival as an opportunity to make a mighty friend for their own power grab. The king on the other hand has apparently been making speeches warning his subjects that they all need to put up a united front lest they all be swallowed up by the Empire." "Hmm. Sounds like this king isn't an unintelligent fellow despite the fact that it'll be a futile task to stop us even if he does manage to keep his kingdom united." "We haven't made any major moves against the Broki yet since we've been still focusing on the Torites, then this wave of fatigue that's been plaguing my command and that's made things more difficult as well." Just as you're about to answer what the next move should be, a messenger who is panting heavily and ragged looking interrupts you. "(Gasp) Message…(pant) for the Emperor! Very (pant) important…" he says handing you a letter. "Why are you out of so much breath, boy? Surely you rode a horse here?" Ackerson asks. "Half way, (pant) horse died. Rode too hard (gasp) Ran rest of the way. Message from Sightmaster Warrick. (pant) Very important." "Shit, well I guess I better open it then. And someone get this boy some water before he collapses." You say opening the letter. Emperor, As always I hate to be the bearer of troubling news, but it is best you know. While boarding the Storm, I took a little tour of the ship before it took flight. It is quite impressive and I'm sure it will be a mighty weapon in the service of the Empire when it has been inspected again. I say again, because unfortunately I found one of the crew was a saboteur. It was fairly subtle. He didn't place a bomb on the ship, but instead had rigged the prototype repeater so that it would explode when used. The explosion would've caused much damage and most likely would've resulted in setting part of the ship aflame, which then would've caused an even bigger explosion by proxy and ultimately caused it to crash to the ground. I had a list of every member who was working under Elam and all of them save for this saboteur had been an Empire citizen from birth. This one apparently just showed up one day and proved he had engineering skills, so Elam hired him. I would've interrogated him, but he committed suicide by slitting his own throat with his dagger as soon as I had discovered the sabotage. Curious that he did not just simply try to quietly sneak off, but I can only assume he did not believe that he was going to get away with it since he was the main one who had last fired the prototype repeater during the weapon testing. Either that or he is working for an unforgiving master who would've killed him anyway for his failure. I've already questioned Elam and the rest of his staff, but I believe they genuinely didn't know, though I wonder about Elam's judgment skills. I highly recommend that he not screen any further employees he requires, at least not without an Eye present. I will return to my post as I now have wonder if there is some sort of conspiracy or possibly leaks in our security system. As much as I would've liked to have taken that ride to the western front and kill some Torites, the internal safety of the Empire comes first. I'm sure you would agree. Long Live the Empire, Sightmaster Warrick "Problems, Emperor?" Ackerson asks. "As always, but Warrick's got it under control for now. In the meantime we still need to solve your problem. I want your most skilled soldiers reporting to me tomorrow. Have you done a thorough check of that large nearby forest area? Don't the goats prefer them over other terrain." "Somewhat, but its very vast my Emperor." "Well, I'm going to go over it again. Something is being missed. Maybe I should call in those new kobold commando units too. It's possible the goats are hiding somewhere right underneath us and if there are, the kobolds can tunnel underground faster than any of us can and find out immediately." While you're taking charge of things, you tell Ackerson to go get some rest. You aren't normally used to casting magic for beneficial reasons, quite frankly other than healing magic it wasn't ever really part of your training. Still, you know enough to block out the affects of the Torite spell at least temporarily and it's a welcome relief to your troops who manage to get well rested for once. You don't waste time and begin your search of forest area immediately. It's not an easy task and you're attacked multiple times by satyrs along with their minotaur muscle. Your first encounter with them is exhilarating. It's probably the first proper bit of personal combat you've had in years. The goats don't put up that much of challenge for you, but the bulls, now there's a suitable challenge. During your first encounter with Torite forces, a pair of the bovine monsters attack you with huge axes that a human would now doubt have to hold in one two hands, but for them the weapons are swung around easily with one. As you're dodging their attacks and landing hits when you can, you can't help but think the whole time that you hope you can at least tame some of these beasts somehow as they would make an excellent addition to your forces. Whether you eventually will or not doesn't matter though, since these two in particular eventually fall to your blade after an extended battle. "Are you okay my Emperor?" one of your soldiers asks. "Okay? Are you joking? I missed this shit. This is the best I've felt in a long time!" you exclaim. You spend another few days searching the forests and have a few more encounters with Torites, some of the groups even contain the goat wizards, but even with their elimination you don't sense that the magic is gone. In fact the whole time you're in the forest you get the feeling of being continually watched the entire time and you get the impression it isn't just the average Torite lurking about. You aren't the only one who feels that way. "There's something out there…and it ain't no man." One of your soldiers says to you while you're staring up at the trees. "Of course it isn't, it's probably something fairly inhuman." You respond. "Well that too, but I meant literally that it's female." "Oh, not this elven fairy tale shit again." Another soldier remarks rolling his eyes. You probably didn't notice due to the helmet and armor and the fact that you didn't inspect every single soldier Ackerson sent with you, but the first soldier who addressed you isn't actually human. He's an elf. This is certainly a rarity since as far as you knew there weren't any elves in the army or at least it isn't a profession most of them choose. Assuming that they're free of course. "Quiet. I want to hear this. What's your name corporal?" you ask. "Flevas, Emperor." The elf answers. "Surprised Ackerson didn't point you out immediately, might've been nice to know I had someone with an affinity to forests and shit in my command." "The general…let's just say doesn't care for my kind very much and prefers to ignore my potential talents. I suppose even he couldn't ignore my battle prowess though. So I was quietly slipped in. " "Okay, so what do you know?" "Honestly? Probably nothing. I don't even know why I spoke. After years of being in an army that barely tolerates my presence I don't normally bother to speak at all." "Alright, alright, cut the oppressed elven routine, if you've got something important to say then just say it." "Very well Emperor." Flevas remarks. "I can't be certain and contrary to popular belief we sveld don't have some magical all encompassing knowledge to nature. If we did, we most likely wouldn't be in the current situation we are now. However, I suppose we do tend to have instinct and we do have lots of old stories. One of these stories is of dryads. They're being that make their homes among the trees or within the trees. The stories aren't really clear if they're flesh and blood beings that tend to remain invisible or they're some sort of spirit. Though from the stories they always appear in female form when they actually appear at all. They also never directly attack and rely on manipulating denizens of the forest and their magic. As I said I think there's one in this forest, maybe even several. I don't really know. What I do know is they do have access to magic that can affect the mind." Flevas explains. "And you didn't think this was important enough to tell anyone until now?" "As I said, my opinions are not highly regarded by the general or anyone else for that matter. I did mention it to him long before you arrived and it was dismissed as old elven nonsense." "Then the general is an idiot for dismissing the possibility given all the wonders in this world that have been seen and yet to be seen. But I'll deal with that later, so in these stories how does one go about killing one of these dryads?" "Killing? Heh, well in the sveld stories, dryads aren't killed, they're revered as protectors of nature. The only ones actively trying to kill them in stories are the svelk and as you might imagine they always fail in the stories." "Okay so how did the svelk try to kill them?" "Oh usually by futilely attempting to destroy an entire forest. This can range from the predictable firestorm magic attempts to hilarious efforts of trying to cut down every tree." "Fire doesn't work?" "It works, but not fast enough. I mean even a fire takes time to destroy an entire normal forest assuming it doesn't burn itself out. Dryads as you can imagine are a little more pro-active on saving their homes. Along with their magic, it would seem that the Torites are willing allies which would mean they'd probably help put out any fire we set. Assuming there are more in the forest." "Hrm, maybe the svelk in those stories just weren't persistent enough." You say. "I dunno, svelk are pretty tenacious when it comes to killing." Flevas has given you something to think about and it all involves destroying the forest. The fastest way would be to start building a few more catapults to fling flaming debris, and send for a few more mages to assist you in creating a larger firestorm. You have to believe that it would be more than enough to incinerate the forest within a matter of days. Of course the better way to ignite that forest is a way the svelk didn't have, namely an airship that can drop firebombs from the sky. Of course given recent events, the Storm is going through yet another safety inspection then it has to get here, all of which is going to take time. Time which might cause the Torites to increase their defenses and who knows what else. > You attack without the Storm While Flevas has provided some useful intel, he's still working off of stories. These dryads if they even are behind this, probably aren't as powerful as the tales claim. And if they are, then it would be best to attack them as soon as possible without too much waiting around. "We're going back to camp. We need to start constructing more catapults and I also need to send a message for more mage reinforcements, shouldn't take more than a few days and then we can start burning out the Torites no matter what magic they hide behind. Still, you were very helpful Flevas, Ackerson shall be hearing of his idiocy of not seeing your full potential on this matter." You say. "Um, thank you Emperor." Flevas says unsure of how to react. When you return, you give Ackerson an earful of his failure to use his resources wisely and not even informing you of the potential of certain soldiers who could come in useful. You also explain that the only reason why he isn't being demoted is that he had the intelligence to at least see Flevas' combat abilities and send him with you in the first place. You have the army start chopping down trees and constructing catapults while you await the arrival of the mage reinforcements. You attempt to shield the minds of the army as you did when you arrived, but it would seem you've definitely caught the attention of the dryads or satyr mages because it's a little more taxing than it was last time. In a couple days the mages arrive and the bombarding of the forest with flaming rocks begins. You along with the help of the newly arrived mages begin casting a firestorm of the largest size. It takes a lot of energy and you can definitely feel resistance, but you break through it and soon a majority of the forest is in flames. You also order the army to wait around the outskirts of the forest as much as possible since there will no doubt be enemies running out of it in an effort to escape. So far the plan is going well, you just wish you weren't so tired. As predicted forest creatures, but more importantly Torites eventually come running out of the forests, some manage to get away, others attempt to fight your army in an attempt to kill you and the other mages, but they naturally fail. However what isn't predicted is the fact that the forest hasn't completely burned down yet and it's been more than a few days, in fact the flames have been extinguished completely in areas and somehow a few trees have completely regrown. Eventually some of the weaker mages collapse from exhaustion and even die completely drained of life. You attempt to redouble your efforts, but at this point the army is starting to feel the effects of unrest again and you are as well despite the mind shield. "Emperor, I don't think the men can't take much more of this. I think maybe we should…" Ackerson remarks. "Don't even make that suggestion Ackerson. We are NOT going to be beaten by some fairy magic. (Sigh) Just need to rethink this a moment…damn it my head…" you say to yourself while rubbing your temples. It's getting harder to concentrate with all the energy you've expended and the short naps you've taken don't seem to do any good at all. You see Flevas nearby, though he's wise enough not to say anything. He'd probably like to say, "I told you so." but values his life more. To be honest you might not blame him if he had the courage to do so since you basically ignored him just like Ackerson did. A mistake on your part and one you're going to correct. "Alright fine. I didn't want to use it so soon after the sabotage attempt, but I'm guessing Elam's probably got the Storm straightened out by now. Have a message sent to his factory to have it sent with as many firebombs as it can carry. Fix these fucking forest fairies for good." You know its going to take some time for the Storm to arrive so in the meantime you tell your people to just keep up the bombarding. You know everyone's tired, but its necessary that this attack keeps going, you can't afford to let up. Can't afford to let up… "Shit…I'm going to my tent. I need to try to get some rest before attempting another firestorm again." You say and stagger to your tent and lie down. It's odd, but you actually feel sleepy. Before you felt tired but not actually sleepy (much like most of the troops here) maybe your attack is weakening the dryad's magic. In any case you're taking advantage of the situation and getting some much needed sleep. You drift off… "My love, wake up it's time." You hear a voice say. You wake up and find yourself in a lush green field. Nearby you see Alison though she's dressed in civilian clothing. In fact so are you. "What the hell's going on? I feel weird." You say. "You fell asleep shortly after our picnic, you looked so peaceful I didn't want to wake you up, but it's time, we have to go." "Go? Go where?" "We have to attend the Emperor's celebration silly! Everyone's going remember?" "Oh right. Yeah, I suppose he'd certainly want us to be there to provide security." "Security? Oh you must be having one of those dreams again! You certainly have a vivid imagination! While I'm sure the Emperor would be honored to have you as a bodyguard, I'm sure he's just as glad to have you tilling the fields, now come on we have to go before the festivities begin!" Alison at this point takes your hand and you get up. You still don't understand exactly what is going on, but something about Alison's smile and the warmth of her hand makes you feel so at ease. "I…I thought you were dead…" you say and suddenly hug her. She hugs you back. "That was a dream and it's okay now I assure you. I'm here and you're here and we're both very much alive and living safely in the glory of the Empire. Could anything be better?" Alison says. "No, of course not….I still feel weird though." "Well sounds like you had a nightmare. I'm not surprised you're still disoriented. Come on, you can tell me all about it on our way to the celebration." Something about this entire situation seems off to you, but it feels right somehow. You don't question what's going on any further and happily kiss Alison before walking off to the Emperor's celebration with her hand in hand. Then the vision fades and everything goes dark… You never wake up from your slumber. Finding you dead with a faint smile on your face, Ackerson comes to the correct conclusion that the dryads must've somehow killed you in your sleep. Considering you aren't the only one in the army to die in such a manner within the last twenty-four hours he orders a full retreat from the area.

You figure Warrick deserves something for all his hard work and loyalty, besides you're still a little hesitant to go flying off into the sky. "Warrick, I also saw Elam a few days ago too. He told me that by the end of this week, it should be ready for flight as well as combat. Originally I was going to take the first official flight on it, but would you like to do the honors?" you ask. Warrick looks like he can't believe his ears. "Are you serious?" "Completely. I know you're probably bored at times doing this job, trust me I sympathize. The day-to-day task of ruling isn't exactly as exciting as being hip deep in the corpses of your enemies. So I'm giving you this chance to be on the frontlines for a while. I mean I assume you've got someone here that can take over for you while you're gone for a little while right?" "Sure! I'm got more than few very qualified Eyes that can do the job." Warrick says. "Okay, well it's settled, you'll report to Elam's factory in Arat in about four days. Just tell him I sent you, I'm sure there won't be any problems." "Thank you for this opportunity and this position Emperor. I won't let it go to waste. Oh, what's the name of this new vessel?" "Name? Actually I don't think it has been named yet. Or at least Elam didn't give it one. Hrm…call it the Storm. I mean you'll be floating through the sky raining death down upon your enemies in a spectacular fashion. Plus you're an Eye. I mean Eye of the Storm. Play on words, I dunno, sounds clever to me." "Heh, sounds good to me too." Warrick agrees. With Warrick obviously in better spirits, you leave the Eye headquarter and make your own preparations for heading out to the western front. You might not be riding on an airship to do it, but you'll still be engaging in battle in some capacity. In a couple days you meet up with Ackerson's company in one of the small towns that has recently been converted into army encampment. The new Empire "citizens" don't look very happy about their recent occupation and change to their way of life, but they don't have much choice in the matter and in time they'll either get used to it, or they won't and will have to be put down. No matter to you either way. General Ackerson himself looks very tired. Like he hasn't been sleeping for days. In fact many of the soldiers have a weary looking appearance. While this is somewhat expected with long drawn out conflicts, you can't imagine that they've had so much trouble that would cause them this much stress. Decena's command has had more conflict activity, but she hasn't given any reports of problems. (Though it's possible that she's not reporting such things, but given her idolization, you doubt if she'd lie, and even if she wasn't telling, you're pretty sure Galen would send you a complaining letter of sub standard conditions.) "What the hell is wrong with this camp Ackerson? Every man and woman here looks like they're hung over due to partying for weeks on end, or they've been under going months of a siege. I don't see any castles around here, so it better not be the former." you demand. "I…I don't know my Emperor. Everything was fine until recently. I mean as fine as it could be with groups of sneaking beast people attempting to bushwhack our patrols every so often. Now it's like most of us can't get a restful sleep and a lot of us are just never fully awake anymore. Just a tired feeling even if we haven't been doing much during a particular day. Some have even reported odd or bad dreams." While you can't be certain of what would cause such a thing, you feel you're pretty safe in assuming one possibility. "Sounds like magic. Or some form of it. Why haven't you had your mages check it out?" you ask. "I would have, but they're all dead my Emperor. If it isn't the blasted centaurs with their deadly accuracy, it's the damn satyrs with their own wild magic. It's like they target our mages even if they lose more than half of their own numbers in the process." "That can't be a coincidence. Seems like it's the goat wizards doing this to your command. Better double your efforts and hunt them all down within the vicinity." "Well, I have since I thought that might be the case, but I don't think it's the Torites doing this. Their mages seem to focus on earth based or elemental magic, nothing to do with the mind or similar witchery. I think they'd be more likely to summon a tornado at us, which thankfully they haven't done yet." Ackerson explains. "Perhaps, this is just a taste of their what their mages can also do, still if you don't believe its them, who else? The people here don't look happy about the Empire taking charge of this place. You sure there isn't a hidden mage here?" "No, don't think so. The people of this town have also complained about feeling tired also. In fact that's probably why they're pissed at us. To them, we brought this curse as they call it to their town." "Okay, what about that new kingdom you said you made contact with? What's the name of it?" "Oh them. The Broki Kingdom. I'm not even sure they have any mages. The whole place is backwards. Its chaotic nature reminds me of Rask before the Empire enforced order to it. It's barely even a kingdom and certainly not like the one the Felkans had. A single king runs the kingdom this is true, but he's not a strong one. The only reason why he hasn't been overthrown is because the rest of the barons are all too busy scheming against each other." "That sounds like a rather inefficient way to run a government." You say. "From what I can tell it is. Practically nothing gets accomplished other than minor civil wars over land by the barons. Some of the barons have seen our arrival as an opportunity to make a mighty friend for their own power grab. The king on the other hand has apparently been making speeches warning his subjects that they all need to put up a united front lest they all be swallowed up by the Empire." "Hmm. Sounds like this king isn't an unintelligent fellow despite the fact that it'll be a futile task to stop us even if he does manage to keep his kingdom united." "We haven't made any major moves against the Broki yet since we've been still focusing on the Torites, then this wave of fatigue that's been plaguing my command and that's made things more difficult as well." Just as you're about to answer what the next move should be, a messenger who is panting heavily and ragged looking interrupts you. "(Gasp) Message…(pant) for the Emperor! Very (pant) important…" he says handing you a letter. "Why are you out of so much breath, boy? Surely you rode a horse here?" Ackerson asks. "Half way, (pant) horse died. Rode too hard (gasp) Ran rest of the way. Message from Sightmaster Warrick. (pant) Very important." "Shit, well I guess I better open it then. And someone get this boy some water before he collapses." You say opening the letter. Emperor, As always I hate to be the bearer of troubling news, but it is best you know. While boarding the Storm, I took a little tour of the ship before it took flight. It is quite impressive and I'm sure it will be a mighty weapon in the service of the Empire when it has been inspected again. I say again, because unfortunately I found one of the crew was a saboteur. It was fairly subtle. He didn't place a bomb on the ship, but instead had rigged the prototype repeater so that it would explode when used. The explosion would've caused much damage and most likely would've resulted in setting part of the ship aflame, which then would've caused an even bigger explosion by proxy and ultimately caused it to crash to the ground. I had a list of every member who was working under Elam and all of them save for this saboteur had been an Empire citizen from birth. This one apparently just showed up one day and proved he had engineering skills, so Elam hired him. I would've interrogated him, but he committed suicide by slitting his own throat with his dagger as soon as I had discovered the sabotage. Curious that he did not just simply try to quietly sneak off, but I can only assume he did not believe that he was going to get away with it since he was the main one who had last fired the prototype repeater during the weapon testing. Either that or he is working for an unforgiving master who would've killed him anyway for his failure. I've already questioned Elam and the rest of his staff, but I believe they genuinely didn't know, though I wonder about Elam's judgment skills. I highly recommend that he not screen any further employees he requires, at least not without an Eye present. I will return to my post as I now have wonder if there is some sort of conspiracy or possibly leaks in our security system. As much as I would've liked to have taken that ride to the western front and kill some Torites, the internal safety of the Empire comes first. I'm sure you would agree. Long Live the Empire, Sightmaster Warrick "Problems, Emperor?" Ackerson asks. "As always, but Warrick's got it under control for now. In the meantime we still need to solve your problem. I want your most skilled soldiers reporting to me tomorrow. Have you done a thorough check of that large nearby forest area? Don't the goats prefer them over other terrain." "Somewhat, but its very vast my Emperor." "Well, I'm going to go over it again. Something is being missed. Maybe I should call in those new kobold commando units too. It's possible the goats are hiding somewhere right underneath us and if there are, the kobolds can tunnel underground faster than any of us can and find out immediately." While you're taking charge of things, you tell Ackerson to go get some rest. You aren't normally used to casting magic for beneficial reasons, quite frankly other than healing magic it wasn't ever really part of your training. Still, you know enough to block out the affects of the Torite spell at least temporarily and it's a welcome relief to your troops who manage to get well rested for once. You don't waste time and begin your search of forest area immediately. It's not an easy task and you're attacked multiple times by satyrs along with their minotaur muscle. Your first encounter with them is exhilarating. It's probably the first proper bit of personal combat you've had in years. The goats don't put up that much of challenge for you, but the bulls, now there's a suitable challenge. During your first encounter with Torite forces, a pair of the bovine monsters attack you with huge axes that a human would now doubt have to hold in one two hands, but for them the weapons are swung around easily with one. As you're dodging their attacks and landing hits when you can, you can't help but think the whole time that you hope you can at least tame some of these beasts somehow as they would make an excellent addition to your forces. Whether you eventually will or not doesn't matter though, since these two in particular eventually fall to your blade after an extended battle. "Are you okay my Emperor?" one of your soldiers asks. "Okay? Are you joking? I missed this shit. This is the best I've felt in a long time!" you exclaim. You spend another few days searching the forests and have a few more encounters with Torites, some of the groups even contain the goat wizards, but even with their elimination you don't sense that the magic is gone. In fact the whole time you're in the forest you get the feeling of being continually watched the entire time and you get the impression it isn't just the average Torite lurking about. You aren't the only one who feels that way. "There's something out there…and it ain't no man." One of your soldiers says to you while you're staring up at the trees. "Of course it isn't, it's probably something fairly inhuman." You respond. "Well that too, but I meant literally that it's female." "Oh, not this elven fairy tale shit again." Another soldier remarks rolling his eyes. You probably didn't notice due to the helmet and armor and the fact that you didn't inspect every single soldier Ackerson sent with you, but the first soldier who addressed you isn't actually human. He's an elf. This is certainly a rarity since as far as you knew there weren't any elves in the army or at least it isn't a profession most of them choose. Assuming that they're free of course. "Quiet. I want to hear this. What's your name corporal?" you ask. "Flevas, Emperor." The elf answers. "Surprised Ackerson didn't point you out immediately, might've been nice to know I had someone with an affinity to forests and shit in my command." "The general…let's just say doesn't care for my kind very much and prefers to ignore my potential talents. I suppose even he couldn't ignore my battle prowess though. So I was quietly slipped in. " "Okay, so what do you know?" "Honestly? Probably nothing. I don't even know why I spoke. After years of being in an army that barely tolerates my presence I don't normally bother to speak at all." "Alright, alright, cut the oppressed elven routine, if you've got something important to say then just say it." "Very well Emperor." Flevas remarks. "I can't be certain and contrary to popular belief we sveld don't have some magical all encompassing knowledge to nature. If we did, we most likely wouldn't be in the current situation we are now. However, I suppose we do tend to have instinct and we do have lots of old stories. One of these stories is of dryads. They're being that make their homes among the trees or within the trees. The stories aren't really clear if they're flesh and blood beings that tend to remain invisible or they're some sort of spirit. Though from the stories they always appear in female form when they actually appear at all. They also never directly attack and rely on manipulating denizens of the forest and their magic. As I said I think there's one in this forest, maybe even several. I don't really know. What I do know is they do have access to magic that can affect the mind." Flevas explains. "And you didn't think this was important enough to tell anyone until now?" "As I said, my opinions are not highly regarded by the general or anyone else for that matter. I did mention it to him long before you arrived and it was dismissed as old elven nonsense." "Then the general is an idiot for dismissing the possibility given all the wonders in this world that have been seen and yet to be seen. But I'll deal with that later, so in these stories how does one go about killing one of these dryads?" "Killing? Heh, well in the sveld stories, dryads aren't killed, they're revered as protectors of nature. The only ones actively trying to kill them in stories are the svelk and as you might imagine they always fail in the stories." "Okay so how did the svelk try to kill them?" "Oh usually by futilely attempting to destroy an entire forest. This can range from the predictable firestorm magic attempts to hilarious efforts of trying to cut down every tree." "Fire doesn't work?" "It works, but not fast enough. I mean even a fire takes time to destroy an entire normal forest assuming it doesn't burn itself out. Dryads as you can imagine are a little more pro-active on saving their homes. Along with their magic, it would seem that the Torites are willing allies which would mean they'd probably help put out any fire we set. Assuming there are more in the forest." "Hrm, maybe the svelk in those stories just weren't persistent enough." You say. "I dunno, svelk are pretty tenacious when it comes to killing." Flevas has given you something to think about and it all involves destroying the forest. The fastest way would be to start building a few more catapults to fling flaming debris, and send for a few more mages to assist you in creating a larger firestorm. You have to believe that it would be more than enough to incinerate the forest within a matter of days. Of course the better way to ignite that forest is a way the svelk didn't have, namely an airship that can drop firebombs from the sky. Of course given recent events, the Storm is going through yet another safety inspection then it has to get here, all of which is going to take time. Time which might cause the Torites to increase their defenses and who knows what else. > You attack with the Storm Whatever defenses the Torites are going to muster within the time you come back with the Storm as far as you're concerned aren't going to be enough to save them. Better you should come back prepared and your soliders better rested as well. "I think it's time to leave. In fact I think it'll be best if the entire army moves away from this area." You say. "We're retreating?" Flevas asks. "Call it a tactical withdraw. I'm not done with this place though. Not done with you either, your input on this was very useful." "Um, thank you Emperor." Flevas says unsure of how to take the fact that he's called attention to himself to the ruler of the Empire. When you return, you give Ackerson an earful of his failure to use his resources wisely and not even informing you of the potential of certain soldiers who could come in useful. You also explain that the only reason why he isn't being demoted is that he had the intelligence to at least see Flevas' combat abilities and send him with you in the first place. You have the army relocate to one of the towns closer to the Empire for resupplying and reinforcements. There is a bit of downtime, but there is also some routine patrolling which allows you to engage in battle against a group of those centaur creatures. Tedious foes. Constantly galloping away while firing their arrows. You appreciated the bull creatures' attempts at caving your skull in with their axes a lot more. Eventually you get the message you've been waiting for and that's when you make your way back to the vicinity of the forest. When you arrive, you and the back up mages begin to prepare for your assault on the entire forest. You call Flevas over, who you see nearby. "So what do you think to this plan? Be honest." "Well Emperor, as I said the svelk in the stories attempted something like this as well and while I know that you certainly have powerful magic at your command, I'm not certain that the rest of your mages having your same abilities." "I see. So you don't believe Empire mages are up to the challenge of setting one measly forest on fire and completely burning it to the ground." "I didn't say that…" "Oh, well you must've also implied that even if our mages fail that I would not have the capacity to pick up their slack." "I definitely did not mean…" You start laughing. "Relax elf, I'm fucking with you. Beside this isn't the entire plan, the rest of it is over there in the near distance." You say and point over at the airship slowing making its way towards your position. Most of the army is looking in that direction too. "I heard the rumors, but is that the ship that can fly?" Flevas asks. "That is indeed the Empire's new pride in the skies. The Storm. And that's exactly what it's going to do over that forest. Those dryads might be expecting us to attempt a magic firestorm, but I guarantee they're not going to be expecting one that involves a lot of explosions." The Storm is indeed an impressive sight and you can imagine how it will terrify your future enemies. For right now though, you're content on it just killing them. Along with the airship and your magic, you also have a row of catapults continually barrage the forest with flaming material. You and the army periodically move and keep on the outskirts of forest while the Storm works its assault within the center of the forest. Between the two, the decimation of the forest is certain even if it does take a few days. Forest creatures, but more importantly Torites eventually come running out of the forests, some manage to get away, others attempt to fight your army in an attempt to kill you and the other mages, but they naturally fail. You actually do lose a few of the weaker mages who can't keep up their energy and collapse completely drained of life. Hardly matters since you accomplish your task with vicious efficiency. Eventually the forest goes from being an inferno to a blacked wasteland with only burnt tree husks and stumps left. Whatever is still alive, is going to be easy to find. You order a search and participate in it yourself, as you are eager to see if there might be some sort of evidence of this mysterious dryad or dryads. It might be that you just burned down an entire forest for no reason, but then it is one less area for the Torites to hide in. You do sense a faint bit of magic though. Very weak, but there none the less. You immediately follow the trail until it leads you to your goal. And there you see a naked, heavily burned female creature. Its limbs are slightly longer and thinner than even the average elf. It has a very delicate appearance and might even be considered pretty looking if it wasn't covered in burns and struggling for life. It pathetically lays on the ground semi-curled up near a stump that is nearly completely burnt. It looks at you with its big eyes and then over nearby at some other bodies you didn't even notice. They look like more dryads though, all dead. The dryad shakes and clutches tighter to the stump as you approach. It even begins making a few sounds, which causes you to immediately raise a force shield, expecting some sort of last attack. "She isn't casting a spell Emperor. She's whispering some sort of prayer. I think." Flevas remarks. "About what and how do you know what she's saying?" "I…don't know! It's like she's in my head all of a sudden and I can understand some of her language. Something about…back to earth…child of nature…unnatural force of death…she's very sad." "I would imagine so." You reply. "Yeah, but it's not for herself, it's for me." Flevas says. Flevas at this point walks past you and over to the dying dryad. She looks up at him sorrowfully and stops whatever it was that she speaking about. He kneels down beside her and for a brief moment he looks at her sadly as well, but then his face then turns to one of anger and he ends her suffering with a knife to her neck. She gurgles a bit and then dies. "Another victory for the Empire." Flevas says and walks past you. You stare at the dead dryad for a moment and survey the surrounding desolation. "Well, I guess we know they're flesh and blood creatures now." You remark and tell the rest of nearby soldiers to start heading back to the camp. When you get back, General Ackerson tells you that they're holding a courier from the Broki Kingdom. The courier works for one of the opportunistic barons. Baron Divilak Apparently this Baron Divilak has heard much about the Empire and sees no reason to resist your inevitable annexation. He claims that he can make things simpler for you by giving out information of major strong points, security secrets, that sort of thing as well as providing his own military support. Of course he wants to meet in person before all this so that you may hammer out any other stipulations and agreements, but basically what he asks in return is to govern over the new Empire province and that he get to execute King Tiklov himself. It certainly would be easier with inside help and you were originally toying with the idea of taking advantage of the disorganized nature of the Broki Kingdom by having one or two of the barons side with you in the first place. Of course you never know with those scheming types after all if they're willing to sell out everything for their own personal gain now, what's stopping them from doing something similar to the Empire in the future? At the very least, the amount of corruption might tend to be higher than what is acceptable. With the recent display of power by the Storm, you're wondering if you shouldn't just make a gross display of force and cow them all into submission and dispense with any pretense of a "friendly" take over. Of course the problem with this plan, is you might actually unite the kingdom due to your brutality and it might take longer to conquer the place. > You deal with the baron The whole point of conquest is to not completely destroy the land you're attempting to take over. Why decimate perfectly good territory when a better way presents itself? Besides its probably best to use a weapon like the Storm sparingly. The threat of it should be enough. "Tell your baron that I'll meet him, but it's going to have be at some sort of neutral ground and I'm not coming by myself. If he thinks I'm going to go walking into his land by myself he better just forget this meeting entirely and prepare his armies." You tell the courier. "Ah, yes I believe the Baron did expect that you'd say something like that, so he is fully prepared to make arrangements to meet you halfway at an abandoned inn by a crossroads a few miles south from here rather than having to go to him." The courier replies. "Hrm. Sounds like he really wants my help. Fine, but if I see an army marching with him, well you can guess what's going to happen." "Oh no, that won't happen mighty Emperor. He might arrive with some personal servants, but nothing more than that I assure you." "He better not. Alright then, off with you." You say and wave away the courier who bows and takes his leave. With the courier gone you turn back to Ackerson. "I want you and the rest of the army to stay here until I get back. The troops could probably use the rest after this whole ordeal with the dryads. Obviously if I don't get back within a day then I want you to annihilate the Broki Kingdom." You say. "My Emperor, aren't you going to take some people with you? Surely you'll want back up just in case." "Well of course, that's why Flevas is going with me." "While I now see the error of not recognizing his potential sooner, I must insist that you take a few more. Not all the troops are so tired that they can't help their Emperor!" "Well I can honestly say I'm not particularly worried about anything this baron can throw at me even if it is a trap, I suppose it never hurts to have more people. Fine then, pick out ten for me and I'll get going." After the ten are picked, you all make your way south. Really you're sort of wondering where the hell a road is even located, because all you've seen is mostly wilderness and long untamed grassy fields. Eventually though Flevas' tracking skills come in handy and he locates the very faint remnants of one. The "road" hasn't been upkept in years, probably decades. Only portions of stone in a semi straight line are evidence that one even existed. Still, it at least proves you're going in the right direction and eventually a dilapidated building stands before you in the distance. "Must be the inn. Don't see any signs of the baron or an army yet." You say. "Maybe they're inside." Flevas says. "Well maybe the baron is, but I doubt if even he could fit an army in there." "Maybe not an army, but it only takes a few assassins to kill a man." "Glad to see you're so suspicious Flevas, were you volunteering to scout out the place first?" "If that is what you wish Emperor." "If you're going to scout it out then don't go alone, take some people with you….sheesh I sound like Ackerson." Flevas and three of your other troops ride away towards the inn and you wait. Twenty minutes pass and you see one of your soldiers riding back towards you. "Well?" "He's dead my Emperor." "What?! Who?!" "The baron. I mean at least we think its him, never having seen him before and all. He's dressed pretty fancy. Doesn't look like anyone else is around, but whether it's the baron or not there's still a dead man in there. Flevas is still doing some checking, he said he'd prefer it if you were there to see this for yourself." "(Sigh) Why can't anything be simple? I knew I should've just used the Storm…" you say exasperated as you all ride off towards the inn. When you arrive you enter the inn and see your other two soldiers and on the floor you don't see the baron or an unknown dead man, what you see is Flevas and before you can react, you feel a couple crossbow bolts hit you in the face. One just below one of your eyes and another into your cheek. A couple more hit you in your right arm and leg. You crumple to the floor on one knee groaning in pain. "SHIT, I missed his brain! Somebody get him quick before he starts casting magic!" you hear a voice say and several people tackle you forward to the ground. You attempt to get up, but several people are putting their entire weight on your back making it impossible. You attempt to cast a spell, but someone quickly gets the bright idea to repeatedly stomp on one of your hands with their foot while someone else just chops off the other one with an axe blow. "Hey asshole! You nearly hit me!" a soldier shouts. "Fuck…ing traitors, I'll kill all…" you start to utter and then a boot kicks you in the face sinking the bolt under your eye deeper. You begin to feel disoriented and unable to see properly. "Stop playing with the fool, just kill him! Like this!" you hear a familiar voice shout. Is that Eldolith? You'll never know for sure as a well-placed bolt pierces your skull.

Whatever defenses the Torites are going to muster within the time you come back with the Storm as far as you're concerned aren't going to be enough to save them. Better you should come back prepared and your soliders better rested as well. "I think it's time to leave. In fact I think it'll be best if the entire army moves away from this area." You say. "We're retreating?" Flevas asks. "Call it a tactical withdraw. I'm not done with this place though. Not done with you either, your input on this was very useful." "Um, thank you Emperor." Flevas says unsure of how to take the fact that he's called attention to himself to the ruler of the Empire. When you return, you give Ackerson an earful of his failure to use his resources wisely and not even informing you of the potential of certain soldiers who could come in useful. You also explain that the only reason why he isn't being demoted is that he had the intelligence to at least see Flevas' combat abilities and send him with you in the first place. You have the army relocate to one of the towns closer to the Empire for resupplying and reinforcements. There is a bit of downtime, but there is also some routine patrolling which allows you to engage in battle against a group of those centaur creatures. Tedious foes. Constantly galloping away while firing their arrows. You appreciated the bull creatures' attempts at caving your skull in with their axes a lot more. Eventually you get the message you've been waiting for and that's when you make your way back to the vicinity of the forest. When you arrive, you and the back up mages begin to prepare for your assault on the entire forest. You call Flevas over, who you see nearby. "So what do you think to this plan? Be honest." "Well Emperor, as I said the svelk in the stories attempted something like this as well and while I know that you certainly have powerful magic at your command, I'm not certain that the rest of your mages having your same abilities." "I see. So you don't believe Empire mages are up to the challenge of setting one measly forest on fire and completely burning it to the ground." "I didn't say that…" "Oh, well you must've also implied that even if our mages fail that I would not have the capacity to pick up their slack." "I definitely did not mean…" You start laughing. "Relax elf, I'm fucking with you. Beside this isn't the entire plan, the rest of it is over there in the near distance." You say and point over at the airship slowing making its way towards your position. Most of the army is looking in that direction too. "I heard the rumors, but is that the ship that can fly?" Flevas asks. "That is indeed the Empire's new pride in the skies. The Storm. And that's exactly what it's going to do over that forest. Those dryads might be expecting us to attempt a magic firestorm, but I guarantee they're not going to be expecting one that involves a lot of explosions." The Storm is indeed an impressive sight and you can imagine how it will terrify your future enemies. For right now though, you're content on it just killing them. Along with the airship and your magic, you also have a row of catapults continually barrage the forest with flaming material. You and the army periodically move and keep on the outskirts of forest while the Storm works its assault within the center of the forest. Between the two, the decimation of the forest is certain even if it does take a few days. Forest creatures, but more importantly Torites eventually come running out of the forests, some manage to get away, others attempt to fight your army in an attempt to kill you and the other mages, but they naturally fail. You actually do lose a few of the weaker mages who can't keep up their energy and collapse completely drained of life. Hardly matters since you accomplish your task with vicious efficiency. Eventually the forest goes from being an inferno to a blacked wasteland with only burnt tree husks and stumps left. Whatever is still alive, is going to be easy to find. You order a search and participate in it yourself, as you are eager to see if there might be some sort of evidence of this mysterious dryad or dryads. It might be that you just burned down an entire forest for no reason, but then it is one less area for the Torites to hide in. You do sense a faint bit of magic though. Very weak, but there none the less. You immediately follow the trail until it leads you to your goal. And there you see a naked, heavily burned female creature. Its limbs are slightly longer and thinner than even the average elf. It has a very delicate appearance and might even be considered pretty looking if it wasn't covered in burns and struggling for life. It pathetically lays on the ground semi-curled up near a stump that is nearly completely burnt. It looks at you with its big eyes and then over nearby at some other bodies you didn't even notice. They look like more dryads though, all dead. The dryad shakes and clutches tighter to the stump as you approach. It even begins making a few sounds, which causes you to immediately raise a force shield, expecting some sort of last attack. "She isn't casting a spell Emperor. She's whispering some sort of prayer. I think." Flevas remarks. "About what and how do you know what she's saying?" "I…don't know! It's like she's in my head all of a sudden and I can understand some of her language. Something about…back to earth…child of nature…unnatural force of death…she's very sad." "I would imagine so." You reply. "Yeah, but it's not for herself, it's for me." Flevas says. Flevas at this point walks past you and over to the dying dryad. She looks up at him sorrowfully and stops whatever it was that she speaking about. He kneels down beside her and for a brief moment he looks at her sadly as well, but then his face then turns to one of anger and he ends her suffering with a knife to her neck. She gurgles a bit and then dies. "Another victory for the Empire." Flevas says and walks past you. You stare at the dead dryad for a moment and survey the surrounding desolation. "Well, I guess we know they're flesh and blood creatures now." You remark and tell the rest of nearby soldiers to start heading back to the camp. When you get back, General Ackerson tells you that they're holding a courier from the Broki Kingdom. The courier works for one of the opportunistic barons. Baron Divilak Apparently this Baron Divilak has heard much about the Empire and sees no reason to resist your inevitable annexation. He claims that he can make things simpler for you by giving out information of major strong points, security secrets, that sort of thing as well as providing his own military support. Of course he wants to meet in person before all this so that you may hammer out any other stipulations and agreements, but basically what he asks in return is to govern over the new Empire province and that he get to execute King Tiklov himself. It certainly would be easier with inside help and you were originally toying with the idea of taking advantage of the disorganized nature of the Broki Kingdom by having one or two of the barons side with you in the first place. Of course you never know with those scheming types after all if they're willing to sell out everything for their own personal gain now, what's stopping them from doing something similar to the Empire in the future? At the very least, the amount of corruption might tend to be higher than what is acceptable. With the recent display of power by the Storm, you're wondering if you shouldn't just make a gross display of force and cow them all into submission and dispense with any pretense of a "friendly" take over. Of course the problem with this plan, is you might actually unite the kingdom due to your brutality and it might take longer to conquer the place. > You use the Storm Negotiating has never been what the Empire has been about. You go in; you crush your enemies under heel and then sort out the details later. Without another word, you draw your sword and sever the head of the hapless courier. Blood splatters on the onlookers nearby as the head bounces once on the ground near your feet. You give it a small kick towards one of the soldiers. "Have that courier's head sent back to the baron in a bag. That will be our answer to his proposals. Well actually the Storm will be the real answer, but for now his courier's head will do." You remark. "Oh. The flying machine? Won't that need time to resupply from bombing the dryad forest?" Ackerson asks. "Yes, but it'll be fine. Let them wait and sweat it out. When he receives his messenger's head I'm sure he'll mobilize all his little soldiers, ready for an attack. Won't do him any good though when the Storm is laying waste to his castle. Then the rest of us will come in and clean up. After we've annihilated nearly everything within the baron's territory, THEN we will give our own demands to the remainder of the Broki Kingdom. In the meantime, tell everyone to keep alert as usual and enjoy this little respite in what is going to be the shortest conflict of this western campaign." You retire to your tent where you go through a couple of more traditional letters you've received since you were away destroying the dryads. Two of them are from Decena. One talks about how she's confirmed the rumors of the winged Torites or harpies as they're known. She explains that they're even more tedious foe than the centaurs due to their flight ability. The standard practice is to fill the skies with arrows and bullets whenever possible. Galen has been pulling his weight, but as you've come to expect the Torites have been systematically targeting mages, he's barely escaped death several times and is one of the few wizards Decena has left. Fortunately she doesn't report anything close to the dryad activity Ackerson experienced, but you'll have to send her a message back warning her about them. Her second letter is something you're hesitant to open, since you know it's going to be of a more personal nature. You sort of thought that maybe her time away from you and her apparent enjoyment of battle would slowly erode her feelings for you, but that hasn't happened. In any case, you put aside the letter for later and turn your attention to another letter which is from Warrick giving you an update on his findings. He mentions that he's uncovered nothing that would suggest an internal conspiracy yet, but just says that the elven population has been complaining more than usual as of late. So far there is no evidence that they're planning anything from the ones he's brought in, but that doesn't mean that they aren't. This gets you wondering about something that occurred earlier and you have Felvas brought to you. "So…that was quite the show back there with the dryads." You say. "I'm afraid I don't quite understand sir." Flevas answers. "Oh come on. You don't need to hide it. You were upset to see dryads get killed. Hell, you probably were upset to see the forest burn to the ground." "It was necessary." "Of course it was necessary, but the point is you REALLY didn't like it. Not only did you not like it, you were personally offended. Why something like could cause a man to habor ill feelings that fester underneath the skin and come out in ill advised ways." Flevas is silent as you study his reaction to what you're implying. "Emperor, I am not a traitor to Empire. I would never…" "Yes, yes, yes, I know. You would never betray an Empire that oppresses your people…well if your people's complaints are anything to go by." "But I finished off the dryad without your orders!" "So? You've probably done a lot of things you don't like doing. Hell, it was a mercy kill anyway. One might even think that you did it just for my benefit. Believing that you were the good loyal elf. Tell me, is that what your people are doing? Are they emulating the shadows and just biding their time?" "What?! I don't know! I mean no! Emperor, I…" "Silence!" you shout and backhand Flevas to the face causing him to stagger. "Now then, you've got two options. One is bad, and one is to start telling me the truth." Flevas rubs his face and then composes himself. He doesn't display anger like he did with the dryad, but he does do that elf thing with his eyes, like they're looking right through you and that you're nothing at all. Semra was really good at it. "So what do you want me to say? Yes! I HATE the fucking Empire! Yes! I HATE every fucking human I have to work with and put up with their shit! I HATE the fact that my people are the lowest rung of society even though that includes fucking kobolds now! FUCKING KOBOLDS!" "Kobolds are very loyal and eager to serve." You respond. "And they're damn idiots! So are the brainless orcs and look at what you did to them! They're nearly extinct because you have them soak up all the major fighting during the Felkan War!" "They enjoyed the fighting. Besides, they're building up their numbers now." "Yeah, so you can use them in the next big ass war! Well I'm fucking sorry we sveld don't feel that way! We don't enjoy conflict and bloodshed! We cherish freedom! Freedom we haven't had for centuries! If it wasn't the orcs hunting us down it was the accursed svelk massacring and torturing us!" "Exactly, and you'd think that you'd be grateful for the Empire for saving you from such things like the orcs and svelk." "Right. Because humans are so much better? Humans fucking enslaved us." "Actually there are probably just as many human slaves than there are elven ones right now." "Yeah and all the human ones are criminals! And even if when the sveld aren't outright slaves, they're so destitute or desperate that they're worked like slaves. It's a fucking sorry existence, yet as much as we bitch and bitch and BITCH about our plight, we've got nobody to blame but ourselves." "You believe that?" you ask a little surprised at his claim "Honestly? Yeah, I do. I believe the sveld have been kicked around so long by everyone and cowed into submission that we love playing the fucking victim. It's actually gotten to the point where it's more enjoyable than actually trying to DO something." "I dunno about that. There have been sveld rebellions in the past and a lot of them border on being dissidents to this day." You say. "The full blown rebellions consisting of nothing but sveld are a rarity and considering how badly we've been treated why there haven't been more just confirms my belief that sveld prefer playing the victim. In fact the Empire has had more problems keeping humans in line. As for dissidents, I know the Empire frowns upon anyone who dares to look at it wrong, but I guarantee the main ones bitching probably aren't doing anything other than just that, bitching." "Sort of like you are now?" "Yes, damn it. Exactly like how I am right now! You asked me to tell you the truth, well that's what I'm doing as ordered! Why? Because I'm that good loyal sveld! You stay silent and continue to listen to Flevas rant, other soldiers have entered your tent believing something amiss, but you wave them away signifying that everything is fine. "You know why I ultimately killed that dryad? It wasn't out of mercy. It was out of anger that such a creature that attempted to know my thoughts and feelings and dared to feel sorry for me. Fuck that, we have enough of that shit going on in the sveld community. Even some of the so-called kind humans will occasionally do the same and it's sickening every time. In the scheme of things, I'm not an old sveld, but I feel like I know a hell of a lot more how to deal with this shitty life I've been handed. Don't complain and try to just do your job. The best way to do this is in the military. You never have a choice here; it's kill or be killed. It's follow orders and don't think." "So is that why you joined the military?" you ask. "I joined because I wasn't going to have my wife blowing disgusting humans for coin or have my children begging on the street like paupers. I wasn't going to clean privy holes for some human piece of shit who probably can't even read, yet thinks that they're somehow better just because they're not sveld. I wasn't going to fucking whine about my position in life and get my ass whisked away in the middle of the night by the Eyes or just killed on the spot. I was going to at least TRY to make the best of things even if I hate every damn moment of it." Flevas' at this point isn't doing that elf eye thing anymore; he's long since lost his calm demeanor and looking far more emotional. You get the impression that he's probably wanted to say this to SOMEBODY for a very long time. And now he has the advantage of telling it directly to the Emperor. You know that has to feel good for him somewhere. "And with any luck… I'd get to kill some humans in the process. That's why I joined. " Flevas says ending his rant which causes a nod from you. "Well you'll get your chance soon in the Broki Kingdom." "I thought you were using that flying ship." "I am, but it can't do all the work can it? Besides, it's just going to be there for added terror for the most part. As usual the regular army is going to do the clean up work. It'll be grim business. Despite the civilian population, we aren't going to be leaving much alive in this particular battle, but as you probably can guess, it's necessary." Flevas nods and continues to stand at attention unsure of what to expect next. "You're dimissed." You say. "That's it?" Flevas asks. "For now at least. If anything else comes up that I think I need to talk to you about, you'll be the first to know. Oh actually there is one more question. Is there anything that you do like about the Empire?" Flevas doesn't think about it too long. "There was a law instituted to have svelk killed on sight." "Heh, yeah that is a good one." You say and Flevas takes his leave. You make a mental note, that Flevas should be promoted in the future. His attitude and views are clear, but he's no traitor. As you've always believed, you don't need people to like you, you just need them to be loyal. In a couple of days the assault is in full force on the Broki Kingdom, or at least Baron Divilak's land. You specifically tell your troops that only Divilak's land and people are to be attacked. Of course if he gets any help from neighboring barons or the king himself then the order is to show them no mercy. Divilak doesn't receive any help though, or if he was, his allies lost courage when they saw the Storm raining fire down upon Divilak's castle. You can imagine that the Broki have never seen such a thing before and probably hope to never see something like that hovering above them. To their credit, Divilak's soldiers hold their ground initially, but in the end your army scatters them. You imagine that Divilak probably had one of the stronger militaries in this dysfunctional kingdom given that they didn't run immediately when they saw the Storm. Of course now, that has been reduced to nothing. While your first plan was going to be to utterly wipe out everyone within Divilak's territory as a message of sorts to the rest of the Broki population to fall in line lest they suffer the same fate, you decide to hold back and the civilian population slaughter and come up with another plan. "Flevas, there you are. Got an important job for you." You say stepping over several bodies on the battlefield. "Emperor." He reports. "You're going to get to do something very important for your people. Hell, you may even go down in history as a hero to them. Would certainly be a more worthwhile story than about some tree hugging dryads. I want you to round up the remainder of the civilian population with this territory. For every one you bring in, you free one elf from his slave chains. We'll work out the details later, but for now take whoever you think would be best to help you for this mission and if you get any trouble say this is a direct order from the Emperor. I'd also advise you to limit the casualties, but I imagine you already know that." "Yes, my Emperor." Flevas says and instantly runs off to perform the task. With any luck, this is the sort of thing that MIGHT cause the elves to stop complaining so much. Maybe they'll all start following Flevas' example and not only accept their lot in life, but to stop complaining about it. In time maybe they won't even be your "problem citizens" anymore. Of course the Divilak's people aren't going to enjoy their new designation, but then they're not suppose to. You're still sending a message to the rest of the Broki. Submit or this is what will happen. Your armies scattered, your buildings destroyed, and your citizens enslaved. Soon after the razing of the barony, you are visited by a very frightened Broki courier. He is escorted by your soldiers and nervously gives a message to you. It's from the king and apparently he's sending you this message even though his advisors have told him not to. He says for the good of his people and he hopes in your mercy that you will cease your attack as he is formally surrendering the Broki Kingdom to the Empire. A few days later you meet with King Tiklov who makes a formal showing in front of his people that the Broki Kingdom is now no more and that it now will be the Broki province of the Empire. Tiklov will still remain in power, but only as a figurehead and to be involved in the day to day governing, assisted by some of your own administrators of course. The annexation goes more or less smoothly, but you come to find out a disturbing discovery. You come to find out that some of the barons had secret dealings with svelk advisors. In fact Divilak was one of them. Certainly explains why the kingdom was involved in civil wars before you arrived. Hell, Divilak's offer to meet with you might've been an attempt on your life. These svelk advisors of course have all fled to who knows where by now, but you definitely think you know who tried to have you killed aboard the Storm. You also know that it has to be Semra masterminding all this, wherever she is. You'll have to keep alert, but then you always are. You have the barons that had such dealings with svelk executed. It wasn't like they were necessary any longer anyway. > Year 42 While you doubt this is going to be your last battle with the Torites, you're at least hoping it's going to be the one to break their spirit to the point where they become less of a problem. Still, the fact that they've finally unified their forces into armies shows you that they realize you aren't going to just go away and their hit and run tactics and attempts to win through attrition aren't going to succeed. It shows you that this is a concentrated effort to get rid of you once and for all. It won't work either and really works to your benefit. It allows you the opportunity to kill a bunch of them in one large grouping now. Maybe there will always be pockets of Torites lurking in the untamed wilderness but one thing is certain. The territory WILL be the Empire's and the Torites can either submit and see the light like the kobolds eventually did or slowly be driven into extinction like the gnolls. But that's in the future, right now you're drawing up the plans for this impeding battle. Considering how large the Torite horde is, you've combined your available forces with Decena's army. It was quite the happy day for her seeing as she hasn't seen you for five years. You still aren't quite sure how you exactly feel about her, but she's definitely been winning you over as far as her victories have been concerned. She remains professional always in front of everyone, but the first time she got you alone, she literally jumped on you and wrapped her legs around your waist, planting a kiss on you. But again, you can sort out your possible complications with Decena later. Now is the time to make sure the both of you come out of this alive. "We should have the second airship here before we begin our assault. Hopefully that will take some of the pressure off of the Storm to deal with the harpies." You remark. "Its isn't just the bird bitches that flap about though. Don't forget, there are still those manticores and those chimeras." General Ackerson remarks. "Yes, I'm well aware of both, Ackerson. Thank you for pointing out the obvious. However, I'm more inclined to believe the Torites will be relying on those beasts to attack our people on the ground. The beasts aren't the most graceful of fliers and would most likely just be big target, which they will be for us anyway, but they'll still do more damage to a group of soldiers on foot and horseback rather than a flying fortress before going down." You remark. "Those chimera things don't even fly very high. The wings are almost so small that they're just for show. Never had one swoop down on us." Decena adds. "Wouldn't be best to have us mages together so that we can join our energy and create a shield for the majority of the army?" Galen remarks. He isn't complaining, but he's definitely trying to find a loop hole to possibly make himself safer and not have to do as much work." "Galen, you know that the Torites attempt to target spell slingers as soon as possible. If they actually get you in a group and strike lucky, well there goes a powerful chunk of our fighting force. It'll make things harder for them if you're all spread out. Besides, you're personally going to be hiding behind a small contingent of golems and backed up by Captain Flevas' men. You couldn't be any safer." "Huh. So my backup lies in the hands of an elf? Might as well kill me now and get it over with." Galen remarks. You just shake your head and ignore his last comment; he's too valuable to punish right now. After hammering out the plan, you and the rest start setting things in motion and preparing everyone. You know the Torite horde is on the move not too far from your location. But they aren't here yet and won't be for at least a half-day's time. It gives you a bit of time to at least get some rest since you've been running around attempting to take care of everything and haven't slept. You didn't even realize how tired you were until you lie down on your sleeping bag. Just as you lie down and close your eyes, someone enters your tent and you instinctively grab your sword. "No point in that, I'm not really here you know." You hear a familiar voice whisper. You sit up and see Semra standing before you, or rather the image of her. She's no doubt using the same kind of magic she did when she tried to convince you to kill Casimir. She's probably nearby somewhere though. "I thought you said we weren't going to see each other again." You say. "I didn't think we would. I truly believed you would die on Mortos. I suppose I underestimated your ability to survive even there. Quite impressive and it's no surprise that you assumed Casimir's throne soon after. Everything worked out for you, but tell me how did you accomplish such a feat?" "Just luck I guess. Look, if you came here to kill me, you'll need to get behind the long line of Torites marching towards this place." You say while lying back down and shutting your eyes. "My, you're quite confident to stay in such a vulnerable position if you really believe I'm here to kill you." Semra says. "No, I know this is just grand standing. If you were really going to kill me you'd have your underlings conspiring with little plots in the shadows." "Yes, I'm aware of the troubles you've been having lately and while I'm flattered you believe it to me, I'm actually here to clear my good name." "Hah!" you snort. "Okay so just my name. In any event. I'm here to tell you that it isn't me, though you do have enemies of the svelk persuasion." "I've got enemies of every persuasion and that's not a very convincing argument that you're somehow innocent." "Okay how about this then? It's not me because I've been keeping an eye on you and so far you haven't warranted anything that needs me to stop you yet. My daughter on the other hand disagrees. She claims that my…past with you is clouding my judgment." "We never had a past Semra. I don't know what YOU think it is, but WE were and never will be an item." "Oh yes, that's right. You've got that vicious little young thing on your dick now. Decena is her name? She is quite the warrior. Lot of those moves are familiar, they're all the ones I taught you. Hey have you taught her any of my other moves when you're bedding her?" At this point you sit back up, annoyed with Semra's remark. "Is this going anywhere because I have a shitload of beast men to slaughter tomorrow and you're keeping me awake!" You snap. "Oooh! Struck a nerve did I? Haven't been able to do that for quite awhile, I really missed it. Tell me though; is it very serious with this one like it was with Alison? Didn't think you'd get over her so quickly. Really though I don't know why you pick any of these females. This new one is just likely to wind up dead, if not by the sword then by age. Her youthful appearance with eventually wither and fade like it does with all of those lesser born." At this point you lie back down and close your eyes again. You're not playing this game. "You done already? Disappointed, you used to be so much more fun. Very well, just listen then Eternal. I know you have a hard time with that, but maybe you'll actually heed what I have to say for once. I am not your enemy. As I have said, my daughter is your enemy and she makes her base of operations in a city-state called Ryglik and lies south of the former Broki Kingdom. Of course that whole area consists of several city-states and she may very well move around, but that's the main one she's operating from. You remain silent while Semra continues to talk. "Well I'll take your silence that you're at least taking it under consideration. Oh and while you're at it, you still might want to consider giving up all this foolish nonsense. Perhaps you're a better Emperor than Casimir ever was, but you're still mindlessly following a path that you think has been laid out for you. It's almost like Casimir is still barking orders at you." "I guarantee Casimir's not saying much of anything anymore." You answer. "Be that as it may, I'd hate to see you follow in his horribly misguided footsteps and make the same mistakes he did." "Well, I don't have you as an advisor, I'd say that already puts me ahead of the game." "Pfft, you'd be lucky to have me by your side. Not my fault you can't see and accept the truth. Anyway, I'll take my leave now. Perhaps we'll see each other, perhaps we won't. Perhaps we'll even see each other in the flesh again, wouldn't that be fun?" "Sure would, I could give you your dagger back." You remark. "Mmmm, I bet you would. Well if that day ever comes, you make sure you give me a long hard kiss as you're sticking it in me. Oh one last thing, your General Ackerson is planning to betray you at some point during tomorrow's battle. Not sure when and how, but he's got quite a few soldiers willing to work with him on it. More of my daughter's work no doubt." With those final words, you cease hearing Semra's voice. You briefly open your eyes and find that her image is gone as well. "Fucking bitch." You mutter, as now you're never going to be able to sleep with this last bit of information she just gave you. The big problem is she may very well be telling the truth, because for the most part Semra has never really lied to you. You didn't believe her at the time, but she told you the complete truth about Casimir and his intentions. She didn't have Alison killed either. As usual in her own fucked up way that you still don't understand she has attempted to help you. Of course that was in the past, she could be lying about everything right now. While she has confirmed your own beliefs that it's been the svelk working against you, she's also trying to put the blame all on her daughter. Granted you know they probably don't get along, but still. There also has never been any evidence that Ackerson has shown signs of being a potential traitor. Doesn't even make sense, but then again you can't trust anyone nowadays. Now you have to play a guessing game to as whether or not someone on your own side is going to kill you in the middle of battle. You miss the days when all you ever concerned yourself with were the people on the other side trying to kill you. > You deal with Ackerson "Shit." You grumble and get up. After getting dressed, you march out of your tent with sword in hand. Multiple soldiers on duty ask if you're okay, but you just ignore them and head directly to where Ackerson's camp located. When you arrive, you tell the soldiers on duty that you want to see Ackerson immediately. The general is of course still asleep and when he gets out of his tent he's still slightly groggy. "Apologies my Emperor, but what can…" he begins to say and then you cleave his head in with your sword. His face displays a mixture of shock and confusion as the blood trickles down from his head. You pull the sword out with a sickly sound following it and strike again, this time practically chopping the general's head in two. At this point the weight of Ackerson's now lifeless body pulls downward off of your sword and you wipe your sword off in front of the astonished onlookers. "Alright, listen up because I'm only going to say this once. This man was a fucking traitor. He was planning to betray me at some point during tomorrow's battle. Don't ask me how I know, the important thing is I know because I'm the fucking Emperor and I know ALL." You continue. "That being said, I also know he had some of you in on this plan because he was too damn cowardly to face me like a man. I KNOW who you all are and consider this your reprieve from your benevolent Emperor. Help bring us victory tomorrow against the beast folk scum and I'll forget all about this. However, if I ever get the slightest hint that ANY of you are planning to assassinate me, betray me or be involved in any other type of treason, I WILL make sure that you do not suffer the quick death like I so graciously handed out to the late general here. Do I make myself clear?" "YES EMPEROR!" everyone shouts. "Good. Colonel Sini, you're in charge of Ackerson's command now. Have someone remove this traitor's corpse from this camp. I don't want the aura of his failure and cowardice to rub off on anyone else longer than necessary." You take your leave and head back to your tent. You know what you did might not have been necessary since Semra very well might've been lying, however you're fairly confident that you handled it in such a way that it doesn't matter. You put so much fear into the rest of them that if they didn't think you were all knowing before they certainly do now. If it is true though, it is sort of disturbing to you that Eldolith managed to somehow convince some of your own military to try to kill you. That's the group you rely on the most and feel you have the most identification with, though perhaps you're taking it for granted that most of them LIKE the military and battles like you do. A lot of them probably joined just to feed their families. Some of them were even conscripted. You can only imagine that she offered a shitload of gold as it doesn't seem likely that she'd have anything else worthwhile to offer. You'll be glad when the orcs have finally raised their numbers back up and the new Eternals are of age to fight. Despite everything that went on last night, you miraculously actually manage to get a little sleep before the arrival of the Torites. You're still a little tired, but you think when you get into the thick of battle the thrill of it will kick in and you'll be invigorated. You usually are. It seems word of what happened spread fairly quickly to the rest of the camps, even to Decena's army. You imagine that will at least have to put Galen in a good mood, maybe he'll whine less now. When the Torites arrive they certainly look like a chaotic rabble, but it's no mistake that they mean business. The number of harpies fills the sky to the point where you hope that the Storm can take care of such a flock. The second airship is in far distance behind you. Hopefully by the time it gets to engage in battle it won't be replacing the Storm so much that it'll be supporting the Storm. The cannons and rifles fire as soon as the Torites are within range. Their centaurs return fire with their accurate arrows. The saytr wizards up the ante by casting their elemental magic which rips solid chunks of rock and earth out of the ground and goes flying at your army. It can't be said that the Torites are any less dangerous just because they're less technologically advanced. High above you the Storm takes on the harpy warriors. Even from here, it looks like a swarm of locusts descending on a single blade of wheat. Looks pretty damn grim for the Storm, you just hope if the crew does get overwhelmed they can keep the ship from crashing near your location. The bull creatures lead the charge along side their horse beast brethren. Another volley of shots takes out some, but they remain relentless in their charge. The satyr rank and file advance steadily behind. They WILL arrive and there will certainly be enough of them left to give your army a good fight. Your own cavalry meets them and while they have the best training, they can't overcome the sheer savagery of the minotaurs and as for the centaurs, their very bodies are half horse. They already have the advantage over your own cavalry as far as maneuverability. Breaks in the Torite army form as they allow their war beasts participate in the charge. Several manticores and chimera of the largest size make their way straight towards you. At their pace, they're going to be the first ones your people will have to fight. A cannon blast rips through one of the chimera and fireball from one of your mages brings down another, but before you know it, a manticore is shredding apart your front line with its talons and impaling others with its spike tail. What comes next is utter mayhem. Swords and axes cutting and stabbing. Fangs and claws tearing and biting. Magic on both sides destroying several lives in the blink of an eye. It's all very glorious. Decena's army is holding its own on her front, but then you never had any doubt about that. The only problem they do have is the blasted satyr magic manages to turn the golems against them. Hopefully, Flevas managed to get Galen's ass out of there before they crushed him. The newly appointed General Sini seems to be doing well on his end. You're glad to see that the reinforced fear in their ruler has motivated them. Still, the battle is far from over yet. The fact that you're simultaneously facing down three bullheads by yourself and a chimera closing in is a great reminder. You cast a lightning blast at the bulls, which fells two of them, but the third fights through the pain of having his body fried from the inside out. You dodge his axe and follow up with your own sword swing to his meaty leg. The beast roars, but is still undeterred. Two nearby soldiers attempt to help, but are mauled by the chimera which has finally arrived. The minotaur swings again, but this time you cast a force shield to block the blow. This one has to be some sort of leader or hero or some great warrior to his people because when you swing your sword again to strike, the creature catches its blade and snaps it off leaving you with a broken sword. "Okay. I get it. A challenge." You say and step backwards from the minotaur who ignores his deeply cut hand to solidly grip his axe once more. The bull will have to wait though since the chimera has finally gotten around to attack you. The clumsy beast attempts to pounce, but you leap out of its way and blast one of the its misshaped animal heads with a bolt of fire. Roaring in pain and anger, the creature desperately tries to put out the flames by rubbing the flaming head into the dirt. It hardly stops it from continuing to attack with its scorpion tail. While it misses with its tail, one of its other goat like heads spits a cloud of gas at you. You didn't even know they could do such a thing, but then these chimeras are rather random beasts. The gas is certainly poisonous enough to kill the average person, but then you aren't average. Unfortunately it's still potent enough to make you feel sick and you gag and wheeze when you inhale a good bit of the stuff. A paw smashes into your side and you go crashing to the ground. You barely get out of the way of the stinger tail again. Then your old bull friend is there to help with his axe as usual, fortunately someone distracts the bull by attacking him from behind causing him to drop his axe. Unfortunately they fail to kill him and he turns around and breaks their neck with his bare hands, still it's given you a temporary respite on what to do next. > You pick up the axe and strike back Despite being woozy from the gas attack, you grab the minotaur's axe. The weapon is incredibly heavy, in fact a little heavier than you were expecting. The minotaur advances on you and you clumsily swing at it, but miss completely and you feel the smashing fist of the minotaur across your face which has quite likely broken your jaw. Sprawled to the ground, you attempt to cast a cone of frost, but the minotaur has already followed up its attack and picked you up off the ground with both hands. Then with one quick move he slams your back over his knee breaking it and throws you in front of the chimera, which has successfully put out the flames you bestowed upon its face earlier. Your last moments are the chimera's lion head sinking its fangs into your throat.

"Shit." You grumble and get up. After getting dressed, you march out of your tent with sword in hand. Multiple soldiers on duty ask if you're okay, but you just ignore them and head directly to where Ackerson's camp located. When you arrive, you tell the soldiers on duty that you want to see Ackerson immediately. The general is of course still asleep and when he gets out of his tent he's still slightly groggy. "Apologies my Emperor, but what can…" he begins to say and then you cleave his head in with your sword. His face displays a mixture of shock and confusion as the blood trickles down from his head. You pull the sword out with a sickly sound following it and strike again, this time practically chopping the general's head in two. At this point the weight of Ackerson's now lifeless body pulls downward off of your sword and you wipe your sword off in front of the astonished onlookers. "Alright, listen up because I'm only going to say this once. This man was a fucking traitor. He was planning to betray me at some point during tomorrow's battle. Don't ask me how I know, the important thing is I know because I'm the fucking Emperor and I know ALL." You continue. "That being said, I also know he had some of you in on this plan because he was too damn cowardly to face me like a man. I KNOW who you all are and consider this your reprieve from your benevolent Emperor. Help bring us victory tomorrow against the beast folk scum and I'll forget all about this. However, if I ever get the slightest hint that ANY of you are planning to assassinate me, betray me or be involved in any other type of treason, I WILL make sure that you do not suffer the quick death like I so graciously handed out to the late general here. Do I make myself clear?" "YES EMPEROR!" everyone shouts. "Good. Colonel Sini, you're in charge of Ackerson's command now. Have someone remove this traitor's corpse from this camp. I don't want the aura of his failure and cowardice to rub off on anyone else longer than necessary." You take your leave and head back to your tent. You know what you did might not have been necessary since Semra very well might've been lying, however you're fairly confident that you handled it in such a way that it doesn't matter. You put so much fear into the rest of them that if they didn't think you were all knowing before they certainly do now. If it is true though, it is sort of disturbing to you that Eldolith managed to somehow convince some of your own military to try to kill you. That's the group you rely on the most and feel you have the most identification with, though perhaps you're taking it for granted that most of them LIKE the military and battles like you do. A lot of them probably joined just to feed their families. Some of them were even conscripted. You can only imagine that she offered a shitload of gold as it doesn't seem likely that she'd have anything else worthwhile to offer. You'll be glad when the orcs have finally raised their numbers back up and the new Eternals are of age to fight. Despite everything that went on last night, you miraculously actually manage to get a little sleep before the arrival of the Torites. You're still a little tired, but you think when you get into the thick of battle the thrill of it will kick in and you'll be invigorated. You usually are. It seems word of what happened spread fairly quickly to the rest of the camps, even to Decena's army. You imagine that will at least have to put Galen in a good mood, maybe he'll whine less now. When the Torites arrive they certainly look like a chaotic rabble, but it's no mistake that they mean business. The number of harpies fills the sky to the point where you hope that the Storm can take care of such a flock. The second airship is in far distance behind you. Hopefully by the time it gets to engage in battle it won't be replacing the Storm so much that it'll be supporting the Storm. The cannons and rifles fire as soon as the Torites are within range. Their centaurs return fire with their accurate arrows. The saytr wizards up the ante by casting their elemental magic which rips solid chunks of rock and earth out of the ground and goes flying at your army. It can't be said that the Torites are any less dangerous just because they're less technologically advanced. High above you the Storm takes on the harpy warriors. Even from here, it looks like a swarm of locusts descending on a single blade of wheat. Looks pretty damn grim for the Storm, you just hope if the crew does get overwhelmed they can keep the ship from crashing near your location. The bull creatures lead the charge along side their horse beast brethren. Another volley of shots takes out some, but they remain relentless in their charge. The satyr rank and file advance steadily behind. They WILL arrive and there will certainly be enough of them left to give your army a good fight. Your own cavalry meets them and while they have the best training, they can't overcome the sheer savagery of the minotaurs and as for the centaurs, their very bodies are half horse. They already have the advantage over your own cavalry as far as maneuverability. Breaks in the Torite army form as they allow their war beasts participate in the charge. Several manticores and chimera of the largest size make their way straight towards you. At their pace, they're going to be the first ones your people will have to fight. A cannon blast rips through one of the chimera and fireball from one of your mages brings down another, but before you know it, a manticore is shredding apart your front line with its talons and impaling others with its spike tail. What comes next is utter mayhem. Swords and axes cutting and stabbing. Fangs and claws tearing and biting. Magic on both sides destroying several lives in the blink of an eye. It's all very glorious. Decena's army is holding its own on her front, but then you never had any doubt about that. The only problem they do have is the blasted satyr magic manages to turn the golems against them. Hopefully, Flevas managed to get Galen's ass out of there before they crushed him. The newly appointed General Sini seems to be doing well on his end. You're glad to see that the reinforced fear in their ruler has motivated them. Still, the battle is far from over yet. The fact that you're simultaneously facing down three bullheads by yourself and a chimera closing in is a great reminder. You cast a lightning blast at the bulls, which fells two of them, but the third fights through the pain of having his body fried from the inside out. You dodge his axe and follow up with your own sword swing to his meaty leg. The beast roars, but is still undeterred. Two nearby soldiers attempt to help, but are mauled by the chimera which has finally arrived. The minotaur swings again, but this time you cast a force shield to block the blow. This one has to be some sort of leader or hero or some great warrior to his people because when you swing your sword again to strike, the creature catches its blade and snaps it off leaving you with a broken sword. "Okay. I get it. A challenge." You say and step backwards from the minotaur who ignores his deeply cut hand to solidly grip his axe once more. The bull will have to wait though since the chimera has finally gotten around to attack you. The clumsy beast attempts to pounce, but you leap out of its way and blast one of the its misshaped animal heads with a bolt of fire. Roaring in pain and anger, the creature desperately tries to put out the flames by rubbing the flaming head into the dirt. It hardly stops it from continuing to attack with its scorpion tail. While it misses with its tail, one of its other goat like heads spits a cloud of gas at you. You didn't even know they could do such a thing, but then these chimeras are rather random beasts. The gas is certainly poisonous enough to kill the average person, but then you aren't average. Unfortunately it's still potent enough to make you feel sick and you gag and wheeze when you inhale a good bit of the stuff. A paw smashes into your side and you go crashing to the ground. You barely get out of the way of the stinger tail again. Then your old bull friend is there to help with his axe as usual, fortunately someone distracts the bull by attacking him from behind causing him to drop his axe. Unfortunately they fail to kill him and he turns around and breaks their neck with his bare hands, still it's given you a temporary respite on what to do next. > You crawl away from the immediate area You're in the middle of a danger zone right now and you're still feeling woozy from that gas, you need to get out as quick as you can. You crawl away just in time for the chimera to try to sting you again, though now that one of its faces isn't on fire anymore the creature is advancing along with the bull. Summoning all your energy you cast a cone of frost at the pair of them. You actually get a few other enemies and several allies in the blast as well, but whatever gets the job done. The chimera and bull try to advance despite being slowly frozen solid and they actually make a few more steps, but you keep up the spell ignoring the drain its taking on you. You soon have several ice "statues" in front of your area. Grabbing the mace of a dead soilder nearby you take several swings at the frozen chimera smashing its body parts into frozen bloody chunks. You then turn your attention to the bull. "A shame this couldn't have been a fair fight. You were certainly worthy of one." You say and with one mighty swing you smash the bull's head in and kick the rest of the body over. It's going to be a mess when it all finally thaws out. A quick glance up displays several winged bodies falling out of the sky, some of them on fire. The Storm is holding so far, but you can tell by the thick black smoke emanating from it that it isn't without damage. The second airship however is coming along and already engaging the enemy. In the distance ahead of you, you see that your kobold teams have successfully dug underneath the battlefield and started to flank the Torites. Even with the element of surprise most of them are probably going to end up getting stomped on by the minotaurs and centaurs, but they'll at least be in a position to disrupt the satyr mages. The confrontation rages on for the remainder of the day and you find yourself all over the battlefield, either giving commands or doing battle. At one point you even find yourself fighting side by side with Decena. While it is no doubt a big thrill for her to actually fight along with you, you actually enjoy it as well. It reminds you of when you fought along side Alison as Decena also has that instinctive knowledge of complimenting your fighting style, but then again she should considering you trained her. Day becomes dusk and finally to night though the sky lights up spectacularly when the Storm gives out its final service when part of it explodes turning the entire ship into a blazing wreck dropping to the ground fast. Both sides run for cover and out of the area while attempting to avoid the burning shards already hitting the surface. Still even with this loss, your side is definitely winning. Most of the centaurs are dead, the one who aren't, have long since galloped away. Most of the satyr troops are dead as well with the few remaining starting to retreat. All their large beasts such as the manticores and chimera have all been slain. The harpies still alive from their assault on the Storm have flapped away. The only ones still putting up any resistance are the minotaurs and that's because they're too stubborn to retreat, but eventually they'll be overwhelmed. By the time the clash is finally over the moon is hanging high above the battlefield causing a minor luminescence over the numerous dead on the battlefield. This is definitely going to be one that the scholars and historians are going to write about. While you stepping over the dead and passing by soldiers taking well earned victory celebrations (or just taking well earned rests) Decena comes running up to you. "Hey, I've been looking for you. We got split up after those manticores attacked. I mean I knew you weren't dead, but I just wanted to know you were okay." Decena says. "A few minor wounds, probably some new scars to look forward to, aching muscles and joints, extremely tired, but other than that I'm fine. How many in your army left?" you ask. "Quite few. I don't think my side recieved the brunt of the Torite attack though turning our golems against us was certainly a surprise. Galen managed to rectify that though, even if it did cost us the use of them." "Oh, survived did he?" "Yeah, thanks to Captain Flevas. I know a lot of people don't like elves, but he was invaluable on the battlefield." "I wouldn't have promoted him and transferred him to your command if he wasn't. So besides Galen did any of your other wizards survive?" "Unfortunately none." "Same here. The Torites were successful in that regard. (Sigh) Successful in that endeavor as well." You say pointing to the still flaming wreckage of the Storm in the distance. "Well at least we still have the second airship." Decena says. "Oh we'll have more of those, no doubt. Wizards, not so sure about. I'm thinking the age of using battle mages on any large scale might be coming to an end. Better keep what talent we still have left at home in case of an emergency." You reply. "I wanted to ask you about something else, did you ever find out more about the traitors in our ranks? Only a few hours before the conflict with the Torites and it was all over my own camp about how you executed General Ackerson in front of his command and warned everyone that you know others were involved in a conspiracy against you." "Oh that. No, but given that the only ones trying to kill me today were the Torites I'd say I squashed it, but I still will have Warrick do a full investigation to anyone close to Ackerson though I can guess a few of them now. I have to believe that Sini who I replaced Ackerson with was involved, being his second in command and all, however Sini has redeemed himself by dying in battle loyally. Saves his family the embarrassment and saves me the need for another execution later." "I'm just glad you're okay, but then I shouldn't have worried I suppose, you're the Emperor and nothing can ever destroy you." At this point the pair of you have entered your tent and Decena grabs your hand. Decena looks at you with a mixture of concern and adoration. The same adoration she's had since you took her as your student. While it's definitely true your actions and position have probably molded her into these feelings, she's also not a naive babe in the woods. "Emperor, I need to ask. Now that we have this time together are we ever going to pick up where we left off or are those days over?" she asks. "Did you want to continue that sort of relationship? I don't want you to feel obligated that you have to because of a loss of self control on my part in the past." You say. "Do you regret it then?" "I regret that I have made things unnecessarily complicated for you. I probably just should've had you enrolled into the Eye training camp or even the regular army. Would've made things a lot easier for the both of us." "But then I wouldn't be as good as I am. I wouldn't be able to serve to my fullest capabilities. You managed to bring out my full potential. I doubt if I would've survived this very battle without your personal training. You are my Emperor and I will loyally continue to serve the Empire no matter what. But I need to know how things are going to be in the future so that I may conduct myself accordingly towards you." A reasonable request. "Decena, it would be a lie to say I don't feel something for you, but those feelings are tainted with a lot of negative past experiences of my own. Most of which I don't even want to get into right now, but rest assured my reasons for initiating the more intimate nature of our relationship was more than just simple loneliness and weren't exactly positive motives. In fact they were downright twisted at times and I don't think you're quite aware of some of the things I thought about doing to you. This isn't even counting the fact that you're in competition with a ghost to a certain degree and that's hardly fair to you." Decena of course knows you're referring to Alison. She's probably always known that you still have never completely gotten over her. Not with the way she's seen you stare at her portrait for long periods of time back when she was at the palace. Decena has her answer. "I…see. Very well my Emperor. I understand that it is time for me to grow up and put aside the silly emotions of a young girl. I shall no longer trouble you with my immature displays of affection or letters but… know I shall continue to… (sniffle) love you in the way that a…" Decena can't even complete her sentence. She might've even known this was a long time coming, but it still doesn't make things any easier. She reaches out to hug you and you embrace her. She tries to stop herself from completely crying, but she's struggling with this a lot. "You'll grow stronger from this and move past it Decena. I know you have it within you to do so." You say in an attempt to be reassuring, she looks up at you with tears in her eyes. "Can I just make one request, (sniff) my Emperor?" she asks. "What is it?" "Can…for just tonight. I lie with you one last time? We…don't even have to do anything…I just…if this is going to be it…I want to experience your body next to mine one last time." While you're not exactly sure if this is going to make things harder or easier for her, you don't have it in you to say no at this point. "Of course Decena." With those words the pair of you lie together one last time. The next day when you wake up Decena is already gone. Not gone from the area, just from your tent and back at her camp probably giving her soldiers orders to move out and head back to the nearest settlement for supplies. "She'll be fine." You say to yourself though you don't know if you're exactly convinced of it. You suppose you'll see in the future. And while you know it probably was the "healthiest" thing to do, you'd also be lying to yourself if you aren't going to miss that part of your relationship with her completely. Who knew that between an army of rampaging beastmen, traitors in your ranks, and a visit from Semra, breaking up with a young woman would be the most emotionally draining? > Year 45 "…and even with your natural gifts and after your training is over in six years, your true service to the Empire will have only just begun. You will all be expected to perform to your fullest capabilities because as Eternals you are to be the very best that the Empire has to offer. And out there you will need to show that to our many enemies so that they never forget it. Duty, loyalty, valor and the will to survive, these are traits I expect to see in all of you for I am always watching. Remember this." You say as your parting words to the new Eternals. "YES EMPEROR! LONG LIVE THE EMPIRE!" they all say in unison. Brenda tells them to take a brief break while she follows you out of the training center. "You've done a very good job with them Brenda." You say. "Thank you." Brenda remarks. "No, really. I know I sort of dropped this in your lap, but you've really taken the reins on this. I mean I couldn't have done it better. From what I've seen they're well on their way of becoming an effective fighting force AND you've managed to keep most of them alive in the process. Had it been me two thirds of that class probably would've been dead by now under my harsh training." "Ah, but those left alive would probably be more lethal than the ones I've trained." Brenda points out. "Perhaps, but they don't need to be put through similar rigors that I faced, I just need them to be better than our enemies and loyal to the Empire. From what I've seen, I have no doubt that will be the case when they finally come of age." "Well despite my less unforgiving and more cooperative training methods, I can't take all the credit for keeping most of them alive, their increased regeneration rates help in that regard. There was many times where I even thought a few of them had suffered fatal injuries only for them to get better given enough time. I believe whatever magic you infused during their tank time increased their regenerative abilities greater than our own." "Their reflexes are definitely better too. Even at this age, I could see that during the training demonstration. At the very least, they should be on par with Decena in that aspect when they grow up." "How is your one time pupil doing anyway?" Brenda asks. You hesitate a moment, since you've sort of wondered that yourself. You no longer get the letters you once did from Decena which were more expressive. Now she only sends you official battle reports. Obviously she's dealing with the termination of your intimate relationship in a professional manner and is keeping your current relationship that way. That being the case, you give Brenda the safe answer because that's genuinely all you know. "Oh, she's still mostly combating the Torites. While the Battle of the Beasts three years ago pretty much broke their strength in the area, they still aren't out of it yet. I'd push forward to eradicate them, but with the need for consolidation of our winnings as well as last years purges, we've had to halt expansion for the time being. That's not even counting that the next place I want to turn my attention to are the city states south of the Broki province. I've had Eyes infiltrate most of them and they're infested with svelk." You say. "Really? Like entire cities of them? I thought they were nomadic." Brenda says. "Not anymore apparently, but it isn't actually entire cities, more like key positions of importance in the cities, but even one svelk is an infestation as far as I'm concerned." You answer. "Surprised you're not just sending airships to bombard them." "I'm fairly sure I wouldn't get them all if I did that. Airships while powerful are slow enough that any svelk would probably get the hell out of there before they even arrived. Besides, I'm not really looking to level the cities. Bombing one perhaps as an example, to get the rest to fall in line, but not all of them." "Assassination?" "Assassinations would probably work better since the svelk direct such actions against each other on a semi-regular basis, would take a bit of time though since if a lot of them start dying suddenly, they're going to know something is up and they'll relocate from the cities. Still, I suppose if we timed it right…hmmm, maybe I'll talk to Warrick about setting something up; in any case we still need to track down Eldolith. We know she is making her home in the cities, but she is proving to be completely elusive as far as pinning her down. Probably using a system of secret tunnels. Might be time to send in the kobold commandos to start digging around." You and Brenda finish up your conversation with a couple of off topic subjects, but before you leave she says one last thing. "I know you already thanked me for my work with the new Eternals, but I wanted to take this opportunity to thank you. Thank you for giving me a new sense of purpose. I know these Eternals' purpose is to loyally serve the Empire, but I feel like…I dunno…it's silly." "No, what?" "I sometimes feel like I'm their mother. I mean I'm not developing attachments to them or anything, but I feel like I'm doing all I can to make sure they survive in this world, because I really DO want most of them to survive. They represent the future of the Empire, and it will fall to them eventually to defend it." You nod at Brenda's remark and touch her arm. "And that, is why you were the best one for this job." You say. "I suppose another reason I've been feeling a little more positive lately is the fact that there are now more of us. Eternals, I mean. Our numbers were always so few, but now with these new ones, I don't feel so alone I guess." Brenda's feelings on this are probably related to the loss of her husband as usual, but you can't fault her for it. If this is something that helps her through the pain, then more power to her. Really you never gave it too much thought that there would be more of "you" around because as far as you're concerned, "you" were always unique to begin with. You weren't even supposed to be an Eternal, but here you are. The next bit surprises you though. "Oh and one more thing, the next time you see Warrick tell him, I'm sorry for being angry at him." Brenda says. You smile. "I'm sure he'll be glad to hear it." You answer and leave. The next few days are actually spent working alongside Warrick to see if some sort of mass assassination attempt of the svelk would actually work. (You also relay Brenda's message and just as you figured, he's glad to hear it) "Wait, so some of the inhabitants in these cities are actually former Felkan citizens?" you ask Warrick. "Yes and it looks like some of them have been willingly working with the svelk out of revenge. In fact I now believe that the saboteur that tried to destroy the old Storm was from one of these cities. A couple of the other tight-lipped dissidents we've had killed during the last purge I believe were from there too originally." You shake your head. "Maybe I should just have the cities bombed out of existence after all." You say with a sigh. "What I don't understand, is why we're bumping into them only now. I mean these cities are so far away and the refugee Felkans would've not only had to travel through gnoll AND Torite territory at the time, but also the Broki Kingdom. Surely it would've been easier to put down roots there." Warrick says. "Well, who is to say some of them didn't? You're only coming across the more radical ones obviously. There may have very well been Felkans that just wanted to get away from the Empire and live a normal life. Granted if those individuals had just accepted Empire rule in the first, they could've done so anyway with little change, but that's a different topic." You continue. "Also the Broki Kingdom was fairly backwards and having strife of its own, I get the impression that the Felkans just wanted to get as far a way as possible from such things. This journey probably wasn't without its hazards. Combine that with losing your homeland and anything else that might've been personal, it's not hard to see where their hate would've festered to the point where the svelk took advantage of it. The ex Felkans are the tool that the svelk are manipulating. Maybe they don't have a nation proper anymore, but it's obvious that the svelk are definitely building the skeleton of one out of these cities states and they see us as the biggest threat to their new endeavors." "It isn't just the svelk and these militant ex-Felkans we've discovered though, we recently came across something new. Something I know you're going to want to hear before proceeding with any plan." Warrick says. Warrick tell you that there is another community but far enough away to be fairly isolated from the rest of the city-states in the area, in fact the community makes its home in a lone mountain. "So…what they live in a cave?" "Well not exactly. The Eyes have not been there, but apparently there is a whole city built into the mountain. Basically similar to what the derro do underground I guess, but they aren't derro. They're gnomes." "Gnomes?" "Yes, and from what information we have gathered, they're also from the former Felkan Kingdom. The funny thing is, they don't seem to have much contact with the rest of the city states. We know that the gnomes trade with the various cities from time to time and we know that there must be humans living in this mountain since those are the ones that do the trading. The place is called New Dessle." "Hrm. Name of the former Felkan capital. So do you think they're working with the svelk in this conspiracy?" you ask. "We don't know. Like I said, all we know is that they trade sometimes, it seems to be mostly minerals and it's fairly infrequent. If they are in league, they're keeping it fairly secret from anyone." Gnomes. That puts a slightly different spin on everything. Between the svelk and the gnomes, you've got two of the most manipulative and smartest races working together to possibly destroy you. Regardless of whether or not the gnomes are actually involved, it still would be best to gather more information, perhaps even more so. "Until we've got more information, we're going to assume the gnomes are just the occasional trading partners. While MAYBE they're indirectly helping by trading material to these svelk influenced cities, I'd rather we deal with the immediate suspects first. Besides attacking a damn mountain isn't exactly in the budget right now." You say. So you proceed with your plan. You keep the Eyes spying and gathering information and keep your own internal security tight. You also start having kobolds digging tunnels under the cities. A few weeks pass and you receive a message. A human rider dropped off a box in a village in the Broki province. Before riding off he stated to the nearby peasants that they needed to deliver that to their Emperor. The box was obviously leaking blood and when one of the braver soldiers opened it, there were several eyes inside. A bloody note attached stated a warning from "Domina" Eldolith that all spies from the Empire will be killed and any further unwanted aggression on the "Confederacy of Free Cities" would be an act of war. Never mind the fact that Eldolith started this by trying to assassinate you in the first place. "She can't possibly be serious in taking us on. She may have discovered some of our spies, but we already know full well what her strength is and even with our reduced manpower right now we could take on the entire force of this so called Confederacy of Free Cities." Warrick remarks. "Oh I'm sure she know that. She's backed into a corner and is doing typical svelk grand standing hoping it will work. To be quite honest I figured she'd eventually discover some of our spies eventually. The svelk aren't stupid, but they served their purpose in information gathering and they probably distracted the svelk from possibly discovering our kobolds running around underground. You can start pulling out the rest of your Eyes, we'll be attacking the cities soon. With any luck we won't let a single svelk escape and we can wipe out the remainder of the ex-Felkans as well." You say. Kivan is nearby probably waiting to get your attention for some domestic issue. Normally he just waits patiently, but this time he speaks. "Forgive my presumption my Emperor as I know war is your area of expertise, but what about the gnomes?" he asks. "What about them? Our spies still have not uncovered anything that would suggest that they're helping. Even the material that they're trading couldn't be considered dangerous for the most part." Warrick answers. "The gnomes will be dealt with later, Kivan. No need to worry." You say. Kivan puts aside his scrolls and addresses you directly. "I have no doubt that will be the case my Emperor, however it is my concern that the Empire not take any more potential unnecessary losses. The Felkan War took a heavy toll on the Empire. A toll that was not necessary had our former Emperor acted more quickly on the matter. The same could be said for the Shadow uprising." "Watch your tone! YOUR current Emperor AND I both served to quell those incidents! Where were you? Counting beans? I suggest you stick to what you know advisor!" Warrick says raising his voice. "You are correct Sightmaster, I AM an advisor. And as I said it is true, I am more of an expert in the mundane domestic affairs that keep the Empire running, I also have to deal with the effects these wars have on such things. If you attack now there will be hardship on the people, BUT our people are used to such things. What is a little more troubling is when unexpected problems pop up or long drawn out affairs." "So what are you exactly saying Kivan?" you ask. "I'm saying that the gnomes can't be trusted to live. When they rebelled against the Empire and ran away they managed to manipulate a collection of simple villages and towns and turn it into the Felkan Kingdom. Not only that, but they managed to build it up to the point where it actually surpassed the Empire technology wise and all of this was done in a fairly short period of time." You continue to listen while Kivan expresses his point of view on this matter. "Perhaps the gnomes aren't working with the svelk, but that's not to say they aren't still working against us. I can't believe that they wouldn't harbor some sort of revenge. I mean the ex-Felkans obviously do and all they lost were their homeland. The gnomes were systematically exterminated. I just believe that leaving the gnomes for later is going to give them more time to build up their defenses and just make it harder for the Empire to wipe them out in the future. Why take the chance?" Kivan does actually make a pragmatic point. While taking the city-states isn't going to be too much of a problem, it's still going to take time and manpower. Your main concern with them is making sure you get all the svelk (especially Eldolith) inside. Consolidating, settling, and rooting out problem people will all take time as well. And while you're doing all that, the gnomes could be sitting in their mountain building some weapon (or weapons) of imaginable power. They already built an entire city in a mountain, who knows what the escaped gnomes have been working on since their exodus? > You attack the mountain The gnomes do need to be dealt with, the sooner the better. You agree with Kivan. "Well Kivan, if this turns out successfully you may get promoted to be a war advisor." You say. "I'd certainly be honored, but I believe my talents are still better served on the domestic issues. This was just an extension of those concerns." He says. "Okay, so how do you want to handle this? Because if we are going to attack that mountain, we're going to have to still deal with those city states." Warrick asks you. "Those are still going to be no problem, we're going to overrun those and then move on to New Dessle. We probably won't need the airships at all for the city-states; we'll just handle it conventionally. And while we're taking care of those, I'll send the airships to attack New Dessle. Attacking a mountain is going to be no easy feat, but with the airships we could at least blow enough holes in it to cause not only external damage but more importantly internal structural damage that could hopefully cause portions of it to come crashing down on their heads. Soften them up at least until our armies to arrive." Warrick goes on to ask which offensive you're going to be personally overseeing and if you want Decena's army called in to help. You tell Warrick that Decena still need to concentrate on mopping up Torite resistance lest they somehow regroup. And as you said, you don't anticipate many problems from the city-states anyway. As for which offensive you're going to oversee, you're not sure. Before this gnome business came up you were going to just oversee the fall of the city-states, but with the gnomes now being attacked, you wonder if you shouldn't be there to oversee that instead. You then remember Warrick wanting to be involved in some of the frontline stuff recently. "Well Warrick how would you like to over see the destruction of the city states? You've always said you wanted more work outside that office and get back in the middle of things, well here's a big thing to get right in the middle of Warrick." " Warrick is surprised and honored by your decision. "I…I thank you my Emperor and it will be my honor to command such a task. Does this mean you'll be travelling to New Dessel?" "Yes, I mean as much as I'd like to personally see the destruction of the svelk and ex-Felkans I believe the gnomes are a bigger threat and as such my attendance in our first attack against them is in order. I do request however that if at all possible, bring that bitch Eldolith to me in chains if possible. If not, dead is just as good." "I think that can certainly be arranged, my Emperor." Invasion of the Confederacy of the Free Cities. (Which you didn't even know that's what this little group of city-states was even called until Eldolith's message) is prepared. You know Warrick has the skill to lead an army and will not falter at this task; you just hope that he will indeed be able to capture Eldolith alive. As for you, this will be your first time boarding one of these airships. Since you had that purge of traitors (and potential traitors) you're not so apprehensive about boarding one of them now. The Storm II is a grand ship and equipped with the best and latest weapons. The other five ships coming with you are equipped in a similar manner. You figure while the gnomes will certainly have cannons of their own, you'll at least be able to protect the Storm II with your magic somewhat. Eventually you are on your way and the first thing you fly over is your army on the march toward the Confederacy's territory. The next thing you fly over is the Confederacy's territory itself where you see small groups of troops desperately preparing for the invasion. When you fly overhead you can only imagine the excessive fear they must feel followed by the confusion when you by pass them entirely. The fact that you didn't attack might even worry them more, since now they'll wonder if you'll be coming back. Your air fleet continues to fly towards New Dessel which looms in the distance. Part of you wonders just how much of a fight the gnomes will put up and how much damage you'll actually be able to do. You have it set up though for the airships to signal each other on where to fire so coordination will not be a problem. When you arrive before the mountain, all the airships stop and prepare for your next command. To be quite honest, while the mountain is big enough that peak still looms above your fleet's current height the mountain is far from being something as impressive as the ones you've seen in Rask. Concentrated fire in a few locations should probably have the desired effect you want, and if all goes well, you might get closer to drop a few bombs. "Well we didn't come here to sight see this marvel of nature, let's get on with it blowing it up." You remark and tell your crew to start signaling the other ships. Within moments, all the airships are concentrating their fire on particular place on the mountain. Take a while, but you definitely start causing damage as boulders, dirt, rocks and debris all begin to rumble and fall causing the start of a rockslide in one area of the mountain. You manage to do this on two more sections of the mountain before you actually start encountering any kind of resistance. Several "windows" in the mountain open up revealing cannons, which fire upon your ships. It really isn't too bad though. "Start telling the other ships to fire at the cannons. Even if their mountain city seems to be holding up from the inside, we can still deprive them of their defenses." You command. A few minutes after you give this command you sense a change in the air. Almost like that of lightning storm. You even begin to feel a little static… Suddenly a flash of light eminates from the top of the peak and huge bolt of lightning hits one of your airships to the left causing it to explode spectacularly. It didn't get hit and slowly make a fiery descent towards the ground, it actually exploded. "SHIT!" you suddenly shout, probably along with several of your crew. You then turn your attention to the shining piece of metal on top of the mountain peak where the lightning blast came from. "EVERYONE TURN AROUND! RETREAT!" you shout and tell your crew to signal the remaining airships to do likewise. You're a sitting duck and you know it right now. You can't put up a barrier large enough to cover the entire airship, so as your airship begins to turn you attempt to directly aim your own magic bolts in the direction of the gnome's apparent "lightning rod" weapon. Your magic hits around and even directly on target, but it just isn't enough to destroy it. You then have that feeling of electricity in the air again. Your hair begins to stand up and this time thanks to your attempt to destroy the rod, the gnomes direct their next blast towards the Storm II. You see a bright flash and feel a brief sizzle throughout your entire body and then nothing at all. And you never do get the pleasure of executing Eldolith yourself when Warrick captures her alive.

Year 45 "…and even with your natural gifts and after your training is over in six years, your true service to the Empire will have only just begun. You will all be expected to perform to your fullest capabilities because as Eternals you are to be the very best that the Empire has to offer. And out there you will need to show that to our many enemies so that they never forget it. Duty, loyalty, valor and the will to survive, these are traits I expect to see in all of you for I am always watching. Remember this." You say as your parting words to the new Eternals. "YES EMPEROR! LONG LIVE THE EMPIRE!" they all say in unison. Brenda tells them to take a brief break while she follows you out of the training center. "You've done a very good job with them Brenda." You say. "Thank you." Brenda remarks. "No, really. I know I sort of dropped this in your lap, but you've really taken the reins on this. I mean I couldn't have done it better. From what I've seen they're well on their way of becoming an effective fighting force AND you've managed to keep most of them alive in the process. Had it been me two thirds of that class probably would've been dead by now under my harsh training." "Ah, but those left alive would probably be more lethal than the ones I've trained." Brenda points out. "Perhaps, but they don't need to be put through similar rigors that I faced, I just need them to be better than our enemies and loyal to the Empire. From what I've seen, I have no doubt that will be the case when they finally come of age." "Well despite my less unforgiving and more cooperative training methods, I can't take all the credit for keeping most of them alive, their increased regeneration rates help in that regard. There was many times where I even thought a few of them had suffered fatal injuries only for them to get better given enough time. I believe whatever magic you infused during their tank time increased their regenerative abilities greater than our own." "Their reflexes are definitely better too. Even at this age, I could see that during the training demonstration. At the very least, they should be on par with Decena in that aspect when they grow up." "How is your one time pupil doing anyway?" Brenda asks. You hesitate a moment, since you've sort of wondered that yourself. You no longer get the letters you once did from Decena which were more expressive. Now she only sends you official battle reports. Obviously she's dealing with the termination of your intimate relationship in a professional manner and is keeping your current relationship that way. That being the case, you give Brenda the safe answer because that's genuinely all you know. "Oh, she's still mostly combating the Torites. While the Battle of the Beasts three years ago pretty much broke their strength in the area, they still aren't out of it yet. I'd push forward to eradicate them, but with the need for consolidation of our winnings as well as last years purges, we've had to halt expansion for the time being. That's not even counting that the next place I want to turn my attention to are the city states south of the Broki province. I've had Eyes infiltrate most of them and they're infested with svelk." You say. "Really? Like entire cities of them? I thought they were nomadic." Brenda says. "Not anymore apparently, but it isn't actually entire cities, more like key positions of importance in the cities, but even one svelk is an infestation as far as I'm concerned." You answer. "Surprised you're not just sending airships to bombard them." "I'm fairly sure I wouldn't get them all if I did that. Airships while powerful are slow enough that any svelk would probably get the hell out of there before they even arrived. Besides, I'm not really looking to level the cities. Bombing one perhaps as an example, to get the rest to fall in line, but not all of them." "Assassination?" "Assassinations would probably work better since the svelk direct such actions against each other on a semi-regular basis, would take a bit of time though since if a lot of them start dying suddenly, they're going to know something is up and they'll relocate from the cities. Still, I suppose if we timed it right…hmmm, maybe I'll talk to Warrick about setting something up; in any case we still need to track down Eldolith. We know she is making her home in the cities, but she is proving to be completely elusive as far as pinning her down. Probably using a system of secret tunnels. Might be time to send in the kobold commandos to start digging around." You and Brenda finish up your conversation with a couple of off topic subjects, but before you leave she says one last thing. "I know you already thanked me for my work with the new Eternals, but I wanted to take this opportunity to thank you. Thank you for giving me a new sense of purpose. I know these Eternals' purpose is to loyally serve the Empire, but I feel like…I dunno…it's silly." "No, what?" "I sometimes feel like I'm their mother. I mean I'm not developing attachments to them or anything, but I feel like I'm doing all I can to make sure they survive in this world, because I really DO want most of them to survive. They represent the future of the Empire, and it will fall to them eventually to defend it." You nod at Brenda's remark and touch her arm. "And that, is why you were the best one for this job." You say. "I suppose another reason I've been feeling a little more positive lately is the fact that there are now more of us. Eternals, I mean. Our numbers were always so few, but now with these new ones, I don't feel so alone I guess." Brenda's feelings on this are probably related to the loss of her husband as usual, but you can't fault her for it. If this is something that helps her through the pain, then more power to her. Really you never gave it too much thought that there would be more of "you" around because as far as you're concerned, "you" were always unique to begin with. You weren't even supposed to be an Eternal, but here you are. The next bit surprises you though. "Oh and one more thing, the next time you see Warrick tell him, I'm sorry for being angry at him." Brenda says. You smile. "I'm sure he'll be glad to hear it." You answer and leave. The next few days are actually spent working alongside Warrick to see if some sort of mass assassination attempt of the svelk would actually work. (You also relay Brenda's message and just as you figured, he's glad to hear it) "Wait, so some of the inhabitants in these cities are actually former Felkan citizens?" you ask Warrick. "Yes and it looks like some of them have been willingly working with the svelk out of revenge. In fact I now believe that the saboteur that tried to destroy the old Storm was from one of these cities. A couple of the other tight-lipped dissidents we've had killed during the last purge I believe were from there too originally." You shake your head. "Maybe I should just have the cities bombed out of existence after all." You say with a sigh. "What I don't understand, is why we're bumping into them only now. I mean these cities are so far away and the refugee Felkans would've not only had to travel through gnoll AND Torite territory at the time, but also the Broki Kingdom. Surely it would've been easier to put down roots there." Warrick says. "Well, who is to say some of them didn't? You're only coming across the more radical ones obviously. There may have very well been Felkans that just wanted to get away from the Empire and live a normal life. Granted if those individuals had just accepted Empire rule in the first, they could've done so anyway with little change, but that's a different topic." You continue. "Also the Broki Kingdom was fairly backwards and having strife of its own, I get the impression that the Felkans just wanted to get as far a way as possible from such things. This journey probably wasn't without its hazards. Combine that with losing your homeland and anything else that might've been personal, it's not hard to see where their hate would've festered to the point where the svelk took advantage of it. The ex Felkans are the tool that the svelk are manipulating. Maybe they don't have a nation proper anymore, but it's obvious that the svelk are definitely building the skeleton of one out of these cities states and they see us as the biggest threat to their new endeavors." "It isn't just the svelk and these militant ex-Felkans we've discovered though, we recently came across something new. Something I know you're going to want to hear before proceeding with any plan." Warrick says. Warrick tell you that there is another community but far enough away to be fairly isolated from the rest of the city-states in the area, in fact the community makes its home in a lone mountain. "So…what they live in a cave?" "Well not exactly. The Eyes have not been there, but apparently there is a whole city built into the mountain. Basically similar to what the derro do underground I guess, but they aren't derro. They're gnomes." "Gnomes?" "Yes, and from what information we have gathered, they're also from the former Felkan Kingdom. The funny thing is, they don't seem to have much contact with the rest of the city states. We know that the gnomes trade with the various cities from time to time and we know that there must be humans living in this mountain since those are the ones that do the trading. The place is called New Dessle." "Hrm. Name of the former Felkan capital. So do you think they're working with the svelk in this conspiracy?" you ask. "We don't know. Like I said, all we know is that they trade sometimes, it seems to be mostly minerals and it's fairly infrequent. If they are in league, they're keeping it fairly secret from anyone." Gnomes. That puts a slightly different spin on everything. Between the svelk and the gnomes, you've got two of the most manipulative and smartest races working together to possibly destroy you. Regardless of whether or not the gnomes are actually involved, it still would be best to gather more information, perhaps even more so. "Until we've got more information, we're going to assume the gnomes are just the occasional trading partners. While MAYBE they're indirectly helping by trading material to these svelk influenced cities, I'd rather we deal with the immediate suspects first. Besides attacking a damn mountain isn't exactly in the budget right now." You say. So you proceed with your plan. You keep the Eyes spying and gathering information and keep your own internal security tight. You also start having kobolds digging tunnels under the cities. A few weeks pass and you receive a message. A human rider dropped off a box in a village in the Broki province. Before riding off he stated to the nearby peasants that they needed to deliver that to their Emperor. The box was obviously leaking blood and when one of the braver soldiers opened it, there were several eyes inside. A bloody note attached stated a warning from "Domina" Eldolith that all spies from the Empire will be killed and any further unwanted aggression on the "Confederacy of Free Cities" would be an act of war. Never mind the fact that Eldolith started this by trying to assassinate you in the first place. "She can't possibly be serious in taking us on. She may have discovered some of our spies, but we already know full well what her strength is and even with our reduced manpower right now we could take on the entire force of this so called Confederacy of Free Cities." Warrick remarks. "Oh I'm sure she know that. She's backed into a corner and is doing typical svelk grand standing hoping it will work. To be quite honest I figured she'd eventually discover some of our spies eventually. The svelk aren't stupid, but they served their purpose in information gathering and they probably distracted the svelk from possibly discovering our kobolds running around underground. You can start pulling out the rest of your Eyes, we'll be attacking the cities soon. With any luck we won't let a single svelk escape and we can wipe out the remainder of the ex-Felkans as well." You say. Kivan is nearby probably waiting to get your attention for some domestic issue. Normally he just waits patiently, but this time he speaks. "Forgive my presumption my Emperor as I know war is your area of expertise, but what about the gnomes?" he asks. "What about them? Our spies still have not uncovered anything that would suggest that they're helping. Even the material that they're trading couldn't be considered dangerous for the most part." Warrick answers. "The gnomes will be dealt with later, Kivan. No need to worry." You say. Kivan puts aside his scrolls and addresses you directly. "I have no doubt that will be the case my Emperor, however it is my concern that the Empire not take any more potential unnecessary losses. The Felkan War took a heavy toll on the Empire. A toll that was not necessary had our former Emperor acted more quickly on the matter. The same could be said for the Shadow uprising." "Watch your tone! YOUR current Emperor AND I both served to quell those incidents! Where were you? Counting beans? I suggest you stick to what you know advisor!" Warrick says raising his voice. "You are correct Sightmaster, I AM an advisor. And as I said it is true, I am more of an expert in the mundane domestic affairs that keep the Empire running, I also have to deal with the effects these wars have on such things. If you attack now there will be hardship on the people, BUT our people are used to such things. What is a little more troubling is when unexpected problems pop up or long drawn out affairs." "So what are you exactly saying Kivan?" you ask. "I'm saying that the gnomes can't be trusted to live. When they rebelled against the Empire and ran away they managed to manipulate a collection of simple villages and towns and turn it into the Felkan Kingdom. Not only that, but they managed to build it up to the point where it actually surpassed the Empire technology wise and all of this was done in a fairly short period of time." You continue to listen while Kivan expresses his point of view on this matter. "Perhaps the gnomes aren't working with the svelk, but that's not to say they aren't still working against us. I can't believe that they wouldn't harbor some sort of revenge. I mean the ex-Felkans obviously do and all they lost were their homeland. The gnomes were systematically exterminated. I just believe that leaving the gnomes for later is going to give them more time to build up their defenses and just make it harder for the Empire to wipe them out in the future. Why take the chance?" Kivan does actually make a pragmatic point. While taking the city-states isn't going to be too much of a problem, it's still going to take time and manpower. Your main concern with them is making sure you get all the svelk (especially Eldolith) inside. Consolidating, settling, and rooting out problem people will all take time as well. And while you're doing all that, the gnomes could be sitting in their mountain building some weapon (or weapons) of imaginable power. They already built an entire city in a mountain, who knows what the escaped gnomes have been working on since their exodus? > You just focus on the city-states Kivan may mean well, but you've got more experience in this matter. In fact you're going to just find out what's going on right now. "Warrick, we know where New Dessle is correct?" you ask. "Yes, it's the only large mountain south of the city states. I imagine the entrance is probably hidden, but I'm sure the kobolds could tunnel through with enough time." "That won't be necessary. I'm sure the gnomes have several lookout points and will open up when they see me. I'm going to New Dessle." At this point Kivan and Warrick are apprehensive about that idea. "Emperor, you can't seriously mean going there by yourself!" Kivan exclaims. "I agree, I mean if this is some sort of diplomatic mission you should at least take a retinue with you and even then I'd be against such a thing." Warrick adds. "I never said I was going alone, you're coming with me, Warrick. I figure the two of us should be more than adequate to take on a mountain of gnomes if need be." This remark is met with silence. "What? You've always said you wanted more work outside that office and get back in the middle of things, well here's a big thing to get right in the middle of Warrick." You say which causes Warrick to bow his head and put his fist to his chest. "Apologies my Emperor. This offer was just very sudden and I was taken by surprise. Of course I shall accompany you and whatever we face shall be together. It will be an honor as always." "It is your choice my Emperor, but I still cannot encourage this idea." Kivan remarks. "Well your concern for my well being is noted. Come on Warrick we need to get underway as soon as possible." You say. While you and Warrick prepare for your journey you also take the opportunity to start setting the stage for the attack on the Confederacy of the Free Cities. (Which you didn't even know that's what this little group of city-states was even called until Eldolith's message). The only potential danger of the journey is the fact you're going to have to ride through the Confederacy "territory" and while you're fairly certain you'd be able to handle whatever they send at you, you don't want to give them anymore reason to run off before you're ready to attack, because you know that's going to be the first thing the svelk do. They did with the Broki Kingdom after all. You and Warrick have a more or less uneventful journey however since you stick to the off beaten track and away from the cities patrol areas. The pair of you mostly pass the time speaking about matters of the Empire and this situation with the svelk and what to possibly expect with the gnomes. You do get the idea that Warrick is pretty happy about going on this trip. Eventually you get closer to the mountain, which no longer looms in the distance, but instead stands towering above you. It's not the size of the ones in Rask, but it's big enough that if the gnomes have built a city inside the thing, it would have to be quite large indeed. "Well, we're here, any idea how to get inside?" Warrick asks. "I figure I'd start shouting at the gnomes until they let me in." you say. "And if they don't?" "I guess I'll start smashing holes into the side of the mountain with magic and let myself in." "And maybe you better not, Eternal Emperor. Powerful you may be, I guarantee that even you would not take this mountain all by yourself, but I get the impression you're not here for that." A voice says coming from above you. You look up and see that several holes in the mountain have opened up with the barrels of rifles all pointing at you. And that's just the ones you're seeing, you imagine they probably got more. "Right you are gnome. I'm here to discuss the possible future of our relationship. So how about you open this mountain up and let us talk." You shout. "I have a better idea, how about you get the hell out of here before we blow your fucking head off!" a different voice shouts. "We should just do it now! Why didn't you let me shoot him as he approached!?" another voice says. "Glenmore! Valen! Shut the hell up! Apologies Emperor, but as you might expect we're not exactly trusting of the Empire given our history with it. In fact we're not very trusting of anyone nowadays." "Well I can certainly understand that." You remark. "I thought you might. Hold on let me come to you." The voice says which is followed by a lot of mumbling and whispering. "This isn't exactly a good position we're in." Warrick says. "Nonsense, we already got one to come out and talk. Probably a leader. We're already making progress." You say. You wait for about ten minutes still noticing that the rifles are still fixed on you. "Okay here I am, now we can talk." A voice says and you turn around to see a gnome with a full face of gray facial hair. Typical of older examples of his race. He is dressed in fine (if dirty) clothing. "Hmmm, it would appear you must also have a system of tunnels and secret doors in the ground surrounding this mountain too." You say. "Indeed. Hate living like a derro at times, but with all the kobolds running around north lately…well best to be safe right?" "Looks like you've thought of everything…" you say not knowing the gnome's name. "Oh, the name's Klemto. Klemto Zookwinkle. But let's get to it, I assume you're here to see if we're willing to surrender without a fight?" "Not exactly, though that is a good subject to discuss later. What I was really here to ask is if you were in league with the svelk." "Oh goodness no! We trade with them at times, but only rarely and never anything they could use as a weapon! I believe we'd all sooner trust the Empire before we'd trust the dark elves. At least the Empire is up front about wanting to exterminate us." You stop Klemto right there. "Okay, first of all there is no plan to exterminate the gnomes." "Could've fooled me given the information we've heard. Waging a genocidal war on the Torites. Even bombing other human nations into submission. Now you're planning on annihilating the svelk, though I can't say they're the most sympathetic of beings. I know who you are Eternal. You were a general in the Felkan War. The old emperor's right hand. In fact you even led captured gnomes and them to that infamous death camp called Gnome's Home." "I did that once." "Oh, he did it once! And that makes everything better? Was that a bad attempt at an apology?" "Of course not since I have nothing to apologize for. I was merely following orders. You want to know what I really think of your people? Nothing. You're clever and you invent useful things. That's it. I think your manipulation of the Felkans to protect yourselves was a useful survival strategy and one to be admired in some ways. Just like your mountain city here. I don't have some burning great hatred for any of your kind. Personally I thought it was a waste of resources to ship you all off to Gnome's Home just to go through the unnecessary process of banishing your souls to oblivion. But that's what the Emperor wanted so that's what happened." Klemto lights up some sort of pipe as you talk and takes a puff before speaking. "So just following orders eh? Sounds about right. From what we know of you, you were and apparently still are an emotionless individual. That's probably what makes you scarier than your former Emperor. At least he had an emotion. An irrational one, but it was something." "Oh he had a reason. And it wasn't just the gnomes rebelling. Your last name, Zookwinkle isn't unknown to me gnome." You say. You stare at Klemto and he stares back. He instinctively knows that you know something concerning a female member of his family being involved with the Emperor in some way. Warrick just stands by looking a bit confused, but mostly more concerned about the guns overhead. "Heh, well grandma always did do what she thought was best for survival." Klemto remarks. "Well I suggest you follow in her footsteps then and do the same." "Don't think you're my type." Klemto jokes nervously. "Amusing, but you know what I mean." You say seriously. Klemto wipes his forehead and begins puffing away again. "Look, we just want to be left alone. I mean do you really need us under your thumb too even with the countless slaves and subjects you already have?" "Well since you bring it up, yes. If you're under my rule, I can keep a closer eye on you. Not to mention your skills would be of great use to the Empire once again." You answer. "We were once under the old emperor's rule too. You see how well that worked out." Klemto remarks. "He also was blinded by love at the time and as you pointed out, I am the emotionless one. His hatred of your people also caused him to make many mistakes. If you betray me in some way, rest assured I won't bother going through some elaborate process of torturing you and destroying your souls. I'll just have you run down and slaughtered wherever you may run to. Where you go in the afterlife is your own affair, but here in the land of the living, that's my domain." You say with a cold tone. Klemto is now contemplating the consequences of what may happen if he and his people try to resist when you eventually do come to stake claim on New Dessel. He's pondering if they can kill you now before it even comes to that. It's obviously that he doesn't think they can or else they would've done it long before now. Klemto and the gnomes aren't stupid, they know that the stories of what abilities you really possess are probably exaggerated, however that old fear that still lingers from their treatment by Casimir mixed with what they DO know what you're capable of is still enough to stay their hand. And it is this fear that is making this all work in your favor. Just like you knew it would. Had the roles been reversed, you wouldn't have hesitated. You would've killed yourself with a volley of rifle blasts and more as soon as you were in range. After pacing a bit, Klemto finally speaks again. "I'm going to have to talk this over with the rest of the council and while that's more of a formality, most of them aren't going to be happy... (Sigh) Okay, here it goes. We will capitulate to Empire rule and we'll pay tribute. But we must remain in this mountain. Whatever it is that you need from us to serve the Empire, it will have to be here or at least within the area. Now if some individual wants to leave and help elsewhere in the Empire, then that's his decision. But at no point will our people be forced to leave if they don't want to. Also no other Empire citizens may enter this mountain either unless we allow it. This includes the army." Klemto says. "Hah! You must be joking." You interrupt. "I'm serious. Now I know you'll need to keep an eye on us as you say, well your Eyes will be allowed in. As many as you want, but I assure you that it won't be necessary since there will not be any attempts at betrayal." While it would appear that Klemto is willing to capitulate, there are a lot of stipulations he's making. Stipulations that imply he thinks he's in the position to make. > You walk away now Without another word you cast a protective barrier around you and Warrick, which startles Klemto and definitely causes shouting from the other gnomes until Klemto waves them down. "Don't worry gnome. My intention is not to attack you now as you are indeed correct that it would be stupid to attack a mountain all by myself. However your stipulations are presumptuous and foolish. I made this trip for YOUR benefit, not mine and you have squandered it with unreasonable demands." Klemto stands silent. "I shall return to finish off the Confederacy of the Free Cities and then at some point we'll pick this up again except I will not be so reasonable next time. Let us leave Warrick." As Warrick and you leave, Warrick asks you a question. "I thought they'd be shooting at us by now." "They know it's futile. Besides, even if they did, my barrier is more than enough to deflect bullets. Used it quite a bit during the Felkan War as you…" Before you can finish your sentence suddenly a huge blast of lightning from above hits the ground right near you. You're protected of course by the barrier, but it's so unexpected and startling that it actually causes you and Warrick to lose balance and unfortunately you to lose your concentration for a brief moment and your barrier goes down. "NOW!" you hear Klemto shout, while you're still clearing the cobwebs. Several gnomes armed with repeating rifles pop up out of the ground and fire upon you. Warrick is struck in the head and killed instantly. You are hit in the body enough times to feel the pain of each bit of hot lead going in ripping up your insides and coming out the other end. Then much like your now dead brother in arms, you are hit in the head and killed leaving nothing behind but a bloody bullet ridden body with brains leaking out uselessly into the soil.

Kivan may mean well, but you've got more experience in this matter. In fact you're going to just find out what's going on right now. "Warrick, we know where New Dessle is correct?" you ask. "Yes, it's the only large mountain south of the city states. I imagine the entrance is probably hidden, but I'm sure the kobolds could tunnel through with enough time." "That won't be necessary. I'm sure the gnomes have several lookout points and will open up when they see me. I'm going to New Dessle." At this point Kivan and Warrick are apprehensive about that idea. "Emperor, you can't seriously mean going there by yourself!" Kivan exclaims. "I agree, I mean if this is some sort of diplomatic mission you should at least take a retinue with you and even then I'd be against such a thing." Warrick adds. "I never said I was going alone, you're coming with me, Warrick. I figure the two of us should be more than adequate to take on a mountain of gnomes if need be." This remark is met with silence. "What? You've always said you wanted more work outside that office and get back in the middle of things, well here's a big thing to get right in the middle of Warrick." You say which causes Warrick to bow his head and put his fist to his chest. "Apologies my Emperor. This offer was just very sudden and I was taken by surprise. Of course I shall accompany you and whatever we face shall be together. It will be an honor as always." "It is your choice my Emperor, but I still cannot encourage this idea." Kivan remarks. "Well your concern for my well being is noted. Come on Warrick we need to get underway as soon as possible." You say. While you and Warrick prepare for your journey you also take the opportunity to start setting the stage for the attack on the Confederacy of the Free Cities. (Which you didn't even know that's what this little group of city-states was even called until Eldolith's message). The only potential danger of the journey is the fact you're going to have to ride through the Confederacy "territory" and while you're fairly certain you'd be able to handle whatever they send at you, you don't want to give them anymore reason to run off before you're ready to attack, because you know that's going to be the first thing the svelk do. They did with the Broki Kingdom after all. You and Warrick have a more or less uneventful journey however since you stick to the off beaten track and away from the cities patrol areas. The pair of you mostly pass the time speaking about matters of the Empire and this situation with the svelk and what to possibly expect with the gnomes. You do get the idea that Warrick is pretty happy about going on this trip. Eventually you get closer to the mountain, which no longer looms in the distance, but instead stands towering above you. It's not the size of the ones in Rask, but it's big enough that if the gnomes have built a city inside the thing, it would have to be quite large indeed. "Well, we're here, any idea how to get inside?" Warrick asks. "I figure I'd start shouting at the gnomes until they let me in." you say. "And if they don't?" "I guess I'll start smashing holes into the side of the mountain with magic and let myself in." "And maybe you better not, Eternal Emperor. Powerful you may be, I guarantee that even you would not take this mountain all by yourself, but I get the impression you're not here for that." A voice says coming from above you. You look up and see that several holes in the mountain have opened up with the barrels of rifles all pointing at you. And that's just the ones you're seeing, you imagine they probably got more. "Right you are gnome. I'm here to discuss the possible future of our relationship. So how about you open this mountain up and let us talk." You shout. "I have a better idea, how about you get the hell out of here before we blow your fucking head off!" a different voice shouts. "We should just do it now! Why didn't you let me shoot him as he approached!?" another voice says. "Glenmore! Valen! Shut the hell up! Apologies Emperor, but as you might expect we're not exactly trusting of the Empire given our history with it. In fact we're not very trusting of anyone nowadays." "Well I can certainly understand that." You remark. "I thought you might. Hold on let me come to you." The voice says which is followed by a lot of mumbling and whispering. "This isn't exactly a good position we're in." Warrick says. "Nonsense, we already got one to come out and talk. Probably a leader. We're already making progress." You say. You wait for about ten minutes still noticing that the rifles are still fixed on you. "Okay here I am, now we can talk." A voice says and you turn around to see a gnome with a full face of gray facial hair. Typical of older examples of his race. He is dressed in fine (if dirty) clothing. "Hmmm, it would appear you must also have a system of tunnels and secret doors in the ground surrounding this mountain too." You say. "Indeed. Hate living like a derro at times, but with all the kobolds running around north lately…well best to be safe right?" "Looks like you've thought of everything…" you say not knowing the gnome's name. "Oh, the name's Klemto. Klemto Zookwinkle. But let's get to it, I assume you're here to see if we're willing to surrender without a fight?" "Not exactly, though that is a good subject to discuss later. What I was really here to ask is if you were in league with the svelk." "Oh goodness no! We trade with them at times, but only rarely and never anything they could use as a weapon! I believe we'd all sooner trust the Empire before we'd trust the dark elves. At least the Empire is up front about wanting to exterminate us." You stop Klemto right there. "Okay, first of all there is no plan to exterminate the gnomes." "Could've fooled me given the information we've heard. Waging a genocidal war on the Torites. Even bombing other human nations into submission. Now you're planning on annihilating the svelk, though I can't say they're the most sympathetic of beings. I know who you are Eternal. You were a general in the Felkan War. The old emperor's right hand. In fact you even led captured gnomes and them to that infamous death camp called Gnome's Home." "I did that once." "Oh, he did it once! And that makes everything better? Was that a bad attempt at an apology?" "Of course not since I have nothing to apologize for. I was merely following orders. You want to know what I really think of your people? Nothing. You're clever and you invent useful things. That's it. I think your manipulation of the Felkans to protect yourselves was a useful survival strategy and one to be admired in some ways. Just like your mountain city here. I don't have some burning great hatred for any of your kind. Personally I thought it was a waste of resources to ship you all off to Gnome's Home just to go through the unnecessary process of banishing your souls to oblivion. But that's what the Emperor wanted so that's what happened." Klemto lights up some sort of pipe as you talk and takes a puff before speaking. "So just following orders eh? Sounds about right. From what we know of you, you were and apparently still are an emotionless individual. That's probably what makes you scarier than your former Emperor. At least he had an emotion. An irrational one, but it was something." "Oh he had a reason. And it wasn't just the gnomes rebelling. Your last name, Zookwinkle isn't unknown to me gnome." You say. You stare at Klemto and he stares back. He instinctively knows that you know something concerning a female member of his family being involved with the Emperor in some way. Warrick just stands by looking a bit confused, but mostly more concerned about the guns overhead. "Heh, well grandma always did do what she thought was best for survival." Klemto remarks. "Well I suggest you follow in her footsteps then and do the same." "Don't think you're my type." Klemto jokes nervously. "Amusing, but you know what I mean." You say seriously. Klemto wipes his forehead and begins puffing away again. "Look, we just want to be left alone. I mean do you really need us under your thumb too even with the countless slaves and subjects you already have?" "Well since you bring it up, yes. If you're under my rule, I can keep a closer eye on you. Not to mention your skills would be of great use to the Empire once again." You answer. "We were once under the old emperor's rule too. You see how well that worked out." Klemto remarks. "He also was blinded by love at the time and as you pointed out, I am the emotionless one. His hatred of your people also caused him to make many mistakes. If you betray me in some way, rest assured I won't bother going through some elaborate process of torturing you and destroying your souls. I'll just have you run down and slaughtered wherever you may run to. Where you go in the afterlife is your own affair, but here in the land of the living, that's my domain." You say with a cold tone. Klemto is now contemplating the consequences of what may happen if he and his people try to resist when you eventually do come to stake claim on New Dessel. He's pondering if they can kill you now before it even comes to that. It's obviously that he doesn't think they can or else they would've done it long before now. Klemto and the gnomes aren't stupid, they know that the stories of what abilities you really possess are probably exaggerated, however that old fear that still lingers from their treatment by Casimir mixed with what they DO know what you're capable of is still enough to stay their hand. And it is this fear that is making this all work in your favor. Just like you knew it would. Had the roles been reversed, you wouldn't have hesitated. You would've killed yourself with a volley of rifle blasts and more as soon as you were in range. After pacing a bit, Klemto finally speaks again. "I'm going to have to talk this over with the rest of the council and while that's more of a formality, most of them aren't going to be happy... (Sigh) Okay, here it goes. We will capitulate to Empire rule and we'll pay tribute. But we must remain in this mountain. Whatever it is that you need from us to serve the Empire, it will have to be here or at least within the area. Now if some individual wants to leave and help elsewhere in the Empire, then that's his decision. But at no point will our people be forced to leave if they don't want to. Also no other Empire citizens may enter this mountain either unless we allow it. This includes the army." Klemto says. "Hah! You must be joking." You interrupt. "I'm serious. Now I know you'll need to keep an eye on us as you say, well your Eyes will be allowed in. As many as you want, but I assure you that it won't be necessary since there will not be any attempts at betrayal." While it would appear that Klemto is willing to capitulate, there are a lot of stipulations he's making. Stipulations that imply he thinks he's in the position to make. > You continue to negotiate The fact remains; the full capabilities of New Dessle are still unknown and taking this mountain city would be extremely costly for the Empire, so you're not going to dismiss Klemto's stipulations yet, but you are going to come back with one of your own. "Very well, your terms are somewhat reasonable though we're still going to have to hammer out some details, however I do want one thing from you right now." You say. "Oh? What's that?" "You will assist in attacking the Confederacy of the Free Cities." "...so you would call on our service already eh? Fine. We will assist, just let us know what exactly you want from us." "Nothing elaborate, I just want another army south of the cities in case some of the svelk try to escape that way. I don't want a single one of them to get away. They're a threat to the Empire and their constant manipulations need to cease being a thorn in my side. Too long they've gone unpunished for their treachery. Maybe I won't be getting all of them on the world. But rest assured I WILL be getting ALL of them in this area." "I see. While you may not have any hatred for my race, you obviously do for the dark elves. It would seem the more things change, the more they stay same…(Sigh) Well better the svelk than us I suppose." Klemto says. "Glad you see the pragmatic side of this." "Oh I suspect I'll be seeing the pragmatic side a lot in the future. Not how I wanted to spend the remainder of my years, but then this is really the only way. I've long since learned that opposing the Empire is futile. While it may eventually fall to internal or external forces, it probably isn't going to be in my lifetime and I'm going to do everything within that time to make sure the gnomes stay out of harm's way. If that means swallowing what little pride we might have left and willingly becoming the subjects of a nation that once enslaved us and then tried to systematically exterminate us, then that is what we will do." Klemto finishes his little speech with another puff of his pipe. He looks defeated even though he's come out fairly okay on this deal. Well at least you think so, obviously he feels differently. "You'll be remembered as a savior to your people Klemto." You say before you leave. "I'll probably be remembered as a collaborator, but I'm fine with it as long as they live to keep telling the tale of Klemto the traitor long after I'm dead." At this point you and Warrick take your leave, the next time you look back, Klemto is gone and the mountain "windows" have all closed up as if everything was normal again. "You really think you can trust the gnomes?" Warrick asks. "I trust them more now that we have a way in. I want as many Eyes as you can spare in that mountain. Perhaps over time we can pull some out if the gnomes do prove to be loyal and don't complain too much, but we definitely want to at least gather every single bit of information we can on that place just in case the gnomes DO try to betray us in the future." "I'll get on that, as soon as we return to the Empire. I shouldn't have had the doubt, but I really thought this plan was going to go bad." "Don't worry, I had the same feeling, but sometimes you just have to throw caution to the wind and attempt new strategies." "Well maybe I didn't see any battle, but I was still glad to get out behind that desk. I thank you for that." Warrick says. "If you'd like we could always go try to take out one of the city states by ourselves. Has to be easier than an entire mountain." You and Warrick laugh at this idea and head back to the Empire. A month passes and the war against the Confederacy of Free Cities is well underway. The odds are severely in your favor especially with the help of the gnomes who show up and you get a small indication of what exactly they have been working on. Some sort of powerful battle machine they call automatons. The best way to describe them is they're golems except work under the power of steam, gears and technology rather than magic. A single automaton is an incredibly destructive force blowing holes in walls with their mounted cannons or just smashing them down with a hammer fist. The gnomes also bring out their lightning cannons that you remember during the Felkan War. It was a relatively new invention towards the end of that conflict, but it looks like the gnomes have perfected it their power. Your own inventors never could figure out how to create them though. (Even Elam was at a loss on how they did it without the use of magic) You're sort of surprised they never created their own airships, but apparently they were in the process of doing so. In any case, whatever they've created and will create are yours to use now. The Confederacy of Free Cities doesn't stand a chance and half of them are in ruins after it's all said and done. That wasn't the original intent, but at this point you're not really concerned with conquering a few measly cities. You can always have new ones built now that you own the territory. What matters more is the eradication of the svelk menace. "We got her Emperor!" a soldier says running up to you in the middle of the burning ruins of Ryglik. "Are you sure its her?" you ask "Yes, Emperor. It's Domina Eldolith. She was captured by the kobolds attempting to escape through a system of tunnels, she killed quite a few of them, but the little scalies managed to subdue her. She's been yelling about being the grand domina of the free cities and a bunch of other stuff. Mostly demanding to be treated with the respect that a captured enemy of her stature deserves." "Unbelievable. Defiant and arrogant to the end. Wouldn't be the svelk way otherwise. Well take me to her." You say. You are lead to the former city hall and down into the basement where several kobolds are proding a bound Eldolith with sharp objects and laughing while she swears and curses at them. They see you and bow in reverence while excitedly looking for approval of their deed. "Capturr blak elf! For Emp! For Emp!" one of them says. "Yes, and I will make sure you are awarded appropriately for your deeds. All of you, now leave I want to speak with this one alone. And do not interrupt me, no matter what you may hear. I will leave here when I'm ready." The kobolds leave via the trapdoor in the floor, your human soldiers nearby head back upstairs. Eldolith looks at you as you approach her. It's been a while since you've seen her, but she's not looking her best right now. Her clothes are torn and wet, she's covered in dirt and grime. She smells like she's been running through a sewer. Superficial wounds are on her face and body. Her eyes are burning through you with an absolute hatred. And you love every moment of it. "If you think I'm going to beg for my life you're sadly mistaken. I will NEVER give you that satisfaction. I am a svelk! My people…" You backhand Eldolith shutting her up. "Are dead. And if they aren't, the ones we captured soon will be. You can stop playing the arrogant svelk Eldy. You're scared of what is going to happen next. And you should be, because I'm going to revisit some old techniques your mother showed me once." At this point Eldolith's eyes widen and she tries to edge away when your hands start to touch her body. Suddenly you grip her throat. "Don't move away from me bitch." You say and look into her eyes. Gone is the hatred. Now you see the fear. "Now then, if you're concerned that I meant a physical violation, I hate the break your dreams, but that won't be happening. For one thing, your current stench is enough to give an orc pause. However after I'm done today, you will be wishing that I was displaying such a kindness to you. Begging. In fact I believe your earlier boast about not begging for your life was correct. You won't be. You'll be begging for your death. Now let us begin…" You pull out a small set of tools you brought for this occasion. To be honest you weren't sure if you'd be lucky enough to capture Eldolith alive, but fortune smiled on you this day. You begin a brutal session of torture on Eldolith. You occasionally ask her for more information on where other svelk may be, but these are met with pathetic moans of denial of knowledge. "I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING!" Eldolith screams as another finger is cut off. "At this point I actually believe you, but I don't really care because this is amusing to me. Torturing a svelk. Not just any svelk though. One that tried to have me fucking assassinated on several occasions. Come on Eldy, you really can't be surprised by my actions here. You svelk pride yourself on showing no mercy and revel in cruelty, I'd think you'd understand all this." "Who told you this? My mother?! And you believed her? What makes you think she wasn't responsible and just put the blame on me?!" "Well for one thing, your mother is a lot smarter than you and if she was planning to have me killed, I have to admit, she might've been successful. Fortunately that crazy bitch is obsessed with me, for some unknown reason…" At this point Eldolith starts coughing up blood while trying to laugh. "Something amusing? Have you finally gone mad from the pain?" you ask. "Ha ha, (cough) you wish I was her right now. (cough) You'll never get that satisfaction, she's played you like a cheap lute since you've been born Eternal. Even now you're doing her bidding. She just…" At this point Eldolith vomits a mixture of blood and bile on the floor. Some of it getting on your boots. "You were saying?" you ask, but Eldolith just breathes heavily not answering. "Well, you don't really need this eye to tell me the rest of your thoughts." You say and approach her again with a knife… By the time dawn comes, Eldolith is barely alive. She's blind, missing an entire hand, her skin partially flayed, missing most of her teeth, she's a bloody mess and her face doesn't even resemble that of a svelk anymore. She's long since proven your prediction correct and begged for death, which you've denied her. But even you have to move on some time. "I have to admit Eldy, I thought you would've been long dead by now. For someone begging for death, your body's will to survive is strong. The funny thing is, I could easily heal most of you up and do this all over again, but honestly I think I've made my point. Besides I'd hate to shorten my own lifespan just for a little bit of amusement, which is getting boring now. Any last words?" Eldolith makes no sound, just shallow breathing. "Right then." You say and put your mithral dagger to her throat. "You brought this on yourself." You whisper in Eldolith's hacked off ear and slash her throat at last putting her out of her living hell. When you exit the building, several officers say they've been wanting to speak with you about important matters of the aftermath of the war and similar matters concerning the newly acquired cities. Also the gnomes are wondering what your next orders are now since the enemy has been thoroughly eliminated. While you certainly feel good about your victory and your recent indulgence, you can't help but wonder now if Eldolith was just a convenient scapegoat. Eldolith and her sect of svelk obviously still had to die and you're more than certain that she was involved in trying to have you killed, but who is to say that it wasn't Semra pulling the strings all along? In any event, looks like playtime is over. Back to business as usual. > Year 50 As you look at a large map of the known continent of Evigrus you realize that while its been fifteen years since you took the throne as Emperor you've already more than doubled the size of the original nation. You've also successfully managed to have your ships navigate most of its coastline as well. Even northern most Rask was mapped by your airships. Quite frankly that's the main problem you have right now in general you've conquered most of what is worthwhile already on this continent. Anything remaining isn't exactly inhabitable or worth the time to spend on conquest and even in some of those cases, kobold citizens have slowly been making small underground communities in places where nobody above ground would want to live such as the Delerg jungle. However there are always new lands to conquer. To the farthest part west lies the only nation on Evigrus left besides the Empire, the Kingdom of Nakol. Nakol has had the benefit of being relatively isolated from the rest of the continent due to the great mountain range that blocked it from the Children of Tor. Your people have only recently had formal contact with it shortly after the defeat of the Torites, though even that was by ship, though now that the Torites are no longer a true threat, small passes through the mountains have been found (Though they're not exactly safe and Nakol certainly keeps their side very well guarded). The nation isn't quite as large as the Empire, but its still bigger than the old Felkan Kingdom and certainly big enough to defend itself to make aggression very costly, so far however the limited contact you've had with said nation hasn't been hostile. Oddly enough he's wanted to meet you as he has heard so much about the "Great Emperor of the East" and very much wants to visit the Empire. Normally you probably wouldn't consider such diplomatic meetings as it has never been your style, however this ruler is also known as the "Immortal Sorcerer King" and that is something that has gotten your attention. In any event, there are other matters that require your attention and this is where the "other land" to conquer comes in… Last year your ships finally found a large landmass to the east. Up until then, only a few islands of little worth had been discovered. This new territory from what you've been told is similar to Delerg in some ways as there are large portions of jungle. However there are several primitive civilizations living on this land mass. While they are similar to humans in some ways, they have features that certainly aren't such as having four arms and multiple sets of eyes like an insect. Even their language is a bit insect like as you've been told it's more a "chittering" sound. The most prominent of these groups are known as the Iznac. The Iznac like most that seem to inhabit this world before the Empire enlightens them are a superstitious lot that worship their backwards gods by sacrificing others to them. Sometimes this is their own people, but most of the time its captives of the weaker tribes that live on the same continent. Barbarians they may be, they have built cities where their temples seem to be the biggest and most important buildings in them. It would appear they are a theocracy. The Iznac so far have been actively hostile towards your people though perhaps wise enough not to attack them outright. Your own people have not made much progress towards the inner part of the new continent due to this fact and they don't have enough manpower to do so anyway. The only thing they can do is hold up in the newly built outpost and hope they aren't attacked by an overwhelming number of Iznac (or any other tribe since it isn't as if the frog like people called the Glip that also inhabit the continent are any friendlier) You might be inclined to leave this new continent and its inhabitants alone until you can focus more attention on them, however it's also been reported that the continent has a seriously unexploited resource potential of valuable minerals and that's something you could always use more of especially if you're going to have to fund another war with Nakol in the near future. There is also the matter of the orc and kobold population to think about. Both are becoming a problem. The orcs have finally increased their numbers to a point where they can become a viable fighting unit like they were in old days. In fact you planned for that to happen anyway. What you didn't plan for is that you'd have a period of peace with no major wars to fight! Reports of increased orc criminals or just general chaotic misconduct in Rask are becoming more common. You need to start giving them something to go fight. The kobolds aren't so much of a problem as they tend to live underground and generally stay out of the way due to that fact. But with no war to whittle down their numbers they're breeding at a rate that's starting to worry your human subjects. You admit that with as many as the little bastards around they could become a serious threat if they ever became rebellious. Fortunately they're actually less of a problem than any of your other subjects so you're actually not worried about them yet. Still, it seems like a logical solution to start sending large portions of both populations to tame this new continent. Of course if events dictate that you need to war with Nakol soon, then that leaves you with less soldiers on the home front and you're also fighting a two front war. There's also another factor to consider that the new Eternals will be ready next year. Brenda's training has ensured that most of them survived and they are already displaying the eagerness to serve the Empire. Elam's also been working with the gnomes to perfect the automatons. You make your decision that with these other factors in play that you're relatively safe in sending your orcs and kobolds to this new continent. However, you're going to need disciplined leaders though for this task. For the orcs you look for the highest ranked and most respected by his people. The only name that catches your attention when looking through the records is Flog. Flog apparently served most of his military career in Rask fighting ogres, giants and the old barbarian tribes even during the Felkan War. He also served under Kane and was spoken highly of in a few old reports. Kane mentioned that besides Captain Gruz he never encountered an orc almost as intelligent. Apparently he's been doing a lot of breeding after the Felkan War. He has many children. As for kobolds, the records are much sketchier. Kobolds may be loyal and contributing members of Empire society, but none of them really seem to stand out much and if they do, they all died in battle. Plus due to their numbers they probably have many of their kind that could be considered "leaders" within various circles. Eventually you settle on one that distinguished herself during the Tor War. Snilkez'ka managed to take out a manticore all by herself and lead a successful underground sneak attack against a band of minotaurs with only a few casualties. Given the size difference in both cases not to mention that even human officers had problems accomplishing such things, its safe to say that she comes the closest to being a hero among her people. In fact you're wondering why she was never brought to your attention before. Of course you can't just send these two races out on ships to a new continent, which you barely have any control over so you're going to need at least one company of "normal" humans to keep a semblance of order or rather someone better than a human. The only choice would be Decena. She's a well-respected leader by all and more than proven herself. While not having Decena immediately available here will be something you'll have to compensate for, you'll at least have confidence that she'll keep things orderly on this new continent. Having made your decision you meet up with the three to explain the situation, their reactions are varied. "Flog will serve all powerful Emperor, but not fooled by intentions. You trying to get rid of orcs again, just like in Felkan War." Flog says. "Flog if I was trying to get rid of the orcs, I'd just have you all strung up and be done with it. I'm sure you're aware that's within my power to do so. I'm not even sending all of the orcs anyway, just most of them. I need tough soldiers that can withstand this harsher continent and its equally harsh inhabitants. I already sent humans and you see how well that worked out. Quite frankly I think your people would be best suited for this type of thing. You get to prove just how orcly you actually are. You are an orc aren't you? Are you not looking forward to the possibility of killing several enemies or dying in a glorious battle?" you say. "Killing enemies yes, dying not so much. It is a misconception that orcs deliberately seek death in battle. Flog however is getting old, so death is close anyway. Either death in battle, death by children who will inevitably challenge Flog, or death by old age. The last is the least preferable, so perhaps this will be an opportunity. Not sure about the little scaly runts you're sending. Never fought along side them before, but Flog has heard of their great viciousness in battle. Also heard many glorious things of General Decena and her many victories. Will be an honor to fight along side her." At this point the kobold leader, Snilkez'ka makes a small hissing growl like sound at Flog, probably due to his runt comment. "Don't worry about us orc. Small we may be, but we'll be here long after the enemy has already butchered your old greenskin ass." Snilkez'ka remarks, which causes a chuckle from Flog who merely states that perhaps he'll enjoy fighting alongside her people after all. Snilkez'ka doesn't look as amused, but says nothing else other than to directly address you and say that she will make sure that she will bring the fear of the Empire into the hearts of the enemy. You nod and say you know that she will. Always nice to have loyalty and enthusiasm. She's very well spoken for a kobold. The latter one of those traits seems to be lost on your last leader, Decena who isn't saying anything and only succeeds in looking slightly troubled by her new assignment. "Decena, is there anything you'd like to say? You're going to be in charge of this campaign." You ask. "No. Nothing except I look forward to leading the Empire into victory and claiming this new continent in your name, my Emperor." That sounded very… formal. Granted that's a good thing, especially in front of the other two leaders to keep it professional. Still, you know something is wrong and you know it has something to do with your past relationship. If you were the cautious sort you'd just leave it be, but if something is going to be a major problem you need to know now. "Good, you'll all be shipping out in about a week. Everyone is dismissed, though I want to speak to you Decena about something." You say calmly and wait for the other two leave. Now it's just you and Decena alone in the room. This hasn't occurred in years, and this situation is very different. Decena however maintains a very formal stance and does not falter from it. "I sense something is wrong." You say. "There is nothing wrong my Emperor." Decena remarks. "Okay stop with the stiff soldier act, it's just us here." This remark breaks Decena's facade of being "okay." "I don't understand what you want from me my Emperor. You told me we were to remain just subordinate and master. I am carrying out this order to the best of my abilities." "Oh no, do not attempt to play word games, you know what I mean. You're obviously upset about this assignment." "…I'm obeying orders aren't I? Isn't that all that is required of me?" Decena says with an exasperated tone. "For you? No. I need you to do more than just obey, I need you to be thrilled with this assignment. Like you USED to be. Remember?" "Apologies, but I don't think I can given the situation." "What situation? Us? Look Decena I know you're still upset about that, but you're going to have to be an Eternal and get over it." "Oh yes, I'm an Eternal alright, at least until next year. Might as well sweep me away to a far off land now and be done with it." Decena remarks. "What are you talking about?" "I'm talking about the new Eternals that are scheduled to be ready next year! They'll be the new thing and I'll just be old news off in some forsaken land surrounded by scalies and green skinned idiots. In the meantime perhaps you'll even find another young girl like I was and take her under your guidance too…" "Decena…" "Well I suppose at least she'll be happy for a few years even if she'll be a naïve fool the entire time." "Decena STOP! Just stop right now!" you say. Decena does so, but her eyes say it all. You knew she was probably going to be upset for a while, but it's turned into bitterness. You pace a bit and exhale rubbing your hand over your face. "Decena, your beliefs that you're going to be somehow replaced next year are far from the truth. First of all, I'm not giving any of them any extra training because obviously I'm a lousy teacher given what happened between us." Decena stays silent. "Second of all I picked you for this mission because you're the only one I trust to carry it out. Just like I trusted you to continue your battles against the Torites and you saw to their practical extinction. I know you can get this job done and you're not going to be over there forever you know. I anticipate war with the Nakol Kingdom at some point and when that happens who do you think is going to have to lead all the baby eternals into battle? You of course. For now though I need you where you're going to be the most invaluable and that's in this new land." You reach out to Decena and lift her face up to look into her eyes. "I need you for this just like I'm always going to need you. You will never be replaced." Decena's expression turns back to one of sorrow. Her eyes water, but she does not cry out. "I…I'm sorry my Emperor…I shouldn't…have…" "Forget it Decena you don't need to apologize. (Sigh) If anything I should be apologizing to you. As I said, I still feel you're the best person for this mission, but if you wish, you may decline this mission and I will find someone else. And there is no need to worry, this will not be a bad reflection on you in any way. If it's going to make you happier to stay here, then I'd rather you be happy since it'll make you a better leader. Won't do anyone any good if you don't have the best mindset." Decena shakes her head. "No, I'll go. For the good of the Empire I'll go. Staying here would serve no purpose for what I really want is not to be no matter what the situation. I suppose I just overreacted. And you weren't a lousy teacher. Anyone would be lucky to learn under you. I was." Decena says. "Yes, well as I said, nobody ever will again. You were my first and last pupil. You'll always be special in that regard. Now are you absolutely sure, you're going to be okay with this assignment?" you ask. "I will my Emperor. And I will bring glory to the Empire." Decena remarks. "Good. I knew you were strong enough to see this through and I know you'll do the Empire and me proud." You end you comment with a small kiss to her cheek. It's only a shadow of what she really desires, but it'll be enough to get her through this. After Decena leaves, you think about how you've permanently damaged that girl due to your poor judgment and lack of willpower all those years ago. You then think about how easy it is to convince her into anything due to that same lack of willpower years ago. She still worships and loves you and probably always will no matter what. Despite everything, your conditioning was successful. By the end of the week your fleet to the new continent (you're calling it Nyttrus) is on its way to properly claim it for the Empire. You don't know how long the Iznac are going to be able to stand up against your forces, but hopefully if your people break them, the other tribes will fall in line. > Year 52 "The Sorcerer King still wants to meet with you my Emperor, he says he really wants to visit Empire lands and wishes to reassure you that there doesn't need to be any increasing animosity between the two nations." Kivan says. "(Sigh) Again? That's what like the sixth letter he's sent? Never have I known a leader whose country isn't on the verge of destruction so eager to be friends. And even when said countries have been on that verge of destruction some have preferred death over surrender. Makes me suspicious of him on general principle." You say. "Yes, I can see where you would be apprehensive my Emperor. Nevertheless I believe you should at least give a response this time rather than ignoring him. Uh, just a suggestion though. You may of course do what you wish as is your will." Kivan's right in that you probably should respond; it's been long enough. You just wonder if its time to respond with force. The time is starting to feel right. The new Eternals are finally done with their training and are eager to be given their purpose. Elam and the gnomes have just finished working on their new inventions. It would seem now would be as good as time as any to strike. It's just unfortunate that Decena is still in Nyttrus since you could use her here. However you're still somewhat intrigued by this Sorcerer King who also claims "immortality" in his official title. You wonder if he is like Casimir in some way. Perhaps another necromancer from Mortos? You haven't thought about it for a while, but age is starting to catch up to you. While you're still fit and stronger than the average person your age, you're starting to feel the aches at times. The idea of "immortality" is starting to appeal to you especially considering you've accomplished so much. Are you to just lose it all due to the ravages of old age? You don't even have the benefit of a long life span, you might be a powerful wizard in your own right and you might be more than human, but when it comes down to it, you're going to have much limited life span than Casimir did. Of course he most certainly won't be forth coming with any such secret to extending one's life span, but maybe you can at the very least get a good idea of who you're dealing with. (And it may just be a "boastful" title anyway and he's not actually immortal which would be good to know as well) "Kivan, let the sorcerer king know that I'll be making arrangements to meet with him and allowing him safe passage to visit, but there are going to be some stipulations…" Basically you tell the sorcerer king that he can bring some of his personal guard, as well as whatever belongings he feels is necessary. The sorcerer king returns your message with a gleeful acceptance and states that he wishes to come by ship within the week and dock at your biggest port in Nalin, from there he will meet you and you can travel to the capital together. You return that message and state that will be fine. With this meeting underway you get things prepared for extra defense. Naturally Warrick and the Eyes work hard to make sure everything vital is extra secured, but you also have Galen and what few mages remain posted in various areas to act as magic monitors since your visitor is supposed to be a powerful wizard and all. To be quite honest you aren't sure what to expect yourself, as you have no real knowledge of the man or what he's capable of save for rumors. You spend some time honing your own spell abilities just in case. On the day of the arrival, you have Brenda and Warrick (And several soldiers) accompany you near the docks in the Nalin city of Pivod. It's probably the first time all three of you have been together since the new eternals completed their training. "I'm surprised you're agreeing to this meeting. When the new Eternals were done with their training last year I thought for sure we'd be going to war with Nakol soon." Brenda remarks. "I probably would have, but Nakol isn't going to be an easy conquest. It's going to be costly. I wanted to make sure we had that extra resource influx and gold income coming from Nyttrus. Plus the gnomes were working on their new inventions, which would contribute greatly to an upcoming war effort. Thought it might be best to wait until we had all our forces brought to the table. This meeting though, well might as well get a good idea of who we'll be dealing with." "But won't he be doing the same thing?" "True, but it hardly matters. He's not going to have access to anything sensitive. All that stuff is in New Dessel. He already knows he's potentially facing a losing situation. The fact remains that even if the war was costly for us, we'd still win. He may be a wizard of great power. Perhaps even as great as the old Emperor, but there is nothing implying that the rest of his nation is anything else than average at best. As I've heard, he's the only wizard he even allows in his nation. Smart in some ways I suppose as it prevents anyone else from becoming as powerful as him, but it cripples his resources in the long run and displays to me a man who is very fearful of losing his advantage. They've only just recently created their own gunpowder weapons. They have no airships, they have nothing like any of our technological wonders." "Hrm, what about their fleet?" Warrick says and points to a large ship approaching which can only be the Sorcerer King. It is much bigger than the sea going ships you have. Even the ones you sent to Nyttrus weren't as large. This "King's Ship" is ridiculous. You don't think it's going to fit in the damn harbor. As it gets closer, the ship is also well armed with cannons, but also lavishly decorated. You don't really see the point in decorating a ship, which is obviously designed with war in mind. Then again you've also heard of how Nakol tends to place visual aesthetics over practical ones most of the time. Truly a sign of frivolousness and decadence. Fortunately the giant ship manages to dock without destroying them and the gangplank lowers. You can't even see who is aboard the ship due to its great height, but a fancy dressed individual walks down with two trumpeters behind him. "And now it is your privledge and honor to receive the Immortal Sorcerer King of the Great Nation of Nakol and all his glory!" the man shouts and the trumpeters begin to play. A line of people begins to march down the plank. First it's the guards who are dressed in some sort of ceremonial armor that is obviously for show. Then some other people come down. They don't look like soldiers or even advisors, they're barely dressed and they consist of young males and females. They even down a little dance in front of the lot of you. "What the hell? Who are all these people?" Warrick asks. "If I had to guess, probably some sort of pleasure girls and boys." You say. "I thought you told him to keep his entourage light?" Brenda asks. "I did, but as you can see, the fool has got to have his fun. The man himself better come out soon, because I'm not waiting around here for my health." Sure enough right after you make that statement a figure appears at the edge of the ship. He's a swarthy man wearing a very luxurious looking robe and a crown encrusted with jewels. A pair of servants hold his robe as he makes his way down the plank. He certainly carries an air of self-importance and royalty about him. When he approaches, you get a closer look at him. You imagine that he has to be at least as old or maybe even older than you, but his face does not display any signs of age. The only outwardly strange thing about him is that his eyes are an odd purple color. He may or may not be immortal, but he's certainly using some sort of magic to make himself look young. And here you are looking almost the exact opposite. You're wearing practical armor, have a sword hanging by your side and absolutely no frills. When you and the Sorcerer King finally come face to face, he looks you up and down in a way that almost implies he's attracted to you. "Well, Emperor of the East at last we meet. So stoic and rugged! I heard that about you. I like it. Not my taste, but I believe it works for you. And my, look at all your little soldiers set out just for my arrival. I also detect a few…yes three mages in the nearby area. Guess you want to make sure I don't secretly cast any aggressive spells eh? Smart. I'm flattered that you believe me so dangerous, but all of this was hardly necessary, as I said I only wish for peace between our two nations." The Sorcerer King says while using a lot of flamboyant hand gestures. He hasn't been here a few seconds and already he's starting to irritate you. "Yes, well we'll speak on that later, right now you're going to have all your little concubines and some of your soldiers to get right back aboard that ship. I told you that you could have a personal guard not a small company and a few personal belongings." You say. "But these lovelies ARE my personal belongings. Was I wrong in believing that the Empire does not engage in such institutions?" the sorcerer king asks holding on to one of his young male "belongings." "If you're referring to slavery, we've reserved it to criminal scum and prisoners of war nowadays as punishment for defying or insulting the Empire with their dissention or outright hostility. In any case I'm not having extra people running around and having to worry about them being a security risk, they stay on board your ship." The Sorcerer King frowns a bit. "(Sigh) Very well I understand your concerns for security, but I must say you're being a terribly dull and inflexible host right now. What about my two closest servants? Surely you would not deny me them?" "You are seriously testing my already uncharacteristic hospitality. (Sigh) Fine, you can have your two robe carriers, or whatever they are to you." "Well I thank you for your permissiveness in this regard." At this point the Sorcerer King tells most of his people to get back on the ship and reassuring them that he'll make it up to all of them later. You on the other hand tell Warrick that you want that ship closely watched and if anyone is seen trying to exit it, they're to be shot immediately. Both Warrick and Brenda leave your company to attend to their other duties. No reason for all of you to suffer this fop. What transpires for the rest of the day is putting up with the Sorcerer King's annoying demeanor. He speaks and acts in a way that you dislike intensely. The man only seems to primarily discuss his sexual habits and you have to keep the conversation back on topic many times. Despite his evasiveness (or rather his obsession with his sex life) you do manage to get something out of him. He says that he's never been to the "mythical" Island of Mortos having lived in Nakol all his life. (After you mention a bit about it, he says it sounds like an awful place that he hopes to never set foot on) He also admits that he knows the Empire is much stronger than his own nation, but still hopes that it doesn't come to war as he claims he's a lover not a fighter. He even says he's willing to work out some sort of agreement as long as he can stay in power of Nakol. "Perhaps, if we paid some sort of tribute? I heard that you worked out a similar agreement with what are those adorable little mustached men that build all sorts of strange gadgets? Oh yes, the gnomes." The sorcerer king says. "Hrmm. Well one thing you need to take into consideration. New Dessel is a single city. Granted it's a mountain, but its still a single location that we keep a very close eye on. There is also the fact that there aren't many of them. However the most important thing in their favor is that they have a useful trade that contributes to the Empire greatly. Great enough that I'm willing to let them have a little extra autonomy." The Sorcerer King listens with apprehension, as he knows you're going to now explain why you're less willing to make the same deal with Nakol. "Nakol on the other hand is a very large nation with a very large population. Call me paranoid, but I'm far from comfortable from giving something that much freedom. And your nation despite being large offers nothing really save for your resources, territory and obviously fat treasury. And I'd rather have those without having to ask at all. Face it, this is beginning of the end for Nakol independence. However there is one thing that stands out that would at least save your own skin and let you keep your position in this upcoming new order." "Oh? And what is that?" "Your immortality, well at least your supposed immortality. I have my doubts. I imagine the only way to truly test such a thing would be to well…kill you." With a few eye glances to your own soldiers and a couple of swift punches and kicks, you get the sorcerer king to the floor and hold your dagger to his throat. His personal guard are slaughtered and two Eyes hold the sorcerer king's arms just in case he tries to cast a spell. "Utter anything that remotely sounds like an incantation and your tongue is the first thing I cut off." You say. "Stop! Stop! Please don't kill me!" the sorcerer king exclaims. "The fear on you is overwhelming. You're not immortal. Guess I have just been wasting my time…" you say. "No! Wait! (gasp) Maybe (wheeze) I'm not immortal, but I do have knowledge of obscure arts that can keep you young! I mean surely that must be worth something?" You relax your blade a bit. "Speak quickly sorcerer." "Thank you. (Whew) Yes, it's true that I do not have proper immortality, but I do have eternal youth and what commoners really know the difference right? It's a very complex ritual though. The type of magic involved hasn't been practiced in who knows when. When I was genuinely a younger man a century ago, and first found the scrolls in some forgotten cave I only half believed of the power they would bring. I nearly died in the process and I paid a price, but it was worth it as you can see the results." You're still a little leery… "Please! I'm telling the truth! Look, we can perform the ritual right here if you want! I can tell you what to do and get, but we're still going to have to wait until tomorrow at least since the ritual must be done at a certain time of night and that time has currently past unfortunately." "All right, you've bought yourself a little time, but I'm not going into this blind. Tomorrow you are going to tell me EVERYTHING about this ritual and the price you had to pay, because let's just say I'm not a stranger to complex rituals and the repercussions involved." You have the sorcerer king shown to his room. You also have him bound, gagged AND watched by several Eyes and a couple of mages. You are not taking any chances. You don't get to sleep that night in your own room; you're still pondering what this eternal youth ritual might entail. Casimir knew something similar to it, but that was due to necromantic magic and that obviously still had its limits. This apparently is different, you wonder how though. "Mmm, there he is, my ambitious little Eternal desperately trying to unlock the secret to immortality so that he may truly live up to his name. If you wanted to know so bad, you should've just asked mommy." You hear a voice say behind you, which causes you to freeze. It's Semra, and she's in your room. This isn't an "illusion" either. You know it isn't because you just felt her hot breath in your ear followed by a gentle lick. How she managed to actually sneak in here is irrelevant. You're in an unsafe position and you can only imagine that this has something to do with the sorcerer king. This whole visit might finally be showing its true colors… > You attack quickly You've got one chance… You move your slam the back of your head into Semra's face. You're fairly certain you at least hurt the side of her face even if you didn't manage to break her nose. You pull out your dagger and attempt to follow up your attack, but Semra has already jumped back out of your reach. "Foreplay is it? Okay then!" Semra says and pulls out her own weapon. The pair of you clash which results in several light scratches and superficial wounds for both of you all within the course of a few minutes. Semra is playing with you, but you're not playing anymore, and the next time you're able, you cast a lightning bolt at her, though she blocks it with her own magic field. "Enough! I'm not here to kill you, you id…" Semra starts to say, but you're done listening to her and press forward with another attack. Semra casts a holding spell at you in attempt to stop your advance, but you're not a sixteen-year-old apprentice anymore. You feel the affects and it slows you down, but with your own magic you shake off the affects and tackle Semra to the floor. "Nice to see you've learned, but you still don't know shit compared to me!" Semra exclaims and she drops her guard completely which results in you stabbing her in the stomach, however she puts her hands to her mouth and with a blowing motion some sort of gas emanates and you are hit directly in the face with it." Poisonous gas always has been something you've been a little susceptible to, even if the poison itself isn't enough to kill you, it's still enough to cause you discomfort and gag. This is no exception, but it's a little worse this time. You roll off of Semra gagging. You start coughing up blood, though you can't see that you are, because the gas has completely blinded you. In between the coughing you go back to trying to grab at Semra who is having her own problems with a dagger in her stomach. "Let me go you fucking crazy…" Semra starts to say, but your wild swings and grabs connect with her mouth, unfortunately this also results in a bite from her. You manage to avoid losing a couple of fingers completely by blindly (and luckily) connecting your other fist with her face. You're blind and still having breathing difficulties but you manage to wrap your hands around Semra's neck. "Get OFF of me!" Semra says and you feel a burning heat engulf your head. You scream and futilely try to beat the flames out that are now destroying your face. "And I'm sure that will have alerted the guards." You hear Semra say as she manages to crawl away from you at last. "I came here to fucking help you! As I ALWAYS do! (Sigh) Fuck…my stom…(groan) y'know what? I'm done with trying to help you, you've never been grateful and I can see you never will be. You'll always be short sighted and never learn from your mistakes. I can do this without your help and you wouldn't be much good in your current condition anyway. Might as well carry out Mortimer's original assignment. Hope that effeminate little fop has gotten away by now." You are still howling in pain and making incoherent groans, but you try to focus on healing yourself. It isn't to be however. Healing such grievous wounds would take time and that isn't time you have right now. Semra finishes you off by giving her dagger back to you, which results in it going through your neck.

Year 52 "The Sorcerer King still wants to meet with you my Emperor, he says he really wants to visit Empire lands and wishes to reassure you that there doesn't need to be any increasing animosity between the two nations." Kivan says. "(Sigh) Again? That's what like the sixth letter he's sent? Never have I known a leader whose country isn't on the verge of destruction so eager to be friends. And even when said countries have been on that verge of destruction some have preferred death over surrender. Makes me suspicious of him on general principle." You say. "Yes, I can see where you would be apprehensive my Emperor. Nevertheless I believe you should at least give a response this time rather than ignoring him. Uh, just a suggestion though. You may of course do what you wish as is your will." Kivan's right in that you probably should respond; it's been long enough. You just wonder if its time to respond with force. The time is starting to feel right. The new Eternals are finally done with their training and are eager to be given their purpose. Elam and the gnomes have just finished working on their new inventions. It would seem now would be as good as time as any to strike. It's just unfortunate that Decena is still in Nyttrus since you could use her here. However you're still somewhat intrigued by this Sorcerer King who also claims "immortality" in his official title. You wonder if he is like Casimir in some way. Perhaps another necromancer from Mortos? You haven't thought about it for a while, but age is starting to catch up to you. While you're still fit and stronger than the average person your age, you're starting to feel the aches at times. The idea of "immortality" is starting to appeal to you especially considering you've accomplished so much. Are you to just lose it all due to the ravages of old age? You don't even have the benefit of a long life span, you might be a powerful wizard in your own right and you might be more than human, but when it comes down to it, you're going to have much limited life span than Casimir did. Of course he most certainly won't be forth coming with any such secret to extending one's life span, but maybe you can at the very least get a good idea of who you're dealing with. (And it may just be a "boastful" title anyway and he's not actually immortal which would be good to know as well) "Kivan, let the sorcerer king know that I'll be making arrangements to meet with him and allowing him safe passage to visit, but there are going to be some stipulations…" Basically you tell the sorcerer king that he can bring some of his personal guard, as well as whatever belongings he feels is necessary. The sorcerer king returns your message with a gleeful acceptance and states that he wishes to come by ship within the week and dock at your biggest port in Nalin, from there he will meet you and you can travel to the capital together. You return that message and state that will be fine. With this meeting underway you get things prepared for extra defense. Naturally Warrick and the Eyes work hard to make sure everything vital is extra secured, but you also have Galen and what few mages remain posted in various areas to act as magic monitors since your visitor is supposed to be a powerful wizard and all. To be quite honest you aren't sure what to expect yourself, as you have no real knowledge of the man or what he's capable of save for rumors. You spend some time honing your own spell abilities just in case. On the day of the arrival, you have Brenda and Warrick (And several soldiers) accompany you near the docks in the Nalin city of Pivod. It's probably the first time all three of you have been together since the new eternals completed their training. "I'm surprised you're agreeing to this meeting. When the new Eternals were done with their training last year I thought for sure we'd be going to war with Nakol soon." Brenda remarks. "I probably would have, but Nakol isn't going to be an easy conquest. It's going to be costly. I wanted to make sure we had that extra resource influx and gold income coming from Nyttrus. Plus the gnomes were working on their new inventions, which would contribute greatly to an upcoming war effort. Thought it might be best to wait until we had all our forces brought to the table. This meeting though, well might as well get a good idea of who we'll be dealing with." "But won't he be doing the same thing?" "True, but it hardly matters. He's not going to have access to anything sensitive. All that stuff is in New Dessel. He already knows he's potentially facing a losing situation. The fact remains that even if the war was costly for us, we'd still win. He may be a wizard of great power. Perhaps even as great as the old Emperor, but there is nothing implying that the rest of his nation is anything else than average at best. As I've heard, he's the only wizard he even allows in his nation. Smart in some ways I suppose as it prevents anyone else from becoming as powerful as him, but it cripples his resources in the long run and displays to me a man who is very fearful of losing his advantage. They've only just recently created their own gunpowder weapons. They have no airships, they have nothing like any of our technological wonders." "Hrm, what about their fleet?" Warrick says and points to a large ship approaching which can only be the Sorcerer King. It is much bigger than the sea going ships you have. Even the ones you sent to Nyttrus weren't as large. This "King's Ship" is ridiculous. You don't think it's going to fit in the damn harbor. As it gets closer, the ship is also well armed with cannons, but also lavishly decorated. You don't really see the point in decorating a ship, which is obviously designed with war in mind. Then again you've also heard of how Nakol tends to place visual aesthetics over practical ones most of the time. Truly a sign of frivolousness and decadence. Fortunately the giant ship manages to dock without destroying them and the gangplank lowers. You can't even see who is aboard the ship due to its great height, but a fancy dressed individual walks down with two trumpeters behind him. "And now it is your privledge and honor to receive the Immortal Sorcerer King of the Great Nation of Nakol and all his glory!" the man shouts and the trumpeters begin to play. A line of people begins to march down the plank. First it's the guards who are dressed in some sort of ceremonial armor that is obviously for show. Then some other people come down. They don't look like soldiers or even advisors, they're barely dressed and they consist of young males and females. They even down a little dance in front of the lot of you. "What the hell? Who are all these people?" Warrick asks. "If I had to guess, probably some sort of pleasure girls and boys." You say. "I thought you told him to keep his entourage light?" Brenda asks. "I did, but as you can see, the fool has got to have his fun. The man himself better come out soon, because I'm not waiting around here for my health." Sure enough right after you make that statement a figure appears at the edge of the ship. He's a swarthy man wearing a very luxurious looking robe and a crown encrusted with jewels. A pair of servants hold his robe as he makes his way down the plank. He certainly carries an air of self-importance and royalty about him. When he approaches, you get a closer look at him. You imagine that he has to be at least as old or maybe even older than you, but his face does not display any signs of age. The only outwardly strange thing about him is that his eyes are an odd purple color. He may or may not be immortal, but he's certainly using some sort of magic to make himself look young. And here you are looking almost the exact opposite. You're wearing practical armor, have a sword hanging by your side and absolutely no frills. When you and the Sorcerer King finally come face to face, he looks you up and down in a way that almost implies he's attracted to you. "Well, Emperor of the East at last we meet. So stoic and rugged! I heard that about you. I like it. Not my taste, but I believe it works for you. And my, look at all your little soldiers set out just for my arrival. I also detect a few…yes three mages in the nearby area. Guess you want to make sure I don't secretly cast any aggressive spells eh? Smart. I'm flattered that you believe me so dangerous, but all of this was hardly necessary, as I said I only wish for peace between our two nations." The Sorcerer King says while using a lot of flamboyant hand gestures. He hasn't been here a few seconds and already he's starting to irritate you. "Yes, well we'll speak on that later, right now you're going to have all your little concubines and some of your soldiers to get right back aboard that ship. I told you that you could have a personal guard not a small company and a few personal belongings." You say. "But these lovelies ARE my personal belongings. Was I wrong in believing that the Empire does not engage in such institutions?" the sorcerer king asks holding on to one of his young male "belongings." "If you're referring to slavery, we've reserved it to criminal scum and prisoners of war nowadays as punishment for defying or insulting the Empire with their dissention or outright hostility. In any case I'm not having extra people running around and having to worry about them being a security risk, they stay on board your ship." The Sorcerer King frowns a bit. "(Sigh) Very well I understand your concerns for security, but I must say you're being a terribly dull and inflexible host right now. What about my two closest servants? Surely you would not deny me them?" "You are seriously testing my already uncharacteristic hospitality. (Sigh) Fine, you can have your two robe carriers, or whatever they are to you." "Well I thank you for your permissiveness in this regard." At this point the Sorcerer King tells most of his people to get back on the ship and reassuring them that he'll make it up to all of them later. You on the other hand tell Warrick that you want that ship closely watched and if anyone is seen trying to exit it, they're to be shot immediately. Both Warrick and Brenda leave your company to attend to their other duties. No reason for all of you to suffer this fop. What transpires for the rest of the day is putting up with the Sorcerer King's annoying demeanor. He speaks and acts in a way that you dislike intensely. The man only seems to primarily discuss his sexual habits and you have to keep the conversation back on topic many times. Despite his evasiveness (or rather his obsession with his sex life) you do manage to get something out of him. He says that he's never been to the "mythical" Island of Mortos having lived in Nakol all his life. (After you mention a bit about it, he says it sounds like an awful place that he hopes to never set foot on) He also admits that he knows the Empire is much stronger than his own nation, but still hopes that it doesn't come to war as he claims he's a lover not a fighter. He even says he's willing to work out some sort of agreement as long as he can stay in power of Nakol. "Perhaps, if we paid some sort of tribute? I heard that you worked out a similar agreement with what are those adorable little mustached men that build all sorts of strange gadgets? Oh yes, the gnomes." The sorcerer king says. "Hrmm. Well one thing you need to take into consideration. New Dessel is a single city. Granted it's a mountain, but its still a single location that we keep a very close eye on. There is also the fact that there aren't many of them. However the most important thing in their favor is that they have a useful trade that contributes to the Empire greatly. Great enough that I'm willing to let them have a little extra autonomy." The Sorcerer King listens with apprehension, as he knows you're going to now explain why you're less willing to make the same deal with Nakol. "Nakol on the other hand is a very large nation with a very large population. Call me paranoid, but I'm far from comfortable from giving something that much freedom. And your nation despite being large offers nothing really save for your resources, territory and obviously fat treasury. And I'd rather have those without having to ask at all. Face it, this is beginning of the end for Nakol independence. However there is one thing that stands out that would at least save your own skin and let you keep your position in this upcoming new order." "Oh? And what is that?" "Your immortality, well at least your supposed immortality. I have my doubts. I imagine the only way to truly test such a thing would be to well…kill you." With a few eye glances to your own soldiers and a couple of swift punches and kicks, you get the sorcerer king to the floor and hold your dagger to his throat. His personal guard are slaughtered and two Eyes hold the sorcerer king's arms just in case he tries to cast a spell. "Utter anything that remotely sounds like an incantation and your tongue is the first thing I cut off." You say. "Stop! Stop! Please don't kill me!" the sorcerer king exclaims. "The fear on you is overwhelming. You're not immortal. Guess I have just been wasting my time…" you say. "No! Wait! (gasp) Maybe (wheeze) I'm not immortal, but I do have knowledge of obscure arts that can keep you young! I mean surely that must be worth something?" You relax your blade a bit. "Speak quickly sorcerer." "Thank you. (Whew) Yes, it's true that I do not have proper immortality, but I do have eternal youth and what commoners really know the difference right? It's a very complex ritual though. The type of magic involved hasn't been practiced in who knows when. When I was genuinely a younger man a century ago, and first found the scrolls in some forgotten cave I only half believed of the power they would bring. I nearly died in the process and I paid a price, but it was worth it as you can see the results." You're still a little leery… "Please! I'm telling the truth! Look, we can perform the ritual right here if you want! I can tell you what to do and get, but we're still going to have to wait until tomorrow at least since the ritual must be done at a certain time of night and that time has currently past unfortunately." "All right, you've bought yourself a little time, but I'm not going into this blind. Tomorrow you are going to tell me EVERYTHING about this ritual and the price you had to pay, because let's just say I'm not a stranger to complex rituals and the repercussions involved." You have the sorcerer king shown to his room. You also have him bound, gagged AND watched by several Eyes and a couple of mages. You are not taking any chances. You don't get to sleep that night in your own room; you're still pondering what this eternal youth ritual might entail. Casimir knew something similar to it, but that was due to necromantic magic and that obviously still had its limits. This apparently is different, you wonder how though. "Mmm, there he is, my ambitious little Eternal desperately trying to unlock the secret to immortality so that he may truly live up to his name. If you wanted to know so bad, you should've just asked mommy." You hear a voice say behind you, which causes you to freeze. It's Semra, and she's in your room. This isn't an "illusion" either. You know it isn't because you just felt her hot breath in your ear followed by a gentle lick. How she managed to actually sneak in here is irrelevant. You're in an unsafe position and you can only imagine that this has something to do with the sorcerer king. This whole visit might finally be showing its true colors… > You slowly talk your way out As crazy as it is to believe, if Semra's actually here then it might not be an entirely bad thing. So far she's always attempted to help you, and you imagine if she really wanted to kill you, you wouldn't have heard a thing. "Semra. why am I not entirely surprised to find out you're somehow mixed up in this?" you say not turning your head. "Because while you may be a fool obsessed conquest and order, you're not an idiot." "Obsessed eh? And what would you call your being here?" "A mother's concern…mmmm" Semra says as both of her hands rub your chest. Her face is now side by side yours and you feel a small kiss on your cheek. "Do you know how fucked up you sound whenever you address us as mother and son?" "Oh you know you like it. I trust by the fact that you have not immediately attacked and that you're actually enjoying my company that you're willing to hear me out?" "I wouldn't say I'm actually enjoying your company, but you did come all this way…you might as well speak your piece while I'm in a diplomatic mood." You respond and slowly turn around at which point Semra backs away. "So was your clumsy plan always to invite Mortimer and kill him thus chopping off the head of the Nakol Kingdom immediately, or were you actually trying to learn how he became infamously immortal?" Semra asks. "Mortimer?" "Yes, you know the lurid little king that you have captive right now? His real name is Mortimer Fudwick. Sounds almost like one of those silly gnome names doesn't it? If you thought he was annoying within the short time you spent with him, just think if you had to listen to the shit on a regular basis as his advisor." Advisor. Well this is starting to make some more sense. "So is that where you've been all this time? Hiding out in the Nakol Kingdom as the sorc…as Mortimer's advisor?" you ask. "I wouldn't say I've been hiding. I've merely been securing my future. I'll admit it's not been easy and Mortimer's ongoing sexual talk has long since gotten past the point of being boring. He's not nearly as good as he thinks he is…" This last implication shouldn't surprise you but that twisted part of you that apparently still hasn't disappeared completely nearly causes you to say something. You manage to stop yourself, however Semra smiles at your momentary lapse in stoicism. "Why…you're jealous!" Semra says nearly laughing. "No I'm not. You're being delusional again." You say trying to maintain your calm demeanor. "Deny it all you want, I know the truth. See, I KNEW I would ALWAYS be the only real woman for you. You never forget your first eh? Don't worry, no matter how many times I lay with that effeminate fop he'll never be anything the man you are." Semra says totally enjoying this situation. "I don't need your reassurance to tell me that, what I was going to say is that I'm a little surprised that a proud svelk woman like yourself has resorted to thinly veiled whoredom for survival. To a monkey no less." "Look, if this is really bothering you, we can always go discuss this on your bed over there. Doesn't look like it's been used in years and I'm sure despite your age you could still give it to me in a way that only you can…" "Semra, will you get to the fucking point of your visit, before I stop entertaining the idea that you aren't a complete fucking selfish backstabbing bitch who ultimately only looks out for her own best interests?" you say in a raised tone of voice. Semra chuckles a bit at your outburst. "Oh I did miss that anger of yours. Sexy. That passion. That hate that bubbles underneath. Mortimer has none of that. His demon does, but he's rather useless in the physical aspect due to being trapped in a crystal and all. "Okay I heard the word demon. Let's focus on that." "(Sigh) Very well, to business…" Semra goes on to explain that Mortimer's reign over the Nakol Kingdom solely hinges on a deal he made with a demon named Zelvix over a century ago. He got youth, power, magic abilities and all the sex he could ever want in exchange for his soul. However Morty wasn't a complete fool, he managed to trap the demon in a crystal prison of some sort which has made the deal unable to be completed properly which now has made Mortimer "semi-immortal". Now the demon just sits biding its time, waiting for the day it's released or when Mortimer actually dies so it can claim what it was owed. "So basically what you're telling me is that Mortimer doesn't know shit about eternal youth let alone immortality other than what this demon gave him." You say. "Basically." "Knew it was too good to be true." You say and get your sword. "What're you doing?" "Well there's no point in keeping him alive no is there? Might as well go ahead and be done with it…" "Wait! That's another thing I wanted to talk to you about! You can't just kill him, I mean you could, but it would be extremely…bad. Killing Mortimer is also going to release Zelvix and trust me, you don't want to do that, he's a demon lord of great power." "If he's so great how the hell did he get tricked by some hedge wizard?" "Probably due to typical arrogance like all of his kind. Look I'm just telling you that it's not going to be a simple matter of just cutting his head off. If it was, I would've done it years ago on general principle of being a bad lay. You go in and kill him now and it's going to be bad in the long term not just for you, but for the entire world." "The world? Aren't you being just a little overly dramatic? And since when are you so altruistic?" "Since unleashing a demon army would not be in my best interest that's why. Contrary to popular belief, we svelk aren't all looking to see the world burn, but that's definitely what will happen if you kill Mortimer. Personally I was trying to find a way to banish the demon, I think I might be on the right path, but it's going to take a few decades still I think." "A few decades? Fuck that, I'm not waiting that long and I know you're not telling me the entire truth anyway; you've got another angle in this. Now get the hell out of my way before I forget that you're actually an enemy of mine." "(Sigh) Fine. You know, usually as people get older they learn to become more patient. I can see though your growing fixation on living long enough to conquer the world is becoming a major flaw. Of course what else do you really have right? You have no master any longer. You have no significant other. You can't have children. You have nothing except your Empire, which will undoubtedly fall soon after you die and you KNOW it. So you're now starting to seek out a way to conquer death. You're getting more like Casimir everyday. Congratulations, you are your father's son." "I don't fear death Semra, never have." "Never said you did, I taught you not to. I believe though…bah nevermind. Further discussion on this subject would be wasted on you. Go then, kill little pathetic Mortimer. Perhaps if you're lucky when the demon army is unleashed by Zelvix and eventually overruns the world, you will get that warrior's death rather than the old man in bed death where you are decrepit lying in your own filth and too weak to even lift yourself up." "You done?" you ask as you advance towards the door and Semra with sword in hand. "Just one more thing. I hope you remember this day as one of the many that I could've killed you and didn't. Mortimer wanted me to assassinate you, you know. Now I'll take my leave. Until next time lover." Semra says and disappears. You still hear the faint patter of footsteps so you figure she's only turned invisible rather than some sort of teleportation. You call for soldiers, Eyes, mages and whoever else who will listen, since you have a feeling Mortimer's escaped. When you enter the cell he was being held in, you find the Eyes and mages that were watching him burned from the inside out. You're not sure how he did it without other soldiers and such being alerted and him being bound and gagged, but Mortimer's obviously escaped and Semra was running interference for him while he did so. Several of your soldiers and others begin apologizing for not knowing what had occurred, but you wave them all away saying that you're not angry at anyone. When they ask if you want a general search and alarm sounded you decline. "No. There would be no point, however I'm fairly certain that he'll be leaving his ship behind. Sightmaster Warrick is probably still in the area having it watched. Someone go inform him to have everyone killed aboard and start having it refitted according to Empire standards." Just as you're finished giving that order, your advisor Kivan has arrived in a hurried fashion. "Emperor, I just heard! Are you okay? Has the Sorcerer King really escaped?" "Escaped, is a relative term, Kivan. Let's just say he's temporarily eluded my immediate clutches. If his situation is anything like I was just told, he's got bigger problems than the likes of me. In any case, we're officially at war with the Kingdom of Nakol now." "I see…is there anything you need right now?" You briefly think for a moment. The only thing that comes to mind is getting your best general back to Evigrus. Decena from what you know has more or less pushed back the Iznac and at least established a good foothold on the continent where your people aren't on the verge of being annihilated. Flog and Snilkez'ka will still be there along with whoever is Decena's second. Of course you've been regularly receiving much needed resources and riches from Nyttrus thanks to Decena's presence there. You don't necessarily worry that the Iznac are going to suddenly be a problem due to her not being around, you're just a little concerned that without a strong leadership presence, the orcs are going to run wild and fuck up the regular shipments or disregard them altogether. And you can't afford for that to happen if you're going to be going to war with Nakol. > You keep Decena in Nyttrus Decena might be a good general, but without the extra resources from Nyttrus, your war machine efforts are not going to run as smoothly. You need her to keep on top of things there. Which means you'll be leading the new Eternals into battle and that's fine by you. You don't waste any time getting the rest of your plans underway. You figure a four-pronged attack will work suitably for the initial assault. You have your fleet attack south Nakol from the sea and land troops there. You have the rest of your airships fly over the mountain range and bombard northern Nakol. Your kobold forces can dig under the large mountain range as usual. Finally you have the majority of your forces march through the mountain passes. You'll hold back your Eternals until the passes are completely under your control and no longer contested. It would probably be best to "test" the Nakol defenses located in the pass choke points anyway. This is going to be a bit different from the conflicts in the past, your armies aren't going to be relying on any magic support at all. What few mages you have left are either overseeing the next Eternal tanks or are part of the Eyes now (Aside from the ones that Mortimer killed recently). You don't know just exactly how powerful Mortimer's own magic is, but you do know he's the only wizard in his kingdom so you're not anticipating any problems, if technology has proven anything its that the lowliest unskilled peasant can figure it out and use it with great efficiency. A sign of the times you suppose. In any case you have no doubt that when the time comes, it'll probably be up to you personally to take down Mortimer in a magic showdown and if Semra is in your way then you'll deal with her as well. A few months pass and just as you figured, Mortimer does have other tricks up his sleeve to make the invasion go a lot more difficult. You don't know if he always had an agreement with them or perhaps they're just siding with him out of spite, but the satyr and harpy clan survivors that fled to the Nakol mountains after the Tor War rear their ugly head again. This mainly involves their usual ambush tactics in the various mountain passes, but apparently there are still enough of the harpies to mount full assaults on your airships. Apparently Mortimer doesn't have a problem with their mages either since they still have a few left and they're using their elemental magic to a great degree causing rockslides in the mountain passes, strong damaging winds against your airships and even violent tidal waves against your fleet. You don't remember them having quite that much magical strength before so you imagine Mortimer must be enhancing their abilities with his own. There are also reports of svelk mercenaries among the normal Nakol army. You knew that not ALL of them threw in their lot with Eldolith. These must be the ones that followed Semra. Well you can finish that job too. All of this might not be a problem if you weren't suddenly experiencing a problem that you thought you wouldn't be experiencing. There's been a slow down in the shipments of resources from Nyttrus, meaning they've stopped completely. You also haven't received any letters from Decena either. No ships have come back from Nyttrus at all and you don't know why. The only answer you can come to the conclusion to though is that the Iznac have completely overrun your forces on Nyttrus, or have at least destroyed all your ships sent there. It's a worrying enough thought that you think that maybe you'll need to go there yourself to handle it, but that's problematic due to your conflict with the Nakol Kingdom and you feel like victory will be close at hand. The alternative of course is to send someone else to Nyttrus who you really feel will get the job done. The only who comes to mind is Warrick and he'll have to take his own contingent of Eyes with him. That of course means less of them overseeing the Empire, but that might be what has to be done because you're in the middle of putting an end to a potentially dangerous foe on your own continent and you can't drop that to go do something else. You do however; take a temporary leave from the field to speak with Warrick who is more than happy to help. "I was wondering when we were going to look into that. Do you think Decena has been killed?" "It's a very real possibility and it would indeed be a loss, but I can't imagine that the Iznac could've just wiped out all of our forces there. I mean the last letter I got from Decena was a fairly positive one. Said we had just destroyed another Iznac town and the kobolds were already in the process of digging their way into another one. I mean its possible the Iznac had their own tricks we didn't know about, it seems very strange and concerning that we've heard nothing at all and even the couple of ships that were sent a few months ago have not returned. Somebody is deliberately making sure nobody leaves Nyttrus." "Can't we send an airship?" Warrick asks. "Still don't have the long range capabilities to travel to Nyttrus, though the gnomes and Elam are still working on that. So we're still using boats for now. What I want from you though is to find out what exactly the hell is going on over there. Solve the problem if necessary, but if it really looks bad, then don't risk it and return home as soon as possible. No good in losing you as well." "Understood, I'll take mage support and I'll have my second, Kristopher, fully prepared to take care of things while I'm gone. And once again I'm honored you've chosen me for this task." Warrick says. In a few days Warrick is on his way to Nyttrus and you're already anxious to hear what is going on over there. Lacking anything else to do, you return to your war with the Nakol Kingdom. A few more months pass and you finally receive news and it's definitely not the good kind. Warrick manages to return in a small rowboat, half dead from dehydration and malnutrition, but also from whatever his experience on Nyttrus was, fortunately he's not so far gone that he isn't able to tell you after he's taken care of a bit. Later you speak with Warrick privately and in a relaxed setting. He tells you that the situation is worse than you thought. It isn't the Iznac that are the problem, or at least they aren't the major problem anymore. It's Decena. She's gone rogue. Warrick says he doesn't know all the details of how this came to be, but he believes that the Iznac had something to do with it, possibly with magic, but it sort of backfired on them. Decena's turned herself into a "queen" over there and has not only the remaining orc and kobold forces still under her command, but even has some of the Glip and Iznac following her as well. She's actually still fighting the "loyalist" Iznac hold outs that aren't accepting her leadership. In any case, she's not acting under the orders of the Empire any more and has declared herself independent. He then goes on to say how they were attacked nearly immediately after they disembarked from the ship. He says that probably should've turned back when it was realized that the Empire had lost complete control of Nyttrus to the point that it no longer even had a friendly harbor, but he wanted to do some more investigating. He mentions he only managed to escape after weeks of ongoing torture. The scars (and a couple of missing fingers) prove that. "Looks like I didn't get to solve the problem, Emperor." Warrick says. "I'm just glad you made it back to explain what the problem was exactly. We can take of it later…(Sigh) Shit… I guess I shouldn't have sent Decena there after all. She didn't really want to go in the first place, she only wanted to be close to home. Honestly she probably would've been a lot more useful here as well. I just didn't think that…tell me Warrick, you have seen here correct? Is she truly gone?" "I have seen her. But I do not think this entirely due to magic. I mean perhaps the Iznac magic caused a change in her, but whenever I was in her presence, it felt like…well more was in play." "What do you mean?" "Her attitude was all her own. Her actions were all here own. Her curses about you and the Empire were all her own. I mean keeping the orcs under her command after splitting from the Empire? That doesn't surprise me, the greenskins will take any opportunity to split away. Keeping the kobolds under her command? Now that probably took some doing. We both know how loyal the little scalies are when they respect a strong leader greatly. It's just unfortunate for the Empire that she managed to convince them somehow that she was greater than you. I can only guess the fact that they fought side by side with her for so long helped. Well that and the fact that I didn't see Snilkez'ka around. She probably killed her long ago to prove a point." Warrick continues. "The orcs and even the kobolds are not surprising, but the Glip and especially some of the Iznac themselves? Now that is what surprised me. Neither group were even willing to work with us before, yet Decena managed to recruit entire villages into helping her. I doubt if whatever Iznac magic was cast on her was supposed to make her into a ruler of their own people. This is all her. She has a confidence now that exceeds what she had before." "She has an arrogance now you mean, if she believes she can take me on. After I'm done with putting the Nakol Kingdom out its misery, I'll be paying a visit to Decena and she'll regret her decision to become a traitor." You say. "I don't think she will. Despite her curses at you, I believe deep down she still can't face you." "Well she isn't going to have a choice if I personally get a hold of her, but what do you mean?" you ask. "Well isn't it obvious?" Warrick asks. At first you don't understand his question, but then comes the split moment you understand all too well… But you don't react in time since your guard was entirely down in the company of an old comrade in arms who has shown nothing but loyalty up until this point. Perhaps the same Iznac magic is in play here, but it hardly matters. Warrick suddenly pulls his pistol and shoots you in the chest twice, before you can react. You aren't dead yet, but you're down and struggling to breath. You try to hit Warrick with a flame bolt, but he's still quick enough to dodge as he runs over to you. "She still loves you…that's why she sent me! Long live the new regime!" Warrick yells and shoots you again in the head. You're already dead when the rest of your soldiers come running and find Warrick cackling about Decena will be coming soon to wipe away the rest of the corrupt Empire.

As crazy as it is to believe, if Semra's actually here then it might not be an entirely bad thing. So far she's always attempted to help you, and you imagine if she really wanted to kill you, you wouldn't have heard a thing. "Semra. why am I not entirely surprised to find out you're somehow mixed up in this?" you say not turning your head. "Because while you may be a fool obsessed conquest and order, you're not an idiot." "Obsessed eh? And what would you call your being here?" "A mother's concern…mmmm" Semra says as both of her hands rub your chest. Her face is now side by side yours and you feel a small kiss on your cheek. "Do you know how fucked up you sound whenever you address us as mother and son?" "Oh you know you like it. I trust by the fact that you have not immediately attacked and that you're actually enjoying my company that you're willing to hear me out?" "I wouldn't say I'm actually enjoying your company, but you did come all this way…you might as well speak your piece while I'm in a diplomatic mood." You respond and slowly turn around at which point Semra backs away. "So was your clumsy plan always to invite Mortimer and kill him thus chopping off the head of the Nakol Kingdom immediately, or were you actually trying to learn how he became infamously immortal?" Semra asks. "Mortimer?" "Yes, you know the lurid little king that you have captive right now? His real name is Mortimer Fudwick. Sounds almost like one of those silly gnome names doesn't it? If you thought he was annoying within the short time you spent with him, just think if you had to listen to the shit on a regular basis as his advisor." Advisor. Well this is starting to make some more sense. "So is that where you've been all this time? Hiding out in the Nakol Kingdom as the sorc…as Mortimer's advisor?" you ask. "I wouldn't say I've been hiding. I've merely been securing my future. I'll admit it's not been easy and Mortimer's ongoing sexual talk has long since gotten past the point of being boring. He's not nearly as good as he thinks he is…" This last implication shouldn't surprise you but that twisted part of you that apparently still hasn't disappeared completely nearly causes you to say something. You manage to stop yourself, however Semra smiles at your momentary lapse in stoicism. "Why…you're jealous!" Semra says nearly laughing. "No I'm not. You're being delusional again." You say trying to maintain your calm demeanor. "Deny it all you want, I know the truth. See, I KNEW I would ALWAYS be the only real woman for you. You never forget your first eh? Don't worry, no matter how many times I lay with that effeminate fop he'll never be anything the man you are." Semra says totally enjoying this situation. "I don't need your reassurance to tell me that, what I was going to say is that I'm a little surprised that a proud svelk woman like yourself has resorted to thinly veiled whoredom for survival. To a monkey no less." "Look, if this is really bothering you, we can always go discuss this on your bed over there. Doesn't look like it's been used in years and I'm sure despite your age you could still give it to me in a way that only you can…" "Semra, will you get to the fucking point of your visit, before I stop entertaining the idea that you aren't a complete fucking selfish backstabbing bitch who ultimately only looks out for her own best interests?" you say in a raised tone of voice. Semra chuckles a bit at your outburst. "Oh I did miss that anger of yours. Sexy. That passion. That hate that bubbles underneath. Mortimer has none of that. His demon does, but he's rather useless in the physical aspect due to being trapped in a crystal and all. "Okay I heard the word demon. Let's focus on that." "(Sigh) Very well, to business…" Semra goes on to explain that Mortimer's reign over the Nakol Kingdom solely hinges on a deal he made with a demon named Zelvix over a century ago. He got youth, power, magic abilities and all the sex he could ever want in exchange for his soul. However Morty wasn't a complete fool, he managed to trap the demon in a crystal prison of some sort which has made the deal unable to be completed properly which now has made Mortimer "semi-immortal". Now the demon just sits biding its time, waiting for the day it's released or when Mortimer actually dies so it can claim what it was owed. "So basically what you're telling me is that Mortimer doesn't know shit about eternal youth let alone immortality other than what this demon gave him." You say. "Basically." "Knew it was too good to be true." You say and get your sword. "What're you doing?" "Well there's no point in keeping him alive no is there? Might as well go ahead and be done with it…" "Wait! That's another thing I wanted to talk to you about! You can't just kill him, I mean you could, but it would be extremely…bad. Killing Mortimer is also going to release Zelvix and trust me, you don't want to do that, he's a demon lord of great power." "If he's so great how the hell did he get tricked by some hedge wizard?" "Probably due to typical arrogance like all of his kind. Look I'm just telling you that it's not going to be a simple matter of just cutting his head off. If it was, I would've done it years ago on general principle of being a bad lay. You go in and kill him now and it's going to be bad in the long term not just for you, but for the entire world." "The world? Aren't you being just a little overly dramatic? And since when are you so altruistic?" "Since unleashing a demon army would not be in my best interest that's why. Contrary to popular belief, we svelk aren't all looking to see the world burn, but that's definitely what will happen if you kill Mortimer. Personally I was trying to find a way to banish the demon, I think I might be on the right path, but it's going to take a few decades still I think." "A few decades? Fuck that, I'm not waiting that long and I know you're not telling me the entire truth anyway; you've got another angle in this. Now get the hell out of my way before I forget that you're actually an enemy of mine." "(Sigh) Fine. You know, usually as people get older they learn to become more patient. I can see though your growing fixation on living long enough to conquer the world is becoming a major flaw. Of course what else do you really have right? You have no master any longer. You have no significant other. You can't have children. You have nothing except your Empire, which will undoubtedly fall soon after you die and you KNOW it. So you're now starting to seek out a way to conquer death. You're getting more like Casimir everyday. Congratulations, you are your father's son." "I don't fear death Semra, never have." "Never said you did, I taught you not to. I believe though…bah nevermind. Further discussion on this subject would be wasted on you. Go then, kill little pathetic Mortimer. Perhaps if you're lucky when the demon army is unleashed by Zelvix and eventually overruns the world, you will get that warrior's death rather than the old man in bed death where you are decrepit lying in your own filth and too weak to even lift yourself up." "You done?" you ask as you advance towards the door and Semra with sword in hand. "Just one more thing. I hope you remember this day as one of the many that I could've killed you and didn't. Mortimer wanted me to assassinate you, you know. Now I'll take my leave. Until next time lover." Semra says and disappears. You still hear the faint patter of footsteps so you figure she's only turned invisible rather than some sort of teleportation. You call for soldiers, Eyes, mages and whoever else who will listen, since you have a feeling Mortimer's escaped. When you enter the cell he was being held in, you find the Eyes and mages that were watching him burned from the inside out. You're not sure how he did it without other soldiers and such being alerted and him being bound and gagged, but Mortimer's obviously escaped and Semra was running interference for him while he did so. Several of your soldiers and others begin apologizing for not knowing what had occurred, but you wave them all away saying that you're not angry at anyone. When they ask if you want a general search and alarm sounded you decline. "No. There would be no point, however I'm fairly certain that he'll be leaving his ship behind. Sightmaster Warrick is probably still in the area having it watched. Someone go inform him to have everyone killed aboard and start having it refitted according to Empire standards." Just as you're finished giving that order, your advisor Kivan has arrived in a hurried fashion. "Emperor, I just heard! Are you okay? Has the Sorcerer King really escaped?" "Escaped, is a relative term, Kivan. Let's just say he's temporarily eluded my immediate clutches. If his situation is anything like I was just told, he's got bigger problems than the likes of me. In any case, we're officially at war with the Kingdom of Nakol now." "I see…is there anything you need right now?" You briefly think for a moment. The only thing that comes to mind is getting your best general back to Evigrus. Decena from what you know has more or less pushed back the Iznac and at least established a good foothold on the continent where your people aren't on the verge of being annihilated. Flog and Snilkez'ka will still be there along with whoever is Decena's second. Of course you've been regularly receiving much needed resources and riches from Nyttrus thanks to Decena's presence there. You don't necessarily worry that the Iznac are going to suddenly be a problem due to her not being around, you're just a little concerned that without a strong leadership presence, the orcs are going to run wild and fuck up the regular shipments or disregard them altogether. And you can't afford for that to happen if you're going to be going to war with Nakol. > You call Decena back You made a promise that you wouldn't keep her any longer than necessary and that if war broke out here, you'd want her to lead the new eternals into battle. Your word is still your bond as far as those close to you go. Seeing as you want her to get back as quickly as possible, you tell Kivan to have one of the new longer range airships that can travel a lot further than their predecessors sent. (Another recent improvement courtesy of Elam's work with the gnomes) Maybe it'll even instill a little fear into the natives of Nyytrus if they happen to catch sight of it. While you're waiting for her arrival back, you aren't wasting any time getting the rest of your plans underway. You figure a four-pronged attack will work suitably for the initial assault. You'll have your fleet attack south Nakol from the sea and land troops there. You'll have the rest of your airships fly over the mountain range and bombard northern Nakol. Your kobold forces can dig under the large mountain range as usual. Finally you'll have the majority of your forces march through the mountain passes. You'll hold back your Eternals until Decena arrives, besides it would probably be best to "test" the Nakol defenses located in the pass choke points anyway. This is going to be a bit different from the conflicts in the past, your armies aren't going to be relying on any magic support at all. What few mages you have left are either overseeing the next Eternal tanks or are part of the Eyes now (Aside from the ones that Mortimer killed recently). You don't know just exactly how powerful Mortimer's own magic is, but you do know he's the only wizard in his kingdom so you're not anticipating any problems, if technology has proven anything its that the lowliest unskilled peasant can figure it out and use it with great efficiency. A sign of the times you suppose. In any case you have no doubt that when the time comes, it'll probably be up to you personally to take down Mortimer in a magic showdown and if Semra is in your way then you'll deal with her as well. By the time Decena arrives your invasion of Nakol is well on its way and going more or less as planned though there have been a few hiccups here and there. You meet Decena when she gets off the Storm II. She's much more "weathered" looking from when you sent her to Nyytrus. Granted as a warrior she will collect battle scars and such, but she almost is unrecognizable. She has a "stare" that you've seen in more than a few soldiers that have broke under the strain of battle, but this seems impossible for someone of Decena's training and experience. Still, she manages a smile when she sees you. "General Decena reporting for duty my Emperor." She says. "No need for the formalities, I'm just glad to have you back." You reply. "It's good to be back. Just show me to my next assignment." "Well we do have a little time before that…are you okay? I mean how is everything Nyttrus?" "When I left everything was fine. If I seem a bit off, I'm just a little tired I suppose. Apologies Emperor." "Hrm, maybe you should rest first before running off into battle again. This war doesn't need you right this minute." "If that is what you wish…um can I talk to you in private?" "Erm, of course." You answer unsure of what to expect. You and Decena find some place secluded and no sooner have you asked her what's on her mind; she's wrapped her arms around you and buried her head in your chest. "Please never send me away for that long again." She says. "Decena…what…" you sputter unsure of what this is about exactly, but she's obviously upset. "What the hell happened over there?" "I dunno…I just…I dunno. I was fine for the first year. I missed you, but I was fine. After that though I started feeling a crushing emptiness. I think it was some sort of Iznac magic. I got hit by a black cloud of some sort by a priest. Haven't felt right until I got the news I was coming back here." "You never said anything in the letters." "I didn't want to worry you, I wanted to stay strong for you…I guess I'm failing again though…" "You're fine Decena, just come with me, maybe I can figure out what the hell these Iznac did to you." When you get Decena back to the palace you check to see if she's under some sort of curse or something similar. Decena insists that you don't make a fuss and definitely not use any sort of healing magic on her since it will shorten your own lifespan. You reassure her that whatever you need to do probably isn't going to do anything major to you. "It's more important that you're in the best physical condition and the right frame of mind before I send you back into another major conflict. Besides, if I lose a few days, weeks or even months, what's the difference? It's not like I'm going to live forever anyway." You say. "Don't say that." Decena says. "Why not? It's true." "But I don't want to believe that it's true. I want to believe that you'll somehow live forever and ever. In fact I know you will!" You flash a quick smile and shake your head a bit. Decena still retains an image of you being "invincible." To be fair, probably most people do (Even the cynical probably just believe you're too "tough" or "magical" to die), but then they don't really know you as closely as Decena does. And the way she believes it is more of a childlike hope that she never really grew out of. Funny considering that she never really had a proper childhood. After a few magical incantations, you discover that Iznac magic is indeed still affecting her, but its rather easy to get rid of, in fact it seemed to prey upon the fears in her mind. Not surprisingly that involved being away from you and that started to gradually mess with her head. It's a testament to her willpower that she managed to fight it off for as long as she did. Being actually around you probably weakened the magic. It's actually a good thing you called her back when you did, who knows what might've happened had you not done so. It is a bit alarming though since you weren't aware of what powers the Iznac had other than the letters Decena sent. "You should be fine now, but you said that everything is okay in Nyttrus? I mean did anyone else get hit with this type of Iznac magic?" you ask. "Yes it has happened, but Iznac priests aren't that common. I mean I saw orcs and kobolds get hit with the same spell, but it didn't seem to affect them. I mean at least nothing I noticed. They seemed to continue to act like…well orcs and kobolds. There were a few instances of my human soldiers committing suicide though." "Well, I guess I won't concern myself too much about it then since orcs and kobolds are the main ones over there. Guess their more simplistic minds are a good defense against the magic. Orcs don't really fear anything except perhaps looking weak, and kobolds only fear failing the Empire and myself. I imagine if the magic affects them at all it might only entice them to fight harder. Bad for the Iznac, good for us. In any case as soon as this Nakol business is over with, I might just have to take a personal trip over to Nyttrus." "How long do you anticipate that this conflict might last?" Decena asks. "Hard to say, I assumed that it might be a costly war and that the sorcerer king would have powerful opposition, but so far nothing of major consequence. I wonder if there will actually be anything left by the time you lead the new eternals into the thick of it. Hell, I'm starting to wonder if it won't be overkill, but I'd rather it be overkill than underestimation. Besides I'm sure he's going to pull out a few tricks that we haven't seen yet." With a few more brief bits banter, words of encouragement and some rest, Decena seems back to her old self and is eager to lead the new eternals (who are just as eager to get into battle seeing as they've been training their whole lives for a moment like this. Just as you figured, Mortimer does have other tricks up his sleeve to make the invasion go a lot more difficult. You don't know if he always had an agreement with them or perhaps they're just siding with him out of spite, but the satyr and harpy clan survivors that fled to the Nakol mountains after the Tor War rear their ugly head again. This mainly involves their usual ambush tactics in the various mountain passes, but apparently there are still enough of the harpies to mount full assaults on your airships. Apparently Mortimer doesn't have a problem with their mages either since they still have a few left and they're using their elemental magic to a great degree causing rockslides in the mountain passes, strong damaging winds against your airships and even violent tidal waves against your fleet. You don't remember them having quite that much magical strength before so you imagine Mortimer must be enhancing their abilities with his own. There are also reports of svelk mercenaries among the normal Nakol army. You knew that not ALL of them threw in their lot with Eldolith. These must be the ones that followed Semra. Well you can finish that job too. It doesn't matter what the sorcerer king does though, nothing is going to save him as far as you're concerned. When Decena breaks through into Nakol lands with all your new eternals under her commands they prove that point by completely razing several major settlements. Between her leadership and their skill, his soldiers aren't standing a chance against them. This war might be far from over, but its not going to take as long as you thought it might. > Year 54 Nakol's existence as a nation is coming to an end. You've seized most of its territory. Its armies have practically been wiped out, and you've even eliminated most of Mortimer's allies. The only major objective that's left is Dequilet, the capital and currently the only thing saving it is a large magical barrier completely surrounding the city. So far it's proven impenetrable to conventional means, which means you're going to have to resort to magical ones, which unfortunately despite your own best efforts you've failed to bring it down, though you feel as if you've gotten close. You doubt if Mortimer is doing it himself, you imagine that Semra is probably helping him upkeep the barrier. He might even have a couple of satyr mages still left, though you doubt it. In any case, he's got help and you're probably going to have to resort to a bit of help as well if you want to bring the barrier down. "Galen's a given, as are the Eye mages, but I'm going to have to take mages off overseeing the Eternal tanks for this project as well. Don't want to, but it'll be necessary." You say while explaining the next course of action in your command tent to Decena. "We're going to have to wait for those mages to come here, that's at least a few days. I hate this sitting around, is it truly the only way?" Decena asks. "Unfortunately. Last time I tried to bring it down, I nearly fell unconscious. With enough magic energy though I'm certain it can be brought down, as soon as it is, I want you and rest to blow apart those walls and rush in as quick as you can. Don't worry I won't be far behind no matter how woozy I feel afterwards." Just as Decena is about to acknowledge your plan, that old familiar voice is heard. "You know none of that is necessary if you listen to my plan." Semra remarks. The instant Decena sees Semra she raises her voice and attempts to attack her, though you hold her back from doing so. "Don't bother Decena, she's not really there. It's an illusionary image. Right on time too. You're starting to get predictable Semra." You say. "Semra? Is this that svelk bitch you've told me about?" Decena asks. "Oh so he did talk about me to you. I'm not surprised. Never could get me completely out of his mind…" "Fuck you svelk! He told me about all the hell you put him through!" Semra does her usual gleeful smile at Decena's anger. "My, she IS the aggressively territorial one. Isn't she? Almost sad that her feelings for you are so strong when your own for her are…limited. Trust me dear, he can't ever love you back. How could he? You're not even young looking anymore…" At this point you have to restrain Decena again. "Decena, don't pay attention to her. She's just enjoying making you miserable. It's what she does. Semra, what the hell do you want? Shouldn't you be making plans to escape or something?" "Who said I wasn't? But right now I'm actually here for you. Need your help in killing Mortimer, well what's left of him anyway. It's getting harder to figure out when he's completely all there or not. Zelvix is starting to gain mental control over him due to his shattered confidence and willpower. This war has been very stressful on him as you might expect." Decena asks what she's talking about and you quickly mention about the supposed demon army that will be unleashed when Mortimer dies, though with the way Semra's telling it, it sounds like this Zelvix is already getting loose…assuming she's telling the truth. "Semra, didn't YOU claim that it would take you about a decade to properly banish this demon?" you ask. "Well with you rushing head long into attacking Nakol, I had to step up my research now didn't I? Don't worry though, as I said, I've got it figured out, just need your help in doing so. Remember how we linked our energy together when we were extinguishing all those little gnome souls? Well we need to do something like that again, but this is going to require a slightly deeper connection. Namely we'd have to link our very minds together so as to make the magical connection strong enough to face the demon." "Here we go…" You think. "You can't seriously trust this woman!" Decena shouts. "He most certainly should trust me considering how many times I've warned him about shit and indirectly AND directly saved his life. After all if he'd trusted me all those years ago, he might've saved himself a lot of bother on a certain island. Y'know you still have never told me how you exactly came out of Mortos relatively unscathed. Perhaps you can after we take care of this mess?" Semra remarks. You don't answer immediately. You've been put in this position several times before and it's the same old thing. Semra tells you something, you distrust her, you usually follow her advice against your better judgment and while things don't necessarily go entirely your way, you can never deny that had you not acted things would be much worse. But on the other hand… it's the same old thing. You know she's not telling you the whole truth and something about this demon situation seems even more suspicious especially since she's actually encouraging a linking of your minds. Even if she's telling the entire truth about the demon and this being the only way she feels is the way to defeat it, would it really be a victory if Semra had magical access to your mind? Who the hell knows what she might be able to do. "All of this is pointless anyway, we can't get in unless that barrier goes down." You say. "Oh that thing? I can make a small opening in it for a small period of time. Of course when I do so, Mortimer will probably instantly know I'm working against him and it's possible he'll completely lose himself to Zelvix, but we should have enough time to do what we have to do." Semra remarks. "Or I could just wait for my mages to help me bring the barrier down. Then when I do get that barrier down, I assault the city with so much firepower that nothing of this world or another is going to survive it. I don't care how powerful this demon is." You say. "Optimistic that you believe that, but I tell you sincerely that won't be enough to stop Zelvix. He's in a weakened state now due to his long imprisonment, but as soon as Mortimer's dead, it won't take him long to regain his full strength and when that happens, count on several magical gates opening up. Now MAYBE you'll be able to even repel the demons that will undoubtedly come screaming out of said gates, but quite frankly, YOU are not the young Eternal you used to be and your odds will not be good. And your Empire's odds if you should fall in battle? Even worse. You already survived one trip that you very well shouldn't have…actually you've survived many things you probably shouldn't have, but those days are becoming more unlikely as you approach your twilight years. I understand that you'd rather die a warrior's death, however I doubt very seriously that you wish to die a fool's death. It is one thing to die in a battle that has been properly planned. It's entirely another when you die because you purposely ignore all your information and don't take advantage of the tools and resources that allow you to win efficiently. I'M giving you this chance to win this war now in the most efficient way possible." You continue to listen. "We've been in this all too familiar position before Eternal. Why take the chance of making the same mistake twice?" Semra asks. Decena looks at you as you seriously begin to consider Semra's offer. "Emperor?" she asks. > You join with Semra "Fuck it, let's do it." You say. "That's my boy." Semra remarks. "What?! Emperor you…you can't…" Decena reacts. "Are you still here? Hush tank child, the adults are speaking." Semra snidely comments, this time though Decena ignores her and focuses all her attention on you. "Emperor…I don't understand why you would trust this woman after all the terrible things you've told me about her, but maybe it isn't my place to understand. Maybe I am unable to understand the ways of a living god. And that IS what you are. At least to me. I will always love you no matter what. I will always serve you faithfully no matter what. Now if YOU believe that this svelk's plan is what is necessary to win, then I will trust your judgment. However I still cannot trust her and if you're entering this city, you aren't going alone. I insist that I go with you." Decena has dropped her formal stance at this point and is looking into your eyes while holding one of your hands with both of hers. She still believes so much in you… You nod which causes Semra to roll her eyes. "(Sigh) Very well if you want to bring your former tank baby fuck toy fine. Maybe she'll come in handy as demon fodder, but that's it. I don't have the power to keep an opening in the barrier for very long, now hurry up and meet me at the city gates." Semra remarks and her image disappears. "Well I guess I better make a general announcement before we leave." You say and exit your command tent. Your announcement to your soldiers is brief though their response is one of encouragement of course. They're probably inspired by the fact that you're willing to do a "one on one" confrontation with the leader of the enemy. Whatever their own private thoughts on your policies and rulership, nobody can ever claim that you've never been willing to put yourself in the same amount of danger. Of course with you and Decena entering the barrier, thee is the question of who is going to be in charge of the main attack force just in case something should go wrong. "Colonel Flevas, you're in charge of the army." "I am?" he asks surprised. "Sure, you've more than proven yourself time and time again. You've earned the respect of the troops just as much as anyone else. You have the rank. If anything does happen, get Galen and the rest of the mages here to take down the barrier and then hit the city with everything you got. Though if that barrier comes down and we aren't out of there within a twenty minutes, bombard the place, and if you start seeing anything that doesn't look like it belongs from this world coming out of the city, start hitting it with everything anyway." With that last command you and Decena approach Dequilet. As soon as you get to the barrier a small opening appears and the pair of you enter. The city gates then open and once again you and Decena enter. Two things are immediately noticeable. One is how very ornate and elaborate the buildings are, even compared to other Nakol cities you've been to (Granted those were mostly half in ruins at the time) You've never been one for pointless decoration, but you have to admit the city is quite a sight. The second thing you notice. There are no people at all. Nothing. It's like the entire city was evacuated, but you're fairly certain that didn't happen. Considering how desperate Mortimer has been to save his own skin, you can't imagine that he did something so selfless. Besides nobody reported an exodus of people leaving the city and there were no such sightings. "Beautiful isn't it? Nothing compared to svelk architecture to be sure, but fairly good for the lesser-born monkeys. Especially without any of them around anymore dirtying up the place." Semra shouts as she walks towards you. Decena grips her weapon, but makes no other move. "So where is everyone?" "Oh most of them are inside the big palace just up ahead. In these last few weeks ol' Morty's had himself a non-stop orgy. Takes the edge off. I have to admit such things are an amusing distraction, but when it comes to you monkeys even I can only stand one at a time. Anyway, shall we prepare for our…merging?" At this point Decena grabs your arm. "Emperor are you sure abut this? I mean we could still just chop this bitch's head off then go in and finish off the sorcerer king and whatever demons we may face. Just me and you." "Its okay Decena. This svelk bitch has always been inside my head in one way or another, what's one more? Besides, my life has always been an open book. I have no hidden secrets of any worth. She's already know all my combat techniques considering she taught me most of them. As much as I might hate to admit it, she's a far more skilled magic user than I will most likely ever be so there is nothing to learn there. Anything she might use against me psychologically she's already tried and failed." You turn to Semra, who stands silently listening. You walk towards her still talking. "So she can access my mind because I KNOW I'm strong enough to resist whatever the hell she might attempt. Because ultimately it isn't me who needs to be worried about this joining, it's her. This will work both ways, and who knows what secrets might she hold in that svelk brain of hers. Secrets that she doesn't want ME to know and I'm sure there are quite a lot. Now are YOU prepared for this?" you ask Semra face to face and you notice that there is a brief show of concern, then she answers. "I can handle it if you can, lover." She answers confidently. "Well let's get on with it then." You say. "Stare into my eyes and focus." she says and begins the process. Suddenly your mind goes to another place. You see what's in Semra's mind or at least a glimpse of it. Images are coming at you so fast you can't make out all of it, but you see a mixture of the horrifying and impressive at the same time. You see what must've been during the time of when the svelk ruled. Everything is very regal and elegant looking, though much like the svelk themselves, it radiates a certain coldness. You also see the svelk treating their subjects (Most of which are of races you've never even seen before) worse than the Empire ever could. They also have greater control too thanks to their magic. What you aren't seeing is any images of Semra herself and you're even sensing that she's experiencing pain during this process. Semra is obviously blocking some of her more private thoughts. She's showing you a general history of her life, yet somehow only telling you half the story. Meanwhile she's probably trying to scour through your mind of everything. However, while you may not have the magic skills she does, your powers have grown considerably over the years. Her attempts to keep portions of her own mind shielded fail and you see even more… You see the image of a young svelk girl. You aren't sure how old, but by human standards she would definitely be considered a child. It's Semra and she is holding the hand of an adult male svelk. They are both in a city where a large crowd of svelk are gathered having a good time throwing what looks to be sveld babies against a nearby wall which has a big target on it. Semra looks very happy and cheers whenever one splats into a bloody mess in the center. It would seem that Semra's entertainment preferences didn't change much for her. Several images of her enjoying similar activities with the same adult male flood your mind. The adult male is her father. In any case, the idea that she was once a child is bizarre, but then everyone starts as one at some point right? You see many images of her father. He was obviously a warrior mage of great skill that enjoyed violent battle and crushing the enemies of his empire though you also get a sense of "honor" about him. In that regard he must've been unusual for a svelk. He also was much different around Semra who apparently brought out the "lighter side" of him. You then see more…intimate moments with her father. Namely sexual in nature. You can't say you're surprised to see this given her own personality. This relationship apparently went on for years. You're loathed to think it, but her father seems very much like…well you. His face even vaguely resembles your own if you had the dark skin and pointy ears. This must just be another piece of the sick puzzle of why Semra has a bit of an obsession for you. It's obvious that Semra is really trying to do her best in blocking all of this from you, but she continues to fail. Then you see a black spot. Like a pit of endless despair. The next images are brutal and violent. You see war, specifically a civil war. The svelk are warring with their own kind, or rather the "impure offshoot" of their own kind, the sveld. Dark elf against elf in a war to the death. Then you see images of svelk cities burning to the ground and falling into ruin followed by hordes of svelk scattering and becoming the nomadic mercenary society you've always known them to be. You see Semra's father in battle with a mob of demonic beings. They also have a much older Semra on the ground. This must all be during the fall of the svelk Empire. The demons are doing their best in trying to rape Semra, but she manages to get the upper hand and fight them off. Then you see Semra's father being brutally ripped apart by the demons before Semra can do anything to help him. One demon even runs off with his head. A great sense of sorrow floods your mind. And then you suddenly feel yourself being pushed away. The contact is broken and Semra immediately turns away from you and some sniffling sounds can be heard. "(Sniffle) There. It's done. Let's go." She remarks while rubbing her eyes and walking briskly towards the palace. You stand silent for a moment somewhat in shock by what has just happened. Never thought you'd see AND actually believe Semra having feelings of loss and genuine sadness. "What…what the hell happened?" Decena asks. "I think I saw something she thought she could hide from me and failed spectacularly." You answer. "What did you see?" "A lot, but probably not everything. All I'll say right now is the woman has serious daddy issues." You say. Decena pauses for a moment before speaking again. "Don't we all?" she says looking directly at you and walks towards the palace leaving you standing alone. "Alison didn't." you mumble to yourself and follow. As soon as you set foot in the palace a horrible stench fills your lungs. It smells like all manner of bodily fluids, waste and then some. Vermin of all kind run about what looked to be a picturesque palace at one time, but now is home to well, filth. "Ugh! That's really awful! I actually feel sick! Not even sections of the jungles in Nyytrus smelled this bad!" Decena remarks. "I can honestly say I've only encountered a stench this bad once before and it wasn't an orgy that caused it." you say remembering Gnome's Home. You point up ahead into the large chamber that Semra is waiting for the pair of you. And there lies what is causing the majority of the smell. The dead. Hundreds of filthy naked bloody bodies must be piled up in the center of the chamber like some grisly pillar. Other bodies lie about on the floor. Really you can't really walk into the place without stepping over one. "It would appear that the orgy has been cancelled." Semra remarks. "I take it that this is a sign that Morty's gotten worse?" you ask. "It's a safe bet. I don't know if you can feel it, but I'm definitely feeling more of an infernal presence. Zelvix may have very well completely taken over Mortimer's body by now." "Sadly the little fucker is still making squeaking pleading sounds for his freedom, though his voice is starting to dim. His torment while delicious now, will be even more so in hell when he finally shuffles off his mortal coil. But I ramble, please come in with your friends Semra. I'm sure all of us can come to some sort of deal…" a dark booming voice says behind the doors up ahead. Probably the throne room. Semra turns to you. "Whatever you do, don't listen to Zelvix. Demons have a way of persuading you into doing things you'd never consider." "What like linking your mind with them?" you say. "I'm serious! If you think that I'M a manipulative untrustworthy bitch, think of me five times worse and you still haven't even begun to understand just how bad demons can be. Now as soon as we go in, he's not going to attack us directly at least not immediately. He'll try to get us into a deal first. What we need to do is perform my banishment ritual on him. You actually don't need to do anything; I'll do the work. I just need your extra magical energy as well as your inner willpower. Together we can do this." Maybe its because your minds are linked now, you get the sense that Semra is telling the entire truth about this. Usually you always have suspicion or doubt about her words, but not this time. "Hey what about me?" Decena asks. "Both of you are wizards with all kinds of mind protection, what the hell am I going to do when the demon starts attacking mine?" "Don't worry Decena, I'll cast a powerful mind shield spell on you, but I'm more than confident that you've got the inner strength to resist any demon lies." You say. "I'd highly advise against that! You need to stay focused! Upkeeping a spell on her is just going to divide your energy. She probably should just wait outside." Semra snaps. "Semra, she's here to help me just like I'm here to help YOU. I'm not going to deprive her of something she wants to do. You say its going to divide my energy, I say let me worry about that and you worry about your role in this. We're all in this together remember?" Semra throws up a hand in exasperation. "Fine." She remarks. You tell Decena that she just needs to deal with any threats other than Mortimer since you know at some point he's probably going to have minions running in to help him. You also remind Decena to NOT kill Mortimer since the whole point is to keep the demon in weakened form while Semra banishes it. Each one of you knowing your roles, you all enter the throne room… > The confrontation Upon entering the throne room, Mortimer paces near his throne, looking up when you arrive. He certainly doesn't look like the fop you remember, his clothes are now partly torn and dirty. He doesn't look like he's bathed in days making his hair to stand up in a way that would almost be laughable if he wasn't currently possessed by a demon. His eyes give off an unearthly red glow. The throne room itself is in shambles and pieces of dead bodies, entrails and blood are practically everywhere. A large broken crystal lies nearby, you can only guess that's Zelvix's former prison. Semra says nothing. She just looks at you nodding, and reaches out for your hand. You give it to her and she grabs it. She then begins chanting. You take the opportunity to cast your mind shield spell on Decena who stands nearby watching every direction. "So, THIS is what you've brought to beat me with Semra? I would've expected better from the likes of you. I don't know why you're even chanting that nonsense, it isn't going to work on me you know." Zelvix says. (It certainly isn't Mortimer anymore just on how deep the voice is alone) While the three of you stay silent, Zelvix continues to talk. "I have no idea why you continue to blame me for your father's death. Even I can't control my underlings all the time. Your people made a deal with me and I collected, what's so wrong about that?" Semra continues to chant. "You believe this woman? She holds a grudge longer than some hell lords do and at least they do for something reasonable like a stolen soul or something. She's just whining. Bah, I'm done with her anyway, I offered another deal when she first arrived here for old time's sake, but she refused." Zelvix's banter is still met by silence. "Anyway, how about you two? Oh no. No, I don't think you'll do. You're too much in love with this one. While I think under different circumstances twisting your mind would probably be child's play, I believe your master's presence makes it a bit too much of an effort to even try. You want his approval so much that you'd probably strip naked, get down on all fours and open your ass, pussy and mouth at the same time to an entire company of orcs if you thought it would please him. Blind loyalty is such a beautiful thing at times. Shit, I should be so lucky to instill such devotion. Oh well, guess that's why there's torture." Zelvix says to Decena. Everyone continues to remain silent, but Zelvix now turns his attention to you. You didn't feel it before, but you start to feel an oppressive presence within your mind. "Now you I can work with. Can't work with bitches anyway, too fucking emotional am I right? I'm sure you know what I'm talking about considering the company you're keeping. You think a svelk female is bad? Heh, try a demon girl. Your dark elves don't have shit on them. Lots of fun at parties though!" You redouble your efforts to block out Zelvix's words… "I have to say, you're quite skilled for a mortal. I'll even admit, I like your style, showing no mercy to your enemies, ruling your territory with an iron fist, I can appreciate a mortal that rises above his slug like station. And you were quite low weren't you? You were practically an abortion waiting to happen then through a minor mistake you got kicked upstairs. Good thing bureaucracy sucks doesn't it? It's okay though, you made the most of it and that's what really counts. I mean here you are talking to me, one of the greatest demon lords in the infernal realms…" At this point you'd almost make a deal with him just so he'd shut the fuck up. He continues to pace, but you notice he holds his head for a brief moment. "Hrmm, starting to feel something…no it's gone now. Nice try Semra, but you're not getting anywhere. Now who was I talking to? Oh yes, the Eternal." You suddenly feel an even greater oppressive feeling on your mind. Between trying to support Semra, protecting Decena and fighting off Zelvix, you're starting to feel the burden. "Not easy is it? Protecting everyone? (Sigh) I don't even know why you're helping Semra anyway. You know she'd backstab you if it ultimately served her purpose. You're not a stupid man, you have to know that she's just using you right now and it's not even for petty revenge. Well some of it is I suppose, but there's something greater here at stake and she's trying to achieve it. Let me tell you…" Zelvix's deep voice fills your mind despite your best efforts to block it out. "She's trying to revive the svelk Empire. Y'see she actually thinks by somehow killing me that the so called curse I put on the svelk will disappear. It's complete shit of course. The reason for the svelk downfall is their own doing and none of my own. I didn't cause their civilization to suddenly descend into civil war and rebellion, that had been coming for centuries long before I arrived. All I did was provide a service. A world saving one in fact. Why in certain circles one might even consider me a hero!" You feel a greater drain on your energy as Zelvix continues. "I bet she even told you that I'm planning on unleashing an army of demons on this world didn't she? Pfft. Please as if I need to worry about such things, I have my own kingdom in the infernal realm with millions of subjects and even more souls to torment! If its one thing I've learned as a demon lord, it's that you should only conquer what you can actually hold. I had a brother once who learned that lesson the hard way. Got his head chopped off by a mortal for his troubles. Hahahahaha! My brother was a fucking idiot!" Zelvix laughs at his last statement, which is then followed by a roar of pain. Mortimer's body falls to the ground and he begins twitching and convulsing. "FUCKING BITCH! I'LL RIP YOUR SOUL APART! RAAAAARGH!" Zelvix shouts while Semra keeps chanting. If anything it's given you a bit of temporary relief, but only for a little while. "Well, it seems our little dark skinned whore has been doing her research. I may have underestimated her. The flaw of arrogance comes with being a demon lord I suppose…(Sigh) Very well then, as much as I've enjoyed chatting with you, I can see I'll have to cut to the chase…." You try to think of pleasant thoughts to block out Zelvix, such as ones with your time with Alison, but Zelvix won't be ignored. "Look, here's the deal and it's not even going to cost you your soul because I know you're too smart for that. What it is going to cost is a little bloodshed and that shouldn't be a problem for the likes of you, especially considering you never liked ol' Morty anyway. Just kill Morty, I'll take care of Semra and then I'll be heading back to the infernal plane because honestly I've had enough of this world." You give no response, but you can feel your willpower getting to the point where you almost want to give in… "Hey wait a minute. Maybe YOU want to kill Semra? She's in the middle of her spell right now and you're so close, there's never been a more perfect time! You'd catch her completely off guard. You could easily take that dagger that she once stabbed you with and at last do what you've always wanted to do with it. Remember just like the time when you two were exterminating gnomes? Don't you wish you could've taken that opportunity instead of following your orders? Well you have no one giving you orders right now. What is stopping you? You know you want to and all I want is to be free from this world. Kill Semra and I'll happily open up a gate and return home." Zelvix deep melodic tone begins to make your mind succumb to his persuasion attempts. Never before have you experienced such a powerful force of raw will. Even in a few other instances where you faced a psychic assault it's never been quite like this. Granted it's in his favor that what he's proposing isn't anything you'd object to doing either. The ONLY thing that's giving you pause is the fact that it's a demon lord telling you to do this. "Ah…I see you don't trust me…smart. Tell you what, I'll sweeten the deal. You seek to conquer and bring order to this miserable world do you not? You have the skill and ability, what you lack is time. So you seek immortality do you not? An immortality that even eluded your old master, and wouldn't you like to succeed where he failed? Your answer lies where you've always known it to be. The Isle of Mortos. I know you've made a halfhearted attempt at trying to locate it again. Would you like to know where it is exactly located? I can tell you right now if you just kill that…ARRGH!" Zelvix once again feel the effects of Semra's ritual. At this point Morty's body is desperately crawling over to Semra in an attempt to reach her. Also just as you suspected Zelvix uses some sort of magic to bring the bodies from the room behind you back to life, except these aren't singular walking corpses. The pile of bodies have melded into each other creating a giant mass of flesh slowly rolling towards all of you howling and moaning while arms, legs and heads twitch about from it. It might be too big to get through the doorway, but you imagine that its sheer weight and girth will just break through the sides of the walls. You're still staggering from your recent mind assault, but now that you're no longer being mentally attacked, you take a quick assessment of the situation. Decena prepares to hold off the abomination by herself, Semra is still in her semi-trance and Zelvix continues to drag himself over to Semra. > You help Decena Maybe you're not going to help Zelvix, but you're not going leave Decena to fight off that monstrosity by herself. Semra will just have to hope Zelvix doesn't have the strength to reach her before you can get back over there. You let go of Semra's hand though you still feel a link with her allowing the transfer of energy. You can tell she's somewhat angry though that you're being distracted. Decena is busily trying to hack away the flailing limbs of the massive blob of flesh trying to squeeze through the doorway. You see the sides of the walls begin to crack. "Decena, get out of the way that thing is going to grab you!" you say and shove her aside. You follow up by casting a cone of ice at the thing in an attempt to slow it down. "Why not fire?" Decena shouts. "If I set this blob on fire, it's going to still come at us except it'll be burning as well. Better that we should freeze it in place. I'll take care of this thing, you go over to Morty or Zelvix, or whoever the fuck he is and prevent him from reaching Semra, remember don't kill him!" Decena nods and runs over to Morty's body which has nearly reached Semra, that is until Decena pulls his leg, drags him away and kicks him in the face. Zelvix bellows in anger and emanates unnatural hissing noises. Meanwhile you're still attempting to freeze his "pet" in place. You periodically smash chunks of it off, but it's a losing battle. It continues to roll its bulk into the doorway and the sides of the walls now successfully begin to give way. You jump back to avoid being crushed. "Semra, you better hurry the fuck up before this thing crushes us all!" you say smashing another bloody frozen chunk off of the mass. Another unearthly wail from Zelvix and it's a sign that the end of this conflict is near. "SSSSSSSSS NO! IT CANNOT END LIKE THIS! I WILL NOT BE DEFEATED BY MORTAL SHIT! I CURSE YOU ALL! NONE OF YOU SHALL AAAARRRRGH!" Morimer's body twitches and convulses one last time and you manage to turn your head just in time from your own battle to see a red spirit like mist rise from his body. An angry demonic face can be seen briefly followed by the red mist completely dissipating. In front of you, the mass of flesh you've been fighting goes completely lifeless. Mortimer's body is also lifeless. Whatever spark that was keeping him alive was only due to Zelvix's magic and he's truly gone now. You walk over to Decena who is near Mortimer's body. She looks okay, but she's rubbing her head. "You all right?" you ask. "Yeah, I just…damn. Towards the end there, the demon was trying to get into my mind. It wasn't even that long, but shit was it intense. I'm glad you had that spell protecting me." "I'd never abandon you." You say and embrace her. "Well isn't that just sickeningly sweet? I do all the damn work and you hug her? Not even a thank you to me, but then you've never been grateful for anything I've done for you." Semra remarks who is looking a little exhausted herself. "Semra, if I were you, I'd be thankful that I'm letting you live." You remark. "Oh you just say such things. We both know that you could never kill me. We're mentally linked now you know. I KNOW you still desire me! Even now that you're turning into a feeble old man I STILL dwell within your thoughts. I will ALWAYS be within your thoughts somewhere." Semra snaps. "Then you also know what you just said isn't entirely true. While before you could at least lie to yourself and make the assumption that in your twisted mind that somehow we were a couple. You now have complete access to my own thoughts and you know what you've seen? You've seen that my mind has been always honest with you. Would I like to fuck you? Yeah, and then I'd like to slit your fucking throat. I'm not going to pretend to be a completely well adjusted person, in fact I never have. Honestly given everything I've gone through, it's amazing that I'm not completely fucking insane." Semra remains silent as you continue your rant. "In fact given that we're so linked now there is less that YOU can actually hide from me now. I'd think you'd like to remember that fact. You know what you are deep down inside Semra? You're a scared little girl who misses her daddy. I'm not even going to get into your completely fucked up relationship with him, because honestly I'm not in a position to judge. But the fact remains you saw the man you loved and possibly only held any sort of true feelings for get ripped apart by demons before your eyes and you couldn't do anything to stop it. Just like you saw your entire civilization and way of life get torn apart and couldn't do anything to stop it." Semra's eyes narrow at your attack on her tragic childhood. "Y'know. You'd be a rotting infant corpse right now if it wasn't for me. You weren't even meant to be an Eternal." She says coldly. "And? What the hell does all that matter, I've made the most of my mistaken life now. And yes, Semra I'm well aware of ALL the times you've saved my life or trained me, or graced me with your magical svelk vaginia. It doesn't matter, I've put up with your shit and then some. Your whole weird obsessive relationship with me is some sort of twisted attempt to re-create what you lost. Well as I've told you time and time again, I'm not the one and I'll never be the one. Time to grow up and face that fact. You're always telling me that I need to stop worrying about keeping the Empire alive and how I should just move on with my life. Well take your own damn advice." Semra says nothing and the two of you just stare at one another for a moment. Even though you're mentally fatigued you begin to prove your point by attempting to access deeper reaches of her mind. She easily stops you, but your point is made. "Very well Eternal. You've made your feelings and your mind quite clear to me. Possibly the clearest they've ever been. And as for moving on with my life? After what has happened to today, I'll certainly be able to do that with better purpose. Unfortunately for you, there are svelk elsewhere in the world and that is where I shall go and unite the svelk properly once again. Oh don't worry though lover. That won't likely happen in your pitifully short lifetime. Heh. It probably won't even happen in my lifetime, but I will plant the seeds and build the foundation. And KNOW that once again WE will be the rulers of this world. I will be remembered long after you've been forgotten like the lesser born you are." Well the love is gone, if she's calling you lesser born again. Semra begins to walk over towards you once again causing Decena to grip her weapon, but you know that she doesn't intend to attack. "And now I shall take my leave which I'm sure you'll be most thankful of. I know we've said goodbye many times before, but I believe this shall be the real one. I can see that your path is ultimately one of predictability and eventually obscurity. Perhaps good enough for you, but not for me. Never for me. I will say this though, I'm proud of you. You saw my weakness and you pounced. I taught you well. Goodbye Eternal." Semra nearly moves closer as if to kiss you, but she takes a look at Decena instead. "He's all yours tank baby." She says and begins to walk away. You watch her walk past the mass of bloody flesh and through the doorway hoping that this will indeed be the last time you have to put up with her. She can't help but say one last thing though. "Better get a good look while you can, because it'll be the last time you get to stare at my ass again." Semra laughs and in a few more seconds she's walked out the palace completely. There is a silence for a moment and then Decena begins to speak. "So what now?" she asks. "Well let's start with this for one thing." You say and swing your sword downward severing Mortimer's head from his dead body. Never hurts to be sure. "Come on, we should leave the city too before Flevas starts having it blown to pieces with us inside it." You remark. Decena nods and you make your way out of the palace and towards the city gates. The barrier is completely down now and there is no sign of Semra. She's probably long gone and on her way to who knows where now. Though you do wonder about this location she mentioned where there are still svelk. Can't be anywhere on this continent and from what you know there aren't any on Nyytrus. Another undiscovered land mass perhaps? To be quite honest you're not sure if you'd even want to bother finding it if it's full of svelk. But if the day ever came where they appear on your shores, you'll be sure to make certain that none leave to go back to it. Decena and you are quiet as you leave the city, but just as you see your army banners in sight she has to ask. "Why didn't you try to kill her?" "Heh. Good question. I was sort of wondering why myself. (Sigh) The reasons are a bit complicated I guess." "You…you didn't really love her…did you?" "Hah! No, of course not. Everything I said was true and she knew it, that's why she left and I could tell she meant it this time. Mind connection and all. Hell, if I knew it was going to be advantage to get her to leave me alone, I might've agreed to it a lot sooner." "So what were your reasons for not killing her?" "Well for one thing it wouldn't have ended that way had I initiated hostilities. First of all we were all fatigued and in no position to effectively fight one another. Even with you helping me, she would've just escaped and probably bothered me in the future. At least this way I won't have to deal with her again. Not as good as her death I suppose, but I'll take it. Second? I made a promise that I'd help her and I was going to keep my word. Call it foolish honor or a foolish sense of gratitude that she did save my life many times in the past. Whatever. I made the choice and it's done now." Decena seems to accept your response even if she doesn't entirely understand it, but then you give a third reason. "One reason I suppose…and I never EVER expected to feel this way…but I actually felt a twinge of pity for her. What I saw in her mind…shit…it's no wonder why she's so fucked up even for a svelk. Almost seemed more like a punishment to keep her alive so she can still live with all that emotional burden she tries so desperately to keep locked up tight. I dunno. Maybe I'm just growing soft and weak in my old age. I mean every step I'm taking right now is painful. There was a time when I could've taken on two of those abominations and not even have been tired. Guess Semra was right about that. I will grow old like everyone else and eventually I'll be forgotten." "Not to me you won't. Not to me." Decena says touching your arm, you touch her hand with your own. "I know Decena. I know…and I'm sorry for what I did to you." You reply. Decena of course doesn't exactly know why you'd be apologizing to her. In her mind she doesn't ever think you did anything excessively negative to her. And even the times you did, she's ultimately written it off as something that was "for the good of the Empire" in the long term or probably made her own mental excuses for you. And of course that's the lasting damage you're apologizing for. Smiling again at Decena and giving a few words of praise for her deeds during the fight, the pair of you meet up with the rest of your army where Flevas says he's glad to see you both since he was planning on carrying out an airship bombardment just in case. "Fuck it. Let's bombard the city anyway and let the wilderness reclaim it." You say. "You sure? It's practically intact." Flevas asks. "Yeah. I don't like the architecture. Too…pretty." You answer. > Year 56 You enter Brenda's office where upon the pair of your smile at each other. "So, how's the new bride?" you ask. "Wonderful, of course. I'm happier than I've been in a long time. Thank you for performing the wedding personally." Brenda remarks. "No problem. Glad to do it, but I said it before and I'll say it again. Never did I EVER believe that you'd remarry. Let alone to Warrick of all people! I remember when you hated his guts!" "Ha ha, yeah…that seems so long ago now. I was too full of misplaced anger and hate. Glad I moved past it and reconnected with Warrick again." "Sure, but I just never knew how well you two were reconnecting. When you both told me, I was completely taken by surprise." You chuckle. "Well of course you were unaware. You were too busy fighting demons, monsters and sorcerer kings. Yeah, I know it still seems strange, but Warrick and I have a lot more in common than not, you know? I mean we grew up together, we trained together, and we served together. We're both Eternals. We're just always going to have that special connection. I mean I will always love Roldan, but why spend the remainder of my life alone if it feels right with another? We both came to that conclusion." "Hey, you don't need to explain to me. I understand and I'm happy for the pair of you. Anyway I just came here to let you know that the new Eternals have been released from their tanks." "So did they meet with your standards?" Brenda asks. "Yes, most of them seem to be very much like the third generation though perhaps with signs of displaying higher intelligence overall. I'd definitely say they're ready for your training." You reply. "So you do still want me to train them?" "Sure, you did well enough with the third generation didn't you? I'm just wondering where the hell we're going to send them when they're all grown up. It's likely that Nyttrus will be completely under our control by that time." "Maybe we'll discover a new continent?" "Maybe, I'm certain they're out there, though I've cut down on spending for exploration for awhile. I'm trying to focus on rebuilding the destruction that was caused to the Nakol and getting Nyttrus under our control as well "How is it going over there anyway?" "Better than I expected, worse than I hoped. We've got more than a few strongholds there now, but the Iznac are far from being beaten, unfortunately most of the humans there are sick or dead due to disease and Iznac magic. Flog's also dead and the orcs have become slightly less disciplined as of late without his calmer leadership. There have been a few reports of deserters running off into the jungles and forming their own communities. (Sigh) Going to have to do something about them of course." "What about the kobolds?" "Heh, Dedicated as always. The original leader I sent, Snilkez'ka is still alive and kickin'. She and the rest of them are the main ones holding down the forts. Never thought I'd be so glad of their high birth rates. The third generation Eternals are getting shipped over there soon, so hopefully things will get better." "Will you be going over there?" "I dunno. I might, if only to keep myself busy. There are no more major challenges here on Evigrus anymore and I'd rather not send Decena there. Wasn't a pleasant experience for her and its not necessary for her to go through that again." Brenda nods and you suddenly go into a brief speech about Decena and how proud you are of her and engage in general praising of Decena's accomplishments. "You know…and I've never addressed this because I didn't think it was my place to do so, but I still don't understand why the two of you split up…I mean granted the age difference might normally cause difficulties in being able to relate to one another, but considering that you're both warriors, you both have an unwavering dedication to preserving the Empire and more importantly you are both Eternals, you have a lot more in common than most people. I mean she is your protégée is she not? It only seems natural that the pair of you would be an item." Brenda's bluntness takes you a bit off guard. She normally isn't so confrontational. "It's complicated." You answer. "No, it really isn't. Look I don't know the whole story, but I DO know at one time you and Decena were together even if you didn't make it public knowledge. I also know that you DO care for her and its not just in an average friendly way or a master-subordinate way. You love her and for some reason you're denying yourself of it." "I'm not denying myself of anything." "Well what then? I know it wasn't Decena's idea, that girl still worships the ground you walk on. Probably more than anyone in the entire Empire." "Look Brenda, I understand you're still on a positivity trip due to your own newfound marital bliss, but my situation is different. It will ALWAYS be different all right? "It's not that much different…" At this point you slam your hands down on Brenda's desk and get in her face, knocking over a few things on her desk. "IT IS DIFFERENT. You can't understand and be glad that you don't." you remark. Brenda is silent at your aggressive stance. You stare at her for a few seconds and then back away. "Now then, the new eternals will be transported here in a few days, I suggest you prepare yourself." You say and turn to leave. Brenda though is in rare form and can't help but continue. "Emperor?" she says. "What?" you answer. "You didn't do to Decena, what that svelk bitch did to you and I don't think Alison would want you spending the rest of your life mourning her." You stand in the doorway for a moment with your back to Brenda. "I know I didn't do what Semra did. I was hideously more successful…and as for Alison…she doesn't want anything. She's dead." You reply and leave the office. Well you're in a shitty mood now. You spend the rest of the day doing a lot of introspection, weighing pros and cons, taking into consideration every side and all your personal feelings on the matter. Every once in awhile you speak to Alison's portrait as if she's going to answer. All of which ends up pissing you off even more because you find it to be a pointless endeavor when you should be focusing on more important matters. You've got a damn Empire to run and here you are struggling on what to do about a girl (Or actually a full grown woman now, that has a bit of an arrested development) that likes you. What the hell are you an idiotic hormonal teenager? You thought you settled this a long time ago. You begin to mentally blame everything and everyone. You blame Brenda and Warrick for their new happy marriage. You especially blame Brenda for bringing this up to you. You blame Decena for becoming so attached to you. You blame Semra for…well everything. You blame Alison for dying on you. You blame Cyrus for killing her. You blame Casimir for setting up the assassination. You even blame Marik for having a hand in creating Decena and then not successfully killing her. Ultimately though you've got nobody to blame, but yourself and you know it and you need to just make a final decision on what to do about Decena. > You go to her now You've played the brooding tortured loner for too long. You're the damned Emperor, why the hell are you putting yourself through this unnecessary restriction and misguided attempt at "morality?" The "damage" was done a long time ago and it isn't like Decena is special in this regard. You routinely have propaganda pumped out to keep thousands of people brainwashed throughout the Empire. Decena just had the luxury of a personal lesson. So you took advantage of her youth and your position of power. So what? You still trained her to be the best. Would she have grown to love you if you hadn't done what you did? Doesn't matter. It's done. She loves you and you do love her. The years that have passed between the pair of you not being together have proven that your own feelings for her are genuine. They always were even if your approach wasn't quite conventional. You've done far worse things than the "corruption" of one young girl who has done nothing but thrive because of your guidance. No, it is a far crueler thing to deprive her of what she wants the most. And it's a far more intelligent thing for you to accept her fully into your life as an equal. And as for the long shadow of Alison…well… even Brenda moved on with her life. It's been long enough. You take look at Alison's portrait. "It's true that I'll always love you in some way. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have known about how good such a crippling emotion can feel." You chuckle. "Thank you." You say and leave your room. Decena is currently still stationed in Nakol mostly keeping the potential chaos down while you rebuild and continue to establish order there. You have a message sent to her to return to the palace at once. When she returns she's in for quite the surprise when you immediately go to embrace her. "Erm…not that I'm complaining, but what's all this about my Emperor?" she remarks. "It's about us. Once and for all I see what was meant to be. We were meant to be together." You answer. Decena's reaction is one of silent shock rather than the overwhelming happiness you believed. "Are you serious?" Decena asks calmly. "Yes, why wouldn't I be?" you reply. "…I…just…" Decena stumbles over her words. "What? What's wrong? Aren't you happy with this news?" "Well…yes…but…" "Did you find someone else?" you ask believing that could be the only reason for her hesitation. "No! There could never be anyone else! It's just…I have to know…" "What?! What is it?! Spit it out!" you exclaim. "I have to know if this is real. I mean REALLY real. You'll always be my Emperor, but I have known you in a more intimate way once before and you dismissed me, and I accepted it. In time I have even become used to that fact. But if we are to become intimate once more… I can't go through losing you in that way again. I just can't…so if this is just a flight of fancy or something I'd rather not…" At this point Decena is getting upset, and you have to reassure her. "Decena, this is real. No bullshit. I'm serious. I've searched my mind, body and what might be a soul about this and I know there's nobody else I would rather become my wife." Now Decena is struck again with surprise. She probably figured you two were just going to start bedding each other again. "Wife? You're serious? But wouldn't that make me…" "Empress. Yes, it would. You would have an equal say in the Empire. Possibly more than anyone else besides myself." You answer. "Oh…I don't know…I mean…I'm a soldier. I don't understand all the intricacies of running a country like you do." Brenda says. "Pfft. You think I agonize over all of it? I let Kivan and other bean counters handle most of the boring stuff anyway. I'm just saying you would no longer have to feel subordinate or subservient. We would be equal. We would rule together. You understand?" Decena nods and a smile forms across her face. "I do." And she leans in to kiss you. In the weeks that follow, "I do." is said by the both of you again at the ceremony when you finally make your joining official. There is celebration and merriment, though the wedding itself is not an excessively fancy one. It certainly has more security than normal however and is held in the palace. Later as the night goes on, Warrick and Brenda sit at the table with you Decena. The pair of them have been in rare form the entire event with their intake of alcohol. While they aren't drunk, they're certainly less formal than usual, but then this isn't exactly a time for formalities. "See? Didn't I tell you Brenda? I told you he'd marry her." Warrick says. "Warrick you said no such thing! In fact you kept telling me that I shouldn't have opened up my mouth about it!" Brenda remarks. "Bah, you must've misunderstood me. I always knew it was inevitable." Warrick says refusing to acknowledge his mistake. "Glad to know you had faith in me Warrick." You say causing Warrick to raise his glass before taking a drink. "Heh, well I'm certainly glad you said something Brenda." Decena says. Brenda leans in on the table speaking directly to Decena. You can smell the alcohol; she's definitely been drinking more than Warrick tonight. I just want to say, you're fucking beautiful in that dress. Seriously I mean it. I dunno how you still look so young. Must be all those years you spent in that fucking tank." "Erm…I guess…" Decena answers. "I'm telling you right now. HE'S the lucky one." Brenda says pointing to you. Without you he'd just be moping about this palace all lonely and still pining over that human girl…" This remark causes a bit of silence from everyone, and Warrick starts to tell Brenda to be quiet while Decena just looks at you. "Erm, Brenda I think you've really had too much to drink now…" Warrick says. "Now no disrespect to Alison…I mean she was a warrior. Certainly someone to be respected…but…" "Brenda! Shut. Up!" You wave your hand in downward fashion to Warrick. "No, it's fine. Brenda spoke her mind once to me before and this all turned out fairly well, so I'm sort of interested in where this is heading." You say. "Apologies. I'm a little intoxicated…" Brenda says. "Brenda. Seriously. You obviously got something to say. So say it." "All right…Emp…I will." Brenda takes another drink. "I'm just saying that you and Decena belong together for several reasons, but most of which is because you're both Eternals! Doesn't matter if you're not from the same generation or not, you've got more in common than anyone could possibly know. All of us do. We NEED to stick together. I mean it's not like we can breed…" Well this is an unexpected twist and now a few bystanders are trying their best not to look like they're listening. "Why can't we breed anyway? Have you figured that out yet, mighty emp? I mean we're fucking superior to…like everyone! So why the hell can't we breed?" At this point Brenda's voice is getting louder and Warrick keeps apologizing and begins to motion Brenda towards an exit. You reassure Warrick that he needn't worry about himself or Brenda and to just get her to sleep it off somewhere. Kivan runs over to ask if everything is okay and you tell him yes, but that you and Decena are going to retire and the rest of the guests can continue enjoying themselves if they wish. When you and Decena get back to your room, she addresses the situation that just transpired. "What exactly was THAT all about? What was all that about us Eternals having to stick together, asking why we can't breed and such?" Decena asks. "I have no idea. Really. Brenda's usually always been calm minded about things. I'd say it was the drink, but that was only the spark. It's obvious she's had these feelings for a while though. Maybe, I dunno. Maybe she wishes she could've had her own children. I know she's thought of the third generation and now the fourth generation of Eternals as her children sometimes. She's seen them all grown up and directly trained most of them. I guess a maternal instinct has kicked in." you reply. "You know…I do wonder too though sometimes. Why is it that we're sterile?" "Well the process isn't exactly the safest. There's bound to be a sacrifice somewhere. When the original emperor had us created, he probably did it on purpose or wasn't concerned about such a sacrifice. When Marik created your group, he probably didn't care about the sacrifice as well. And to be honest, I've never looked into the problem too closely either. I was more focused on potential combat ability rather than fertility." "Hm, perhaps you should." "You saying you would've wanted children? Barefoot and pregnant? Taking care of little monsters instead of out there on the battlefield brining glory to the Empire?" you ask. Decena laughs. "Well maybe not, but I dunno…I mean if you and I were able to have children, I might not mind it. I mean we would be bringing in another Eternal into this world. Certainly a worthwhile endeavor and still serving the Empire. I mean Brenda might've been drunk, but she was correct that we ARE superior to the other races. I mean I know we look human, but you know, and I'll bet every other Eternal out there knows that we are ultimately better than humans. I know you've HAD to think it on several occasions. I mean you're the best of all of us! If we could actually breed, we'd eventually replace humanity as the dominant race. You'd also be able to have heirs." "You're my heir." "Well obviously, but I'm going to die too someday. The Empire needs a strong ruler to hold it together." "Wait a minute! I thought you always said I was going to live forever." You say with some amusement. "I said I WANT to believe you will, not that it's actually going to happen. I guess even though I've never said it out loud, I am sometimes concerned about the Empire's potential future." Never before have you heard Decena speak in such a manner. Oh you've heard her talking like a soldier or a general about ruthless battlefield tactics and strategy. But this…is a little bit different. She's speaking with a prospective plan for the future of the nation. She's speaking like a ruler. Like an Empress. Brenda was correct, she is right for you. "Well, that is all certainly something to think about, but who knows maybe we'll defy nature tonight." You say and start moving Decena towards the bed. The pair of you proceed to enjoy your wedding night. The next day you're informed of the latest problems on Nyttrus by Kivan who received a message about it in the middle of the night. The Iznac have apparently unleashed a powerful "secret weapon" in the form of three very large flying lizards. And these aren't wyverns either. They are creatures that Casimir once told you were rare even back in his day. They're dragons and apparently they've already destroyed one of your forts on the continent. Looks like you and Decena will be taking your honeymoon on Nyttrus. > Year 60 Eighteen years ago the Children of Tor launched an all out assault on you and while it was a fierce battle, it was the beginning of the end for them as an effective fighting force. You hope that the Iznac are going to suffer a similar situation here today, because if not, it's going to be the beginning of the end for the Empire. Only one civilization is going to come out of this alive from this conflict. You're currently holding the line at Fort Canopy, but it isn't the only major battle going on right now. You know only a few miles away Decena is undoubtedly doing his best to defend Fort Tangle and General Flevas is taking the fight to the Iznac in the jungles. High in the air through the rain and in the near distance you see a multi-colored dragon unleash a gout of flame from its mouth, which engulfs the Tornado. Already heavily damaged the flying fortress can't take anymore and begins to explode. Minor ones at first, then one large one. Flaming pieces of the machine fall from the sky. The Storm II fires another volley of cannon fire at the dragon wounding the great beast, but it isn't enough to kill it. The dragon bellows and turns its great body around to focus its attack on the Storm II. It isn't going to die easy like its two siblings did over the past few years. It's going to fight with everything it has. You look over the battlements and see several Iznacs climbing the walls of the fort like an army of ants. They aren't even using ladders, they're just scaling the fort with their bare hands. It's actually rather impressive, until you unleash a chain of lightning to zap all of them. The shock is enough to at least cause most of them to fall off if not outright kill them immediately. "Slaughter the four armed spider eyed bastards! Make them realize that their domination of this continent has passed! This is the time of the Empire!" you shout to the Eternals defending the fort. Your people are doing their best though they can't stop every Iznac from scaling the fort. Soon the gunfire is replaced by sounds of close combat weaponry. No matter how far the advances in technology, it always eventually comes down to looking your opponent in the eye and feeling their blood splatter as you end their life. While you're busy hacking off the limbs of an Iznac warrior, another loud explosion in the distance is heard followed by a bright flash in the sky. It's not lightning from the storm, but rather the demise of your Storm. The Storm II joins the Tornado in crashing to the ground after losing its skirmish with the dragon. Hopefully the rain is making the jungle wet enough or else the flames from the wreckage of these downed airships are going to cause an inferno throughout the jungle. Several small frog like beings eventually make their way in by scaling the walls with their masters. They're generally just referred to as "frogs" but their formal name is the Glip. The Glip almost remind you of the kobolds. Despite being under the harsh dominion of the Iznac for who knows how long, none of the villages ever joined the Empire when the war broke out. Didn't matter that the Iznac used to (and probably still do) sacrifice and eat the Glip, they ultimately still remained loyal to them. While they've certainly had their moments, mostly due to ambushes with blowguns and poisonous darts and their camouflage abilities. The Glip are not close combat warriors by any means. It isn't surprising that you've not had to fight many of them. Even the Iznac know their skills are better suited elsewhere. The fact that you've started to face a lot of them does give you an indication of how desperate the Iznac have become. A group of orcs smash through the barricades of the fort. You sometimes shake your head at the stupidity of that situation. You have no idea how the Iznac managed to come to accept the rebellious orcs as allies, but you guarantee it wasn't for any reasons other than convenience. Did the greenskins actually believe that Iznac saw them as anything than handy fodder for this conflict? If they broke away from the Empire because they didn't like being used in such a way, then they completely missed the point. Then again being orcs they probably didn't think that far ahead or perhaps they just wanted to fight the Empire and didn't care about the reasons. In any case, no matter who wins this conflict, the orcs lose. The Iznac have a habit of ritually sacrificing their "neighbors and allies" to their gods. It doesn't matter in the scheme of things because even with overwhelming odds, your Eternals are still holding their own against all attackers. The only thing that concerns you slightly is… You hear a roaring sound getting closer to your position and the sounds of great wings flapping. It would appear your concerns will be arriving soon. You just hope that the Storm II and the Tornado did enough damage to it before they both went down. You don't have the advantage of Decena helping you take it down like you did with the last two dragons. You shout a general command for the still working cannons to be pointed towards the dragon and to prepare to fire when the beast is in range. In the meantime you try to keep that side of the fort relatively free of invading forces. The dragon gets closer and you give the order to fire and unleash your own magic bolts at the creature. It's definitely wounded from its ordeal with the two airships, but given your experience with the other two dragons, you know it's far from being out the fight. In fact it's so determined that it doesn't distinguish friend from foe when it blasts its flame breath on the fort. You manage to protect most of your people with a magic barrier, but for those outside its protection, most are set on fire if not incinerated immediately. On the positive side, it reduces your enemies, on the negative it ignites the gunpowder barrels for the cannons causing a massive explosion and completely destroying one side of the fort. While the barrier still protects you and everyone within initially, its still a lot of strain on your energy and you begin to feel the fatigue setting in. "No! Damnit! Fight through it!" you mutter to yourself hating your weakness. When the dragon passes you temporarily put down the barrier to take a small breather seeing as you aren't immediately being attacked by Iznac ground forces anymore (Which have mostly been killed or broke and run by this point) Several soldiers point up and announce that the dragon is slowly turning around for a second pass. "Everyone spread out and find your own cover! Shoot the overgrown lizard when in range!" you shout and make your way back up to the battlements (Those that are still intact that is). You stand on top of the battlements and see the dragon coming straight at you. Almost as if it was personal and who knows maybe it is. This creature may very well want you dead for killing its only two companions. Or perhaps it's just intelligent enough to recognize you as a genuine threat. You summon up all your energy and unleash a stream of lightning at the dragon just as it's beginning to open its mouth to breath fire. It doesn't stop. It doesn't even slow down despite the fact that you've undoubtedly just shocked the hell of its brain. A gout of flame comes directly at you. "Shit!" you shout and put up your own personal barrier to block the flames. Which succeeds, but it does nothing to stop the dragon's approach. It's fully intent on ramming you at this point. You no idea what would happen if you just stood there with your barrier up. It's possible the dragon would severely smash its own face in from the force, maybe even breaking its neck, however its also possible that it would hit with enough force that it could actually move you. In this case, right off the battlements on to the ground several feet behind you. Your Eternals unleash gunfire as the dragon gets closer and you're left to wonder if this high-risk plan could potentially end this dragon threat once and for all. > You keep the barrier up Probably one of the crazier things you've done and its entirely possible you're either trying to prove something to yourself or you just want this battle to be over with win or lose because you're getting very tired. Probably a little bit of both. "Okay, you fucking overgrown flying lizard, it's either going to be me or you today." You say and expend more energy to reinforce your barrier. For a brief moment you see the dragon's face get closer and closer and then… There's a great smashing force that causes you to fly off the battlements. You don't actually fall straight to the ground, but instead you actually sail backwards in the air for a moment and into one of the many decimated tree trunks of the nearby jungle. You feel a cracking sound as your back and head slams hard into the solid wood of the tree and then you begin to fall straight down. Even if you weren't completely knocked senseless by this terrific force you don't have anything that could slow your decent. The best you can do is shield your face with your forearms as you crash to the ground. Another cracking sound is heard when you hit the ground and you're in more physical pain than you've been in awhile. You're not dead, but when you try to move, you find that you're unable. At least not your legs, which are completely numb. You've broken your back and the bones in your arms are probably broken too, though you're definitely feeling the pain from that injury. While you're lying half paralyzed away from the fort, you can hear the audible sounds of battle coming from it. You aren't sure what happened to the dragon, but apparently it didn't manage to ram straight through you and keep going. It's in the fort thrashing about and roaring in pain. Pieces of stone from the fort go flying in different directions; you just hope one of those stone blocks doesn't hit you since you're in no position to move right now. There's nothing you can do save for one thing. Heal yourself with magic. You focus all the magic you got on mending your spine first and then your other wounds next. The dragon, gunfire, clanging of weapons and shouting can all be heard while you do this. By the time you're finished, you can barely stand up. You don't know if it's due to your drained state or if the magic still needs time to take affect completely. In any case you start to limp back to the fort, which has started to become much quieter. When you enter, the fort is practically destroyed, several Eternals lie dead (or in pieces) and right in the center lays the dragon with severe wounds all over its body, exposed bones, torn wings and bleeding profusely. "Emperor! You're alive!" one of the eternals shouts when he sees you. "Glory to the Empire! We feared the worst when we saw you fall from the battlements. It was a great show of bravery on your part to face down the dragon in the way you did! Never before have I seen something so inspiring! It also caused the creature to crash to the ground where upon all of us took advantage of the situation. As you can see we have brought honor in your name by finishing off the beast!" another boasts. "Oh really? Is that why it's still breathing?" you point out causing the eternals standing around to back off suddenly. The dragon is indeed still breathing, but it's very weak. It's dying. Your eternals go to strike, but you tell them to hold and shake your head at them not being observant enough to see that the dragon is still alive in the first place. You walk towards the dragon's head and grab a nearby axe on the ground. The beast manages to look at you with one eye and does nothing. You wonder if it still actually has some strength left in it, but is just too tired and old to continue fighting. Maybe it's ready for it all to end. To join its fellows. You have no idea what dragon's think or even if they do think in such complex terms, but when you take a look at this creature you can't help but think how old it probably is. What has it seen? Did it once have its own civilization of sorts? What was it like at its peak? What caused it to ally with the Iznac? Was the arrangement some sort of compromise to avoid possible extinction? Extinction that has come anyway at your hands. You get closer to the dragon and ready your axe. The dragon still makes no move. It just closes its one good eye. "Y'know… sometimes I feel like you. Old and broken down, just wanting to lie down and let the sleep take me. Perhaps, I'll even find myself in the same position one day…(sigh) anyway, on your way dragon. Looks like it was you today." You say and swing the axe at the dragon's neck. You have to hack away several times before you manage to sever its head. A cheer goes up from the eternals who survived the battle. "No cheering yet. This was barely a victory given all of our casualties and the condition of this fort. We also still have no word on Flevas' company or how my wife is doing at Fort Tangle. Now let's get organized and find out." You say. The next few days still see a lot of combat. Decena was a lot more successful at Fort Tangle, but then she didn't have a dragon attacking it. She congratulates you on your victory though and is glad to see you're still alive from your ordeal. Eventually her and Snilkez'ka's troops push forward and attack Iznac cities. Without their dragons anymore, it's a lot easier to go faster on the attack. Unfortunately Flevas' suffered an ignoble fate. He was killed fighting off a mixture of Glip and Iznac troops in the jungles and he was unlucky to be felled by several poisonous darts that the Glip love to use. His company fought on and won, but you've lost a good commander. Such are the ways of war. You and those who served under him will at least remember Flevas' deeds. He certainly proved that elves could be an asset to the Empire rather than just whine all the time. It is truly the beginning of the end for the Iznac civilization and it is now in sight. You predict perhaps at least one more year of heavy fighting maximum, then maybe three more years of random raiding from the hold outs and survivors. After that? The Iznac will either be hiding in the farthest reaches of wilderness, will have completely submitted to your rule (Unlikely) or completely exterminated. You're betting on that last one, as it seems to be the way of things. In any case you'll soon be ruler of two continents. What comes next is unknown, but you know that you're going to have some downtime to think about it. In fact you have somewhat of an idea of what to pursue next. Its something Brenda and Decena mentioned the day you got married. The Eternals and their inability to reproduce. You're thinking that will be your next goal. You nearly died in your battle with the dragon and by healing yourself in the way you did, you probably just shortened your life span anyway. It's time to start thinking about your potential legacy and future of the Empire. The current eternals have proven their worth and then some, but they could still be better. The next generation that Brenda is training will undoubtedly be better still, but the fifth…that's the group you want to break the mold with. There's got to be a way. Maybe you, Elam and possibly Galen can figure it out if you put your heads together. Hell, maybe even the gnomes might have some insight on the science side of things. The time for simple conquest of territory is coming to an end at least perhaps for now. > Year 67 Peace is a good thing for most people and in your elderly years you can even sort of appreciate it a little more, but the problem is, you've got hundreds of new Eternals who have been bred and trained for war and nobody to send them up against. To be honest you thought maybe that Semra would make good on her claim of resurrecting the "Svelk Empire" again and perhaps invade with an armada filled with svelk warriors, but haven't heard or seen a svelk since you last spoke to her. Then again she did say it wouldn't happen in your lifetime. While you haven't put as much time and money into exploration any more, there are still efforts being made by private expeditions, but nobody has had much luck in finding any new lands worthwhile. In any event you're going to have to have them do something with them soon, just maybe not today. You also have to meet with Elam, since apparently he's come up with a possible solution to the sterility problem of the eternals. "Well, I'm sure we'll find something for them to do, but let me just say you've done a fine job with them as usual." You say to Brenda. "Thank you, but I don't think I'll be able to effectively train the next batch. At least not full time. Getting sort of…" "You don't need to say it. Trust me, we're all getting that way, don't worry I'm going to have Decena training the fifth gen. Training's definitely going to go a little differently, but then if my meeting with Elam is going to be a positive one then these next Eternals are going to be different anyway." "So the rumors are true? Elam's figured out a way?" "So he says. Trust me, I'm just as surprised as you are. In any case, I'm off to meet him." You bid Brenda goodbye and head to the location where new eternals are "born." When you arrive a couple of workers and ask if the children will be arriving today to which you reply no and ask if Elam has arrived yet. They tell you that Elam has indeed arrived and is waiting in Chief Supervisor Gregory's office. They also mention that a woman came with him. You have no idea who that could be. Girlfriend perhaps? If so, you honestly didn't know Elam even paid any attention to anything that wasn't scientifically related. You enter the office just in time to see Elam criticizing Gregory's lack of adventure in his chosen profession. "Bah! You've always been too cautious Gregory! Even the gnomes with all their needless safety pre-cautions aren't as timid! That's why you're still here watching tanks and I'm creating new and better things for the Empire!" Elam boasts. "Really…I'm fine…I like it here…" Gregory says quietly and then looks in your direction and straightens up in his chair. "See? What did I tell you Zana? Same ol' Gregory! Hah! Oh Emperor! Didn't see you there! Apologies." You tell everyone to dismiss the formalities and tell Gregory to leave as you have important business with Elam. He nods, and leaves. The woman though does not. You have no idea who she except she looks to be in her thirties, wears spectacles, has long curly red hair and is dressed in technician's clothing similar to Elam. "I trust this woman is somehow important to what we have to discuss, otherwise you would not have her here?" you say sitting down. "Oh! Yes, apologies once again. This is Zana, and she's been invaluable in helping me on not just this project, but on several others in the past." Elam says. "Zana? Why have I not heard of her before? I know the gnomes let Elam into their city on my insistence, but I didn't realize we had another human inventor there." You say. "Oh, she was born there, Emperor." "What?" At this point Zana speaks for herself. "Actually Elam as I've told you once before, I wasn't born in New Dessle I was just raised there. Sometimes I wonder how you invent so well with your memory as foggy as it is. At least our Emperor has a good reason for not remembering me. He has an entire Empire to rule." Zana says playfully pushing his shoulder. "Wait. We've met?" you ask. "Oh yes. We briefly met when you first incorporated New Dessle into the Empire. I'm Klemto's adopted daughter." That was so long ago, you barely remember, though you're starting to now. Yes, she was only a teenager then. "Ah yes…starting to remember. I remember you ran up to Klemto telling him that you wanted to help fix your lighting system. Klemto gave you permission, but was slightly embarrassed that you interrupted his meeting with me and then only briefly greeted me before running off." "Good memory. I know it's late, but I apologize for my impetuous youthful ways." "None necessary. Wasn't offended then either, in fact I remember applauding Klemto for raising such a child that wished to serve their community in a meaningful way." "I thank you my Emperor. And I have continued to serve the Empire in the same way." "I believe it, otherwise Elam wouldn't have you here, so I'm guessing you both must have come up with a solution to our problem. So let's discuss that, shall we?" Elam begins to excitedly tell you about all the tests they did and a lot of scientific talk without actually getting to the point. He particularly enjoys talking about how some of the fourth generation eternals you granted him permission to take for testing years ago, managed to reproduce under the right conditions. He mentions it was only the one girl and she died in the process, but the child she gave birth too managed to actually survive for a few minutes. When this doesn't exactly fill you with confidence, Zana speaks up again. "What Elam means to say, that despite the limited success, we have definitely found a way to make the next set of Eternals fertile. The magical process is what is causing the problem. At first we thought it was too much magic, but in actuality it's too little." Zana explains. "Really?" "Yes, despite enhancing many of the traits of the eternals with each generation, the magical energy has been too specific in its task. The Eternal's body should be completely immersed in the energy while in the tank and then the appropriate chemical mixtures can be added, and then…well I won't bore you again with technical talk. Rest assured though we both believe very strongly that it will work. "So…what? Do we need to sacrifice an entire mage for a single fertile Eternal?" you ask. "Well…that would work, if you had the numbers, but from what I do know, magic has been on the decline for some time now. There are…what? Like twenty mages in the whole Empire now? Most of which are old men and women and none of them particularly very powerful. Not powerful enough for our purposes even if we did completely drain them. Honestly we would need someone with at least the power that Galen had, but unfortunately as you know we used him as a test subject, which ended up helping us come to this conclusion in the first place. Not all is lost and we can still accomplish this, but…" Zana hesitates to even speak it and even Elam who is usually in an excited state is very somber looking. You get the impression you already know where they're going to go with this… "Let me guess. I have to sacrifice myself." You say. Elam and Zana don't answer. "Well?" "Yes, but we still aren't sure about the results, I mean this isn't an exact science… I mean…" "Not an exact science? Then what the fuck are we talking about Elam? Zana just said she was certain it would work! Now you're telling me it might not and I'm supposed to kill myself in the process?" "No! That's not what I mean! (Exhale) Look what I mean is I believe we can set it up so you'll be able to survive the process. I mean you're so powerful and your magical abilities are vast. I mean even for a man your age you're in good physical condition and you can withstand more pain than most. I can't believe I'm saying this, but…I THINK if we take the necessary safety precautions, you'll be able to survive this process, but the downside is we're not going to be able to do this with a thousand or even half that number of potential eternal candidates. We can do it with a hundred maximum and you will definitely lose all your magical abilities in the process." Elam says and is beginning to sweat. "And what do you say about this Zana? Do you believe this could be done?" "I won't lie. I don't know. I mean yes it is possible if we were very careful and severely lowered the amount of Eternal candidates, you might survive, but I just don't know. I do know that the process will still result in the desired outcome for the Eternals though." "However, there is another process that Zana and I have discussed that may be more desirable to you." Elam suddenly exclaims. Elam takes a deep breath and asks you. "How would you like to be immortal?" "This is a joke right?" "No joke my Emperor. I'm very serious." Elam says and you have no doubt that he is, though Zana looks skeptical. "Elam, the Emperor wants to hear real solutions, not theories." "It's no theory! I'm starting to get results! In fact I dare say I'm even more certain about this approach than the one with the Eternals! Emperor, if you give me a little more time to perfect the…" "Elam, will you explain from the beginning for once?!" you shout. "Yes. Apologies my Emperor. Okay. It's going to sound crazy, but then I'm sure the concept of a ship that flies in the air did once too right? I believe I've found a way to keep a person alive long after their body has died." Already you're joining Zana in your skepticism. "Sounds like magic to me. Specifically necromancy. Last I remember you weren't a necromancer Elam and I have no intention on being some mindless walking corpse." "No it's not raising the dead, it's science! No magic involved at all! In fact YOU wouldn't have to do much of anything. Y'see, all I need is your brain." Elam says with a creepy grin. Well this conversation has taken an interesting turn. "Elam I don't know if you're aware, but I sort of need that to live in the first place." "(Sigh) What my over zealous colleague is trying to say is he's been doing experiments in his spare time on various human subjects. Well, not ALL human subjects, but specifically the brain. He's managed to remove entire brains and keep the subject alive." Zana interjects. "WHAT?! I just said I have no intention on walking around like a mindless corpse!" you exclaim. "No, he's not keeping the subject's bodies alive. He's been able to keep the brains alive. At least for a little while…" "I'll be able to keep them alive indefinitely with a little more time!" Elam exclaims. Now this conversation has just gotten weird. You rub your face and head with your hands and try to assess the situation. "Okay wait. Let me get this straight. You're saying you can remove my brain and keep me alive? How? Where the hell would I be? How would I do anything?" "Well that's why I need a little more time. However, YOU would be floating in a tank filled with certain chemicals." "Floating in a tank?" "Yes, well at least temporarily. I mean I believe we could in time hook you up to a machine system so that perhaps your brain waves could control something like the automatons that we create in New Dessel. I believe with your innate magic powers you could probably tap into some sort of telepathic ability with the right jolts of electricity to the tank. You'd be able to give orders to people through their minds so communication might not be a problem…" Elam says and continues speaking, but you're starting to get overwhelmed. This is absolutely insane what you're hearing. And not just the brain part, you mean all of it. Even the way to make the Eternals fertile sounds crazy. Especially given some of the experiments that were performed in order to explore the possibility in the first place. Now Elam's telling you he's been cutting brains out of people and keeping them alive and he's suggesting on putting YOU in a tank. You can't help but see the irony of being in a tank for the rest of your life. And the strangest part about all this? You're more than willing to entertain both ideas. If you sacrifice yourself so that the new eternals can breed then it won't be one in vain. Quite frankly how many more worthwhile years do you have left anyway? Maybe it would be better to die so that a legacy of sorts can live forever. Besides, there is always the possibility that you could survive the process. Of course there's always the chance it could all fail horribly. Elam and Zana may seem very certain that it will work, but you still have your reservations. As crazy as Elam's idea sounds, part of it intrigues you. Immortality would give you that time you always wanted in past. Time enough to conquer the world. With immortality, you wouldn't need to worry about some sort of legacy, you would always be. He says he needs more time to work on it though which is a concern, then there's the fact that you'd be floating in a tank. Would you grow bored? Would you go mad? Would you even be "you?" Elam said there would be the possibility of setting something up so you could interact with the outside world, but again who knows if that will even work? You've got a decision and you need to make one or the other. > You children Elam's always had wild ideas, but this "immortality" plan just sounds too far-fetched and quite frankly more than a little risky. You'd be sacrificing the original plan entirely just to what? Live forever as a brain in a tank? What kind of life is that? Even if something were set up so you could interact with the outside world, you'd still be very limited. Never again could you lift a weapon or cast a spell and face your enemies in battle. Never again could you enjoy the company of Decena in a meaningful way. And what of other potential mates when you eventually outlive her? You can't imagine how you could be satisfied with the existence even if you did manage to conquer the rest of the world. Who knows what the long-term effects would be. You still think you'd probably go mad eventually. If the immortality involved your current body, you're not even sure you'd accept it. Not with how much you ache on a regular basis. No, immortality was never in the cards for you. This "life" wasn't even supposed to happen, so why entertain an impossible dream? You've achieved much in this life and if the end is coming soon then so be it. "I'm not spending the rest of my life as a disembodied brain for any reason. We're sticking with the original plan regardless of the consequences. However, I'm also not quite eager to shuffle off this mortal coil just yet, so we're going to take the safety precautions and try to keep me alive. So when are we to start?" "Uh...well, whenever you are of course my Emperor. I mean you'll have to collect the babies for this project first, then after that's done, we can get started." Elam says. "Okay then, I'll have the Eyes gather candidates right away. In fact, given the nature of this project, I'm going to tell them to get an equal amount of males and females. As for you two I want you to gather whatever staff and equipment you need." Elam and Zana both acknowledge your command and leave when you dismiss them. Elam makes one last attempt at asking if you're sure you don't want to be immortal to which you tell him you've made your decision. Now all you have to do is tell Decena which you do so later that night. "…so that's the process. If it succeeds spectacularly I'll still be alive and we'll have fertile new eternals. If it fails spectacularly then none of that will be true." You finish explaining to her. "And you're sure this is what you want to do?" Decena asks. "Of course I am. Why wouldn't I be?" "Well I wasn't aware that Elam had found a potential way to keep you alive forever." "As a brain in a jar or tank or whatever? You really think I'd want to live like that? He needs more time to perfect the process anyway and who know how long that would be if ever?" "No, I suppose you're right. I wouldn't like to live like that either. Who wants to live forever right? But about this other process, you'll be putting your life in danger, are you certain it will work?" "Elam and this Zana are both confident that it will. While Elam's always been a bit on the eccentric side and prone to take risks, he's always come through on his projects and Zana's likely to err on the cautious side anyway due to being raised by gnomes. In any case I'm more than willing to take this risk if it's going to bring about what we've been talking about for the last few years." Decena smiles at your response. "I think that's one of many the things that I've always loved about you. Your willingness to put yourself at risk for the good of the Empire. You've never been one of those rulers that has shied away from potential danger. There is one thing I ask though. I mean regardless of whether or not the process is successful, if you don't survive it. I mean if this indeed it, I want to be with you during this moment." Decena says holding your hand. "Of course. You'll always be by my side." You answer and kiss her. After a bit more discussion, it's also agreed upon that Brenda and Warrick should probably be there as well. Over the next few days, the Eyes acquire the Eternal candidates and soon everything is ready. You arrive at the Eternal factory with Decena, Brenda and Warrick. Elam, Zana, and several technician and physician types run around hooking up strange machinery and placing the babies in the tanks. Gregory is also here and goes up to you nervously telling you that he's very concerned, as none of this extra equipment looks very safe. Eventually Elam and Zana approach. "Everything is ready my Emperor! One hundred candidates all hooked up in the tanks, all we need is to strap you in to that chair over there and we can get started." Elam points to a chair that looks more like a torture device you've had used on enemies before…in fact you think it IS and Elam's just modified it! "I have to say you're a braver man than I." Warrick says clapping you on the shoulder. "Yeah, I mean I'm just looking at that thing and it looks painful." Brenda says. "Well I have faith that you'll laugh off any pain and come out of this alive." Decena exclaims. "Glad to hear someone that's optimistic about this. Well no point in drawing this out, let's do this." You say and walk towards the chair. Sit in the chair and get strapped in. This is followed by several painful needles being stuck in your arms, legs and chest with rubber tubes hooked up to a large machine, which in turn is hooked up to the tanks. Decena stands close by the entire time. "Don't worry my Emperor. I'll make sure Elam doesn't push the controls too hard. Unlike him, I actually was born with a sense of safety." Zana says checking on your lines. "Well glad to have you working on this then." You respond. "I'm glad just to have this chance to work on this my Emperor. You don't know how long I've waited for the opportunity to work so closely on something directly involving you. It is a very great honor. One that I shall never forget for as long as I live." Zana says and leaves smiling at you and Decena to check on what Elam is doing. As you're mentally attempting to prepare yourself, suddenly Decena whispers in your ear. "I don't trust her." Decena says. "What?" you answer. "Zana. I don't trust her. Something doesn't feel right about her." "Like what? Did she say or do something? Because I rechecked her file that the Eyes had on her and she's nothing but clean. Well maybe except a lack of judgment in sexing up Elam on occasion, but I can't imagine there are a lot of choices in human males in New Dessel." "I dunno. It's her tone. The way she's being so eager to please. It's almost as if she's trying too hard and has a hidden agenda." "So what are you saying?" "I don't want her on this project. I feel you're in direct danger with her at the helm of those controls." Decena is quite serious in this accusation and you have no idea how to respond. "Decena, Zana worked on this right along side Elam." "Well I don't know, maybe they're in it together! Or just have Elam perform this procedure, I don't care, but I DON'T want that woman involved in this procedure any longer!" At this point Decena has made enough noise to call the attention of several people, including Zana and Elam who come over. "What seems to be the problem my Emperor? Are you having last minute concerns? If so, we can call a halt to this…" Elam asks. "No, Elam. I'm fine. Decena is just having I believe some last minute concerns." "My Empress, as I said, I will make sure that your beloved…" Zana starts to say before being interrupted. "Silence bitch!" Decena snaps and everyone is silent. "I don't know what you have planned exactly, but let me make this clear. I DON'T TRUST YOU. And I don't want YOU working on this project any longer!" Decena says. "My Emperor, with all due respect, I need Zana to help me with this!" Elam exclaims. At this point Zana begins to protest her innocence in a polite way, trying very hard not to sound out of line, but Decena isn't hearing any of it and even draws her pistol. "Decena, are you sure you're not just scared that I'm going to die and deep down you don't want me to go through with this because you want me around a little longer?" you ask. Decena grabs your hand and looks straight at you. "My love, there are many times you could've died and while it was always a concern, I always accepted it as a possibility. If you died in battle, then it would have purpose at least. You would have been serving the Empire. Even if you died of old age or some other natural cause I could accept it because you would have still died serving the Empire. And IF you die in this process then I can accept it, because you will be dying to secure the future of the Empire." Decena pauses and takes a deep breath and turns to everyone else while pointing at Zana. "But I cannot accept you going helplessly into danger like this. THIS woman has ill intent. I FEEL it in my heart. I FEEL it in what I guess would be my soul. EVERY warning, EVERY instinct about her is telling me that she is wishing you unwell. All of us perhaps. I can't even prove it, but I don't need to when I FEEL it." Decena then turns back to you. "My love, if you genuinely believe this woman has no ill intent then I will as always defer to your judgment, however if you trust my judgment on this matter even a little bit, then I beg of you to let me kill her where she stands." At this point both Zana and Elam's eyes widen. The nearby technicians almost shuffle back as if not wishing to get caught in the fallout. Even Brenda and Warrick are a little surprised by this. Elam at this point once again begs you not to kill Zana as he needs her for this project to work. Zana stays silent, though she probably believes that anything she'd say at this point might cause Decena to shoot her anyway. And here you thought the only thing you were going to have to worry about today was trying to stay alive long enough to create some fertile Eternals… > You believe Decena She might be completely wrong, but if she really feels this strongly on this matter you'll honor her judgment. "Warrick. Brenda." You say and with a glance they know and walk towards Zana who continues to remain in shock. "No…no!" she shouts and before she can run, Warrick and Brenda both restrain her. She struggles a bit, but then stops. "Elam, can you do this yourself? Honestly answer the question!" you demand and stare at him. Elam begins to stammer and stutter, but with your eyes piercing him, he looks sadly over at Zana, who looks on helplessly and can't believe that even he would turn against her. "ELAM! NO!" she shouts. "Yes…I can my Emperor, but I do need someone to watch the gauges, and levels…" Elam says in defeat. You think this is the first time you've ever seen him in such a mood. He must've had deeper feelings for the girl and she wasn't just the occasional fling. "Good. Gregory! You're doing that now." "Um, I am my Emperor?" While Gregory is pondering his new position, you turn back to Zana. "My apologies Zana, but this is your ruler's final judgment on the matter. Take solace in the fact that you've served the Empire well and that any family you may have will be…" "FUCK YOU TYRANT!" Zana shouts, nearly causing Decena to shoot her, but you tell her to hold fire. "Decena, stop. Zana has at least earned herself a proper execution rather than being shot like a rabid dog. I'll look past her current outburst since I understand that she…" "I said FUCK YOU. You don't know SHIT about me! And if it wasn't for your bitch queen here, this would've went smoothly. Oh how sweet that would've been to have seen the look of shock on your face as you and all your dreams of fertile Eternals was destroyed before your eyes." Zana exclaims with her face turning into an angry sneer. Now everyone is looking at Zana and Decena's gut instinct has been vindicated. "Who are you? I mean who are you really? Did Semra put you up to this?" you demand. "I'm nobody. Nobody of importance at least not until YOU came around and killed my entire family!" Zana says. "Do you have any idea how little that narrows it down?" you ask. "I was going to be a princess! I would've ruled a kingdom one day! YOU and YOUR EMPIRE destroyed all that before I even had a chance to enjoy a taste of such a life! Klemto didn't just save a random Felkan baby, he saved an HEIR TO THE FELKAN FUCKING KINGDOM!" Zana shouts. It was a very long time ago. Almost a different life even, but you vaguely remember seeing a crib in the Felkan royal palace, yet no baby or even signs of a dead one. You never thought too much of it at the time, but apparently even though Zana was just an infant, Klemto must've told her about her real heritage. He probably lied to you thinking that you would've had her killed. "Because of YOU, I've had to live a miserable existence working on machinery surrounded by fucking GNOMES! You know what that's like? Being the only human in community of damn gnomes? It SUCKS! Then when some humans do fucking arrive, they're from the same nation that destroyed my birthright! It almost sickened me to even sleep with this crazy fool!" This news causes Elam to collapse on the floor. He can't believe the woman he's worked with so closely and shared a bed with is admitting to trying to assassinate you. (As well as having a low opinion of him) "You really think I was going to let you breed a set of new Empire abominations that could possibly keep it going even longer? Possibly even forever? Never! How long must she have been waiting for the right time to strike? Was it always this way or did it slowly gnaw at her? A life that was stolen from her. Did Klemto or the gnomes put her up to this? Was this their plan in some weird way? "Okay, since you're in a talkative mood, did Klemto or any gnome put you up to this?" you ask. "What? So you'll have an excuse to round them all up and destroy their souls again? I heard about what you did to them. And maybe I might find them to be timid, tiresome unattractive little know it alls, I find it deplorable what the Empire did to them. I can't believe they allowed themselves to be dominated by a nation that systematically exterminated them from not just this life, but the next as well!" "So did they help or not?" you ask again. "No! No they did not! My father would've probably had me jailed if he knew what I was planning. Those cowards wouldn't dare stand against the Empire, but I fucking would! And did! Not that this will save them. After you're done killing me, you'll probably have them all killed as well for any excuse will serve a tyrant!" "It's amusing that you keep calling me that. What did you think your parents were? They were a KING and QUEEN. You think they ruled by popular decision? Do you think YOU would have if you became queen? My actions that day weren't even personal. I was just following orders like a soldier. Your actions however today are misguided and fatal. Such a waste. Even had I known your origins, I would not have had you killed if you had remained true to serving the Empire. Your quest for vengeance was as pointless as your entire life. Take her away." As Brenda and Warrick begin to drag Zana off, she struggles once again and this time manages to get free of Brenda's grip. Then she presses some sort of device underneath her sleeve and an electric shock zaps Warrick causing him to also lose his grip and fall backwards. "Not how I wanted to do it, but just as good!" Zana says grinning and reveals a bomb strapped under her clothes. She takes one step towards you and Decena shoots her in the head. She falls backwards and before the bomb explodes, you raise your hands up (ripping the straps and ripping out some of your attachments in the process) and create a barrier protecting Decena, Elam and yourself. The bomb explodes and you look on sadly as you see Brenda and Warrick caught in the immediate blast. A few of the other technicians are killed too. (Gregory fled and hid as soon as things started looking hostile!) After its all said and done, many of the tanks have been destroyed, though not completely a problem since you had a thousand of them. Some of the hundred you were using were unfortunately damaged, but new babies can be acquired. Some of the equipment was damaged, but again not too much of a problem since it can be fixed, rebuilt or replaced and the main piece was protected by the barrier. While Decena unhooks your from all your attachments, Elam is silent the whole time. He's utterly in shock by everything that's happened. "I had no idea…I mean…" he utters and then turns to you. "I swear my Emperor I didn't know!" "Calm yourself Elam, nobody's executing you, especially when you've still got a job to do. Besides, nobody apparently knew, well except my lovely wife here." You say and look at Decena. "I'm just glad you're all right, but this sets our goals back! And Brenda and Warrick! (sniff)" Decena remarks getting a little upset over their deaths and hugs you. "I know…I know. It was no way for them to die. There almost isn't anything left to…well give a funeral. (sigh) I'll sort out what's left of them put them in the same coffin and burn it. They can least be sent on their way together. We can have a formal memorial for them both later. As for our plans, they may be set back, but not by much. You turn to Elam. "Elam I want all the damaged equipment fixed as soon as possible. Gregory and the rest can help with that. Also catch Gregory up to speed on what his role will be on this project, because we WILL be doing it as soon as possible. In the meantime, I'll have to appoint a new Sightmaster and have the Eyes get all new candidates again, but before they do that, going to have to purge New Dessel." "You are?" Decena asks. "Do you really see any choice? You didn't trust Zana on pure instinct and you were correct. How can I trust that she was telling the truth that the gnomes didn't have anything to do with this? Maybe not even all of them knew. Maybe Klemto anticipated she'd eventually seek revenge and just took a hands off approach so that he couldn't be directly implemented. Maybe they're all genuinely innocent. Doesn't matter. We're trying to secure the future of the Empire and its obvious the gnomes are a potential threat." You chuckle at that last remark. "I can't believe it. I sounded just like Casimir. Guess dad would be proud." You say. "Okay, so how do you want to handle that? As you know that mountain city is a fairly well defended fortress." Decena asks "Yes, and things have changed severely since then. We've already got a large number of Eyes positioned in that city. All we have to do is send in another large group, telling the gnomes that it's a routine changing of the guard and when they're in, they unleash the death. Make no mistake this isn't going to be an honorable action and it will be ugly, but it will be the easiest way to do it and the fact that it will get done is the important thing." "Agreed. Long live the Empire." Decena says. The project is set back at least a couple of months. The purging of New Dessel takes awhile due to the gnomes locking themselves in hard to reach sections of the city, but eventually the entire city is purged. You at last finished what Casimir started though really you wish it hadn't been necessary. You never hated them. Klemto just saved the wrong baby and brought death on them all because of it. In any event, mostly technicians, inventors and other human families with members that have similar mechanical or scientific skills will resettle New Dessel. A giant memorial is held for Brenda and Warrick. Heroes of the Empire that shall never be forgotten, right along side Roldan and Kane. Even though Decena is by your side, you can't help but feel a great sense of loss. They were the last of your "siblings" and now you are alone. In fact you may even be joining them soon. You weep privately for them both. Eventually Elam and Gregory have all the equipment fixed and ready again and the Eyes have the suitable candidates ready. You return with Decena to complete the task you originally set out to do. Once again you're strapped and hooked up to the modified torture chair. Elam is remarkably subdued. You're guessing he's still taking Zana's betrayal hard. Still, perhaps its good, it will give him more focus on what is important, serving the Empire. As you prepare you and Decena exchange one kiss for what might be the last time. Elam pulls the lever and the process begins. Lights, buzzing, rumbling, and all manner of machinery noises can be heard throughout the room. The oddest thing is you're not feeling as much pain as you thought you would. There is definitely a tingling sensation and it feels as if all your hair is standing on end, but you've felt things a lot more painful. You are however feeling very tired and it is all very draining. Eventually you can't fight it anymore and you fall unconscious… Hours later you wake up on a bed still hooked up to a machine. You feel very weak, but apparently you've survived the process. Decena, Elam and several physicians stand around you. "I'm…I'm…alive?" you say. "Shhh. Don't speak too much. You really need to conserve your strength." Decena remarks. "Did…did it work?" you ask. "Well I suppose we won't really know until several years from now, but Elam says he feels the results are very positive. He says there's been a side effect he didn't anticipate." Decena says. "Side effect?" "Yes, my Emperor. Your magical energy actually gave all the candidates an innate magic ability. I mean again, obviously we can't see exactly what that means now, but I fully anticipate that these Eternals are also going to have magic abilities. Possibly on par with your own. It's almost as if your own DNA rewrote their genetic code." Elam just said something that no one except he understood. "Erm. It's something I've been theorizing about. It's uh…technical talk, don't worry about it. Basically though what it means is its almost as if you personally created all these children the old fashioned way. You're the father of a hundred children. I… uh guess congratulations are in order." Elam says and shakes your hand which is still weak. "Sheesh. Thanks I guess." You say. "There is one thing I really should tell you though, Emperor. It's your condition. While you've survived the process, I fear it has taken a toll on your body. Your life span has probably shortened quite a bit. I mean I dunno how much, but…" "Elam, I didn't even anticipate living through this process so whatever I got left will be just a bonus. Really I didn't even expect to live this long and if events had gone a certain way, I wouldn't have even made it out of the crib. I'll tell you this though, I'm going to TRY to live long enough to make sure this process worked. And if it didn't well you can strap me to the chair and try again!" Elam smiles and says that he'll try to do everything he can to extend your lifespan a little longer and reassures you that you won't be dying tomorrow. At this point Elam excuses himself saying he and Gregory should make a routine check on the tanks again. The others follow his lead. As the others leave Decena stays by your side. She says nothing and just looks lovingly at you though you feel a bit sad. "I'm sorry, you'll have to take care of a feeble old man now." You say. "Shh, that doesn't matter. I love you." "I'm also sorry that…well…I just had one hundred children and you weren't directly involved." "Ha ha! You think I care about that? I'm THRILLED that you did! It means that you'll live forever after all! I knew you'd find a way somehow." "But what about you?" "I always expected to die someday and I'm fine with that. What matters is that YOU live forever. Because as long as you live forever, then the Empire lives forever and if the Empire lives forever then I live forever. As do all those that have served it loyally. As will all Eternals. This is just the beginning my love. You have created a new race. One superior to all those before it." Decena proceeds to give you a kiss and hug you. You enjoy her warmth and realize even if you did die right now, it would be a perfect death.

Elam's always had wild ideas, but this "immortality" plan just sounds too far-fetched and quite frankly more than a little risky. You'd be sacrificing the original plan entirely just to what? Live forever as a brain in a tank? What kind of life is that? Even if something were set up so you could interact with the outside world, you'd still be very limited. Never again could you lift a weapon or cast a spell and face your enemies in battle. Never again could you enjoy the company of Decena in a meaningful way. And what of other potential mates when you eventually outlive her? You can't imagine how you could be satisfied with the existence even if you did manage to conquer the rest of the world. Who knows what the long-term effects would be. You still think you'd probably go mad eventually. If the immortality involved your current body, you're not even sure you'd accept it. Not with how much you ache on a regular basis. No, immortality was never in the cards for you. This "life" wasn't even supposed to happen, so why entertain an impossible dream? You've achieved much in this life and if the end is coming soon then so be it. "I'm not spending the rest of my life as a disembodied brain for any reason. We're sticking with the original plan regardless of the consequences. However, I'm also not quite eager to shuffle off this mortal coil just yet, so we're going to take the safety precautions and try to keep me alive. So when are we to start?" "Uh...well, whenever you are of course my Emperor. I mean you'll have to collect the babies for this project first, then after that's done, we can get started." Elam says. "Okay then, I'll have the Eyes gather candidates right away. In fact, given the nature of this project, I'm going to tell them to get an equal amount of males and females. As for you two I want you to gather whatever staff and equipment you need." Elam and Zana both acknowledge your command and leave when you dismiss them. Elam makes one last attempt at asking if you're sure you don't want to be immortal to which you tell him you've made your decision. Now all you have to do is tell Decena which you do so later that night. "…so that's the process. If it succeeds spectacularly I'll still be alive and we'll have fertile new eternals. If it fails spectacularly then none of that will be true." You finish explaining to her. "And you're sure this is what you want to do?" Decena asks. "Of course I am. Why wouldn't I be?" "Well I wasn't aware that Elam had found a potential way to keep you alive forever." "As a brain in a jar or tank or whatever? You really think I'd want to live like that? He needs more time to perfect the process anyway and who know how long that would be if ever?" "No, I suppose you're right. I wouldn't like to live like that either. Who wants to live forever right? But about this other process, you'll be putting your life in danger, are you certain it will work?" "Elam and this Zana are both confident that it will. While Elam's always been a bit on the eccentric side and prone to take risks, he's always come through on his projects and Zana's likely to err on the cautious side anyway due to being raised by gnomes. In any case I'm more than willing to take this risk if it's going to bring about what we've been talking about for the last few years." Decena smiles at your response. "I think that's one of many the things that I've always loved about you. Your willingness to put yourself at risk for the good of the Empire. You've never been one of those rulers that has shied away from potential danger. There is one thing I ask though. I mean regardless of whether or not the process is successful, if you don't survive it. I mean if this indeed it, I want to be with you during this moment." Decena says holding your hand. "Of course. You'll always be by my side." You answer and kiss her. After a bit more discussion, it's also agreed upon that Brenda and Warrick should probably be there as well. Over the next few days, the Eyes acquire the Eternal candidates and soon everything is ready. You arrive at the Eternal factory with Decena, Brenda and Warrick. Elam, Zana, and several technician and physician types run around hooking up strange machinery and placing the babies in the tanks. Gregory is also here and goes up to you nervously telling you that he's very concerned, as none of this extra equipment looks very safe. Eventually Elam and Zana approach. "Everything is ready my Emperor! One hundred candidates all hooked up in the tanks, all we need is to strap you in to that chair over there and we can get started." Elam points to a chair that looks more like a torture device you've had used on enemies before…in fact you think it IS and Elam's just modified it! "I have to say you're a braver man than I." Warrick says clapping you on the shoulder. "Yeah, I mean I'm just looking at that thing and it looks painful." Brenda says. "Well I have faith that you'll laugh off any pain and come out of this alive." Decena exclaims. "Glad to hear someone that's optimistic about this. Well no point in drawing this out, let's do this." You say and walk towards the chair. Sit in the chair and get strapped in. This is followed by several painful needles being stuck in your arms, legs and chest with rubber tubes hooked up to a large machine, which in turn is hooked up to the tanks. Decena stands close by the entire time. "Don't worry my Emperor. I'll make sure Elam doesn't push the controls too hard. Unlike him, I actually was born with a sense of safety." Zana says checking on your lines. "Well glad to have you working on this then." You respond. "I'm glad just to have this chance to work on this my Emperor. You don't know how long I've waited for the opportunity to work so closely on something directly involving you. It is a very great honor. One that I shall never forget for as long as I live." Zana says and leaves smiling at you and Decena to check on what Elam is doing. As you're mentally attempting to prepare yourself, suddenly Decena whispers in your ear. "I don't trust her." Decena says. "What?" you answer. "Zana. I don't trust her. Something doesn't feel right about her." "Like what? Did she say or do something? Because I rechecked her file that the Eyes had on her and she's nothing but clean. Well maybe except a lack of judgment in sexing up Elam on occasion, but I can't imagine there are a lot of choices in human males in New Dessel." "I dunno. It's her tone. The way she's being so eager to please. It's almost as if she's trying too hard and has a hidden agenda." "So what are you saying?" "I don't want her on this project. I feel you're in direct danger with her at the helm of those controls." Decena is quite serious in this accusation and you have no idea how to respond. "Decena, Zana worked on this right along side Elam." "Well I don't know, maybe they're in it together! Or just have Elam perform this procedure, I don't care, but I DON'T want that woman involved in this procedure any longer!" At this point Decena has made enough noise to call the attention of several people, including Zana and Elam who come over. "What seems to be the problem my Emperor? Are you having last minute concerns? If so, we can call a halt to this…" Elam asks. "No, Elam. I'm fine. Decena is just having I believe some last minute concerns." "My Empress, as I said, I will make sure that your beloved…" Zana starts to say before being interrupted. "Silence bitch!" Decena snaps and everyone is silent. "I don't know what you have planned exactly, but let me make this clear. I DON'T TRUST YOU. And I don't want YOU working on this project any longer!" Decena says. "My Emperor, with all due respect, I need Zana to help me with this!" Elam exclaims. At this point Zana begins to protest her innocence in a polite way, trying very hard not to sound out of line, but Decena isn't hearing any of it and even draws her pistol. "Decena, are you sure you're not just scared that I'm going to die and deep down you don't want me to go through with this because you want me around a little longer?" you ask. Decena grabs your hand and looks straight at you. "My love, there are many times you could've died and while it was always a concern, I always accepted it as a possibility. If you died in battle, then it would have purpose at least. You would have been serving the Empire. Even if you died of old age or some other natural cause I could accept it because you would have still died serving the Empire. And IF you die in this process then I can accept it, because you will be dying to secure the future of the Empire." Decena pauses and takes a deep breath and turns to everyone else while pointing at Zana. "But I cannot accept you going helplessly into danger like this. THIS woman has ill intent. I FEEL it in my heart. I FEEL it in what I guess would be my soul. EVERY warning, EVERY instinct about her is telling me that she is wishing you unwell. All of us perhaps. I can't even prove it, but I don't need to when I FEEL it." Decena then turns back to you. "My love, if you genuinely believe this woman has no ill intent then I will as always defer to your judgment, however if you trust my judgment on this matter even a little bit, then I beg of you to let me kill her where she stands." At this point both Zana and Elam's eyes widen. The nearby technicians almost shuffle back as if not wishing to get caught in the fallout. Even Brenda and Warrick are a little surprised by this. Elam at this point once again begs you not to kill Zana as he needs her for this project to work. Zana stays silent, though she probably believes that anything she'd say at this point might cause Decena to shoot her anyway. And here you thought the only thing you were going to have to worry about today was trying to stay alive long enough to create some fertile Eternals… > You let Zana live As much as Decena is just trying to look out for you, you can't imagine that if Zana was up to something you wouldn't have caught it by now. Actually you'd be more worried if she wasn't on this project considering that she's been assisting Elam from day one. She's pretty much vital. "Decena, I tell you with absolute certainty that I trust this woman and do not believe she means any ill intent. I understand that you're concerned about my safety, but Zana is needed for this project and has proven her dedication to it from the beginning. Honestly, I'd rather have her around if only to keep Elam's tendency towards…overenthusiasm in check." "Emperor, I assure you, I will be…" Elam starts to say, but you interrupt him. "Yes, yes, I know. But as I said, I'd still feel comfortable with Zana assisting you. In any case, that is my decision Decena." Decena looks very apprehensive; she probably didn't think you'd side against her. She nearly starts to say "but…" however she stops herself and just gives you a nod. "Very well, as I said, I will defer to your judgement on this matter, but if anything starts going wrong, you know who's head is going to roll first." She says looking at Zana. "Well, I guess nothing better go wrong Zana." You say. "Nothing will go wrong, my Emperor. Everything will go according as planned, that I promise." Zana remarks. With that out of the way the procedure continues and you and Decena exchange one kiss for what might be the last time. Elam pulls the lever and the process begins. Lights, buzzing, rumbling, and all manner of machinery noises can be heard throughout the room. The oddest thing is you're not feeling as much pain as you thought you would. There is definitely a tingling sensation and it feels as if all your hair is standing on end, but you've felt things a lot more painful. You are however feeling very tired and it is all very draining. Eventually you can't fight it anymore and you start to fall unconscious… Then all of a sudden you feel a surge running all through your body, which wakes you back up. Your body begins to go into convulsions and you start to foam from the mouth. Basically you're being electrocuted. "Zana! There's something wrong! Turn down those dials!" Elam shouts, but Zana does nothing of the sort, instead she uses some sort of device that fries the controls and runs off pushing a technician out of the way. "SHIT! I KNEW IT! GET HER!" Decena shouts and attempts to untie your straps, but the electric pulse running through your body is so strong that the charge knocks her down and even stuns her. Elam runs attempt to turn off the machine from another source. Zana doesn't get far, as Warrick and Brenda easily catch her, but it's for naught as she reveals a bomb hidden on her person, blowing herself and them up as well. The blast also manages to destroy several tanks, machinery and kill several staff along with Elam. On the plus side, it stops the electrical current frying your body inside out, unfortunately its too late and you're well on your way to death. Your mind isn't even functioning anymore save for a faint sense that you're still alive. The secondary explosions from other machinery on fire finishes you off, along with Decena who doesn't recover fast enough to get out of the blast, though perhaps when she saw your own condition in those moments, she didn't want to go on. With the death of you and all the other top Eternals, the Empire soon descends into factions of the newer third and fourth generation Eternals fighting over who is the rightful "heir." The other races either get caught in the middle or break off into their own factions. This massive civil war would be the final days of the Empire.

Year 67 Peace is a good thing for most people and in your elderly years you can even sort of appreciate it a little more, but the problem is, you've got hundreds of new Eternals who have been bred and trained for war and nobody to send them up against. To be honest you thought maybe that Semra would make good on her claim of resurrecting the "Svelk Empire" again and perhaps invade with an armada filled with svelk warriors, but haven't heard or seen a svelk since you last spoke to her. Then again she did say it wouldn't happen in your lifetime. While you haven't put as much time and money into exploration any more, there are still efforts being made by private expeditions, but nobody has had much luck in finding any new lands worthwhile. In any event you're going to have to have them do something with them soon, just maybe not today. You also have to meet with Elam, since apparently he's come up with a possible solution to the sterility problem of the eternals. "Well, I'm sure we'll find something for them to do, but let me just say you've done a fine job with them as usual." You say to Brenda. "Thank you, but I don't think I'll be able to effectively train the next batch. At least not full time. Getting sort of…" "You don't need to say it. Trust me, we're all getting that way, don't worry I'm going to have Decena training the fifth gen. Training's definitely going to go a little differently, but then if my meeting with Elam is going to be a positive one then these next Eternals are going to be different anyway." "So the rumors are true? Elam's figured out a way?" "So he says. Trust me, I'm just as surprised as you are. In any case, I'm off to meet him." You bid Brenda goodbye and head to the location where new eternals are "born." When you arrive a couple of workers and ask if the children will be arriving today to which you reply no and ask if Elam has arrived yet. They tell you that Elam has indeed arrived and is waiting in Chief Supervisor Gregory's office. They also mention that a woman came with him. You have no idea who that could be. Girlfriend perhaps? If so, you honestly didn't know Elam even paid any attention to anything that wasn't scientifically related. You enter the office just in time to see Elam criticizing Gregory's lack of adventure in his chosen profession. "Bah! You've always been too cautious Gregory! Even the gnomes with all their needless safety pre-cautions aren't as timid! That's why you're still here watching tanks and I'm creating new and better things for the Empire!" Elam boasts. "Really…I'm fine…I like it here…" Gregory says quietly and then looks in your direction and straightens up in his chair. "See? What did I tell you Zana? Same ol' Gregory! Hah! Oh Emperor! Didn't see you there! Apologies." You tell everyone to dismiss the formalities and tell Gregory to leave as you have important business with Elam. He nods, and leaves. The woman though does not. You have no idea who she except she looks to be in her thirties, wears spectacles, has long curly red hair and is dressed in technician's clothing similar to Elam. "I trust this woman is somehow important to what we have to discuss, otherwise you would not have her here?" you say sitting down. "Oh! Yes, apologies once again. This is Zana, and she's been invaluable in helping me on not just this project, but on several others in the past." Elam says. "Zana? Why have I not heard of her before? I know the gnomes let Elam into their city on my insistence, but I didn't realize we had another human inventor there." You say. "Oh, she was born there, Emperor." "What?" At this point Zana speaks for herself. "Actually Elam as I've told you once before, I wasn't born in New Dessle I was just raised there. Sometimes I wonder how you invent so well with your memory as foggy as it is. At least our Emperor has a good reason for not remembering me. He has an entire Empire to rule." Zana says playfully pushing his shoulder. "Wait. We've met?" you ask. "Oh yes. We briefly met when you first incorporated New Dessle into the Empire. I'm Klemto's adopted daughter." That was so long ago, you barely remember, though you're starting to now. Yes, she was only a teenager then. "Ah yes…starting to remember. I remember you ran up to Klemto telling him that you wanted to help fix your lighting system. Klemto gave you permission, but was slightly embarrassed that you interrupted his meeting with me and then only briefly greeted me before running off." "Good memory. I know it's late, but I apologize for my impetuous youthful ways." "None necessary. Wasn't offended then either, in fact I remember applauding Klemto for raising such a child that wished to serve their community in a meaningful way." "I thank you my Emperor. And I have continued to serve the Empire in the same way." "I believe it, otherwise Elam wouldn't have you here, so I'm guessing you both must have come up with a solution to our problem. So let's discuss that, shall we?" Elam begins to excitedly tell you about all the tests they did and a lot of scientific talk without actually getting to the point. He particularly enjoys talking about how some of the fourth generation eternals you granted him permission to take for testing years ago, managed to reproduce under the right conditions. He mentions it was only the one girl and she died in the process, but the child she gave birth too managed to actually survive for a few minutes. When this doesn't exactly fill you with confidence, Zana speaks up again. "What Elam means to say, that despite the limited success, we have definitely found a way to make the next set of Eternals fertile. The magical process is what is causing the problem. At first we thought it was too much magic, but in actuality it's too little." Zana explains. "Really?" "Yes, despite enhancing many of the traits of the eternals with each generation, the magical energy has been too specific in its task. The Eternal's body should be completely immersed in the energy while in the tank and then the appropriate chemical mixtures can be added, and then…well I won't bore you again with technical talk. Rest assured though we both believe very strongly that it will work. "So…what? Do we need to sacrifice an entire mage for a single fertile Eternal?" you ask. "Well…that would work, if you had the numbers, but from what I do know, magic has been on the decline for some time now. There are…what? Like twenty mages in the whole Empire now? Most of which are old men and women and none of them particularly very powerful. Not powerful enough for our purposes even if we did completely drain them. Honestly we would need someone with at least the power that Galen had, but unfortunately as you know we used him as a test subject, which ended up helping us come to this conclusion in the first place. Not all is lost and we can still accomplish this, but…" Zana hesitates to even speak it and even Elam who is usually in an excited state is very somber looking. You get the impression you already know where they're going to go with this… "Let me guess. I have to sacrifice myself." You say. Elam and Zana don't answer. "Well?" "Yes, but we still aren't sure about the results, I mean this isn't an exact science… I mean…" "Not an exact science? Then what the fuck are we talking about Elam? Zana just said she was certain it would work! Now you're telling me it might not and I'm supposed to kill myself in the process?" "No! That's not what I mean! (Exhale) Look what I mean is I believe we can set it up so you'll be able to survive the process. I mean you're so powerful and your magical abilities are vast. I mean even for a man your age you're in good physical condition and you can withstand more pain than most. I can't believe I'm saying this, but…I THINK if we take the necessary safety precautions, you'll be able to survive this process, but the downside is we're not going to be able to do this with a thousand or even half that number of potential eternal candidates. We can do it with a hundred maximum and you will definitely lose all your magical abilities in the process." Elam says and is beginning to sweat. "And what do you say about this Zana? Do you believe this could be done?" "I won't lie. I don't know. I mean yes it is possible if we were very careful and severely lowered the amount of Eternal candidates, you might survive, but I just don't know. I do know that the process will still result in the desired outcome for the Eternals though." "However, there is another process that Zana and I have discussed that may be more desirable to you." Elam suddenly exclaims. Elam takes a deep breath and asks you. "How would you like to be immortal?" "This is a joke right?" "No joke my Emperor. I'm very serious." Elam says and you have no doubt that he is, though Zana looks skeptical. "Elam, the Emperor wants to hear real solutions, not theories." "It's no theory! I'm starting to get results! In fact I dare say I'm even more certain about this approach than the one with the Eternals! Emperor, if you give me a little more time to perfect the…" "Elam, will you explain from the beginning for once?!" you shout. "Yes. Apologies my Emperor. Okay. It's going to sound crazy, but then I'm sure the concept of a ship that flies in the air did once too right? I believe I've found a way to keep a person alive long after their body has died." Already you're joining Zana in your skepticism. "Sounds like magic to me. Specifically necromancy. Last I remember you weren't a necromancer Elam and I have no intention on being some mindless walking corpse." "No it's not raising the dead, it's science! No magic involved at all! In fact YOU wouldn't have to do much of anything. Y'see, all I need is your brain." Elam says with a creepy grin. Well this conversation has taken an interesting turn. "Elam I don't know if you're aware, but I sort of need that to live in the first place." "(Sigh) What my over zealous colleague is trying to say is he's been doing experiments in his spare time on various human subjects. Well, not ALL human subjects, but specifically the brain. He's managed to remove entire brains and keep the subject alive." Zana interjects. "WHAT?! I just said I have no intention on walking around like a mindless corpse!" you exclaim. "No, he's not keeping the subject's bodies alive. He's been able to keep the brains alive. At least for a little while…" "I'll be able to keep them alive indefinitely with a little more time!" Elam exclaims. Now this conversation has just gotten weird. You rub your face and head with your hands and try to assess the situation. "Okay wait. Let me get this straight. You're saying you can remove my brain and keep me alive? How? Where the hell would I be? How would I do anything?" "Well that's why I need a little more time. However, YOU would be floating in a tank filled with certain chemicals." "Floating in a tank?" "Yes, well at least temporarily. I mean I believe we could in time hook you up to a machine system so that perhaps your brain waves could control something like the automatons that we create in New Dessel. I believe with your innate magic powers you could probably tap into some sort of telepathic ability with the right jolts of electricity to the tank. You'd be able to give orders to people through their minds so communication might not be a problem…" Elam says and continues speaking, but you're starting to get overwhelmed. This is absolutely insane what you're hearing. And not just the brain part, you mean all of it. Even the way to make the Eternals fertile sounds crazy. Especially given some of the experiments that were performed in order to explore the possibility in the first place. Now Elam's telling you he's been cutting brains out of people and keeping them alive and he's suggesting on putting YOU in a tank. You can't help but see the irony of being in a tank for the rest of your life. And the strangest part about all this? You're more than willing to entertain both ideas. If you sacrifice yourself so that the new eternals can breed then it won't be one in vain. Quite frankly how many more worthwhile years do you have left anyway? Maybe it would be better to die so that a legacy of sorts can live forever. Besides, there is always the possibility that you could survive the process. Of course there's always the chance it could all fail horribly. Elam and Zana may seem very certain that it will work, but you still have your reservations. As crazy as Elam's idea sounds, part of it intrigues you. Immortality would give you that time you always wanted in past. Time enough to conquer the world. With immortality, you wouldn't need to worry about some sort of legacy, you would always be. He says he needs more time to work on it though which is a concern, then there's the fact that you'd be floating in a tank. Would you grow bored? Would you go mad? Would you even be "you?" Elam said there would be the possibility of setting something up so you could interact with the outside world, but again who knows if that will even work? You've got a decision and you need to make one or the other. > You immortality It's surely a mad plan that sounds impossible, but yet the appeal is there. Even you can't believe you're actually going for it, but deep down this is something you feel you need to do. This idea of having fertile Eternals to "carry on" your legacy is a nice idea, but ultimately it isn't "you." Only you can lead the Empire to world order. Not to mention there is a risk of you dying in the process of creating said Eternals and then you'd have wait at least twelve or thirteen years just to see if the process literally produced positive results. If you're going to have to risk your life and wait around, you'd rather do it for the chance at immortality. And given all the other wonders and feats you've seen or even done in this world who is to say this isn't possible? Like Elam said, the concept of a machine like an airship was impossible at one time as well. "How long would I have to wait for you to perfect this process you're proposing?" you ask Elam, who gives a big grin at your willingness to choose his new plan. "Not long a assure you my Emperor! As I said, I've already had limited success on a few test subjects already! In your case though, I will need to build a suitable containment for when…well you ascend to a higher state of being." Zana is shaking her head at this idea. "My Emperor, while I know the desire for immortality is tempting, I really have to advise against this. Elam's enthusiasm is far exceeding what is reality! While it is true he's managed to keep a few animal brains alive for a few minutes, I'm fairly sure that that will be the extent of it. This isn't even taking all the other risks and unforeseen problems that there will surely be. There is only so much science can do, it can't conquer death." Zana says. "Your concerns are dully noted Zana. Elam, you will have any and all resources available to you for this project." You say. "I won't fail you my Emperor. This will work I guarantee it!" "Hrm. Well let's sure hope so, because I'm putting my trust behind it and throwing away a plan that will not get the chance to be implemented again. In any event, I want to keep very close eye on this project. You said you're going to have to build a container for me, well if I am going to spend the rest of my life in a tank, then it needs to be at my home. So I'm going to have the entire under palace cleared and open for this project to go down there. There should be more than enough room and if not, we'll make additions. But you'll be becoming a permanent fixture at the palace." You say. "I understand. Again, I thank you for this opportunity my Emperor." Elam responds. You tell Elam for him to get all of his equipment, staff and whatever else he currently needs together and arrangements will be made to have it hauled to the palace. Zana says she's still skeptical of this plan, but if this is what you wish and if Elam still wants her help, then she will of course serve. Naturally Elam wants her working with him on this project. Having settled on a new plan, all you have to do now is inform Decena… "You're going to have your what put in a what?" she exclaims. "My brain would be placed in a tank of special chemicals. Elam says that due to my magic powers I could still communicate mentally with people with the proper electrical charges attached…" you don't even get to finish, Decena is too overwhelmed by this information. "This…this…can't work? Can it? I mean…it sounds so impossible!" "I know. Trust me, when Elam explained it, I thought the same thing, but…I have to try. I mean the other plan was nice and all, but really the risks were just as great and still involved an uncertain success as far as I was concerned." "Yeah I know you explained that plan, but…it sounded at least like they were ready to enact it. This one is going to involve more testing and who know how much more time? You'll still have to risk your life and…" You stop Decena. "Decena, weren't you the one that always believed I could find a way to be immortal?" "Well yes, but I dunno…a brain in a tank? Is that really living?" "Well Elam said that perhaps arrangements and improvements could be made in the future and that perhaps I could actually leave the tank via one of those automatons that we used in the Nakol and Iznac Wars. Look, the idea of being a disembodied brain isn't exactly ideal, but at this point I'm starting to feel so much pain in my body on a daily basis that I'd almost be relieved to shed this old shell at this point. And what's the alternative? Hope that a generation of Eternals can follow in my, or even your footsteps just because they can reproduce? Can't do it. I have to shoulder the majority of the burden of keeping the Empire running. Nobody else. I have to attempt this plan and this is a worthwhile risk in my mind that I can take." "But…what about us? I mean…if this is all successful and everything goes well. How will our relationship remain as it is now?" Decena touches your hand and then your face as if it'll be the last time she'll get to do it. You return her closeness, as you understand her concern. "Decena, I know it will be difficult. Honestly if this process goes through successfully, you're right our relationship will be very different, and perhaps you will be unable to love me in such a form, but… Now Decena stops you. "My glorious Emperor, don't you know by now that I will always love you no matter what your form? That will never change. It's just that I would miss the warmth of your body next to mine, our lips touching when we embrace. I can't say that I am entirely sure of this plan, but I will as always defer and respect your judgment on this matter. If you believe this is possible, then I can think of nothing greater than your everlasting ruler ship over this world." And with this validation, you feel slightly better about your decision. Even though you never doubted that Decena wouldn't be behind you, it's still good to hear. Your "siblings" on the other hand are a lot less supportive on the matter however. "What?! I thought you were going through with the plan to create fertile Eternals!" Brenda exclaims. "Yeah, I mean granted that plan sounded a little far fetched, but it seemed like it might be plausible. This just sounds well…insane." Warrick adds. The conversation doesn't get any better from there. Brenda is probably more upset because of your plans to abandon the Eternal project entirely and place all resources into this immortality plan. You explain that for right now there isn't any need for more Eternals due to having nowhere to really send the current fourth gens a place to fight anyway. No point in creating more super soldiers when you've already got more than enough right now and no war to which to send them. Naturally Brenda sees this a sort of betrayal. She has grown attached to the younger Eternals and does see them as successors or in her case her surrogate children. You remind her though that they are neither. They are tools to the Empire just as you all were when you all were created. This doesn't go over well with Brenda. "So what, are we ALL just your tools too then?" Brenda asks. "Brenda, I didn't say you…" you start to say, but are interrupted. "No, you said we're all just tools for the Empire. That includes all of us. Look, maybe YOU got the chance to be the right hand of our old Emperor, and you have become his successor, but YOU also started out just like Warrick and I did!" "Brenda, I think you need to calm down, I'm sure he didn't…" Warrick says, but she won't hear him. "No Warrick, this needs to be said." She says and turns back to you. You don't say anything you're content on listening to her rant. "This plan of yours is vanity, pure and simple. Is your ego such that you cannot even accept your own WIFE taking over after you die? Would you really throw away a good chance of creating fertile Eternals who will carry on the Empire for a remote chance of living forever? You may rule the Empire, but do you really consider yourself bigger than it?" You've heard enough and put up your hand. "Brenda. I've allowed your outburst because you're right, we three did start out together. I even see you as siblings of a sort and of course as friends. We all trained under that sadistic svelk bitch until the two of you were lucky enough to be separated. And yes you two were the lucky ones, because quite frankly sometimes I envy your ignorance on everything you're STILL in the dark about. But shall I tell you? Seems like a perfect time." You start off by telling Brenda that Roldan wasn't killed by a simple undead shadow assassin and in fact Semra had nothing to do with it like the Emperor's propaganda said. You explain that the Emperor had Roldan killed just like he had your wife Alison killed AND was planning to kill you. The reveal is definitely a shock to both Brenda and Warrick. You continue by admitting that you weren't even meant to be an Eternal in the first place. That you were a candidate by a red tape mistake and it was that same mistake that ultimately resulted in Casimir's death. "So Brenda, as you can see, perhaps I'm not entirely attached to the Eternals, because I wasn't meant to be one in the first place. Yet here I am. Perhaps I seek immortality because I took it from Casimir. Casimir ruled the Empire for centuries and what did he do with it? Nothing much. I've ruled it for significantly less time and look at what it's become. THINK what I could do if I had more time. I've built this nation to be better than it was. I've expanded its glory. I've defended its honor. I've sacrificed for it. I've done everything short of DIE for it and if I thought it would secure its continual future, then yes I would do that too." You move closer to Brenda and Warrick who sit in silence listening to your speech. "You ask if I think I'm bigger than the Empire. No, I don't…I AM the fucking Empire." You stare at them both very intensely. "And only I can live forever." You end your speech telling them both that this is the way things are going to be and that they are welcome to be part of it as always. And if they aren't willing, then they had best stay out of the way. > Year 72 You have to admit as the years passed by on this project, you'd wondered if you were just chasing a dream, but it looks like that dream will soon be a reality. Research has been tested, advancements have been made, test subjects have been used and hypotheses have been confirmed. Everything is coming together; the only thing that will be needed soon is you. Still, despite you always stating how much your body aches and how much weaker and slower you are now, there is a part of you that is a little afraid of what this procedure will entail, namely an end to your life as you know it, but still living. It's funny but how this is a little scary to you, even if simple death is not. In fact Elam is probably more excited to see this through than even you are. "My Emperor, we may begin the procedure any time you wish. Just let me know when we can get started." Elam says. "Does it have to be right now?" you ask. "No, of course not my Emperor. I just thought you were eager to see this through." "You don't need to push our Emperor, Elam. I'm sure he'd like to take care of some affairs before going through with this." Zana remarks. "Is all the machinery and equipment in working order? Has everything been inspected?" you ask. "Of course my Emperor, I inspected everything myself. I figured you'd want someone that has a background with safety procedures doing that rather than Elam here." Zana remarks with a teasing smile at Elam. "Bah. YOU didn't even think this was going to be possible!" Elam exclaims. "Well I have to admit, it did sound very unlikely, but I suppose I never should've doubted your genius Elam." Zana says and gives him a quick peck on the cheek. While Zana and Elam are engaging in playfulness, you're involved in making a life changing choice. "Okay. We'll do this in three days. That will give me time to take care of a few things I need to take care of, just in case the worst should happen. No point in drawing this out any longer than that. Everyone is dismissed until that time." you say. Elam and Zana both acknowledge your command and soon they and their staff all begin to leave. You however continue to stick around. When you're finally all alone, you begin to walk closer to the giant tank in the room, which is hooked up to a system of machines. As you lean against your walking stick you can't help marvel at the work that went into all this. Gears, cogs, wires, levers, buttons, mechanical arms …you wonder how the hell some of this works. You've actually tried to keep up on the research since this project started, and while you understand a lot of the basic concepts, some of it just goes over your head. Though you aren't sure if its because you've got so much on your mind that you can't retain the information or if you just don't have a knack for the technical stuff, or maybe you just find it all well…boring. A speaker of sorts is attached to the tank and there are three specialized automatons standing nearby. You imagine that these are intended for you to be able to interact with the outside world in some fashion. Elam has admitted though that despite the very technical nature of this project he believes that this wouldn't be as easy without your own magical abilities that will be able to tap the power of your mind. He's gone on to say that this will be the ultimate successful blending of science and magic as far as he's concerned. He better be right considering that all the testing took away most of your remaining mages. In any event, this is where you're going to spend the rest of your life. "So, are you ready for immortality?" a voice says behind you. It's Decena. It's surprising to see her down here considering she's only made one or two visits down here before since the project got underway. She's told you that the less she knows about the project the less likely she's libel to get worried about your safety and try to talk you out of it hence the lack of visits. "I guess so." You answer. "You guess so? That doesn't sound like the usual certainty you've always had about this plan." Decena remarks. "Oh, I'm certain. Just trying to take all of this in and get myself used to this room I suppose. Not sure why I'm even concerned about it really, I mean Casimir spent several centuries in a room practically by himself. This very room in fact or at least part of it before I had all the remodeling and expansion done to accommodate all the machinery. Its really surreal sometimes how I'm actually starting to follow in his footsteps. I sometimes wonder if he'd be proud of what I've managed to accomplish or if he'd just be very jealous." Decena walks over and puts her arm around you while you both stare at the giant tank. "Well, I'm proud of everything you've accomplished and everything you will accomplish after this procedure. So when will it be?" "In three days, then Elam and Zana will be back here to perform it." "Hrm, I don't care for that woman." Decena remarks. "So you've said during the times you wandered down here." "I dunno. Something about her just doesn't sit right with me in the short moments I've spoken with her. She seems phony at times. Even the fact that she's been concerned with this plan from the beginning and worried about your well being doesn't seem genuine to me. If it hadn't already been in the middle of the project when I first met her, I probably would've told you to have her removed from it." "Didn't realize she had gotten under your skin so much. As you know though I rechecked her file that the Eyes had on her long before she started working on this project. She's nothing but clean except maybe for a lack of judgment in sexing up Elam on occasion, but I can't imagine there were a lot of choices in human males when they worked together in New Dessel." "As I said, I can't place my finger on it, but there is something about her that doesn't seem right with her. Does she need to be there for this procedure?" "Well I don't know. I mean she's the main one that's been working with Elam so I imagine so to some degree. She already did an inspection on the machinery without me even needing to tell her to do so." Decena doesn't immediately respond to your answer instead she just walks forward towards the tank and touches it. "Nothing can go wrong with this plan…" she says softly then she turns around. "Can you have someone else inspect everything again?" she asks. "What?!" you respond. "I just want everything to go well, don't you? I just think it would be best if everything was given a second look." "But…you realize that might very well take more than three days? You realize how complex all this stuff is? I told Zana and Elam that…" "No, I don't want either of them to do it. Pick someone else that worked on the project." "Pick someone…Decena what is this all about?" "Look I would just feel more comfortable if someone else did an inspection of the machine that's going to be your new home okay? I already said how I feel about Zana, so I don't want her doing it again. And as for Elam we all know he has a tendency to overlook safety protocol even under the strictest supervision. Can't you get someone else?" "Not really, I mean those are the main two who worked on this thing! Decena, I'm as concerned about the success of this procedure more than anyone, but I'd rather not extend my waiting period any longer than necessary. I mean I don't think I will and I'd only admit this to you, but I don't want to lose my nerve." "You won't lose your nerve my love, but don't you see this is why another inspection should be done? I mean I guess if you don't think it's necessary then I'll of course respect your wishes and we can spend the next three days not worrying about this until the time comes." On one hand you suppose Decena's just looking out for you as usual, but on the other you really don't want to risk losing your nerve on this situation. The longer you think about it, and how it could all go wrong, or even how it can all go right, is enough to possibly change your mind on the whole situation. Then there's the fact that Zana and Elam were the main ones involved on building the machine, they'd know it the best and if you got someone else to look at it, who is to say they won't screw something up? > You have a second inspection done If Decena feels this strongly about your safety then you're not going to deny it. Besides another way of looking at it isn't more time to rethink the situation, but instead more time to spend with Decena. "Very well, if you feel a second inspection should be done, then that's what will be done. (Sigh) I'm just wondering who had as much experience as Zana and Elam did with the machine that they could inspect it without wondering what certain parts did or accidently make things worse." You respond "What about that nervous fellow I saw sometimes in the palace? Didn't he work on the Eternal Project?" Decena asks. "Oh…you mean Gregory? Yeah, he did. I transferred him over here as a general supervisor when that project got shut down. Sometimes I even forget he's here, since he's such a wallflower sometimes. Still you're probably on to something, because if anyone is a stickler for safety and thoroughness its him and while he wasn't involved in the building process, he has familiarized himself with the machine probably just as much due to being a safety supervisor for the rst of the technical staff. He's probably annoyed the hell out of Elam on several occasions because of it." "Good, he's sounds perfect." The next day you summon Gregory to the palace, when he arrives he's nervous as usual. The man must think you're going to have him executed, but then he thinks that any time you look at him. You tell him that you just need another inspection done on the tank and the machine (It's really going to have to be given a better name at some point). He of course complies. While he gets started you plan on informing Elam and Zana that there may be a slight delay in the project, but you figure it can wait until tomorrow and you spend some quality time with Decena for the rest of the day. On the second day, Kivan tells you that Gregory really needs to speak with you and says it's incredibly important. When you go to speak with him, he's very apologetic, but explains that he's already found some possible problems with the machine. "Apologies my Emperor as I know you want to get this procedure underway as soons as possible, but well I just think I found some possible problems. I mean they seem very minor, but they aren't. In time some vital parts could break down. In fact I'm very surprised that Zana did not catch the worn tubing and slightly frayed wires on the inside. Besides myself, she's the only one that has a good eye for that detail." Decena who happens to be with you, immediately exclaims about this being proof that she knew that something wasn't on the up and up with Zana. "She tried to make her assassination attempt look like an accident! I KNEW there wasn't something right about her!" You tell Gregory to keep doing his inspection to see if there are any more flaws he can find. While it's very possible Zana didn't see these potential dangers, you're still not pleased with her right now and plan on having the Eyes bring her in. Elam will have to be brought in too. When you arrive at the Eye headquarters, Warrick tells you that they haven't interrogated to any great length yet, but the pair of them don't know why they've been brought in by the Eyes. Your main concern is Zana at first so you personally go to see her with the Eye interrogators. What is surprising is that when you see her she's completely calm. Most people (including Elam) when brought in by the Eyes are scared shitless. And that's what starts to make you suspicious. You've found that the people who are the most calm under pressure are probably the most capable of ruthlessness and plots… Zana explains her inspection step by step and steadily asserts her dedication to the Empire and her loyalty. It probably would've been better had she just not spoken at all, because the more you hear the more your own suspicion rises. If Decena was here, she probably would've just shot her for lying, and while her fate is definitely sealed as far as you're concerned, you still want to know the reason. "Zana, I'll admit, you had even me fooled, but the problem is the more you talk the worse it gets for you. Gregory has already found more flaws in the machine since you were brought in. He's even said that even he doesn't think that they could be anything other than sabotage. Even if I assume you're telling the truth, it displays a gross amount of incompetence on your part. So either you were trying to kill me on purpose or you're a lot less competent than I believed. And quite honestly I do not believe that from your past experience that YOU are capable of that level of incompetence." Zana's calm demeanor begins to change to one of uncertainty. It's hitting her that she might not make it out of here. "So tell me why Zana. Was this something you just came up with, had you been planning this for years? Who else is involved? Did someone put you up to this…did a svelk woman by the name of Semra put you up to this?" you ask. Zana's face now has dropped to one of fear. She looks like she's about to cry. "Zana, you know how this is going to end for you. If you ever had any loyalty toward the Empire then at least tell me everything. If you do, I can at least promise you a quick execution." You say. Zana's expression now changes to one of absolute rage. "Like the same quick death you've given so many others? The fact is I've NEVER had ANY loyalty to the Empire let alone you, murderer. Tyrant. But I'll tell you everything anyway, because you don't know shit about me. You think I'm upset because I'm about to die? I'm upset because I won't get to kill you and spare the world of your future domination and cruelty!" This outburst causes the Eyes nearby to move closer towards Zana and grab her wrists just in case she attempts something, though at this point there isn't much she could do to you now. "Who are you? I mean who are you really?" "I'm nobody. Nobody of importance at least not until YOU came around and killed my entire family!" Zana says. "Do you have any idea how little that narrows it down?" you ask. "I was going to be a princess! I would've ruled a kingdom one day! YOU and YOUR EMPIRE destroyed all that before I even had a chance to enjoy a taste of such a life! Klemto didn't just save a random Felkan baby, he saved an HEIR TO THE FELKAN FUCKING KINGDOM!" Zana shouts. It was a very long time ago. Almost a different life even, but you vaguely remember seeing a crib in the Felkan royal palace, yet no baby or even signs of a dead one. You never thought too much of it at the time, but apparently even though Zana was just an infant, Klemto must've told her about her real heritage. He probably lied to you thinking that you would've had her killed. "Because of YOU, I've had to live a miserable existence working on machinery surrounded by fucking GNOMES! You know what that's like? Being the only human in community of damn gnomes? It SUCKS! Then when some humans do fucking arrive, they're from the same nation that destroyed my birthright! It almost sickened me to even sleep with that crazy fool Elam!" You continue to listen to Zana's rant. "When I heard of your plan to create a fertile version of those abominations called Eternals I already saw my opportunity to get my revenge. Imagine my surprise when you actually took Elam up on his insane plan. To be quite honest I thought it would be a failure and I wouldn't need to do anything except watch you eventually die of old age having missed your opportunity to carry on some monstrous legacy in the quest for immortality instead." "So why didn't you attempt to sabotage the attempt long before now? Hell, why not even go the direct route and try to kill me? Not like you didn't have plenty of opportunity." You ask. "Hah, kill you? The Eternal Emperor? I wouldn't have stood a chance. No matter how quick, clever or young I might be, even I know that you have more lives than a cat. No, I would've never been able to kill you myself. As for sabotage, that might've been an option had you not been lingering around as much or Gregory not constantly doing inspections after every new part had been added. I knew I should've had him killed. I nearly thought about killing Elam when he started making progress with the project…but what can I say, I'd grown to like the old fool too much. Weakness on my part and a fatal one obviously." Zana's confession now has a tone of regret, not because of what she did, but more of what she failed to do. Right now you can see her thinking about the methods she could've went through with this plan a better way. So close, yet so far. "Okay, since you're in a talkative mood, did Klemto or any gnome put you up to this?" you ask. "What? So you'll have an excuse to round them all up and destroy their souls again? I heard about what you did to them. And maybe I might find them to be timid, tiresome unattractive little know it alls, I find it deplorable what the Empire did to them. I can't believe they allowed themselves to be dominated by a nation that systematically exterminated them from not just this life, but the next as well!" "So did they help or not?" you ask again. "No! No they did not! My father would've probably had me jailed if he knew what I was planning. Those cowards wouldn't dare stand against the Empire, but I fucking would! And did! Not that this will save them. After you're done killing me, you'll probably have them all killed as well for any excuse will serve a tyrant!" "It's amusing that you keep calling me that. What did you think your parents were? They were a KING and QUEEN. You think they ruled by popular decision? Do you think YOU would have if you became queen? My actions that day weren't even personal. I was just following orders like a soldier. Your actions however today are misguided and as you already admitted, fatal. Such a waste. Even had I known your origins, I would not have had you killed if you had remained true to serving the Empire. Your quest for vengeance was as pointless as your entire life. But I am a man of my word and I believe everything you've told me." Without another word, you nod at the Eyes restraining her who back off. You then raise your hand and flash of lightning emanates from your fingers blasting Zana directly in the heart. She shakes for a few seconds and then slumps forward dead on the table. "Funny. She'll probably be the last person I'll ever kill directly. Well in this body anyway. Who's to say what the future will bring? Anyway, I'll need to speak with Warrick again." You tell Warrick that you want the Eyes to purge New Dessel. Despite the fact that Zana most likely worked alone, you can't take that chance. Maybe Klemto anticipated she'd eventually seek revenge and just took a hands off approach so that he couldn't be directly implemented. Maybe they're all genuinely innocent. Doesn't matter. You're trying to secure the future of the Empire and its obvious the gnomes are a potential threat. You chuckle to yourself realizing that you're even more like Casimir than you ever thought. You have to believe even if he would be jealous of all your other accomplishments, he'd definitely be proud of this one. "Very well, we've already got a large number of Eyes positioned in that city. All we have to do is send in another large group, telling the gnomes that it's a routine changing of the guard and when they're in, they'll purge the city. What about Elam?" Warrick asks. "Oh, him I need. Besides I'm fairly certain the only thing he's guilty of is thinking with his dick. Catch him up to speed on the situation and release him. Also let him know that the project will have to be set back until I'm satisfied with the machine's replacement parts and Gregory's inspection of every little detail." "Understood. Long live the Empire." Warrick says. The project is set back at least a couple of months. The purging of New Dessel takes awhile due to the gnomes locking themselves in hard to reach sections of the city, but eventually the entire city is purged. You at last finished what Casimir started though really you wish it hadn't been necessary. You never hated them. Klemto just saved the wrong baby and brought death on them all because of it. In any event, mostly technicians, inventors and other human families with members that have similar mechanical or scientific skills will resettle New Dessel. Eventually Elam and Gregory have all the equipment fixed and ready again and you return with Decena to complete the task you originally set out to do. You're strapped to a table. Elam is remarkably subdued. You're guessing he's still taking Zana's betrayal hard. Still, perhaps its good, it will give him more focus on what is important, serving the Empire. As you are prepared, you and Decena exchange one kiss for what will be the last time. "Know that whatever happens, I'll always love you." She says. "And I will always love you." You respond. Elam injects you with a powerful reagent that knocks you out and the process begins. The blackness takes you experience absolute nothingness… Hours later you wake up or at least you believe you're "awake." All around you, you feel as if you're floating and every so often a tingling electrical charge can be felt. Your mind…or rather "you" are in the tank. The procedure worked. It's a very strange sensation, you can "see" though you don't have eyes. It's almost as if the images you see outside the tank are being displayed directly into your brain. Though it isn't like proper vision. You can only "see" them as blurs in your mind, however you can fill in those gaps due to your real memories of said people. Elam was right, the magic energy within you has allowed you vision, and it has also allowed you to speak. You focus on the female image…on Decena who still stands near your now empty shell of a body on a table. "Decena…do not cry…it worked…I am…alive." You say with a bit of effort. This statement is followed by some shouts of joy from Decena who starts speaking out loud asking if its really you. When Elam sees what's going on, he begins to jump up and down exclaiming that the process worked. "Decena, speak to me with your mind. It is the best way to directly communicate with me now." You say to which she does so. "My love, I'm so happy to see that this has worked! I was about to have Elam killed if it didn't! So how is it? How do you feel?" "It is an odd sensation, though not an unpleasant one. Indeed I do not feel the pain I once did any more. Perhaps, I shall get used to this form after all." At this point you hear Elam's mind and he's asking you five hundred questions, all of which you will get to in time, but you tell him for now you just want to rest and converse with Decena alone. He gets it and says he'll be back in an hour to check on you since there are still many tests that need to be done, such as the ability to move the automaton bodies and such. After Elam and his staff leave, Decena sits next to the tank touching the glass and looking in on you. It's the closest she'll ever be with you ever again, and she begins to sniffle and sob a bit. At first you think its out of sadness, but then you sense her thoughts and its due to happiness. "You'll live forever and so will the Empire now. You did it, my love I always knew you would." You are filled with a sense of bliss that seems stronger than you've ever felt before. You wonder if it's due to your new form. Perhaps without a body, emotions and senses are stronger in some way? In any case you know now that this is just the beginning. You'll have to make special arrangements due to your new form, but that's all part of running an Empire. Now with your immortality secured, you can get back to expansion and possibly even get the Eternal project back up and running with alterations. Your plans to unite the entire world under Empire world has not changed and you know there are still places out there left to conquer. Still, when you look on at Decena's hand on the glass you wish you could just touch her again. If only for a moment.

Year 72 You have to admit as the years passed by on this project, you'd wondered if you were just chasing a dream, but it looks like that dream will soon be a reality. Research has been tested, advancements have been made, test subjects have been used and hypotheses have been confirmed. Everything is coming together; the only thing that will be needed soon is you. Still, despite you always stating how much your body aches and how much weaker and slower you are now, there is a part of you that is a little afraid of what this procedure will entail, namely an end to your life as you know it, but still living. It's funny but how this is a little scary to you, even if simple death is not. In fact Elam is probably more excited to see this through than even you are. "My Emperor, we may begin the procedure any time you wish. Just let me know when we can get started." Elam says. "Does it have to be right now?" you ask. "No, of course not my Emperor. I just thought you were eager to see this through." "You don't need to push our Emperor, Elam. I'm sure he'd like to take care of some affairs before going through with this." Zana remarks. "Is all the machinery and equipment in working order? Has everything been inspected?" you ask. "Of course my Emperor, I inspected everything myself. I figured you'd want someone that has a background with safety procedures doing that rather than Elam here." Zana remarks with a teasing smile at Elam. "Bah. YOU didn't even think this was going to be possible!" Elam exclaims. "Well I have to admit, it did sound very unlikely, but I suppose I never should've doubted your genius Elam." Zana says and gives him a quick peck on the cheek. While Zana and Elam are engaging in playfulness, you're involved in making a life changing choice. "Okay. We'll do this in three days. That will give me time to take care of a few things I need to take care of, just in case the worst should happen. No point in drawing this out any longer than that. Everyone is dismissed until that time." you say. Elam and Zana both acknowledge your command and soon they and their staff all begin to leave. You however continue to stick around. When you're finally all alone, you begin to walk closer to the giant tank in the room, which is hooked up to a system of machines. As you lean against your walking stick you can't help marvel at the work that went into all this. Gears, cogs, wires, levers, buttons, mechanical arms …you wonder how the hell some of this works. You've actually tried to keep up on the research since this project started, and while you understand a lot of the basic concepts, some of it just goes over your head. Though you aren't sure if its because you've got so much on your mind that you can't retain the information or if you just don't have a knack for the technical stuff, or maybe you just find it all well…boring. A speaker of sorts is attached to the tank and there are three specialized automatons standing nearby. You imagine that these are intended for you to be able to interact with the outside world in some fashion. Elam has admitted though that despite the very technical nature of this project he believes that this wouldn't be as easy without your own magical abilities that will be able to tap the power of your mind. He's gone on to say that this will be the ultimate successful blending of science and magic as far as he's concerned. He better be right considering that all the testing took away most of your remaining mages. In any event, this is where you're going to spend the rest of your life. "So, are you ready for immortality?" a voice says behind you. It's Decena. It's surprising to see her down here considering she's only made one or two visits down here before since the project got underway. She's told you that the less she knows about the project the less likely she's libel to get worried about your safety and try to talk you out of it hence the lack of visits. "I guess so." You answer. "You guess so? That doesn't sound like the usual certainty you've always had about this plan." Decena remarks. "Oh, I'm certain. Just trying to take all of this in and get myself used to this room I suppose. Not sure why I'm even concerned about it really, I mean Casimir spent several centuries in a room practically by himself. This very room in fact or at least part of it before I had all the remodeling and expansion done to accommodate all the machinery. Its really surreal sometimes how I'm actually starting to follow in his footsteps. I sometimes wonder if he'd be proud of what I've managed to accomplish or if he'd just be very jealous." Decena walks over and puts her arm around you while you both stare at the giant tank. "Well, I'm proud of everything you've accomplished and everything you will accomplish after this procedure. So when will it be?" "In three days, then Elam and Zana will be back here to perform it." "Hrm, I don't care for that woman." Decena remarks. "So you've said during the times you wandered down here." "I dunno. Something about her just doesn't sit right with me in the short moments I've spoken with her. She seems phony at times. Even the fact that she's been concerned with this plan from the beginning and worried about your well being doesn't seem genuine to me. If it hadn't already been in the middle of the project when I first met her, I probably would've told you to have her removed from it." "Didn't realize she had gotten under your skin so much. As you know though I rechecked her file that the Eyes had on her long before she started working on this project. She's nothing but clean except maybe for a lack of judgment in sexing up Elam on occasion, but I can't imagine there were a lot of choices in human males when they worked together in New Dessel." "As I said, I can't place my finger on it, but there is something about her that doesn't seem right with her. Does she need to be there for this procedure?" "Well I don't know. I mean she's the main one that's been working with Elam so I imagine so to some degree. She already did an inspection on the machinery without me even needing to tell her to do so." Decena doesn't immediately respond to your answer instead she just walks forward towards the tank and touches it. "Nothing can go wrong with this plan…" she says softly then she turns around. "Can you have someone else inspect everything again?" she asks. "What?!" you respond. "I just want everything to go well, don't you? I just think it would be best if everything was given a second look." "But…you realize that might very well take more than three days? You realize how complex all this stuff is? I told Zana and Elam that…" "No, I don't want either of them to do it. Pick someone else that worked on the project." "Pick someone…Decena what is this all about?" "Look I would just feel more comfortable if someone else did an inspection of the machine that's going to be your new home okay? I already said how I feel about Zana, so I don't want her doing it again. And as for Elam we all know he has a tendency to overlook safety protocol even under the strictest supervision. Can't you get someone else?" "Not really, I mean those are the main two who worked on this thing! Decena, I'm as concerned about the success of this procedure more than anyone, but I'd rather not extend my waiting period any longer than necessary. I mean I don't think I will and I'd only admit this to you, but I don't want to lose my nerve." "You won't lose your nerve my love, but don't you see this is why another inspection should be done? I mean I guess if you don't think it's necessary then I'll of course respect your wishes and we can spend the next three days not worrying about this until the time comes." On one hand you suppose Decena's just looking out for you as usual, but on the other you really don't want to risk losing your nerve on this situation. The longer you think about it, and how it could all go wrong, or even how it can all go right, is enough to possibly change your mind on the whole situation. Then there's the fact that Zana and Elam were the main ones involved on building the machine, they'd know it the best and if you got someone else to look at it, who is to say they won't screw something up? > You leave it alone Decena's heart is in the right place, but you'd rather not waste anymore time. You can't imagine that if Zana was up to something sinister that you wouldn't have caught it by now, let alone that she wouldn't have acted by now. There are countless times she probably could've made an attempt on your life since she's been here. However you do agree to Decena's insistence that she at least not be involved in the final process. If it'll make her a little less worried about the situation then you don't see the harm. While Elam tells you up and down that he can't perform the procedure without Zana's assistance, Zana is actually fine with not being there and tells you that she understands that the Empress is just concerned for her husband's well being. Zana also says that despite Elam's insistence, she isn't excessively needed for the procedure. She says that for the final procedure; her main job was going to be reading gauges, monitoring dials and such. She says that the other safety supervisor Gregory can take over for her since he should be familiar with everything as well. With everything settled, you spend your remaining two days enjoying your time with Decena who seems a little more at ease with the upcoming procedure due to your compromise about Zana. The time you spend with Decena, puts you in a more relaxed mood as well and you're definitely feeling more positive about it. You almost don't even know why you were concerned to begin with. Eventually the day comes and Elam has everything ready (With Gregory standing by to monitor the machine and you return with Decena to complete the task you originally set out to do. You're strapped to a table. Elam still says he'd feel more comfortable with Zana helping him, but reassures you that everything will go smoothly. As you are prepared, you and Decena exchange one kiss for what will be the last time. "Know that whatever happens, I'll always love you." She says. "And I will always love you." You respond. Elam injects you with a powerful reagent that knocks you out and the process begins. The blackness takes you experience absolute nothingness… And that is the last thing you ever experience for you never wake up from the procedure, which was successful at least for a moment. When your brain was transferred everything was going well at first and steps were being taken to gradually wake you back up, but unfortunately it was during this process that the machine began to fail, break down and eventually explode. The initial explosion killed Gregory who was already freaking out when the machine started acting outside the safety parameters. It also killed most of the supporting staff; including Elam who was desperately attempting to fix what he thought was wrong. Decena survived the initial explosion, but only at a great cost. She ended up losing a part of her arm, a foot and most of her body and face heavily injured. She managed to hang on long enough to declare that Warrick and Brenda were officially in charge of the Empire when Kivan and others found her dying. With her last breath to Kivan she told him: "Have that…(cough wheeze) bitch Zana executed…I know…(wheeze) she did this…" Warrick and Brenda's first course of action was to indeed track down Zana, who by this time had long escaped. Klemto and all the other gnomes insisted they knew nothing of this plan, but someone had to pay and unfortunately it was them. The gnomes of New Dessel didn't go without a fight however and it took months before the mountain city was finally taken and even then groups of gnomes had managed to escape or even lock themselves in secret passages within the mountain to conduct guerilla attacks. Eventually Warrick had the airship fleet continually blast the mountain until it collapsed on itself making it useless to all and killing anyone still hiding inside. As for Zana, she never was caught, but that was the least of the Empire's problems. Her success of killing you (and Decena) along with New Dessel's extended siege inspired another rebellion. Warrick and Brenda might've been up to the task had they been a little younger, but when Warrick died of natural causes suddenly a few years later, it was a great blow to both the Empire and Brenda who took the death of a second husband hard. She eventually joined him a year later via suicide. From there the downward spiral of the Empire was inevitable and in time records of the old regime were erased from history.

Probably one of the crazier things you've done and its entirely possible you're either trying to prove something to yourself or you just want this battle to be over with win or lose because you're getting very tired. Probably a little bit of both. "Okay, you fucking overgrown flying lizard, it's either going to be me or you today." You say and expend more energy to reinforce your barrier. For a brief moment you see the dragon's face get closer and closer and then… There's a great smashing force that causes you to fly off the battlements. You don't actually fall straight to the ground, but instead you actually sail backwards in the air for a moment and into one of the many decimated tree trunks of the nearby jungle. You feel a cracking sound as your back and head slams hard into the solid wood of the tree and then you begin to fall straight down. Even if you weren't completely knocked senseless by this terrific force you don't have anything that could slow your decent. The best you can do is shield your face with your forearms as you crash to the ground. Another cracking sound is heard when you hit the ground and you're in more physical pain than you've been in awhile. You're not dead, but when you try to move, you find that you're unable. At least not your legs, which are completely numb. You've broken your back and the bones in your arms are probably broken too, though you're definitely feeling the pain from that injury. While you're lying half paralyzed away from the fort, you can hear the audible sounds of battle coming from it. You aren't sure what happened to the dragon, but apparently it didn't manage to ram straight through you and keep going. It's in the fort thrashing about and roaring in pain. Pieces of stone from the fort go flying in different directions; you just hope one of those stone blocks doesn't hit you since you're in no position to move right now. There's nothing you can do save for one thing. Heal yourself with magic. You focus all the magic you got on mending your spine first and then your other wounds next. The dragon, gunfire, clanging of weapons and shouting can all be heard while you do this. By the time you're finished, you can barely stand up. You don't know if it's due to your drained state or if the magic still needs time to take affect completely. In any case you start to limp back to the fort, which has started to become much quieter. When you enter, the fort is practically destroyed, several Eternals lie dead (or in pieces) and right in the center lays the dragon with severe wounds all over its body, exposed bones, torn wings and bleeding profusely. "Emperor! You're alive!" one of the eternals shouts when he sees you. "Glory to the Empire! We feared the worst when we saw you fall from the battlements. It was a great show of bravery on your part to face down the dragon in the way you did! Never before have I seen something so inspiring! It also caused the creature to crash to the ground where upon all of us took advantage of the situation. As you can see we have brought honor in your name by finishing off the beast!" another boasts. "Oh really? Is that why it's still breathing?" you point out causing the eternals standing around to back off suddenly. The dragon is indeed still breathing, but it's very weak. It's dying. Your eternals go to strike, but you tell them to hold and shake your head at them not being observant enough to see that the dragon is still alive in the first place. You walk towards the dragon's head and grab a nearby axe on the ground. The beast manages to look at you with one eye and does nothing. You wonder if it still actually has some strength left in it, but is just too tired and old to continue fighting. Maybe it's ready for it all to end. To join its fellows. You have no idea what dragon's think or even if they do think in such complex terms, but when you take a look at this creature you can't help but think how old it probably is. What has it seen? Did it once have its own civilization of sorts? What was it like at its peak? What caused it to ally with the Iznac? Was the arrangement some sort of compromise to avoid possible extinction? Extinction that has come anyway at your hands. You get closer to the dragon and ready your axe. The dragon still makes no move. It just closes its one good eye. "Y'know… sometimes I feel like you. Old and broken down, just wanting to lie down and let the sleep take me. Perhaps, I'll even find myself in the same position one day…(sigh) anyway, on your way dragon. Looks like it was you today." You say and swing the axe at the dragon's neck. You have to hack away several times before you manage to sever its head. A cheer goes up from the eternals who survived the battle. "No cheering yet. This was barely a victory given all of our casualties and the condition of this fort. We also still have no word on Flevas' company or how my wife is doing at Fort Tangle. Now let's get organized and find out." You say. The next few days still see a lot of combat. Decena was a lot more successful at Fort Tangle, but then she didn't have a dragon attacking it. She congratulates you on your victory though and is glad to see you're still alive from your ordeal. Eventually her and Snilkez'ka's troops push forward and attack Iznac cities. Without their dragons anymore, it's a lot easier to go faster on the attack. Unfortunately Flevas' suffered an ignoble fate. He was killed fighting off a mixture of Glip and Iznac troops in the jungles and he was unlucky to be felled by several poisonous darts that the Glip love to use. His company fought on and won, but you've lost a good commander. Such are the ways of war. You and those who served under him will at least remember Flevas' deeds. He certainly proved that elves could be an asset to the Empire rather than just whine all the time. It is truly the beginning of the end for the Iznac civilization and it is now in sight. You predict perhaps at least one more year of heavy fighting maximum, then maybe three more years of random raiding from the hold outs and survivors. After that? The Iznac will either be hiding in the farthest reaches of wilderness, will have completely submitted to your rule (Unlikely) or completely exterminated. You're betting on that last one, as it seems to be the way of things. In any case you'll soon be ruler of two continents. What comes next is unknown, but you know that you're going to have some downtime to think about it. In fact you have somewhat of an idea of what to pursue next. Its something Brenda and Decena mentioned the day you got married. The Eternals and their inability to reproduce. You're thinking that will be your next goal. You nearly died in your battle with the dragon and by healing yourself in the way you did, you probably just shortened your life span anyway. It's time to start thinking about your potential legacy and future of the Empire. The current eternals have proven their worth and then some, but they could still be better. The next generation that Brenda is training will undoubtedly be better still, but the fifth…that's the group you want to break the mold with. There's got to be a way. Maybe you, Elam and possibly Galen can figure it out if you put your heads together. Hell, maybe even the gnomes might have some insight on the science side of things. The time for simple conquest of territory is coming to an end at least perhaps for now. > You test Subjects (Year 63) Year 63 "And you're sure this is the only way?" you ask. "My Emperor if I thought there was another, I wouldn't even be bothering you with this. I'm going to need these test subjects if I am going to pursue these theories." Elam remarks. Elam's request really isn't unreasonable and it is for a good cause, its just one part of it isn't exactly going to be nice for Brenda to hear. "Alright, I'll talk to Brenda and I'll get some of the Eternals that she's been training. She's probably not going to be happy about it though." You say. "I do not understand my Emperor, does she not see some of them die in training?" "Surprisingly not as many as you think. It's not like the old days back when I was an Eternal and only a few us survived the process. These kids today have several natural advantages along with accelerated healing abilities. They're hard to kill even when they're shooting each other in vital organs." You say. "I didn't realize this new group was so resilient. That's good to hear though. I need them to survive this process, at least until they reach the age of puberty when I can see if they can reproduce." "Hrm. Well in any case, Brenda's also gotten a bit too attached to our younger Eternal generations in her years of training. Sort of sees them as her children in a way. It won't be a problem of course because ultimately she doesn't have a choice in the matter and she'll see that this is best for the Empire anyway." Just before you leave to break the news to Brenda, Elam asks another question. "Before you leave my Emperor. What about the other test subject?" "Oh, right. The magic source you need. Well despite Galen's whining, he's been a valuable asset to the Empire many times. This time shall be no different. So if you need him incapacitated, I'll see to that business as well." "I thank you my Emperor." "Don't thank me, just get me positive results." You remark before leaving.

Year 60 Eighteen years ago the Children of Tor launched an all out assault on you and while it was a fierce battle, it was the beginning of the end for them as an effective fighting force. You hope that the Iznac are going to suffer a similar situation here today, because if not, it's going to be the beginning of the end for the Empire. Only one civilization is going to come out of this alive from this conflict. You're currently holding the line at Fort Canopy, but it isn't the only major battle going on right now. You know only a few miles away Decena is undoubtedly doing his best to defend Fort Tangle and General Flevas is taking the fight to the Iznac in the jungles. High in the air through the rain and in the near distance you see a multi-colored dragon unleash a gout of flame from its mouth, which engulfs the Tornado. Already heavily damaged the flying fortress can't take anymore and begins to explode. Minor ones at first, then one large one. Flaming pieces of the machine fall from the sky. The Storm II fires another volley of cannon fire at the dragon wounding the great beast, but it isn't enough to kill it. The dragon bellows and turns its great body around to focus its attack on the Storm II. It isn't going to die easy like its two siblings did over the past few years. It's going to fight with everything it has. You look over the battlements and see several Iznacs climbing the walls of the fort like an army of ants. They aren't even using ladders, they're just scaling the fort with their bare hands. It's actually rather impressive, until you unleash a chain of lightning to zap all of them. The shock is enough to at least cause most of them to fall off if not outright kill them immediately. "Slaughter the four armed spider eyed bastards! Make them realize that their domination of this continent has passed! This is the time of the Empire!" you shout to the Eternals defending the fort. Your people are doing their best though they can't stop every Iznac from scaling the fort. Soon the gunfire is replaced by sounds of close combat weaponry. No matter how far the advances in technology, it always eventually comes down to looking your opponent in the eye and feeling their blood splatter as you end their life. While you're busy hacking off the limbs of an Iznac warrior, another loud explosion in the distance is heard followed by a bright flash in the sky. It's not lightning from the storm, but rather the demise of your Storm. The Storm II joins the Tornado in crashing to the ground after losing its skirmish with the dragon. Hopefully the rain is making the jungle wet enough or else the flames from the wreckage of these downed airships are going to cause an inferno throughout the jungle. Several small frog like beings eventually make their way in by scaling the walls with their masters. They're generally just referred to as "frogs" but their formal name is the Glip. The Glip almost remind you of the kobolds. Despite being under the harsh dominion of the Iznac for who knows how long, none of the villages ever joined the Empire when the war broke out. Didn't matter that the Iznac used to (and probably still do) sacrifice and eat the Glip, they ultimately still remained loyal to them. While they've certainly had their moments, mostly due to ambushes with blowguns and poisonous darts and their camouflage abilities. The Glip are not close combat warriors by any means. It isn't surprising that you've not had to fight many of them. Even the Iznac know their skills are better suited elsewhere. The fact that you've started to face a lot of them does give you an indication of how desperate the Iznac have become. A group of orcs smash through the barricades of the fort. You sometimes shake your head at the stupidity of that situation. You have no idea how the Iznac managed to come to accept the rebellious orcs as allies, but you guarantee it wasn't for any reasons other than convenience. Did the greenskins actually believe that Iznac saw them as anything than handy fodder for this conflict? If they broke away from the Empire because they didn't like being used in such a way, then they completely missed the point. Then again being orcs they probably didn't think that far ahead or perhaps they just wanted to fight the Empire and didn't care about the reasons. In any case, no matter who wins this conflict, the orcs lose. The Iznac have a habit of ritually sacrificing their "neighbors and allies" to their gods. It doesn't matter in the scheme of things because even with overwhelming odds, your Eternals are still holding their own against all attackers. The only thing that concerns you slightly is… You hear a roaring sound getting closer to your position and the sounds of great wings flapping. It would appear your concerns will be arriving soon. You just hope that the Storm II and the Tornado did enough damage to it before they both went down. You don't have the advantage of Decena helping you take it down like you did with the last two dragons. You shout a general command for the still working cannons to be pointed towards the dragon and to prepare to fire when the beast is in range. In the meantime you try to keep that side of the fort relatively free of invading forces. The dragon gets closer and you give the order to fire and unleash your own magic bolts at the creature. It's definitely wounded from its ordeal with the two airships, but given your experience with the other two dragons, you know it's far from being out the fight. In fact it's so determined that it doesn't distinguish friend from foe when it blasts its flame breath on the fort. You manage to protect most of your people with a magic barrier, but for those outside its protection, most are set on fire if not incinerated immediately. On the positive side, it reduces your enemies, on the negative it ignites the gunpowder barrels for the cannons causing a massive explosion and completely destroying one side of the fort. While the barrier still protects you and everyone within initially, its still a lot of strain on your energy and you begin to feel the fatigue setting in. "No! Damnit! Fight through it!" you mutter to yourself hating your weakness. When the dragon passes you temporarily put down the barrier to take a small breather seeing as you aren't immediately being attacked by Iznac ground forces anymore (Which have mostly been killed or broke and run by this point) Several soldiers point up and announce that the dragon is slowly turning around for a second pass. "Everyone spread out and find your own cover! Shoot the overgrown lizard when in range!" you shout and make your way back up to the battlements (Those that are still intact that is). You stand on top of the battlements and see the dragon coming straight at you. Almost as if it was personal and who knows maybe it is. This creature may very well want you dead for killing its only two companions. Or perhaps it's just intelligent enough to recognize you as a genuine threat. You summon up all your energy and unleash a stream of lightning at the dragon just as it's beginning to open its mouth to breath fire. It doesn't stop. It doesn't even slow down despite the fact that you've undoubtedly just shocked the hell of its brain. A gout of flame comes directly at you. "Shit!" you shout and put up your own personal barrier to block the flames. Which succeeds, but it does nothing to stop the dragon's approach. It's fully intent on ramming you at this point. You no idea what would happen if you just stood there with your barrier up. It's possible the dragon would severely smash its own face in from the force, maybe even breaking its neck, however its also possible that it would hit with enough force that it could actually move you. In this case, right off the battlements on to the ground several feet behind you. Your Eternals unleash gunfire as the dragon gets closer and you're left to wonder if this high-risk plan could potentially end this dragon threat once and for all. > You get out of the way Even behind a barrier there is no way you're going to withstand the full force of a dragon flying directly at you, you need to get the hell out of the way. As the dragon approaches you run to one of the battlement towers, unfortunately in your haste, you temporarily drop your barrier and that's all the time the dragon needs to sense your vulnerability, even worse your expended fatigue doesn't allow you to react quick enough to get to the shelter you need. The dragon unleashes another great blast of fire, which completely envelops the top of the battlements and you along with it. The fire causes your flesh to burn, bubble and literally melt off your bones. You're already dead by the time the dragon's open maw swallows you whole as it continue to glide in your direction.

Year 56 You enter Brenda's office where upon the pair of your smile at each other. "So, how's the new bride?" you ask. "Wonderful, of course. I'm happier than I've been in a long time. Thank you for performing the wedding personally." Brenda remarks. "No problem. Glad to do it, but I said it before and I'll say it again. Never did I EVER believe that you'd remarry. Let alone to Warrick of all people! I remember when you hated his guts!" "Ha ha, yeah…that seems so long ago now. I was too full of misplaced anger and hate. Glad I moved past it and reconnected with Warrick again." "Sure, but I just never knew how well you two were reconnecting. When you both told me, I was completely taken by surprise." You chuckle. "Well of course you were unaware. You were too busy fighting demons, monsters and sorcerer kings. Yeah, I know it still seems strange, but Warrick and I have a lot more in common than not, you know? I mean we grew up together, we trained together, and we served together. We're both Eternals. We're just always going to have that special connection. I mean I will always love Roldan, but why spend the remainder of my life alone if it feels right with another? We both came to that conclusion." "Hey, you don't need to explain to me. I understand and I'm happy for the pair of you. Anyway I just came here to let you know that the new Eternals have been released from their tanks." "So did they meet with your standards?" Brenda asks. "Yes, most of them seem to be very much like the third generation though perhaps with signs of displaying higher intelligence overall. I'd definitely say they're ready for your training." You reply. "So you do still want me to train them?" "Sure, you did well enough with the third generation didn't you? I'm just wondering where the hell we're going to send them when they're all grown up. It's likely that Nyttrus will be completely under our control by that time." "Maybe we'll discover a new continent?" "Maybe, I'm certain they're out there, though I've cut down on spending for exploration for awhile. I'm trying to focus on rebuilding the destruction that was caused to the Nakol and getting Nyttrus under our control as well "How is it going over there anyway?" "Better than I expected, worse than I hoped. We've got more than a few strongholds there now, but the Iznac are far from being beaten, unfortunately most of the humans there are sick or dead due to disease and Iznac magic. Flog's also dead and the orcs have become slightly less disciplined as of late without his calmer leadership. There have been a few reports of deserters running off into the jungles and forming their own communities. (Sigh) Going to have to do something about them of course." "What about the kobolds?" "Heh, Dedicated as always. The original leader I sent, Snilkez'ka is still alive and kickin'. She and the rest of them are the main ones holding down the forts. Never thought I'd be so glad of their high birth rates. The third generation Eternals are getting shipped over there soon, so hopefully things will get better." "Will you be going over there?" "I dunno. I might, if only to keep myself busy. There are no more major challenges here on Evigrus anymore and I'd rather not send Decena there. Wasn't a pleasant experience for her and its not necessary for her to go through that again." Brenda nods and you suddenly go into a brief speech about Decena and how proud you are of her and engage in general praising of Decena's accomplishments. "You know…and I've never addressed this because I didn't think it was my place to do so, but I still don't understand why the two of you split up…I mean granted the age difference might normally cause difficulties in being able to relate to one another, but considering that you're both warriors, you both have an unwavering dedication to preserving the Empire and more importantly you are both Eternals, you have a lot more in common than most people. I mean she is your protégée is she not? It only seems natural that the pair of you would be an item." Brenda's bluntness takes you a bit off guard. She normally isn't so confrontational. "It's complicated." You answer. "No, it really isn't. Look I don't know the whole story, but I DO know at one time you and Decena were together even if you didn't make it public knowledge. I also know that you DO care for her and its not just in an average friendly way or a master-subordinate way. You love her and for some reason you're denying yourself of it." "I'm not denying myself of anything." "Well what then? I know it wasn't Decena's idea, that girl still worships the ground you walk on. Probably more than anyone in the entire Empire." "Look Brenda, I understand you're still on a positivity trip due to your own newfound marital bliss, but my situation is different. It will ALWAYS be different all right? "It's not that much different…" At this point you slam your hands down on Brenda's desk and get in her face, knocking over a few things on her desk. "IT IS DIFFERENT. You can't understand and be glad that you don't." you remark. Brenda is silent at your aggressive stance. You stare at her for a few seconds and then back away. "Now then, the new eternals will be transported here in a few days, I suggest you prepare yourself." You say and turn to leave. Brenda though is in rare form and can't help but continue. "Emperor?" she says. "What?" you answer. "You didn't do to Decena, what that svelk bitch did to you and I don't think Alison would want you spending the rest of your life mourning her." You stand in the doorway for a moment with your back to Brenda. "I know I didn't do what Semra did. I was hideously more successful…and as for Alison…she doesn't want anything. She's dead." You reply and leave the office. Well you're in a shitty mood now. You spend the rest of the day doing a lot of introspection, weighing pros and cons, taking into consideration every side and all your personal feelings on the matter. Every once in awhile you speak to Alison's portrait as if she's going to answer. All of which ends up pissing you off even more because you find it to be a pointless endeavor when you should be focusing on more important matters. You've got a damn Empire to run and here you are struggling on what to do about a girl (Or actually a full grown woman now, that has a bit of an arrested development) that likes you. What the hell are you an idiotic hormonal teenager? You thought you settled this a long time ago. You begin to mentally blame everything and everyone. You blame Brenda and Warrick for their new happy marriage. You especially blame Brenda for bringing this up to you. You blame Decena for becoming so attached to you. You blame Semra for…well everything. You blame Alison for dying on you. You blame Cyrus for killing her. You blame Casimir for setting up the assassination. You even blame Marik for having a hand in creating Decena and then not successfully killing her. Ultimately though you've got nobody to blame, but yourself and you know it and you need to just make a final decision on what to do about Decena. > You forget about her You're not going down that route again, you broke it off for a reason and while there have been relapses of that reason; you're not just going to give up completely on it. In fact the best way to put all this behind you is to involve yourself in the Nyttrus campaign. You figure immersing yourself in what you excel at is a good way to get your mind off this. Namely killing lots of things. You prepare for your journey to Nyttrus and leave orders to Decena that she has full authority to act in your stead while you're in Nytrrus. "I don't anticipate anything going severely wrong while I'm gone, but you never know of course. In any event, I'm sure everyone will accept your authority and if you have any problems Warrick and Kivan are probably your best people to ask advice if you need it. I don't expect you'll need to though." You say. "I thank you my Emperor and as always I am honored that you would place this much faith in my ability to oversee an entire continent." "You are the best suited and this is what you were ultimately trained for in case the worst should happen." "That won't happen." Decena says. "Well, let's hope that is indeed the case." You reply. Leaving Decena in charge you finish preparing for your trip to Nyttrus and soon leave with several hundred third generation Eternals. When you eventually do arrive in Nyttrus the place does indeed remind you a bit of Delerg though even hotter. The kobold leader Snilkez'ka is the first one to greet you and exclaim that now that you're here, the war will go much quicker and victory should come swiftly. The first few weeks are indeed very successful ones, and it does appear that victory will come quickly if the Iznac are falling as quickly as they do, but as always not everything is so clear cut… The Iznac realizing that they are facing a power that they've never encountered before resort to unleashing a powerful "secret weapon" in the form of three very large flying lizards. And these aren't wyverns either. They are creatures that Casimir once told you were rare even back in his day. They're dragons and the first thing they do is completely obliterate one of your forts. To make matters even more complicated the orcs that abandoned their duty have somehow come to an agreement with the Iznac and are now allied with them. The Iznac have also rallied the other major race inhabiting the island, the Glip against you, though some of their villages were already hostile anyway. You fall back a bit on the advance and regroup realizing that the conquest of this continent is going to take a lot longer than anticipated. Year 60 "We'll hold the line at Fort Canopy and Fort Tangle, then after they've expended all their energy on this massive assault of theirs, we can make our own advance and wipe them out for good." You say and then promptly stagger a bit away from the table in pain. General Flevas and Captain Snilkez'ka move towards you and ask if you need help, but you of course decline. Though the truth is, you could use some help, just not in the way they are offering. Ever since the dragons reared their ugly heads this campaign has been one struggle after another and taken a great toll on your body. While you've managed to kill two of the giant lizards already, it's almost been at the cost of your own life. Your last battle with one of the creatures practically cost you half of the left side of your face given that you're missing an eye and an ear now. You're even missing part of your non-dominant hand. While healing magic is powerful, even you can't regenerate completely lost limbs or other organs and you've been pushing it to the limit as it is. You might be holding off death in the in the short term, but you've probably been shortening your life span just by using it as much as you have. You've been in contact with Decena who has been giving updates via letters on what's been going on in Evigrus since your absence and the general reports are always fairly boring. No major problems or anything, in fact Decena on several occasions has requested that she come help you on the Nyttrus campaign and while she would've been of great help you still want to keep yourself separate from her. Not really because of any possible feelings between the pair of you anymore, but more because you want to keep her safe. Quite honestly, you don't think you're going to survive this campaign and even if you do win, how many years do you really have left anymore? Or years WORTH living? Decena is your successor. While you sometimes briefly thought that you might find a way to live forever, deep down you always knew that it was always going to be Decena to take your place when you died. It's probably why you've wanted to be away from her. She'll be able to take your death with less pain when it does inevitably occur. She also needs to be alive and while you have no doubt in her abilities, there is no point in playing with her life. Perhaps your own, but not hers. You dismiss Flevas and Snikez'ka and tell them you'll be fine defending Fort Canopy by yourself and that they should focus on Fort Tangle's defenses and with any luck the airships will take out the dragon. Days pass and you and your troops prepare for the inevitable assault, which comes in excessive force just as predicted. Perhaps even a little more. You look over the battlements and see several Iznacs climbing the walls of the fort like an army of ants. They aren't even using ladders, they're just scaling the fort with their bare hands. It's actually rather impressive, until you unleash a chain of lightning to zap all of them. The shock is enough to at least cause most of them to fall off if not outright kill them immediately. Your people are doing their best though they can't stop every Iznac from scaling the fort. Soon the gunfire is replaced by sounds of close combat weaponry. No matter how far the advances in technology, it always eventually comes down to looking your opponent in the eye and feeling their blood splatter as you end their life. While you're busy hacking off the limbs of an Iznac warrior, another loud explosion in the distance is heard followed by a bright flash in the sky. It's the destruction of your last airship from the dragon. Flaming wreckage crashes down in the distance. Won't be long before the dragon turns its attention towards one of the forts. Iznac, glip and orcs all attack the fort and while it's a brutal affair, your Eternals are holding their own in the face of overwhelming odds. You then hear a roaring sound getting closer and the sounds of great wings approaching. You shout a general command for the still working cannons to be pointed towards the dragon and to prepare to fire when the beast is in range. In the meantime you try to keep that side of the fort relatively free of invading forces. The dragon gets closer and you give the order to fire and unleash your own magic bolts at the creature. It's definitely wounded from its ordeal with the airships, but given your experience with the other two dragons, you know it's far from being out the fight. In fact it's so determined that it doesn't distinguish friend from foe when it blasts its flame breath on the fort. You manage to protect most of your people with a magic barrier, but for those outside its protection, most are set on fire if not incinerated immediately. On the positive side, it reduces your enemies, on the negative it ignites the gunpowder barrels for the cannons causing a massive explosion and completely destroying one side of the fort. While the barrier still protects you and everyone within initially, it's still a lot of strain on your energy and you begin to feel the fatigue setting in. and you can't hold out any longer… Your strength falters and the barrier goes down and the flames envelop you and several of your troops. In the last moments of your flesh melting off your bones you only regret that this fort will fall.

Upon entering the throne room, Mortimer paces near his throne, looking up when you arrive. He certainly doesn't look like the fop you remember, his clothes are now partly torn and dirty. He doesn't look like he's bathed in days making his hair to stand up in a way that would almost be laughable if he wasn't currently possessed by a demon. His eyes give off an unearthly red glow. The throne room itself is in shambles and pieces of dead bodies, entrails and blood are practically everywhere. A large broken crystal lies nearby, you can only guess that's Zelvix's former prison. Semra says nothing. She just looks at you nodding, and reaches out for your hand. You give it to her and she grabs it. She then begins chanting. You take the opportunity to cast your mind shield spell on Decena who stands nearby watching every direction. "So, THIS is what you've brought to beat me with Semra? I would've expected better from the likes of you. I don't know why you're even chanting that nonsense, it isn't going to work on me you know." Zelvix says. (It certainly isn't Mortimer anymore just on how deep the voice is alone) While the three of you stay silent, Zelvix continues to talk. "I have no idea why you continue to blame me for your father's death. Even I can't control my underlings all the time. Your people made a deal with me and I collected, what's so wrong about that?" Semra continues to chant. "You believe this woman? She holds a grudge longer than some hell lords do and at least they do for something reasonable like a stolen soul or something. She's just whining. Bah, I'm done with her anyway, I offered another deal when she first arrived here for old time's sake, but she refused." Zelvix's banter is still met by silence. "Anyway, how about you two? Oh no. No, I don't think you'll do. You're too much in love with this one. While I think under different circumstances twisting your mind would probably be child's play, I believe your master's presence makes it a bit too much of an effort to even try. You want his approval so much that you'd probably strip naked, get down on all fours and open your ass, pussy and mouth at the same time to an entire company of orcs if you thought it would please him. Blind loyalty is such a beautiful thing at times. Shit, I should be so lucky to instill such devotion. Oh well, guess that's why there's torture." Zelvix says to Decena. Everyone continues to remain silent, but Zelvix now turns his attention to you. You didn't feel it before, but you start to feel an oppressive presence within your mind. "Now you I can work with. Can't work with bitches anyway, too fucking emotional am I right? I'm sure you know what I'm talking about considering the company you're keeping. You think a svelk female is bad? Heh, try a demon girl. Your dark elves don't have shit on them. Lots of fun at parties though!" You redouble your efforts to block out Zelvix's words… "I have to say, you're quite skilled for a mortal. I'll even admit, I like your style, showing no mercy to your enemies, ruling your territory with an iron fist, I can appreciate a mortal that rises above his slug like station. And you were quite low weren't you? You were practically an abortion waiting to happen then through a minor mistake you got kicked upstairs. Good thing bureaucracy sucks doesn't it? It's okay though, you made the most of it and that's what really counts. I mean here you are talking to me, one of the greatest demon lords in the infernal realms…" At this point you'd almost make a deal with him just so he'd shut the fuck up. He continues to pace, but you notice he holds his head for a brief moment. "Hrmm, starting to feel something…no it's gone now. Nice try Semra, but you're not getting anywhere. Now who was I talking to? Oh yes, the Eternal." You suddenly feel an even greater oppressive feeling on your mind. Between trying to support Semra, protecting Decena and fighting off Zelvix, you're starting to feel the burden. "Not easy is it? Protecting everyone? (Sigh) I don't even know why you're helping Semra anyway. You know she'd backstab you if it ultimately served her purpose. You're not a stupid man, you have to know that she's just using you right now and it's not even for petty revenge. Well some of it is I suppose, but there's something greater here at stake and she's trying to achieve it. Let me tell you…" Zelvix's deep voice fills your mind despite your best efforts to block it out. "She's trying to revive the svelk Empire. Y'see she actually thinks by somehow killing me that the so called curse I put on the svelk will disappear. It's complete shit of course. The reason for the svelk downfall is their own doing and none of my own. I didn't cause their civilization to suddenly descend into civil war and rebellion, that had been coming for centuries long before I arrived. All I did was provide a service. A world saving one in fact. Why in certain circles one might even consider me a hero!" You feel a greater drain on your energy as Zelvix continues. "I bet she even told you that I'm planning on unleashing an army of demons on this world didn't she? Pfft. Please as if I need to worry about such things, I have my own kingdom in the infernal realm with millions of subjects and even more souls to torment! If its one thing I've learned as a demon lord, it's that you should only conquer what you can actually hold. I had a brother once who learned that lesson the hard way. Got his head chopped off by a mortal for his troubles. Hahahahaha! My brother was a fucking idiot!" Zelvix laughs at his last statement, which is then followed by a roar of pain. Mortimer's body falls to the ground and he begins twitching and convulsing. "FUCKING BITCH! I'LL RIP YOUR SOUL APART! RAAAAARGH!" Zelvix shouts while Semra keeps chanting. If anything it's given you a bit of temporary relief, but only for a little while. "Well, it seems our little dark skinned whore has been doing her research. I may have underestimated her. The flaw of arrogance comes with being a demon lord I suppose…(Sigh) Very well then, as much as I've enjoyed chatting with you, I can see I'll have to cut to the chase…." You try to think of pleasant thoughts to block out Zelvix, such as ones with your time with Alison, but Zelvix won't be ignored. "Look, here's the deal and it's not even going to cost you your soul because I know you're too smart for that. What it is going to cost is a little bloodshed and that shouldn't be a problem for the likes of you, especially considering you never liked ol' Morty anyway. Just kill Morty, I'll take care of Semra and then I'll be heading back to the infernal plane because honestly I've had enough of this world." You give no response, but you can feel your willpower getting to the point where you almost want to give in… "Hey wait a minute. Maybe YOU want to kill Semra? She's in the middle of her spell right now and you're so close, there's never been a more perfect time! You'd catch her completely off guard. You could easily take that dagger that she once stabbed you with and at last do what you've always wanted to do with it. Remember just like the time when you two were exterminating gnomes? Don't you wish you could've taken that opportunity instead of following your orders? Well you have no one giving you orders right now. What is stopping you? You know you want to and all I want is to be free from this world. Kill Semra and I'll happily open up a gate and return home." Zelvix deep melodic tone begins to make your mind succumb to his persuasion attempts. Never before have you experienced such a powerful force of raw will. Even in a few other instances where you faced a psychic assault it's never been quite like this. Granted it's in his favor that what he's proposing isn't anything you'd object to doing either. The ONLY thing that's giving you pause is the fact that it's a demon lord telling you to do this. "Ah…I see you don't trust me…smart. Tell you what, I'll sweeten the deal. You seek to conquer and bring order to this miserable world do you not? You have the skill and ability, what you lack is time. So you seek immortality do you not? An immortality that even eluded your old master, and wouldn't you like to succeed where he failed? Your answer lies where you've always known it to be. The Isle of Mortos. I know you've made a halfhearted attempt at trying to locate it again. Would you like to know where it is exactly located? I can tell you right now if you just kill that…ARRGH!" Zelvix once again feel the effects of Semra's ritual. At this point Morty's body is desperately crawling over to Semra in an attempt to reach her. Also just as you suspected Zelvix uses some sort of magic to bring the bodies from the room behind you back to life, except these aren't singular walking corpses. The pile of bodies have melded into each other creating a giant mass of flesh slowly rolling towards all of you howling and moaning while arms, legs and heads twitch about from it. It might be too big to get through the doorway, but you imagine that its sheer weight and girth will just break through the sides of the walls. You're still staggering from your recent mind assault, but now that you're no longer being mentally attacked, you take a quick assessment of the situation. Decena prepares to hold off the abomination by herself, Semra is still in her semi-trance and Zelvix continues to drag himself over to Semra. > You help Semra Decena's a good warrior, you're sure she'll be able to handle the abomination trying squeeze through the doorway. Plus the quicker Zelvix gets banished, the quicker this all stops. Now that you've been given a temporary relief from the mental attacks, you run over to Morty's body and drag it away from Semra. You also hold him down and begin repeatedly punching him in the face. Morty's possessed body struggles against you and while it's certainly stronger than it should be, it can't break free of your grip and won't be reaching Semra anytime soon. Zelvix's power is fading, but he's not out of it yet and in between trying to break free he establishes contact with you mentally again. "Ragh! Argh! Fool! You would deny your destiny of immortality? I told you I would tell you how to find the Isle of Mortos! Is that not what you want? You think…ARRRGH!" Zelvix's bargaining is interrupted by the agony of his impending banishment. Soon Zelvix will be gone and this will all be over, yet isn't there a way to get what you want as well. You think so and respond back to Zelvix. "Zelvix, you've got little time left, so I'm proposing a deal to YOU. Tell me the location of the island now and I'll kill the svelk bitch myself. You don't have any options here." You hear a deep chortle inside your head. "Mortal, we ALL have choices. I know you and I know this game. You phrased your proposal in such a way that you didn't specify WHEN you were going to kill Semra…actually you didn't even say Semra. You just said svelk bitch. That could be any of them. No deal, I'm not telling you shit. A good attempt, but I'd rather die than have my last moments be one of being outwitted by a pathetic mortal!" Zelvix says "Considering you're still stuck in Morty's body and going to be BANISHED in it, I'd say that's already happened." Zelvix doesn't respond, instead you just hear a great bellowing inside your head, this is also followed by a scream nearby, you turn your head and see half of Decena underneath the mass of murderous flesh that has finally managed to break through some of the wall in an effort to reach you all. Decena still struggles to fight, but she's overwhelmed by the writhing mass of limbs striking her and the horrible rows of sharp teeth biting into her flesh. "NO!" you shout and run over to help her by hacking away at the disgusting flesh blob. It has little effect other depriving it of a few less flailing limbs. You only succeed in chopping off a few chunks even when you attempt to freeze it in place (Which only slows it down rather than properly freezing it completely) You try to pull Decena away, but she's stuck and her lower half being devoured, shredded and crushed all at the same time. The strength in her is already leaving. "I'm sorry my…Emper…" She manages to utter during the chaos of this situation. "Don't talk! You'll get out of this, I'll think of something! I'll…FUCK!" you shout in frustration and still hacking away at the mass. The whole time you've been distracted, you haven't paid any attention to the main conflict which is that of Zelvix who fortunately was still too weak to reach Semra. A final unearthly wail from Zelvix and it's a sign that the end of this conflict is near. "SSSSSSSSS NO! IT CANNOT END LIKE THIS! I WILL NOT BE DEFEATED BY MORTAL SHIT! I CURSE YOU ALL! NONE OF YOU SHALL AAAARRRRGH!" Morimer's body twitches and convulses one last time and you manage to turn your head just in time from your own battle to see a red spirit like mist rise from his body. An angry demonic face can be seen briefly followed by the red mist completely dissipating. In front of you, the mass of flesh you've been fighting goes completely lifeless. Mortimer's body is also lifeless. Whatever spark that was keeping him alive was only due to Zelvix's magic and he's truly gone now. And then the blob of flesh you were fighting becomes lifeless as well and you are able to pull Decena away with some effort. It's too bad though, she's missing parts of her legs and even some of her innards, you can't even imagine how much blood she's lost. "Oh shit, I'm sorry. I should've been there for you, I'll make this better, I'll make this better…" you start to say and begin to cast your healing magic, though surprisingly Decena manages to interrupt you by weakly grabbing at your hand. "No…don't…let me die a warrior's death. Don't shorten your life span for me…the Empire needs you…" You hold Decena closer to you, it won't be long now. "Emperor…I love you…" she says looking up at you. "I…love you Decena." You respond back. These words causes a brief smile in Decena's final moments. It's all she ever wanted, your love. The funny thing is, it's at this very moment that you realize that you could've probably had a real relationship with her. She was more than just a lovesick student that you thought you were re-enacting your experiences with Semra with. She was a worthy mate and potentially your successor. And now that's all gone. You wipe your eyes and get up off the floor, pondering your great loss today. In fact you've completely forgotten about Semra, though she hasn't forgotten about you, and she's been watching you the entire time. "While I hate to disturb your moment of introspection, we need to get the hell out of here before your army starts bombarding this place now that the barrier is down. I imagine that you probably gave that order or something similar to your army correct?" You ignore Semra. "Hey are you listening to me? Look, I know you're upset about losing your little warrior girl and I'm sure she was a lot of fun in bed, but you need to get over that now. I mean utter devotion is a beautiful thing, but really at least Alison was her own woman and not someone looking for constant approval." Semra says as she walks over to you. "Well I guess that's why you'll always be the true woman for me, right Semra?" you answer and grab her hand. "What?" Semra says. "That's what you're always telling me isn't it? I mean any woman I have any sort of feelings for seems to die. You on the other hand survive everything…heh…just like I survive everything…it would seem you're right we ARE meant to be together…" At this point you put both of your arms around Semra's waist. You can sense that she's genuinely surprised by this sudden show of affection for her. You can also feel her attempting to read your mind, but she'll see nothing there but a strong desire to take her right there on the floor. "Hmmm, while I don't mind this sudden enthusiasm lover, we really should…" Semra starts to say before you shut her up with a kiss. She tastes exactly like you remember and it's intoxicating. You waste no time in stripping off your bloody sweat drenched clothing, and Semra despite her concern that your army will start bombarding the city, loses that worry as well as losing herself in the moment. Then soon the pair of you are naked on blood stained floor and as you thrust into Semra, you try to ignore your aches and pains from your earlier battle. It's almost like your first time… Well other than the fact that a rotting mound of dead bodies lies nearby, along with Decena's corpse which probably hasn't even gone completely cold yet. This is wrong in so many ways, but after your great loss today, you're going to get something out of it. And that something ISN'T Semra's magical svelk vagina even though you've convinced her that it is. Semra has to know something about the Isle of Mortos or at least how to get back there. She's been around long enough and given her relationship with Casimir who was a former "citizen" there, the chances that she knows something is very likely. "Mmmm yes! Yes! Ravish me! Ravage me you fucking abomination of nature!" Semra exclaims and slaps you hard in the face. Semra's having so much fun that she doesn't seem to realize you're getting to know her in an intimate way that you're sure she didn't want you to. It's difficult trying to hide your true intentions to Semra, but you manage to do so by filling you own thoughts with a mixture of lust and hatred. You also think about how much you want to slit her throat. It's certainly enough to be convincing since it isn't exactly untrue. In her state of arousal Semra's mind is much less guarded, as her focus is no longer one of defense, but one mostly of pleasure. While part of her is expecting you to try to kill her and she's certainly prepared for it, that's not your goal at least not today. It's the perfect cover as far as you're concerned. You see many things about Semra's life, some very interesting, some rather mundane, and some even sort of surprising to you. For example, just before Semra pushed you away during your first mental joining, there was another she was upset about losing, though you didn't see it the first time, namely an infant son. Apparently demons had killed and consumed part of it before Semra and her father could save it (Which then soon lead to her father's death). You can only imagine it was their baby together. This loss explains a few other things you see which must take place later on in her life, such as a bored one night casual sexual encounter with some svelk warrior that also resulted in pregnancy. This must've been Eldolith's father since she was born soon after. Her relationship with her daughter was never a good one and it's apparent she saw her daughter as something barely better than…well "the lesser born" as most svelk would say. Perhaps Eldy was a constant reminder that she was NOT Semra father's offspring and never would be. But you're not here to delve into the tragic past of a very broken woman, you're here to find out vital information that you know she must have. And you think you've just found it. You see a continent that you've never seen before. It isn't Evigrus and while you've never been there, it's not Nyttrus either as there is no trace of jungle. The place has large tracks of forests and several ruined cities. Inside such ruined areas you see groups of svelk fighting each other. Other groups wander the countryside in the usual nomadic manner that you've traditionally known them to do. Oddly there doesn't seem to be any other race living on the continent, or at least no other sentient creature. (Strange beasts you've never seen still seem to exist though) Another thing that stands out though are these large circular structure made out of mithral. They seem to be all over the continent though it looks like most are damaged in some way. This has to be the svelk "home." It is. You gain all this information from Semra's mind which is like an open book at this point. And these circular structures are portals, or they used to be. They probably lead all over to different parts of the world and that includes… "DECIEVER!" Semra suddenly shouts and tries to punch you, but you hold her down her arms. She's on to your plan now. "Don't fight it Semra, just lay back and enjoy it." You mockingly say and try to probe her mind again, but she's already taken steps to block you out more effectively. You've learned all you can, but it might be enough. Finished with Semra mentally, you "finish up" with her physically as well before letting her go. Predictably she punches you in the face and crawls backwards from underneath you. "So was it good for you?" you say, holding your face. Your continued mocking is met with a blast of fire that you just barely block with a magic field. "I know where you're going Semra. You're going back home to Dokkrus to ironically try to do something you were criticizing me for. You're going to try to resurrect the Svelk Empire again. Try to unite the tribes as it were. That's good. We all should have a goal. I know what mine is." "You think yourself so clever, but if you try to pursue what we both know what you're trying to pursue, be prepared to suffer considerable losses." Semra warns. "What could I possibly lose Semra? Tell me, because I'd truly love to know. I have no more loved ones for you to kill. The Empire? You told me I'll lose that when I die anyway. My life? You think I fear death? You know I don't. I only seek to MASTER it." You pick up your pants and start to dress as you continue your monologue to Semra. "In the past you've mentioned about how my efforts of world domination and expanding the Empire are all in vain because I'll eventually grow old and die anyway just like Casimir. Well congratulations Semra, you motivated me to avoid his fate because unlike him, I will succeed. I WILL become truly immortal and NOTHING is going to stop me." "Well, then its good we had one last tryst because I can see now you're leaving me no choice!" Semra shouts and resumes her magical attack. You block the magical bolts and try to run for some sort of cover. Semra casts a poisonous cloud, you remember that one, but this time you're able to get out of its range, though in doing so you are hit by her follow up attack, which involves throwing a dead body into you. You fall to the floor face first as the body slams into you a fairly fast speed. "Shit!" you groan and turn around with the body still on top of you, and that's when you see that it's Decena's. Her dead eyes stare into your own and then you feel a kick to your face that probably would've taken out your eye had Semra been wearing her sharp toed boots rather than her current state of undress. "It's been fun lover, but you need to learn the last lesson and that's no one lives forever." Semra says…and then the roof of the palace starts collapsing on the pair of you. It would seem the bombarding of the city has begun. Seizing the opportunity, you push Decena's body off of you and try to stab Semra with your dagger. Unfortunately between your exhaustion, the crumbling ceiling and Semra's alertness you miss, but instead of trying to attack back, she takes the survival approach instead. "Next time Eternal." She says and runs out the entryway "Next time Semra." You mutter and pick up Decena's body before making haste for the exit yourself. It's difficult carrying Decena's body while tired and trying to avoid being blown up by the bombarding. Doesn't help that you start seeing airships approaching. "Sheesh, Flevas. Glad to see you're not fucking around, but this isn't helping me!" you mutter and quicken your pace. Fortunately, you manage to get out of Dequilet before it's completely decimated and fortunately there is a pause in the bombarding when someone with a telescope spots you just outside the destroyed city walls. You make it back to camp in one piece. "Emperor! My apologies, but I thought…" Flevas starts to say, but you're not in the mood to hear anything. "Forget it Flevas, you were doing your job…just (sigh) here…" you say and lay Decena down. "Have her body shipped back to the capital, she will receive a war heroes' funeral." "Certainly my Emperor." Flevas says and snaps his fingers to have some other troops move her body. "I'll be in my tent. Don't disturb me." You say and retire to your bedroll. As you allow your body to at last embrace the rest it needs, you think about Decena's last words to you. "Don't worry Decena, your sacrifice wasn't in vain. The Empire will always have me because it IS me and I will live forever. I promise." You say as you close your eyes. > … Year 56 You enter Brenda's office where upon she smiles briefly at you, though with everything you have on your mind, you don't return the gesture instead you just nod. "Hello Brenda, I trust you and Warrick are still enjoying your new marital status." You say guessing that what's put her in better spirits as of late. "Yes, Emperor. I'm happier than I've been in a long time. Thank you for performing the wedding personally." "Think nothing of it. Though I didn't think you'd ever remarry, let alone Warrick. But if you two are happy then that's good. You should hold on to that as long as possible for one never knows when it will suddenly be taken away from you." "Um…of course my Emperor. We certainly do cherish our time together." Brenda responds at your rather grim comment. "Anyway, I came here to let you know that the new Eternals have been released from their tanks. You'll be training them soon." You say. "I'll be looking forward to it. I trust they met with your standards?" "Yes, most of them seem to be very much like the third generation though perhaps with signs of displaying higher intelligence overall. Under your guidance, I have no doubt that they'll be just as effective as the third gens." You reply with a sigh. "Is there something wrong my Emperor?" Brenda asks. "Yes, it's Nyttrus. The place is becoming a pain in my side that I don't want to be bothered with, but I find that it might become necessary to step in personally soon. We've got more than a few strongholds there now, but the Iznac are far from being beaten, unfortunately most of the humans there are sick or dead due to disease and Iznac magic. Flog's also dead and the orcs have become slightly less disciplined as of late without his calmer leadership. There have been a few reports of deserters running off into the jungles and forming their own communities. Just glad Snilkez'ka is still alive and the kobolds are holding down the forts there until the third gens arrive." "Couldn't you send airships to bomb Nyttrus to speed things up? "They don't really have the range to travel across the vast oceans yet though Elam's working on fixing that with the gnomes. In any event if they did have that sort of range I might be inclined to have them try to find Dokkrus first since that's my real goal." Brenda tries to give you some words of encouragement, but they don't improve your mood. Instead you just leave Brenda, once again wishing her well on her new happy marriage. You spend a few days wondering whether or not you should head to Nyttrus with the third gens. Ultimately you decide not to as you're still hoping to hear something soon about Dokkrus. As soon as you get word about that, you want to be on the next ship going there. You don't want to be in the middle of a conflict that you know you'll be compelled to complete if you directly get involved. In the meantime you go back to more mundane matters such as ensuring that the rebuilding of the new Nakol province remains on schedule. You also take time to hone your magic abilities; in fact since your "intimate" mind connection with Semra, you actually feel a little more powerful or rather you gained a brief insight into spells she never taught you during training. A few weeks pass and still no word about Dokkrus, however you do get bothersome news about Nyttrus again. You're informed of the latest problems on Nyttrus by Kivan who received a message about it in the middle of the night. The Iznac have apparently unleashed a powerful "secret weapon" in the form of three very large flying lizards. And these aren't wyverns either. They are creatures that Casimir once told you were rare even back in his day. They're dragons and apparently they've already destroyed one of your forts on the continent. This isn't news you wanted to hear. Now you're going to have no choice, but to go over there. You still can't do all this alone though, you still want to wrap this war up as quick as you can and you'll need some competent tacticians and strategists to do that. Snilkez'ka has her way of doing things you're sure, but they probably work best with other kobolds she commands. The third gens are good warriors, and a select few of them are indeed leaders, but most of them are rather…well unimaginative sometimes. You don't think that's the fault of Brenda's training, but perhaps just a tendency towards conformity due to their creation. In fact you can't even think of a single one that has stood out to you during the war with Nakol. Hopefully the fourth won't have that problem when they're ready. So you make up your mind that General Flevas should accompany you. The elf is pretty much the best one you have right now and you believe his vast scouting skills should come in handy. Given that all the orcs ran off and rebelled, you also won't have to worry about Flevas not being respected as a leader. The third gens and kobolds seem fairly neutral towards him. You go back and forth on whether or not to bring Galen. His magic would most certainly help against the dragons, but you're wondering if you want to put up with his tendency to complain. True he's much better at not doing it, but he always manages to find a way. Who you really wish you had is Decena. She would've been perfect for this mission since she already worked well with the third gens. Just another reminder of your loss. Maybe though you just need another Eternal. An Eternal who always likes "vacations" away from his usual duties, namely Warrick. He certainly commands respect amongst the Eyes and besides you he's probably the next most feared name in the Empire. As Sightmaster he's also skilled in less traditional forms of warfare, which will come in handy in the jungle filled continent. Of course the only concern with bringing him is that leaves the "mainland" of the Empire, relatively… well the word isn't undefended, but without a major figure to oversee any possible problems that may crop up. You suppose Brenda and Kivan can handle things if something really gets out of hand. Which brings you to another problem and that's taking Warrick into a war in the first place. Warrick's job at one time was probably a bit more dangerous, but as you've established order over the continent, stomped out dissension and all of those other necessary things, it's become even more like a "desk job." Warrick still keeps up on his training and such, and you know if you called for him to assist he'd jump at the chance not just out of loyalty, but because he always has a bit of desire to get in the middle of things again. He could very well get killed and a better head of internal security, as far as you're concerned there is none. His loss would be even greater than Decena's you believe. Though it's the more "moral" problem that surprisingly has you rethinking this. Warrick just married Brenda, the pair of them don't see each other every day, but they're able to do so when they can. It's the happiest Brenda's been since she was married to Roldan. If Warrick was to die, well you can only imagine what that might do to her. So if you lost Warrick, you might be "losing" Brenda as well. Of course that's all speculation. You don't intend on losing Warrick at all, but you have to prepare for that possibility and the repercussions of such things. > You take Warrick with you You need to take care of this situation on Nyttrus and the only way you're going to do that is with people you know that are going to be vital for the task. (Which also why you decide to leave Galen here.) You go to see Warrick at the Eye Headquarters, he's a little surprised at your sudden visit, but happy to see you as always. He's even more excited when you tell him you want him to come with you to Nyttrus. "Of course Emperor! I have to say I'm glad for this opportunity again. The last time was when we went to New Dessel together and while I'm glad it worked out anyway, I was always a bit disappointed we never got to fight along side each other." Warrick says. "Well I'm fairly certain that will definitely happen in Nyttrus. Anyway, I'll be leaving in a few days, will that be enough time to get your affairs in order and delegate various responsibilities here?" you ask. "Should be, I'll get started on that right now." "Good, then I'll see you in three days." Thinking nothing more of this, you return to get your own affairs in order, explaining to Kivan that you want regular reports on the Empire sent to you in Nyttrus. The second day comes around and it is you who gets a sudden visitor although perhaps not totally unexpected. "Emperor, I told her you were busy, but…argh!" Kivan says as Brenda pushes him aside and into the wall. She looks very upset, but apparently she knows better than to come in armed while in such a state of agitation. (Not that doesn't mean she still isn't potentially dangerous) "Kivan, I'd suggest you leave us alone." You say, to which he nods wincing at his aches and closes your door. Brenda continues to stare at you. "Well? I know you didn't come all this way to wish me well in Nyttrus, say what you need to say." "You know that my loyalty to the Empire is absolute. You also know that Warrick's loyalty to the Empire is absolute as well. We were trained to do everything in our power to ensure its survival and success. I TRAIN all those new Eternals so that they learn that lesson as well. To know that the good of the Empire is above ALL, no matter what." "And I know this Brenda. Your actions everyday are proof of your dedication. Yours and Warrick's." Brenda begins nodding her head in agreement in a rapid motion while breathing hard. "Yeah…SO WHY THE HELL ARE WE BEING FUCKING PUNISHED?" she shouts. "I wasn't aware I was punishing Warrick, has he said he doesn't like the new assignment he'll be accompanying me on?" "Hah oh…oh of course not! Not good old loyal Warrick! He of course feels honored by this assignment. He doesn't even know I'm here, because if he did, he'd try and stop me from getting himself killed!" "You seem to lack faith in your husband, I know him to be a skilled warrior." "Of course he's a fucking skilled warrior! He's also not a young man anymore! He's not as fast as he used to be, he's not as strong as he used to be and you want him to fight fucking dragons? And unlike you he doesn't have the advantage of powerful magic abilities to help keep him alive!" "Brenda if you haven't noticed I'm not exactly young myself, why the hell do you think I want his help? Because I greatly increase my chances of survival against three flying lizards and an army of savages! And contrary to popular belief magic is just another tool for battle, it's not some wonder solution to win wars. If it was and I actually had that power, I'd certainly be using it." Brenda now starts shaking her head and sighing. "You don't get it. You don't understand." "Yeah, I think I do Brenda. I get it better than you think. I lost Alison the same day you lost Roldan remember? You just found happiness with Warrick, happiness that you never thought that you'd ever experience again since Roldan died. Now that happiness is in jeopardy because there is the possibility that Warrick may fall in battle. Well you know what? Death is a possibility anywhere." "Except by going to Nyttrus you're increasing his chances tenfold! And you're right you do know about loss, so why the hell would you want to put ME of all people through it again." "Brenda if there was another way, don't you think I would? You believe I actually WANT to potentially cause you distress? No, I don't. You and Warrick are pretty much the only ones now that I can identify with on any level anymore and quite frankly losing either one of you would deeply wound me as well. I don't pretend to say it would be as strong as you feel for each other, but I would feel the sorrow." "(Sob) but why…must he…we just got married…we…(sob)." Brenda at this point can't quite keep it together. You have no real comforting words for her. Just cold facts of duty. "(Sigh) He's needed Brenda. His Emperor has called him. He has to do his duty and serve his role as we all must for the good of the Empire. It was not my intention to upset you Brenda, but you know that as unfair as this all seems Warrick has a job to do. You worry that your happiness and time with him will be cut too short like it was with Roldan, well even if that does happen, count yourself lucky that you managed to enjoy the moments you DID have with him." You pause for a moment, reflecting on Decena. "At least you managed to realize a good thing before it was too late." Brenda stops sniffling and manages to compose herself. Still upset, but resigned to fate. "Very well, I've had my say, and I accept your decision my Emperor. Apologies for my momentary lapse in judgment and falling victim to emotions." Brenda says and starts to turn away. "Brenda wait." You say before she leaves. Brenda turns back around and you exhale deeply. "I still need Warrick's help in Nyttrus, however I believe I can get by without him for awhile. Nyttrus is a large continent and I'm going to try to fortify our current holdings and retake our recent losses. So while I'm doing that, you've got Warrick for another year. Make the most of it." Brenda's sad expression turns to one of a smile. "Thank you my Emperor." "Hm, well just remember you both STILL have your duties here that you need to perform. I expect Warrick to still take care of Eye business just like I expect you to continue training the fourth gens." "Of course. Again I thank you." "Okay then, inform your husband that his trip to Nyttrus is postponed for a year." Brenda again thanks you and leaves. You finish packing what personal belongings you feel you'll need for Nyttrus and the next day you get ready to leave for the docks and board the ship to take you to Nyttrus. The next day you take a long look at Alison's portrait before your journey. "I'll be back Alison… I always come back to you." You say and leave. Year 57 Within the short time Warrick has arrived, your spirits have picked up a little. It's been a frustrating time here especially since the dragons have so far still eluded death. Though with Warrick now here you hope to correct that problem, but more importantly Warrick has brought with him very good news. "So Dokkrus has been found at last?" you ask. "Yes, my Emperor. Received word just as I was preparing to leave for here and since I was already on my way I figured I'd deliver this news to you in person." "Ha ha! This is great! I'll have to send another message of how I want to proceed. I don't want any engagement on there yet, just some spying and exploration." You say. "Did you want a message sent to the Eyes to handle this? My second is more than capable of carrying out these tasks. Wouldn't have picked the person otherwise." "Yes, good idea. I want a ship with Eyes sent to Dokkrus, we'll send that message to the homeland later, right now though you and I have business with killing one of these flying lizards. I believe we've finally managed to track one to where it makes its home in between its attacks." You say. "You mean you haven't slain all three yourself yet?" Warrick asks. "I wish. But now that you're here I'm confident that their continued existence will no longer be a problem, so you ready?" "Sure am, Emperor. It'll be just like the old days!" Warrick exclaims. In high spirits and a positive outlook for the future, you, Warrick and a company of Eternals set out to kill one of the dragons. > Year 60 "Well, looks like we've lost the Tornado." Warrick says as the pair of you see through in the near distance a multi-colored dragon unleash a gout of flame from its mouth, which engulfs the airship. Already heavily damaged the flying fortress can't take anymore and begins to explode. Minor ones at first, then one large one. Flaming pieces of the machine fall from the sky. "It's all right. It's all right. The Storm II is still there and hopefully it'll kill that damn thing or at least wound it enough for us to do so. Either way that flying lizard dies today. This war will be all but won with its death. It's the last one and I'm glad it's finally decided to come to us this time, because I'm sick of chasing it all over this damn continent. I want to get the invasion of Dokkrus underway properly and I can't very well do that if I'm stuck in this damn jungle continent." You say preparing for the large group of Iznac approaching Fort Canopy. "Hrm. Certainly is a lot of them. Better get on with this." Warrick says and orders the cannons to fire upon the multitude, which puts a dent in their numbers, but doesn't stop their advancing. You look over the battlements and see several Iznacs climbing the walls of the fort like an army of ants. They aren't even using ladders, they're just scaling the fort with their bare hands. It's actually rather impressive, until you unleash a chain of lightning to zap all of them. The shock is enough to at least cause most of them to fall off if not outright kill them immediately. "Slaughter the four armed spider eyed bastards! Make them realize that their domination of this continent has passed! This is the time of the Empire!" you shout to the Eternals defending the fort. Your people are doing their best though they can't stop every Iznac from scaling the fort. Soon the gunfire is replaced by sounds of close combat weaponry. No matter how far the advances in technology, it always eventually comes down to looking your opponent in the eye and feeling their blood splatter as you end their life. While you're busy hacking off the limbs of an Iznac warrior, another loud explosion in the distance is heard followed by a bright flash in the sky. It's not lightning from the storm, but rather the demise of your Storm. The Storm II joins the Tornado in crashing to the ground after losing its skirmish with the dragon. Hopefully the rain is making the jungle wet enough or else the flames from the wreckage of these downed airships are going to cause an inferno throughout the jungle. "Damn! The Iznac brought their little frog slaves and the remainder of those orc traitors!" Warrick says and cuts down several Glip before helping the rest of the soldiers fend off the orcs smashing through the fortress' gates. It doesn't matter in the scheme of things because even with overwhelming odds, your Eternals are still holding their own against all attackers. You then hear a roaring sound getting closer to your position and the sounds of great wings flapping. You shout a general command for the still working cannons to be pointed towards the dragon and to prepare to fire when the beast is in range. In the meantime you and Warrick try to keep that side of the fort relatively free of invading forces. "Hey, you think maybe I can get the chance to kill the dragon this time? I know you're the Emperor and all, but you don't need to prove your superiority all the damn time." Warrick jokes. "Yeah? Well maybe you'll get your chance if you aren't as slow like you were the last two times." You retort. "Slow? Well excuse me Mr. lightning fingers, but we all don't have the ability to blast something out of the sky with a thought." "Well that's why I'm the Emperor." You snicker. The dragon gets closer and you give the order to fire and unleash your own magic bolts at the creature. It's definitely wounded from its ordeal with the two airships, but given your experience with the other two dragons, you know it's far from being out the fight. In fact it's so determined that it doesn't distinguish friend from foe when it blasts its flame breath on the fort. You manage to protect most of your people with a magic barrier, but for those outside its protection, most are set on fire if not incinerated immediately. On the positive side, it reduces your enemies, on the negative it ignites the gunpowder barrels for the cannons causing a massive explosion and completely destroying one side of the fort. While the barrier still protects you and everyone within initially, its still a lot of strain on your energy and you begin to feel the fatigue setting in. "No! Damnit! Fight through it!" you mutter to yourself hating your weakness. While you're busily trying to fight through your fatigue, you don't notice where Warrick went and that was to the highest point he could get to on the fort and some how JUMPING on the damn dragon when it made its pass! You almost can't believe your eyes as you see the dragon flying away from the fort with Warrick desperately trying to hold on to one of its legs. You can see him hacking at the dragon's underbelly. The dragon bellows in pain and begins to turn to make a second pass, but Warrick's assault makes another attack on the fort a non-priority for it. You see the beast twist and squirm in an effort to shake Warrick free and then eventually the beast makes another loud screech and the both of them go crashing into the jungle no doubt destroying several trees in the process. You can still hear the dragon in the distance, so you know it isn't dead yet (Though probably badly wounded), but who knows about Warrick's fate. In the meantime Fort Canopy isn't immediately being attacked anymore as most of the Iznac have fled or been killed at this point. You quickly order your remaining troops to secure the fort and take a small group with you to head towards the dragon's roaring noises. Fortunately the jungle isn't thick here and the noises make tracking pretty easy, though by the time you reach your target, you see the severely wounded dragon with Warrick in its mouth and shaking its head from side to side. Then with one more shake, Warrick goes flying out of the dragon's mouth and slams into a nearby tree. You can't quite make out all the damage, but it looks like he's missing an arm at this point. Who knows what other grievous wounds he's suffered. In any case the dragon has now turned its attention towards your direction, but its not exactly in the best condition itself. It makes a coughing noise and a pitifully short burst of flame and a large amount of blood emanates from its mouth. It even tries to flap its wings perhaps in an attempt to escape, but one wing is so torn up that it can't lift off even if it had the strength to do so. > You focus a full attack on the dragon As regrettable as it is, Warrick's condition is secondary; killing this beast is top priority. Despite the dragon's weakened state, you don't take any chances and unleash a blast of cold on the creature, which slows it down even more. Eventually its skin starts to frost over until parts become as ice. "Fire at its head!" you shout and the troops with you do so immediately with chunks of the dragon's frozen head breaking off as bullets go into it. You finish up with a couple of magic bolts to shatter it completely. The headless dragon flails slowly about for a moment though you don't really stand around to be mesmerized by its death twitches as you suddenly find yourself attacked by Iznac warriors who had fled from the fort, but apparently were still lurking in the jungle. They down a couple of your people, but they're really no match for you and are quickly dispatched. With all enemies beaten, you finally go over to where Warrick's body lies. As you predicted, he's already dead. "Shit. How the hell am I going to explain this to Brenda?" Is about the only thing you can utter at this point. Warrick isn't the only loss as you soon to come find out. Flevas also died during his own battle in the jungles with the Iznac (Though the battle was successful). Fortunately Captain Snilkez'ka lived and was also successful in defending Fort Tangle against the Iznac hordes. With the dragons dead and this large Iznac offensive repelled, its safe to say that Nyttrus is yours. The Iznac will probably linger with petty raids for awhile, but eventually much like the Torites they will become only a memory. After assigning new orders and giving out a few field promotions, you return to Evigrus with Warrick's body. When you arrive, you waste little time to give the sad news to Brenda though as soon as she sees you enter the training room by yourself, her face already displays the look of someone who already knows what you're going to tell her. "Brenda, I think you can stop training the eternals for the day, I've got…" "He's dead isn't he?" Brenda interrupts. "Yes." You answers. Brenda is silent and pauses a moment before telling the fourth gens to stop training for the day and to return to their barracks. They comply though most of them take a moment to stare at you and whisper, presumably in awe that their Emperor has paid another visit. With the two of you remaining in the room, Brenda addresses you again. "It was a death fitting for an Eternal I trust?" Brenda asks. "Oh yes. Yes it was. He died in battle with a dragon. I cannot think of a more glorious death." Brenda inhales and exhales, rubbing a hand over her face, trying to hold back tears. "Good. That's good. (Sniffle) That's more than Roldan got at least. Was there enough of his body left for a proper funeral?" "Yes, I've brought his body back from Nyttrus. The arrangements for a heroes' funeral will be made as soon as you're ready." "Okay. Well I'll see you tomorrow to make the arrangements, now I believe I should get my students back in here, don't want them to get lazy and make any reckless mistakes when the time comes." "Brenda you can take as much time as you need, you…" "No. I have a duty to train these Eternals and I will see to that task. Warrick did his duty for the Empire and so I will continue to do mine for the Empire. These Eternals are going to help ensure the Empire's continued survival one day and the Empire must survive for as long as the Empire lives on, Warrick will live on as his sacrifices will not have been in vain." You nod at Brenda's decision. "Okay, well I shall take my leave now." You say not having much more to add. "Thank you my Emperor." Brenda says before you leave. "What for?" "Giving me that extra year. I'll cherish it for as long as I live." You leave Brenda to morn in her own way, which apparently is immersing herself in her work despite feeling horrible. To be honest, you're not exactly feeling great yourself. Warrick wasn't just a vital member of your command, he was one of your "siblings" and now it's just you and Brenda. Warrick's funeral isn't a spectacle. Brenda's requests a quieter and much more private one. He of course is still placed in a grave next to other honored Empire heroes, but for the most part only you, Brenda and a few of his closest subordinates attend. It is here you get to meet the one Warrick appointed to be in charge when he left for Nyttrus, Cassandra. Warrick mentioned her a couple times during your time in Nyttrus, though he neglected to mention she was an elf. Actually you didn't even realize there had been any elves recruited into the Eyes and you're sort of curious of when this happened and how she rose through the ranks, so its just as well that she makes a point of wanting to speak with you after the funeral. Later the pair of you go to talk in your meeting room. "So…Cassandra is it. You're my new Sightmaster eh? Warrick never mentioned you being an elf." you say. "I didn't think that was a problem, my Emperor." "No. No problem. Warrick just never mentioned recruiting any elves into the Eyes actually. He did mention you to me a few times during our time in Nyttrus though. Assured me you were very competent at your job and had complete trust in you. Considering I've come back to a serene Empire, I'd say his judgment was correct." "Thank you my Emperor." "Hrm. So seeing as that was about all Warrick mentioned about you and I've only just come back from Nyttrus and have not yet had time to look up your paperwork, tell me a little about yourself and why you wanted to see me immediately." Cassandra mentions that she grew up in Rask where her family endured a lot of suspicion due to their being a group of separatist elves that were giving the Empire a bit of grief there before Captain Kane's effort's solved that problem. Though some humans that lived in her village at the time still murdered her brother one night. Of course nobody said they saw who did it, but it was known. Of course her family being elven, nothing much was done about it. Cassandra said she was angry about it for a while, but then realized that that sort of thinking wouldn't get her anywhere in the long term, so made a vow to try to work within the system. Her first step was to join up with an Empire militia, which was used more back then in Rask due to most of the regular troops fighting in the Felkan War and the fact that ogres and giants were still a nuisance. These militia groups were also made up of some of the lower class rabble that were either poor, patriotic, looking to fight or a combination of all three. As such there weren't any restrictions for the most part. Of course she had to struggle to be accepted the entire time and was practically disowned by her parents who while law abiding citizens, couldn't believe she'd willingly join an "injust" system. She held her own though and learned a lot during that time though it wasn't really until Warrick became Sightmaster for the Eyes, that she came into her own. He was looking for new recruits in Rask and she signed up for Eye training. She nearly didn't even get in, but fortunately Warrick intervened and allowed her to prove herself, which she did. She goes on to say she kept a relatively low profile since it made life easier in general among her peers. "Not so low profile now, you're the Sightmaster." You say. "Yes, and believe me I wasn't even expecting it when Warrick assigned me to take the position. Though as an Eye, I still prefer to keep a low profile." "Understandable. I trust you are not having problems with any of your subordinates?" "Oh, you mean being an elf that's in charge? Oh no. Actually I haven't had any of those sorts of problems for quite some time. Really after you had all elves still in slavery freed and promoting a man like Flevas to eventually be a general, I've encountered less hostility overall…though I imagine being an Eye might make the average person pause before insulting me." Cassandra says with a slight smile. Sounds like Cassandra enjoys the little power trip she has over most humans, sort of like Flevas in that regard actually. No matter, as long as she does her job, you don't care. Warrick was confident in her abilities and you have no reason to distrust his judgment and after your little discussion about her past, she addresses the original point of wanting to see you. "I wanted to talk to you about Dokkrus. It is my understanding that you plan on invading it?" "That is a major agenda in the near future, yes." "I see. Well since its discovery I have kept apprised of its situation via Eye agents as you requested. Granted this intel is limited due to the distance, but here is what we've learned." Cassandra as this point hands you a large folder filled with reports of what has been discovered about Dokkrus. She then gives you a brief run down on her own thoughts of it. "Now, I've never been to Nyttrus, but from what I've heard of the place the situation you'd encounter at Dokkrus would be much the same. Heavy resistance mixed with non-traditional tactics. Perhaps worse given that these are svelk we're talking about." "I didn't expect it to be a walk in flower fields. Besides aren't the svelk fighting each other most of the time?" "Well, most of them are, but last reports state that one group is starting to show more signs of unity. Its not a stable thing mind you, but its there nonetheless. There has also been a lot of sudden efforts in mining and metal working. Oddly though, the group of svelk don't seem to be focusing on building weapons though, it seems to involve these giant metal structures that are in locations all over Dokkrus." Semra. This has to be her doing. She's already preparing and if you had to hazard a guess, she's trying to repair some of those portals. Is she planning to use them to teleport directly somewhere in the Empire? Cassandra says that this unified groups isn't very large. It's not even an army, but then maybe Semra's just planning a precise strike against you, like say a sudden assassination attempt so she might not need a lot of people. With those portals working, she might be able to just drop in anywhere. Something has to be done now. Cassandra has already said she believes an all out invasion is going to encounter problems, but doesn't everything involving dark elves? > You try a different approach While the temptation to just send your forces and invade the place is the logical choice, you have a feeling Semra is probably expecting you to do just that. While your current military situation isn't the worst, you've still got most your Eternals locked up in Nyttrus right now and you definitely want them to be sent in if you're going to invade Dokkrus. "Okay, I'm thinking no invasion for now, however the svelk need to be stopped on what they're planning to do, or rather at least what this group is planning to do." You say. "You'll hear no argument from me on messing up svelk plans, but given your tone you sound like you already know what they're planning which is something I was no able to gain knowledge of unfortunately." Cassandra says. "Those metal structures that have been mentioned in reports? Those are portals. You're aware of the svelk named Semra aren't you?" "Yes, I am familiar with that name as Warrick mentioned her a few times. Former advisor to the former Emperor, former trainer to the first Eternals and all around treacherous bitch?" "Yeah, basically. Well without going into a long story about it, I know that she's trying to unify the numerous bands of nomadic svelk into another svelk empire. From what you've told me, she's already busy doing that and as I said those metal structures are portals leading to who knows where. Probably all over the world. It's probably how the svelk used to run their empire in fact. Obviously Semra's trying to get the things working again as another step in rebuilding her overall goal." "If that's the case then maybe you should invade." "No, I imagine Semra already is expecting that and you're right in that it'll be a nightmare to hold territory there. We just need to sabotage what she's doing, and I'm thinking this is going to be more of a job for the Eyes since they've already been doing a good job there and I want you to lead this operation in Dokkrus personally." Cassandra wasn't expecting that order. "Of course I will obey my Emperor, but I'm going to need more details on this plan of yours and I'm concerned about the internal security here if I'm gone along with…well however many Eyes you intend to send." "Don't worry about the security here, I mean its important as always, but the days of civil unrest seem to be behind us a bit. As for how many of your Eyes you want to take, well that's up to you. I'd suggest that you take only the best and get by with as few as possible. You're going to be relying on a lot of stealth and hit and run. Basically I want you to multiply the chaos there. Cause these little nomadic bands to remain at each others' throats. Shouldn't be too hard, but try to make sure it seems like Semra's group is the one doing it. It'll definitely make them pause before joining her." "So use their own nature against them. Got it. What about the portals?" "Since Semra is the only one trying to get them to work, focus on stopping those efforts as well. Obviously that means sabotaging the mine, mines, or wherever the hell she's getting the material to rebuild them. Killing the miners works too obviously. The best thing to do is to destroy whatever portal Semra is trying to fix completely. I imagine magic is going to be involved so it would probably be best if you took your Eye mages with you." "We don't have too many of those left you know." Cassandra says. "Hrm, well if you need to, take non-Eye mages with you. There aren't many of them left either, but it should be enough…in fact take Galen with you. Lazy whiner needs to be useful for a change. And he WILL whine, but other than myself, he's the most powerful mage the Empire has, so don't get him killed unless it's absolutely necessary to the overall mission." "Is the overall mission to kill this Semra?" You chuckle a bit. "Heh, well if you have a good opportunity to do so, I certainly won't condemn you for it. In fact if you DO manage to kill her and bring me her head I'll grant you whatever you want within my means and that's quite a large list I assure you. However I'd advise you NOT to even attempt to engage her if possible. She's extremely dangerous and quite frankly will probably know as soon as we start hampering her mining operations that the Empire is involved and will make adjustments to her plans. Even with Galen, you most likely are not going to match an encounter with her so my advice is don't fight her unless you have no choice." "So our main mission is just to sabotage her portal fixing attempts?" "That's only part of it yes. However the other part is just as important, if not more so. I WANT one of those portal structures." Now Cassandra looks at you as if you've given her the impossible. "Emperor, from what I've heard those structures are…huge! I don't see how we're going to be able to move such things." "That's because you won't be, at least not initially. I'll be travelling to Dokkrus at some point to oversee that part of the plan but I need to discuss with the engineers for a way to extend the airships' distance so they can reach Dokkrus as well as carry one of those structures back here. Hmmm, I suppose it probably would be best to send a few engineers with you so they can report back and give an idea of exactly how best to move this thing without damaging it. I'd send Elam, but I'd rather keep him here to work on improving the airships. Maybe I'll just send some gnomish engineers…of course the gnomes won't like that, but fuck 'em they get more than enough special treatment." You finish up telling what else you require of Cassandra and then make your next stop to speak with Klemto about getting some gnome engineers to go on this trip… "But…can't you just use Empire engineers?" Klemto asks. "Last time I remember New Dessel was incorporated into the Empire decades ago. Your engineers ARE Empire engineers. If you're asking why I don't use human engineers, well let's just say other than Elam, I still have more faith in gnomish ones. A testament to your peoples' fine works. You really should be flattered." Klemto doesn't know how to respond to such a remark so he continue to try to plead with you. "But Emperor, please be reasonable! Most of my people ever really leave this city anymore and most have no desire to, and you're asking them to go to a far away land with where sadistic svelk roam all over the place? We're not fighters, I think our history shows that." Klemto remarks. "Heh, I dunno if that's entirely true of a race that makes the deadliest weapons outside of the most powerful of magic. Not to mention you're the only group that ever rebelled from the Empire at one time AND lived. I assure you though your peoples' safety will be top concern. I need them the most for this part of the mission to succeed. They will have the best protection. As soon as it's over, they're coming back immediately. You have my word on that." "I…just don't know." "Klemto, this is more of a courtesy visit as well as giving you the option of sending those who are…less resistant to the idea. You know the deal Klemto, you're part of the Empire and you have to obey its leader regardless of how much freedom and leniency he gives this place." Klemto looks at you knowing that those words are more than just a polite threat. He sighs heavily and gives no more struggle. "(Sigh) Very well, let me…" Klemto starts to say before he's interrupted by a red haired woman dressed in a slightly dirty work outfit. She's human to your surprise and doesn't look like one of your Eyes (Let alone Elam). "Hey uncle I'm just, oh!" the woman says when she sees you. "Zana! I thought someone told you not to disturb me! I'm in a very important meeting with the Emperor!" "Apologies uncle Klemto, but I left my lucky hammer over here when I visited yesterday and I don't like being without it." Zana says while smiling and nodding at you. "Apologies to you as well Emperor." You aren't terribly offended of course, but you're wondering why a non-Eye human is running around New Dessel until you suddenly remember meeting Zana a long time ago, she was just a teenager then. "Emperor, uh you remember my adopted daughter don't you?" Klemto asks. "Yes, first time I made my visit to New Dessel. As I recall she interrupted that meeting to ask if she could fix some lighting problem you had at the time." You say. "Good memory! I'm surprised you remembered someone as unimportant as me!" Zana beams. "Mm, well when you're the Emperor, you have to try to remember everyone no matter what their status because under certain circumstances a peasant can rise to become a general. Besides, I also remember commending Klemto on raising a young lady with respect for dedication and hard work. Glad to see that you're still at it." "Oh yes my Emperor. I work primarily with Elam, do you know him?" "Elam? Oh yes, I definitely know him." You answer. At this point Klemto begins to get nervous and tries to push his niece out the door. "Okay, Zana you've found your hammer, now the Emperor and I still have important business to discuss." "What kind?" Zana asks. "Oh just something concerning engineers and a rather adventurous mission." You say. Klemto's fears have just come true. "Emperor…please I beg you…not Zana! I mean I'LL even go if you need me to! I'll send ALL of New Dessel!" "Relax Klemto, if Zana here is skilled enough to work next to Elam, I'd hate to break up the team. She won't be going to Dokkrus." You say. "You mean the dark elf continent? Yikes. As much I want to serve the Empire, I do believe I'd be a liability at such a hostile place! I'm no fighter!" Zana remarks. "Well you and your uncle don't have to worry, your skills will be better served here working on the new airships I want Elam to build." You say before Zana leaves. After getting over his initial worry, Klemto says he'll get that list of engineers to you immediately. You leave Klemto's office and head to where Elam's workshop is located. When you enter he doesn't appear to be working on anything important, he just seems to be watching some rodents run around in a container, though they look like they have a small piece of metal on their heads with wires connected to them. "What the hell are you doing Elam?" you ask completely startling him. "Emperor! Apologies, but I get very engrossed in my experiments sometimes. I've been coming up with some theories on brains and how they work. Figured I should test animals first and then work my way up to more sentient subjects." Elam answers. "For what purpose? I thought you were building new weapons in here." "I am…but…forgive me my Emperor, I'm getting bored with just engineering technological devices and weapons. Lately I've been feeling a pull towards my old love of biology. I mean yes we can create machines and other wondrous devices to make life easier, but what about making a LIFE? Y'know when I was young and before I worked under Marik, I was kicked out of the physician's guild by short sighted fools who couldn't appreciate my ideas." Elam says. "Yes, I believe Kivan mentioned that to me when you were promoted to the Eternal Project." You says. "Sometimes I miss working on the Eternal Project. I think we could really make advances there." Elam says. "Hm, didn't know you felt that way Elam. Did you have any particular ideas in mind for the next new batch of Eternals?" "Oh several. For one, I was thinking of how to go about curing that sterility problem you all seem to suffer from…no offense my Emperor." "None taken. Your idea is certainly a worthy one, but I believe the magical process that's necessary to create Eternals is the cause of that one flaw." "Yes, but I'm wondering if there isn't a way to eliminate the magical process altogether." "I don't see how." You say. "Well I didn't say I had all the answers yet, but I really believe if I could focus my studies, maybe I could find a way we could create Eternals just using the technology and medical aspect." "Okay, sounds intriguing. Might be good given how few mages there are around nowadays. If you do come up with anything important feel free to let me know, but ONLY if you come up with something solid AND you don't let it get in the way of your other work here." "Of course my Emperor. So what was it that you wanted to see me about?" "Oh, I need you to make the airships travel a longer distance. Namely to Dokkrus." "I guess we're bombing the hell out of that place next eh? Okay, I'm sure its possible; we'll just have to go through our routine tests and that is still going to take time. Hope you don't need them anytime soon though." "I'd prefer if this was done as soon as possible, but given the vital importance of the mission these airships are going to be going on I DO want it done right. Namely they're going to be lifting up a large metal portal and carrying it back to Evigrus." "How big are these metal portals and what are they made out of?" "Mithril I believe. At least those were the latest reports. As far as size, well they're about as big as the front gates to the capital. Maybe bigger." "That large huh? You sure you can't just put them on a ship?" Elam asks. "That would require digging up their base and dragging the damn things across hostile territory and THEN loading them on to a mostly wooden ship which is at the whims of the ocean and the occasional large denizens that lurk within it. The only ship we've got that might be able to carry it without danger of sinking or capsizing is that giant vessel we captured from Mortimer before the Nakol War. And even then I'd still have my doubts." Elam glances at his rats again before continuing. "Well you don't actually think we'd be able to load one on an airship do you?" Elam asks. "No, of course not, but the airships could carry the portal underneath it with strong chains and hooks. Also saves the problem of dragging it across hostile territory since it could just be pulled straight up off the ground. I'm thinking maybe even TWO airships could carry it while flying abreast each other." You say. "Well, that would definitely stabilize and help distribute the weight, it also means the airships are going to have to be smaller so they can even share airspace so close together…" Elam exhales. "But…it's certainly doable. Like I said, I just hope you don't need these immediately. I'll need specific schematics of the portal as well, I mean exact size, dimensions and weight if possible." "I'm sending gnome engineers to Dokkrus, I'm sure after a suitable portal is found they will report such findings." "Okay. Good. Well I suppose my side experiments will have to wait a little longer. I'll get to work immediately on this my Emperor." Elam says. After a few more words with Elam, you leave New Dessel trying to feel positive about the plan you've set in motion. You know there is going to be something that will inevitably try to hamper your plans, but you just try to keep in mind that this is one more step closer to immortality. > Year 62 "The transport airships have made their test run to the outskirts of Dokkrus and returned. They're ready for the real mission now, my Emperor." Elam remarks. "Good, because we're sending them and a couple of the upgraded regular airships." You say. This is a major step closer to your goals. Cassandra, Galen and the rest have managed to locate and hold a fairly intact portal for you. The base around it has already been dug out for easier lifting and they haven't suffered many svelk attacks, well not many concentrated svelk attack at least. The svelk that are attacking are just the regular xenophobic type that doesn't want outsiders on their territory. They have no real grasp of the greater plans that are going on. Semra's actions have been surprisingly minimal though apparently she's been too busy defending her own territory (and portal and mines) from not just your sabotage attempts (Which unfortunately haven't been too successful), but from other svelk warbands. It would seem that Cassandra and your Eyes have at least successfully managed to keep up the ongoing chaos there. Won't be long now. "Emperor, may I accompany you on this mission?" Zana asks. "Huh?" you say being interrupted by your private thoughts. "May I accompany you on this mission, my Emperor? I know I sounded a little afraid the last time Dokkrus was mentioned, but I admit part of me still wanted to go. I'd like to join you on this mission. Besides, I did have a hand in building these airships, it might be best if someone with that knowledge came along." "I imagine Klemto might have some objections to that." You say. "I love him, but he's too over protective. Besides, you're the Emperor if you want me to come with you then he has no choice but to comply right?" Zana says almost in a flirtatious way. You're not exactly sure how to take that, but Elam definitely looks surprised. Maybe even a little jealous. "Well, that is correct…okay fine you can come with me." "This will be a great honor my Emperor! I'm looking forward to this!" Zana says. "You will be accompanying me aboard the Storm III." You say. "You're going to be on the Storm III?" "That was the plan given that it's the flagship, why where did you think I was going to be?" you ask. "Well I assumed that you'd want to be aboard one of the transport airships to better oversee the process as well as to better defend it from attack in case the svelk try something." "That's sort of why I have the Storm III and company going with them. They will be defending against possible svelk attacks, though barring Semra's meddling; I don't see any major threat to any of the airships themselves. The svelk are remarkably still stuck in the dark ages when it comes to weaponry." "True, but I know you have the ability to cast those large barriers for defense. I dunno I just don't see your own extra protection on a transport airship as such a bad idea. It would allow the escorts to focus a little more on protecting the other." "Hrm. Never hurts to be sure I guess. Duly noted, I'll think about it." With Zana's brief suggestion she excuses herself to get her things prepared for the mission, leaving you alone with Elam who realizes his glances of faint jealousy have caught your attention and he is now trying to not make eye contact. "Elam you're acting like a teenager. I'm not remotely interested in your woman so you can stop worrying that I'm going to start fucking her on the airship." You blurt out. "Uh…um…thank you my Emperor…I uh…" Elam stutters a bit at a lost for how to respond. "How long have you two been an item anyway? It doesn't really show much when you two are together." "We try to keep it professional my Emperor. Human women here aren't in big supply here in New Dessel and I can't identify with any of the Eyes, but Zana…she's something special…never have I encountered a woman with such a magnificent intellect for science!" "Mm, I'm sure that the only thing…" you smirk. "Well her physical attributes are nice as well.' Elam says. Elam goes on to ask if he can discuss his desire to work more in the medical and biology field when you return. You tell him that he may continue his experiments as usual, but you're going to need his help with the portal when it's brought back most likely. Your don't bother talking with Klemto about Zana. You figure she can tell him herself, assuming she even bothers and decides to just make it a surprise for him. You do take the opportunity to look at the new airships. It's odd, but as many times as you've seen them up close this will be the first time you'll actually be on one of these things. Even on your return trip from Nyttrus you went by boat rather than waiting for another airship. When the day arrives Klemto approaches you. You're guessing he must've heard the news by now. He comes to you hat in hand looking pitiful. "Emperor…I understand my daughter is going with you…I just beg of one thing and that's that you see that she's safe." "You make a lot of demands of your Emperor…(sigh) She'll be fine Klemto, you worry too much. I doubt if the svelk are even going to be able hit us if they even attack. Besides, she's going to be aboard the Storm III and given that it's the heaviest armed airship we have right now, she'll be one of the safest people there." "Well that's good to hear. At least she'll be close to you." "Not necessarily. I might be flying on one of the transports. Zana suggested that it might be best if I was aboard one to better defend it in case the unexpected should happen." As Klemto's mind fills with worry again, you wonder if you should take Zana's advice or not. > You board the Storm III The transports are going to have enough protection with the escorts. Besides you'd rather be on the biggest, most well armed thing in the sky. Zana seems a little surprised to see you aboard the Storm III when you're about to lift off, but says that it'll be an honor to be so close to you on this mission. She then says she's going to be walking around the Storm III making sure everything is running smoothly. You see this as reasonable so you think nothing more of it and tell her to carry on. After about a half hour you finally get used to the idea of being so high in the air and less paranoid. You didn't think it possible for you to be, but somewhere in the back of your mind, you had the concern of this thing falling out of the sky which is probably why you haven't stayed in one place on the ship for very long and have felt the need to pace about it. You also have been bumping into Zana every so often. Not on purpose, but you seem to just be appearing in the same places she happens to be. This wouldn't be a problem, but each time you do, Zana seems increasingly agitated whenever she sees you and it's obvious that she attempts to leave the area as soon as possible. The next time you see her she's coming out of a door on the top deck of the ship wearing a heavy jacket with some sort of backpack on her back. Once again you completely surprise her. "Hey Zana, once again we meet again." you say. "Heh! Um yeah, my Emperor. Still following me I see." Zana replies. "Not on purpose, but should I be following you?" "No. I mean, there's no reason to of course, it's just what I've been doing is so boring and not very interesting." "Probably, but there isn't much to do on here anyway…so what's that on your back?" "Oh this? Uh, just a back pack full of stuff…" "Zana, why the hell are you so nervous? Every time we've bumped into each other you've run off like your ass is on fire." "Have I? My apologies then my Emperor. I suppose your presence is just a little unnerving at times. We all want to do our best in front of you, you know." You give a sideways glance at Zana. You've NEVER known Zana to ever be nervous around you. In fact she's always been very casual to the point that most rulers would probably find it disrespectful. "Okay…I understand…so what's in the backpack?" "Um…as I said nothing of important my Emperor, just tools…" "Okay so let me see inside." And it's at this point Zana goes silent for a moment and her nervous facial expression turns into one of complete desperation before she turns around to run from you. "STOP ZANA! STOP HER!" you shout and go after her. You have no idea where she thinks she can run to until you see her attempting to climb the railing of the Storm III in an attempt to jump off it. Fortunately you and another crew member grab her before she's able to. She then tries to fumble with something inside her jacket, but you wrestle it away from her. It's some sort of black rectangular device with a button on it. "What the hell is this Zana?" you say while your crewmembers keep her from getting up. "Why don't you press it and find out TYRANT!" Zana shouts and now her expression has changed again, but to one of complete hatred. You've never been the most technologically inclined, but if you had to guess, Zana has planted a bomb aboard this ship and this thing is going to detonate it. You immediately tell crewmembers in your vicinity to spread the word and to look for it while you hang on to the detonation device for safekeeping. You then tell your crew to take off Zana's backpack. It's odd as it really isn't a bkacpack at all so much as it's a large sheet of canvas with reinforced rope attached. You've never seen anything like it before, but you again if you had to guess, it was supposed to decrease the speed of Zana's fall. "Interesting invention. I'm guessing one of your own design? I'm just wondering though we're quite far from any land mass. Even had this invention worked, were you really planning on swimming all the way back to Evigrus?" you say. "I calculated the distance, maybe I would've made it, maybe not, but either way it would've been better than allowing your continued existence! Murderer! Tyrant!" "So who put you up to this? Semra?" "Nobody put me up to this tyrant! I have my OWN reasons as I'm sure countless people would have for wanting you dead! The only difference is that I had the guts to actually try to kill you. YOU MURDERED MY FAMILY! YOU STOLE MY LIFE!" Zana screams with her mouth spitting saliva in anger. "Zana you've lost me. You claim I murdered your family, but from what I know I wasn't even in the vicinity of the destroyed village of where Klemto found you." "I didn't grow up in a village! I was going to be a princess! I would've ruled a kingdom one day! YOU and YOUR I EMPIRE destroyed all that before I even had a chance to enjoy a taste of such a life! Klemto didn't just save a random Felkan baby, he saved a HEIR TO THE FELKAN FUCKING KINGDOM!" Zana shouts. It was a very long time ago. Almost a different life even, but you vaguely remember seeing a crib in the Felkan royal palace, yet no baby or even signs of a dead one. You never thought too much of it at the time, but apparently even though Zana was just an infant, Klemto must've told her about her real heritage. He probably lied to you thinking that you would've had her killed. "Because of YOU, I've had to live a miserable existence working on machinery surrounded by fucking GNOMES! You know what that's like? Being the only human in community of damn gnomes? It SUCKS! Then when some humans do fucking arrive, they're from the same nation that destroyed my birthright! It almost sickened me to even sleep with that crazy fool Elam!" How long must she have been waiting for the right time to strike? Was it always this way or did it slowly gnaw at her? A life that was stolen from her. Did Klemto or the gnomes put her up to this? Was this their plan in some weird way? "Okay, since you're in a talkative mood, did Klemto or any gnome put you up to this?" you ask. "What? So you'll have an excuse to round them all up and destroy their souls again? I heard about what you did to them. And maybe I might find them to be timid, tiresome unattractive little know it alls, I find it deplorable what the Empire did to them. I can't believe they allowed themselves to be dominated by a nation that systematically exterminated them from not just this life, but the next as well!" "So did they help or not?" you ask again. "No! No they did not! My father would've probably had me jailed if he knew what I was planning. Those cowards wouldn't dare stand against the Empire, but I fucking would! And did! Not that this will save them. After you're done killing me, you'll probably have them all killed as well for any excuse will serve a tyrant!" "It's amusing that you keep calling me that. What did you think your parents were? They were a KING and QUEEN. You think they ruled by popular decision? Do you think YOU would have if you became queen? My actions that day weren't even personal. I was just following orders like a soldier. Your actions however today are misguided and fatal. Such a waste. Even had I known your origins, I would not have had you killed if you had remained true to serving the Empire. You probably would've even replaced Elam as top engineer when such a time came. Your quest for vengeance was as pointless as your entire life." Zana says nothing else, she just continues to look at you with hatred in her eyes. At this point a few of your crew has come back saying that they found a bomb near the spare gunpowder barrels and another one near some vital machinery. They were disarmed and disposed of by dropping them over the side of the Storm. "Well, I guess there's only one more thing to dispose of." You say and then nod to your crew still restraining Zana. To her credit she doesn't beg for her life and continues to curse you even as she's falling over the side of the Storm to her death. Considering some of crew from the other nearby ships may be wondering what's going on if they've seen someone being thrown overboard, you make an announcement that you want the crew to signal the other ships to let them know everything is fine and that the mission is going to continue as expected. As for the mission, that goes off relatively quietly without much trouble. The portal is hooked and lifted up without any problems. There doesn't even to be any weight concerns, though given that you had two transport ships just in case it isn't too surprising. There aren't any svelk attacks either. When you bring Galen, Cassandra and the remaining Eyes aboard the Storm via rope ladder, Cassandra says if you'd arrived a few days before it might've been a different matter since they suffered a very large attack accompanied by mages. In fact Cassandra mentions that they were encountering a lot more mage types among the ranks of the svelk. She goes on to say that Semra's group has disappeared completely meaning they stopped working on the portal and abandoned all their mining operations. "Knowing Semra she's probably changed her plans slightly again." You say. "Did you want us to stay then? I mean we might need some reinforcements, but I think the remainder of us can survive on our own a little longer out here." Cassandra asks. "No. You're all needed back home. Dokkrus will be invaded properly at some point in the future, but for now I've got more important things on my mind and I need all the security that I can get on the homefront right now. If the svelk suddenly start teleporting an invasion force then so be it. We'll be prepared, I'm going to start calling the third gen Eternals back from Nyttrus anyway. Besides, we've got one of these portals now and if we get it working like how I want to get it working, then we'll be fine." You say and then turn to Galen. "I want to talk to you about your findings, I assume you studied this one and several others while on your vacation." "Vacation? Dokkrus was the worst assignment that…" Galen starts to say until you glare at him. "Uh, nevermind my Emperor. Yes, I'll speak with you about what I found. Of course." With your mission accomplished and all your people aboard, you return to Evigrus where the airships land in the fields near New Dessel. The portal itself is moved into the mountain city. From there you bump into Elam AND Klemto together. Good, this will save you time. "Where is my daughter?" Klemto asks. "Yeah, where is Zana my Emperor?" Elam says. You snort and shake your head at this question. "Well there's no easy way to tell either of you this, so here it is. Zana was a traitor that tried to kill me while she was aboard the Storm. So I had her thrown overboard where I assume she died." Klemto and Elam's jaws just about drop. "WHAT?!" the pair of them exclaim. "You heard me. She's dead and that's it." Klemto's face displays the first signs of tears, but also of anger. He's about to speak, but you stop him before he can do so. "Klemto. I'd advise you to think VERY carefully the next words you say to me, because there are only a few reasons why I'm not going to have New Dessel purged of every gnome in here. Number one, I still believe I'll need the help of gnomish engineers for this next project and two Zana made it very clear that her plans were all her own and not the result of some gnomish conspiracy. Given how passionate her hatred of me was, I have no reason to disbelieve her." Klemto says nothing. "That being said, I'm ALSO going to forget the fact that YOU lied to me and that she was the daughter of the ex-Felkan royalty. I understand the lie, but this might've been avoided had you not lied to me in the first place…or failing that you needed to lie to her about her true heritage. Either way, I'll let the knowledge of your OWN poor judgment be your punishment." Klemto continues to say nothing, the man is overcome with grief and can't even be in your prescence, he just leaves holding his head in hands. Elam is still a bit in shock. "Was…was there no other way?" he asks. "Are you kidding me Elam? (Sigh) No. There was no other way. If it's any consolation, she never loved or had any real affection for you. She even called you a fool that she only slept with due to the lack of other available humans that didn't completely disgust her. Well that and I imagine she probably saw a possible opportunity to get closer to assassinate me by being closer to you." Elam just listens on in silence. "And you, like Klemto, should count yourself lucky that I need you to work on this project because this incident wasn't the first time you mistakenly placed your trust in an assassin. Or have we forgotten the OTHER bomb attempt on the first Storm that Warrick managed to stop?" "Um, no your Emperor. Apologies. I…have no excuses and thank you for your mercy." "Hrm. Get that portal working and it will be a start." Elam leaves your presence and you're left to rethink the "independence" policies on New Dessel. That time has now passed. A few hours later during a discussion with Elam and Galen about how to get the portal working again, an emergency goes up throughout New Dessel. At first you think its some sort of sudden gnome uprising that Klemto has stirred up, but the event is much less urgent though perhaps a little tragic. Klemto apparently went home, drank a lot of ale and then calmly shot himself in the head. He wasn't always well liked by his people due to his decisions, but enough of them thought highly enough of him to immediately go into mourning due to his death. There is probably a fear of what will come next too since he was their leader for so long; in fact none of the gnomes of their little council even steps up to replace him. Hardly matter though, since as far as you're concerned this is as good as time as any to completely do away with the "era" of New Dessel "independence." It was a long time coming anyway. Maybe Klemto even realized that and with the death of his daughter he saw no more point in seeing the "bad times" again. In any event, things are starting to look up for you and you're one step closer to your ultimate goals. > Year 65 "It…it was horrible, my Emperor! The place was so dead. Like I could feel it everywhere…my…my hands…my skin…wrinkled with age! How could I have aged so quickly? It's an evil place! Don't send me back! I beg of you!" the test subject pleads while groveling at your boots, but all you do smile. "WE FOUND IT! WE'VE FINALLY FOUND IT!" you shout in glee. After Elam's tinkering with machinery to repair the portal, sacrificing several lesser mages to fuel the portal with magical energy again, you and Galen trying to channel the energy to get the right location and after sending in several "test subjects" with ropes tied around them, you've at last discovered the way to reach the Isle of Mortos. The Island of Mortos seems to be so heavily disguised by magic that it's impossible to actually find through normal means. Basically the necromancers only allow access if they want it to or in your case, meddling with a magic portal for so long that you eventually found it through trial and error. Now that you've found it, the current problem is that it's a one-way trip. Hence the ropes you tied to the test subjects so you could pull them back through. (Though that still didn't always ensure their return) There's also the fact that "dialing" the way to get to Mortos in the first place has been fairly taxing on you and Galen who isn't looking so great nowadays. "A testament to your persistence, my Emperor…can I go lay down? I feel sort of weak." Galen remarks. "Galen you're a wizard, you of all people besides myself should be happy to discover a new mystery of the arcane! I mean with magic apparently dying out, I'd think this would be fairly interesting to you." "Emperor, in all honesty I'd rather just be back home using charm spells on young girls." "That's your problem Galen, you have no true ambition!" you say. "Yes, you're right my Emperor. I'm a lowly worm before your greatness." Galen says. "I'll let that remark pass since I KNOW you're intelligent enough to NOT use sarcasm on me. And I'm not going to let your whining and depression annoy me today as this is a great break through." At this point Galen says nothing and just shuffles off to find some place to lie down. You also ignore the test subject who has already been taken away by nearby Eyes to who knows where. You continue to stare at the portal, which will now lead you to Mortos. You almost want to enter right now, but you know that it will still have to wait. You call Elam over who normally isn't a nervous sort, but is when he gets near the portal. "So…this is it then?" Elam asks. "This is it Elam. Have you finished building that other smaller portal for me?" you say. "It's almost finished, though it took a lot of mithril to build it. Good thing Nyttrus had several deposits, because it's not like we had much of it. Also it's going to need magical energy of course for it to be fully powered. I imagine you've still got mages left?" "Maybe a few still locked up, but I question if it'll be enough…well there's always Galen. Should work." "You're going to sacrifice Galen?" "He's served his purpose and he'll serve it one last time for the greater good of the Empire. He's getting old and weak anyway, how many years does he really have left? Wasn't aware that you held any fondness for him." "No, I don't really. Still though…what about your Eternal Project?" "What about it?" "Well without any more mages you won't be able to continue it correct?" "If this plan goes the way I hope it does, it won't matter, besides I thought you were coming up with an idea to take the Eternal Project in a new direction without the use of magic." You say. "I was, but then I had to focus my efforts on this project and as I know it was of great importance to you, I didn't want to divert my attention." Elam responds. "Probably was wise of you. Well, after we get the second portal up and running, you'll be able to pursue your desire for more biological experiments and find a new way of creating Eternals." Elam nods and excuses himself to go back to work on finishing the other portal. The smaller one is going to be the "return" portal back here after its power up, "calibrated" and dragged through the Mortos portal. The test subject didn't say anything about any ghoul creatures or other undead around, just a dead feeling everywhere so it looks like you go lucky as far as the location is concerned. Though you still have no idea where you'll be located on Mortos. After all you only visited the place once and that was thirty years ago. You were so different back then. The trusting, loyal, good soldier that never questioned anything. You've been thinking more about those last few days with Casimir recently, your trip to Mortos and the days immediately afterwards. The big lie that Casimir perpetrated just to secure his own immortality was still nothing compared to the one that nobody except Jacob and Semra knew about. It's still odd to think about how you were never truly meant to be an Eternal. Still, it's often been said the bigger the lie; the more people are willing to believe it. Maybe its because your entire life is a "lie" that you managed to achieve so much within it. Maybe that's why you managed to become a successful Emperor and maybe that's why you intend to succeed where your "father" failed. Nicodemus, the necromancer that you encountered during your last trip to Mortos, tried to convince you to not pursue the same path as Casimir. Semra has tried to do the same on several occasions. As far as you know, they're still the only two that are going to be your major obstacles between you and your goals. You aren't sure what Semra's been up to as there has been no sign of her or any indication of an attack from Dokkrus, but rest assured when she does pop up again, you have no doubt its going to be at the most inopportune time. As for Nicodemus, you imagine you'll have quite a fight on your hands with him and that's not even counting other necromancers that must live on the island and their undead. You haven't been idle though. You've been practicing and strengthening your own magic abilities. Eventually you stop your reminiscing and decide you need to get on with your plans, you aren't getting any younger. In another few weeks, Elam tells you that the second portal is ready, so you gather up Galen and the remaining mages to go about its activation. Galen repeatedly tells you that he doesn't think there's going to be enough energy within the captive mages power up the second portal, but you assure him that there will be. The fool doesn't even consider the possibility that HE is going to be joining them. Well not until the last moment when he's grabbed by Eyes and strapped down to the draining chair hooked up to the portal. "Emperor?! What is this?! No! I was loyal! You can't! You…" Galen shouts before you punch him in the face and have him gagged. "Stop whining Galen." You say motioning Elam to hit the switch and watch the last of your mages being drained of their energy and life. When the portal is powered and you finish your calibrations, you have the smaller portal ready to be dragged through the larger one. Several Eyes, several third gen Eternals and some very nervous engineers all prepare to enter, plus one. "Emperor, you're going with them?" Elam asks. "I'm confident that this is going to work and if not, well then I don't deserve to be Emperor any longer. Let's get going." You say. You enter the portal and you have that old familiar feeling… A deadness all around you. The land is still dead, everything is still drab and gray. Same way it was when you last were here. The others with you all begin to complain about not feelings quite right. "It'll pass if you keep your mind focused, the key is to not let this place cause you to spiral into a depression. Come on we need to get this portal into a good place…that large rock structure in the ground over there looks as good as any. I want the engineers to embed this portal in it, don't want it just standing out here in the open wasteland. Follow me and DON'T stray too far. There are magic areas or what are called negative zones. You step into one and you could be an old man or even a corpse before you knew what was going on. I'll be able to detect them, just follow me." Your small march to the rock destination is uneventful other than some of your people still saying how this all feels so hopeless. Unfortunately most of it is from the engineers who are less accustomed to this sort of thing. As you wait for the portal to be embedded in the rock, you begin to ponder if you still shouldn't wait awhile before marching an army into Mortos. It might be this place sapping your "enthusiasm" but the grim reality of how difficult this is really going to be is starting to set in the closer you get to your goals. It does occur to you that Nicodemus was powerful enough to destroy Casimir with barely any effort. > You do some scouting now You decide that the best way to keep your mind off things is to keep yourself occupied. So you tell some of the Eyes to accompany you and tell the Eternals to keep a good watch over the engineers. You remind the Eyes to follow you, as the danger of stepping into a negative zone is great. They all acknowledge your order apathetically and follow. A few moments after the portals are both out of sight, you start to hear more complaining, bitching and overall whining. You'd swear you were travelling with Galen or several copies of him. "Damn it, what the hell is wrong with you all? You're supposed to be Eyes! Start acting like it before I have to make an example out of one you!" "Oh what's the point? We're all dead men anyway!" one of the Eyes exclaims. You travel a little longer and eventually you encounter a ruined structure. Probably not where the book is located, but no point in not checking it out since you're already here. You all approach the structure slowly. You because you're cautious, the rest well because they're all still suffering from the effects of the oppressive aura of Mortos. When you get close enough an ugly head pops out from around the corner of the ruins. When it sees you it makes an inhuman scream and comes loping at you. "Shit, ghoul. Quick, there will be a multitude of them!" you exclaim backing off and blasting the ghoul with a fireball. As more ghouls come pouring out of the ruin, you motion the Eyes to prepare themselves for combat, which they do so but only reluctantly. "COME ON! These fuckers are going to eat you!" you shout. There aren't as many ghouls like when you walked into that town of them last time, but there's enough to be dangerous. You fight the ghouls with blade and spell, but your Eyes are barely putting up a fight despite you yelling at them and the very real threat of death the ghouls pose. Pretty soon the ghouls begin to get the upper hand over your Eyes, some of whom have given up completely and practically laid down to die. Frustrated by this place altogether you begin flinging fireballs at the ghouls regardless if the Eyes are in the vicinity or not. If the weak willed fools wish to die then so be it. Eventually the only thing left is you and many charred bodies. You sit and rest for a moment from the battle. You realize that you're going to have to train your people to endure this place. It's obvious that this place is going to affect your people more than you realized… Then suddenly a panic wells up inside you and you make haste back to the portal. At first your major concern is that you'll find everyone not doing their job or at worst dead by their own hand, the reality is much worse however. The portal lies on the ground and partially broken, magic still powers it, but its highly unstable now and its changing different colors quickly. All the engineers are dead and some of your Eternals are too, but it doesn't look like everyone took their own life. It looks more like a slaughter. Two of the Eternals still live and have a deranged look in their eye; in fact they're eating one of the engineers. It would appear that the negative aura of Mortos may have another side effect other than severe depression. Upon seeing you, they both attack like a pair of ghouls. You easily put them down with a couple of magic bolts, but the damage is done. You look at the portal and you ponder if you should risk going through it or possibly continue searching Mortos for the book and hope that maybe you could find a way out of here that way. You also ponder if you just stayed put that maybe someone from Evigrus would try to send someone else with a rope tied to them through the portal and you could get home that way. You ultimately do decide to wait for what you think is a few days but nobody shows up. You're actually a little surprised, but then they might think that if going through killed you that what chance would any of them have? This doesn't have a good effect on your own morale which has been diminishing by the day due to the oppressive aura of Mortos and your current hopeless situation. You also haven't eaten or drank anything for quite some time, you're starting to feel those effects as well. Lacking any other options, you decide that you'll have to take a chance on the portal because you don't think you'll have the strength to find the book in your current condition, even if you had any idea where it might be located. You stare into the portal, which still changes different colors rapidly. You don't have a good feeling about this. You're fairly certain in fact that you'll wind up on the other side in pieces, but there is little choice in this matter. "Well better an unknown risk than a certain death." you say and you jump in… The good news is you do make it out of Mortos in one piece. The bad news is you reappear several miles under water in the middle of one of the oceans. Taken completely by surprise by this you gasp for air and your body cannot handle such crushing pressure. Your dead body falls to the bottom ocean where it provides nourishment for the creatures that live there.

Year 65 "It…it was horrible, my Emperor! The place was so dead. Like I could feel it everywhere…my…my hands…my skin…wrinkled with age! How could I have aged so quickly? It's an evil place! Don't send me back! I beg of you!" the test subject pleads while groveling at your boots, but all you do smile. "WE FOUND IT! WE'VE FINALLY FOUND IT!" you shout in glee. After Elam's tinkering with machinery to repair the portal, sacrificing several lesser mages to fuel the portal with magical energy again, you and Galen trying to channel the energy to get the right location and after sending in several "test subjects" with ropes tied around them, you've at last discovered the way to reach the Isle of Mortos. The Island of Mortos seems to be so heavily disguised by magic that it's impossible to actually find through normal means. Basically the necromancers only allow access if they want it to or in your case, meddling with a magic portal for so long that you eventually found it through trial and error. Now that you've found it, the current problem is that it's a one-way trip. Hence the ropes you tied to the test subjects so you could pull them back through. (Though that still didn't always ensure their return) There's also the fact that "dialing" the way to get to Mortos in the first place has been fairly taxing on you and Galen who isn't looking so great nowadays. "A testament to your persistence, my Emperor…can I go lay down? I feel sort of weak." Galen remarks. "Galen you're a wizard, you of all people besides myself should be happy to discover a new mystery of the arcane! I mean with magic apparently dying out, I'd think this would be fairly interesting to you." "Emperor, in all honesty I'd rather just be back home using charm spells on young girls." "That's your problem Galen, you have no true ambition!" you say. "Yes, you're right my Emperor. I'm a lowly worm before your greatness." Galen says. "I'll let that remark pass since I KNOW you're intelligent enough to NOT use sarcasm on me. And I'm not going to let your whining and depression annoy me today as this is a great break through." At this point Galen says nothing and just shuffles off to find some place to lie down. You also ignore the test subject who has already been taken away by nearby Eyes to who knows where. You continue to stare at the portal, which will now lead you to Mortos. You almost want to enter right now, but you know that it will still have to wait. You call Elam over who normally isn't a nervous sort, but is when he gets near the portal. "So…this is it then?" Elam asks. "This is it Elam. Have you finished building that other smaller portal for me?" you say. "It's almost finished, though it took a lot of mithril to build it. Good thing Nyttrus had several deposits, because it's not like we had much of it. Also it's going to need magical energy of course for it to be fully powered. I imagine you've still got mages left?" "Maybe a few still locked up, but I question if it'll be enough…well there's always Galen. Should work." "You're going to sacrifice Galen?" "He's served his purpose and he'll serve it one last time for the greater good of the Empire. He's getting old and weak anyway, how many years does he really have left? Wasn't aware that you held any fondness for him." "No, I don't really. Still though…what about your Eternal Project?" "What about it?" "Well without any more mages you won't be able to continue it correct?" "If this plan goes the way I hope it does, it won't matter, besides I thought you were coming up with an idea to take the Eternal Project in a new direction without the use of magic." You say. "I was, but then I had to focus my efforts on this project and as I know it was of great importance to you, I didn't want to divert my attention." Elam responds. "Probably was wise of you. Well, after we get the second portal up and running, you'll be able to pursue your desire for more biological experiments and find a new way of creating Eternals." Elam nods and excuses himself to go back to work on finishing the other portal. The smaller one is going to be the "return" portal back here after its power up, "calibrated" and dragged through the Mortos portal. The test subject didn't say anything about any ghoul creatures or other undead around, just a dead feeling everywhere so it looks like you go lucky as far as the location is concerned. Though you still have no idea where you'll be located on Mortos. After all you only visited the place once and that was thirty years ago. You were so different back then. The trusting, loyal, good soldier that never questioned anything. You've been thinking more about those last few days with Casimir recently, your trip to Mortos and the days immediately afterwards. The big lie that Casimir perpetrated just to secure his own immortality was still nothing compared to the one that nobody except Jacob and Semra knew about. It's still odd to think about how you were never truly meant to be an Eternal. Still, it's often been said the bigger the lie; the more people are willing to believe it. Maybe its because your entire life is a "lie" that you managed to achieve so much within it. Maybe that's why you managed to become a successful Emperor and maybe that's why you intend to succeed where your "father" failed. Nicodemus, the necromancer that you encountered during your last trip to Mortos, tried to convince you to not pursue the same path as Casimir. Semra has tried to do the same on several occasions. As far as you know, they're still the only two that are going to be your major obstacles between you and your goals. You aren't sure what Semra's been up to as there has been no sign of her or any indication of an attack from Dokkrus, but rest assured when she does pop up again, you have no doubt its going to be at the most inopportune time. As for Nicodemus, you imagine you'll have quite a fight on your hands with him and that's not even counting other necromancers that must live on the island and their undead. You haven't been idle though. You've been practicing and strengthening your own magic abilities. Eventually you stop your reminiscing and decide you need to get on with your plans, you aren't getting any younger. In another few weeks, Elam tells you that the second portal is ready, so you gather up Galen and the remaining mages to go about its activation. Galen repeatedly tells you that he doesn't think there's going to be enough energy within the captive mages power up the second portal, but you assure him that there will be. The fool doesn't even consider the possibility that HE is going to be joining them. Well not until the last moment when he's grabbed by Eyes and strapped down to the draining chair hooked up to the portal. "Emperor?! What is this?! No! I was loyal! You can't! You…" Galen shouts before you punch him in the face and have him gagged. "Stop whining Galen." You say motioning Elam to hit the switch and watch the last of your mages being drained of their energy and life. When the portal is powered and you finish your calibrations, you have the smaller portal ready to be dragged through the larger one. Several Eyes, several third gen Eternals and some very nervous engineers all prepare to enter, plus one. "Emperor, you're going with them?" Elam asks. "I'm confident that this is going to work and if not, well then I don't deserve to be Emperor any longer. Let's get going." You say. You enter the portal and you have that old familiar feeling… A deadness all around you. The land is still dead, everything is still drab and gray. Same way it was when you last were here. The others with you all begin to complain about not feelings quite right. "It'll pass if you keep your mind focused, the key is to not let this place cause you to spiral into a depression. Come on we need to get this portal into a good place…that large rock structure in the ground over there looks as good as any. I want the engineers to embed this portal in it, don't want it just standing out here in the open wasteland. Follow me and DON'T stray too far. There are magic areas or what are called negative zones. You step into one and you could be an old man or even a corpse before you knew what was going on. I'll be able to detect them, just follow me." Your small march to the rock destination is uneventful other than some of your people still saying how this all feels so hopeless. Unfortunately most of it is from the engineers who are less accustomed to this sort of thing. As you wait for the portal to be embedded in the rock, you begin to ponder if you still shouldn't wait awhile before marching an army into Mortos. It might be this place sapping your "enthusiasm" but the grim reality of how difficult this is really going to be is starting to set in the closer you get to your goals. It does occur to you that Nicodemus was powerful enough to destroy Casimir with barely any effort. > You wait Whether this place is a cause of disillusionment or not, the fact does remain that you still need to take this goal step by step. While it's true that you want to get this on with quickly, you can't afford to rush headlong into things. Speaking of which, you also can't allow hopelessness to take over the mindset of your people so you begin to yell words of encouragement to everyone. You talk about tales of former glories. Not just your own, but those also containing people resembling your current crew. Meaning you remind the third gens of their glorious deeds during the war against Nakol and the hated Iznac of Nyttrus. You remind the Eyes of their important work of maintain order throughout the Empire and how they've often they've played vital roles in undermining the enemy. And while the engineers have never usually directly participated in battle, you remind them of their contributions to building the weapons and machines of war that have repeatedly brought the Empire's enemies low. Even now the skill of the engineers may possibly be one of the most important roles in achieving this mission. Sometimes words really can go a long way to motivation even when in an accursed place like this. Everyone more or less snaps out of their low spirits and gets on with their tasks. When the job is done, several people are still eager to leave this place and are more than willing to enter the portal regardless of whether its going to work or not. You still go first however, and taking a deep breath you enter the portal, which should go back to your previous location in Evigrus… And suddenly you do indeed find yourself back at Elam workshop in New Dessel. "You're back!" Elam exclaims as the rest of your people suddenly appear beside you as well. Everyone is certainly happier to be back too. "The next time I get the chance to go in, I think I need to re-adjust the location of where its going to send returning people. The last thing I want is a bunch of undead wandering into New Dessel." You say. "Sounds like a plan. So…when are you invading?" Elam asks. "I'm holding off, or rather re-thinking the approach just like I did with Dokkrus. Honestly this recent visit has put a few things in perspective. Tell me, have we made any advancement in those gnome automatons?" "Automatons? Uh, not much since the end of the Nakol War. Nyttrus wasn't the best environment for them and you wanted to keep a low profile in Dokkrus." "Yeah, well as much as I'd like to keep a low profile in Mortos, I don't think its going to be possible for long and more importantly automatons don't suffer morale problems. I know I said you were going to be able to work on your biological experiments, but you might need to hold off still and start making not only improvements on the automatons, but making A LOT of them." Elam seems a little disappointed that once again his own ideas are going to be placed on hold again, but he doesn't argue since it would be pointless anyway. You decide that you're going to have to condition your people to steel their minds against the oppressive atmosphere of Mortos by having regular scouting missions and guard duty for the "return portal" on Mortos. You're fairly certain that most, if not all the third gen Eternals are going to be able to achieve this without too many problems. The Eyes are mostly made up of "normal" humans (and a few elves) though they're certainly trained for difficult conditions. As for anyone else you need to send in, you're going to have to limit their time in Mortos and have them supervised by someone that has already proven themselves to be resistant to the debilitating effects. All the while, the new automatons will act as good support troops in case conflict should arise and you have no doubt that it will. You need to find that book that Casimir desired so badly and that's going to require tracking it down first. This all may take a while, which brings you to the idea that the fourth gen Eternals are going to be ready in a couple years. Assuming you haven't achieved your goals by then, you'll be able to start sending them in as well, but then why wait? They're going to have to get resilient to Mortos sometime. You're next visit is to Brenda who has been looking more than a little worn and tired nowadays. She still does her job like the loyal Empire soldier she's always been, but underneath is a lot of heartache from another lost love. You imagine the only thing that keeps her going nowadays is her love of training the Eternals. She's always seen them as her "children" of sorts. Though today she'd going to lose them a few years early… "Now? They're still two years away from proper training." Brenda remarks. "Well, there is a new war coming and they're not only going to have to be prepared for it physically, but mentally as well. They're going to start their first assignment in Mortos and they need to start getting accustomed to the horrors of the place because trust me, as good as you think you've prepared them, there is nothing that is going to prepare them for this experience short of going their personally." You say. "But…(sigh) nevermind. Take who you need." "Something wrong Brenda?" "Of course something is wrong, you've come to me yet again asking me to hand over something I hold dear." Brenda says starting to get upset. "Brenda, I really don't understand why the hell you're getting upset with me, whether they go now or in two years either way, they're going to leave here and you know this. I know you see them as your children, but as any parent knows, you've got to let them go eventually." You say, but Brenda's not really listening. "Everytime you see me, it's just to ask me for something, not even to exchange pleasantries. Years ago it was Warrick, now it's the fourth gens, I'm fully expecting you to come in here one day and ask me to go sacrifice myself for the greater good of the Empire. I mean why not right? I already heard how you've recently sacrificed all the remaining mages in the Empire, which means no more Eternal Project. Won't be much need for me anymore." "Now you're being overly dramatic. I think you know that isn't true." You say. Brenda puts her head in her hands and then makes a rubbing motion at her temples. "Apologies. I'm just…tired. Tired of all this. I continual question why I'm even doing this anymore. I'm losing my passion for it and just counting down the days for death it seems. I know you'll say that I should be doing this for the greater good of the Empire and all of that, but I just don't believe it anymore. I mean obviously I'd never be a traitor and I'm too old to do anything else with my life, but quite honestly I'm not seeing much to look forward to in the future." Given Brenda's state of mind, you'd almost think she'd taken a trip to Mortos. You probably could come up with something inspiring, but this is Brenda and she'd see right through it, or even if she didn't she wouldn't be in the mood to here it, so you take a gamble and try a different approach. "Brenda, I'm going to tell you something that I've NEVER told anyone. I wasn't even supposed to BE an Eternal. I'm a fucking mistake. A bureaucratic mistake that was covered up so the Emperor wouldn't get pissed off. Oh and here's another kicker. The Emperor? He died because of me." This information certainly gets Brenda's attention. "That's right, I'm partially responsible for killing our old Emperor Casimir, but if its any consolation, he fucking deserved it because not only was he responsible for Alison's death, but he was ALSO the one that had your husband assassinated." Brenda's face now turns to shock as you reveal secrets that you've kept hidden for so long. "I wasn't even supposed to be here and I saw everything I believed in nearly destroyed with a single action and one of the people I grew up completely trusting to be the worst liar of all. Even that fucking svelk bitch didn't lie to me like Casimir did. And yet like an idiot I still blindly trusted him all the way up until his spell failed and resulted in his death." You pause for a moment to allow Brenda to ask any questions, but she has none. She still continues to remain in silent shock. "So if you think that the institution you were bred, raised and trained to loyally serve all your life has somehow resulted in you feeling underappreciated, well…that's partially true. The Empire is unforgiving. It demands everything and YOU as an Eternal are one of its top servants, which means the most is expected of you. As Emperor everything is expected of me. Quite honestly, I get tired too. Even when I'm winning, there's some sort of catch, or problem, or something that makes it less fun than it could be. Getting old doesn't help. In fact if I wasn't Emperor, I might be questioning my future as well. I'd probably march into Dokkrus or Mortos by myself and just fight and fight until I was eventually overwhelmed and killed, but that isn't an option for me. I AM the Empire and if its going to survive, I can't fucking die. It's that simple. If there was any other way, I'd probably take it, because the journey that has lead me up to this point hasn't been easy and it's resulted in considerable losses." You touch Brenda's hand. "So all that being said, if I as a mistake who should've been killed at birth can shoulder the weight of the entire Empire, I believe YOU as a TRUE Eternal, can handle the sacrifices that are asked of you. Look, I won't need all of the fourth gens right now…just give me your best leaders. They'll be going in with the third gens anyway, so they won't get too overwhelmed." You say. "I'll get a list and get back to you as soon as possible my Emperor." Brenda answers. "Okay…and thank you Brenda for all your hard work for the Empire. I appreciate it." "I live to serve. Long live the Empire." With those last few words, you leave Brenda's presence feeling more exhausted than you did when you visited Mortos. In fact you think you'd rather be back there. > Year 67 "Svelk? And you're sure about this?" you ask. "Absolutely sure my Emperor. We fought off a band of them just the other day. There have also been other sightings of them roaming about the wastes of Mortos." General Damon responds. You silently curse to yourself about this news. You knew the svelk were going to show up at the most inopportune time and sure enough they have. You didn't expect them on Mortos though. Is this what Semra was planning? Is she trying to get the book herself? General Damon goes on to report that the fourth gens have been proving themselves very well in battle and showing good resistance against the negative effects of Mortos. "They're a true credit to the name Eternal, my Emperor." Damon remarks. "Hrm. Well I'd expect nothing less, especially after having the best trainer." You say. "Mentor Brenda was indeed a very good teacher, I will always be grateful for her lessons when she taught me the rest of the third gens." Damon says with a bit of pride. Cassandra speaks up next and tells you that the Eyes have still not yet located the temple you last remember the book being at, but they have located more than a few ghouls towns and mapped out where some negative zones are located. "Just glad we've got a relatively large population of Sul Monkeys to use as testing for such zones. It certainly cuts down on our own casualties." Cassandra says and then starts to say something else before stopping. "What is it?" you ask. "Oh nothing my Emperor, it's just a silly thought, nevermind." "You were going to ask me if humans are related to Sul Monkeys somehow, weren't you?" "How did you know?" Cassandra asks. "Given that I had to hear Semra and several other svelk refer to humans as monkeys on more than one occasion, I've heard the theories before." "Oh. So is it true? I mean my parents said it was and most others of my kind believe it, but I always wondered and I figured you being the Emperor and all might know for certain…" You nearly laugh. "As much as I might like the idea of being all knowing, I have no idea nor do I really care. You'd probably be better off asking Elam, he knows more about all that stuff. Speaking of which I need to go talk with him about increasing automaton production." As you're about to make your way to do just that, you receive an urgent message. "Message from Kivan, Emperor. Very urgent." The courier says. "Everything is urgent according to Kivan, let's see…" you say and then begin to read. Then you feel a small sinking feeling when you see the news. It's a short message, but one of great impact. "I have to go." You say and leave New Dessel. Brenda has killed herself. Her body was found by an Eye who was going to pick her up for her re-assignment as a trainer for them. She was in her bathtub with slashed wrists. Her body has already been taken for preparation; Kivan decided it would be best to keep this incident relatively quiet and contact you immediately. When you arrive at the capital, Kivan is already outside waiting for you and trying to apologize for disturbing you. "Nevermind all that, where is she?" "The mortuary, of course. She'll be ready for the hero's funeral that…" "No. No, we aren't going to have all that. She wouldn't want it. We'll do what we did with Warrick. A simple private funeral." You say still trying to wrap your head around the fact that Brenda's dead. "As you wish Emperor. Uh…this was also found on the site of her death. It hasn't been opened and it was addressed to you." Kivan hands you an envelope, which you take and read alone. My Emperor By the time you read this, you no doubt will know I have decided to move on from this world. I just can't go on any longer. I've given all that I have and anymore that I do have left isn't worth much anyway. I thank you for not taking all the fourth gen Eternals immediately and giving me those last two years with most of them, just as you gave me that one last year with Warrick. I did try to heed your words that you spoke to me a couple years ago and I almost even convinced myself, but ultimately they just weren't enough. I hope that I haven't disappointed you too much. I always tried not to; all of us did and still do. You told me that you were a "mistake" that wasn't supposed to be an Eternal. I don't believe that's true. Whatever the nature of events that occurred; there is no denying that you aren't a TRUE Eternal. You are the best of all of us and I have no doubt that you won't accomplish your goals in achieving immortality to keep the Empire alive. I always had a feeling you'd outlive all of us, even when that svelk bitch tried to break your spirit on the first day of training. Personally I believe you'd outlive the Empire itself if you and it weren't so intrinsically linked. I die knowing that not just the Empire will live on, but that the name Eternal also lives on. It was an honor to serve under you. I go now to join our fallen siblings. Brenda Not much moves you emotionally nowadays, but this has certainly done it. You aren't disappointed by Brenda's actions. You understand them from her point of view, you just wish you could've convinced her that her life did still have purpose. Brenda may not have been the traditional Eternal bringing glory on the battlefield, but her role was nevertheless an important one and like the loss of Warrick, Roldan, Kane and Decena, the Empire is just a little worse off because she's no longer part of it. Brenda is eventually placed where the other great heroes of the Empire are entombed. Her deeds will forever be remembered and when the news of her death is made public to the Eternals she trained you remind them all that she would want them to not falter in their assignments nor spend time lingering over her passing. Life goes on and so do your goals. Getting back to the current problem at hand, the recent incursions of svelk are growing to become more frequent, still no real confirmation on what they're doing there exactly. It hardly matters you suppose since whatever they're there for it's only to hinder you. Knowing Semra, part of her plan is to try to divide your attention. She wants you to attack Dokkrus so you'll get tied up in a land war there and lose your edge in Mortos. Better that you should keep to your plan. If Semra wants to open up another front, she's going to have to come to you and you're more than ready for that. In fact you probably can do more to damage her if you start capturing some of her people. Granted svelk aren't necessarily the most talkative captives, but if you can capture some of her mages to power up a second portal or even more, well that would at least allow you have more entryways in and out of Mortos. You also could hamper the svelk by destroying or capturing their own portals. Either way, your best decision is to keep your efforts focused on Mortos. You've still got a book to track down and you haven't even begun to face the full power of the necromancers yet. In fact you're starting to wonder when that shoe is going to drop. Year 70 Ignoring the stench and claws of your nearby zombie attackers, your Eternals make quick work of them while you put down the necromancer with a lightning bolt to his baldhead. He's not coming back and the last of his minions fall uselessly into piles of putrid mush. If there's one thing that's sure to stop an undead army, it's taking out the necromancer. The undead in general are vastly outclassed, not just in the face of your highly skilled soldiers, but also due your superior weaponry. Guns have advanced drastically since they were introduced to the battlefield and such power easily rips through the relatively weak and slow moving undead. Your automatons are the perfect foil against them. Really the only advantage the dead have over your own people is numbers and their annoying tendency to not stay down. But eliminate the necromancer and a shambling rotting horde goes down quicker than a house of cards. True, there is still enough negative energy here to keep some of the corpses still standing, but not enough to be a threat and certainly not as organized. Still, fighting the necromancers on their own home isn't completely easy. If it were, you wouldn't still be at war with them. The insane Mortos ghoul "citizens" actually give you more trouble besides the necromancers themselves. Something about the fact that they're actually "living" makes them somehow worse than the undead. Their gibbering, howling and just general unpleasantness is still enough to make you shudder at the fact that you nearly once got caught by a pack of them on your first visit here. Of course the group that has been the biggest thorn in your side are the svelk, which as you've come to learn through captives is that they are actually allied with the necromancers. You have no idea how this ever came to be, something about a very old "agreement" which you never knew the svelk as a collective group could be so honorable about. Of course maybe its just Semra's doing, but either way it doesn't change the fact that they've been making things difficult for you. So far you've found none of their portals back to Dokkrus, so it appears that the svelk are sending their people on a one way trip. Of course if they're allies, they might have an easier time of heading back through the necromancers' magic. You haven't found the book yet either despite actually locating the temple where it was last time. Figures it would be moved and you have an idea that it's probably with Nicodemus who still hasn't made an appearance or tried to contact you at all like you almost expected he would. A few "cities" have been scouted out on Mortos, but none of them seem like places of major importance. Given the utter ruin of every population center its hard to know exactly where it might be kept, so you're going to just go through the tedious process of search every corner of this dismal island if you have to. "Emperor, Sightmaster Cassandra has just sent word that they've managed to capture another svelk mage." A fourth gen comes up to report to you while you're making double sure that the necromancer is dead. "Not surprised, Cass loves capturing svelk more than she loved intimidating humans." You respond. You imagine Flevas would've enjoyed the chance as well if he were still alive. You sometimes wish the elf were still around, as he'd definitely be an asset right now, but then you wish a lot of people were still around. Even your top advisor Kivan died a few years ago of natural causes. That's a rarity nowadays, at least for people that know you on a personal basis. His replacement is capable, but honestly you barely remember what his replacement's name is since you've been spending most of your time in Mortos. Some probably believe you shouldn't push yourself so hard, and they may very well have a point since you're not in your twenties anymore and you're in pain most of the time due to a combination of age, old wounds, and just general exertion. You can't afford to stop though, not when you're so close to your goal. The funny thing is, your time here in Mortos somewhat envigorates you. It's probably just a mindset as it certainly can't be physically. Still, you haven't been involved in a real war since Nyttrus and getting back into battle again, even to your limited degree (mostly relying on magic) almost makes you feel "young" again. But then, you always were one to embrace the call of war and the personal glories of direct combat. Something about killing your enemies directly has always been a lot more satisfying. If you weren't weakened and slowed by your age, you'd be tempted to go wading in with a sword in hand again. Only you could find a zest for "life" in a literal land of the dead. "Should I tell the messenger any new orders you may have for her?" the fourth gen asks. "No, just tell him the message has been received and approved of. Cassandra knows what to do with the dark elven bastard. She's probably already hauling him away back to Evigrus. We should have enough of them soon." You say. You've already been going through with your plan of using the svelk mages that you've managed to capture to "power up" new portals…bigger portals. Portals large enough that will allow a large new weapon of destruction to enter Mortos. These weapons are called the juggernauts; large heavily armored wheeled machines mounted with a cannon and repeater rifles on their sides. A crew apparently operates them from the inside. You have no idea how Elam came up with the concept, but you're glad he did. He must be channeling his creative energy back into technological advances since he hasn't had the time to work on his desire to his biological experiments. (Every once in awhile he still tells you that he'd like to restart a new Eternal Project) They might not be airships, but if you can get them rolling into Mortos, it would definitely give an advantage or at least even the playing field, because deep down you know you still haven't seen the worst this place has to offer. At some point when the necromancers start getting desperate and realize that you aren't going to just go away, they're going to start bringing out their own "big guns" and you're going to have to be ready for whatever those may be. > Year 75 The longer you spend in this place, the more you're starting to like it and that is somewhat of a worrying thought to you, because it certainly isn't a thought shared by anyone under your command. The last five years have probably been a nightmare to most. You've had to rotate your "normal" military personnel fairly regularly. Most of them can only handle the psychological impact of the powerful undead horrors the necromancers have unleashed a limited amount of times before they become more of a liability rather than an asset. You can only imagine how full the asylums are getting back home. For the most part you've regulated most of your military to defend Evigrus since the svelk in last two years have tried to open up a new front by transporting groups of elite via portals. They've been relatively unsuccessful and even less so when they attempted to do the same thing on Nyttrus where your kobolds easily overwhelmed them and used the land to their advantage. The svelk for the most part have seemingly pulled out of Mortos though altogether. You've had to pull back your Eyes as well. Well trained they may be, most of them are still human and with that they suffer the same failings of the mind. It's just as well, since things are starting to get a little unstable back home. It's probably a combination of several things (Some of which might be all the new asylum patients) so Cassandra and the Eyes are back to their primary job of maintaining order. Even the Eternals are starting to get weary of this war and most of them have aged several years than normal. Still, they are Eternals, and whether they are third or fourth generation, they stand by your side…even in death. Since your time here, you've learned how to use the necromancer's magic against them. You've managed to unlock the secrets of necromancy. You're no master at it, and it takes great concentration on your part, but its come in handy at times. The odd thing is you seem to only be able to maintain control over fallen Eternals. Attempting to raise others has only resulted in them eventually turning against you. You wonder if its because of the way Eternals are "made" or their conditioned loyaty from birth, or maybe a combination of both that seems to result in their dedication to you and resist the overpowering will of the necromancers. As far as your own concerns about your state of mind you've been trying to hold it together. You sometimes think you're living on borrowed time and that if you don't achieve your goal soon, this place will eventually consume you. Maybe that's why you're starting to like it here, because you feel so close to death and this place is basically a home to the dead. But you're not dying here if you can help it; in fact the whole point to this is so you don't die at all. You've already begun to unlock the talents of the necromantic arts by yourself. As soon as you get that book, you KNOW you'll be able to master them completely and become immortal. And that goal is now closer than ever because you've finally tracked it down. You stand on a slightly elevated bit of land with what remains of your army of Eternals (both living and dead) and a few juggernauts filled with crews of half mad engineers. In the distance a ruined fortress lies before you. It is a non-descript thing and has no real defenses since its walls are mostly broken or gone completely, but THAT is where your goal lies. Inside it somewhere. And that is also where Nicodemus must be. You need to attack now, because you know it'll be only a matter of time before reinforcements to help him show up. There are ALWAYS undead, no matter how many you put down in this place. "General Damon, today the Empire assures its mastery over death itself." You say. "We are all prepared my Emperor, we just await your word." You nod and for a moment there is complete silence. "ATTACK!" you shout and then in unison, you and your Eternals advance towards the target. You lead from the front, just like the old days… Your juggernauts rumble past the sides of your army and then that's when you finally hear him in your head… "This will not end well for you, Eternal. Turn back from this path now, or suffer the same fate as your father Casimir." Naturally you ignore this pitiful attempt at stopping you, so Nicodemus finally unleashes his defenses. Several undead rise up out of the ground. Not just the normal type either, these are the remains of some sort of long dead gigantic beasts that must've once roamed this island. They are accompanied by the appearance of several ghostly forms. Wraiths and spectres with their ability to drain life with a mere touch. To your far left and far right, hordes of skeletons and zombies come popping up out of the ground. Nicodemus probably believes that you've foolishly walked into an obvious trap, but honestly you knew something like this would happen. Your goal here is to get the book at all costs. "Death will not stop us today! But then some of you personally already know that! Destroy these abominations and take the fortress!" you shout. One of your juggernauts is already moving far ahead of your army and firing off its canon, blowing away bits of the gigantic bone horrors. Under the right circumstances you believe it would easily finish up the task, but it isn't those undead giants that are the problem, the problem lies with the wraiths and spectres who easily glide through the machine and turning it into a steel coffin by killing the crew within. Your other juggernaut decides not to engage such ghostly creatures and instead turns off to fend off the approaching undead horde to your left. Hopefully it can destroy a good chunk of them. The undead giants still intact begin to lumber forward to meet your army while throwing large pieces of stone lying nearby. You cast a barrier in front of your army to protect against the projectiles and then throw your own projectiles in the form of fire at the giants while your army opens fire at their legs until the bone and rotting flesh that are allowing them to still stand is finally severed to a degree that the rest of their bulk goes crashing to the ground. Most of them splinter into pieces from the fall, but other continue to come at you, dragging themselves toward you with their arms. These are dispatched with a few well places magic bolts and more gunfire. With the giants mostly taken care of, you notice the spectres and wraiths steadily approaching. You immediately drop the barrier and redirect your energy to cast an enchantment over your soldiers' hand weapons. Guns are useless against things like spectres and wraiths, but with some skill they can still be overcome by an enchanted melee weapon. "Prepare for melee and don't let them touch you!" you shout. The unearthly howls and shrieks by the ghostly assaliants fill your ears as you blast them with your magic bolts. Your dead Eternals come in very handy here as they directly engage the spectres and wraiths and try to shield their living brethren (and you) from being touched. It isn't without some casualties though and the problems increase when the horde on your right finally reaches you. Fortunately the left side seems to be preoccupied with overwhelming the juggernaut, which has now resorted to its inside mounted repeater rifles, and just trying to run them over though its wheels are starting to get jammed with body parts. "FIGHT THROUGH THESE ROTTING BAGS, WE'RE NEARLY THERE!" you shout just in time to see several necromancers appear on the battlements and begin doing some sort of chant. Suddenly there's an aura of death around you, and it isn't just becase you're surrounded by zombies. You feel like you just walked into one of those negative zones, except this one is being forced on you. You're old enough as it is, you can't afford to age anymore. You have to do something now because you won't even make it to the broken fortress gates at this point. You call your Eternals to surround you and you begin to cast a spell of your own. Your living Eternals are suffering the affects of the necromancers' spell, but trying to cancel their spell through your willpower isn't going to help because they're too strong collectively. So you rely on your traditional blast everything in the nearby area and hope it kills everything. You bring down an inferno on not just your enemies, but you and your people as well. Though you attempt to protect some with a surrounding barrier, but you just don't have the strength to protect everyone. Most of the horde to your right are incinerated as are most of your people. There isn't even much left to "raise." To your left, there is a similar sight with a pile of burned undead no longer in any condition to pose a threat, though the juggernaut sits still and completely blackened by the rain of fire. The crew inside has no doubt cooked to death. Most importantly are the effects you see in front of you. You no longer see the row of necromancers and no longer feel the effects of their spell. The ruined fortess is also partially on fire, but it being made of stone it isn't doing much more than cracking the already damaged structure. You're incredibly drained however. This battle has really taken it out of you and you've still got Nicodemus and who knows what else to deal with. General Damon still by your side helps you from falling down. The Eternals that are still alive are finishing up putting down the undead that managed to survive by being within your protective barrier when you cast it. "Come on, my Emperor. As you said, we're almost there." He says. There are other necromantic arts that you've learned besides raising your Eternals, though you haven't really pondered using them since there wasn't any need or you still didn't really have mastery over them. One of these was emulating the life drain of some of the undead here. And suddenly you're actually pondering draining your own Eternals of their lifeforce to sustain your own. The thought does not give you any pleasure to do so, but you just aren't sure if you're going to make it otherwise. > You drain the living If there were any other way, you'd do it, but there isn't. You set out on this task with the mindset of achieving it at all costs. And if this task involves the death of ALL your troops, then so be it. They will have died in honor of the Empire and their Emperor. The irony isn't lost on you that you'll be essentially doing something similar to what Casimir was planning on doing with you. "Damon, your service to me will always be remembered." You say and then tighten your grip on him as he continues to prop you up. Before he can reply, you begin the process. It happens so quick that he doesn't even have time to struggle or cry out. His body falls to the ground a drained husk. You feel a little better, but far from full strength. Your remaining Eternals stand nearby in utter shock. You know several of them were always a little uncomfortable with the fact that you could raise the dead, all of them accept the idea that they are to die in battle for you…but this a little different. They aren't sure what to think. "Eternals! My children! An Eternal's life is dedicated utterly to the Empire and by proxy it's Emperor! Do not hesitate before your Emperor! Your FATHER. In order for me to defeat my enemies, I need you! I need you all as I always have! I cannot do this alone and I willingly admit it for there is no shame in a father needing the help of his children! It is true your bodies will die today, but all of you will LIVE on through me. Are YOU not willing to fulfill your oaths to make the ultimate sacrifice for me? Are you not deserving of the name ETERNAL?" you shout. There is a slight silence after your speech and for a moment you believe you're going to have to take what you need by force, but just as you foolishly did when Casimir asked it of you, all your remaining Eternals willing step forward and bow to you on one knee accepting their fate. "If it is your will my Emperor that we die to today so that you may achieve victory, then we accept our fates with dignity." Blind loyalty, it's a beautiful thing… Without another word you proceed to drain the life force of your Eternals. To their credit, most of them make a minimum of sound as they die. One by one they fall to the ground as husks. You on the other hand begin to feel a lot better in fact you believe you've actually turned back the clock a bit! You don't have a mirror to look at your face, but your hands aren't as wrinkled anymore and when you go to touch your face, you feel less wrinkles there as well. You don't even feel all normal aches and pains you've gained through old age. (They're still there though) While you're marveling at this magic feat, you hear that voice in your head again… "You didn't heed anything I tried to tell you, did you Eternal? If Casimir were still here, I'm sure he'd be proud that he molded a near perfect copy of himself. Enter then…let us get this over with so that you may learn how futile all your plans have been. It will be the black trap door to the far left once your enter the fortress. I think the fire from your little inferno rain has died down around it by now. Down the ladder and straight ahead to the large room. Can't miss it." Nicodemus says. The tone in Nicodemus' voice is almost one of boredom. He either doesn't believe you'll be any serious threat against him or either that he's just as eager to put an end to this conflict once and for all. You're not going down there completely alone though. With a little effort, you raise a few of your recently drained Eternals back from the dead. As usual, they no longer retain any "personality" they just exist to follow your commands. Sort of how they were trained to do in life actually. While you're doing all this, you can't help but feel like you're still being watched or there is another presence here and you don't mean Nicodemus. You enter the ruined fortress, which still has a few minor fires burning, but nothing dangerous. You see the trapdoor where Nicodemus mentioned it and go a few more steps before stopping. "Semra…I know you're here thanks to our little mind link." You say looking up and around for her. Semra materializes between you and the trapdoor and your dead Eternals stand ready. "So let me guess, you're here to distract me or waste my time while Nicodemus sneaks away to take the book elsewhere?" you ask. "Actually I'm here to stop you from taking it period since I'm the only one who seems to actually care about this world anymore." "You care about the world? Since when?" "My dear Eternal, I care about the world when it's about to be destroyed by a short sighted mistake that has delusions of grandeur and a serious case of megalomania." "When you say mistake, do you mean me specifically or your actions that allowed me to live in the first place?" "Both I suppose. I know I should just try to kill you, but somehow the maternal instinct in me just makes it difficult sometimes…" Semra steps forward, but when she sees that you (and your Eternals) are not about to let her get any closer she backs away again. "Oh right, that's why you've been sending svelk warbands to continually try to kill me." You say. "Pfft. You know as well as I do, you were never in any real danger…well no danger you couldn't handle anyway. If I really wanted to kill you, I would've made a better effort don't you think?" "Not really. I know you Semra, and you like playing games. Perhaps you didn't so call try hard enough because it would be more amusing to you to watch me struggle. So you did just enough to make things difficult, and figured I'd either give up or if your people got lucky, then great. If not, well there was always the entire island of Mortos doing a good enough job of trying to kill me." Semra smiles a bit at your theory. "Well, I suppose you do know me a little better now that our minds are so closely linked. To be fair though, I never thought you'd give up. I knew you'd die first if it came down to it." "Whatever, I'm tired of talking…" you say raising your hands to cast a spell. "Wait!" Semra says backing up towards the trapdoor and getting into a defensive position. "WHAT!?" "Just... Just hear me out okay?" "Hear you…Are you drunk or something?" you say in exasperation. "Look you can see into my mind that I have no trickery planned. This is just me here. I don't even have any reinforcements." Semra at this point relaxes her stance by opening her arms wide. She has completely let her guard down, physically and mentally. She's telling the truth. There is no trickery and this isn't a delaying tactic, Nicodemus is still waiting for you. You also sense a little concern within her. You have to admit that's somewhat surprising. "You've got a few seconds. Better make them good." You say. "Okay. Look, don't do this. That book nearly destroyed the world before, it may or may not hold the secrets to immortality, but it also opens up a gate to the realm of the dead! You think Mortos is bad? Think about when that gate is opened up!" "Yes, yes, I've heard this horror story before. Nicodemus told me about it right after he killed Casimir. If I'd had any sense, I would've tried to take the book then and saved me all this trouble in the first place." you answer. Semra shakes her head. "If you had any sense, you'd turn back right now." "Hm. I'll be sure to have that written on your tombstone, unless you're planning on running off and letting Nicodemus shoulder the responsibility of trying to kill me." "Nicodemus doesn't even give a shit anymore what you do. I'm sure he's contacted you. Haven't you detected a tone of apathy in his voice?" You chuckle. "Are you serious? You're saying Nicodemus has no intention of stopping me?" "No, he doesn't. At least not anymore. He claims he's tired of life, so he's effectively given up." "I don't believe it." "Believe that or don't, but one thing you better believe is that book is bad for you, me, and everyone on this fucking world. It already turned Mortos into a permanent graveyard and it eventually resulted in the destruction of my own Empire because we svelk had to make a pact with the infernal realm just to combat the utter annihilation that would've consumed everyone. We even made a deal with the necromancers that should this problem ever get this bad again, we would assist to prevent it if possible. Never thought we'd have to actually honor it though just because we didn't think anyone get close enough and be foolish enough to try again." Semra says. "Yeah…the destruction of your Empire doesn't sound like a bad thing. And it wasn't the book that caused that; it was your own government's idiocy with dealing with demons in the first place. So once again, you lot were your own worst enemy." You say. Semra rubs her head in an attempt to continue to try to "get through" to you. "Look, you won. I mean think about it, you've unlocked some of the secrets of necromancy and even mastered some of its spells. I just saw you drain the lives of these now dead Eternals standing near you. You drained their lives and made yourself even a little younger. Think about that for a moment. You've already ACHIEVED immortality. I mean yes, it isn't perfect and you're going to need an ongoing supply of people to sustain you, but you're the ruler of the Empire. How hard is it going to be to just shuffle in a bunch of worthless peasants, criminals, sveld, or whoever every so often to be feasted on like cattle?" "I'm not a wendigo or ghoul you know." You say establishing the fact that you are a lot of things, but cannibal isn't one of them. "I don't mean literally of course, but the premise is the same." You continue to listen while also continuing to read Semra's mind. You still sense no lying and nothing but sincerity. Unless she's found a way to lie so convincingly that she herself believes everything…which you wouldn't put past her. She does have somewhat of a point about draining the life force of people being able to sustain you theoretically indefinitely. "We of course are never going to have a relationship in the way I'd desire us to. We aren't even going to be friends. And one day you and I are going to finally meet on the battlefield and one of us is going to die, but I tell you…no I BEG you…DO NOT do this thing. This path will lead to all of our ruin and nobody will win save for death itself." Semra looks on at you expecting your response. > You turn back Maybe it's due to sensing no deception and hearing Semra actually beg you for something that does it, but she actually manages to convince you. "Okay." You reply. "…Really?" Semra says with a little shock. "You've never lied to me Semra. You've always had an ulterior motive, but you've never lied. I can't even sense a hidden motive either and given your genuine concern I have to believe that there must be something to what you're saying." "Okay…so where does that leave us?" "Same as always. However since I know if I engage you in combat right now you'll just run away as soon as you start losing, so I suggest we leave this place and just chalk this up as a sign of things to come on Dokkrus." "I'll be waiting." Semra says. The pair of you linger a few seconds looking at each other before you back away releasing control of your dead Eternals and allowing them to fall to the ground. As you leave the fortress, you half expect a comment from Nicodemus in your head again, but you hear nothing though perhaps he knows you're planning on leaving because you aren't attacked by anything on your long trek back to safe territory. When you arrive at "Home camp" you're immediately seen to by the Eternal detachment that constantly guard the portals back home. "Emperor are you all right?" one of the Eternals asks. "I'm fine. Start telling people to pull out of here, I got what I came for." You say and return to Evigrus where the aura is a lot livelier and a lot less oppressive. You have a kind of immortality now. It isn't perfect, but you believe that it should work for your purposes. Having solved the problem of dying via old age, you decide to set up your next major plan. Invading Dokkrus. Year 80 "So you're sure Semra is in this fortress you speak of?" you ask Cassandra. "Yes Emperor. We've seen her going into and out of the place several times now." "Good, hopefully we can get her before this time before she runs off again. Let's try to capture more svelk this time as well, I think I'll need a bit of a recharge after this is over. The life force of the svelk is so… invigorating." "If you say so my Emperor." Cassandra answers shuffling a bit nervously. Since you've been here on Dokkrus you've been killing two harpies with one stone by draining svelk to sustain yourself. They're a great target for your purposes. They're your enemy for one, but due to their long life spans they sustain you a lot longer than a shorter lived race like humans for example. Still even with this advantage, as the years have gone on you've noticed a need to drain more svelk with more frequency just to sustain yourself. It is probably this past time that has Cassandra a bit nervous given that she's an elf herself. It is a bit of a slight concern for yourself as well because you didn't think this was going to be quite the problem it currently is becoming. In any event, you're fine for now and even after you go kill Semra there are more than enough svelk to round up, a whole continent full of them. Maybe you could even do something similar to them like what Casimir did with the gnomes. Wasting no more time, you order an assault upon the fortress where Semra was last located. The siege goes fairly quickly, Semra must be running out of powerful svelk mages to give you a challenge anymore. When you get inside the fortress, you attempt to follow your inherent sense of where she might be, eventually you get to her private chambers where you're beginning to sense her very strongly. Meanwhile a few of your Eternals catch up to you saying that they and the rest have been tearing the place up looking for Semra but say she's nowhere to be found. "No…she's here. I can sense her. In fact she's so close I can almost touch her. Go search again, I'll stay here and have a look around." You say to your Eternals who immediately follow your commands and leave. Closing the door behind you make your next move. "Okay Semra, you can show yourself now. Come on now I know you're here. No need to be shy, it's just me and you. We won't be disturbed and it won't take long." You say. At that moment Semra does indeed show herself and she materializes in front of you sitting on her bed. "I'm guessing you don't mean sex." She says. "Oh no, the only penetration you're going to feel today is this." You say and brandish the mithril dagger. "My gift to you. I'm still surprised you have it." Semra remarks. "I made a promise I was going to one day stick this inside you and I aim to keep it." You say and start approaching her. Semra still makes no attempt at aggression you can't even detect any such thoughts in her head. In fact from what you can tell from her body language and her mind she's resigned herself into giving herself up to you. "I thought you'd put up more of a fight than this." You remark now in front of her. "What for? At this point your power has grown to be greater than mine. I can't beat you. You've already destroyed a portion of Dokkrus and made it hard enough for me to ever build up another force to oppose you again. And as you might have been able to tell I'm tired of running. You'll just hunt me down again and since our minds have been linked its much easier for you now." At this point Semra stands up from the bed. "So kill me now and fulfill all your desires since the day I first tormented you in class. Carry out all the revenge you've ever wanted due to my action…I only have one request." "Oh?" "You told me that you'd give me one last kiss as you stuck the knife in. That's my last wish." Same old Semra. "Very well, as you wish then…Mistress." You and Semra look at each for a moment in silence perhaps even wondering if things had been different…just maybe you two would have been an item in some strange way. Your lips press against Semra's own and your dagger plunges into her stomach. As she stifles calling out in pain, you begin draining her life force. She manages to put both arms around you at this point. With the pair of you still embraced in a death kiss and your knife still being twisted inside her, you begin to feel her life force reinvigorating you. And then you don't and then you begin to feel the exact opposite… Semra is starting to drain you! You attempt to pull away, but Semra squeezes on to you tighter and jumps up to wrap her legs around your waist as well. You don't know how this is possible, you detected no malicious intent and Semra never had this sort of ability, she didn't having any necromantic powers. Or at least she didn't when you last met her. "Oh my dear sweet trusting Eternal, there were a few tricks that Nicodemus taught me before I took my own leave of Mortos. I have to admit though neither one of us expected you to listen to me back then. Even with extensively training myself to block you out of my deepest thoughts despite our link, I still didn't think you'd listen to me having always been mistrustful of me in the past. Funny that the one time that you believed me to be completely truthful is the one time you should've trusted your suspicious nature." You attempt to slam Semra into a wall and furniture, but it doesn't get her off of you. You try to twist the dagger deeper inside her, but she bears the pain. You even try to punch her in the head, but by that time your punches aren't enough to stop her. Eventually you lose enough energy that you fall to the floor with Semra still on top of you. Feeling very dizzy you see Semra pull the dagger out of her stomach. "Ah shit, (pant) that's going to require some healing…glad I just recharged. Still could use a bit more though…shhhhh just let this happen lover." You weakly try to get her off of you, but Semra easily pins both of your hands down on the floor. Semra then moves her body downward on to yours. Face to face, you lay helplessly before her. "Remember this." She says and kisses you one last time and soon you are utterly drained to a husk and Semra has once again escaped long before anyone arrives to help you.

If there were any other way, you'd do it, but there isn't. You set out on this task with the mindset of achieving it at all costs. And if this task involves the death of ALL your troops, then so be it. They will have died in honor of the Empire and their Emperor. The irony isn't lost on you that you'll be essentially doing something similar to what Casimir was planning on doing with you. "Damon, your service to me will always be remembered." You say and then tighten your grip on him as he continues to prop you up. Before he can reply, you begin the process. It happens so quick that he doesn't even have time to struggle or cry out. His body falls to the ground a drained husk. You feel a little better, but far from full strength. Your remaining Eternals stand nearby in utter shock. You know several of them were always a little uncomfortable with the fact that you could raise the dead, all of them accept the idea that they are to die in battle for you…but this a little different. They aren't sure what to think. "Eternals! My children! An Eternal's life is dedicated utterly to the Empire and by proxy it's Emperor! Do not hesitate before your Emperor! Your FATHER. In order for me to defeat my enemies, I need you! I need you all as I always have! I cannot do this alone and I willingly admit it for there is no shame in a father needing the help of his children! It is true your bodies will die today, but all of you will LIVE on through me. Are YOU not willing to fulfill your oaths to make the ultimate sacrifice for me? Are you not deserving of the name ETERNAL?" you shout. There is a slight silence after your speech and for a moment you believe you're going to have to take what you need by force, but just as you foolishly did when Casimir asked it of you, all your remaining Eternals willing step forward and bow to you on one knee accepting their fate. "If it is your will my Emperor that we die to today so that you may achieve victory, then we accept our fates with dignity." Blind loyalty, it's a beautiful thing… Without another word you proceed to drain the life force of your Eternals. To their credit, most of them make a minimum of sound as they die. One by one they fall to the ground as husks. You on the other hand begin to feel a lot better in fact you believe you've actually turned back the clock a bit! You don't have a mirror to look at your face, but your hands aren't as wrinkled anymore and when you go to touch your face, you feel less wrinkles there as well. You don't even feel all normal aches and pains you've gained through old age. (They're still there though) While you're marveling at this magic feat, you hear that voice in your head again… "You didn't heed anything I tried to tell you, did you Eternal? If Casimir were still here, I'm sure he'd be proud that he molded a near perfect copy of himself. Enter then…let us get this over with so that you may learn how futile all your plans have been. It will be the black trap door to the far left once your enter the fortress. I think the fire from your little inferno rain has died down around it by now. Down the ladder and straight ahead to the large room. Can't miss it." Nicodemus says. The tone in Nicodemus' voice is almost one of boredom. He either doesn't believe you'll be any serious threat against him or either that he's just as eager to put an end to this conflict once and for all. You're not going down there completely alone though. With a little effort, you raise a few of your recently drained Eternals back from the dead. As usual, they no longer retain any "personality" they just exist to follow your commands. Sort of how they were trained to do in life actually. While you're doing all this, you can't help but feel like you're still being watched or there is another presence here and you don't mean Nicodemus. You enter the ruined fortress, which still has a few minor fires burning, but nothing dangerous. You see the trapdoor where Nicodemus mentioned it and go a few more steps before stopping. "Semra…I know you're here thanks to our little mind link." You say looking up and around for her. Semra materializes between you and the trapdoor and your dead Eternals stand ready. "So let me guess, you're here to distract me or waste my time while Nicodemus sneaks away to take the book elsewhere?" you ask. "Actually I'm here to stop you from taking it period since I'm the only one who seems to actually care about this world anymore." "You care about the world? Since when?" "My dear Eternal, I care about the world when it's about to be destroyed by a short sighted mistake that has delusions of grandeur and a serious case of megalomania." "When you say mistake, do you mean me specifically or your actions that allowed me to live in the first place?" "Both I suppose. I know I should just try to kill you, but somehow the maternal instinct in me just makes it difficult sometimes…" Semra steps forward, but when she sees that you (and your Eternals) are not about to let her get any closer she backs away again. "Oh right, that's why you've been sending svelk warbands to continually try to kill me." You say. "Pfft. You know as well as I do, you were never in any real danger…well no danger you couldn't handle anyway. If I really wanted to kill you, I would've made a better effort don't you think?" "Not really. I know you Semra, and you like playing games. Perhaps you didn't so call try hard enough because it would be more amusing to you to watch me struggle. So you did just enough to make things difficult, and figured I'd either give up or if your people got lucky, then great. If not, well there was always the entire island of Mortos doing a good enough job of trying to kill me." Semra smiles a bit at your theory. "Well, I suppose you do know me a little better now that our minds are so closely linked. To be fair though, I never thought you'd give up. I knew you'd die first if it came down to it." "Whatever, I'm tired of talking…" you say raising your hands to cast a spell. "Wait!" Semra says backing up towards the trapdoor and getting into a defensive position. "WHAT!?" "Just... Just hear me out okay?" "Hear you…Are you drunk or something?" you say in exasperation. "Look you can see into my mind that I have no trickery planned. This is just me here. I don't even have any reinforcements." Semra at this point relaxes her stance by opening her arms wide. She has completely let her guard down, physically and mentally. She's telling the truth. There is no trickery and this isn't a delaying tactic, Nicodemus is still waiting for you. You also sense a little concern within her. You have to admit that's somewhat surprising. "You've got a few seconds. Better make them good." You say. "Okay. Look, don't do this. That book nearly destroyed the world before, it may or may not hold the secrets to immortality, but it also opens up a gate to the realm of the dead! You think Mortos is bad? Think about when that gate is opened up!" "Yes, yes, I've heard this horror story before. Nicodemus told me about it right after he killed Casimir. If I'd had any sense, I would've tried to take the book then and saved me all this trouble in the first place." you answer. Semra shakes her head. "If you had any sense, you'd turn back right now." "Hm. I'll be sure to have that written on your tombstone, unless you're planning on running off and letting Nicodemus shoulder the responsibility of trying to kill me." "Nicodemus doesn't even give a shit anymore what you do. I'm sure he's contacted you. Haven't you detected a tone of apathy in his voice?" You chuckle. "Are you serious? You're saying Nicodemus has no intention of stopping me?" "No, he doesn't. At least not anymore. He claims he's tired of life, so he's effectively given up." "I don't believe it." "Believe that or don't, but one thing you better believe is that book is bad for you, me, and everyone on this fucking world. It already turned Mortos into a permanent graveyard and it eventually resulted in the destruction of my own Empire because we svelk had to make a pact with the infernal realm just to combat the utter annihilation that would've consumed everyone. We even made a deal with the necromancers that should this problem ever get this bad again, we would assist to prevent it if possible. Never thought we'd have to actually honor it though just because we didn't think anyone get close enough and be foolish enough to try again." Semra says. "Yeah…the destruction of your Empire doesn't sound like a bad thing. And it wasn't the book that caused that; it was your own government's idiocy with dealing with demons in the first place. So once again, you lot were your own worst enemy." You say. Semra rubs her head in an attempt to continue to try to "get through" to you. "Look, you won. I mean think about it, you've unlocked some of the secrets of necromancy and even mastered some of its spells. I just saw you drain the lives of these now dead Eternals standing near you. You drained their lives and made yourself even a little younger. Think about that for a moment. You've already ACHIEVED immortality. I mean yes, it isn't perfect and you're going to need an ongoing supply of people to sustain you, but you're the ruler of the Empire. How hard is it going to be to just shuffle in a bunch of worthless peasants, criminals, sveld, or whoever every so often to be feasted on like cattle?" "I'm not a wendigo or ghoul you know." You say establishing the fact that you are a lot of things, but cannibal isn't one of them. "I don't mean literally of course, but the premise is the same." You continue to listen while also continuing to read Semra's mind. You still sense no lying and nothing but sincerity. Unless she's found a way to lie so convincingly that she herself believes everything…which you wouldn't put past her. She does have somewhat of a point about draining the life force of people being able to sustain you theoretically indefinitely. "We of course are never going to have a relationship in the way I'd desire us to. We aren't even going to be friends. And one day you and I are going to finally meet on the battlefield and one of us is going to die, but I tell you…no I BEG you…DO NOT do this thing. This path will lead to all of our ruin and nobody will win save for death itself." Semra looks on at you expecting your response. > You press forward Semra's words aren't entirely lost on you. However, she either has overlooked one thing or again, managed to lie so convincingly that she's allowed her mind to believe it to be the truth. "Nice idea Semra, very nice idea. I think perhaps even you believe it. There's just one problem with it. I lose most of my necromantic powers as soon as I leave Mortos. The whole reason for Casimir's return here was because the necromantic energy weakened the longer he stayed away from Mortos. He was a resident here and master necromancer and he only used his own powers sparingly in order to keep himself alive for so long." You say. Semra's expression changes to one of disappointed as you continue to speak. "I on the other hand have only just begun to dabble in the necromantic arts and I'm no native to this land. Currently the necromantic energy is sustaining me, but I know I'm going to start aging again perhaps even more rapidly now that I've abused its power to keep myself alive. Even if I DO manage to sustain myself through necromancy, it's a habit of diminishing returns. Nicodemus told me that and Casimir certainly knew it. That's why he wanted that book. It was the answer to everything." Realizing how this is going to end, Semra prepares to defend herself. "If I turn back now, I'll live maybe a few decades longer perhaps? Maybe even a hundred after draining a few thousand people maybe? And while I have no qualms about such a thing, it's not really going to solve my problem now is it? If anything it might cause rebellions and eventually I'll still weaken and die to the ravages of time. So why turn back now? What have I got to lose?" You begin to cast a spell and Semra does likewise. Your undead Eternals move forward towards her. "I've already got one foot in the grave." You unleash a blast of frost towards Semra, who blocks with a magical barrier. Your undead eternals are undeterred by the frost and move within range to attack. She has to temporary drop the barrier in order to defend herself effectively as they attempt to surround her. Somehow despite suffering a semi-hit from your frost spell, she dodges and weaves enough to avoid your Eternal's attacks. She cuts down one of your Eternals and tries to lob a piece of heavy stone at you via telekinesis, but to her surprise you manage to stop it in mid air where upon it falls uselessly to the ground. "There are so many things I've learned since our minds have grown closer…" you say and then produce a poisonous cloud at her. It catches her just enough to make her gag and cough before jumping and climbing to the top of the broken wall behind her. "Open that trapdoor!" you command one of your Eternals to do while you try to blast Semra with fireballs as she jumps from crumbling piece of block to crumbling piece of block. She returns fire with a lightning bolt, but you quickly put up a barrier and focus your energy to that the barrier actually repells the bolt back. It misses her, but in her effort to dodge, she loses her balance and falls backwards off the piece of wall she was standing on. She's most likely still alive, but you're not wasting any more time with her. Seeing that the gas cloud has disapated, you rush down into the now open trapdoor and order your Eternals to follow. When you get to the bottom, you tell them to shut it and to wait and kill anything that tries to enter. You run down the long dark corridor, ignoring the several alcoves to your left and right. You half expect something to attack you like a ghoul, but nothing does and eventually you reach the large room that Nicodemus told you about. The room is dimly lit and furnished in a similar style that Casimir had his room furnished. You even see smaller versions of the two large skeleton warrior statues that still exist outside his old chambers. It's actually fairly nice looking compared to well…almost anything in Mortos. To your left you see Nicodemus sitting in a very luxurious looking chair. The man looks older, though he was old looking when you first met him, but this "old" definitely looks like tired accompanies the status. In fact he almost looks like he's asleep, he stirs awake when you walk acouple more steps in the room. "Oh, it's you. Apologies. I was just resting my eyes. Hrm. Took you long enough to get here, I imagine Semra tried to stop you. I told her not to bother and just let the inevitable happen. I mean she's a svelk, she's lived and enjoyed more lifetimes than most beings have anyway. Sometimes you just have to know when to let go." Nicodemus says. "From what she told me, that's what you've decided to do." You reply. "Yes, I imagine I have. It surprised me as well having kept such a close protection of this book for centuries. Granted most of those were from other necromancers similar to Casimir. You're the first outsider to attempt it. You're also the only one who is about to succeed as well. I guess congratulations is in order." "And I'm expected to believe you just changed your mind? That you're just going to let me take the book? You just had a small army try to stop me." "Eh, not really my idea. I mean I wasn't opposed to it, but my fellow necromancers thought that they'd make the effort to stop you. They all were a little younger than me, so I can't blame their dedication to protecting the book. As for me, I've gotten to the point where I'm tired and no longer care. I'd lecture you again, but I did that the first time you visited and given your determination, there is nothing I can say now that would change your mind. I could kill you with little effort, but I'm done with trying to stop you and your type from taking it. I think by the time you started rolling in those large steel machines of yours that was the point where I began to think what's the use? This man isn't going to stop short of his own personal death and even then someone like him will try again eventually. If this is the type of world where nobody can ever learn the simplest of lessons then maybe its better off dead." Nicodemus shifts a bit in his chair and relaxes a bit more. Nearby you see the infamous book on a table near him. You approach cautiously forward. "Yes, there it is. Take it. Kill me first if it makes you feel any safer, I won't put up any resistance." You hesistate at Nicodemus' willingness to let you have the book. It has to be a trick. "Well what are you waiting for Eternal? Why do you hesitate? Kill me, take the book and leave! That's the goal right? Well do it!" Nicodemus demands with a raised voice. Seeing not much else to do, you oblige him. You blast Nicodemus with a lightning bolt to his head exploding it like a ripe melon. His headless body remains slumped in its seat motionless. You briskly walk over to the table and grab the book. You half expect something horrible to befall you, but nothing happens. You glance through the book and it appears to be the same one that Casimir had. You definitely feel a faint surge of power just by handling it. With nothing else to do, you leave this room and head back the way you came. You find that your Eternals still waiting for you, you're somewhat surprised that Semra didn't make another attempt to stop you. Though that thought soon goes away when one of your Eternals pops up from the trapdoor and from the bottom of the ladder you see him blasted to pieces by a magic bolt. Shielding yourself from the falling pieces of your undead soldier you rapidly ascend the ladder where you cast a barrier to block Semra's attempts at sniping you. Blocking her magic, you scramble to a better location so you can allow the rest of you Eternals to climb up to help you. "You were right Semra, Nicodemus didn't try to stop me. This seems like destiny to me. Like I was meant to have this book! Why do you hate destiny?" you shout in a taunting fashion. Semra makes no response back; she just continues to try to kill you. Looks like she's gotten over her whole "maternal" feeling towards you. You return the favor and the pair of you must combat each other for several minutes running and dodging and flinging spells at one another. Honestly you'd try to end your feud with her right then and there, but during the battle you notice another army approaching in the distance. Not one of your own either, it's another undead horde and you can't fight Semra AND an entire undead army practically all by yourself. So you decide that escape is the order of the day and Semra's death will have to be another. After all you have your prize, better you should leave with it now. You collapse a small tower within the fortress with a well placed lightning bolt. Semra happens to be standing nearby it fortunately causing her to focus on saving her own life. In the meantime you order your Eternals to stay behind and find her to finish her off. You know that they will fail, but it will give you time to make a hasty retreat from the advancing undead horde. It is a long journey back to "safe" territory. You try to keep a low profile most of the way, though no matter how well you try to avoid attention, inevitably a pack of hungry gibbering ghouls always seems to find you. Fortunately they're in manageable numbers and you manage to make it back without major problems. When you arrive at "Home camp" you're immediately seen to by the Eternal detachment that constantly guard the portals back home. They make a fuss, but you assure them that you're fine and that you just need to get back home right now. Without too many more words, you enter the portal back home and you're suddenly back in Evigrus where the aura is much more lively and a lot less oppressive. And with you now is the book that Casimir wanted so badly and several others tried to prevent you from having. The same book that you have clutched under your arm. The key to immortality. You begin to glance through it and while you don't understand all of it, you feel the power contained within. It's almost as if the book wants you to master it. A challenge you will gladly undertake. > Year 80 "So you're really going to do it?" Cassandra asks while lying in bed next to you. "That was sort of the point of going to Mortos in the first place." You answer. "True I suppose. I really hated it there. I mean killing and capturing svelk was about the only thing that was remotely enjoyable. I was pretty glad you eventually sent all the Eyes back home." You get up out of bed to get your day started. "Ah, shit." You say feeling an ache in your back. "Are you alright? I thought you…um…replenished yourself recently." "If by replenished you mean drained the lives of twenty of my citizens last month then yes I did, but as I've told you before, it doesn't last long and it wears out quicker as the years have gone on. Not to mention humans don't exactly have the most sustaining life forces to begin with so it takes more of them just to turn back the clock a few decades." As you look in the mirror at yourself trying to determine if you need to "recharge" today, Cassandra doesn't pursue that line of questioning anymore. She knows that elves being long-lived creatures would probably require less effort on your part and sustain you longer. In fact that's probably why she started to show "attraction" towards you a few years ago. She'd never admit it, but she fears that you'll suddenly start rounding up elves and draining them instead. While it definitely had occurred to you to do so, you tended to limit it to just a few since they still don't have the largest of populations and you had no idea how long you'd have to "ration out" the lives of your citizens before you could unlock all the secrets of the book. Cassandra probably believes she's "swaying" you through sex though. Gnomes probably REALLY feared being rounded up, but fortunately for them you still respect their engineering skills and you don't have a gnome fetish like Casimir did. Besides, ever since your human engineer losses in Mortos and Elam dying last year (Another rarity via natural causes), you need all the skilled engineers you can get. As for your "relationship" with Cassandra you have no love for her, a mild fondness, a respect for her abilities and her usefulness, but nothing more. You're fairly certain Cassandra has no true love for you either. Respect and loyalty sure, a desire to place herself in a higher and "safer" position, most definitely, but she does not love you. Part of you has wondered if you reciprocated her advances in the first place was because she was an elf. Besides the natural attractiveness common to their race, she very faintly reminds you of Semra. Not in personality or even looks, but she's an elf and it's close enough. "I am seriously fucked up." You mumble to yourself as you think about that again. "What did you say?" Cassandra asks. "Nothing, just thinking about something. You better get dressed, I'm going to need you and the Eyes on full alert for this thing." You say which stirs Cassandra to get up and follow your lead in getting dressed. "Emperor, the…subjects are currently all being held at the ritual pyramid in the Usksha Desert, all ten thousand of them are still alive and restrained. I know I've told you this before, but Empire citizens' have not been calm about this. Most don't even know exactly what you're planning, but they're already coming up with stories and most of which are not too far off from the truth. The Eyes have been working overtime in keeping the peace, but I fear that a rebellion of some sort will be inevitable. Most likely in Rask and Nakol province, perhaps even in the Tral province." "The citizens' would like it even less if I continued to just drain random people at a greater rate eventually exceeding ten thousand. This ritual is going to prevent having to do that anymore. After it's done, we can deal with the civil unrest and in time Dokkrus as well." Cassandra smiles a bit when she hears that, you know she's probably been eager to go kill more svelk again. "I always meant to ask, but why is this to be performed in Usksha?" Cassandra says. "No major settlements nearby and it isn't like the usksha nomads are a problem anymore. Haven't even had a sandworm pop up in decades. I thought about the plains of Tor, since there was nice flat land there to build the pyramid, but the Usksha desert works just as well. Besides, this is only going to be necessary once. No need to have the pyramid any more afterwards and it'll be cheaper to just let the sands consume everything rather than having to tear it down and having crews to dispose of all the bodies." "Couldn't you just animate them to walk into the ocean or something?" "Hah, I'm sure a dead march to the ocean is just what the already agitated citizens' would want to see." You chuckle. "No, this is a better way. To be honest raising the dead takes a great deal of willpower and I find it to be a waste of the time and energy. I mean I did it to a limited degree in Mortos with the fallen Eternals because it bolstered the ranks and using the dead negated some of the advantages the necromancers had. Personally though I'd rather just cast a rain of fire down or chain lightning to directly harm my enemies. I don't need unreliable rotting corpses to do my work." You say. Cassandra nods at your answer and the pair of you are off to the Usksha Desert. Even before your carriage reaches the desert the black pyramid is visible from the Nalin border. The closer you get the more it looms ominously. There are grim deeds going to be performed this day and night and well…until the ritual is complete. The necromancers of Mortos didn't need as many sacrifices when they attempted this ritual since there were a lot more of them to perform it and support each other's magical energy. They were also more skilled. You are just one man that has tried to shove as much necromantic knowledge into your head in just a few years. You sometimes wonder if this is indeed a fool's errand. But you've gone over the rites, you've gone over the symbols, the steps, made allowances for your unique situation, and of course had a big ass pyramid built just to accomplish all this. You don't think you could be any more ready. When you arrive at the ritual pyramid, several Eternals stand ready for your commands. There are so few of them left now and they're all fourth gens. It wasn't but a decade ago that together with the third gens, Eternals were nearly two thousand strong. When this is all over, you really need to get that project back on track again. Too bad Elam isn't still around to carry out some of his theories, but maybe he left some notes in that now abandoned workshop of his. "The sacrifices are inside the pyramid, my Emperor. All we await is you to take your place and begin." An Eternal says when you exit the carriage. "Very good, we will begin soon." You reply as you shield your eyes to look up at the pyramid which does look pretty impressive this close up." Cassandra begins to leave the carriage, but you stop her from doing so. "Cassandra, why don't you head back. I don't think you're going to want to be here for this. Not because I don't think you can't handle it, but because it's going to take awhile and I'd rather have you keeping a check on the potential civil unrest situation you've been concerned about. I mean other than my Eternals here, you're about the only person I can truly trust and rely on anymore." "Very well, and thank you my Emperor." Cassandra says and kisses you before getting back inside the carriage. With Cassandra on her way back, you begin to make the long climb up the pyramid feeling the aches the entire time. You'll be glad to put an end to that soon. When you finally get to the top, you take a short breather and accept the water that a nearby Eternal hands you. "Shit, that sun is a killer. Maybe I should've had this built on the Tor plains after all. (Whew) All right then let's get on with this. Bring out the first sacrifice." You say and a couple of your Eternals nod and go through the entryway to carry out your orders. While you wait you place the ritual book on a nearby stone podium and examine the sacrificial altar and the symbols you had etched into it. The altar itself was designed to be sturdy, but also has a slight elegance to it. The craftsman really put some artistic touches to it. You aren't normally one to admire something like that, but in this case you do. As the screams of your first sacrifice get closer you draw out your mithril dagger. Ah this dagger has certainly been with you a long time. Saved your life more than a few times too. Still, you only keep it for one reason. As a reminder to end Semra's life with it one day. (Yet another thing on the to do list after achieving immortality) Your Eternals bring out your first sacrifice. A young elven girl. She's terrified, crying and begging for her life. "Well, it's a good thing I sent Cassandra home. Pretty sure she wouldn't have wanted to see this. How many elves are there in there anyway?" you ask one of the Eternals ignoring the girl's screams. "Apologies, but I'm not exactly sure my Emperor. I know we brought in a lot, but we're not sure how many the Eyes brought in." "They most likely didn't bring in any. Probably primarily stuck to humans. So…who do we have in there anyway?" "Mostly humans as you might expect. They're from all over the Empire. Some elves, some kobolds, some orcs, some usksha, I know we even dragged a few ogres down here. All of them are of varying ages, colors, occupations and gender. You said the more variety from walks of life the better." "That's true. For some reason this will work better with more variety of life. Not exactly sure why, but I'm following the instructions. Just out curiosity, any gnomes?" "We did get a few. Tried to limit them to criminals though." "As long as we got a few, okay throw her on the altar and let's get started." You say. As the girl continues to scream for her life, your Eternals place her on the altar. "Did you want us to gag these people in the future?" one of your Eternals asks. "No, apparently the terror and fear they outwardly display helps this ritual too, again don't ask me why, I'm just following what was in this book…shhhh…I'll make this quick." You say and then chant as you bring the dagger down. When the deed is done and the girl's life has indeed been exstinguished, her body is thrown down the steps on the left side of the pyramid. That pile is going to get very big before this over. Time passes from day and night as one by one people are dragged for you to kill. You have to take breaks every so often and after a few days of this you even resort to draining the life of some of your Eternals just to keep your strength up. You know its working though, you can feel it. By the time you've passed the five thousand mark the daytime sky no has a sun beating down on you and a constant overcast hangs in the air. A sandstorm whips up and at one point it even begins to rain, which it practically never does in this desert. You preserve through the sand and the rain as you did with the sun. The closer you get, the more you can feel your success. Eventually you don't even begin feeling tired after killing a few hundred people, you're starting to feel energized by it. Eventually you stop taking breaks and start dragging victims out yourself since your Eternals are certainly tired. By the time you hit over nine thousand your surrounding area is in a permanent state of unnatural darkness. A blackness has covered a wide area of the desert and you're not even seeing the stars at this point, its just black like a void. And then finally the last victim is brought out. A miserable looking malnourished kobold who looks like he's on his last legs anyway. He's so weak that one of your Eternals picks him up by one hand and places him on the altar. You speak the last parts of the spell and bring down the knife ending the kobold's life instantly and that's when it happens. You feel a surge of energy like you've never felt before. It's like when you drain the life of someone, but this is different, like a feeling of completeness. You believe its working. You don't have a mirror handy, but your hands are certainly deprived of wrinkles now and you don't have any aches or pains from age anymore. "I feel it! It's working! It's…" you shout and then suddenly you fall to the ground and a large rumbling sound from above is heard almost to the point to it being deafening. You are helped up by your Eternals, who begin to ask you what to do next. You look up and see several ghostly forms screaming out of the black void above. They don't attack, they just seem to hang there and float around, but that doesn't mean they won't soon. "Emperor! Watch out!" an Eternal shouts and hacks down the kobold you just killed. Just as Nicodemus told you what the necromancers did, just as Semra warned you, you've opened up a gate to the Realm of the Dead. > You run over to the ritual book "I can close it! I need to get over to the book!" you shout and quickly run over to it and flick through the pages. You find the page and begin to speak the words only for several of those ghostly forms to suddenly swoop down and take it. Before your eyes they rip it to pieces laughing the entire time. Pieces of the book either fly off never to be seen again or fall before you completely useless. "NO!" you shout helplessly and try to blast them with magic bolts. You hit some of them causing those to dissipate, but the damage is done. "The end will come soon…this world has been marked on the list for a long time…you have welcomed death back to it because of your hubrissssssss…." One of the ghosts mocks. The ghosts continue to taunt you as you desperately try to pick up some of the pieces that actually landed near you in the meantime your Eternals are urging that you all need to get away from the pyramid as more of these ghostly forms are starting to appear and one of them has noticed that the large pile of bodies on the left side of the pyramid is starting to animate. "Emperor! We must go!" "NO! I won't be beaten! Not when I have achieved my goal, I…Aaaagh!" you start to say when all of a sudden you begin to feel very weak. It's not just you either; it's your Eternals too. The feeling is similar to the draining effect by undead creatures or the negative zones of Mortos. You might not be aging, but you definitely don't feel well, in fact you feel like you're going to die and given how close to death you've been on several occasions, you're very familiar with what that feels like. In fact, you're reminded of the time when Cyrus nearly killed you. Feels like that. Realizing that standing to fight isn't going to work, you listen to your Eternals and begin down the pyramid steps to your right. Though you make sure to be careful since you're dizzy and feel like you're going to tumble at any time. When you get to the bottom, you see more spirits and the like pour out of the black void above the pyramid and the pile of bodies that were one dead have now begun to shuffle around their original area to the other side where you are currently at. You attempt to control the slowly advancing horde in perhaps an effort to turn some against each other, but your spell has absolutely no effect and it's like some greater force is controlling them. It's Mortos all over again. After dispatching the closest ones by the more traditional sword, gunYou and your remaining Eternals make haste through the desert towards the Nalin border. The more distance you put between you and the pyramid makes you feel a little better, but you're also concerned. You're supposed to be immortal now, and while you know that doesn't mean you can't feel pain, you wonder if the spell actually even worked at all because you had the very real feeling that you were going to die back there. You may have very well doomed the word for nothing. You try not to not to think about it for now, you'll have plenty of time to dwell on it when you get back to civilization. When you do reach the closest village in Nalin, the peasants there are so far unaware of the impending danger, but many of them have begun feeling scared since even from this distance they can see the large blackness that has unnaturally gathered above the pyramid in the distance. You make a short announcement in the middle of the village. "People of this village, listen to your Emperor. There is a darkness coming in this direction and it will consume you and everything within if you stay here. I'd advise you all to move on to one of the larger cities for safety if you can. Do not give into fear and stay strong and you will survive this. The Empire WILL survive this." Having little else to say, you move on leaving the villagers to heed your advice. You proceed to do this with every settlement you move through on your way back to the capital and urge the bigger ones to start sending out messengers to other settlements to warn people as well. When you get to the capital, you're immediately giving orders to make this situation news throughout the Empire. If there was civil unrest before there probably will be more of it, but keeping people in the dark until the dead are beating down their door is likely to result in unreadiness and lead to more causalities which will in turn…result in more undead. Steps are taken to completely eradicate the dangers of the dead rising up when you have the graveyards ordered to be dug up in all major cities and the bodies burned immediately (The kobolds are the main ones that take care of this task) It is a grim day indeed though when you have the cemetery of Empire heroes cleansed. The final resting place of some of your closest former companions is broken open and their bodies destroyed. In those cases you do the job yourself, because well they deserve that much. But better it should be this way than for them to rise up as some undead monster that will no longer the person you knew any more. Despite these steps, the Empire is a large place and not every small village or hamlet can be accounted for and that's not even counting Nyttrus which only gets the news weeks later when the first reports of the dead rising up from their graves starts. Worse is the fact that another large void similar to the one in the Usksha Desert has opened up near New Dessel. When it did, the effect was sudden and instant. Several airships were destroyed in the area. This so far hasn't happened anywhere else (yet) but you wonder if its due to the portals to Mortos being located there. Perhaps some sort of thinner barrier between the dead and living there or something. Whatever the reason New Dessel itself has gone silent. It can be assumed everyone there has decided to lock themselves up in the mountain, but all attempts to send people to investigate have failed. Either the hostile spirits screaming out of the void are too overwhelming or the investigators don't come back at all. The ones have managed to come back also report of a life draining effect they feel as soon as they enter the area. Their description is similar to what you felt back at the pyramid. It's a major loss considering the importance of New Dessel. You were considering making a trip to Mortos to ask the necromancers for help since only they might know how to stop this, but with the portals either destroyed or inaccessible now that's no longer an option. (And given your last visit it's probably unlikely they would've helped anyway) While you initially believed that more civil unrest would follow this catastrophe, you've surprisingly found that hasn't been the case, if anything this event has caused people to band together. While you don't doubt that a lot blame you for this there remains a greater fear of this undead plague and a slight hope that you MIGHT be the only one to save from it. In short, they don't really have many other options, because going it alone without the help of the Empire would surely be suicide. With few options of your own, you rally a general state of emergency and the war against the dead begins in full swing. You can't be everywhere at once, but you try your best and fend off major attacks personally when you can. Year 90 You stare at the portrait of your beloved Alison. As much as you've always missed her, a part of you is glad that she perhaps isn't still around to see what you've done. Would she have still stood by your side? Would she have tried to stop you? Would you have even bothered with any of this had she still been alive? Like many questions that rely on "what if" the answers are irrelevant because what they are is not reality. You tear yourself away from Alison's portrait for a moment to glance into the mirror to your left. A young face stares back at you. An Eternal in his prime ready to conquer the world. The problem is you're no longer in any position to do so, for something else is doing it better than you ever could. You think about all you've lost within the short time you've achieved "immortality." You lost contact with Nyttrus years ago, and you don't know what's going on there now. Who knows if anything still lives on that jungle continent. Several more voids in the sky began appearing, releasing more undead into your realm and draining the life energy of the living. Entire provinces at this point have now been depopulated leaving only the dead behind, some provinces like Nakol have been cut off from you. Rask and Delerg are the only places left of the Empire and you imagine even that won't be true for very long. Even now a void hangs over part of Quala and everyday it grows bigger. It's only a matter of time before the entire world is completely enveloped by death. All your Eternals are dead, along with most your Eyes and military. Cassandra herself was killed last year in the last desperate struggle to hang on to the Arat province, but it was a futile task when the enemy is literally without end. As for you, you've never given up the fight even though you know you're going to lose. It's inevitable, but you can't just lie down and die. You have to fight, you have to survive…but you're also so tired. And it's not just from the effects of death slowly creeping up on you. There's a part of you that just wants to put away your instincts and training for a moment and do what Nicodemus did. Let nature take its inevitable course. Your introspection is cut short when one of your advisors knocks on your door rapidly. "EMPEROR! EMPEROR! THE UNDEAD ARE HERE! THEY'RE AT THE GATES! THEY'RE ACK!" a voice says being suddenly cut short and several grinning specters come through the closed door. "Hm, looks like they're already past the gates." You say and then unleash magic bolts at the specters sending them back to wherever they came from. This is somewhat unexpected. While it is true there is a large amount of undead currently in Quala, there wasn't any sign of an army anywhere near the capital yet, let alone the palace. You heard no signs of battle outside or even any yelling that would denote an alarm or call to arms. And you certainly would've been alerted long before an army was at the gates. In fact other than this interruption, its dead quiet. And then a feeling of oppressive dread swarms over you followed by that draining experience. This isn't good. You open your chamber door and see a desiccated husk in front of it. It's not animating so that's the good thing. The bad thing is when you start exploring the rest of the palace; you're finding everyone like that. Several of those specters float about the palace, which you dispatch as quick as you can, but you're still feeling weaker by the second. You don't know what is causing this sudden drain, but it's not the specters and the void isn't near enough yet. It's something else. And by the time you drag yourself outside your palace you see it with your own eyes. You see a black-cloaked figure standing in your courtyard with several bodies lying all over the place. The trees and the other plant life are completely dead as well. This thing is giving off a negative energy that is sapping you at an alarming rate. You struggle to keep standing. When it glides over to you, you try to cast a spell, but it fails. You draw your sword only to end up using it as a crutch to prop yourself up on. This is it. This is death itself and you're now right in front of it. "Do your worst." you say trying to prepare yourself for it to attack. To your surprise, you get a response. "Oh trust me, you wouldn't like that. My worst makes your worst look like a kindness." The being says in a slightly deep voice. You have no answer, but once again to your surprise the being speaks again. "But this is no time for threats or boasts, I have come to talk mortal." "Talk? Are you…fucking with me?" you ask. "Not at all, however I feel it would be in your best interest to listen. It would seem you have a slight difficulty in doing that at times, but then again it's never too late to change. Even in your final hour." "I guess…I don't have much of a choice…" you wheeze. "Good. I understand your current condition, so I'll try to be brief. Don't worry though I'll keep you alive until we're finished." > You last choice "Before we begin, if you have any major questions, now is the time." The being says. You have to admit, this situation is so unique that you can't help but be curious so you do decide to ask questions. (As well and somehow holding out the futile hope that you might find an advantage) "Are you a god?" you ask. "I suppose I am, but in the scheme of things I am more of a collector and caretaker. Gods typically get to do fun irresponsible things like torment mortals and encouraging holy wars. Strange though, this world wasn't really high on any deity influences, the only record I can find of major divine influence here is a powerful yet non-divine being masquerading as a so called god of shadows and going by the name Dendrin and that thing left this world when you eradicated the shadows long ago." It answers. "Isn't killing the world considered tormenting mortals?" you ask. "To you and most others I suppose it would be, but this is really more of a necessary service. A reminder that death can't be cheated. In reality, the divine don't really want immortal types running about since it tends to threaten the status quo. If someone achieves immortality on a world then potentially someone else can do it too. Before you know it, you've got a whole new set of beings achieving godhood and believe me; we've got more than enough of them now. Too many really." "How the hell is that fair? I mean as you said these gods haven't even been paying attention to this world and yet now they do?" "Well as I said, you're a potential threat. And of course you're right. It isn't fair, but there are strict laws on this matter. Certain conditions have to apply, has to be an opening, and a bunch of boring diety debating. I didn't make them up either, they were long in place before I got this job so don't blame me. Really though your world was marked a long time ago when the Mortos necromancers attempted the same thing several centuries ago. I was so busy though with other things at the time that wasn't paying attention to just how close they were at closing the gate back up. Needless to say nobody was pleased about it and I got bitched at, but considering there wasn't any danger of someone becoming truly immortal anymore on your world I just had it marked and kept a closer eye on it." You helplessly listen to the death god's words as the life continues to ebb from your body. "Knew it wouldn't be long before someone here tried it again and then I'd get this world. Figured it would be one of those Mortos necromancers, but I have to admit I didn't see someone like you doing the deed. Then again given your background maybe I shouldn't be too surprised. For a mortal you're somewhat interesting and I don't say that lightly." "Thanks…I guess. Is that why you wanted to speak to me?" you ask starting to feel very frail and tired. "For the most part yes, but more than that. You see despite my assigned duty, I genuinely respect mortals who have a desire to endure at all costs. I always have had an admiration for those that have a strong survival instinct and you Eternal, definitely have one of the strongest. So…I am going to make a few offers to you. Unique offers that I have never given any living being before. And trust me, I've been through this process quite a few times." You struggle to keep standing and use your sword as a crutch to prop yourself up. "Wha…what…are…my choices…" you weakly ask. "Well, your first choice is obvious. You pathetically continue to oppose me. You'll inevitably lose of course. I highly recommend that you do not take this option. While I may respect a strong survival instinct, I do not respect foolishness and if you continue to fight me, that's what you'll be, a complete and utter fool. I do not think you are, but then again you just might prove me wrong. Besides dying in a fairly inglorious way your assigned afterlife will not be a pleasant one." "I…I…suppose I haven't really been a good guy." You say. "That's a severe understatement. In fact you alone have contributed to the deaths of so many either directly or indirectly on this world that I almost wondered if I even needed to bother showing up. But honestly your brutal politics and such aside, that isn't really what got you into trouble. Indeed there are many deities that admire and reward such behavior. Your complete and total obliteration of gnome souls however was severely frowned upon by certain deities. Those gnomes were supposed to go to a happy friendly afterlife, not get completely annihilated. Personally I don't really give a shit since I know at the time you were just following your own orders, but I like to keep the rest of the deities off my back so if you continue to piss me off by opposing me, well I'll be throwing you into that very dark painful place of which there is no hope, myself." The death god pauses before announcing your next choice. "Your second choice is a very simple one, but probably not as obvious to the likes of you. Your second choice is to simply die. Lay your burdens down and rest. I realize that something like this would be hard for a warrior such as yourself, but I can assure you that if you do, I will guarantee you a place with your long lost love Alison." You feel a slight surge of energy within you when you hear that name. "Al…Alison?" you utter. "Yes, Alison. Granted, you probably don't belong where she currently is, but fortunately for you I can pull a few strings to get you there. You and her will re-united at last. You will get to exist for the rest of eternity with her in perfect happiness." The chance to be reunited with Alison does sound like a good deal, but you can't help but wonder if it's a lie or maybe there's a catch just to lay down and die without struggle. Is this a trick? And if it is a trick, does that mean the death god believes you're more powerful than he's letting on and you could potentially defeat it? In any case you still haven't heard your third choice, which the death god begins speaking on. "But perhaps your long lost love isn't the true love that died. Perhaps your true love has always been with you in your heart. Perhaps you could potentially wish for that love affair to continue forever." "I…certainly hope you…aren't talking about…a certain svelk…" you remark. Surprisingly this causes a dark chortle from the death god. "Oh no…not that one, Eternal. I am referring to a mistress of a more abstract nature. Your love of battle, war and bloodshed in general. That has always been a constant for you. As I have already mentioned your actions alone have either directly or indirectly caused multitudes of souls pour into my realm. I can also admire and respect a mortal that dedicated to death whether they realize it or not. Such a being could be of great use to me." "Use?" "Yes. As you may have somewhat gathered from our pleasant chat here I am an incredibly busy deity. Mortals die all the time and I have a duty to collect souls, assign them and even completely obliterate a few sometimes. This is in addition to the periods where I have a whole world to purge and when the appointed time comes, I have to personally oversee its harvest. It breaks up the monotony to be sure, but it also takes time especially when I've got stubborn little mortals like yourself opposing me to the bitter end. Also people on other worlds don't stop dying just because I'm purging another one. Souls stack up and then I get complaints from other deities saying they're missing this and that soul. The complaints don't really matter of course in the grand scheme of things, but it's not something I need to hear when I'm already doing the thankless job that nobody else wants." You never realized being a deity was so bureaucratic. You still don't quite grasp how this is your problem though. Your only problem right now is struggling to live. "Tell me Eternal, how would you like to be truly eternal?" "What…do you mean?" "You have a gift. A gift that I wouldn't mind putting to good use and this is your third choice. Beg me to make you my avatar on these world purging assignments." "What?!" "I said beg me to make you my herald of death. Instead of me having to slog through a marked world, I'd send you in my place. Naturally I'd give you a little of my power to help you along, but I trust command over literally legions of the dead is more than enough for you to get the job done. Just think, you'd get to enjoy what you truly love over and over again. Battle, war, death, and everything else that goes along with it. Best of all, you never have to worry about silly things like troop morale or morality in general, because the goal will always be the same and you will never run out of willing soldiers." Now this offer sounds really too good to be true. You can't even believe that the death god is practically offering you a place by his side. "So, wait…you're saying I can join…" "No. I didn't say join…I said beg. There's a difference." The death god interrupts. "I… don't understand." You answer. "It's a test. A simple one really, but a test nevertheless. You are a proud being. Even when you served your Emperor with utter devotion, you were still a proud being. Again I can respect your pride. However, I can't have you believing that you're equal to me, because you aren't. Not by a long shot. I also can't have you thinking that somehow you're going to try to turn this opportunity into a way to destroy me and take over, because you can't. If this association is going to happen, I need you to humble yourself before me. Only then can I fully trust you because an oath will have been made. Such things are impossible to break when the gods are watching." "But…if I don't stand a chance anyway then why do I need to…humble myself?" "Let's just say it's a formality and the principle of it. Plus I'm suspicious by nature especially with a resourceful one such as yourself. Still, it is entirely up to you. I won't force you to do something you may find repulsive to your nature. But I don't think pride is in your nature. I believe war and battle is. And I believe the desire for those is a lot stronger than any pride you may have. Again though, you may prove me wrong." And there you have it, you've been given your three choices, such as they are. You've been through a lot in your life and you never could've imagined it would end like this. You're going to die no matter what you do that fact is certain. And yet this death god respects you enough to give you choices. Choices that you could've never dreamed of, but at the same time are somewhat familiar. You remember the very first time you had to make this choice… > You struggle All you life the odds have been against you and you've always struggled against them. As weak as you are right now, you're not going to give in or lay down for the whims of some so-called "god." The fact that he's giving you a "choice" indicates that perhaps he isn't as all-powerful as he claims. You're going to take your chance while you can. Mustering up all your strength you attempt to cast another spell at the death god. This time you actually manage to get a flicker of flame appear in your hand before it goes out. Between the combination of attempting such a feat and your life energy already draining at a rapid rate, you collapse face first to the ground. "Shit…" you say feeling like you're going to lose consciousness. As you lie helpless on the ground, the death god floats over to you. You can't stop him. "That was a very silly thing to do mortal, looks like I severely misjudged your character and you are indeed a fool. Ah well can't be right all the time." Continuing to be defiant you struggle to reach into your side sheath where you keep your dagger. You manage to pull it out half way before your strength completely fails you and you can't even move any longer. "See now you're just embarrassing yourself." The death god replies. "Fuck…y…" You don't even get to finish that last comment when suddenly your body experiences unimaginable pain. Whatever injuries or tortures you may have experienced pale in comparison to this. You are experiencing death, but not just your own. You are experiencing the death of everyone you ever killed all at the same time. As you go through this agony the death god speaks. "You know under normal circumstances a person like you goes to the Infernal Realm. Land of demons and such. Can't stand 'em myself, most sensible beings don't, but if there's one thing they do well that's torture the shit out of people for all eternity. Well…normally that happens anyway…" You aren't even paying attention to what the death god is saying to you, the image of every single death is filling your mind and you can't shut out the physical, emotional or spiritual anguish you're experiencing. You can't even cry out and you're bordering on madness. "However that's not what is going to happen to you. Oh no. I know you. You'd thrive in such a place of adversity. You'd probably find a way to break free and even give those demons a run for their money. You were already involved in killing one demon lord after all. I have to admit, that was a nice one, but I ramble…" At this point the words "pain" and "agony" are no longer adequate words to describe what you're feeling. "Living Hell MIGHT come close, but the death god continues to speak. "No Eternal, you are going to a place where your suffering will be legendary even compared to the infernal realm. Where the laws of the universe don't even apply. It is a rarity that is usually saved for immortals, gods and other such beings of power when they really fuck up. I suppose it is impressive that as a mere mortal you've managed to achieve such a thing. However this is no reward, this is your own doing Eternal." At last scream out and suddenly everything goes black for a split moment and your surroundings change severely. Everything around you is wrong. Your mind cannot comprehend the utterly bizarre things about you. In fact you're not even standing on the ground, you're floating throughout some sort of fluid space. You see grisly parodies of various people you've known. They all taunt and hurt you in ways that you never thought possible. These mimics then will melt into disgusting things like hordes of oversized worms and maggots which will proceed to crawl all over you. As you float helplessly you can feel vileness, enter every orifice of your body. All of your senses are assaulted at the same time and the smell, the taste, the feeling, the sight and the sounds are all indescribably awful. Every once in a while strange tentacle creatures float nearby and assault your body and your mind even worse than the mimics. Other times the very plane seems to do the same thing. Sometimes you are completely ripped apart only to be reformed again and not always in the correct way. You go completely insane, but never to a point where you no longer care or are bothered by the horrific experiences you are enduring. There is no defense, no hope, and no escape from this living nightmare. Your mind shattered, your body broken, and your spirit crushed, you continue screaming having no other choice but to suffer your eternal torment.

"Before we begin, if you have any major questions, now is the time." The being says. You have to admit, this situation is so unique that you can't help but be curious so you do decide to ask questions. (As well and somehow holding out the futile hope that you might find an advantage) "Are you a god?" you ask. "I suppose I am, but in the scheme of things I am more of a collector and caretaker. Gods typically get to do fun irresponsible things like torment mortals and encouraging holy wars. Strange though, this world wasn't really high on any deity influences, the only record I can find of major divine influence here is a powerful yet non-divine being masquerading as a so called god of shadows and going by the name Dendrin and that thing left this world when you eradicated the shadows long ago." It answers. "Isn't killing the world considered tormenting mortals?" you ask. "To you and most others I suppose it would be, but this is really more of a necessary service. A reminder that death can't be cheated. In reality, the divine don't really want immortal types running about since it tends to threaten the status quo. If someone achieves immortality on a world then potentially someone else can do it too. Before you know it, you've got a whole new set of beings achieving godhood and believe me; we've got more than enough of them now. Too many really." "How the hell is that fair? I mean as you said these gods haven't even been paying attention to this world and yet now they do?" "Well as I said, you're a potential threat. And of course you're right. It isn't fair, but there are strict laws on this matter. Certain conditions have to apply, has to be an opening, and a bunch of boring diety debating. I didn't make them up either, they were long in place before I got this job so don't blame me. Really though your world was marked a long time ago when the Mortos necromancers attempted the same thing several centuries ago. I was so busy though with other things at the time that wasn't paying attention to just how close they were at closing the gate back up. Needless to say nobody was pleased about it and I got bitched at, but considering there wasn't any danger of someone becoming truly immortal anymore on your world I just had it marked and kept a closer eye on it." You helplessly listen to the death god's words as the life continues to ebb from your body. "Knew it wouldn't be long before someone here tried it again and then I'd get this world. Figured it would be one of those Mortos necromancers, but I have to admit I didn't see someone like you doing the deed. Then again given your background maybe I shouldn't be too surprised. For a mortal you're somewhat interesting and I don't say that lightly." "Thanks…I guess. Is that why you wanted to speak to me?" you ask starting to feel very frail and tired. "For the most part yes, but more than that. You see despite my assigned duty, I genuinely respect mortals who have a desire to endure at all costs. I always have had an admiration for those that have a strong survival instinct and you Eternal, definitely have one of the strongest. So…I am going to make a few offers to you. Unique offers that I have never given any living being before. And trust me, I've been through this process quite a few times." You struggle to keep standing and use your sword as a crutch to prop yourself up. "Wha…what…are…my choices…" you weakly ask. "Well, your first choice is obvious. You pathetically continue to oppose me. You'll inevitably lose of course. I highly recommend that you do not take this option. While I may respect a strong survival instinct, I do not respect foolishness and if you continue to fight me, that's what you'll be, a complete and utter fool. I do not think you are, but then again you just might prove me wrong. Besides dying in a fairly inglorious way your assigned afterlife will not be a pleasant one." "I…I…suppose I haven't really been a good guy." You say. "That's a severe understatement. In fact you alone have contributed to the deaths of so many either directly or indirectly on this world that I almost wondered if I even needed to bother showing up. But honestly your brutal politics and such aside, that isn't really what got you into trouble. Indeed there are many deities that admire and reward such behavior. Your complete and total obliteration of gnome souls however was severely frowned upon by certain deities. Those gnomes were supposed to go to a happy friendly afterlife, not get completely annihilated. Personally I don't really give a shit since I know at the time you were just following your own orders, but I like to keep the rest of the deities off my back so if you continue to piss me off by opposing me, well I'll be throwing you into that very dark painful place of which there is no hope, myself." The death god pauses before announcing your next choice. "Your second choice is a very simple one, but probably not as obvious to the likes of you. Your second choice is to simply die. Lay your burdens down and rest. I realize that something like this would be hard for a warrior such as yourself, but I can assure you that if you do, I will guarantee you a place with your long lost love Alison." You feel a slight surge of energy within you when you hear that name. "Al…Alison?" you utter. "Yes, Alison. Granted, you probably don't belong where she currently is, but fortunately for you I can pull a few strings to get you there. You and her will re-united at last. You will get to exist for the rest of eternity with her in perfect happiness." The chance to be reunited with Alison does sound like a good deal, but you can't help but wonder if it's a lie or maybe there's a catch just to lay down and die without struggle. Is this a trick? And if it is a trick, does that mean the death god believes you're more powerful than he's letting on and you could potentially defeat it? In any case you still haven't heard your third choice, which the death god begins speaking on. "But perhaps your long lost love isn't the true love that died. Perhaps your true love has always been with you in your heart. Perhaps you could potentially wish for that love affair to continue forever." "I…certainly hope you…aren't talking about…a certain svelk…" you remark. Surprisingly this causes a dark chortle from the death god. "Oh no…not that one, Eternal. I am referring to a mistress of a more abstract nature. Your love of battle, war and bloodshed in general. That has always been a constant for you. As I have already mentioned your actions alone have either directly or indirectly caused multitudes of souls pour into my realm. I can also admire and respect a mortal that dedicated to death whether they realize it or not. Such a being could be of great use to me." "Use?" "Yes. As you may have somewhat gathered from our pleasant chat here I am an incredibly busy deity. Mortals die all the time and I have a duty to collect souls, assign them and even completely obliterate a few sometimes. This is in addition to the periods where I have a whole world to purge and when the appointed time comes, I have to personally oversee its harvest. It breaks up the monotony to be sure, but it also takes time especially when I've got stubborn little mortals like yourself opposing me to the bitter end. Also people on other worlds don't stop dying just because I'm purging another one. Souls stack up and then I get complaints from other deities saying they're missing this and that soul. The complaints don't really matter of course in the grand scheme of things, but it's not something I need to hear when I'm already doing the thankless job that nobody else wants." You never realized being a deity was so bureaucratic. You still don't quite grasp how this is your problem though. Your only problem right now is struggling to live. "Tell me Eternal, how would you like to be truly eternal?" "What…do you mean?" "You have a gift. A gift that I wouldn't mind putting to good use and this is your third choice. Beg me to make you my avatar on these world purging assignments." "What?!" "I said beg me to make you my herald of death. Instead of me having to slog through a marked world, I'd send you in my place. Naturally I'd give you a little of my power to help you along, but I trust command over literally legions of the dead is more than enough for you to get the job done. Just think, you'd get to enjoy what you truly love over and over again. Battle, war, death, and everything else that goes along with it. Best of all, you never have to worry about silly things like troop morale or morality in general, because the goal will always be the same and you will never run out of willing soldiers." Now this offer sounds really too good to be true. You can't even believe that the death god is practically offering you a place by his side. "So, wait…you're saying I can join…" "No. I didn't say join…I said beg. There's a difference." The death god interrupts. "I… don't understand." You answer. "It's a test. A simple one really, but a test nevertheless. You are a proud being. Even when you served your Emperor with utter devotion, you were still a proud being. Again I can respect your pride. However, I can't have you believing that you're equal to me, because you aren't. Not by a long shot. I also can't have you thinking that somehow you're going to try to turn this opportunity into a way to destroy me and take over, because you can't. If this association is going to happen, I need you to humble yourself before me. Only then can I fully trust you because an oath will have been made. Such things are impossible to break when the gods are watching." "But…if I don't stand a chance anyway then why do I need to…humble myself?" "Let's just say it's a formality and the principle of it. Plus I'm suspicious by nature especially with a resourceful one such as yourself. Still, it is entirely up to you. I won't force you to do something you may find repulsive to your nature. But I don't think pride is in your nature. I believe war and battle is. And I believe the desire for those is a lot stronger than any pride you may have. Again though, you may prove me wrong." And there you have it, you've been given your three choices, such as they are. You've been through a lot in your life and you never could've imagined it would end like this. You're going to die no matter what you do that fact is certain. And yet this death god respects you enough to give you choices. Choices that you could've never dreamed of, but at the same time are somewhat familiar. You remember the very first time you had to make this choice… > You die It takes you a few seconds, but you soon yield to the inevitable. You're tired of conflict. While it is true that war, bloodshed and the like are the very core of your essence and you do enjoy such things, you have to wonder is that what you really want? Do you wish to be nothing but destruction personified forever? (Or at least until the Death God has no further use for you?) You don't know. Part of it has its appeal to you and if things were different maybe you'd choose such a role. However the Death God has offered you a chance to be with your first and only true love, Alison. Your time with her was STILL the happiest you ever were during your life. How can you possibly pass up such a chance? A chance to be with her forever. You smile at this prospect and with this idea in mind you collapse to the floor before the Death God. "I…am done…take…me…back to my…Alison…" you struggle to say as you feel all life leaving your body. The Death God hovers above you. "As you wish Eternal. I admit I did not expect you to make this choice. It is a difficult thing for most to deny their nature and pursue another path…but then I also understand the desire to be reunited with that one true love. Many should be so lucky to experience such a thing one day." With the Death God's last words to you, your life force ends and everything goes black. When you wake up you find yourself in a much different place. You're lying in a bed first of all. Upon sitting up and looking about the room, it appears that you're in some sort of house. A single closed door leads out, but before you even get out of the bed, you hear footsteps coming towards you. Instinctively you reach for a weapon, but you have none, instead you ready yourself to cast a spell. The door opens and a blonde woman in casual clothing with a sword in hand appears. It's Alison. "Who are…wait…I feel like I should know you…do I know you?" she asks. "It's me! Alison, surely you know who I am?" you remark. "I'm not sure." You begin to slightly panic and get up off the bed to approach her, she doesn't sheath her weapon, but she's no longer holding it up in a threatening manner. "Alison, I'm your husband. We met while serving the Empire." "Empire? Husband? I'm sorry, but I'm just not quite placing you…what are you doing in my house and how do you know my name?" "I came here to be with you! We fought in the Felkan War together! We loved one another and were married! You died while on a carriage ride back home from an assassin! Please! Listen to me, you have to remember!" You begin to wonder if this was the Death God's elaborate joke on you. Putting you with your true love only for her to not remember you. You're just about to curse the god, you hear hope. "Wait…I vaguely remember. Yes, we do know each other..." "Yes! We were together! We were married!" "I'm still not sure, but you seem very sincere and I can't deny that you aren't familiar to me. I'm not sure about all the other stuff you're talking about though. It sounds very interesting though, why don't you tell me all about it, I don't get many visitors out here so I'm happy for the company. Try not to talk so fast this time; I didn't even catch most of what you said before. I could've sworn you told me I died and that's just ridiculous of course!" Alison chuckles, puts away her sword and tells you to follow her to the kitchen. What was supposed to be a happy occasion is turning out to be a frustrating one, but at least Alison is being friendly with you. You're wondering what exactly is going on here. Why can't she remember anything? In the brief time between walking from the bedroom to the kitchen you try to come up with some sort of explanation. She doesn't even know she's dead or you're dead for that matter. Is this some sort of "new life" for her? Seems sort of an odd one; you never pictured Alison living in a place like this, which while a nice home it's seemingly too peaceful. And that's far from the type of military background that she came from, though she still has a sword for protection you guess, so some things must not have changed. While she's pouring some water from a pitcher into a mug, you decide that maybe you should ask some questions. "Alison, how long have you lived here?" "Oh, I dunno. I feel like I've lived here all my life, it's a nice place though so no point in moving." "Where does the food come from? Do you farm or something?" "Me? No, I wouldn't know how. Sometimes I do a little hunting in the woods nearby, plenty of wildlife to provide meat. Got a garden outback too and sometimes I tend it, but the funny thing is it doesn't seem to need it. Always has fresh vegetables and fruit available. Guess I just got strong healthy plants." "I see. So what about people? Have you ever seen anyone else?" "Not really. There has been the occasional traveller passing through, usually they just smile and wave. Most are very friendly. In fact I believe you're the first person besides myself that's ever set foot inside my home. Here's some water, you look a bit thirsty." "Uh, thanks…" you say and take the water. Upon drinking it, it's some of the best water you've tasted in…well you don't know whenever you've appreciated water or food for that matter. You just ate and drank because you had to usually. Never got any sort of enjoyment out of it. "Where does this water come from? No, wait let me guess a sparkling stream." You say. "Ha ha! No, it comes from a well out front, but there is a river that runs through the woods nearby. Doesn't sparkle though." Alison says smiling at what she believes is a small joke on your part. "Well, I guess not everything is perfect." You say. "Well of course not everything is perfect, sometimes I even have problems with gnolls." "Gnolls?" "Yeah sometimes a few of them pop up and harass me. Nothing major though, I usually just chop some of their heads off and the rest go running off. I'm pretty good with my sword, so they're more comical and annoying than actually dangerous. You touch Alison's hand from across the table. She gives you a look of confusion, but doesn't pull away. "Alison listen to me. You used to fight gnolls while serving in the Empire army. We even fought many together. Don't you remember any of that?" "No…no can't say that I do. Don't remember ever being in any sort of army either, but sounds pretty exciting. You say we fought together? Tell me all about it. In fact why don't you tell me all that stuff you were talking about before? It isn't like I have anything better to do and I'm enjoying your company." Seeing no better option you do just that. You focus on when you first met and everything involving her. You try to stick to major events hoping that those will spur her memory the most, but mostly because you're having trouble remembering all the details yourself. Alison hangs on your every word and is enjoying your story. You have to admit even though you're not entirely sure you're getting through to her, you're appreciating the time you're spending with her. After you're done you're almost feeling a bit dizzy. "Wow, that's some tale. And you say that was us huh? Wish I could remember it. Hey, wait didn't you say I died earlier? What was that all about?" Alison asks. You look at Alison as she waits for your answer. You are about to explain again, but then realize that it won't do any good. "…nothing. I was just saying something outlandish to get your attention because I really wanted you to remember me." "Well I suppose it did get my attention. Hmm seems to be getting dark outside, guess you better stay here for the night. Let me…" Alison suddenly gets up from her chair and stops speaking and stares off into the distance. "Alison?" Her head turns toward you. "I…I think I remember…" "You do?" you say standing up hopefully. "Yes…I…mean not all of it. But I DO remember YOU. I remember that we were married! I loved you! Why were we apart? What…what…happened?" Alison asks. "We were separated for many years due to forces beyond our control, but none of that matters, what matters now is that I've found you and we can be together again. I have come home and we will be together for all eternity now!" you remark. You open up your arms to hug her and within that moment tears well up in her eyes and she embraces you. Once again you feel the warmth of her body and the taste of her lips. A feeling you missed so much, but now that has changed forever. Alison and you hold each other for a long time as if the pair of you are going to be split from each other again even though that will never be the case again. The pair of you then retire to the bedroom and reunite in the way that lovers do. The next morning you wake up beside Alison who smiles sweetly to you and kisses you on the cheek. You enjoy her affection, but you feel a bit strange. "Good morning my love. Did you sleep well?" Alison asks. "Yeah, but I feel a little weird." You say. "How do you mean? Like sick?" "No, I feel fine. I dunno, I can't explain it. I do know I'm happy to be with you though." This comment earns you another kiss and the pair of you get up to start the day, though to be honest you aren't sure what you'll do with yourself. Everything seems to be taken care of already; maybe you could hunt you suppose. (Or kill gnolls if they show up) A little later when you're still pondering on what to do with your day, Alison asks you some more about the stories you told her. She says that maybe she'll remember more stuff if you tell them again. She also asks what you've been doing since you lost contact with her. And the strangest thing is you don't know. Your mind is completely blank. In fact you barely remember the stories you did tell Alison. "That's odd. I can't remember." You say. "Really? You seemed to tell them in great detail yesterday considering you spent the whole day telling me the stories. Oh well I'm sure if they are really important you'll remember again. Just like I remembered you!" Alison says. You smile at her comment and tell Alison that you're taking her bow to hunt and will be back later. Another day and night passes and when you wake up this time you remember nothing of your old life at all. Alison doesn't remember anything you told her either and the pair of you are unaware of the last two days even occurring. The only constant is that the pair of you know that you're married and you love one another and that this has always been the case for as long as you both can remember. And so you and Alison live together in eternal bliss.

"Before we begin, if you have any major questions, now is the time." The being says. You have to admit, this situation is so unique that you can't help but be curious so you do decide to ask questions. (As well and somehow holding out the futile hope that you might find an advantage) "Are you a god?" you ask. "I suppose I am, but in the scheme of things I am more of a collector and caretaker. Gods typically get to do fun irresponsible things like torment mortals and encouraging holy wars. Strange though, this world wasn't really high on any deity influences, the only record I can find of major divine influence here is a powerful yet non-divine being masquerading as a so called god of shadows and going by the name Dendrin and that thing left this world when you eradicated the shadows long ago." It answers. "Isn't killing the world considered tormenting mortals?" you ask. "To you and most others I suppose it would be, but this is really more of a necessary service. A reminder that death can't be cheated. In reality, the divine don't really want immortal types running about since it tends to threaten the status quo. If someone achieves immortality on a world then potentially someone else can do it too. Before you know it, you've got a whole new set of beings achieving godhood and believe me; we've got more than enough of them now. Too many really." "How the hell is that fair? I mean as you said these gods haven't even been paying attention to this world and yet now they do?" "Well as I said, you're a potential threat. And of course you're right. It isn't fair, but there are strict laws on this matter. Certain conditions have to apply, has to be an opening, and a bunch of boring diety debating. I didn't make them up either, they were long in place before I got this job so don't blame me. Really though your world was marked a long time ago when the Mortos necromancers attempted the same thing several centuries ago. I was so busy though with other things at the time that wasn't paying attention to just how close they were at closing the gate back up. Needless to say nobody was pleased about it and I got bitched at, but considering there wasn't any danger of someone becoming truly immortal anymore on your world I just had it marked and kept a closer eye on it." You helplessly listen to the death god's words as the life continues to ebb from your body. "Knew it wouldn't be long before someone here tried it again and then I'd get this world. Figured it would be one of those Mortos necromancers, but I have to admit I didn't see someone like you doing the deed. Then again given your background maybe I shouldn't be too surprised. For a mortal you're somewhat interesting and I don't say that lightly." "Thanks…I guess. Is that why you wanted to speak to me?" you ask starting to feel very frail and tired. "For the most part yes, but more than that. You see despite my assigned duty, I genuinely respect mortals who have a desire to endure at all costs. I always have had an admiration for those that have a strong survival instinct and you Eternal, definitely have one of the strongest. So…I am going to make a few offers to you. Unique offers that I have never given any living being before. And trust me, I've been through this process quite a few times." You struggle to keep standing and use your sword as a crutch to prop yourself up. "Wha…what…are…my choices…" you weakly ask. "Well, your first choice is obvious. You pathetically continue to oppose me. You'll inevitably lose of course. I highly recommend that you do not take this option. While I may respect a strong survival instinct, I do not respect foolishness and if you continue to fight me, that's what you'll be, a complete and utter fool. I do not think you are, but then again you just might prove me wrong. Besides dying in a fairly inglorious way your assigned afterlife will not be a pleasant one." "I…I…suppose I haven't really been a good guy." You say. "That's a severe understatement. In fact you alone have contributed to the deaths of so many either directly or indirectly on this world that I almost wondered if I even needed to bother showing up. But honestly your brutal politics and such aside, that isn't really what got you into trouble. Indeed there are many deities that admire and reward such behavior. Your complete and total obliteration of gnome souls however was severely frowned upon by certain deities. Those gnomes were supposed to go to a happy friendly afterlife, not get completely annihilated. Personally I don't really give a shit since I know at the time you were just following your own orders, but I like to keep the rest of the deities off my back so if you continue to piss me off by opposing me, well I'll be throwing you into that very dark painful place of which there is no hope, myself." The death god pauses before announcing your next choice. "Your second choice is a very simple one, but probably not as obvious to the likes of you. Your second choice is to simply die. Lay your burdens down and rest. I realize that something like this would be hard for a warrior such as yourself, but I can assure you that if you do, I will guarantee you a place with your long lost love Alison." You feel a slight surge of energy within you when you hear that name. "Al…Alison?" you utter. "Yes, Alison. Granted, you probably don't belong where she currently is, but fortunately for you I can pull a few strings to get you there. You and her will re-united at last. You will get to exist for the rest of eternity with her in perfect happiness." The chance to be reunited with Alison does sound like a good deal, but you can't help but wonder if it's a lie or maybe there's a catch just to lay down and die without struggle. Is this a trick? And if it is a trick, does that mean the death god believes you're more powerful than he's letting on and you could potentially defeat it? In any case you still haven't heard your third choice, which the death god begins speaking on. "But perhaps your long lost love isn't the true love that died. Perhaps your true love has always been with you in your heart. Perhaps you could potentially wish for that love affair to continue forever." "I…certainly hope you…aren't talking about…a certain svelk…" you remark. Surprisingly this causes a dark chortle from the death god. "Oh no…not that one, Eternal. I am referring to a mistress of a more abstract nature. Your love of battle, war and bloodshed in general. That has always been a constant for you. As I have already mentioned your actions alone have either directly or indirectly caused multitudes of souls pour into my realm. I can also admire and respect a mortal that dedicated to death whether they realize it or not. Such a being could be of great use to me." "Use?" "Yes. As you may have somewhat gathered from our pleasant chat here I am an incredibly busy deity. Mortals die all the time and I have a duty to collect souls, assign them and even completely obliterate a few sometimes. This is in addition to the periods where I have a whole world to purge and when the appointed time comes, I have to personally oversee its harvest. It breaks up the monotony to be sure, but it also takes time especially when I've got stubborn little mortals like yourself opposing me to the bitter end. Also people on other worlds don't stop dying just because I'm purging another one. Souls stack up and then I get complaints from other deities saying they're missing this and that soul. The complaints don't really matter of course in the grand scheme of things, but it's not something I need to hear when I'm already doing the thankless job that nobody else wants." You never realized being a deity was so bureaucratic. You still don't quite grasp how this is your problem though. Your only problem right now is struggling to live. "Tell me Eternal, how would you like to be truly eternal?" "What…do you mean?" "You have a gift. A gift that I wouldn't mind putting to good use and this is your third choice. Beg me to make you my avatar on these world purging assignments." "What?!" "I said beg me to make you my herald of death. Instead of me having to slog through a marked world, I'd send you in my place. Naturally I'd give you a little of my power to help you along, but I trust command over literally legions of the dead is more than enough for you to get the job done. Just think, you'd get to enjoy what you truly love over and over again. Battle, war, death, and everything else that goes along with it. Best of all, you never have to worry about silly things like troop morale or morality in general, because the goal will always be the same and you will never run out of willing soldiers." Now this offer sounds really too good to be true. You can't even believe that the death god is practically offering you a place by his side. "So, wait…you're saying I can join…" "No. I didn't say join…I said beg. There's a difference." The death god interrupts. "I… don't understand." You answer. "It's a test. A simple one really, but a test nevertheless. You are a proud being. Even when you served your Emperor with utter devotion, you were still a proud being. Again I can respect your pride. However, I can't have you believing that you're equal to me, because you aren't. Not by a long shot. I also can't have you thinking that somehow you're going to try to turn this opportunity into a way to destroy me and take over, because you can't. If this association is going to happen, I need you to humble yourself before me. Only then can I fully trust you because an oath will have been made. Such things are impossible to break when the gods are watching." "But…if I don't stand a chance anyway then why do I need to…humble myself?" "Let's just say it's a formality and the principle of it. Plus I'm suspicious by nature especially with a resourceful one such as yourself. Still, it is entirely up to you. I won't force you to do something you may find repulsive to your nature. But I don't think pride is in your nature. I believe war and battle is. And I believe the desire for those is a lot stronger than any pride you may have. Again though, you may prove me wrong." And there you have it, you've been given your three choices, such as they are. You've been through a lot in your life and you never could've imagined it would end like this. You're going to die no matter what you do that fact is certain. And yet this death god respects you enough to give you choices. Choices that you could've never dreamed of, but at the same time are somewhat familiar. You remember the very first time you had to make this choice… > You beg It takes you a few seconds, but you soon yield to the truth. The death god is right. War is in your nature. It always has been. Whether it was bred into you or you grew into it is irreverent. It's yours now and you're going to embrace it. You fall to your knees and bow before the death god. Humbling yourself and disregarding whatever foolish pride you may have had. "I beg you oh great god of death, make me your herald of destruction. Let me be the bringer of doom to a thousand worlds. Let me unleash the endless war on the heavens." You say with all your remaining strength. "Take it easy there, we aren't going to be doing all that. Just the worlds appointed for death. However, I do appreciate the enthusiasm." The death god remarks. The death god hovers before you and a skeletal hand reaches out towards your head. "Hold still, this may hurt…a lot." The death god clutches your head with its fingers and suddenly your body experiences unimaginable pain. Whatever injuries or tortures you may have experienced pale in comparison to this. You are experiencing death, but not just your own. You are experiencing the death of everyone you ever killed all at the same time. The image of every single death fills your mind and you can't shut out the physical, emotional or spiritual anguish you're experiencing. You can't even cry out. For a brief moment you think you've made a horrible mistake before you go utterly insane as your mind is completely destroyed by the dreadful experience. And then you feel nothing at all and everything goes black. You don't know how long time passes, but suddenly you are awakened by the death god's voice: "Arise, harbinger. Your glorious work and new purpose begins now on this very world." You stand up and notice that you are no longer breathing. You do not feel the essence of life flowing through your system. You walk outside the city gates and before you stand legions of undead awaiting your command to purge the rest of this world of life. You stare at them and they stare at you with the same dead eyes. And something about it is beautiful to you. You didn't know that the dead could experience anything like feelings, but you can feel a thrill of anticipation of the death and destruction you're going unleash on this world. Nothing in your old mortal life can compare to this moment. "And to think, I hesitated." You whisper.

Year 80 "So you're really going to do it?" Cassandra asks while lying in bed next to you. "That was sort of the point of going to Mortos in the first place." You answer. "True I suppose. I really hated it there. I mean killing and capturing svelk was about the only thing that was remotely enjoyable. I was pretty glad you eventually sent all the Eyes back home." You get up out of bed to get your day started. "Ah, shit." You say feeling an ache in your back. "Are you alright? I thought you…um…replenished yourself recently." "If by replenished you mean drained the lives of twenty of my citizens last month then yes I did, but as I've told you before, it doesn't last long and it wears out quicker as the years have gone on. Not to mention humans don't exactly have the most sustaining life forces to begin with so it takes more of them just to turn back the clock a few decades." As you look in the mirror at yourself trying to determine if you need to "recharge" today, Cassandra doesn't pursue that line of questioning anymore. She knows that elves being long-lived creatures would probably require less effort on your part and sustain you longer. In fact that's probably why she started to show "attraction" towards you a few years ago. She'd never admit it, but she fears that you'll suddenly start rounding up elves and draining them instead. While it definitely had occurred to you to do so, you tended to limit it to just a few since they still don't have the largest of populations and you had no idea how long you'd have to "ration out" the lives of your citizens before you could unlock all the secrets of the book. Cassandra probably believes she's "swaying" you through sex though. Gnomes probably REALLY feared being rounded up, but fortunately for them you still respect their engineering skills and you don't have a gnome fetish like Casimir did. Besides, ever since your human engineer losses in Mortos and Elam dying last year (Another rarity via natural causes), you need all the skilled engineers you can get. As for your "relationship" with Cassandra you have no love for her, a mild fondness, a respect for her abilities and her usefulness, but nothing more. You're fairly certain Cassandra has no true love for you either. Respect and loyalty sure, a desire to place herself in a higher and "safer" position, most definitely, but she does not love you. Part of you has wondered if you reciprocated her advances in the first place was because she was an elf. Besides the natural attractiveness common to their race, she very faintly reminds you of Semra. Not in personality or even looks, but she's an elf and it's close enough. "I am seriously fucked up." You mumble to yourself as you think about that again. "What did you say?" Cassandra asks. "Nothing, just thinking about something. You better get dressed, I'm going to need you and the Eyes on full alert for this thing." You say which stirs Cassandra to get up and follow your lead in getting dressed. "Emperor, the…subjects are currently all being held at the ritual pyramid in the Usksha Desert, all ten thousand of them are still alive and restrained. I know I've told you this before, but Empire citizens' have not been calm about this. Most don't even know exactly what you're planning, but they're already coming up with stories and most of which are not too far off from the truth. The Eyes have been working overtime in keeping the peace, but I fear that a rebellion of some sort will be inevitable. Most likely in Rask and Nakol province, perhaps even in the Tral province." "The citizens' would like it even less if I continued to just drain random people at a greater rate eventually exceeding ten thousand. This ritual is going to prevent having to do that anymore. After it's done, we can deal with the civil unrest and in time Dokkrus as well." Cassandra smiles a bit when she hears that, you know she's probably been eager to go kill more svelk again. "I always meant to ask, but why is this to be performed in Usksha?" Cassandra says. "No major settlements nearby and it isn't like the usksha nomads are a problem anymore. Haven't even had a sandworm pop up in decades. I thought about the plains of Tor, since there was nice flat land there to build the pyramid, but the Usksha desert works just as well. Besides, this is only going to be necessary once. No need to have the pyramid any more afterwards and it'll be cheaper to just let the sands consume everything rather than having to tear it down and having crews to dispose of all the bodies." "Couldn't you just animate them to walk into the ocean or something?" "Hah, I'm sure a dead march to the ocean is just what the already agitated citizens' would want to see." You chuckle. "No, this is a better way. To be honest raising the dead takes a great deal of willpower and I find it to be a waste of the time and energy. I mean I did it to a limited degree in Mortos with the fallen Eternals because it bolstered the ranks and using the dead negated some of the advantages the necromancers had. Personally though I'd rather just cast a rain of fire down or chain lightning to directly harm my enemies. I don't need unreliable rotting corpses to do my work." You say. Cassandra nods at your answer and the pair of you are off to the Usksha Desert. Even before your carriage reaches the desert the black pyramid is visible from the Nalin border. The closer you get the more it looms ominously. There are grim deeds going to be performed this day and night and well…until the ritual is complete. The necromancers of Mortos didn't need as many sacrifices when they attempted this ritual since there were a lot more of them to perform it and support each other's magical energy. They were also more skilled. You are just one man that has tried to shove as much necromantic knowledge into your head in just a few years. You sometimes wonder if this is indeed a fool's errand. But you've gone over the rites, you've gone over the symbols, the steps, made allowances for your unique situation, and of course had a big ass pyramid built just to accomplish all this. You don't think you could be any more ready. When you arrive at the ritual pyramid, several Eternals stand ready for your commands. There are so few of them left now and they're all fourth gens. It wasn't but a decade ago that together with the third gens, Eternals were nearly two thousand strong. When this is all over, you really need to get that project back on track again. Too bad Elam isn't still around to carry out some of his theories, but maybe he left some notes in that now abandoned workshop of his. "The sacrifices are inside the pyramid, my Emperor. All we await is you to take your place and begin." An Eternal says when you exit the carriage. "Very good, we will begin soon." You reply as you shield your eyes to look up at the pyramid which does look pretty impressive this close up." Cassandra begins to leave the carriage, but you stop her from doing so. "Cassandra, why don't you head back. I don't think you're going to want to be here for this. Not because I don't think you can't handle it, but because it's going to take awhile and I'd rather have you keeping a check on the potential civil unrest situation you've been concerned about. I mean other than my Eternals here, you're about the only person I can truly trust and rely on anymore." "Very well, and thank you my Emperor." Cassandra says and kisses you before getting back inside the carriage. With Cassandra on her way back, you begin to make the long climb up the pyramid feeling the aches the entire time. You'll be glad to put an end to that soon. When you finally get to the top, you take a short breather and accept the water that a nearby Eternal hands you. "Shit, that sun is a killer. Maybe I should've had this built on the Tor plains after all. (Whew) All right then let's get on with this. Bring out the first sacrifice." You say and a couple of your Eternals nod and go through the entryway to carry out your orders. While you wait you place the ritual book on a nearby stone podium and examine the sacrificial altar and the symbols you had etched into it. The altar itself was designed to be sturdy, but also has a slight elegance to it. The craftsman really put some artistic touches to it. You aren't normally one to admire something like that, but in this case you do. As the screams of your first sacrifice get closer you draw out your mithril dagger. Ah this dagger has certainly been with you a long time. Saved your life more than a few times too. Still, you only keep it for one reason. As a reminder to end Semra's life with it one day. (Yet another thing on the to do list after achieving immortality) Your Eternals bring out your first sacrifice. A young elven girl. She's terrified, crying and begging for her life. "Well, it's a good thing I sent Cassandra home. Pretty sure she wouldn't have wanted to see this. How many elves are there in there anyway?" you ask one of the Eternals ignoring the girl's screams. "Apologies, but I'm not exactly sure my Emperor. I know we brought in a lot, but we're not sure how many the Eyes brought in." "They most likely didn't bring in any. Probably primarily stuck to humans. So…who do we have in there anyway?" "Mostly humans as you might expect. They're from all over the Empire. Some elves, some kobolds, some orcs, some usksha, I know we even dragged a few ogres down here. All of them are of varying ages, colors, occupations and gender. You said the more variety from walks of life the better." "That's true. For some reason this will work better with more variety of life. Not exactly sure why, but I'm following the instructions. Just out curiosity, any gnomes?" "We did get a few. Tried to limit them to criminals though." "As long as we got a few, okay throw her on the altar and let's get started." You say. As the girl continues to scream for her life, your Eternals place her on the altar. "Did you want us to gag these people in the future?" one of your Eternals asks. "No, apparently the terror and fear they outwardly display helps this ritual too, again don't ask me why, I'm just following what was in this book…shhhh…I'll make this quick." You say and then chant as you bring the dagger down. When the deed is done and the girl's life has indeed been exstinguished, her body is thrown down the steps on the left side of the pyramid. That pile is going to get very big before this over. Time passes from day and night as one by one people are dragged for you to kill. You have to take breaks every so often and after a few days of this you even resort to draining the life of some of your Eternals just to keep your strength up. You know its working though, you can feel it. By the time you've passed the five thousand mark the daytime sky no has a sun beating down on you and a constant overcast hangs in the air. A sandstorm whips up and at one point it even begins to rain, which it practically never does in this desert. You preserve through the sand and the rain as you did with the sun. The closer you get, the more you can feel your success. Eventually you don't even begin feeling tired after killing a few hundred people, you're starting to feel energized by it. Eventually you stop taking breaks and start dragging victims out yourself since your Eternals are certainly tired. By the time you hit over nine thousand your surrounding area is in a permanent state of unnatural darkness. A blackness has covered a wide area of the desert and you're not even seeing the stars at this point, its just black like a void. And then finally the last victim is brought out. A miserable looking malnourished kobold who looks like he's on his last legs anyway. He's so weak that one of your Eternals picks him up by one hand and places him on the altar. You speak the last parts of the spell and bring down the knife ending the kobold's life instantly and that's when it happens. You feel a surge of energy like you've never felt before. It's like when you drain the life of someone, but this is different, like a feeling of completeness. You believe its working. You don't have a mirror handy, but your hands are certainly deprived of wrinkles now and you don't have any aches or pains from age anymore. "I feel it! It's working! It's…" you shout and then suddenly you fall to the ground and a large rumbling sound from above is heard almost to the point to it being deafening. You are helped up by your Eternals, who begin to ask you what to do next. You look up and see several ghostly forms screaming out of the black void above. They don't attack, they just seem to hang there and float around, but that doesn't mean they won't soon. "Emperor! Watch out!" an Eternal shouts and hacks down the kobold you just killed. Just as Nicodemus told you what the necromancers did, just as Semra warned you, you've opened up a gate to the Realm of the Dead. > You run down the pyramid steps Realizing the immediate danger you're in, you waste no time in running down the steps of the pyramid. The ghostly forms begin to mock you. "Why do you fear death mortal? Did you not ssssummon it here?" one of the ghosts says nearly causing you to lose your footing on the steps when it suddenly floats in front of you. You blast the ghost with a magic bolt and then proceed to do the same thing to others that fly near you. Several of them dissipate instantly. "Undead bastards! You won't….AGH!" you start to say when all of a sudden you begin to feel very weak. It's not just you either; it's your Eternals too. The feeling is similar to the draining effect by undead creatures or the negative zones of Mortos. You might not be aging, but you definitely don't feel well, in fact you feel like you're going to die and given how close to death you've been on several occasions, you're very familiar with what that feels like. In fact, you're reminded of the time when Cyrus nearly killed you. Feels like that. And unfortunately due to this sudden weakness you do lose your footing on the pyramid steps, as do a couple of your Eternals. You end up tumbling down the rest of the steps smacking your head against the hard stone several times. By the time you hit the bottom you have most certainly broken your neck. You aren't dead, but you're definitely not in a good position. Having little option you attempt to mend your broken neck through healing magic. It's requiring all your focus which is already weak due to the negative energy in the area. The spell is working, but it's going much slower than normal. In the meantime more spirits and the like pour out of the black void above the pyramid and the pile of bodies that were one dead have now begun to shuffle around their original area to the other side where you are currently at. Your Eternals that didn't manage to kill themselves falling down the pyramid try to slow down the horde, but ultimately they fall before the sheer numbers and the unnatural magic affecting them. Soon it is only you who are left and your broken neck still isn't quite mended, you only manage to sit up just in time for the newly risen bodies of your sacrificial victims to eat you alive.

Year 75 The longer you spend in this place, the more you're starting to like it and that is somewhat of a worrying thought to you, because it certainly isn't a thought shared by anyone under your command. The last five years have probably been a nightmare to most. You've had to rotate your "normal" military personnel fairly regularly. Most of them can only handle the psychological impact of the powerful undead horrors the necromancers have unleashed a limited amount of times before they become more of a liability rather than an asset. You can only imagine how full the asylums are getting back home. For the most part you've regulated most of your military to defend Evigrus since the svelk in last two years have tried to open up a new front by transporting groups of elite via portals. They've been relatively unsuccessful and even less so when they attempted to do the same thing on Nyttrus where your kobolds easily overwhelmed them and used the land to their advantage. The svelk for the most part have seemingly pulled out of Mortos though altogether. You've had to pull back your Eyes as well. Well trained they may be, most of them are still human and with that they suffer the same failings of the mind. It's just as well, since things are starting to get a little unstable back home. It's probably a combination of several things (Some of which might be all the new asylum patients) so Cassandra and the Eyes are back to their primary job of maintaining order. Even the Eternals are starting to get weary of this war and most of them have aged several years than normal. Still, they are Eternals, and whether they are third or fourth generation, they stand by your side…even in death. Since your time here, you've learned how to use the necromancer's magic against them. You've managed to unlock the secrets of necromancy. You're no master at it, and it takes great concentration on your part, but its come in handy at times. The odd thing is you seem to only be able to maintain control over fallen Eternals. Attempting to raise others has only resulted in them eventually turning against you. You wonder if its because of the way Eternals are "made" or their conditioned loyaty from birth, or maybe a combination of both that seems to result in their dedication to you and resist the overpowering will of the necromancers. As far as your own concerns about your state of mind you've been trying to hold it together. You sometimes think you're living on borrowed time and that if you don't achieve your goal soon, this place will eventually consume you. Maybe that's why you're starting to like it here, because you feel so close to death and this place is basically a home to the dead. But you're not dying here if you can help it; in fact the whole point to this is so you don't die at all. You've already begun to unlock the talents of the necromantic arts by yourself. As soon as you get that book, you KNOW you'll be able to master them completely and become immortal. And that goal is now closer than ever because you've finally tracked it down. You stand on a slightly elevated bit of land with what remains of your army of Eternals (both living and dead) and a few juggernauts filled with crews of half mad engineers. In the distance a ruined fortress lies before you. It is a non-descript thing and has no real defenses since its walls are mostly broken or gone completely, but THAT is where your goal lies. Inside it somewhere. And that is also where Nicodemus must be. You need to attack now, because you know it'll be only a matter of time before reinforcements to help him show up. There are ALWAYS undead, no matter how many you put down in this place. "General Damon, today the Empire assures its mastery over death itself." You say. "We are all prepared my Emperor, we just await your word." You nod and for a moment there is complete silence. "ATTACK!" you shout and then in unison, you and your Eternals advance towards the target. You lead from the front, just like the old days… Your juggernauts rumble past the sides of your army and then that's when you finally hear him in your head… "This will not end well for you, Eternal. Turn back from this path now, or suffer the same fate as your father Casimir." Naturally you ignore this pitiful attempt at stopping you, so Nicodemus finally unleashes his defenses. Several undead rise up out of the ground. Not just the normal type either, these are the remains of some sort of long dead gigantic beasts that must've once roamed this island. They are accompanied by the appearance of several ghostly forms. Wraiths and spectres with their ability to drain life with a mere touch. To your far left and far right, hordes of skeletons and zombies come popping up out of the ground. Nicodemus probably believes that you've foolishly walked into an obvious trap, but honestly you knew something like this would happen. Your goal here is to get the book at all costs. "Death will not stop us today! But then some of you personally already know that! Destroy these abominations and take the fortress!" you shout. One of your juggernauts is already moving far ahead of your army and firing off its canon, blowing away bits of the gigantic bone horrors. Under the right circumstances you believe it would easily finish up the task, but it isn't those undead giants that are the problem, the problem lies with the wraiths and spectres who easily glide through the machine and turning it into a steel coffin by killing the crew within. Your other juggernaut decides not to engage such ghostly creatures and instead turns off to fend off the approaching undead horde to your left. Hopefully it can destroy a good chunk of them. The undead giants still intact begin to lumber forward to meet your army while throwing large pieces of stone lying nearby. You cast a barrier in front of your army to protect against the projectiles and then throw your own projectiles in the form of fire at the giants while your army opens fire at their legs until the bone and rotting flesh that are allowing them to still stand is finally severed to a degree that the rest of their bulk goes crashing to the ground. Most of them splinter into pieces from the fall, but other continue to come at you, dragging themselves toward you with their arms. These are dispatched with a few well places magic bolts and more gunfire. With the giants mostly taken care of, you notice the spectres and wraiths steadily approaching. You immediately drop the barrier and redirect your energy to cast an enchantment over your soldiers' hand weapons. Guns are useless against things like spectres and wraiths, but with some skill they can still be overcome by an enchanted melee weapon. "Prepare for melee and don't let them touch you!" you shout. The unearthly howls and shrieks by the ghostly assaliants fill your ears as you blast them with your magic bolts. Your dead Eternals come in very handy here as they directly engage the spectres and wraiths and try to shield their living brethren (and you) from being touched. It isn't without some casualties though and the problems increase when the horde on your right finally reaches you. Fortunately the left side seems to be preoccupied with overwhelming the juggernaut, which has now resorted to its inside mounted repeater rifles, and just trying to run them over though its wheels are starting to get jammed with body parts. "FIGHT THROUGH THESE ROTTING BAGS, WE'RE NEARLY THERE!" you shout just in time to see several necromancers appear on the battlements and begin doing some sort of chant. Suddenly there's an aura of death around you, and it isn't just becase you're surrounded by zombies. You feel like you just walked into one of those negative zones, except this one is being forced on you. You're old enough as it is, you can't afford to age anymore. You have to do something now because you won't even make it to the broken fortress gates at this point. You call your Eternals to surround you and you begin to cast a spell of your own. Your living Eternals are suffering the affects of the necromancers' spell, but trying to cancel their spell through your willpower isn't going to help because they're too strong collectively. So you rely on your traditional blast everything in the nearby area and hope it kills everything. You bring down an inferno on not just your enemies, but you and your people as well. Though you attempt to protect some with a surrounding barrier, but you just don't have the strength to protect everyone. Most of the horde to your right are incinerated as are most of your people. There isn't even much left to "raise." To your left, there is a similar sight with a pile of burned undead no longer in any condition to pose a threat, though the juggernaut sits still and completely blackened by the rain of fire. The crew inside has no doubt cooked to death. Most importantly are the effects you see in front of you. You no longer see the row of necromancers and no longer feel the effects of their spell. The ruined fortess is also partially on fire, but it being made of stone it isn't doing much more than cracking the already damaged structure. You're incredibly drained however. This battle has really taken it out of you and you've still got Nicodemus and who knows what else to deal with. General Damon still by your side helps you from falling down. The Eternals that are still alive are finishing up putting down the undead that managed to survive by being within your protective barrier when you cast it. "Come on, my Emperor. As you said, we're almost there." He says. There are other necromantic arts that you've learned besides raising your Eternals, though you haven't really pondered using them since there wasn't any need or you still didn't really have mastery over them. One of these was emulating the life drain of some of the undead here. And suddenly you're actually pondering draining your own Eternals of their lifeforce to sustain your own. The thought does not give you any pleasure to do so, but you just aren't sure if you're going to make it otherwise. > You continue onward You can't do it. While you've sacrificed many in several different ways, you're not going to start draining the life force of your own Eternals like some undead horror. You've crossed many lines and all its done is brought you to this ruined state. You struggle towards the fortress, but even with Damon helping you, you don't think you're going to make it, let alone have the strength to face Nicodemus. "Take…take me back home…" you order Damon. You don't even need to tell him twice, he sees how pale and weak you are and all of you are making a hasty retreat. Unfortunately between your age, your wounds, your exhaustion and the general negative energy in Mortos, you don't make back home alive and you unceremoniously pass away just before you get to the home portal.

Year 62 "The transport airships have made their test run to the outskirts of Dokkrus and returned. They're ready for the real mission now, my Emperor." Elam remarks. "Good, because we're sending them and a couple of the upgraded regular airships." You say. This is a major step closer to your goals. Cassandra, Galen and the rest have managed to locate and hold a fairly intact portal for you. The base around it has already been dug out for easier lifting and they haven't suffered many svelk attacks, well not many concentrated svelk attack at least. The svelk that are attacking are just the regular xenophobic type that doesn't want outsiders on their territory. They have no real grasp of the greater plans that are going on. Semra's actions have been surprisingly minimal though apparently she's been too busy defending her own territory (and portal and mines) from not just your sabotage attempts (Which unfortunately haven't been too successful), but from other svelk warbands. It would seem that Cassandra and your Eyes have at least successfully managed to keep up the ongoing chaos there. Won't be long now. "Emperor, may I accompany you on this mission?" Zana asks. "Huh?" you say being interrupted by your private thoughts. "May I accompany you on this mission, my Emperor? I know I sounded a little afraid the last time Dokkrus was mentioned, but I admit part of me still wanted to go. I'd like to join you on this mission. Besides, I did have a hand in building these airships, it might be best if someone with that knowledge came along." "I imagine Klemto might have some objections to that." You say. "I love him, but he's too over protective. Besides, you're the Emperor if you want me to come with you then he has no choice but to comply right?" Zana says almost in a flirtatious way. You're not exactly sure how to take that, but Elam definitely looks surprised. Maybe even a little jealous. "Well, that is correct…okay fine you can come with me." "This will be a great honor my Emperor! I'm looking forward to this!" Zana says. "You will be accompanying me aboard the Storm III." You say. "You're going to be on the Storm III?" "That was the plan given that it's the flagship, why where did you think I was going to be?" you ask. "Well I assumed that you'd want to be aboard one of the transport airships to better oversee the process as well as to better defend it from attack in case the svelk try something." "That's sort of why I have the Storm III and company going with them. They will be defending against possible svelk attacks, though barring Semra's meddling; I don't see any major threat to any of the airships themselves. The svelk are remarkably still stuck in the dark ages when it comes to weaponry." "True, but I know you have the ability to cast those large barriers for defense. I dunno I just don't see your own extra protection on a transport airship as such a bad idea. It would allow the escorts to focus a little more on protecting the other." "Hrm. Never hurts to be sure I guess. Duly noted, I'll think about it." With Zana's brief suggestion she excuses herself to get her things prepared for the mission, leaving you alone with Elam who realizes his glances of faint jealousy have caught your attention and he is now trying to not make eye contact. "Elam you're acting like a teenager. I'm not remotely interested in your woman so you can stop worrying that I'm going to start fucking her on the airship." You blurt out. "Uh…um…thank you my Emperor…I uh…" Elam stutters a bit at a lost for how to respond. "How long have you two been an item anyway? It doesn't really show much when you two are together." "We try to keep it professional my Emperor. Human women here aren't in big supply here in New Dessel and I can't identify with any of the Eyes, but Zana…she's something special…never have I encountered a woman with such a magnificent intellect for science!" "Mm, I'm sure that the only thing…" you smirk. "Well her physical attributes are nice as well.' Elam says. Elam goes on to ask if he can discuss his desire to work more in the medical and biology field when you return. You tell him that he may continue his experiments as usual, but you're going to need his help with the portal when it's brought back most likely. Your don't bother talking with Klemto about Zana. You figure she can tell him herself, assuming she even bothers and decides to just make it a surprise for him. You do take the opportunity to look at the new airships. It's odd, but as many times as you've seen them up close this will be the first time you'll actually be on one of these things. Even on your return trip from Nyttrus you went by boat rather than waiting for another airship. When the day arrives Klemto approaches you. You're guessing he must've heard the news by now. He comes to you hat in hand looking pitiful. "Emperor…I understand my daughter is going with you…I just beg of one thing and that's that you see that she's safe." "You make a lot of demands of your Emperor…(sigh) She'll be fine Klemto, you worry too much. I doubt if the svelk are even going to be able hit us if they even attack. Besides, she's going to be aboard the Storm III and given that it's the heaviest armed airship we have right now, she'll be one of the safest people there." "Well that's good to hear. At least she'll be close to you." "Not necessarily. I might be flying on one of the transports. Zana suggested that it might be best if I was aboard one to better defend it in case the unexpected should happen." As Klemto's mind fills with worry again, you wonder if you should take Zana's advice or not. > You board one of the transports Zana had a good idea; the transports could use a little extra protection so you decide to get on one of them. After about a half hour you finally get used to the idea of being so high in the air and less paranoid. You didn't think it possible for you to be, but somewhere in the back of your mind, you had the concern of this thing falling out of the sky which is probably why you haven't stayed in one place on the ship for very long and have felt the need to pace about it. Just as you're getting used to the long flight over the ocean, you are suddenly in for something extremely unexpected. The a few of the Storm III's cannons suddenly fire upon your transport ship! The transport you're on is hit severely and is set ablaze along with several of the crew killed. More than that though is from this distance you can also see the Storm III suffering its own explosions in several places. You have no idea what is going on, but it's obvious some sort of treachery has occurred. The only other thing you see is a figure jumping off the Storm and then a large odd piece of what you guess is white fabric comes out of the figure that jumped, slowing the descent. Meanwhile your ship slowly starts veering towards the other transport while continuing to burn around you. Between the collision, the fire and the other explosions going on aboard the ship you are caught in this disaster and even your magic can't save you. One explosion knocks you unconscious and you aren't awake when the wreckage finally hits the ocean.

Year 60 "Well, looks like we've lost the Tornado." Warrick says as the pair of you see through in the near distance a multi-colored dragon unleash a gout of flame from its mouth, which engulfs the airship. Already heavily damaged the flying fortress can't take anymore and begins to explode. Minor ones at first, then one large one. Flaming pieces of the machine fall from the sky. "It's all right. It's all right. The Storm II is still there and hopefully it'll kill that damn thing or at least wound it enough for us to do so. Either way that flying lizard dies today. This war will be all but won with its death. It's the last one and I'm glad it's finally decided to come to us this time, because I'm sick of chasing it all over this damn continent. I want to get the invasion of Dokkrus underway properly and I can't very well do that if I'm stuck in this damn jungle continent." You say preparing for the large group of Iznac approaching Fort Canopy. "Hrm. Certainly is a lot of them. Better get on with this." Warrick says and orders the cannons to fire upon the multitude, which puts a dent in their numbers, but doesn't stop their advancing. You look over the battlements and see several Iznacs climbing the walls of the fort like an army of ants. They aren't even using ladders, they're just scaling the fort with their bare hands. It's actually rather impressive, until you unleash a chain of lightning to zap all of them. The shock is enough to at least cause most of them to fall off if not outright kill them immediately. "Slaughter the four armed spider eyed bastards! Make them realize that their domination of this continent has passed! This is the time of the Empire!" you shout to the Eternals defending the fort. Your people are doing their best though they can't stop every Iznac from scaling the fort. Soon the gunfire is replaced by sounds of close combat weaponry. No matter how far the advances in technology, it always eventually comes down to looking your opponent in the eye and feeling their blood splatter as you end their life. While you're busy hacking off the limbs of an Iznac warrior, another loud explosion in the distance is heard followed by a bright flash in the sky. It's not lightning from the storm, but rather the demise of your Storm. The Storm II joins the Tornado in crashing to the ground after losing its skirmish with the dragon. Hopefully the rain is making the jungle wet enough or else the flames from the wreckage of these downed airships are going to cause an inferno throughout the jungle. "Damn! The Iznac brought their little frog slaves and the remainder of those orc traitors!" Warrick says and cuts down several Glip before helping the rest of the soldiers fend off the orcs smashing through the fortress' gates. It doesn't matter in the scheme of things because even with overwhelming odds, your Eternals are still holding their own against all attackers. You then hear a roaring sound getting closer to your position and the sounds of great wings flapping. You shout a general command for the still working cannons to be pointed towards the dragon and to prepare to fire when the beast is in range. In the meantime you and Warrick try to keep that side of the fort relatively free of invading forces. "Hey, you think maybe I can get the chance to kill the dragon this time? I know you're the Emperor and all, but you don't need to prove your superiority all the damn time." Warrick jokes. "Yeah? Well maybe you'll get your chance if you aren't as slow like you were the last two times." You retort. "Slow? Well excuse me Mr. lightning fingers, but we all don't have the ability to blast something out of the sky with a thought." "Well that's why I'm the Emperor." You snicker. The dragon gets closer and you give the order to fire and unleash your own magic bolts at the creature. It's definitely wounded from its ordeal with the two airships, but given your experience with the other two dragons, you know it's far from being out the fight. In fact it's so determined that it doesn't distinguish friend from foe when it blasts its flame breath on the fort. You manage to protect most of your people with a magic barrier, but for those outside its protection, most are set on fire if not incinerated immediately. On the positive side, it reduces your enemies, on the negative it ignites the gunpowder barrels for the cannons causing a massive explosion and completely destroying one side of the fort. While the barrier still protects you and everyone within initially, its still a lot of strain on your energy and you begin to feel the fatigue setting in. "No! Damnit! Fight through it!" you mutter to yourself hating your weakness. While you're busily trying to fight through your fatigue, you don't notice where Warrick went and that was to the highest point he could get to on the fort and some how JUMPING on the damn dragon when it made its pass! You almost can't believe your eyes as you see the dragon flying away from the fort with Warrick desperately trying to hold on to one of its legs. You can see him hacking at the dragon's underbelly. The dragon bellows in pain and begins to turn to make a second pass, but Warrick's assault makes another attack on the fort a non-priority for it. You see the beast twist and squirm in an effort to shake Warrick free and then eventually the beast makes another loud screech and the both of them go crashing into the jungle no doubt destroying several trees in the process. You can still hear the dragon in the distance, so you know it isn't dead yet (Though probably badly wounded), but who knows about Warrick's fate. In the meantime Fort Canopy isn't immediately being attacked anymore as most of the Iznac have fled or been killed at this point. You quickly order your remaining troops to secure the fort and take a small group with you to head towards the dragon's roaring noises. Fortunately the jungle isn't thick here and the noises make tracking pretty easy, though by the time you reach your target, you see the severely wounded dragon with Warrick in its mouth and shaking its head from side to side. Then with one more shake, Warrick goes flying out of the dragon's mouth and slams into a nearby tree. You can't quite make out all the damage, but it looks like he's missing an arm at this point. Who knows what other grievous wounds he's suffered. In any case the dragon has now turned its attention towards your direction, but its not exactly in the best condition itself. It makes a coughing noise and a pitifully short burst of flame and a large amount of blood emanates from its mouth. It even tries to flap its wings perhaps in an attempt to escape, but one wing is so torn up that it can't lift off even if it had the strength to do so. > You order your troops to do it and help Warrick You can't let Warrick die, not with how much he's helped you. You'd almost be at a loss on how to tell Brenda if it happened. "Kill the dragon!" you shout at your troops and run over Warrick's bloody body. Ignoring everything else, you quickly turn Warrick over who isn't even conscious. He's still alive, because you can see his heart still beating from the open wound in his chest. "Hang on, you're not dying today!" you say and begin to focus on healing Warrick's fatla wounds. In the meantime your soldiers are doing a fairly good job at combating the dragon, which is distracted with them. Had this been the only obstacle, you probably would've been able to save Warrick's life. Unfortunately there are enemies in this jungle other than wounded dragons. Several Iznac who retreated from the fort earlier were lurking nearby and taking advantage of your soldier's preoccupation with the dragon and your preoccupation with healing Warrick one of them throws a spear right into your back. The force is such that the head of it actually protrudes a bit from your abdomen. Losing complete concentration you yell out in pain and your own body slumps over Warrick's. You struggle to crawl to a safer location and attempt to heal yourself, but the ambushing Iznac manage to cut you down before you are able.

Year 56 You enter Brenda's office where upon she smiles briefly at you, though with everything you have on your mind, you don't return the gesture instead you just nod. "Hello Brenda, I trust you and Warrick are still enjoying your new marital status." You say guessing that what's put her in better spirits as of late. "Yes, Emperor. I'm happier than I've been in a long time. Thank you for performing the wedding personally." "Think nothing of it. Though I didn't think you'd ever remarry, let alone Warrick. But if you two are happy then that's good. You should hold on to that as long as possible for one never knows when it will suddenly be taken away from you." "Um…of course my Emperor. We certainly do cherish our time together." Brenda responds at your rather grim comment. "Anyway, I came here to let you know that the new Eternals have been released from their tanks. You'll be training them soon." You say. "I'll be looking forward to it. I trust they met with your standards?" "Yes, most of them seem to be very much like the third generation though perhaps with signs of displaying higher intelligence overall. Under your guidance, I have no doubt that they'll be just as effective as the third gens." You reply with a sigh. "Is there something wrong my Emperor?" Brenda asks. "Yes, it's Nyttrus. The place is becoming a pain in my side that I don't want to be bothered with, but I find that it might become necessary to step in personally soon. We've got more than a few strongholds there now, but the Iznac are far from being beaten, unfortunately most of the humans there are sick or dead due to disease and Iznac magic. Flog's also dead and the orcs have become slightly less disciplined as of late without his calmer leadership. There have been a few reports of deserters running off into the jungles and forming their own communities. Just glad Snilkez'ka is still alive and the kobolds are holding down the forts there until the third gens arrive." "Couldn't you send airships to bomb Nyttrus to speed things up? "They don't really have the range to travel across the vast oceans yet though Elam's working on fixing that with the gnomes. In any event if they did have that sort of range I might be inclined to have them try to find Dokkrus first since that's my real goal." Brenda tries to give you some words of encouragement, but they don't improve your mood. Instead you just leave Brenda, once again wishing her well on her new happy marriage. You spend a few days wondering whether or not you should head to Nyttrus with the third gens. Ultimately you decide not to as you're still hoping to hear something soon about Dokkrus. As soon as you get word about that, you want to be on the next ship going there. You don't want to be in the middle of a conflict that you know you'll be compelled to complete if you directly get involved. In the meantime you go back to more mundane matters such as ensuring that the rebuilding of the new Nakol province remains on schedule. You also take time to hone your magic abilities; in fact since your "intimate" mind connection with Semra, you actually feel a little more powerful or rather you gained a brief insight into spells she never taught you during training. A few weeks pass and still no word about Dokkrus, however you do get bothersome news about Nyttrus again. You're informed of the latest problems on Nyttrus by Kivan who received a message about it in the middle of the night. The Iznac have apparently unleashed a powerful "secret weapon" in the form of three very large flying lizards. And these aren't wyverns either. They are creatures that Casimir once told you were rare even back in his day. They're dragons and apparently they've already destroyed one of your forts on the continent. This isn't news you wanted to hear. Now you're going to have no choice, but to go over there. You still can't do all this alone though, you still want to wrap this war up as quick as you can and you'll need some competent tacticians and strategists to do that. Snilkez'ka has her way of doing things you're sure, but they probably work best with other kobolds she commands. The third gens are good warriors, and a select few of them are indeed leaders, but most of them are rather…well unimaginative sometimes. You don't think that's the fault of Brenda's training, but perhaps just a tendency towards conformity due to their creation. In fact you can't even think of a single one that has stood out to you during the war with Nakol. Hopefully the fourth won't have that problem when they're ready. So you make up your mind that General Flevas should accompany you. The elf is pretty much the best one you have right now and you believe his vast scouting skills should come in handy. Given that all the orcs ran off and rebelled, you also won't have to worry about Flevas not being respected as a leader. The third gens and kobolds seem fairly neutral towards him. You go back and forth on whether or not to bring Galen. His magic would most certainly help against the dragons, but you're wondering if you want to put up with his tendency to complain. True he's much better at not doing it, but he always manages to find a way. Who you really wish you had is Decena. She would've been perfect for this mission since she already worked well with the third gens. Just another reminder of your loss. Maybe though you just need another Eternal. An Eternal who always likes "vacations" away from his usual duties, namely Warrick. He certainly commands respect amongst the Eyes and besides you he's probably the next most feared name in the Empire. As Sightmaster he's also skilled in less traditional forms of warfare, which will come in handy in the jungle filled continent. Of course the only concern with bringing him is that leaves the "mainland" of the Empire, relatively… well the word isn't undefended, but without a major figure to oversee any possible problems that may crop up. You suppose Brenda and Kivan can handle things if something really gets out of hand. Which brings you to another problem and that's taking Warrick into a war in the first place. Warrick's job at one time was probably a bit more dangerous, but as you've established order over the continent, stomped out dissension and all of those other necessary things, it's become even more like a "desk job." Warrick still keeps up on his training and such, and you know if you called for him to assist he'd jump at the chance not just out of loyalty, but because he always has a bit of desire to get in the middle of things again. He could very well get killed and a better head of internal security, as far as you're concerned there is none. His loss would be even greater than Decena's you believe. Though it's the more "moral" problem that surprisingly has you rethinking this. Warrick just married Brenda, the pair of them don't see each other every day, but they're able to do so when they can. It's the happiest Brenda's been since she was married to Roldan. If Warrick was to die, well you can only imagine what that might do to her. So if you lost Warrick, you might be "losing" Brenda as well. Of course that's all speculation. You don't intend on losing Warrick at all, but you have to prepare for that possibility and the repercussions of such things. > You leave Warrick behind Warrick is possibly the closest thing now you have to a "right hand" anymore. True there is still Brenda, but if Warrick died, what were her state of mind be? It took her a long time to get over Roldan's death. You don't think she'd be able to handle another great loss, which is another reason why you'll leave Warrick here. Besides, with him overseeing things here you won't have to be concerned about the homeland getting out of hand while you're away. Leaving Warrick in charge you finish preparing for your trip to Nyttrus and soon leave with several hundred third generation Eternals and Flevas. (But not Galen since you don't feel he'll be necessary) When you eventually do arrive in Nyttrus the place does indeed remind you a bit of Delerg though even hotter. The kobold leader Snilkez'ka is the first one to greet you and exclaim that now that you're here, the war will go much quicker and victory should come swiftly. The first few weeks are indeed very successful ones, and it does appear that victory will come quickly if the Iznac are falling as quickly as they do, but as always not everything is so clear cut when you have dragons involved. You first encounter with one of the great beasts results in you losing half your company at the time and the dragon flying away. After this experience you fall back a bit on the advance and regroup realizing that the conquest of this continent is going to take a lot longer than anticipated. Year 60 "We'll hold the line at Fort Canopy and Fort Tangle, then after they've expended all their energy on this massive assault of theirs, we can make our own advance and wipe them out for good." You say and then promptly stagger a bit away from the table in pain. General Flevas and Captain Snilkez'ka move towards you and ask if you need help, but you of course decline. Though the truth is, you could use some help, just not in the way they are offering. Ever since the dragons reared their ugly heads this campaign has been one struggle after another and taken a great toll on your body. While you've managed to kill two of the giant lizards already, it's almost been at the cost of your own life. Your last battle with one of the creatures practically cost you half of the left side of your face given that you're missing an eye and an ear now. You're even missing part of your non-dominant hand. While healing magic is powerful, even you can't regenerate completely lost limbs or other organs and you've been pushing it to the limit as it is. You might be holding off death in the in the short term, but you've probably been shortening your life span just by using it as much as you have. You've been in contact with Warrick who has been giving the occasional updates via letters on what's been going on in Evigrus since your absence and the general reports are always fairly boring. The only thing that has been of major importance is the discovery of Dokkrus. Warrick says he's already sent Eyes there to spy on things as you requested, but not to engage yet. Quite honestly, sometimes you question if you're even going to survive this campaign and even if you do win, how many years do you really have left anymore? You need to speed this up if you intend on invading Dokkrus and reaching Mortos. You dismiss Flevas and Snikez'ka and tell them you'll be fine defending Fort Canopy by yourself and that they should focus on Fort Tangle's defenses and with any luck the airships will take out the dragon. Days pass and you and your troops prepare for the inevitable assault, which comes in excessive force just as predicted. Perhaps even a little more. You look over the battlements and see several Iznacs climbing the walls of the fort like an army of ants. They aren't even using ladders, they're just scaling the fort with their bare hands. It's actually rather impressive, until you unleash a chain of lightning to zap all of them. The shock is enough to at least cause most of them to fall off if not outright kill them immediately. Your people are doing their best though they can't stop every Iznac from scaling the fort. Soon the gunfire is replaced by sounds of close combat weaponry. No matter how far the advances in technology, it always eventually comes down to looking your opponent in the eye and feeling their blood splatter as you end their life. While you're busy hacking off the limbs of an Iznac warrior, another loud explosion in the distance is heard followed by a bright flash in the sky. It's the destruction of your last airship from the dragon. Flaming wreckage crashes down in the distance. Won't be long before the dragon turns its attention towards one of the forts. Iznac, glip and orcs all attack the fort and while it's a brutal affair, your Eternals are holding their own in the face of overwhelming odds. You then hear a roaring sound getting closer and the sounds of great wings approaching. You shout a general command for the still working cannons to be pointed towards the dragon and to prepare to fire when the beast is in range. In the meantime you try to keep that side of the fort relatively free of invading forces. The dragon gets closer and you give the order to fire and unleash your own magic bolts at the creature. It's definitely wounded from its ordeal with the airships, but given your experience with the other two dragons, you know it's far from being out the fight. In fact it's so determined that it doesn't distinguish friend from foe when it blasts its flame breath on the fort. You manage to protect most of your people with a magic barrier, but for those outside its protection, most are set on fire if not incinerated immediately. On the positive side, it reduces your enemies, on the negative it ignites the gunpowder barrels for the cannons causing a massive explosion and completely destroying one side of the fort. While the barrier still protects you and everyone within initially, it's still a lot of strain on your energy and you begin to feel the fatigue setting in. and you can't hold out any longer… Your strength falters and the barrier goes down and the flames envelop you and several of your troops. In the last moments of your flesh melting off your bones you only regret that this fort will fall.

Year 54 Nakol's existence as a nation is coming to an end. You've seized most of its territory. Its armies have practically been wiped out, and you've even eliminated most of Mortimer's allies. The only major objective that's left is Dequilet, the capital and currently the only thing saving it is a large magical barrier completely surrounding the city. So far it's proven impenetrable to conventional means, which means you're going to have to resort to magical ones, which unfortunately despite your own best efforts you've failed to bring it down, though you feel as if you've gotten close. You doubt if Mortimer is doing it himself, you imagine that Semra is probably helping him upkeep the barrier. He might even have a couple of satyr mages still left, though you doubt it. In any case, he's got help and you're probably going to have to resort to a bit of help as well if you want to bring the barrier down. "Galen's a given, as are the Eye mages, but I'm going to have to take mages off overseeing the Eternal tanks for this project as well. Don't want to, but it'll be necessary." You say while explaining the next course of action in your command tent to Decena. "We're going to have to wait for those mages to come here, that's at least a few days. I hate this sitting around, is it truly the only way?" Decena asks. "Unfortunately. Last time I tried to bring it down, I nearly fell unconscious. With enough magic energy though I'm certain it can be brought down, as soon as it is, I want you and rest to blow apart those walls and rush in as quick as you can. Don't worry I won't be far behind no matter how woozy I feel afterwards." Just as Decena is about to acknowledge your plan, that old familiar voice is heard. "You know none of that is necessary if you listen to my plan." Semra remarks. The instant Decena sees Semra she raises her voice and attempts to attack her, though you hold her back from doing so. "Don't bother Decena, she's not really there. It's an illusionary image. Right on time too. You're starting to get predictable Semra." You say. "Semra? Is this that svelk bitch you've told me about?" Decena asks. "Oh so he did talk about me to you. I'm not surprised. Never could get me completely out of his mind…" "Fuck you svelk! He told me about all the hell you put him through!" Semra does her usual gleeful smile at Decena's anger. "My, she IS the aggressively territorial one. Isn't she? Almost sad that her feelings for you are so strong when your own for her are…limited. Trust me dear, he can't ever love you back. How could he? You're not even young looking anymore…" At this point you have to restrain Decena again. "Decena, don't pay attention to her. She's just enjoying making you miserable. It's what she does. Semra, what the hell do you want? Shouldn't you be making plans to escape or something?" "Who said I wasn't? But right now I'm actually here for you. Need your help in killing Mortimer, well what's left of him anyway. It's getting harder to figure out when he's completely all there or not. Zelvix is starting to gain mental control over him due to his shattered confidence and willpower. This war has been very stressful on him as you might expect." Decena asks what she's talking about and you quickly mention about the supposed demon army that will be unleashed when Mortimer dies, though with the way Semra's telling it, it sounds like this Zelvix is already getting loose…assuming she's telling the truth. "Semra, didn't YOU claim that it would take you about a decade to properly banish this demon?" you ask. "Well with you rushing head long into attacking Nakol, I had to step up my research now didn't I? Don't worry though, as I said, I've got it figured out, just need your help in doing so. Remember how we linked our energy together when we were extinguishing all those little gnome souls? Well we need to do something like that again, but this is going to require a slightly deeper connection. Namely we'd have to link our very minds together so as to make the magical connection strong enough to face the demon." "Here we go…" You think. "You can't seriously trust this woman!" Decena shouts. "He most certainly should trust me considering how many times I've warned him about shit and indirectly AND directly saved his life. After all if he'd trusted me all those years ago, he might've saved himself a lot of bother on a certain island. Y'know you still have never told me how you exactly came out of Mortos relatively unscathed. Perhaps you can after we take care of this mess?" Semra remarks. You don't answer immediately. You've been put in this position several times before and it's the same old thing. Semra tells you something, you distrust her, you usually follow her advice against your better judgment and while things don't necessarily go entirely your way, you can never deny that had you not acted things would be much worse. But on the other hand… it's the same old thing. You know she's not telling you the whole truth and something about this demon situation seems even more suspicious especially since she's actually encouraging a linking of your minds. Even if she's telling the entire truth about the demon and this being the only way she feels is the way to defeat it, would it really be a victory if Semra had magical access to your mind? Who the hell knows what she might be able to do. "All of this is pointless anyway, we can't get in unless that barrier goes down." You say. "Oh that thing? I can make a small opening in it for a small period of time. Of course when I do so, Mortimer will probably instantly know I'm working against him and it's possible he'll completely lose himself to Zelvix, but we should have enough time to do what we have to do." Semra remarks. "Or I could just wait for my mages to help me bring the barrier down. Then when I do get that barrier down, I assault the city with so much firepower that nothing of this world or another is going to survive it. I don't care how powerful this demon is." You say. "Optimistic that you believe that, but I tell you sincerely that won't be enough to stop Zelvix. He's in a weakened state now due to his long imprisonment, but as soon as Mortimer's dead, it won't take him long to regain his full strength and when that happens, count on several magical gates opening up. Now MAYBE you'll be able to even repel the demons that will undoubtedly come screaming out of said gates, but quite frankly, YOU are not the young Eternal you used to be and your odds will not be good. And your Empire's odds if you should fall in battle? Even worse. You already survived one trip that you very well shouldn't have…actually you've survived many things you probably shouldn't have, but those days are becoming more unlikely as you approach your twilight years. I understand that you'd rather die a warrior's death, however I doubt very seriously that you wish to die a fool's death. It is one thing to die in a battle that has been properly planned. It's entirely another when you die because you purposely ignore all your information and don't take advantage of the tools and resources that allow you to win efficiently. I'M giving you this chance to win this war now in the most efficient way possible." You continue to listen. "We've been in this all too familiar position before Eternal. Why take the chance of making the same mistake twice?" Semra asks. Decena looks at you as you seriously begin to consider Semra's offer. "Emperor?" she asks. > You carry out your original plan Semra's agendas have never always been completely clear with you, but you're sure that whenever it is that you do listen to her, it somehow advances them to an end that will ultimately be no good for you in the long run. This is one of those times where she's going to have fall back to her plan "b" because you're not helping her in this instance. "Sorry Semra, I'm going with my own agenda this time. And you're seriously underestimating my abilities if this so called demon invasion does take place. True, I might not be young anymore, but I guarantee I'll be able to handle whatever is going to come next after we destroy Dequilet which is probably nothing anyway." "Then you're a damn fool. A stubborn old fool who just doesn't want to look weak in front of his devoted…" Semra starts to say, but Decena suddenly cuts her off. "Shut the fuck up, svelk cunt! You've spun enough of your bullshit lies today! You got your fucking answer from the Emperor, now scuttle back to whatever fucking hole you'll hide in before I hunt you down and I slice that venomous tongue out and shove it up your ass!" Semra merely smirks at Decena's threat. "And you used to kiss him with that mouth? Okay, I can see my efforts are going to wasted here. I hoped for a different way, but perhaps this will still work out. Goodbye Eternal, I don't think we'll meet again." "You said that before." You answer. "So I did…well perhaps you'll surprise me again. You always did have that special way about you." With those final words, Semra's image disappears and you can get back to your original plan. Decena is certainly happier about the situation. You execute the order to have mages sent here to help bring down the barrier. You can imagine how upset Galen will be when he's been taken away from whatever less dangerous task he's doing at the moment. In a few days, your mages arrive and you all focus to bring the barrier down. You tell your army as soon as it's down, to bombard with every catapult, cannon, lightning gun, ballista, and trebuchet they've got and the airships nearby have the same orders to open fire. When everyone is in place you begin the spell to break down the barrier. It's similar to the time you were focusing on casting the continual firestorm on the dryad forest, but this is actually taking even more focus and energy. It's apparent that Mortimer or possibly the demon inside him doesn't want you getting in. At some point during the spell, Galen flips out and starts babbling about hearing a voice inside his head. It's enough to cause a temporary break in focus and you try to calm him down, but he exclaims that bringing the barrier down is going to unleash something worse. You have no patience for this and he begins to worry the other mages. You blast him with a lightning bolt while he's in mid-babble and have his body removed from your sight. "Now then, I want the rest of you to FOCUS! That so-called sorcerer in there is just playing mind tricks in order to save his worthless hide! Whatever voice any of you may hear is just a mere parlor trick and the only voice you should be concerned about is mine and what command it is giving!" you say to the remaining mages. Going back to the spell there are no more interruptions, but as to be expected a couple of your weaker mages also collapse from the strain of the spell. The barrier however is definitely gone and the bombardment of Dequilet starts immediately. The utter destruction of Dequilet is loud and full of explosions. You continue to have it bombarded until you're satisfied that nothing is going to be left alive. Eventually though you do call a stop to it. "Alright, that will do for now. We'll let the fires die down a bit and then send in some squads to rummage through the ruins of that place. I'm fairly certain we killed everything, but never hurts to be sure." You say. "Hopefully that svelk bitch was in there too." Decena remarks. "We could only hope, but my guess is she probably fled when she realized I wasn't going to help her." "I'm glad you didn't. Are you okay though?" "Me? Yeah, just need to rest a bit. (Whew) Bringing that barrier took it out of me a little. More than I expected I guess. That needn't have been the case had Galen not lost his shit. Bah, no matter. The man did nothing but complain anyway." You remark. Just as Decena is about to respond, you suddenly feel a change in the air. One brimming with magical energy and a malevolent presence. A large portal opens up just above the ruins of Dequilet and a red flying creature comes out and then another, and another, and then… While seemingly hordes of demons are pouring out of this one portal, another portal opens up nearby and then another, and then another and then… While your army is shocked and scrambling to prepare for this unexpected attack, you just curse silently to yourself. "Damnit…she was fucking right…AGAIN…" you say. "Emperor! There are demons everywhere! What are your orders?!" Decena asks in between telling nearby officers to adopt a defensive position. Your orders are of course to fall back because right now you're starting to become heavily outnumbered as more and more demons come pouring out of the portals. Unfortunately you're also starting to become surrounded. It doesn't help that most of your siege machine ammunition is gone due to your bombardment of Dequilet. The airships are still functioning fortunately, but a good number of flying demons are already making their way to try to solve that situation. "We're going to have to fight our way of this mess and regroup at the nearest fortress! In the meantime kill anything red with hooves and horns!" you shout. You really wish you weren't as tired as you are, but you're going to have to just fight through it. A few minutes in and the retreat is definitely looking grim. You got separated from Decena and you have no idea if your other general Flevas is even still alive. Your Eternals are doing their best as always, but the rest of your troops are suffering from a severe drop in morale and mostly screaming in terror desperately trying to get away rather than an organized defensive retreat. You don't know if it's due to fighting otherworldly beings and a seemingly endless supply of them, or if its some sort of unnatural fear aura that the demons themselves are causing. Probably a bit of both. Your kobold troops however are ever resourceful and in the middle of slicing off the head of a demon, a single kobold tugs at your scabbard. You almost kill him thinking him another attacker before he holds up his arms in panic. "No! No! Emp! Emp! Help! Hole! Over here here! Scape scape!" the kobold says and points to a hole that one of his people have no doubt made. Escaping through the tunnel would probably be a good idea since its starting to look like the demons are attempting to cut off your path of retreat, but then you are also concerned about Decena's whereabouts. If your next war is going to be against these otherworldly monsters, you're going to need all the skilled leaders you can get. > You go with the kobolds Decena's a big girl and can handle herself Chances are she's already making a path towards the nearest fort. You're sure she's fine…well you hope she is. In any event, you aren't going to be much good if you don't survive this assault so you follow the kobold soldier down the hole. The tunnel as you expect is smaller than the average human size, but you're able to walk even if you do have to crouch a bit and keep your head down. Several kobolds enter the tunnel after you in an effort to keep the back of you better protected just in case some demons come wandering down. The kobold who lead you here in the first place continues to runs just a bit ahead of you and repeat directions of where he's heading next. You have to cast a dark vision spell just so you can see since its pitch black. You follow the tunnels for a bit and there aren't even any demon attacks from behind (or ahead for that matter) and you begin to think that this was probably the best idea, but unfortunately events take an unexpected turn. With the battle still raging above ground, the tunnels do suffer from minor damage as bits of dirt periodically fall from the ceiling of them. It doesn't get bad until one of your airships which had been destroyed by the demon onslaught comes crashing down right above the tunnels you're in right now. You hear a loud crash from above and then a louder rumble as massive amounts of dirt fall around and upon you. The kobolds you're travelling with yelp in panic and try to get away either by retreating back the way you came or forward to where you're going. You however can't move quite as fast in the cramped tunnels and you become buried alive under rock and dirt. Not even a glorious warriors death, just a convenient burial.

Semra's agendas have never always been completely clear with you, but you're sure that whenever it is that you do listen to her, it somehow advances them to an end that will ultimately be no good for you in the long run. This is one of those times where she's going to have fall back to her plan "b" because you're not helping her in this instance. "Sorry Semra, I'm going with my own agenda this time. And you're seriously underestimating my abilities if this so called demon invasion does take place. True, I might not be young anymore, but I guarantee I'll be able to handle whatever is going to come next after we destroy Dequilet which is probably nothing anyway." "Then you're a damn fool. A stubborn old fool who just doesn't want to look weak in front of his devoted…" Semra starts to say, but Decena suddenly cuts her off. "Shut the fuck up, svelk cunt! You've spun enough of your bullshit lies today! You got your fucking answer from the Emperor, now scuttle back to whatever fucking hole you'll hide in before I hunt you down and I slice that venomous tongue out and shove it up your ass!" Semra merely smirks at Decena's threat. "And you used to kiss him with that mouth? Okay, I can see my efforts are going to wasted here. I hoped for a different way, but perhaps this will still work out. Goodbye Eternal, I don't think we'll meet again." "You said that before." You answer. "So I did…well perhaps you'll surprise me again. You always did have that special way about you." With those final words, Semra's image disappears and you can get back to your original plan. Decena is certainly happier about the situation. You execute the order to have mages sent here to help bring down the barrier. You can imagine how upset Galen will be when he's been taken away from whatever less dangerous task he's doing at the moment. In a few days, your mages arrive and you all focus to bring the barrier down. You tell your army as soon as it's down, to bombard with every catapult, cannon, lightning gun, ballista, and trebuchet they've got and the airships nearby have the same orders to open fire. When everyone is in place you begin the spell to break down the barrier. It's similar to the time you were focusing on casting the continual firestorm on the dryad forest, but this is actually taking even more focus and energy. It's apparent that Mortimer or possibly the demon inside him doesn't want you getting in. At some point during the spell, Galen flips out and starts babbling about hearing a voice inside his head. It's enough to cause a temporary break in focus and you try to calm him down, but he exclaims that bringing the barrier down is going to unleash something worse. You have no patience for this and he begins to worry the other mages. You blast him with a lightning bolt while he's in mid-babble and have his body removed from your sight. "Now then, I want the rest of you to FOCUS! That so-called sorcerer in there is just playing mind tricks in order to save his worthless hide! Whatever voice any of you may hear is just a mere parlor trick and the only voice you should be concerned about is mine and what command it is giving!" you say to the remaining mages. Going back to the spell there are no more interruptions, but as to be expected a couple of your weaker mages also collapse from the strain of the spell. The barrier however is definitely gone and the bombardment of Dequilet starts immediately. The utter destruction of Dequilet is loud and full of explosions. You continue to have it bombarded until you're satisfied that nothing is going to be left alive. Eventually though you do call a stop to it. "Alright, that will do for now. We'll let the fires die down a bit and then send in some squads to rummage through the ruins of that place. I'm fairly certain we killed everything, but never hurts to be sure." You say. "Hopefully that svelk bitch was in there too." Decena remarks. "We could only hope, but my guess is she probably fled when she realized I wasn't going to help her." "I'm glad you didn't. Are you okay though?" "Me? Yeah, just need to rest a bit. (Whew) Bringing that barrier took it out of me a little. More than I expected I guess. That needn't have been the case had Galen not lost his shit. Bah, no matter. The man did nothing but complain anyway." You remark. Just as Decena is about to respond, you suddenly feel a change in the air. One brimming with magical energy and a malevolent presence. A large portal opens up just above the ruins of Dequilet and a red flying creature comes out and then another, and another, and then… While seemingly hordes of demons are pouring out of this one portal, another portal opens up nearby and then another, and then another and then… While your army is shocked and scrambling to prepare for this unexpected attack, you just curse silently to yourself. "Damnit…she was fucking right…AGAIN…" you say. "Emperor! There are demons everywhere! What are your orders?!" Decena asks in between telling nearby officers to adopt a defensive position. Your orders are of course to fall back because right now you're starting to become heavily outnumbered as more and more demons come pouring out of the portals. Unfortunately you're also starting to become surrounded. It doesn't help that most of your siege machine ammunition is gone due to your bombardment of Dequilet. The airships are still functioning fortunately, but a good number of flying demons are already making their way to try to solve that situation. "We're going to have to fight our way of this mess and regroup at the nearest fortress! In the meantime kill anything red with hooves and horns!" you shout. You really wish you weren't as tired as you are, but you're going to have to just fight through it. A few minutes in and the retreat is definitely looking grim. You got separated from Decena and you have no idea if your other general Flevas is even still alive. Your Eternals are doing their best as always, but the rest of your troops are suffering from a severe drop in morale and mostly screaming in terror desperately trying to get away rather than an organized defensive retreat. You don't know if it's due to fighting otherworldly beings and a seemingly endless supply of them, or if its some sort of unnatural fear aura that the demons themselves are causing. Probably a bit of both. Your kobold troops however are ever resourceful and in the middle of slicing off the head of a demon, a single kobold tugs at your scabbard. You almost kill him thinking him another attacker before he holds up his arms in panic. "No! No! Emp! Emp! Help! Hole! Over here here! Scape scape!" the kobold says and points to a hole that one of his people have no doubt made. Escaping through the tunnel would probably be a good idea since its starting to look like the demons are attempting to cut off your path of retreat, but then you are also concerned about Decena's whereabouts. If your next war is going to be against these otherworldly monsters, you're going to need all the skilled leaders you can get. > You seek out Decena You're not leaving Decena behind. In fact with the way things are looking, you're not even sure you're going to be able to escape anyway. The demons have already started cutting off your escape paths and getting stuck in a cramped tunnel is going to make you a perfect target if they wander down there. Hell they might just try to collapse the tunnel on you from above. If this is going to be the day you die, better that it be in battle than buried alive. You tell the kobolds to escape on their own if they wish, but you need to stay and at least see if Decena's still alive. The kobold tries to convince you to leave again, but sees that you are unconvinced, so he wishes you luck and runs off. "Pfft. Scaly little bastard could've at least offered to stay." You mumble, and start your search for Decena admist all this chaos. While you're starting to search several explosions from above catch your attention. It's your airships. They've finally been overrun and destroyed to the point where flaming wreckage will be hitting the ground at any moment. You hastily move to a point where you'll at least be far enough away from the next explosion when they land. You cut and zap your way through more demons and then you hear the voice you were hoping for. "EMPEROR! Over here!" Decena shouts and you see her with several eternals and Flevas trying to hold their ground surrounded by a growing pile of demon bodies. You run over to help with a cone of cold freezing several demons in place. Decena and the rest follow up by smashing their frozen bodies and giving all of you a temporary breather in the middle of the battle. "I'm so glad to see you!" Decena exclaims. "But why haven't you escaped?! These portals are just continually spitting out more demons! You were right, we have to fall back!" "Because I was thinking about it and I was wrong. What we need to do is go chop off that demon lord's head Zelvix, or whatever the hell Semra called him. Because the sooner we end him, the sooner this invasion ends." You say. "Demon lord? Wait? Is that what caused this? I didn't know anything about a demon lord." Flevas says. "Well you do now and if you're lucky enough you'll get to be involved in killing him as well." You say. "I don't think I have much of a choice at this point given that the demons have surrounded us from escape. So where is he?" Flevas asks. "My guess is somewhere within the ruins of the city, let's get going now!" You, Decena, Flevas and only four of the new Eternals make your way towards the ruins of Dequilet. Surprisingly the demon count is a lot lower the closer you, but then that's probably because most of them are focused on slaughtering your retreating army and rampaging across the countryside. Not much fun to be had in a city where everyone is already dead. The flames, rubble and wandering demons all make your search more lively, but eventually you find what you believe to be Zelvix. He looks like the typical demon from all the stories you've ever heard and indeed probably most have heard. Great big wings, cloven hooves, furry lower half, muscular upper body, redish skin tone and two large horns on his head. He's the biggest thing in the city and he's certainly bigger than any of those minotaurs or chimeras you fought during the Tor War. When you make your noisy arrival by killing his immediate underlings, he still doesn't move from his position, which seems to be one of concentration. Only when you cast several ice bolts at him does he move. He raises his hand and absorbs the bolts and turns his attention to you. "And now you've gone and broke my concentration. Do you realize that keeping these portals open to my home isn't as easy as I make it look? (Sigh) No matter, so I imagine you must be the Eternal that Semra has mentioned in the past…hrm I thought you'd be taller. I hardly see how she expected you to defeat me." "I'm not here because of Semra and honestly I don't give a shit what sort of dispute you and her had. I'm here on my own to kill you, because NOBODY threatens my Empire!" you say and advance upon Zelvix who doesn't move from his spot, he doesn't even react. "Ah how I love mortal arrogance. Really I could use someone like you on my side, why not join me? Why not all of you join me?" Zelvix's deep voice exclaims which seems to penetrate your mind. The presence is strong. Stronger than you were expecting really. It's even worse than the time you had to listen to hundreds of gnome souls all at once. And you aren't the only one, a quick glance to your left and right shows that your companions have stopped in their tracks as well and are holding on to their heads trying to fight Zelvix's mental attack. The deep voice of "Join me." continues to echo throughout your own mind and despite your best efforts you can't block it out. And that when you feel an arrow go into your side. You barely manage to block the second one with a force shield. Flevas is gone, he's given in completely and he's not the only one. Two of the Eternals have turned and already killed one of their siblings. The last one is one the ground screaming for Zelvix's voice to get out of his head. Flevas attacks you again with his bow, but you manage to keep up your protection. You return fire with a blast of magical energy. Flevas stands no chance against it and falls dead. It's enough to make you collapse though. The combination of your expended energy, your wounds and Zelvix's mental assault is becoming overwhelming. "Why are you fighting me Eternal? If you just join me, you can expand your Empire to the entire world! All I require is a tribute. Why, we could even track down Semra together and have our way with her. Doesn't that sound fun Eternal? Wouldn't you like that? Just JOIN ME…" The tone, the voice is so convincing…part of you just wants to give in… You feel a blade go into the upper left side of your back. One of the Eternals has attacked you while you're struggling to retain your mind. The second one would probably land the killing blow, but you're saved by someone who loves you so much that turning against you is completely unthinkable to her. "NO!" Decena yells and cuts down both of the Eternals attacking you. The third Eternal who had finally succumbed to the mind control makes a half hearted attack, but Decena takes care of him as well. "Now this one shows promise!" Zelvix says and suddenly more demon reinforcements arrive to defend their master. Decena holds her own against the demons that attack her, though some of them attack you instead, believing that you're an easier target. While it's true you're in a more weakened state, you're far from being an easy target. "Tch. Tch. Can't having you help her, wouldn't be fair now would it?" you hear Zelvix say and see the big demon lord standing over you. You feel a smashing blow to your face by his fist, which sends you falling back to the ground. The inside of your face feels like every bone in it has been broken and the exterior feels like its on fire. Spitting out a few bloody teeth, you cast an enchantment on your weapon and try to strike at Zelvix's leg, but he dodges and manages to step on your sword breaking it with his cloven hoof. "That was pathetic, did you really think…" Zelvix's taunt is interrupted by the fact that he wasn't paying attention to the attack that you were really planning. A stream of lightning hits Zelvix in the chest and you don't let up even though you're feeling the effects of such a strong spell at this close range. Zelvix roars in pain and the spell has definitely had an effect, but Zelvix is made of stronger stuff and bulls his way through and kicks you in the body breaking several ribs and causing you to fly into a nearby pile of rubble. You smack your head against several jagged rocks adding an open head wound to your list of injuries. Zelvix attempts to finish you off by breathing fire at you, but you still have enough energy to block it with a force shield. You don't think you can keep it up, but fortunately you don't have to when Decena steps in and runs one sword into Zelvix's back and cuts through one of his wings with another one. Zelvix feels the damage but it still isn't enough to stop this monster. He swings around and backhands Decena to the ground. He then picks her up and smashes her entire body several times to the ground again. Her body battered, she hangs limply as he picks her up by one arm. "Bitch! You think your pathetic love for this fool will save either one of you?! I've destroyed greater beings with less effort! You both should've joined me when you had the chance, but that time has passed. Time to die! Who wants to watch first?" Zelvix is definitely more powerful than either one of you, but his weakness is he talks way too much. While he's pontificating on who to kill first, you summon all the energy you have and cast a concentrated frost ray at Zelvix's feet. It's enough to startle the demon and drop Decena. "Still wanting to play eh? Fine, you're first then!" Zelvix says and throws a fireball at you. You're hit full force and the flames engulf you, but you refuse to die. You flesh burns, but you're expending so much energy into your frost beam, that your body is actually growing colder and forms frost, which is enough to keep you from burning to death. Meanwhile Zelvix realizes his own body isn't just being encased in ice, its actually starting to become ice. "DECENA ATTACK HIS LEGS! NOW!" You didn't even need to give the word though, Decena was already on it. Seizing the biggest rock she could grab and wield effectively. She smashes it into one of Zelvix's legs causing it to shatter. An unearthly wail eminates from the demon lord as he falls to the ground, which in turn snaps off his other leg. With Zelvix on the ground, you continue your freezing assault on him, only this time his position allows you to aim straight for his face. You see your hands going blue and starting to age. You're not going to survive this, but someone else needs to because someone else has to lead the Empire… Zelvix desperately tries to crawl in an attempt to reach you, but eventually he's frozen to a point where he's barely moving at all. "Decena…finish…it…" you say and you at last run out of energy of any and all kind. You collapse backwards and begin to drift in and out of consciousness. You don't see it, but Decena does indeed manage to take advantage of the situation and smashes Zelvix's frozen head into several pieces. The demon lord's body convulses and tries to move (and even attack) but death is certain. With Zelvix dead, it seems like the portals have closed as well as there haven't been anymore demons attacking you or Decena, though it can safely be guessed that the ones that are already scattered and causing havok will still need to be dealt with. Decena comes over to your dying body and holds you in her arms. You can imagine how cold you must feel to her, but it's not going to deter Decena. "Did…did we win?" you ask. "Yes…we won my Emperor." Decena says. "Good…good…(wheeze) but you're the Emperor now…" "Emperor don't…" "It's done. I'm not making this one…(wheeze) just be a strong ruler. The ruler…I always knew you could be. I'm so proud…of you…" Decena at this point doesn't answer. She's desperately trying not to cry. Maybe it's a little late, but in these final moments you realize that you could've probably had a real relationship with Decena. She proved that she was more than a worthy mate for you. She had long since grown from being just your student with a crush. She is a true warrior and will be a worthy successor. "Decena…I…love you..." you whisper to her as your final words. As your vision goes dark you sense a brief kiss on your lips, which is the last bit of warmth you ever feel. And then you feel nothing at all.

Year 50 As you look at a large map of the known continent of Evigrus you realize that while its been fifteen years since you took the throne as Emperor you've already more than doubled the size of the original nation. You've also successfully managed to have your ships navigate most of its coastline as well. Even northern most Rask was mapped by your airships. Quite frankly that's the main problem you have right now in general you've conquered most of what is worthwhile already on this continent. Anything remaining isn't exactly inhabitable or worth the time to spend on conquest and even in some of those cases, kobold citizens have slowly been making small underground communities in places where nobody above ground would want to live such as the Delerg jungle. However there are always new lands to conquer. To the farthest part west lies the only nation on Evigrus left besides the Empire, the Kingdom of Nakol. Nakol has had the benefit of being relatively isolated from the rest of the continent due to the great mountain range that blocked it from the Children of Tor. Your people have only recently had formal contact with it shortly after the defeat of the Torites, though even that was by ship, though now that the Torites are no longer a true threat, small passes through the mountains have been found (Though they're not exactly safe and Nakol certainly keeps their side very well guarded). The nation isn't quite as large as the Empire, but its still bigger than the old Felkan Kingdom and certainly big enough to defend itself to make aggression very costly, so far however the limited contact you've had with said nation hasn't been hostile. Oddly enough he's wanted to meet you as he has heard so much about the "Great Emperor of the East" and very much wants to visit the Empire. Normally you probably wouldn't consider such diplomatic meetings as it has never been your style, however this ruler is also known as the "Immortal Sorcerer King" and that is something that has gotten your attention. In any event, there are other matters that require your attention and this is where the "other land" to conquer comes in… Last year your ships finally found a large landmass to the east. Up until then, only a few islands of little worth had been discovered. This new territory from what you've been told is similar to Delerg in some ways as there are large portions of jungle. However there are several primitive civilizations living on this land mass. While they are similar to humans in some ways, they have features that certainly aren't such as having four arms and multiple sets of eyes like an insect. Even their language is a bit insect like as you've been told it's more a "chittering" sound. The most prominent of these groups are known as the Iznac. The Iznac like most that seem to inhabit this world before the Empire enlightens them are a superstitious lot that worship their backwards gods by sacrificing others to them. Sometimes this is their own people, but most of the time its captives of the weaker tribes that live on the same continent. Barbarians they may be, they have built cities where their temples seem to be the biggest and most important buildings in them. It would appear they are a theocracy. The Iznac so far have been actively hostile towards your people though perhaps wise enough not to attack them outright. Your own people have not made much progress towards the inner part of the new continent due to this fact and they don't have enough manpower to do so anyway. The only thing they can do is hold up in the newly built outpost and hope they aren't attacked by an overwhelming number of Iznac (or any other tribe since it isn't as if the frog like people called the Glip that also inhabit the continent are any friendlier) You might be inclined to leave this new continent and its inhabitants alone until you can focus more attention on them, however it's also been reported that the continent has a seriously unexploited resource potential of valuable minerals and that's something you could always use more of especially if you're going to have to fund another war with Nakol in the near future. There is also the matter of the orc and kobold population to think about. Both are becoming a problem. The orcs have finally increased their numbers to a point where they can become a viable fighting unit like they were in old days. In fact you planned for that to happen anyway. What you didn't plan for is that you'd have a period of peace with no major wars to fight! Reports of increased orc criminals or just general chaotic misconduct in Rask are becoming more common. You need to start giving them something to go fight. The kobolds aren't so much of a problem as they tend to live underground and generally stay out of the way due to that fact. But with no war to whittle down their numbers they're breeding at a rate that's starting to worry your human subjects. You admit that with as many as the little bastards around they could become a serious threat if they ever became rebellious. Fortunately they're actually less of a problem than any of your other subjects so you're actually not worried about them yet. Still, it seems like a logical solution to start sending large portions of both populations to tame this new continent. Of course if events dictate that you need to war with Nakol soon, then that leaves you with less soldiers on the home front and you're also fighting a two front war. There's also another factor to consider that the new Eternals will be ready next year. Brenda's training has ensured that most of them survived and they are already displaying the eagerness to serve the Empire. Elam's also been working with the gnomes to perfect the automatons. You make your decision that with these other factors in play that you're relatively safe in sending your orcs and kobolds to this new continent. However, you're going to need disciplined leaders though for this task. For the orcs you look for the highest ranked and most respected by his people. The only name that catches your attention when looking through the records is Flog. Flog apparently served most of his military career in Rask fighting ogres, giants and the old barbarian tribes even during the Felkan War. He also served under Kane and was spoken highly of in a few old reports. Kane mentioned that besides Captain Gruz he never encountered an orc almost as intelligent. Apparently he's been doing a lot of breeding after the Felkan War. He has many children. As for kobolds, the records are much sketchier. Kobolds may be loyal and contributing members of Empire society, but none of them really seem to stand out much and if they do, they all died in battle. Plus due to their numbers they probably have many of their kind that could be considered "leaders" within various circles. Eventually you settle on one that distinguished herself during the Tor War. Snilkez'ka managed to take out a manticore all by herself and lead a successful underground sneak attack against a band of minotaurs with only a few casualties. Given the size difference in both cases not to mention that even human officers had problems accomplishing such things, its safe to say that she comes the closest to being a hero among her people. In fact you're wondering why she was never brought to your attention before. Of course you can't just send these two races out on ships to a new continent, which you barely have any control over so you're going to need at least one company of "normal" humans to keep a semblance of order or rather someone better than a human. The only choice would be Decena. She's a well-respected leader by all and more than proven herself. While not having Decena immediately available here will be something you'll have to compensate for, you'll at least have confidence that she'll keep things orderly on this new continent. Having made your decision you meet up with the three to explain the situation, their reactions are varied. "Flog will serve all powerful Emperor, but not fooled by intentions. You trying to get rid of orcs again, just like in Felkan War." Flog says. "Flog if I was trying to get rid of the orcs, I'd just have you all strung up and be done with it. I'm sure you're aware that's within my power to do so. I'm not even sending all of the orcs anyway, just most of them. I need tough soldiers that can withstand this harsher continent and its equally harsh inhabitants. I already sent humans and you see how well that worked out. Quite frankly I think your people would be best suited for this type of thing. You get to prove just how orcly you actually are. You are an orc aren't you? Are you not looking forward to the possibility of killing several enemies or dying in a glorious battle?" you say. "Killing enemies yes, dying not so much. It is a misconception that orcs deliberately seek death in battle. Flog however is getting old, so death is close anyway. Either death in battle, death by children who will inevitably challenge Flog, or death by old age. The last is the least preferable, so perhaps this will be an opportunity. Not sure about the little scaly runts you're sending. Never fought along side them before, but Flog has heard of their great viciousness in battle. Also heard many glorious things of General Decena and her many victories. Will be an honor to fight along side her." At this point the kobold leader, Snilkez'ka makes a small hissing growl like sound at Flog, probably due to his runt comment. "Don't worry about us orc. Small we may be, but we'll be here long after the enemy has already butchered your old greenskin ass." Snilkez'ka remarks, which causes a chuckle from Flog who merely states that perhaps he'll enjoy fighting alongside her people after all. Snilkez'ka doesn't look as amused, but says nothing else other than to directly address you and say that she will make sure that she will bring the fear of the Empire into the hearts of the enemy. You nod and say you know that she will. Always nice to have loyalty and enthusiasm. She's very well spoken for a kobold. The latter one of those traits seems to be lost on your last leader, Decena who isn't saying anything and only succeeds in looking slightly troubled by her new assignment. "Decena, is there anything you'd like to say? You're going to be in charge of this campaign." You ask. "No. Nothing except I look forward to leading the Empire into victory and claiming this new continent in your name, my Emperor." That sounded very… formal. Granted that's a good thing, especially in front of the other two leaders to keep it professional. Still, you know something is wrong and you know it has something to do with your past relationship. If you were the cautious sort you'd just leave it be, but if something is going to be a major problem you need to know now. "Good, you'll all be shipping out in about a week. Everyone is dismissed, though I want to speak to you Decena about something." You say calmly and wait for the other two leave. Now it's just you and Decena alone in the room. This hasn't occurred in years, and this situation is very different. Decena however maintains a very formal stance and does not falter from it. "I sense something is wrong." You say. "There is nothing wrong my Emperor." Decena remarks. "Okay stop with the stiff soldier act, it's just us here." This remark breaks Decena's facade of being "okay." "I don't understand what you want from me my Emperor. You told me we were to remain just subordinate and master. I am carrying out this order to the best of my abilities." "Oh no, do not attempt to play word games, you know what I mean. You're obviously upset about this assignment." "…I'm obeying orders aren't I? Isn't that all that is required of me?" Decena says with an exasperated tone. "For you? No. I need you to do more than just obey, I need you to be thrilled with this assignment. Like you USED to be. Remember?" "Apologies, but I don't think I can given the situation." "What situation? Us? Look Decena I know you're still upset about that, but you're going to have to be an Eternal and get over it." "Oh yes, I'm an Eternal alright, at least until next year. Might as well sweep me away to a far off land now and be done with it." Decena remarks. "What are you talking about?" "I'm talking about the new Eternals that are scheduled to be ready next year! They'll be the new thing and I'll just be old news off in some forsaken land surrounded by scalies and green skinned idiots. In the meantime perhaps you'll even find another young girl like I was and take her under your guidance too…" "Decena…" "Well I suppose at least she'll be happy for a few years even if she'll be a naïve fool the entire time." "Decena STOP! Just stop right now!" you say. Decena does so, but her eyes say it all. You knew she was probably going to be upset for a while, but it's turned into bitterness. You pace a bit and exhale rubbing your hand over your face. "Decena, your beliefs that you're going to be somehow replaced next year are far from the truth. First of all, I'm not giving any of them any extra training because obviously I'm a lousy teacher given what happened between us." Decena stays silent. "Second of all I picked you for this mission because you're the only one I trust to carry it out. Just like I trusted you to continue your battles against the Torites and you saw to their practical extinction. I know you can get this job done and you're not going to be over there forever you know. I anticipate war with the Nakol Kingdom at some point and when that happens who do you think is going to have to lead all the baby eternals into battle? You of course. For now though I need you where you're going to be the most invaluable and that's in this new land." You reach out to Decena and lift her face up to look into her eyes. "I need you for this just like I'm always going to need you. You will never be replaced." Decena's expression turns back to one of sorrow. Her eyes water, but she does not cry out. "I…I'm sorry my Emperor…I shouldn't…have…" "Forget it Decena you don't need to apologize. (Sigh) If anything I should be apologizing to you. As I said, I still feel you're the best person for this mission, but if you wish, you may decline this mission and I will find someone else. And there is no need to worry, this will not be a bad reflection on you in any way. If it's going to make you happier to stay here, then I'd rather you be happy since it'll make you a better leader. Won't do anyone any good if you don't have the best mindset." Decena shakes her head. "No, I'll go. For the good of the Empire I'll go. Staying here would serve no purpose for what I really want is not to be no matter what the situation. I suppose I just overreacted. And you weren't a lousy teacher. Anyone would be lucky to learn under you. I was." Decena says. "Yes, well as I said, nobody ever will again. You were my first and last pupil. You'll always be special in that regard. Now are you absolutely sure, you're going to be okay with this assignment?" you ask. "I will my Emperor. And I will bring glory to the Empire." Decena remarks. "Good. I knew you were strong enough to see this through and I know you'll do the Empire and me proud." You end you comment with a small kiss to her cheek. It's only a shadow of what she really desires, but it'll be enough to get her through this. After Decena leaves, you think about how you've permanently damaged that girl due to your poor judgment and lack of willpower all those years ago. You then think about how easy it is to convince her into anything due to that same lack of willpower years ago. She still worships and loves you and probably always will no matter what. Despite everything, your conditioning was successful. By the end of the week your fleet to the new continent (you're calling it Nyttrus) is on its way to properly claim it for the Empire. You don't know how long the Iznac are going to be able to stand up against your forces, but hopefully if your people break them, the other tribes will fall in line. > You eternals United (Year 51) Year 51 You stand with Brenda and Warrick in front of hundreds of third generation Eternals. The day has finally come. They're trained and ready for war. Whether that means they'll get sent to Nyttrus or sent to attack the Nakol Kingdom that still remains to be seen, but wherever it is, you're sure they'll be a formidable force. You give a rousing speech that encourages and reinforces the sort of loyalty that has already been drummed into their heads since they were born. They probably don't need it, but words directly from their Emperor are never a bad thing. "This is way things should be." Brenda says. "What's that, Brenda?" Warrick asks. "This. You, me, the Emperor and all these new Eternals standing together united as a single force. I can't wait to train the next generation." Brenda says. "Well you'll definitely get that chance Brenda. As I've said before, you did an excellent job with these." You say. "We Eternals are the true rulers and defenders of this great Empire. And while I hold nothing but repsect to our former Emperor, I have to say that I feel that YOU have already proven that Eternals are the future. (Sigh) If there were only more of us…" "There will be eventually." Warrick says. "Oh I know. I just wish Roldan was here to see this." Brenda says. "Mm, he would've certainly approved. I think Kane would have too." Warrick remarks. "Yes, to fallen siblings and to reunited ones who spent too long angry at one another." Brenda says and looks at Warrick. The pair of them hug for a moment. You remain silent at their display of affection. Seemed almost unbelievable at one time, you're just glad they get along now. With the new Eternals dispersing and on their way to their assignments, you just sort of start off into the distance until Warrick and Brenda cease their hugging to ask you what's going on with you. "Is there something wrong my Emperor?" "Oh, nothing really wrong. I was just thinking, not every Eternal is here in this grand unification. Decena's still over in Nyttrus." You say. "Oh yes, that's correct. I can't believe I forgot about her." Warrick says. "Yeah well, Decena's always felt like a bit of an outsider in some ways I think." "What? That's silly." Brenda says. "Is it? Think about it, there never were a bunch of us to begin with, but there are still three of us first ones. Then there are these third gens. Hundreds. And the fourth gens and beyond will probably be in the hundreds as well. But Decena? She's the only second gen left. All her siblings were killed. Most by a mad derro and a few of them even by me when I got tested against them." Warrick and Brenda continue to listen. "I dunno, I was just thinking of something she was worried about before I sent her to Nyttrus. Her concerns that she was somehow obsolete. Of course I explained that she wasn't, but still sometimes in her letters I detect a bit of lonesomeness in tone." "Emperor, Decena was trained by you. I think she's probably the luckiest Eternal since…well since you got the chance to be trained by the former Emperor." Brenda remarks. "Hrm. Yes, lucky." You say nearly snorting at both of those conclusions. Brenda and Warrick still don't know the whole story and you hope for their sake they never have to learn the truth. "Well I have to go attend to a rather mundane matter that I can't just assign to Kivan. I trust you both can handle the rest of the matters here?" "Of course, my Emperor." Warrick says. You nod at Brenda and Warrick and return to your private quarters in the palace. You sit down at your desk and spend the rest of the night writing an encouraging letter to have sent to Decena in Nyttrus. Maybe she couldn't be here for the "Eternal unification" but you still want her to know that in your eyes she is the most cherished of all of them.

The fact remains; the full capabilities of New Dessle are still unknown and taking this mountain city would be extremely costly for the Empire, so you're not going to dismiss Klemto's stipulations yet, but you are going to come back with one of your own. "Very well, your terms are somewhat reasonable though we're still going to have to hammer out some details, however I do want one thing from you right now." You say. "Oh? What's that?" "You will assist in attacking the Confederacy of the Free Cities." "...so you would call on our service already eh? Fine. We will assist, just let us know what exactly you want from us." "Nothing elaborate, I just want another army south of the cities in case some of the svelk try to escape that way. I don't want a single one of them to get away. They're a threat to the Empire and their constant manipulations need to cease being a thorn in my side. Too long they've gone unpunished for their treachery. Maybe I won't be getting all of them on the world. But rest assured I WILL be getting ALL of them in this area." "I see. While you may not have any hatred for my race, you obviously do for the dark elves. It would seem the more things change, the more they stay same…(Sigh) Well better the svelk than us I suppose." Klemto says. "Glad you see the pragmatic side of this." "Oh I suspect I'll be seeing the pragmatic side a lot in the future. Not how I wanted to spend the remainder of my years, but then this is really the only way. I've long since learned that opposing the Empire is futile. While it may eventually fall to internal or external forces, it probably isn't going to be in my lifetime and I'm going to do everything within that time to make sure the gnomes stay out of harm's way. If that means swallowing what little pride we might have left and willingly becoming the subjects of a nation that once enslaved us and then tried to systematically exterminate us, then that is what we will do." Klemto finishes his little speech with another puff of his pipe. He looks defeated even though he's come out fairly okay on this deal. Well at least you think so, obviously he feels differently. "You'll be remembered as a savior to your people Klemto." You say before you leave. "I'll probably be remembered as a collaborator, but I'm fine with it as long as they live to keep telling the tale of Klemto the traitor long after I'm dead." At this point you and Warrick take your leave, the next time you look back, Klemto is gone and the mountain "windows" have all closed up as if everything was normal again. "You really think you can trust the gnomes?" Warrick asks. "I trust them more now that we have a way in. I want as many Eyes as you can spare in that mountain. Perhaps over time we can pull some out if the gnomes do prove to be loyal and don't complain too much, but we definitely want to at least gather every single bit of information we can on that place just in case the gnomes DO try to betray us in the future." "I'll get on that, as soon as we return to the Empire. I shouldn't have had the doubt, but I really thought this plan was going to go bad." "Don't worry, I had the same feeling, but sometimes you just have to throw caution to the wind and attempt new strategies." "Well maybe I didn't see any battle, but I was still glad to get out behind that desk. I thank you for that." Warrick says. "If you'd like we could always go try to take out one of the city states by ourselves. Has to be easier than an entire mountain." You and Warrick laugh at this idea and head back to the Empire. A month passes and the war against the Confederacy of Free Cities is well underway. The odds are severely in your favor especially with the help of the gnomes who show up and you get a small indication of what exactly they have been working on. Some sort of powerful battle machine they call automatons. The best way to describe them is they're golems except work under the power of steam, gears and technology rather than magic. A single automaton is an incredibly destructive force blowing holes in walls with their mounted cannons or just smashing them down with a hammer fist. The gnomes also bring out their lightning cannons that you remember during the Felkan War. It was a relatively new invention towards the end of that conflict, but it looks like the gnomes have perfected it their power. Your own inventors never could figure out how to create them though. (Even Elam was at a loss on how they did it without the use of magic) You're sort of surprised they never created their own airships, but apparently they were in the process of doing so. In any case, whatever they've created and will create are yours to use now. The Confederacy of Free Cities doesn't stand a chance and half of them are in ruins after it's all said and done. That wasn't the original intent, but at this point you're not really concerned with conquering a few measly cities. You can always have new ones built now that you own the territory. What matters more is the eradication of the svelk menace. "We got her Emperor!" a soldier says running up to you in the middle of the burning ruins of Ryglik. "Are you sure its her?" you ask "Yes, Emperor. It's Domina Eldolith. She was captured by the kobolds attempting to escape through a system of tunnels, she killed quite a few of them, but the little scalies managed to subdue her. She's been yelling about being the grand domina of the free cities and a bunch of other stuff. Mostly demanding to be treated with the respect that a captured enemy of her stature deserves." "Unbelievable. Defiant and arrogant to the end. Wouldn't be the svelk way otherwise. Well take me to her." You say. You are lead to the former city hall and down into the basement where several kobolds are proding a bound Eldolith with sharp objects and laughing while she swears and curses at them. They see you and bow in reverence while excitedly looking for approval of their deed. "Capturr blak elf! For Emp! For Emp!" one of them says. "Yes, and I will make sure you are awarded appropriately for your deeds. All of you, now leave I want to speak with this one alone. And do not interrupt me, no matter what you may hear. I will leave here when I'm ready." The kobolds leave via the trapdoor in the floor, your human soldiers nearby head back upstairs. Eldolith looks at you as you approach her. It's been a while since you've seen her, but she's not looking her best right now. Her clothes are torn and wet, she's covered in dirt and grime. She smells like she's been running through a sewer. Superficial wounds are on her face and body. Her eyes are burning through you with an absolute hatred. And you love every moment of it. "If you think I'm going to beg for my life you're sadly mistaken. I will NEVER give you that satisfaction. I am a svelk! My people…" You backhand Eldolith shutting her up. "Are dead. And if they aren't, the ones we captured soon will be. You can stop playing the arrogant svelk Eldy. You're scared of what is going to happen next. And you should be, because I'm going to revisit some old techniques your mother showed me once." At this point Eldolith's eyes widen and she tries to edge away when your hands start to touch her body. Suddenly you grip her throat. "Don't move away from me bitch." You say and look into her eyes. Gone is the hatred. Now you see the fear. "Now then, if you're concerned that I meant a physical violation, I hate the break your dreams, but that won't be happening. For one thing, your current stench is enough to give an orc pause. However after I'm done today, you will be wishing that I was displaying such a kindness to you. Begging. In fact I believe your earlier boast about not begging for your life was correct. You won't be. You'll be begging for your death. Now let us begin…" You pull out a small set of tools you brought for this occasion. To be honest you weren't sure if you'd be lucky enough to capture Eldolith alive, but fortune smiled on you this day. You begin a brutal session of torture on Eldolith. You occasionally ask her for more information on where other svelk may be, but these are met with pathetic moans of denial of knowledge. "I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING!" Eldolith screams as another finger is cut off. "At this point I actually believe you, but I don't really care because this is amusing to me. Torturing a svelk. Not just any svelk though. One that tried to have me fucking assassinated on several occasions. Come on Eldy, you really can't be surprised by my actions here. You svelk pride yourself on showing no mercy and revel in cruelty, I'd think you'd understand all this." "Who told you this? My mother?! And you believed her? What makes you think she wasn't responsible and just put the blame on me?!" "Well for one thing, your mother is a lot smarter than you and if she was planning to have me killed, I have to admit, she might've been successful. Fortunately that crazy bitch is obsessed with me, for some unknown reason…" At this point Eldolith starts coughing up blood while trying to laugh. "Something amusing? Have you finally gone mad from the pain?" you ask. "Ha ha, (cough) you wish I was her right now. (cough) You'll never get that satisfaction, she's played you like a cheap lute since you've been born Eternal. Even now you're doing her bidding. She just…" At this point Eldolith vomits a mixture of blood and bile on the floor. Some of it getting on your boots. "You were saying?" you ask, but Eldolith just breathes heavily not answering. "Well, you don't really need this eye to tell me the rest of your thoughts." You say and approach her again with a knife… By the time dawn comes, Eldolith is barely alive. She's blind, missing an entire hand, her skin partially flayed, missing most of her teeth, she's a bloody mess and her face doesn't even resemble that of a svelk anymore. She's long since proven your prediction correct and begged for death, which you've denied her. But even you have to move on some time. "I have to admit Eldy, I thought you would've been long dead by now. For someone begging for death, your body's will to survive is strong. The funny thing is, I could easily heal most of you up and do this all over again, but honestly I think I've made my point. Besides I'd hate to shorten my own lifespan just for a little bit of amusement, which is getting boring now. Any last words?" Eldolith makes no sound, just shallow breathing. "Right then." You say and put your mithral dagger to her throat. "You brought this on yourself." You whisper in Eldolith's hacked off ear and slash her throat at last putting her out of her living hell. When you exit the building, several officers say they've been wanting to speak with you about important matters of the aftermath of the war and similar matters concerning the newly acquired cities. Also the gnomes are wondering what your next orders are now since the enemy has been thoroughly eliminated. While you certainly feel good about your victory and your recent indulgence, you can't help but wonder now if Eldolith was just a convenient scapegoat. Eldolith and her sect of svelk obviously still had to die and you're more than certain that she was involved in trying to have you killed, but who is to say that it wasn't Semra pulling the strings all along? In any event, looks like playtime is over. Back to business as usual. > The Grand Tour (Inside New Dessel) As you walk through the halls of New Dessel with Klemto, you have to admit to being impressed with the place. The gnomes have once again succeeded in the face of adversity. This city inside a mountain not only has comfortable living arrangements and external defense measures, but is also self sufficient in food and other resources. It helps that the mountain had a large system of natural caverns already inside which allowed the gnomes to take advantage of the layout. Edible fungus and an underground water source were definitely bonuses. Klemto remarks that they probably would not have put that much effort into making the mountain into a "city" had none of these things been available. Now that you've gotten a good look at the inside of the place, it's a very good thing you didn't attack this place like Kivan suggested. You might've very well gotten fried on the spot. Besides their numerous cannons mounted in the rock to defend New Dessel, the gnomes have what can only be described as a giant metal lightning rod except they can shoot lightning from it AND direct its attack. It runs from the bottom of a water source, which has some sort of strange machine in it (It generates "electricity" as Klemto calls it) and the pole goes all the way up to the top of mountain peak where it can direct a blast of lightning powerful enough to probably destroy one of your airships. Definitely very useful though Klemto says its really only good for nearby defense as they can't hit something, as far away as say where the former City State Confederacy was located. This puts you at ease since you did wonder if such a weapon could hit your capital! The gnomes have also managed to create something else you lack in the Empire. Lighting without any sort of fire. "How do you produce light like that with no fire? It seems similar to the lightning that comes from the sky or from magic spells." You ask. "Oh yes. Electricity again. We were trying to harness that into something less destructive even during the last days of the Felkan War when we were using our lightning guns. In fact had the war not come about the Felkans might've had electrical lighting by now. Well, at least we solved the mystery I guess." Klemto says. "Hrm." You answer. "Erm, I suppose you probably would like your own engineers to implement such things in the Empire. We can certainly give the method on how to do it." "Eh. Perhaps in time. To be quite honest it isn't a pressing concern, I'd rather they learn the methods on how to create those lightning guns of yours, and those things." You say pointing at an automaton being fixed by a group of gnomes. "Oh yes, I imagine your interests do place military matters first. Well of course we'll be willing to oblige. As I said great Emperor, New Dessel is at your service." "Indeed." You respond. Just as you are about to bring up the subject of stationing Eyes in New Dessel to Klemto a young girl with red hair comes running up to him. She looks to be a teenager and is dressed in a slightly dirty work uniform. "Uncle Klemto! Uncle Klemto! The lightning has gone out in section eight again! Can I go assist this time?" she says which causes Klemto to look very embarrassed. "Zana! I told you not to disturb me today! This is the Emperor I'm speaking with right now and his time is very precious!" "Oh. Well can I go help fix the lighting then? I'll be out of your hair!" She says thinking nothing more of Klemto's words causing him even more concern that you're getting angry. You aren't really angry so much as you're intrigued. To your knowledge only gnomes live in New Dessel, so you're wondering how this human got here. And calling Klemto uncle no less. "Zana! If you're going to interrupt my important meeting the least you can do is show the proper respect for the Emperor. OUR Emperor. We're part of the Empire now as I mentioned to you, remember?" Klemto says. "Oh. Okay." Zana turns to you and raises a dirty hand for you to shake. "Hello Mr. Emperor." Klemto is cringing the entire time, but you return her attempt at being friendly by shaking her hand. "Zana, you can go help with fixing the lighting in section eight, just get out of here!" Klemto orders. "Alright! Thank you uncle!" Zana beams and gives the old gnome a little peck on the cheek before running off. At this point Klemto is as red as a tomato which is actually making you chuckle a bit at this point. "Klemto, relax. I'm not the unreasonable head-chopping tyrant everyone thinks I am. I do have to ask though, how is it that a human came to be here and calls you uncle no less?" Klemto does relax a little, but only a little. "Heh, oh that. Well during our…evacuation of the Felkan Kingdom, a group of us travelled through one of the many ruined Felkan towns. As we travelled through, I heard the mewling of a baby. I investigated and sure enough I found one. The house was in shambles and I had already passed the body of a man and woman in the room before I found the baby. I can only guess it was the baby's mother and father. Several of my fellow gnomes told me I should just leave it as we had enough to worry about, without a baby possibly giving away our position, but I just didn't feel right doing such a thing. So I took her, named her Zana and over the years I raised as if she was my own." "Hrm, that's unusual." "What do you mean?" "Well the Empire was fairly thorough about going through towns. Seems odd that a crying baby would've been missed. Oh and contrary to popular belief we didn't always kill everything in sight if we razed a town. Sometimes children and infants were taken to be wards of the Empire. Still, if you were on the run, I imagine you had to at least be going through the area where General Alison Krozer was stationed with her army. One of the best I have ever known, as were those under her command. I mean I suppose its possible something like that was missed but…" Klemto quickly interrupts you. "Well uh, the gnolls were a problem on that side of the Felkan Kingdom too remember? Probably was gnolls." "Well that seems even less likely then." You answer. "Why?" "Well for one thing Alison had pretty much taken care of the separate gnoll invaders by the time you lot start seeing that the Felkan Kingdom was dying and start abandoning it. I mean sure there were still some here and there, but they weren't really focusing their attacks on Felkans anymore, they were focusing on Empire forts and our patrols. Besides, these are gnolls we're talking about. Those savages used to steal everything they thought valuable and destroy the rest. A crying baby? They probably would've eaten such a thing while it was still in its crib! They're worse than svelk when it comes to stuff like that." You say. "Yeah…uh well whoever it was I guess she was just…lucky?" "I guess so. Well in any event you're certainly to be commended on raising a child that learned the importance of serving the good of her community." You answer though you feel like something about Klemto's story doesn't add up. "Yes, well I thank you for your kind words my Emperor. Shall we get back to your proposal on your Eyes? As I said before, you can station as many as you feel are needed here!" Klemto says almost eager to stop discussing his adopted daughter. "Sure, let's get back to that." You respond.

Year 42 While you doubt this is going to be your last battle with the Torites, you're at least hoping it's going to be the one to break their spirit to the point where they become less of a problem. Still, the fact that they've finally unified their forces into armies shows you that they realize you aren't going to just go away and their hit and run tactics and attempts to win through attrition aren't going to succeed. It shows you that this is a concentrated effort to get rid of you once and for all. It won't work either and really works to your benefit. It allows you the opportunity to kill a bunch of them in one large grouping now. Maybe there will always be pockets of Torites lurking in the untamed wilderness but one thing is certain. The territory WILL be the Empire's and the Torites can either submit and see the light like the kobolds eventually did or slowly be driven into extinction like the gnolls. But that's in the future, right now you're drawing up the plans for this impeding battle. Considering how large the Torite horde is, you've combined your available forces with Decena's army. It was quite the happy day for her seeing as she hasn't seen you for five years. You still aren't quite sure how you exactly feel about her, but she's definitely been winning you over as far as her victories have been concerned. She remains professional always in front of everyone, but the first time she got you alone, she literally jumped on you and wrapped her legs around your waist, planting a kiss on you. But again, you can sort out your possible complications with Decena later. Now is the time to make sure the both of you come out of this alive. "We should have the second airship here before we begin our assault. Hopefully that will take some of the pressure off of the Storm to deal with the harpies." You remark. "Its isn't just the bird bitches that flap about though. Don't forget, there are still those manticores and those chimeras." General Ackerson remarks. "Yes, I'm well aware of both, Ackerson. Thank you for pointing out the obvious. However, I'm more inclined to believe the Torites will be relying on those beasts to attack our people on the ground. The beasts aren't the most graceful of fliers and would most likely just be big target, which they will be for us anyway, but they'll still do more damage to a group of soldiers on foot and horseback rather than a flying fortress before going down." You remark. "Those chimera things don't even fly very high. The wings are almost so small that they're just for show. Never had one swoop down on us." Decena adds. "Wouldn't be best to have us mages together so that we can join our energy and create a shield for the majority of the army?" Galen remarks. He isn't complaining, but he's definitely trying to find a loop hole to possibly make himself safer and not have to do as much work." "Galen, you know that the Torites attempt to target spell slingers as soon as possible. If they actually get you in a group and strike lucky, well there goes a powerful chunk of our fighting force. It'll make things harder for them if you're all spread out. Besides, you're personally going to be hiding behind a small contingent of golems and backed up by Captain Flevas' men. You couldn't be any safer." "Huh. So my backup lies in the hands of an elf? Might as well kill me now and get it over with." Galen remarks. You just shake your head and ignore his last comment; he's too valuable to punish right now. After hammering out the plan, you and the rest start setting things in motion and preparing everyone. You know the Torite horde is on the move not too far from your location. But they aren't here yet and won't be for at least a half-day's time. It gives you a bit of time to at least get some rest since you've been running around attempting to take care of everything and haven't slept. You didn't even realize how tired you were until you lie down on your sleeping bag. Just as you lie down and close your eyes, someone enters your tent and you instinctively grab your sword. "No point in that, I'm not really here you know." You hear a familiar voice whisper. You sit up and see Semra standing before you, or rather the image of her. She's no doubt using the same kind of magic she did when she tried to convince you to kill Casimir. She's probably nearby somewhere though. "I thought you said we weren't going to see each other again." You say. "I didn't think we would. I truly believed you would die on Mortos. I suppose I underestimated your ability to survive even there. Quite impressive and it's no surprise that you assumed Casimir's throne soon after. Everything worked out for you, but tell me how did you accomplish such a feat?" "Just luck I guess. Look, if you came here to kill me, you'll need to get behind the long line of Torites marching towards this place." You say while lying back down and shutting your eyes. "My, you're quite confident to stay in such a vulnerable position if you really believe I'm here to kill you." Semra says. "No, I know this is just grand standing. If you were really going to kill me you'd have your underlings conspiring with little plots in the shadows." "Yes, I'm aware of the troubles you've been having lately and while I'm flattered you believe it to me, I'm actually here to clear my good name." "Hah!" you snort. "Okay so just my name. In any event. I'm here to tell you that it isn't me, though you do have enemies of the svelk persuasion." "I've got enemies of every persuasion and that's not a very convincing argument that you're somehow innocent." "Okay how about this then? It's not me because I've been keeping an eye on you and so far you haven't warranted anything that needs me to stop you yet. My daughter on the other hand disagrees. She claims that my…past with you is clouding my judgment." "We never had a past Semra. I don't know what YOU think it is, but WE were and never will be an item." "Oh yes, that's right. You've got that vicious little young thing on your dick now. Decena is her name? She is quite the warrior. Lot of those moves are familiar, they're all the ones I taught you. Hey have you taught her any of my other moves when you're bedding her?" At this point you sit back up, annoyed with Semra's remark. "Is this going anywhere because I have a shitload of beast men to slaughter tomorrow and you're keeping me awake!" You snap. "Oooh! Struck a nerve did I? Haven't been able to do that for quite awhile, I really missed it. Tell me though; is it very serious with this one like it was with Alison? Didn't think you'd get over her so quickly. Really though I don't know why you pick any of these females. This new one is just likely to wind up dead, if not by the sword then by age. Her youthful appearance with eventually wither and fade like it does with all of those lesser born." At this point you lie back down and close your eyes again. You're not playing this game. "You done already? Disappointed, you used to be so much more fun. Very well, just listen then Eternal. I know you have a hard time with that, but maybe you'll actually heed what I have to say for once. I am not your enemy. As I have said, my daughter is your enemy and she makes her base of operations in a city-state called Ryglik and lies south of the former Broki Kingdom. Of course that whole area consists of several city-states and she may very well move around, but that's the main one she's operating from. You remain silent while Semra continues to talk. "Well I'll take your silence that you're at least taking it under consideration. Oh and while you're at it, you still might want to consider giving up all this foolish nonsense. Perhaps you're a better Emperor than Casimir ever was, but you're still mindlessly following a path that you think has been laid out for you. It's almost like Casimir is still barking orders at you." "I guarantee Casimir's not saying much of anything anymore." You answer. "Be that as it may, I'd hate to see you follow in his horribly misguided footsteps and make the same mistakes he did." "Well, I don't have you as an advisor, I'd say that already puts me ahead of the game." "Pfft, you'd be lucky to have me by your side. Not my fault you can't see and accept the truth. Anyway, I'll take my leave now. Perhaps we'll see each other, perhaps we won't. Perhaps we'll even see each other in the flesh again, wouldn't that be fun?" "Sure would, I could give you your dagger back." You remark. "Mmmm, I bet you would. Well if that day ever comes, you make sure you give me a long hard kiss as you're sticking it in me. Oh one last thing, your General Ackerson is planning to betray you at some point during tomorrow's battle. Not sure when and how, but he's got quite a few soldiers willing to work with him on it. More of my daughter's work no doubt." With those final words, you cease hearing Semra's voice. You briefly open your eyes and find that her image is gone as well. "Fucking bitch." You mutter, as now you're never going to be able to sleep with this last bit of information she just gave you. The big problem is she may very well be telling the truth, because for the most part Semra has never really lied to you. You didn't believe her at the time, but she told you the complete truth about Casimir and his intentions. She didn't have Alison killed either. As usual in her own fucked up way that you still don't understand she has attempted to help you. Of course that was in the past, she could be lying about everything right now. While she has confirmed your own beliefs that it's been the svelk working against you, she's also trying to put the blame all on her daughter. Granted you know they probably don't get along, but still. There also has never been any evidence that Ackerson has shown signs of being a potential traitor. Doesn't even make sense, but then again you can't trust anyone nowadays. Now you have to play a guessing game to as whether or not someone on your own side is going to kill you in the middle of battle. You miss the days when all you ever concerned yourself with were the people on the other side trying to kill you. > You dismiss the accusation There is no proof and indeed it would be incredibly stupid even for a traitor to attempt to kill you while there's a rampaging army of beastmen that could very well kill everyone if you weren't around. You roll over and salvage some sleep. Despite everything that went on last night, you miraculously actually manage to get a little sleep before the arrival of the Torites. You're still a little tired, but you think when you get into the thick of battle the thrill of it will kick in and you'll be invigorated. You usually are. It seems word of what happened spread fairly quickly to the rest of the camps, even to Decena's army. You imagine that will at least have to put Galen in a good mood, maybe he'll whine less now. When the Torites arrive they certainly look like a chaotic rabble, but it's no mistake that they mean business. The number of harpies fills the sky to the point where you hope that the Storm can take care of such a flock. The second airship is in far distance behind you. Hopefully by the time it gets to engage in battle it won't be replacing the Storm so much that it'll be supporting the Storm. The cannons and rifles fire as soon as the Torites are within range. Their centaurs return fire with their accurate arrows. The saytr wizards up the ante by casting their elemental magic which rips solid chunks of rock and earth out of the ground and goes flying at your army. It can't be said that the Torites are any less dangerous just because they're less technologically advanced. High above you the Storm takes on the harpy warriors. Even from here, it looks like a swarm of locusts descending on a single blade of wheat. Looks pretty damn grim for the Storm, you just hope if the crew does get overwhelmed they can keep the ship from crashing near your location. The bull creatures lead the charge along side their horse beast brethren. Another volley of shots takes out some, but they remain relentless in their charge. The satyr rank and file advance steadily behind. They WILL arrive and there will certainly be enough of them left to give your army a good fight. Your own cavalry meets them and while they have the best training, they can't overcome the sheer savagery of the minotaurs and as for the centaurs, their very bodies are half horse. They already have the advantage over your own cavalry as far as maneuverability. Breaks in the Torite army form as they allow their war beasts participate in the charge. Several manticores and chimera of the largest size make their way straight towards you. At their pace, they're going to be the first ones your people will have to fight. A cannon blast rips through one of the chimera and fireball from one of your mages brings down another, but before you know it, a manticore is shredding apart your front line with its talons and impaling others with its spike tail. What comes next is utter mayhem. Swords and axes cutting and stabbing. Fangs and claws tearing and biting. Magic on both sides destroying several lives in the blink of an eye. It's all very glorious. Decena's army is holding its own on her front, but then you never had any doubt about that. The only problem they do have is the blasted satyr magic manages to turn the golems against them. Hopefully, Flevas managed to get Galen's ass out of there before they crushed him. General Ackerson seems to be struggling a bit, but is hanging in there. Still, the battle is far from over yet. The fact that you're simultaneously facing down three bullheads by yourself and a chimera closing in is a great reminder. You cast a lightning blast at the bulls, which fells two of them, but the third fights through the pain of having his body fried from the inside out. You dodge his axe and follow up with your own sword swing to his meaty leg. The beast roars, but is still undeterred. Two nearby soldiers from General Ackerson's army see you and they both pull out their pistols. At first you think they're just trying to shoot the chimera, but then you realize they're going to shoot you. You mutter a curse about Semra being right. While you manage to block the shots with a quick force shield, you are also being attacked by a very vicious chimera, which takes advantage of your distraction. You feel a large singer impaling you through the leg followed up by the chimera's goat head breathing poisonous gas in your face. Disoriented, hobbled and half blind, you don't even see the minotaur that you temporarily fried with your lightning blast come at you with a great axe, cleaving half of head off.

Year 40 "I thought the plan was to keep them in the tanks until the sixteenth year." Brenda says. "No, those were Marik's original plans for the last Eternals he worked on. We're doing things differently. From Elam's earlier calculations, and my own magic theories on this project we both came to the conclusion long ago that keeping them in the tanks for as long as Marik did is asking for trouble in the long term. While it certainly accelerates their skills and abilities there's a risk for it to have a terrible affect on the mind. In fact it's probably just as well that Marik killed them all, otherwise we might've had hundreds of mental cases." You reply. "But Decena seems okay. I mean from what I know of the girl." Brenda says. "Decena's an exception, but I'm not going to tempt fate with this group. Five years seems like a good stopping point." "So are you going to be training the rest of them?" "No, you are." You say to Brenda who is speechless for a second. "What?" Brenda says. "You're going to be responsible for these new Eternals Brenda. I know you're going to need assistants, but it's going to be chiefly your responsibility to train them and to make sure they become the best of the best. What Eternals should be. What WE are." "But, why me? I mean I've never been on the frontlines like the rest of us were." "True, but I know you're no stranger to battle and you're the only one I can trust with this task. Warrick's job is to be the head of internal security and to directly oversee the Eyes, so he can't do it. And I feel it would be best if another Eternal should be fully in charge of training these new ones. That leaves you and I know you to be an honorable woman who upholds the ideals of the Empire. Who could possibly be better?" "You?" Brenda says. "Heh, well it was a rhetorical question. But besides being too busy myself, I actually don't believe I'd be the best trainer. I think due to our own experiences of how we were trained as well as our personalities, you will make a better teacher." "But we both had the same training up to our twelfth year." "Yes, and then our next four I guarantee was vastly different. And even during our twelve years together in Semra's class, MY training experience was very different from yours. I think you'd agree." Brenda nods, probably remembering that Semra took every opportunity to single you out in the class and subjecting you to the harshest punishments when it struck her fancy. "You had Captain Gruz as a teacher and from what I heard, he taught you all to fight as a team and to have a shared respect for each other and he did it without resorting to excessive measures. I know the common belief is that I'm cruel by nature, but I'm actually not. Ruthless perhaps, but not needlessly cruel. And because I'm not cruel, that's why I'd rather have a more even-tempered person with at least a less hellish childhood experience than I train these children. They may be Eternals, but they're still children that will have to be molded into good productive soldiers for the Empire with minimal problems to their mental state. I know you'll be tough, but fair." "Well, I don't know what to say, except I appreciate your confidence in me in all this and I'll do my best to carry out this task successfully. However, while I do understand that you don't really have the time to train the new Eternals I'm still slightly puzzled to as why you believe you'd be a rotten teacher. I mean you trained Decena and from what I've heard she's fanatically loyal as well as a great warrior bringing glory to the Empire." "That's right, I did. And she is." You answer and don't give any more elaboration, which prompts Brenda to just leave it alone. "Okay." She responds. There's a brief pause before Brenda decides to break up the silence by changing the subject. "So, what's next on your agenda?" "Me? Well after I go inspect the new airship that Elam is supposed to be finished with, I'm going back on the battlefield. I think its time; most of the internal reorganization and major projects have been dealt with and don't require my immediate watchful eye anymore. I'm sure if any problems crop up, someone won't hesitate to inform me. Besides, the Torites are causing all sorts of problem on Ackerson's front. And I think he may even be having issues with that petty kingdom he recently made contact with. I don't even remember what its name is, and if I have anything to say about it, neither will anyone else." "Well I'd tell you to be careful or wish you luck, but I know you'll be fine. You always are. Are you going to stay for the grand opening though?" Brenda asks and points at the rows and rows of tanks. "No. Probably best if they don't see me immediately. Keep me a semi-mysterious unapproachable figure for awhile." You reply. "Oh like what they told us?" Brenda says. "Worked didn't it? Still, when you've sufficiently got that idea into their heads, then I suppose I'll make my appearance to them, most likely unannounced. I'll want them to actually believe that I may very well pop up at any time. It'll keep them on their toes." "Ha ha, that's probably even more frightening than never seeing such a figure as I have to admit even at times I wondered if the Emperor was actually watching me all the time, though Roldan certainly thought so." Brenda at this point temporarily spins off into a pleasant memory she has of Roldan. You've never told her it was actually Casimir that had Roldan assassinated for his own reasons. You've pondered if you should tell her the truth, but ultimately decided it wouldn't do any good save for perhaps destroying her faith in the Empire, which you don't want. You know Brenda is prone to bouts of depression ever since Roldan's died, telling her that the government and its ruler that she served was directly involved in her husband's death might push her into hopelessness. Maybe even suicide. As it stands, you've been working to try to keep her spirits up. Which is another reason why you picked her to train these new Eternals. Perhaps it will give her a better sense of purpose. "Sorry, I rambled a bit there. I guess I just still miss Roldan." Brenda says. "No need to apologize, I completely understand. Roldan was a dedicated soldier of the Empire and if he were here today he'd be proud of your accomplishments. Anyway, I have to go; if I'm lucky Elam hasn't blown up this new machine he just built yet. I trust you have this?" "Yes I do." You leave Brenda to her task and make your way to your next stop, which should be very different… You look at the brand new airship you've poured money into. It certainly is as large as you thought it might be, though it is still strange to see such a machine that was only picture on a piece of parchment a few years ago. Elam is visibly anxious about what you'll think about it. He's surprisingly quiet though, which might be a good sign that he's learned to not run off at the mouth all the time. "Hrm, its impressive looking, but does it actually work?" you ask Elam. "Oh yes! We have tested its flight capabilities and it certainly works according to all the notes and plans Marik left. Had to make some adjustments of course, but I believe now that we've made one, we can easily improve upon it and make more." Elam says. "Good, glad to hear it. What about weapons?" "We've equipped it with the latest cannons and the prototype repeater. There are also firebombs that can be dropped from the sky." Elam answers. "Excellent work as always Elam." "Thank you, my Emperor. Will you be boarding it?" "Boarding it? Hmm, hadn't actually given it much thought. I mean is this final product? You don't need to do anymore testing on it?" "Well we were just going to do some weapons testing while it flying it, but the airship itself is fully operational. It won't go crashing into the ground or anything like that." While you prefer keeping your feet firmly on the ground, you have to admit you do like the idea of potentially floating through the sky towering over your enemies and all those that might oppose you. "Very well, but I still want you to go through a weapons test like you planned, before I get on it. Do another safety check as well." "As you wish, so about a week?" Elam asks. "Fine, but no more than that." You reply and leave. Seeing as you have a few more days to kick around before the airship is ready, you return to the mundane duties of rulership. A couple days later you decide to check up on Warrick to see if there is anything he's uncovered that needs your attention. The Eye Headquarters is probably the safest place in the Empire other than the palace itself. The Eyes may not be Eternals, but they're the next best thing and Warrick being both is certainly one of the best warriors at your command. That's probably why he looks so bored behind his desk when you meet him. In fact your visit is probably the most exciting thing that's happened in his life lately. "Emperor! Didn't realize you were coming, I was just busy going through all these population lists. You know like who is a potential trouble maker, who is a loyal citizen, that sort of thing." Warrick says getting up when you enter his office. "Anything interesting I should know about?" you ask. "Not really. I mean there are still some grumbles from citizens about when we took babies from some families for the Eternal Project and the free elven population is always unsatisfied with the way things are, but I'm not seeing any uprising material. Unless you want to have some dissenters whisked away in the night just to be safe." Warrick says. "I don't think that'll be necessary. They can't all be kobolds." You reply. "Heh, got that right. Still can't get over how Brenda was so successful in assimilating them the way she did. I still remember during our first major assignment in Nalin we had to wipe out caves of those vicious little bastards." "I just saw her a few days ago actually, she's going to be in charge of the new Eternals, training and such." "Is that right? Well she's probably the best candidate. I mean with you busy ruling and me busy being in charge of the Eyes and all. Um, is she still pissed at me?" "She didn't really say anything about you, but I imagine you're still not her favorite person." "(Sigh) That's a shame. You know I don't harbor any ill will against her and if I could've I would've had even tighter security that fateful day. I mean I just…" You stop Warrick "Warrick, you don't need to explain. You did everything you could that day. We all did. I mean hell even I didn't see a shadow assassination coming. A dead one that I killed no less. Just don't worry about it. Brenda will probably get over it one day, and if she doesn't, well it's still not your fault." This reassuring statement seems to make Warrick calmer. You've obviously never told him the real truth about the assassination either and again you see no reason to stir up trouble by doing so. You and Warrick talk for a while, some it about the present, some of it about the future, and some of it about the past. During your conversation, it suddenly occurs to you that maybe you could hand a small honor over to Warrick for all his hard work. He certainly could use a break in the mundane paper work that he primarily does nowadays. You wonder if you should let him take command of the new airship and see some frontline combat. > You take command of the airship yourself Everyone's got his or her place and Warrick is needed where he is. Perhaps another time. You bid Warrick goodbye and in a week you make your way over to Elam's factory where you can board the new airship. It does look rather impressive. Just looking at all the cannons stick out of the sides, makes you wonder how the hell it lifts off the ground with all that weight, but then someone probably also wondered how the hell a regular ship can float with the same amount of weight on it at one time too. "This is a minor thing my Emperor, but I was wondering what did you want to name this ship? I figured you'd want the honor of doing that." Elam asks. "Name? Oh yes, I suppose a name would come in handy. Let's see…call it the Storm I guess. Raining down destruction on our enemies and all that. Sounds good to me." You reply to which Elam agrees. You board the Storm with Elam and meet the crew who will be flying this thing. All of them stand at attention when you arrive. a man dressed in a standard Empire engineer uniform walks up to you and salutes. It looks like his uniform has been crudely altered. "Emperor on deck! It is an honor to meet you in person! My name is Tavis…" he starts to say before you interrupt. "Why the hell do you have small metal cogs on your shoulders?" you ask. "Oh…yeah that well when we started this project nobody knew anything about flying so Elam picked me for a lot of first tests. It was dangerous, but exhilarating at the same time! In time I became the most proficient at commandeering this technological marvel, so Elam made me captain." "Glad to see Elam's taken it upon himself to completely ignore all military protocol and just arbitrarily assign ranks and such. So I'm guessing those little cogs you put on yourself are supposed to represent your new status?" "Erm...uh…yes my Emperor. I meant no offense!" "Calm down, I don't care that much. In the future though, assuming this turns out well. We really need to get you proper uniforms for airship crew rather than this poor attempt of altering old ones. Anyway, take me on the grand tour before we lift off." Elam and Tavis both take you to various parts of the airship and explain various things mostly involving technical talk, eventually you grow bored and decide you just want to get on with getting this thing to the battlefield where you can see its destructive capabilities. "Alright I get the picture, let's get this thing to the front lines and blow up some Torites." You say. "As you wish my Emperor, I'll leave you in the hands of Captain Tavis here, uh he's still a captain isn't he?" "Yes, since it's as good as a designation as any for now. If he proves competent, he may very well keep the rank." You respond. Elam and some of the other engineers that were testing the safety of the airship soon leave it so that the rest of you can get on your way. The airship takes a moment to warm up, but soon you're lifting off and high in the air. The experience isn't that bad and a fairly smooth ride. You honestly half thought you'd go crashing down to the ground, but it really looks like your engineers came through. You give some praising comments which seems to put the crew and Tavis in good spirits. You explain you'll be head towards the south where General Ackerson's command is located. You figure you can meet up and see what the situation is and have the Storm assist accordingly. Along the way one of the lookouts see a group of the centaur Torites galloping across the plains. There are actually quite a few of them. Enough to be a raiding party probably. When asked if the Storm should try to take them out, you say of course. "We're too far away to use bombs and the cannons aren't angled in a position to fire at them yet. We could use the repeater prototype though. It's located over there and it has terrific range! Would you like to do the honors my Emperor?" Tavis asks. "Well I don't usually use firearms and I could probably hit some of those horse beasts from here with a few fireballs, but what the hell." You say and walk over to the repeater prototype. You turn the mounted gun towards the centaurs who are now quite away that the "big machine" in the sky is heading toward them and means to do them harm. They begin to scatter and you press the trigger… And the gun promptly explodes spectacularly. Enough so that it sets a large part of the ship on fire which then in turn causes more minor explosions. As the surviving crew runs around attempting to put out fires and move away gunpowder, you find that you are several feet away from your original location and your arms have become bloody stumps. Your body is in bad condition as well considering you can see out of your one remaining eye that your organs are exposed to the air now. Healing magic wouldn't be of too much help even if you could concentrate to use it. The explosions aboard the airship are deafening and you're barely conscious as it is. Someone goes over to help you and then you pass out. You are not awake to experience the Storm's fiery crash to the ground.

This adventure has drained you physically, mentally and even emotionally. Attacking a powerful necromancer in his homeland might not be the best idea right now. Another day perhaps… You approach the portal and give one last look at Nicodemus who stands by watching you. You can't figure him out. A lot of what he said was very condescending yet he seemed to pity you rather than be angry. He was also very nihilistic in his views on how achievements don't matter, not even life, though at the same he seemed to be trying to give you advice and help you in some strange way. You step into the portal and find yourself transported back to the Emperor's chambers. Chambers that seem so empty now. Empty as you feel. Something is bothering you and it's a strange thing to worry about considering it would've lead to your death, but you can't shake it. Why did the Emperor's ritual fail? Nicodemus said you were not a suitable vessel for the transference spell, but if you weren't, what does that mean? Would one of the other Eternals been a better choice, or was the plan always destined to fail? You believe there have to be some notes on the subject of your alterations somewhere. Jacob probably has several papers about the Eternal Project in his office, but you search the Emperor's rooms first. After hours of searching you manage to find several bits of private writings about various subjects. You don't have time to read all of them now, but you focus on anything to the Eternal Project. One of the major things you discover is that the pregnant mothers had a specific ritual cast over them while the Eternals to be were still in the womb. This ritual, while elaborate and probably quite frightening to the woman in question didn't harm her in any way; it was more of a "prep" spell. (You also read that it took several attempts to get this ritual "right" too. The number of dead pregnant women is quite sizable) Apparently this initial ritual was a big key in whether or not the final ritual was going to be successful. You can't find any other information besides how the Emperor was REALLY betting everything on this plan as he'd run out of ideas on to extend his life any further short of going back to Mortos and apologizing to Nicodemus for his behavior. Still wanting more information you go search through Jacob's office. It is actually easy to find everything since he kept everything in immaculate order. Naturally he had everything locked, but you easily remove such annoyances. Nothing is going to stop you from seeking out your origins. And after hours more searching you find more than you ever wanted to know in Jacob's journal… I can't believe those idiots! Trent and Stravid grabbed the wrong fucking infant! We only found out just yesterday when I found their list on the floor of the privy room covered in piss! I went back to check the Empire nursery numbers hoping that MAYBE they grabbed the correct child anyway, but no such luck. The infant that was supposed to be selected was already disposed of as a rejected candidate. Meanwhile the wrong infant is already going through his magical alterations. I'm not exactly on the Emperor's good side at the best of times, and I'm not getting into fucking trouble for this. Those two morons are going to be executed. As for the baby I'm going to have to grovel to get that svelk bitch to help me with this. She can probably perform the same ritual over this new brat so the Emperor won't be able to detect anything is amiss with it. I don't understand why the Emperor doesn't just perform this ritual in person rather than relying on the svelk to do it anyway. And HOPEFULLY that will work. It has to work. Maybe I'm worrying about this too much, what are the chances that this kid will live through training and meet the Emperor anyway? And there it is, your "origins." You weren't even meant to be an Eternal. You were a clerical mistake, a bureaucratic mishap, and the Emperor's death was caused by it. Hell, it's almost like you went through with Jacob and Semra's plan to assassinate the Emperor anyway. One might think something like this would cause you to doubt the meaning of your entire existence and drive you into depression. Possibly even suicide. An end to this life of misplaced duty, obedience and blind devotion to ultimately an ungrateful master. Just like Nicodemus said. But you don't really think about any of that. Instead you start to laugh. You laugh for a very long time. "He…he didn't even know I wasn't originally chosen! What a fool! Why the hell did I ever follow this man? Because I'm an even bigger fool!" you say to yourself in between the guffaws. Perhaps you're still being a fool. Casimir lied to you and deep down never really cared save for what he thought you were, but none of that nor his death invalidate your beliefs in the Empire. His idea that the world needs order, that the masses need to be kept in line, that some elements are better off exterminated for the overall good. Maybe part of you still can't quite shake being the "dutiful" son, but you fully intend on continuing in your "father's footsteps." Of course the difference now being that your life is truly your own now. Since destiny has conspired to thrust you into the position of a ruler, you will play the role that it would have you play. Now you just have to convince everyone else. Within the week you call for a meeting of the most important leaders of the Empire. Ranging from generals to economists to advisors and other infrastructure types you've had little to no contact with before. Everyone is told to gather in the throne room, which is a room that hasn't been used in centuries; or rather Casmir stopped using it after he decided to become a recluse. You won't be doing that. You'll be leading from the front rather than hiding in the shadows causing people to wonder if you exist at all. This is your time now. When everyone finally arrives they naturally all wonder what's going on, you get right to the point. "The Emperor as most of us knew him has moved on from this world. As his only logical successor I will be taking his place. If anyone has a problem with this we can have a civilized discussion about it on the battlefield which I have no doubt I will be seeing a lot of when several pretenders, dissidents and outright anarchists attempt to dethrone me. They will fail. The Empire will not fall today or anytime soon. This is just a new era for it and one I fully intend on making successful. The Empire currently is doing well, but I'm confident that with your loyalty and obedience we can make it even stronger." You take a pause in your speech and scan your audience. None of them are interrupting. They all seem to be captivated, of course maybe some are just planning on trying to assassinate you later, but for now you'll take their attention as a positive sign. "Join me and the Empire will live forever. YOU will live forever! Who's with me?" No sooner have you finished your statement, several of the advisors bend their knee and bow towards you. The soldiers draw their weapons and raise them in air pledging their loyalty. "Hail to the new Emperor!" "Long live the Empire!" Well that went better than you expected. The only "important" person that didn't attend your meeting was Marik though you didn't really expect him to being a derro and all. Not to mention you didn't invite him anyway and had planned on meeting with him personally. You have no idea how he's going to react to the news and he's erratic at the best of times. You and he weren't exactly getting along the last time you saw him, so for all you know he may just attack you. Part of you hopes he does, just so you never have to deal with him anymore. Besides Semra, Marik was the next one you never liked dealing with just because his demeanor irritated you. When you get to his personal factory, it's as silent and as empty as it was when you had to clean out those escaped trolls. You hope that isn't the damn problem again. On your guard, you cautiously walk through the factory and make your way down to the underground portion and continue to find nobody around. "Marik! If this is an ambush, let's just get this over with now because I don't have time for it!" you shout. You see the door to the tank baby room open up, but it isn't Marik, it's a young girl. In fact it's the tank baby that you spared before your trip to Mortos. She looks like she's been healing well. "He…he's not here sir. I mean my Emperor. I apologize for not addressing you properly." She remarks nervously. "That's fine…so word of my ascension has reached down here eh? Wasn't sure if it did, so where's Marik? In fact where is everyone? I know there's still usually a skeleton crew that works in the factory above and there are usually derro guards wandering around down here. In fact shouldn't there be more of you tank babies running around training?" you ask. "Marik killed them all. He shut down the machine that was keeping the rest alive inside the tanks. Said if the Emperor was gone then his debt was paid and he wasn't going to spend the remainder of his years toiling for the likes of you and called you a…uh…um…" "Oh just say it, I'm pretty sure it isn't going to surprise me." "He called you a svelk fucker." "Is that all?" "Well then he sort of ranted. He said that you had a svelk lover that would strap on a…uh…sexual device and made you bend over like a woman when you would have relations." "Sheesh. Can't say Marik didn't have a colorful imagination." You remark shaking your head. "Then he said the pair of you fellated kobolds and ate the dung of…" "Okay, I think I got the idea." You say holding up your hand. "He was very angry at you my Emperor." "Mmh, sounds like. So why did he kill all you tankies?" "Oh, well he also said he wasn't going to waste any more of his genius for you to use, so he decided to kill all of us in the tanks. He tried to kill me as well by having his men shoot at me and lob several firebombs at me." She says and points over to a partially collapsed bit of the room where blacked equipment and fallen rock now lays. "Guessing it didn't work." "I managed to duck under one of the desks and made a blood curdling scream as the explosions went off and the rocks fell down around me. After they let up, I heard Marik laugh at how I feared death in my final moments and after a few minutes I heard them leave at which point I started digging myself out of the rubble." "Hrm, I see faking your own death actually worked for you this time, good. You shouldn't disregard a tactic just because it fails in one instance." You say as you glance over a pile of papers lying on another table in the room. "Marik was brilliant in some ways, but he was an idiot in others. The fool left all his notes behind. I can easily restart all the work he did." You add. "You're going to restart the Eternal Project? But I thought you didn't like…tankies as you call us." "Well, I was in a different state of mind at the time. Now that I'm Emperor, I'm thinking that I'm going to need dedicated loyal soldiers to help in the expansion of the Empire in the future. Just need to rebuild the factory, get some babies, throw them into the tanks and grow my new army. Of course I'll be overseeing it and making my own alterations to whatever Marik's original design was." "What about me, my Emperor?" The tank baby asks. "Yes, what about you? Well considering you managed to survive not one, but two major attempts on your life within weeks of being out of your little tank, I suppose you deserve a place somewhere. To be honest, I did spare you in the first place because you showed more promise and strength than your siblings by merely surviving my assault. You know I was singled out too, on several occasions. I grew stronger from the challenges. You will have the same opportunity I did and I'm going to personally train you. Then depending on how well you do, I'll decide where you're best needed." You tell her. "You're…you're too kind my Emperor." She says with a gratuitous expression on her face. You start laughing. "You won't be thinking that when we actually start training. Let's go. By the way it'll be useful to have something to call you other than tank baby, so what's your name?" "Name? I don't have one, my Emperor. Marik never saw fit to give me one. I do have a number though. Ten." "No, I'm not going to call you ten. That's silly, especially since there's only one of you now. Let's see…I'll call you… Decena. You like that name?" "I don't have any objections to it, my Emperor." "Good. Let us be on our way." With this last bit of business out of the way, you feel you're getting off on a good start as the Empire's new Emperor. You just wish Alison were here to share it with you. > You tilda Zookwinkle (Casimir's dark secret) You must have spent a lot of your down time searching through Casimir's libraries and personal items in an attempt to possibly find some sort of magic or treasure or secret that could increase your own power, but you haven't had much luck in that regard. Most of Casimir's power came from his own magic strength along with his mind and had little reason to have such trinkets lying around. Surprisingly most of his notes and journals are of the more mundane sort. You don't find the discovery of some powerful spell he didn't teach you or anything. Again, such things would've probably been locked up in his own mind, which of course is inaccessible now. Still, one thing that you found stands out and it's something that completely surprised you. Dearest Tilda, In all my years, I have never met a woman that makes me feel the way you do and I've met many in my travels. Never did I think that I would find paradise in the arms of a gnome woman. It's like you've known me all my life, I don't need to explain myself to you. You just know and understand. If I didn't know better I'd swear you were some sort of trickster demon. Of course I know that cannot be the case, because you have such a kind and gentle spirit despite also being grounded in realism. I am not ashamed to tell you that I love you. I never thought I could experience such a wonderful emotion. I know your people are not magical by nature, but I cannot help think that you must've cast a powerful spell over me! I vow from here on out, that you will always be major factor in my future goals. I want to share everything with you. You find several, no a multitude of these sorts of love letters. Apparently Casimir once loved a gnome woman by the name of Tilda. Many of these letters were obviously sent and read, but you wonder how he got them back. After scanning through a few more of them, you find one letter that answers more questions to this mystery. It's not Casimir's writing, its Tilda's. Casimir, When you find this letter, it will be on my dead body and hopefully most of my people will have escaped your bloody purge. You are a man of unspeakable evil, I always knew this, but within these last few months you proved it tenfold when you committed genocide on our Halfling cousins. Why? They wanted nothing more than equality, yet you would rather kill them all rather than grant that tiny bit of dignity. There will be a day of reckoning for all your evil, mark my words and when that day comes, I shall be watching and laughing at your downfall in the afterlife. You claimed that you loved me with all your heart, but you proved time and time again that you have no heart. You did not truly love me. You wished to possess me as a favored toy. Someone to pat you on the head whenever you whined about how the people just "don't understand" why you have to do the terrible things you do. You're pathetic, and I curse the day your eyes set their sights on me. Do you know how much I rolled my eyes at your sorry attempts of writing me love letters? Do you know how it made my skin crawl every time I had to lay with you? Do you know how much I utterly hated you from the moment you enslaved my people? Yes, ENSLAVED. No matter how "favored" our position we were still SLAVES. And you made me your personal one. I go to my grave happily knowing that I did everything I could to distract you from realizing the truth of our exodus before you could act in time. Know how a simple gnome woman fooled the mighty Emperor. And if by some bizarre twist that you actually did have genuine feelings of love for me in that black heart of yours, then my revenge is even sweeter. Live with a broken heart, and may it hurt as much as all the pain you've ever inflicted onto others. You will also find all the worthless letters you wrote to me. Take them back, and keep them as a reminder of your utter failure. Tilda Zookwinkle: Proud gnome woman Wow. This letter isn't even addressed to you and you can feel the viciousness dripping from it. Good enough to rival the cruel ruthlessness of a svelk you think. It's very apparent now why Casimir hated gnomes so much. You always knew it had to be more than what he told you. She obviously was still having an effect on him for centuries as he kept his grudge and the letters rather than destroying them. Makes you think back to when he was trying to tell you that he knew about love and loss and how he was trying to guide you away from such things. Of course you know the main reason was due to his own agenda, but now upon reading these letters, you can't help but think a small portion was truthful and him speaking from this experience. Casimir certainly kept his promise in one of his letters though; he did say Tilda would always be a major factor in his future goals. While Tilda may have gotten a little revenge, she didn't exactly do her people any favors given what happened. You wonder if she knew what lengths Casimir would ultimately go to utterly destroy her people, would she have done it anyway?

Jacob and you enter your room. Jacob looks almost as bad as the Emperor once did. He hasn't been the same since Roldan died, but he's also been overworked since the Emperor has been sick. The man is in his late sixties, but nowadays he looks more like he's in his late eighties. The stress has been taking a toll. "Jacob, I really hope this is important because I've got a lot going through my mind right now." You say. "I'm sure you do, but you'll have a lot more after you hear what I have to say. Though after you hear it you might just decide to kill me instead, but that's a risk I'll just have to take." "Can't be anything worse than anything I haven't thought myself today." You say. "I highly doubt that, but I just want you to at least hear me out before you make a decision." You sit down and nod telling Jacob to go ahead. "Okay. I know you just came from a meeting with the Emperor and his revitalized condition. I'm also guessing he told you to that he wants you to go back home with him." "Yes." You reply. "Do you know where his original home is?" "He said it was a very far away island that couldn't even be reached by a boat. That was about it." "Figures he'd be cryptic. His home is Mortos, an island of necromancers. It's not a well-known place to the average person. Most that have heard of it just believe it's a myth, but it exists." "What?" "The Emperor is a necromancer. I mean it makes sense doesn't it? How else would he have the knowledge to extend his life for so long?" "Okay, so what?" "You are aware of what necromancers do don't you?" "I'm aware of the branch of magic. Most just believe it's about raising the dead, but it deals with life force in general. Healing mages use it all time at a cost of course. Only the strongest of wizards can use the art, let alone master it. Hence why there aren't many around and why stories about necromancers creeping about graveyards raising armies of undead horrors are mostly reserved for parents trying to scare their children." You say. Jacob gets a little frustrated at your apathy at this revelation. "Perhaps I'm not making myself clear enough…the Emperor is a necromancer. Roldan was KILLED by a revenant. YOUR WIFE was KILLED by a revenant." That got your attention. You stand up and Jacob can't help but step back even though he knows you'd easily catch him if he tried to run. "You're treading on very thin ice Jacob." "Believe me I'm well aware." "Then you must also be aware that you sound crazier than Marik right now. What you're implying doesn't even make sense." "Why not? It does if you really think about it." "Semra was responsible for my wife's death and Roldan's death! She is also a powerful sorceress that is more than capable of raising the dead!" "Yes, and she's also a perfect patsy for your wrath. The Emperor wanted you to think it was her, but it wasn't. Think man, even if she did have your wife killed why would she bother having Roldan killed? She had no grudge. There was no profit in it. Chaos for the sake of chaos? Not Semra's style and you know it. That woman didn't do anything without purpose even if she was chaotic about it at times. Besides if she REALLY wanted to kill your wife, she would've just done it herself." You think back to when Alison told you she met Semra face to face and entertain Jacob's theory. "Even if Semra wasn't responsible, why would the Emperor have Roldan and Alison killed?" "Because of you. It's all because of you." "Me? How? Why?" "(Sigh) It's a very long and complex plot. I've only been piecing some of it together myself. I'll try to tell you what I know." Jacob starts off by explaining that it all goes back to your birth and the Eternal Project. You and all of your "siblings" were picked for it for a reason. You weren't just to become super soldiers for the Empire. One of you was going to be chosen to be the new vessel for the Emperor, but only if that Eternal showed promise. Apparently you did. Jacob explains that while the chosen needed to be a great warrior with magical skill and be put to the test, the Emperor didn't want to risk your life excessively, hence why he initially wanted to keep you out of very heavy fighting. Also he didn't want any of the potential vessels to complicate things by potentially producing offspring so sterility was something that ensured during your "enhancement" period as a baby. You were a perfect soldier that was utterly loyal, so much so that you saw the Emperor as your father. Then Alison came along. Alison was the only other person that you had a close relationship with and that distracted you from your duty. Or more precisely, it made your loyalties potentially divided. The Emperor couldn't take a chance with another person turning your devotion elsewhere or corrupting his influence over you so she had to die. The assassination of Roldan was just a simple matter of taking out a potential future rival. Roldan's fame was at least as much as your own, and he was probably better liked. Even if Roldan was loyal, the Emperor couldn't take a chance of another potential domestic rebellion with a charismatic leader. Jacob also believes that the Emperor also just did it out of mean spiritedness since he knew how proud Jacob was of Roldan. On top of everything else he could lay all the blame on Semra. Jacob isn't sure exactly how the Emperor plans to transfer himself into your body, but given that it involves a trip to the island of Mortos, he's sure it can't be good and that you as a person will cease to be so that the Emperor can continue his immortal reign. While this is all very interesting from a conspiracy point of view, you aren't convinced. "So are you seriously telling me the Emperor has been molding me into some container that is to be filled? You're telling me that this man who I see as my father and treats me as his son has been lying to me from the beginning about everything? Even if this were the case and I highly doubt it is, HOW do you know all this? What evidence do you have?" Jacob at this point is extremely nervous. "I…I have no hard evidence. I mean I've seen a few private writings, but I dared not to take them." "So what you're telling me is that you've been snooping into the Emperor's privacy and can't even back up your accusations." "No! I also have another person who can back up these facts! She…" You stop Jacob. "She? Jacob, I really hope you aren't talking about who I think you're talking about." Jacob ignores your warning and blurts out what he has to say as quickly as he can. "Look, I pieced together some of the assassination myself, but Semra told me about the true purpose of the Eternal Project. But this isn't about just you. This is about a potential danger of world proportions! The Emperor isn't just a ruler seeking everlasting life; Semra says he has a more sinister agenda that he's been planning for centuries and given that I've recently learned his original homeland is Mortos I'm inclined to believe her." "Believe Semra? Really? Then you're a damn fool along with being a traitor! Just how long have you been in contact with Semra? WHERE IS SHE?!" you ask and slam Jacob against the wall. "Please…I'm telling you the truth! I'm no traitor! I'm loyal to the Empire first and foremost and I see the Emperor's actions as something that will harm it in the long run! The Emperor needs to be stopped, whatever it is he has planned. You can't go to Mortos with him! You have to kill him!" "I'll kill YOU for speaking such treason!" and begin squeezing Jacob's neck. "(Sigh) I told you this wasn't going to work Jacob. He's too hopelessly brainwashed to listen. Not even the death of his beloved Alison will cause him to believe that the Emperor means him ill. I guess I should've just killed him long ago, but as they say love makes you do stupid things." You turn around and see Semra. You don't think, you just lunge, only to pass through Semra and crash into some furniture. Its not really Semra, its just a magic projection of some sort. "I suppose I should be flattered that you still want to get your hands on me." Semra remarks. "After I'm done killing Jacob, I'm going to find and kill you, bitch." You say getting back up. "I'm sure, but I don't have much time so I'm going to make this brief. Unlike our sniveling associate over there, I'm not going to appeal to your logic or reason, because its always been hampered by your warped sense of mindless duty. I'm going to appeal to your sense of desire and survival, because despite your warped sense of mindless duty, you can't suppress those." You draw your weapon and walk past Semra's image to butcher Jacob who pleads with you to spare his life. "Okay here it is, you WANT to kill the Emperor. You WANT to rule the Empire. Don't tell me you haven't thought about it. I know your desires better than anyone else. Even if the Emperor isn't planning on taking your body as his own and is going to just rejuvenate himself in some other way, why would you still want that? Isn't it time for him to accept his demise and step aside for someone else? Who better than you? Are you truly happy just surviving and serving like a drone or are you going to finally step up and take what is rightfully yours? You've already had a major hand in expanding the Empire and holding it together, why not take the next natural step?" You stop yourself from killing Jacob and turn back to Semra. "You don't have to like me, you don't have to believe me, just listen to me lover. I've always known what's best for you. Kill the Emperor now while he's at his weakest, there has never been a better time. You were born to rule. Its in your blood, its in your heart, its in your soul. Seize your potential and do what's meant to be." Semra says. With Jacob's damning accusations and Semra's words appealing to your ambitious aspirations, you now don't know what to do. Should you dismiss everything they say as lies and stay loyal or should you not take any chances with your own survival and kill the Emperor regardless of reasons? > You rule Click. That's the sound of everything in your head finally coming together. Jacob's right. Semra's right. YOU'RE right. The Emperor needs to die and at this point the reasons are overwhelming and you can't deny it any longer. You lower your sword causing Jacob to breathe a sigh of relief. "Okay…so the Emperor needs to die. Any advice on how I should accomplish this task, because I'm fairly certain it's not going to just be a matter of storming in and chopping his head off." You ask Semra who is surprised by your response. "Semra? You listening?" you repeat. "Yeah…I just…I didn't actually think you'd listen to me…I'm glad you finally have though. Yes, you're right of course it won't be just a matter of chopping his head off, he'll most likely detect your intent as soon as you enter his chambers. At which point he'd melt your brain with just a thought and your mind shield spells wouldn't even help you. Fortunately you will have me along to help you in this task. He can't do that little trick on me, svelk brains work differently." "Don't I know it." You mumble. "I still don't see how that is going to help me though." "Easy, I'm going to shield you by joining our minds together. It'll come in handy during the fight as well since we'll be more in sync with our attacks…" You immediately interrupt. "Wait a minute, I don't know about this plan. Linking our minds and you having access to mine? That sounds like I'd be at your complete mercy." "(Sigh) You've trusted me this far, why not a little further? You already know I've been trying to help you from the start. Besides, we've done this to a minor degree already when we were destroying gnome souls in Gnome's Home. Also it works both ways you know. You'd have access to my mind as well." "You make that sound like that's a good thing." "Oh trust me lover, it'll be a very good thing. Just think our minds in harmony and knowing each other greater than we could ever express in words. We'd have a level of intimacy that most beings can't even comprehend. Doesn't that sound just so… invigorating?" "It sounds like something all right. Look, I don't know if I'm going for this. Maybe I'll just take my chances with getting my brain melted." "I highly suggest you don't. I know you think you are strong of mind, but this is something you are not going to have any defense for without my help. I'm going to meet you down in the hall just before you enter the Emperor's chambers. I suggest you reconsider my generous offer by the time you get there." At this point Semra's image disappears and its just you and Jacob left in the room. He's still very nervous. "Jacob, you can stop shaking I'm not going to kill you. In fact since you're partly responsible for this power grab in process, what are you going to be doing?" "Me? I don't know. I wouldn't be much good in a fight as you well know. I guess I'll be packing a few bags just in case I need to make a hasty getaway, not that it'll probably do me much good." "Way to have confidence in me, Jacob." "I do have confidence, but I have to maintain a pragmatic attitude too. You understand." "Yeah, I get it…so what about Semra? You think I should let her invade my head?" "You're asking me?" "Sure, why not? You and her have been plotting this whole thing. You obviously trusted her enough to work up the courage to try to bring me into this. So what's your opinion?" "I don't know. And I'm not saying that to be evasive or frustrating, I really don't know. I mean if you were anyone else I'd say go for it because you wouldn't have anything to lose because quite frankly I don't think anyone BUT you would have a chance of coming out of this alive." "But…?" "But since you DO have a chance of surviving this, who knows what Semra might pull after the Emperor is dead? And if she can get in your head…well…I just don't know." "Great." "But didn't she say you'd be in hers as well? Maybe she wouldn't try anything, because she'd be just as vulnerable." "So she says…shit, just wish this was clear cut. You know? This isn't where I envisioned where my life was heading. In fact I never envisioned this." "I don't think any of us did, but here we are never the less. The only other thing I can tell you is given how obsessed she is with you, she probably won't kill you." "There are things worse than death, Jacob. (Sigh) I guess I'll figure it out soon." You reply and turn to leave before you do though, Jacob calls out to you. "Just in case we don't get to speak again…I just want to say thank you for the times you helped me out." "Just doing my part in serving the Empire." You say and leave. "Serving the Empire." You chuckle at that dark joke. You're about to try to kill the man who created it. You might be inclined to rationalize such an act by thinking you're serving the Empire by killing a leader that is no longer good at ruling it. Of course that would be complete bullshit. You're killing the Emperor for your own personal reasons first and foremost. Some of that is your own desire for power, but a lot of it is for revenge of Alison's murder. In fact the more you think about it, the angrier you get and that's good, because it's keeping out the fear you do have about facing the Emperor. Eventually you reach the large hall before the Emperor's chambers and just as she promised, Semra is there waiting. "What took you so long lover? The Emperor is probably aware I'm here by now and possibly even suspecting something is amiss with you as well." "What's the difference? You said he'd know I was going to kill him as soon as I enter the chambers." "I suppose so, but I was at least hoping that maybe we'd have a slight chance at a surprise attack. Those are always the most efficient. Killing your enemy before they even get a chance to strike. Less messy, don't you agree?" "Maybe, but personally I don't mind getting messy." "Mmmm, yes I imagine you don't. Anyway come to me so we can merge our minds and get this task underway." You cautiously step towards Semra who gives a faint smile as you do so. Her attempts at being friendly and inviting are probably more disturbing to you than when she used to beat and verbally abuse you. When you get within range, her arms reach out and around you. "Hey, what are you doing?!" you ask backing up. "Will you relax? This is part of the spell. We need to be looking at each other and focusing. Now here, just put your hands around me like this…" Semra says and starts to position your hands though you can't help but notice she initially positioned your hands so they were temporarily on her ass before she slowly moved them up around her waist. Her hands find their way on your shoulders and at this point you feel like you're in a compromising embrace rather than preparing for some spell. "Now stare into my eyes and focus." Semra remarks as her own face is only a few inches away from your own. Your eyes don't immediately focus on her eyes though, you stare at her full blood red lips. You think about how you want to press your own lips against hers. And then she suddenly does and your mind goes to another place. You see what's in Semra's mind or at least a glimpse of it. Images are coming at you so fast you can't make out all of it, but you see a mixture of the horrifying and impressive at the same time. You see what must've been during the time of when the svelk ruled. Everything is very regal and elegant looking, though much like the svelk themselves, it radiates a certain coldness. You also see the svelk treating their subjects (Most of which are of races you've never even seen before) worse than the Empire ever could. They also have greater control too thanks to their magic. What you aren't seeing is any images of Semra herself and you're even sensing that she's experiencing pain during this process. Semra is obviously blocking some of her more private thoughts. She's showing you a general history of her life, yet somehow only telling you half the story. Meanwhile she's probably trying to scour through your mind of everything. With this moment of clarity during the spell, you wonder if you shouldn't break off this link given that she's intending this to be a one-way affair. She might have ill intent for you once this is over after all. > You break the link Something about this is suspicious and you aren't risking it. You push yourself away from Semra. "What are you doing?! I'm not done yet!" Semra exclaims. "Well I am. I'm not going to be put in a position where you can access my brain." "You damn well better, because when the Emperor has access to it, he's not going to be nice about it like me." "Look, let's just get this over with." You say. Semra wants to argue more, but she sees she isn't going to convince you. "Fine." She replies. After speaking the password, the door opens and you both enter the Emperor's chambers. You cast your magical shield spells and distance yourself from Semra. Almost immediately you hear the voice of the Emperor, though he hasn't made an appearance yet. "So it's come to this has it? After all I've done for you. After all I've given you. You turn traitor for a piece of svelk tail?" The Emperor steps out from his bedroom. "Son, I am disappointed." He says and then just stares immediately in your direction. You feel a slight pain in your head, which then gets much worse nearly immediately. Semra casts a spray of acid, and while it sizzles and melts objects within the designated direction, the Emperor's own defenses absorb it. Meanwhile you're collapsing on the floor clutching your head in extreme pain. You bleed from your nose, from your ears and finally your eyes. Your death screams are ignored as Semra attempts to defend herself against the Emperor's overwhelming lightning blasts. Your brain liquefies inside your skull and you are no longer a factor in this attempted grab for the throne.

Click. That's the sound of everything in your head finally coming together. Jacob's right. Semra's right. YOU'RE right. The Emperor needs to die and at this point the reasons are overwhelming and you can't deny it any longer. You lower your sword causing Jacob to breathe a sigh of relief. "Okay…so the Emperor needs to die. Any advice on how I should accomplish this task, because I'm fairly certain it's not going to just be a matter of storming in and chopping his head off." You ask Semra who is surprised by your response. "Semra? You listening?" you repeat. "Yeah…I just…I didn't actually think you'd listen to me…I'm glad you finally have though. Yes, you're right of course it won't be just a matter of chopping his head off, he'll most likely detect your intent as soon as you enter his chambers. At which point he'd melt your brain with just a thought and your mind shield spells wouldn't even help you. Fortunately you will have me along to help you in this task. He can't do that little trick on me, svelk brains work differently." "Don't I know it." You mumble. "I still don't see how that is going to help me though." "Easy, I'm going to shield you by joining our minds together. It'll come in handy during the fight as well since we'll be more in sync with our attacks…" You immediately interrupt. "Wait a minute, I don't know about this plan. Linking our minds and you having access to mine? That sounds like I'd be at your complete mercy." "(Sigh) You've trusted me this far, why not a little further? You already know I've been trying to help you from the start. Besides, we've done this to a minor degree already when we were destroying gnome souls in Gnome's Home. Also it works both ways you know. You'd have access to my mind as well." "You make that sound like that's a good thing." "Oh trust me lover, it'll be a very good thing. Just think our minds in harmony and knowing each other greater than we could ever express in words. We'd have a level of intimacy that most beings can't even comprehend. Doesn't that sound just so… invigorating?" "It sounds like something all right. Look, I don't know if I'm going for this. Maybe I'll just take my chances with getting my brain melted." "I highly suggest you don't. I know you think you are strong of mind, but this is something you are not going to have any defense for without my help. I'm going to meet you down in the hall just before you enter the Emperor's chambers. I suggest you reconsider my generous offer by the time you get there." At this point Semra's image disappears and its just you and Jacob left in the room. He's still very nervous. "Jacob, you can stop shaking I'm not going to kill you. In fact since you're partly responsible for this power grab in process, what are you going to be doing?" "Me? I don't know. I wouldn't be much good in a fight as you well know. I guess I'll be packing a few bags just in case I need to make a hasty getaway, not that it'll probably do me much good." "Way to have confidence in me, Jacob." "I do have confidence, but I have to maintain a pragmatic attitude too. You understand." "Yeah, I get it…so what about Semra? You think I should let her invade my head?" "You're asking me?" "Sure, why not? You and her have been plotting this whole thing. You obviously trusted her enough to work up the courage to try to bring me into this. So what's your opinion?" "I don't know. And I'm not saying that to be evasive or frustrating, I really don't know. I mean if you were anyone else I'd say go for it because you wouldn't have anything to lose because quite frankly I don't think anyone BUT you would have a chance of coming out of this alive." "But…?" "But since you DO have a chance of surviving this, who knows what Semra might pull after the Emperor is dead? And if she can get in your head…well…I just don't know." "Great." "But didn't she say you'd be in hers as well? Maybe she wouldn't try anything, because she'd be just as vulnerable." "So she says…shit, just wish this was clear cut. You know? This isn't where I envisioned where my life was heading. In fact I never envisioned this." "I don't think any of us did, but here we are never the less. The only other thing I can tell you is given how obsessed she is with you, she probably won't kill you." "There are things worse than death, Jacob. (Sigh) I guess I'll figure it out soon." You reply and turn to leave before you do though, Jacob calls out to you. "Just in case we don't get to speak again…I just want to say thank you for the times you helped me out." "Just doing my part in serving the Empire." You say and leave. "Serving the Empire." You chuckle at that dark joke. You're about to try to kill the man who created it. You might be inclined to rationalize such an act by thinking you're serving the Empire by killing a leader that is no longer good at ruling it. Of course that would be complete bullshit. You're killing the Emperor for your own personal reasons first and foremost. Some of that is your own desire for power, but a lot of it is for revenge of Alison's murder. In fact the more you think about it, the angrier you get and that's good, because it's keeping out the fear you do have about facing the Emperor. Eventually you reach the large hall before the Emperor's chambers and just as she promised, Semra is there waiting. "What took you so long lover? The Emperor is probably aware I'm here by now and possibly even suspecting something is amiss with you as well." "What's the difference? You said he'd know I was going to kill him as soon as I enter the chambers." "I suppose so, but I was at least hoping that maybe we'd have a slight chance at a surprise attack. Those are always the most efficient. Killing your enemy before they even get a chance to strike. Less messy, don't you agree?" "Maybe, but personally I don't mind getting messy." "Mmmm, yes I imagine you don't. Anyway come to me so we can merge our minds and get this task underway." You cautiously step towards Semra who gives a faint smile as you do so. Her attempts at being friendly and inviting are probably more disturbing to you than when she used to beat and verbally abuse you. When you get within range, her arms reach out and around you. "Hey, what are you doing?!" you ask backing up. "Will you relax? This is part of the spell. We need to be looking at each other and focusing. Now here, just put your hands around me like this…" Semra says and starts to position your hands though you can't help but notice she initially positioned your hands so they were temporarily on her ass before she slowly moved them up around her waist. Her hands find their way on your shoulders and at this point you feel like you're in a compromising embrace rather than preparing for some spell. "Now stare into my eyes and focus." Semra remarks as her own face is only a few inches away from your own. Your eyes don't immediately focus on her eyes though, you stare at her full blood red lips. You think about how you want to press your own lips against hers. And then she suddenly does and your mind goes to another place. You see what's in Semra's mind or at least a glimpse of it. Images are coming at you so fast you can't make out all of it, but you see a mixture of the horrifying and impressive at the same time. You see what must've been during the time of when the svelk ruled. Everything is very regal and elegant looking, though much like the svelk themselves, it radiates a certain coldness. You also see the svelk treating their subjects (Most of which are of races you've never even seen before) worse than the Empire ever could. They also have greater control too thanks to their magic. What you aren't seeing is any images of Semra herself and you're even sensing that she's experiencing pain during this process. Semra is obviously blocking some of her more private thoughts. She's showing you a general history of her life, yet somehow only telling you half the story. Meanwhile she's probably trying to scour through your mind of everything. With this moment of clarity during the spell, you wonder if you shouldn't break off this link given that she's intending this to be a one-way affair. She might have ill intent for you once this is over after all. > You keep focused In for a silver, in for a sack as they say. If this spell is going to protect you from the Emperor, you'd best stick with it and worry about Semra's intentions later. Though at this point you don't even feel any pain on your side of things, but maybe that's because you aren't trying to hide anything from her. Your life has more or less always been an open book. You've never really hidden anything because you've usually come clean eventually anyway. You're not even going to be hiding your desires to kill the Emperor pretty soon. If Semra's hoping to learn something to use against you, she's in for disappointment. She already knows most of your combat techniques having taught most of them to you. She already knows your mindset well enough that she has more influence over you than you'd like. She already is well aware of your feelings towards her. There is quite literally nothing she is going to find out that won't give her any advantage that she doesn't already have. Yet you can sense she STILL wants more, its almost as if she's insecure about not having total control over you. You sense a lot of that actually. She can't comprehend why you can have a sexual desire for her, yet not desire her in the way you did with Alison. She's at a loss on what to do about it. And that confusion is a big ball of anger, frustration and pain. Suddenly you see the image of a young svelk girl. You aren't sure how old, but by human standards she would definitely be considered a child. It's Semra and she is holding the hand of an adult male svelk though you can never quite make out his face. They are both in a city where a large crowd of svelk are gathered having a good time throwing what looks to be sveld babies against a nearby wall which has a big target on it. Semra looks very happy and cheers whenever one splats into a bloody mess in the center. It would seem that Semra's entertainment preferences didn't change much for her. Several images of her enjoying similar activities with the same adult male flood your mind. You can only guess that the adult male might be her father, but Semra must be blocking you from confirming that. In any case, the idea that she was once a child is bizarre, but then everyone starts as one at some point right? She had a twisted childhood to be sure, but she had more of a childhood than you ever did. Just as think you're starting to see more images of a personal nature, the contact is broken off and Semra pushes you away. "There. It's done. Let's get this over with." She remarks while rubbing the sides of her head. She also starts rubbing her eyes and is sniffling a bit. You're silent for a moment, just staring at her. You know that she must be hiding loads of whatever unhappy memories she does have. And she certainly can't have you seeing them, she can't trust you enough to believe you wouldn't mock her in some way or exploit a weakness. "WHAT?!" she shouts when she notices you staring. "Nothing. Keep your secrets. Like you said, let's get this over with." As you make your way to the door to the Emperor's chamber, you do feel the connection of your mind to Semra's. Its not like you can read her thoughts, but its rather a sixth sense kind of feeling. You're curious how this will play out during battle. After speaking the password, the door opens and you both enter the Emperor's chambers. You look at each other, simultaneously cast your magical shield spells and spread out. Almost immediately you hear the voice of the Emperor, though he hasn't made an appearance yet. "So it's come to this has it? After all I've done for you. After all I've given you. You turn traitor for a piece of svelk tail?" The Emperor steps out from his bedroom. "Son, I am disappointed." He says and then just stares immediately in your direction. You feel a slight pain in your head, but its muted. Semra's shielding spell must be working. The Emperor looks genuinely shocked. Its an expression you don't think you've ever seen before on him. "You…you let this…creature into your mind?! Have you gone mad?!" "Probably." You remark and cast a lightning blast at the Emperor, but he easily deflects it back at you causing it to hit your force shield and knocking you to the floor. Semra casts a spray of acid, and while it sizzles and melts objects within the designated direction, the Emperor's own defenses absorb it. Realizing he can't just explode your brain, he casts a spell, which starts to turn the room very cold. You're reminded of the time you cast this spell on Cyrus' crew and you immediately cast a ring of fire around yourself in the hopes the heat will be enough to keep you from freezing. You follow up with a volley of small fireballs, which set the many bookshelves in the room ablaze. "You've made a dire mistake son, trusting this svelk whore. Even if you could defeat me, do you really think she'd allow you to live? She's lying to you son. She always has and I thought you were stronger than that." The Emperor remarks as sheets of ice cover the room extinguishing some of the flames. "And you weren't lying to me?! You had Alison murdered and you planned to kill me as well!" you shout back as you release your feet from the ice that has managed to encase around them. The Emperor sends a flash of light that blinds you and Semra. You stumble around to the left since you remember there being a solid stone table you can take cover behind. "(Sigh) Even if any of that was true my son, what of it? I was your father! Your master! Your life was mine to do with as I saw fit! Of course none it matters now. You've decided to stand against me and now your life is most certainly mine to take." You hear the Emperor say and then suddenly hear loud lighting blast followed by a yelp sound to your far right. Must be Semra, but you're still half blind from that flash of light. "Ha ha! Not as strong as we thought eh Semra? You always were an overconfident bitch. Won't be long before I break through your pathetic force shield." Your eyes clear up enough and see Semra across the room struggling to maintain her shield from a steady blast of lightning unleashed by the Emperor. Seeing that trading magic isn't going to work, you put up your own shield and try to make your way over to the Emperor to just butcher him, but the combination of your hampered eyesight and icy floor are enough to slow you down. "Ever the warrior aren't we son? Here, play with these!" the Emperor shouts and stops his attack on Semra, waves his hands and suddenly five hovering undead figures appear. You cast an enchantment spell on your sword and press forward to battle. Meanwhile Semra has taken advantage of her second wind and cast a telekinesis spell throwing a table directly into the Emperor. She follows this up with smacking him with several other smaller objects. He falls to the floor and re-establishes his own magic shield. "Keep up the pressure!" Semra shouts. You'd love to, but right now you're trying to destroy the undead creatures in from of you. While you've never faced such things before, you keep your cool and successfully cut down three of them. "You fools know nothing of the power you face! Now face the true supremacy of a necromancer!" the Emperor shouts and the entire room gets even colder, but this isn't even like the cold of ice or snow, this is something unnatural. You start to feel the tips of your fingers go numb and feel your energy starting to be drained. It's like when Cyrus touched you, but this is all around you. You nearly get your head cleaved in by one of the wraiths as you start feel dizzy. You dodge the attack and slash the thing in two. The last one is taken down with a blast of fire from Semra who you sense is feeling the affects of the Emperor's magic too. You stagger and prop yourself up on a burned lab desk. The Emperor stands only a few feet away, but he seems so far for you to do anything. You look over and see Semra staggers towards him, but collapses and begins screaming. You aren't sure what the Emperor's doing, but his eyes are glowing red. "A scared little girl still crying about her lost birthright. That's all you are and all you ever will be. You svelk think you know about pain and death, but you know nothing! I'll show you true pain and soon I'll show you death and the endless torture that can come after it!" Semra's confidence that the Emperor couldn't do anything to her mind because of her race has proven false. While he's not exploding her brain you do sense he's creating some sort of waking nightmare in her mind. She's literally crying and begging for him to stop, she even looks over to you reaching out with both hands telling you she's sorry. She pleads with you to help her and that she needs your strength. You never thought you'd ever feel a slight twinge of sympathy for her. In any event, you're not exactly doing so well yourself. You aren't even sure if you could help Semra even if you wanted to given how weak you feel. Though your chances of making a lunging attack to kill the Emperor are equally as slim. > You help Semra Under any other circumstances you'd probably be rejoicing in Semra's misery, but on this she is your ally and as your ally you're not going to leave her in the lurch. With your remaining strength you stumble over to Semra and then promptly collapse near her and grab her hand. This act causes the Emperor to laugh. "Ha ha ha ha! What would your beloved Alison say if she saw you rolling on the floor with your svelk harlot? Let's ask her!" the Emperor says and then another ghost appears. It's Alison. "I see that you've already forgotten me and found comfort in the arms of Semra. Now you and her make your grab for power. Why was I not worthy enough for your plan to kill the Emperor? Did you always feel that I was so weak and you ultimately held no respect for my skills?" the undead parody of Alison remarks. "No. No. No. I'm not seeing this and even if I am, this isn't Alison. She wouldn't say such things. Away spirit, I will not play your games!" you shout. "Now you dismiss me in death? I have returned and you have no loving words? You do not even make the attempt? It's the least you could do for your failure to SAVE MY LIFE!" Alison says and she begins to utter an unearthly wail. It's horrible and despite your best efforts, it's starting to demoralize you. A depression begins to set in, followed by guilt, but you can't let it get to you, because you're too busy trying to shake Semra out of her own hell. "Semra! Concentrate! You are Semra D'vessa! Mistress of torture and pain! You are the scourge of the lesser born and one of the greatest examples of your superior race! You don't fear anything! You have no frailties for such things are the attributes of the weak! You have my hand! You have my strength, you…" You breathe in and exhale hard. You never thought you'd say this, but if it'll help… "…have my love. Always and forever." You say. This last declaration causes her to snap out of her nightmare and look over at you. She breaks free of her nightmare. Meanwhile the ghostly abomination of Alison shrieks even louder at your statement before completely dissipating. Apparently your complete disregard of your true feelings for your late wife was enough to destroy it. You and Semra begin to recover from your ordeal and get up, but this is followed by the pair of you being hit by some sort of black ray. Semra tries to cast a spell, but she's still too weak. You look up at the Emperor who is now standing over both of you still hitting you with the black ray. He doesn't look young at all anymore. He doesn't even look like how did when he was sick. He's nearly skeletal looking. It's obvious this battle has taken its toll on him, but it doesn't matter because he's still got more fight in him than either of you. "Now look at the pair of you. On the floor writhing like the maggots you truly are. You've both set my plans back severely, but you'll not stop me. The pair of you will supply me with enough energy to do what I need to do! Argh!" You stab the Emperor in the foot with your dagger; unfortunately it doesn't distract or give you any breathing space and instead kicks your hand away. He increases the intensity of the ray on you and Semra. "BASTARD! YOU THINK YOUR PATHETIC WEAPONS CAN STOP ME? I AM CASIMIR OF MORTOS! EMPEROR! NECROMANCER! RULER OF THE…" "You're an asshole, Casimir." Jacob remarks who stands in the entry way of the chamber and the shot from his flintlock breaches the chest of the Emperor who watches it explode in a gout of blood before his eyes. He falls backwards to the floor struggling to breathe. "No…not…(wheeze) like this…taken down…by a (cough) fucking bean counter…(wheeze)…" the Emperor gasps and coughing up blood. You get up as fast you're able, retrieve your dagger from the floor and draw your sword to finish off the Emperor. Semra is still trying to gather her own strength. You stare down at the Emperor who is already on his way to death, but intend to quicken that journey. You hold the sword to his throat and stare him in the eyes. "Do it then… (cough) finish me off…but know this son…your will not get to enjoy your victory. (wheeze) You've won…nothing." You don't even reply you just press the sword through his throat causing him to gurgle one last time and twitch slightly before he dies. It's over at last. Or at least you thought it was. No sooner have you turned around to check on your allies, when Jacob and Semra shout at you to watch out. You turn around just into time to see the corpse of the Emperor lift up off the ground glowing a dark red color. His eyes are rolled up into his head and his mouth drops open and a deep voice emanates from it even though it isn't moving. "THIS EMPIRE WILL DIE WITH ME AS WILL ALL WHO DWELL WITHIN IT. THIS IS MY FINAL CURSE FOR YOUR TREACHERY." The corpse says and then it disintegrates before your eyes. A great rumbling starts and parts of the ceiling start collapsing along with the floor starting to crack and break. "You gotta be kidding me…" you remark. "Come on we need to get the hell out of here!" Jacob exclaims. Jacob, Semra, and you immediately run out of the Emperor's chambers trying to avoid falling debris and big holes in the floor at the same time. Jacob manages to reach the stairs just in time for them to start crumbling. "Come on, quickly before…" "JACOB ABOVE YOU!" you shout, but it's too late. Jacob is struck by a large piece of concrete followed by an even bigger piece, which crushes him completely. It also blocks off your only escape. "Shit! Fuck! Damn it!" you curse. "Semra you can move those large slabs of stone if I join my magic with yours can't you?" "Not in my current drained state and not fast enough even with your help." Semra remarks. "Shields! We still got enough to do that!" you say. "We're going to have an entire palace and possibly even a whole city collapsing in on our heads. Even if our magic was strong enough to deflect such massive weight, we still have the problem of being buried alive. We'd just suffocate instead of being crushed." The rumbles and shakes continue to get worse and knock you and Semra to the floor. You both try to find a spot where the falling debris isn't life threatening. Things are looking mighty bleak. "I don't believe it. Here I was worrying about you betraying me, but instead I'm going to die from a stupid final curse!" "Don't be so sure, there's still time for me to betray you." Normally you wouldn't laugh, but in this hopeless situation you can't help but to do so. "Heh, well hurry it up then because the rocks are going to get us both soon. This is a hell of way to die, I almost would've rather had the Emperor kill me. At least there would've been a certain honor in that." "What honor? You were a traitor. He probably would've had your name stricken from all records." Semra says. "Yeah…well at least it would've been better than being buried and crushed." Semra doesn't reply to that, but what she does instead is ask you a question. "Since we don't have much time left, I have to ask you…did you mean it?" Thanks your mind merge, you already know what she's asking with that question. You also know you can't lie to her because she'll sense that immediately. However, you also sense it doesn't matter if you do. "Sure. Why not?" you say with a smile. Semra returns the smile and gives you a kiss on the cheek. "No, you didn't, but maybe you will for this." She whispers in your ear. You give her strange look when she says this as she stands up. She pulls a ring out of a small bag from around her waist and puts it on. "Hey wait, what are you doing…" you ask and then you're suddenly struck with a paralysis from the ring and then a strange purple field envelops you. You see everything going on, but are unable to do anything about it. A sizable rock even hits you, but you feel nothing. The field is protecting you. "Mommy loves you…always and forever. Remember this." You hear Semra say before sound becomes muted completely and your vision goes completely black. You are able to breathe normally, but you don't see how you can survive. You'd probably panic a lot more if a strong wave of sleep didn't suddenly take you. As the continuous falling rubble buries you, you sleep. You sleep for a very long time. > Chapter 3C1: Relic Year ??? "What the hell is that thing?" "I dunno, it's about time we found something worthwhile in this old rubble though, because this whole expedition has been pretty pointless. Looks like some sort of weird magic shell. It also looks like something is inside, guess we'll finally get to use this old dispel staff after all." "Hey wait! We don't know what's in there!" … "Shit! It's a body!" "Yeah. Damn, I was hoping it was treasure." "You think he's dead?" "Well he ain't moving is he? Probably been here for who know how long, but I assume the shell preserved the corpse. Hey, check out that neat dagger he's got. Is that mithral? Shit, that IS mithral! "Hey you shouldn't be doing that! You know what Calvin said!" "Fuck Calvin, I'm taking this for myself. Not like he's going to know, and don't act like you've never done it before. I saw you pilfering some old ring in the debris back there." "It's not that, I just don't have a good feeling about this." "What you think he's gonna just wake up or something?" "Maybe…I mean like a zombie." "(Sigh) You and your zombies. I swear you think we're going to unearth a tomb of undead horrors on every expedition and in all our years have we ever even encountered something remotely like that? You read too many damn bad copper dreadfuls about necromancers." "I dunno, I still say you should be careful. We've never found a body so intact before, let alone preserved in some magic shell. Maybe there was a reason for that." "Maybe, but that's Calvin's job to figure out. Right now I'm just getting my hands on this dagger…ULK!" You sit up immediately and thrust your dagger in the throat of your assailant. Blood gushes from the fatal wound and you throw him to the side. "Oh shit! Oh shit! Oh fuck!" you hear another attacker shout and see him fumble with some sort of pistol only to drop the weapon entirely before attempting to make his escape. He doesn't get far. You stand up and blast him in the back with a lightning bolt. He screams and falls making a few death twitches when his sizzling body hits the ground. You have no idea who these people were, but that scream was loud enough to attract more enemies if they're in the area and judging by the large sound of foot steps coming in your direction there are. You quickly scan your surroundings and see quite a few shovels, picks and lanterns nearby, but no way out other than the one entryway that the fried fellow on the ground was trying to run to. What happened? Last thing you remember is Semra casting a spell on you and you fell asleep as the palace was collapsing in on your heads. You don't even know how much time has passed. The two men that were hovering around you aren't dressed in the typical Empire style. They carry no weapons other than pistols and those are different from the ones you've ever seen. The pistols are more complex looking. How much time has passed? Has the Empire fallen? What happened to everyone? Hell, at this point you're even wondering what happened to Semra. As the sound of footsteps get even closer you draw your sword out of its scabbard and prepare for a fight. A group of men and women appear in the entryway. A some of them carry gunpowder weapons, but most of them are completely unarmed. Again, their style of dress isn't familiar. "Stop! You point those weapons at me and I can easily incinerate the lot of you! Don't believe me? Watch!" you remark and throw a small fireball on the ground nearby. It's enough to cause them all to back off and even cause a couple of them to run away. One of them demands to be let through so he can see exactly what's going on. The man that shoves his way through looks about in his fifties with thinning hair and is dressed in a fancy suit. You've never seen this man before, but something about him looks vaguely familiar. When he sees you, he's more in awe than he is scared. In fact he doesn't seem to care at all about the two dead men on the ground. "I can't believe it! It's you! I mean it's gotta be! The way you're dressed, the magic abilities, the location...I just can't…" Suddenly a higher female voice shouts from behind the crowd. "Dad! What's going on?! I heard all this…by the...gods…is that…" "Yes, Jennifer it is! We've made the find of a lifetime! Quintus will be so pleased!" The woman is on the younger side with raven black hair. Probably early twenties. Unlike her father her clothes are covered in dirt and more practical in nature. You also notice she's carrying a pistol as well. "Who the hell are all you people?! Were you sent to dig me up?! What's happened to the Empire? Someone better explain what's been going on!" you demand. "Forgive us. I'm sure this must all be very confusing for you, but we don't go on these digs to find living people, let alone someone like you. I just…wow…I can't believe it's you. I mean you're the Eternal right?" "I'm an Eternal. Yes. But you still haven't answered and I'm starting to get impatient!" you exclaim. "Okay, okay! My name is Calvin Mol. I am head of this archeological dig for the Nalin Republic and Senator Quintus Arillicus in particular. This is my daughter Jennifer…" Calvin begins to say before you interrupt him. "Wait. Mol? Are you related to Jacob?" you ask because it would explain the very vague likeness. When you ask this question both he and his daughter's eyes light up. "Yes! He was one of my ancestors! Did you know him?! I have so many questions!" "And your fucking questions are going to have to wait! You said Nalin Republic, what's that? The only Nalin I know of is a province of the Empire! You also said Jacob was your ancestor, how much time has passed?!" At this point Calvin and his daughter look a bit nervous at each other. Everyone else behind them who hasn't already backed away entirely, does so now. "Well…taking into the consideration of the age of these ruins and what we already know about when the cataclysm occurred…um…I'd say about five hundred…give or take a few years." Calvin remarks. Your heart almost skips a beat and now you're the one in shock. Year 535 "Five…hundred years…" you slowly utter. You almost hesitate to ask. "And… the Empire?" Calvin and Jennifer look a bit nervous again. "It's…um…gone. Been gone for centuries. It never recovered from the unknown cataclysm that struck the land. Most of it was outright destroyed. By the time most of the pieces were picked up, those areas that weren't hit as hard had become their own nations." Calvin explains. This news causes you to sit down on a nearby stone. "I caused this…" you whisper to yourself. Jennifer and Calvin don't quite hear what you say, but Jennifer sensing that you're more than a little troubled by this news attempts to cheer you up. "What my father should've said, is while the Empire as you know it is gone, its spirit lives on in the Nalin Republic! Seriously, Nalin was probably the only portion of the Empire that managed to hold on to a few of its traditions and culture during those dark ages. Even the language didn't change too much. That's probably why you can understand us so well, even if our accents and a few of our words are slightly different to yours." This has no effect on your mood. You are at a complete loss of what to do. You were supposed to rule the Empire, but instead your actions were part of its destruction. You never wanted that to happen. Maybe you should've believed the Emperor or at least just followed his orders. Who knows what might've happened? Maybe he would've killed you or maybe he wouldn't have, but at least you wouldn't be in the situation you're in now. A man out of time. A relic of the past. You have no nation to rule or serve. You don't even have a home or a master any more. What are you going to do with yourself? You have no idea. The only good thing about any of this is you have a minor support base here. Jacob's descendants are obviously very taken with you. You've only been half listening to what they've been babbling about, but they keep mentioning that they want you to return to the Nalin Republic with them so you can meet this Quintus character that apparently is going to be glad to see you as well. It would seem that you are somewhat known in the few old writings they've found about the old Empire. Jennifer's brief description of this Nalin Republic sounds at least like a good place to familiarize yourself with this new world and you could go with them if only to get some bearings before you decide what to do next. > You go to the Nalin Republic You don't have much else to do at this point. You might as well go to Nalin. If you decide you don't like it there, you can always leave. "Okay, okay, I'll go with you. Just both of you stop going on about it!" "You will? That's wonderful! Hey would you…" "Calvin, I told you to shut up already!" you snap. Calvin shuts up and backs away. He starts telling his daughter that he has to stay here with most of the crew because there is still a lot of digging that needs to be done, but that he wants her to take you to Quintus right away. She nods and tells a few of the expedition crew to start loading up a few wagons to leave soon. Jennifer herself on the other hand starts walking along side you and staring a lot. "Shouldn't you be helping load up the wagons?" you say implying that you'd like her to leave you be. "No, they got it. Hey, so how well did you know my ancestor?" she asks ignoring or oblivious to your wishes. "Not as well as I thought, considering he never mentioned having a family to me." "Oh I do not believe he had one of his own. But from what I've seen of my father's family tree diagrams, Jacob had a couple of brothers that were just normal civil servants. Record keepers, that sort of thing. Obviously they had families though, otherwise my father and I wouldn't be here. He never mentioned siblings?" "Nope. Perhaps he wasn't on good terms with them. I dunno. I only interacted with him on things concerning important Empire business. He was pretty immersed in his work most the time. I suppose I can say, he was a dedicated servant of the Empire." This remark makes Jennifer display a big grin. "Hah, I knew it. We Mols have always been patriots to our nations!" "Hm, well he definitely would do anything to save his nation. Unfortunately that seems to have been for naught given that it no longer exists." "So…um, why were you in that magic shell?" Jennifer asks changing her line of questioning. "Why do you ask so many questions?" "Because we could've never believed that we'd discover a living person from the old Empire, yet here you are! I mean we know about the Empire only from a few tattered incomplete writings or mostly oral stories. Now we've finally got someone who lived during those glorious times! Someone who can give us the truth about what happened. I mean the cataclysm for example. All anyone knows is it was a great disaster of a magical nature that occurred five centuries ago. Nobody really knows how or why it happened. You had to have been there for that. Do you know what happened?" "Oh…I have an idea…" You say. "And?!" Jennifer asks. "And I'm not going to tell you." You remark. "What?!" Jennifer exclaims in total disbelief. She actually is at a loss for words, but unfortunately not for long. "But why aren't you going to tell me?!" "Don't take it personal. I'm not planning to tell anyone. It's very apparent that you folks want something from me, which I can provide. History, information, and the truth. If I just give all that shit away, who's to say you won't just toss me aside and try to have me killed after you've milked me for all of it?" "That…that wouldn't happen! How could you even think we'd do such a thing?" "How could I NOT think such a thing? Besides, I'm fairly certain you wouldn't want the real truth anyway." "Of course we want the truth!" "No, I don't believe you do. Not really, I think you just want to hear what you want to hear. You want the truth? Here's one for you. The Empire existed, and then it didn't. End of history lesson." This cynical comment causes Jennifer to again briefly shut up which you hope will send her away, but she's not going to be deterred so easily. "Look, I realize you're probably a little upset about your situation. I get that, but you don't need to take it out on me. I'm just saying you're living history. And more specifically you're a very important part of my nation's past. You could fill in so many blanks. You're more than just some old magical weapon that we found in the dirt." You snort at that last statement. "No. That's exactly what you found, an old magical weapon that was buried in the dirt. Not even buried, but sealed away. And like most old magical weapons found sealed away and buried for centuries, sometimes the smartest thing you can do is leave them alone. I would think the dead bodies of two of your crew would be a good example of that." Jennifer perceives your comment as a threat, as well she should. She makes no smart comment back; she just shuts up like her father and continues walks along side of you. Glad to see these Mols have as much sense as their ancestor did. Eventually you make it out of this dig site and into the open air. And what you see before you is severely different from what you remember. Where you once knew a great city once stood is gone. These explorers have uncovered a few pieces of it, but by and large it's gone. Even the surrounding area where you once knew farmland and even lush fields would've been is gone. Everything has been replaced by sickly undergrowth. A wasteland. Jennifer remarks to everyone needing to keep an extra eye out for orc raiders. Jennifer looks over at you briefly again, but casts her eyes down and tries to get on with packing up the front wagon. You shake your head and walk over to Jennifer. "Look, Jennifer is it? I apologize for my remarks earlier, but as you said all of this IS a shock to me. I've seen a lot during my time, but I don't think anything could've prepared me for this." "I can only imagine. I guess overwhelming you with questions was inconsiderate of us." "Well I suppose your curiosity is natural, but let's just say I'm not quite ready to discuss everything. At least not yet." "I understand. Your last memories of the Empire were during the cataclysm and you're only just now seeing the results. It must've been a terrible time!" "Yes, you could say that it was." Jennifer nods and you help her with loading the last bags on the head wagon. When you step aboard it, you're on your way. For a while there's silence between the pair of you as you ride through the wasteland, but you decide to be social and break the silence. "So orcs huh? They're a threat? I would've thought they'd all be extinct by now. There weren't even many left in the Empire during my time." you say. "Sadly, that is no longer the case. I imagine without the Empire around, they reverted back to their chaotic natures and they bred unchecked. Now they're all over the Qualan Badlands and elsewhere too. They probably were one of the few races to thrive during the dark ages. I'm not too worried about that happening today though now that we've got powerful Eternal travelling with us!" "You shouldn't be too overconfident of that. Under the right circumstances, anyone, no matter how powerful they appear to be can be brought down sometime by the humblest of things. Still, I see the reputation of the Eternals has still survived. So are there any in Nalin?" "Ha ha ha ha! No, of course not! Before we found you, the last one died over four hundred years ago. First Matriarch Brenda of the Nalin Dominion. She was probably the main one responsible for keeping the fledging remnants of the Empire together during the cataclysm." "Glad to know someone was trying to uphold order. Good for her." "Did you know her well?" 'Not excessively, but we did have dealings on a few matters, like during the taming of the lands east of Nalin for example. There was another major event too, but I'd care not to discuss that at this time." "Understood…well anyway that was back then. Things have changed a lot since her time, our government being just one of those things, but for all intents and purposes she sort of laid the foundations for the Nalin Republic by keeping the country safe in the first place." "You're going to have to explain what the hell a republic is. Never heard of it before." You say causing Jennifer to smile a bit. "Well, nowadays a single leader doesn't rule our government. It's run by a senate, which consists of a group of politicians that are chosen by the people. They ultimately decide on the laws and such by discussing and debating them." You are completely baffled by this concept. "That sounds like an inefficient way of running things. How does anything get accomplished?" "Well, sometimes things do take time, but the citizens are a lot freer and happier by choosing their leaders." Now you're really lost. "Why the hell would people want to be free and happy? They should just be grateful for the protection and order that the government provides for their miserable lives! One strong leader to rule over them with an iron fist is only thing the citizens really need. And if they grumble too much they get executed, problem solved. Hell, it's not like slaves cost that much if they need an extra hand in the fields." Jennifer chuckles at your totalitarian views. "Yes, I imagine that it would be a bit strange to you. I'm sure it might also surprise you that we don't have slavery anymore either; it actually became less cost effective. Still, you'll see that it isn't all bad. In fact you'll probably get along with Quintus, he's a very big admirer of old Empire history and culture. He's the one been privately funding all these expeditions." Just as you're about to ask Jennifer who this Quintus is, you hear war cries and howling in the distance. It might have been five hundred years, but you know the sounds of orcs when you hear them. Not long after the general warning, you soon see them coming from the far left and the far right. They look every bit as big, mean and green as you remember them. No heavy armor, but the giant boar creatures they're riding and the willingness to use bows are new. Jennifer orders everyone to ride faster and ready their firearms. While readying the firearms is always a good idea, there is no way you're going to outpace the orcs at the speed you're going, the wagons are just not fast enough and are weighed down by equipment. There are also enough orcs that some of them are going reach you before they get shot off their pigs and that's assuming everyone in this caravan is a crack shot that can hit them in the head. Meanwhile you feel like you're a sitting kobold on your own wagon. Part of you would rather just get on one of the horses and unhook the wagon, so you've got a little more maneuverability. Of course you could just start flinging magic spells at the orcs. > You cast spells No need to endanger yourself unnecessarily you think, so you start focusing on flinging fireballs at the orcs. Maybe it's the unstableness of the wagon as it runs over uneven land, maybe the orcs are much better pig riders than you thought, maybe you're just out of practice or maybe it's a combination of all three factors, but whatever the reason you don't actually hit many of them. Doesn't take long before the orcs return fire with their bows. You immediately cast a personal shield to prevent being shot to death. Jennifer on the other hand isn't quite as lucky as she is caught by several arrows. Her face is one of shock as she stares at the arrow shafts now inside her body puncturing vital organs. She begins to fall, but in doing so she grabs on to your arm, perhaps in some sort of last attempt of begging for someone to help her. This catches you off guard and your arm is pulled away from your next spell gesture. Before you can pull away from her death grip, orcs on the other side of the wagon have unleashed their own volley of arrows and since you're distracted you don't manage to put up your shield spell in time. You're relatively "lucky" in that you only catch three arrows in the back. A grievous wound that would probably kill most, but under the right circumstances you'd pull through. Unfortunately after getting with three arrows in the back, and already slightly off by your footing when Jennifer grabbed you, you lose complete balance due to the wagon going over bumpy land. Doesn't help that arrows also hit the horses and collapse from their wounds which all results in you getting thrown to the ground and smacking your head on a rock when the wagon abruptly stops. Again though, even with something as bad as this, you'd probably pull through if you had time to heal yourself through magic. The problem is you don't have that luxury and after you finally manage to shake off the cobwebs of your head wound, you look up just in time to see one of the orc boars galloping towards you and then OVER you. A hoof crushes your skull and the rest break your bones. Your body broken and bloody is eventually stripped clean by the orcs and left to rot in the wasteland. Your "return" was a short and ignoble one.

You don't have much else to do at this point. You might as well go to Nalin. If you decide you don't like it there, you can always leave. "Okay, okay, I'll go with you. Just both of you stop going on about it!" "You will? That's wonderful! Hey would you…" "Calvin, I told you to shut up already!" you snap. Calvin shuts up and backs away. He starts telling his daughter that he has to stay here with most of the crew because there is still a lot of digging that needs to be done, but that he wants her to take you to Quintus right away. She nods and tells a few of the expedition crew to start loading up a few wagons to leave soon. Jennifer herself on the other hand starts walking along side you and staring a lot. "Shouldn't you be helping load up the wagons?" you say implying that you'd like her to leave you be. "No, they got it. Hey, so how well did you know my ancestor?" she asks ignoring or oblivious to your wishes. "Not as well as I thought, considering he never mentioned having a family to me." "Oh I do not believe he had one of his own. But from what I've seen of my father's family tree diagrams, Jacob had a couple of brothers that were just normal civil servants. Record keepers, that sort of thing. Obviously they had families though, otherwise my father and I wouldn't be here. He never mentioned siblings?" "Nope. Perhaps he wasn't on good terms with them. I dunno. I only interacted with him on things concerning important Empire business. He was pretty immersed in his work most the time. I suppose I can say, he was a dedicated servant of the Empire." This remark makes Jennifer display a big grin. "Hah, I knew it. We Mols have always been patriots to our nations!" "Hm, well he definitely would do anything to save his nation. Unfortunately that seems to have been for naught given that it no longer exists." "So…um, why were you in that magic shell?" Jennifer asks changing her line of questioning. "Why do you ask so many questions?" "Because we could've never believed that we'd discover a living person from the old Empire, yet here you are! I mean we know about the Empire only from a few tattered incomplete writings or mostly oral stories. Now we've finally got someone who lived during those glorious times! Someone who can give us the truth about what happened. I mean the cataclysm for example. All anyone knows is it was a great disaster of a magical nature that occurred five centuries ago. Nobody really knows how or why it happened. You had to have been there for that. Do you know what happened?" "Oh…I have an idea…" You say. "And?!" Jennifer asks. "And I'm not going to tell you." You remark. "What?!" Jennifer exclaims in total disbelief. She actually is at a loss for words, but unfortunately not for long. "But why aren't you going to tell me?!" "Don't take it personal. I'm not planning to tell anyone. It's very apparent that you folks want something from me, which I can provide. History, information, and the truth. If I just give all that shit away, who's to say you won't just toss me aside and try to have me killed after you've milked me for all of it?" "That…that wouldn't happen! How could you even think we'd do such a thing?" "How could I NOT think such a thing? Besides, I'm fairly certain you wouldn't want the real truth anyway." "Of course we want the truth!" "No, I don't believe you do. Not really, I think you just want to hear what you want to hear. You want the truth? Here's one for you. The Empire existed, and then it didn't. End of history lesson." This cynical comment causes Jennifer to again briefly shut up which you hope will send her away, but she's not going to be deterred so easily. "Look, I realize you're probably a little upset about your situation. I get that, but you don't need to take it out on me. I'm just saying you're living history. And more specifically you're a very important part of my nation's past. You could fill in so many blanks. You're more than just some old magical weapon that we found in the dirt." You snort at that last statement. "No. That's exactly what you found, an old magical weapon that was buried in the dirt. Not even buried, but sealed away. And like most old magical weapons found sealed away and buried for centuries, sometimes the smartest thing you can do is leave them alone. I would think the dead bodies of two of your crew would be a good example of that." Jennifer perceives your comment as a threat, as well she should. She makes no smart comment back; she just shuts up like her father and continues walks along side of you. Glad to see these Mols have as much sense as their ancestor did. Eventually you make it out of this dig site and into the open air. And what you see before you is severely different from what you remember. Where you once knew a great city once stood is gone. These explorers have uncovered a few pieces of it, but by and large it's gone. Even the surrounding area where you once knew farmland and even lush fields would've been is gone. Everything has been replaced by sickly undergrowth. A wasteland. Jennifer remarks to everyone needing to keep an extra eye out for orc raiders. Jennifer looks over at you briefly again, but casts her eyes down and tries to get on with packing up the front wagon. You shake your head and walk over to Jennifer. "Look, Jennifer is it? I apologize for my remarks earlier, but as you said all of this IS a shock to me. I've seen a lot during my time, but I don't think anything could've prepared me for this." "I can only imagine. I guess overwhelming you with questions was inconsiderate of us." "Well I suppose your curiosity is natural, but let's just say I'm not quite ready to discuss everything. At least not yet." "I understand. Your last memories of the Empire were during the cataclysm and you're only just now seeing the results. It must've been a terrible time!" "Yes, you could say that it was." Jennifer nods and you help her with loading the last bags on the head wagon. When you step aboard it, you're on your way. For a while there's silence between the pair of you as you ride through the wasteland, but you decide to be social and break the silence. "So orcs huh? They're a threat? I would've thought they'd all be extinct by now. There weren't even many left in the Empire during my time." you say. "Sadly, that is no longer the case. I imagine without the Empire around, they reverted back to their chaotic natures and they bred unchecked. Now they're all over the Qualan Badlands and elsewhere too. They probably were one of the few races to thrive during the dark ages. I'm not too worried about that happening today though now that we've got powerful Eternal travelling with us!" "You shouldn't be too overconfident of that. Under the right circumstances, anyone, no matter how powerful they appear to be can be brought down sometime by the humblest of things. Still, I see the reputation of the Eternals has still survived. So are there any in Nalin?" "Ha ha ha ha! No, of course not! Before we found you, the last one died over four hundred years ago. First Matriarch Brenda of the Nalin Dominion. She was probably the main one responsible for keeping the fledging remnants of the Empire together during the cataclysm." "Glad to know someone was trying to uphold order. Good for her." "Did you know her well?" 'Not excessively, but we did have dealings on a few matters, like during the taming of the lands east of Nalin for example. There was another major event too, but I'd care not to discuss that at this time." "Understood…well anyway that was back then. Things have changed a lot since her time, our government being just one of those things, but for all intents and purposes she sort of laid the foundations for the Nalin Republic by keeping the country safe in the first place." "You're going to have to explain what the hell a republic is. Never heard of it before." You say causing Jennifer to smile a bit. "Well, nowadays a single leader doesn't rule our government. It's run by a senate, which consists of a group of politicians that are chosen by the people. They ultimately decide on the laws and such by discussing and debating them." You are completely baffled by this concept. "That sounds like an inefficient way of running things. How does anything get accomplished?" "Well, sometimes things do take time, but the citizens are a lot freer and happier by choosing their leaders." Now you're really lost. "Why the hell would people want to be free and happy? They should just be grateful for the protection and order that the government provides for their miserable lives! One strong leader to rule over them with an iron fist is only thing the citizens really need. And if they grumble too much they get executed, problem solved. Hell, it's not like slaves cost that much if they need an extra hand in the fields." Jennifer chuckles at your totalitarian views. "Yes, I imagine that it would be a bit strange to you. I'm sure it might also surprise you that we don't have slavery anymore either; it actually became less cost effective. Still, you'll see that it isn't all bad. In fact you'll probably get along with Quintus, he's a very big admirer of old Empire history and culture. He's the one been privately funding all these expeditions." Just as you're about to ask Jennifer who this Quintus is, you hear war cries and howling in the distance. It might have been five hundred years, but you know the sounds of orcs when you hear them. Not long after the general warning, you soon see them coming from the far left and the far right. They look every bit as big, mean and green as you remember them. No heavy armor, but the giant boar creatures they're riding and the willingness to use bows are new. Jennifer orders everyone to ride faster and ready their firearms. While readying the firearms is always a good idea, there is no way you're going to outpace the orcs at the speed you're going, the wagons are just not fast enough and are weighed down by equipment. There are also enough orcs that some of them are going reach you before they get shot off their pigs and that's assuming everyone in this caravan is a crack shot that can hit them in the head. Meanwhile you feel like you're a sitting kobold on your own wagon. Part of you would rather just get on one of the horses and unhook the wagon, so you've got a little more maneuverability. Of course you could just start flinging magic spells at the orcs. > You get on one of the horses While it's entirely possibly that you'd come out of this thing alive, (You've certainly been through worse) there's little guarantee that anyone else will. If you're going to keep your "rescuers" alive, you'll need to be unhindered. "What're you doing?!" Jennifer asks as you leap on a horse. "I'm getting off this thing, and I suggest if you don't want to be a big target you will too, there's another horse here, jump on it and we'll unhitch the wagon!" Sensing that you're going to do this whether she likes it or not, she realizes that she doesn't really have a choice. She jumps on a horse and you take your sword and cut the harness. You tell Jennifer that she should order everyone else to concentrate their gunfire to the left. "Where are you going now?!" "I'm going to take care of the ones on the right!" you shout and ride in their direction. The orcs are so agitated about you heading directly towards them, they practically stop focusing on the caravan and begin firing arrows at you. Of course you anticipated such a thing and cast a shield to protect you and your horse. With your other hand you spray a cone of cold on the orcs closest to you, freezing them quite literally in their tracks. This feat of magic is enough to cause the orcs to attempt to rear up their boars and change direction back towards attacking the caravan. Others are undeterred and continue to head toward you with large weapons in hand. You aim your next spell at their boars, which consists of a couple fire blasts. The pigs go up in a blaze and soon so do their riders who end up dropping their weapons in an attempt to beat out the flames. You turn your attention at the orcs who decided to attack the caravan instead. At first glance the expedition crew have held their own fairly well considering none of them seem to be warriors and they seem to have fended off most of the orcs on the left side. However you see orcs getting the best of a couple of them when they close the gap and begin jumping onto the wagons. You ride back to the caravan and put your own combat skills good use. Orcs may be fierce and unrelenting fighters sometimes, but without the heavy armor that you remember they used to wear for the Empire, they get killed as easily as anyone else if you're skilled enough, and you're more than skilled enough. As you battle the orcs, the remaining expedition crew tries to help, though you're nearly shot a couple of times in the process. You end up yelling at them to stop "helping" you before you start firing at them with something a lot more accurate. Soon after you've killed your last orc after hopping from wagon to wagon, you hear Jennifer shouts to everyone that you've won and the rest have rode off. The caravan stops for a moment to take some time to clean up dead bodies on the wagons, and gather up any equipment that fell off during the fight. Jennifer comes up to you as you're cleaning off your own sword. "Well that was exciting to see a real Eternal in action! I knew we were going to be safe with you!" "Hmm, yeah well I almost wasn't safe with your people, because I nearly got shot a couple times!" "Yeah, sorry about that. Fear of the orcs actually on the wagons was probably causing higher nervousness than usual." "You should get some soldiers on these trips. Then at least you'd have some people who actually know how to fight when things get a little close." "We do have soldiers, can't you tell by the uniforms?" Honestly you hadn't really paid much attention to the fact that several of the people on this expedition crew do have similar outfits. It's just regular clothing though, none of it is proper armor, light or heavy. You also now notice that the firearms are much different too, namely they can fire multiple shots before being reloaded. A very handy improvement indeed. You realize that time has definitely marched on, it would seem that shooting someone with a rifle or pistol is the order of the day. Not much use for the old armor if that's indeed the case. Still, you're also reminded of the Felkans and their over reliance of such weapons. It would seem the Nalin Republic has the same technological disease. And these people are the supposed "successors" of the Empire. "Guns." You say shaking your head. "What's wrong with guns? You don't think they're honorable or something?" Jennifer asks. "No, I believe they are very useful and it would be foolish to not employ such weapons of fantastic destruction during battle and war. I just have a problem with the reliance of them in place of natural combat skill, because one day you're going to run out of bullets and then you see who the real soldier is." "How is using a gun any different from casting down lightning from your fingers or throwing fireballs around?" "It isn't in the scheme of things. I just said I don't have a problem with gunpowder weapons. However you also noticed I didn't just toss around magic like I had unlimited energy either. I used it when it was needed and engaged in close combat for the rest of them. I could've easily just rained down a firestorm and wiped out all of the orcs, but that would've taken out the caravan too. Something I'm sure nobody wanted. The Empire used firearms AND magic during the Felkan War, but individually the soldiers were still some of the toughest warriors you'd ever want to face. The Felkans soon learned that fatal fact. Perhaps if their soldiers still had the formidable close combat skills of an Empire soldier, they might not have lost so many battle when physical prowess was needed." Jennifer doesn't debate your views or experience, she just thanks you again for your help and you're soon underway. The rest of the journey is relatively silent. Eventually you arrive in the Nalin Republic. The landscape here is more like you remember, though it isn't until you get towards the capital of Dalt that you start seeing a resemblance to civilization, but even that's different when it comes to the architecture and such. You get a few stares from passing citizens. Jennifer and you disembark from the wagons when you arrive at Quintus' house, or rather his very large mansion, which has guards posted at the gates. Honestly it's the closest thing resembling the Empire you've seen since you got here. "You wait here, I'll have to speak with Quintus about all this first. While I'm sure he'll really want to see you, there is protocol to follow." "Sure, do whatever it is you have to do, I'm not going anywhere, but who is this Quintus anyway?" "Quintus Arillicus is one of the most influential leaders in the senate and as I've already mentioned an admirer of old Empire history, but he'll tell you more when you meet him." As Jennifer walks through the gates, you're left standing around with a few guards who give you the stares that you've come to expect from everyone. You wait for about ten minutes before you begin to wonder why you're even entertaining this again. Then you remember, it's because you don't have much else to do right now. Though you're wondering what place you're going to have in this new world. You imagine that maybe you could be a soldier again though it doesn't look like there's a war going on. Doesn't even look like this place is suffering from any discontent from the citizens, but then looks can be deceiving. Jennifer eventually comes back to the front gate and waves to come with her. "You can come in now. Quintus is very excited to see you!" At this point this Quintus better be just as impressive, because from what little you know of this guy, you're not nearly as excited to see him. You and Jennifer walk into the mansion and while it's certainly fancy and has a design style similar to Empire architecture, it isn't nearly as extraordinary as the first time you saw the Emperor's palace. Of course you're a harder sell from those old days. Jennifer and you enter what is apparently a conference room. She says that he shouldn't be long and you both take a seat at the table. Soon a middle-aged man walks into the room with some guards, but he dismisses them at the door so that you three can be alone. He's dressed in an older style suit that looks more like those you remember Empire bureaucrats wearing and carries a staff of some sort with him. He also wears several rings. You sense that they all might be magical. Either way you fail to be impressed, just as you suspected you would be. Quintus on the other hand, now that he sees you in person, he's very impressed. "I never believed in all these years…all the digging…all the research…everything. And none of what I've found compares to this! Yes! This is indeed a glorious day! A real live Eternal! Not just any Eternal either, but the one who served the Emperor himself!" Quintus exclaims as he sits down across from you. "Now let me stop you right there. I know you're all excited and shit, but for me this is going into unknown territory. Possibly even enemy territory. I have no idea WHAT exactly you want with me. I'm going to tell you right now though if you're thinking of putting me in some sort of museum or some weird aristocratic version of a sideshow like they have at the fairs peasants go to you better get that idea out of your head right now." Jennifer tries to temper your words, but Quintus raises his hands as if no offense was taken. "It's alright. Our Eternal friend is quite right to be suspicious of me, but I can honestly tell him there is no reason for him to be because I think my goals will fit his honorable ideals. I'm still sure there is much he wants to know and questions that he has, but I will say that it is my hope that he and I will change history together!" Quintus and Jennifer try to get you fully up to speed on everything first… > You time passes... After sitting here for about an hour or so listening to the sorry state the republic is in, let alone the rest of the area that used to be part of the old Empire, you've had enough of it all. "Stop. I've heard enough about your wretched country. I can already tell what YOU want. You want the Empire back." "Yes! I want to resurrect the Empire!" Quintus exclaims. "And that's a lovely thought, but sorry to tell you this, it's dead. Long buried and resigned to the trash heap of history." You remark. This comment is definitely not what Quintus expected. Jennifer on the other hand isn't quite surprised you'd say such a thing given your own cynical remarks to her. "But…you're here now…a symbol! A symbol of the old ways! Proof of honor! Proof of strength! Proof of power! You're an Eternal!" "And? I obviously couldn't prevent the destruction of the Empire. Am I supposed to just resurrect it with my mere presence? Am I to just kill the entire senate and establish perhaps you as an emperor? Do you think the people would accept that?" "Well maybe not so direct…" Quintus remarks. "No? Because that might be the only way to get things done around here. And what makes YOU think you'd even be a good emperor? You do not even have the support of the people." "I do have the support of my constituents! I even have a few allies in the senate!" Quintus protests. "Well you still don't have enough for what you desire. I'd say that I'd have a better chance of being accepted as an emperor before you would just due to the fear factor and raw power, and I'd still have to be looking over my shoulder constantly before I finally got run out by a complete rebellion or I destroyed so much of Nalin in the process of maintaining order. Given what you've told me of the average citizen it sounds like they're perfectly happy with the way things are. Happy with their hedonistic freedom. Do you really think they're going to listen to a relic of a time when the strong just ruled over the weak and the weak not only accepted it as a way of life, but some were even happy about it? The sheep have been let out of their pens and do not wish to return. Do you believe your people, even those that apparently keep voting for you to represent them are ready to accept a more restrictive and harsher culture? Do you believe you can foster such an environment?" Quintus remains silent and you throw up your hands at his inability to answer. "Well you see my problem with your plan. You probably thought when you dug me up; you'd have a powerful tool that would be your key to reforming a parody of the old Empire. And it would be a parody, because even if you were successful, it would NEVER be like the old Empire. You can read all the lore and books you want about the old days and nothing is stopping you from holding fantasies about such days. But make no mistake those good old days aren't EVER coming back. You're about five hundred years too late. I haven't been awake one complete day yet, and even I've come to accept that hard truth…but then I've had to accept so many hard truths. This is just another one to me." Quintus nods solemnly. The spark that was in him is gone, but you can tell he isn't completely defeated. Jennifer just tries to look away from both of you and shuffles some papers she has with her. "You…you aren't how I expected you to be…" Quintus says. "Nobody ever is. Another hard truth I learned a long time ago." You answer. "Mm…well I seem to be at a loss of what to say. Which is rare considering they often complain that I never shut up in the senate." "Look, Quintus. I won't deny that your ideals and goals aren't admirable ones. However, I had to drag you back to reality. You still have a long way to go before even bringing something resembling the Empire back. As much as it might be fun to send me to just kill the senate with a firestorm and then establish martial law across the land, it's not going to be that simple. At least not yet." "Yes, I suppose you're right. It's just I've read about some of your deeds, scraps of parchments really and I guess when I found out you were alive and in my house I just figured all of my country's problem were solved." "Well, they may still be eventually. Now despite what I've said, I will help you. Because personally, I'd like to see you succeed if only so I could live in a place that didn't seem so damn strange and it's not like I have anywhere else to go." "So you are going to help bring back the Empire?" "Well, something like it anyway. I can't promise anything, but I'll try. Now then, with me on your side, you shouldn't worry about the military side of things. I can take care of those matters when they arise, and they most certainly will. You're going to have to take the lead on the political matters obviously, but I can still advise you in this capacity. All my years of working side by side with the Emperor contributed to such skills despite being on the battlefield most of the time." Quintus seems to have that spark of life again when you agree to help him after all. He happily asks where you should get started. Jennifer at this point is glad to also see things have worked out and says she should leave you two alone to talk more and get back to the dig site. Before she leaves Quintus calls out to thank her. "And tell your father he has my thanks as well! If it weren't for you two, we would not be in the better position we are now. Expect a bonus in pay this week." Quintus says. "Thank you senator. I was wondering though and I hate to ask, but it just came to me. Do you think our new friend here could come back up to the dig site when he has the time? It's just that he was buried there and it might be of great help if he could at least perhaps give us a good indication on where it might be beneficial to dig." "Well we've got a lot to go over first, but afterwards if he wants to, I have no objections." Doesn't take you long to agree. You briefly remark that where they were digging was near the Emperor's main chambers and you'd like to see if anything survived yourself. This new revelation causes a bit of excitement from Jennifer and Quintus wondering what other magical treasures that might be of use in the coming days of change or even some scraps of history that can enlighten them more about such glorious days. You just wonder if you can find the remains of Semra. Call it curiosity; call it a sense of closure. The first thing you and Quintus talk about is the military. You explain that it is of vital importance to get them to support him the most, but it's also of great importance to get them be more vicious warriors. You say you understand that battles are probably fought a little differently nowadays, but the intense training isn't necessarily just to make them expert fighters. It's also to instill discipline and hopefully a warrior's mindset. Make it so that they want to go to war, that they long for it. Quintus says that he does already have some pull with the military. A little more than most find comfortable, but of course it's nowhere near absolute. You're glad since that cuts down on a little extra work. You tell him to track down the most spirited and skilled warriors that are in the military and have them gather somewhere secluded just outside the northern borders of Nalin. You say you need to get started on training as soon as possible, you just hope you don't have too many wash outs (or casualties). You then say you also need to get started on an outside threat. "What do you mean?" "I mean you need an outside threat that genuinely scares people. Makes it so people are more supportive of a strong military. Makes it so eventually people prioritize their safety so much that they're willing to give up their freedom just to be safe. I mean I know you've been warning the senate and the people about all the scary things out there and you're right, but people don't believe it until its beating down their door with a battle axe." "Yes, but how exactly are we going to do that?" "Well YOU aren't going to do anything except going about your usual business. I on the other hand am going to incite one of those threats you've told me about. Obviously one of the closest ones." "The usksha immigrants?" Quintus asks. "Heh, well maybe in due time, but that's bit more on the…political side. Plus its not a large enough threat and the follow through of invading the desert is a logistics nightmare that we are nowhere near in a position to carry out at this time. No, I was thinking something much simpler. Something much easier to incite violence in and a lot easier to get people to fear, namely orcs." "Oh, do you think you can do it?" "Encouraging an orc to attack isn't a challenge at all. Herding them to all attack in a specific direction takes a little more skill, but I can do it. It'll just take a little time and we have to make a balancing act of it. Going to have to let the orcs win a few major battles in the beginning at least. It won't be pretty, but it'll also serve to purge some of the less than skilled soldiers you have around here. Some villages on the borders are going to have to burn as well." "Villages? Are you sure?" "The problem with the Nalinites is they've never really been under a true threat for a very long time. When the people experience the loss of a couple border villages and see the bloody aftermath, trust me they'll be begging for more protection. When they see the brutality of what an orc horde can do they'll be screaming for justice and for us to march into the Quala Badlands to wipe out every last green skin. The first steps to expansion and the first steps to resurrecting the Empire." Quintus understands and says it sounds like a good plan. You and he talk a little more about some of the specifics before he eventually says he has a big day tomorrow of arguing against some silly law that one of his opponents is trying to have passed and needs to get some sleep. He says that you may have a bed in one of his spare rooms, as it isn't like the rest of his family is going to complain about you being here. You agree but say that you intend on heading back to the dig site like you promised Jennifer tomorrow and also to get started on that orc situation you spoke on. Quintus remarks that you can take one of his horses and says he hopes to see you within a weeks time. The next day you ride off to your destination and you feel somewhat calmer than you did when you first woke up. You also feel like you have a worthy purpose now. You know you're going to have a big task ahead of you trying to reform the Empire, but at least it gives you something to do. Who knows, you might even be successful. Or you might be instrumental in the downfall of yet another nation… > Year 537 "Ah, there's nothing better than when a plan comes together! Your actions of stirring up the orcs have been paying off and I've finally managed to get the public to become in favor of a strong army and your training has been producing much tougher and disciplined soldiers to create that stronger army." Quintus remarks to you while he sips his wine. "I'm certainly glad someone you finally found someone more competent than yourself. Makes all your years of failure totally worth it." Quintus' wife Nalia remarks in a bored tone lying on a couch. She's already on her second bottle of wine and it's not even the afternoon yet. While Quintus dismisses his wife's usual emasculating remarks, you're wondering why you're here when you could be doing something more important to keep this plan in motion because its nowhere near coming together like Quintus seems to think it is. The orcs haven't even made a major attack yet. They've just been harassing a few patrols, but it's just as well since you're still trying to whip the paltry number of spirited soldiers you do have into shape so that they the orcs do attack they'll be ready for them. You can't really complain, because you are doing something you're familiar with and good at, but the main thing that's been nagging at you is Quintus himself. You don't respect him and it's starting to become a problem sometimes. It's not anything he's done to you either. He's practically bent over backwards to accommodate you in anyway he can. You wondered at first if it's his overly smarmy demeanor with you which at times seems fake, but that isn't it. Part of that is that he's a politician and he probably can't help but be that way as part of his personality, not to mention you've become quite a good judge of character and you believe his admiration for you is genuine. Regardless of what his wife claims, Quintus is extremely ambitious and a hard worker which you can appreciate. He's just been hampered by the social and political climate. If he'd been born during the time of the Empire, he would've fit right in. Might've even been one of the Emperor's advisors. Despite all this, you've been developing an increasing lack of respect for the man. Not to the point that you're ready to kill him or anything, but taking orders from him has got you questioning why? Of course you know the reasons why, because the republic is still a pussy whipped place that has long since abandoned the ideals of people like yourself and trying to take power like a strong man would ultimately only result in chaos and collapse. Ironically, you'd probably be more at home in one of the city-states in Arat where they still favor a single ruler. What it all comes down to you think is Quintus' family. Something about Quintus' lack of admiration from his own family bothers you. If he can't reach the people that are supposed to be closest to him, how the hell can you respect him? Gets harder to when you have to be subjected to these meetings and see his family walk over him first hand. They all either criticize him or belittle him even though he's been trying to make life better for them. His wife is a slothful alcoholic that has never a word of encouragement for him. She looks much older than she actually is mainly due to hitting the bottle so much. She's never truly addressed you directly, but her attitude seems apathetic at best. His teenage daughter Yollanda is a red headed trollop that routinely sleeps with the sons of his senate rivals and in some cases the rivals themselves. And those are the "classier" encounters. Quintus once complained that if there was a good purpose for her bed hopping like say for gathering important information on his enemies it could be acceptable, but she has no higher purpose other than the pleasure of her girl parts. You try to stay away from her as her outright sexual advances that's she's made towards you in the past is a complication you don't desire or need. Makes Jennifer's obvious minor crush on you downright subtle by comparison. Then there's his younger son Gelo who is an idiot. Not in the traditional sense that he does stupid things without thinking them through, no he's a dyed in the wool, born and bred moron. You imagine that his mother might've drank while she was carrying him, but who knows? By and large he's harmless, but extremely annoying. He yells a lot, breaks things and is generally obnoxious mainly because he doesn't even have a stable structure to mold him into something at least somewhat useful. You don't understand why he wasn't killed at birth. Such defective babies were usually either put to death by the family or at least sold into slavery so that they could be productive to the Empire on a minor level. It was a good policy. The only positive thing is he seems to be afraid of you and thus stays away (Often screaming his head off and runs away if you're ever in the same room.) And that's just Quintus' immediate family, it's not even counting the other in laws and extended family that basically mooch off of him. For a man that has ruthless ideals he's a doormat when it comes to his family. Fortunately for Quintus, he seems to have a lot more luck with the general population and has been getting more support just like he's been bragging about lately. If you were Quintus, you might crave the respect of strangers as well. "Quintus, why am I here? I'd like to get back to my job." You remark. "But that's precisely why you're here my Eternal friend! Your job! Since the army problem is well on its way to being taken care of, I think its time to move on to our navy." "Navy?" "Yes, you do remember we have one such as it is. I'd like you to have a hand in making it stronger as well." "And just how the hell am I supposed to do that?" "I dunno, you told me you were the military expert. Just do it the same way you did with our army I suppose. Stir up the pirates of the Delerg islands so they start attacking our costal towns en masse and the people demand a stronger navy." "Quintus, I'm glad you're excited about the plan, but the first part of it isn't even ready yet. I don't feel the soldiers are even ready yet. They've been in a few skirmishes, but nothing that is really going to test them. And there's still the matter of the orcs. They're riled and I have noticed large tribal gatherings as if they're preparing for a large attack against a bigger foe, but by and large they're still disorganized and in some cases still attacking one another." "But surely you've trained some of the soldiers enough that they can perform these duties in your stead? Delegate responsibility to the more talented ones?" "I have, but its a slow process from them to train their fellows as well as I trained them and I still wouldn't trust any of them to do what I'm doing with the orcs, or at least not do it and live. Quite frankly I need more time with them and diverting my attention to your navy is just a distraction." "But the senate is going to dismantle it!" Quintus exclaims. "Oh please will you stop whining in front of the help Quintus. It is soooo undignified. You don't have to try to impress me anyway; I always knew you weren't man enough to help my brother out with his shipyard. If the senate does dismantle the navy and his shipyard goes under because of less business, well he can always live here. No big deal." Nalia remarks taking another long swig out of her wine bottle. Quintus has no words he just throws his hands up and looks to you for help, but what can you do short of killing his wife? And you're fairly certain he doesn't want that no matter how much she gives him grief. You suppose you could see what you could do with the naval situation, but the main problem is you have practically no experience in such seafaring things. You dare say the average sailor has much more experience than you do about such matters. Sure you'll be assisted, but without the actual experience you'll still have a disadvantage that you don't feel comfortable with. On the other hand what exactly does the republic need with a powerful navy anyway? As far as you know they don't have an enemy trying to invade them from sea and they don't have contact with a big nautical trading partner. They just send merchant ships to travel along the southern coast to the Usksha Emirates. If the pirates got too out of control, they could just send large shipments through the desert. > You focus on the land military You're not going to change the plan just because Quintus is trying to please his drunken bitch of a wife. If he really wants this to happen he's going to have to follow your lead. "Quintus the navy isn't important at this time, we need land strength if we're going to get anywhere. We'll need it to fight the orcs, we'll need it to keep the unhappy citizens in line when we finally get rid of this damn republic and we're going to really need it when we have to expand and annex more territory. Now I understand you've got a pirate problem, but really other than trade with the usksha we don't even need to send many ships out anyway other than small fishing boats for food. Start sending trade caravans directly through the desert. The usksha do it all the time." "Yeah because the sand savages are used to it! The merchant's guild is going to pitch a fit." "Well fuck, I dunno what to tell you. The merchants are either going to have to tough it out in the desert or risk getting attacked by pirates. Shit's tough all over. Come to think of it, you don't even like the damn usksha and want them out of the country anyway. Seems to me you could start working on that policy now that you've been getting a little more of the public on your side. If all goes well, Nalin won't have to trade with the usksha at all in the future. No trade with the usksha, no need for merchant ships. No merchant ships, no pirates, unless they get crazy desperate and start attacking the coastal towns, but that's why we've going to protect against such invasions." Quintus thinks about your proposal for a moment and of course he sees the wisdom in it. "Yes, and the funds that are being spent on the navy can be used for other things. Hm, I suppose if I support the senate majority to dismantle the navy anyway I'll look a little more agreeable, I imagine that'll be good too. The question is where all the displaced sailors are going to do and go. I suppose some will just become fishers." "Yes, and if not, well there's always more room in the army. I'll let you worry about that, I need to get back to it." Quintus bids you goodbye and you're glad to leave his mansion before you run into his slutty daughter. You're in no mood for her tiresome attempts at seduction right now. Over the next few months you continue getting Nalin's "best" into shape and start launching your own raids into known orc territory. You always make sure not to do too much damage of course, but you're not yielding the results you want. You're not getting orc counter raids or attacks. In fact you think they've lessened! This is somewhat discouraging, because while you're succeeding in creating a stronger army, you're failing in the second half of your plan. You think you might have to do something else. On you way back from a raid, you and your men stop off at Calvin's excavation site to rest. Two years have passed since you got dug up and they're still digging through the ruins of the old capital. It's actually impressive how much they have managed to find. Calvin even found a few of the flattened broken bones of his ancestor Jacob. (Never did find Semra's though) Calvin and his crew are always glad to have more soldiers around so you're naturally awarded all the hospitality they have to offer. While you sit by yourself pondering your next move with this situation, Jennifer suddenly pops up to speak with you. "I see you're your usual brooding self." Jennifer says coming up to you. "Hm, that took awhile. Usually when I make stops here, you're here a lot sooner. I was beginning to worry." You remark. "Well you did looked worried, but I doubt if it was about me hovering around you. So what's wrong this time?" Over the years Jennifer has probably become the closest thing you have to a friend. Granted you never had many before in your old life, but you at least had a few people to speak with about your own troubles. So far Jennifer is about the only one you feel comfortable with speaking about your own private concerns. "It's just the orcs. I thought for sure they'd be attacking en mass by now." "And an orc horde would be a good thing?" "If we want Quintus' dreams of reviving the Empire it would be. Guess I'm going to have to redouble my efforts on antagonizing the orcs." "Have you ever considered that you're scaring them more than you're angering them?" "That seems unlikely. Orcs are nearly immune to fear. Most of them are too stupid and the rest are too bold." "Maybe that was true during your time, but I'm sure you've noticed things have changed." "They're orcs Jennifer, how much could they have changed? Well besides the war paint I mean." "Surely you've noticed on your raids and travels that these orcs are still very different than the ones you knew. They're tribal for one, but not just that, they're also superstitious. Tends to come with tribal societies." "So?" "So, over the centuries they've probably built their own tales, taboos and lore based on the ruins of the old Empire alone. That's a lot of symbols and icons that they've probably incorporated into their society. Then you pop up and you're still dressed in your old Empire armor and who know what stories that might cause because of the similar symbols and insignia on them. Think about it, for about two years now you've been mostly acting alone in attacking them. You're shooting lightning and fire from your fingers as if it was nothing and you've probably slain more of them with your sword than the whole Nalin army ever has with bullets. They probably think you're some immortal warrior spirit of old." Jennifer explains. "Well, I was dug up from a kind of grave." "Exactly, so in the scheme of things orcs have every reason in the world to fear you just like most people with a lick of sense do." "Heh, you don't fear me." "Of course I don't. I'm your friend." Jennifer says and grabs your hand. You clasp your other hand on top of hers. "Yes. Yes you are. Well I guess I need to find out if I am indeed something special to these orcs or not." "What're you going to do?" "Well I know the biggest tribe in the Quala Badlands is the Floggers. Maybe if I can bring them under heel, I can just make them DO what I want. I probably should go alone." "Hold on, the Floggers are pretty damn big and are positioned near Rask which is monster haven, you sure you shouldn't have some sort of back up? I know you're a big tough Eternal and all, but maybe you should take some of the soldiers you've been training." "Nah, I'd be better off doing this by myself." You say. "Ever the loner eh? Well I figured as much. I know it's silly to worry after all you've survived, but just be careful okay?" Jennifer says and she briefly moves her face closer to yours, but then stops and then awkwardly excuses herself. You tell your soldiers that they can either stay here or return to their posts and say you have your own business to take care of. Since they're used to you going off by yourself, they acknowledge your orders and you think no more of it. Just as you're about to leave you get a surprising visit from Calvin. "Hey, I'm glad I caught you before you left." He says. "Calvin? You don't normally want to speak with me." "Well, as my daughter has probably no doubt told you I'm a little afraid of you, but I'm having one of those infamous brave Mol moments. It's actually about my daughter." "What about her?" "You are aware that she's fond of you right?" "Yeeeah…I think she just tried to kiss me but stopped herself from doing so. It was sort of uncomfortable." "I see…so I trust you do not feel the same way." "Well…(Sigh) it's not that, its just…look it's not my area of expertise and I've got a lot else on my mind right now." "Hm, understandable." Calvin remarks. "There are also some other feelings that involve the past that I don't wish to discuss right now. That being said, I can honestly say I enjoy her company. She's the only real friend I have." "That's good. That's good. I only bring this up because I know that great change is ever looming and most likely that change is going to be violent no matter how you and Quintus are going to go about it. I'd just like to make sure my daughter's safe and I figure if she was with you then that safety is guaranteed, along with her happiness of course." "Hm, don't be so sure of that. I imagine I'll be drawing a lot of fire no matter what happens." "Better that she be with a strong shield that draws a lot of fire than with no shield at all." "Ha ha ha! So I'm a shield am I?" you chuckle. "Aren't we all before the chaos?" Calvin remarks and tells you to just think about your own feelings towards his daughter. You've never had someone trying to pair you up with their daughter before. Something about it makes you feel a little strange. You decide to get on with your task to intimidate some orcs into submission, at least that's more familiar to you. You make your way north. You haven't had too many run ins with the Flogger tribe, due to their far away location, but you did ambush a few of their kind a couple times. You don't know how the survivors have described you, hopefully it is as Jennifer suggested, and it's with awe. Along the way you don't encounter much trouble, you get attacked by a few half mad bandits, but that's about it. Eventually you know you're coming to the Flogger territory since you see the dead bodies of other orcs, humans, and even a few elves and ogres stretched across various wooden frames with their backs completely flayed of all skin. Down to the bone actually. Crows and other scavenger types gnaw at the rotting carcasses. The gruesome sight stretches from east to west as far as your eyes can see. You notice two orcs standing look out on a crude watchtower just behind the wall of bodies. When you get closer they call out to you and raise their bows. "Oi! What you doin' 'ere 'uman?" one of them asks. You didn't expect such civility, let alone coherence. "I'm here to see your chieftain!" you answer. "Wez gots no chieftain! Wez stronger than dat! Wez got shaman! Other tribes jealous! Ha ha ha ha ha ha!" "Great, so let me see your shaman. I have something to discuss with him." The two orcs look at you and then whisper to each other a bit. This is all a bit strange, you fully expected to get attacked when you arrived or failing that the orcs running away in fear. They haven't done either yet. "Mm, yeah youz look like him, but need to be sure…um Bilge what waz we spose to ask again?" one orc asks the other. "Youz forgot? Youz an idjit Fatbelly! You said youz remember! Me dunno either!" Bilge says. "Okay, okay, shaddup! Me member now. Are youz dah 'ternal man?" Fatbelly asks you. "Yes." You answer assuming he means eternal. "Okay, youz can go troo, Shaman Trog been 'spectin you. Just keep goin straight ahead an' he should meet youz." "Wait, expecting me? How?" you ask. "Dreams. Vishuns. Sumthin. Dunno, he magik. Ugh, brain hurt thinkin' bout it. Go away now." There doesn't seem to be much else to do, so you proceed to follow Fatbelly's instructions. You pass through the line of flayed corpses and the watchtower. In the distance you see what looks to be enough simple huts to be considered a village. However you aren't going to have to walk that far because a single orc dressed in tribal garb stands between you and it. He holds a decorated staff in hand and looks old for an orc. This must be Shaman Trog. You aren't sure what to expect, but you draw your weapon just in case. "Ah, you here finally. Trog saw that you come and Trog's visions always right…well most of time." "You can see into the future eh? Well then I suppose you know why I'm here then." You remark. "No Trog not know. Cannot predict future. Just see that Eternal man come. The last true remnant of the long dead Empire that enslaved all within its shadow. So why you here? You here to finally kill us all?" "Well, that's up to you Trog. I have a proposal." "Huh, can't be good if you here. Very well, Trog shall hear your proposal." You explain to Trog what the situation is though at first you wonder if he's going to understand all of it, but it would seem he's one of the smart ones, then again he is a shaman so he can't be entirely dim in the first place. "Trog see…so it's worse than Trog feared, you seek to make slaves of all of us again." "No, I just need you to attack the Nalin Republic." "Yes, you seek to manipulate us into doing your dirty work. How is that not slavery? Worse, your plan seeks to bring back the power that nearly lead us all into extinction. Only after centuries we are strong and free again." "You know, orcs didn't fare so badly under the Empire. They were some of the best soldiers." "They were used as expendable shields for the weaker human troops." "And how do you know all this?" "Ha ha! Writings! You think orcs not write, but we do! Maybe just pictures, but we do! We also tell stories! After Empire fall to big bang, orcs of old pass down tales. Tribe's founder and my great ancestor, Flog pass down first stories. We never forget. That's why we orcs know you. You wear the mark of the old days. Not know how you still alive. Maybe you really eternal, but if we are to die, then we die free, not die slow as slaves." You can't believe it. You're arguing with an orc about civil liberties! Still, if he is up on the history as he says then there is surely mention of one orc in particular and it might just convince him to change his mind. "Captain Gruz did not consider himself to be a slave." You remark, which causes Trog's eyes to widen. "You…you knew the Warmaster?" Trog asks. "Oh yes, I met him and he even gave me a little insight to be a better soldier during my first assignment. I only regret I didn't get to serve with him during the Felkan War. I heard of his many magnificent deeds though." "He slew many enemies on the day of his death. The entire story of that day is a glorious tale." "Yes, and he was hailed as one of the greatest heroes of the Empire. He did his duty as a soldier of the Empire and had no shame about it. He was no slave, let me tell you. He was a proud soldier who loved that he served the Empire. His only wish was to die a glorious death in its service and he did. Because he served the Empire with distinction even now the knowledge of his deeds are still known. Help me bring it back and your deeds may become as well known as his own, possibly even more so." Trog studies you as if to determine if you're just trying to sweet talk him. He looks tired though, as if he doesn't really want to fight you even if you are lying to him. "Trog…cannot completely determine your ultimate intentions Eternal, however Trog sense your words about the Warmaster to be respectful and truthful. Trog suppose if great Warmaster Gruz taught you to be a better warrior then you would not speak lies about him. (Sigh) Very well, Trog shall do what Trog can to help you, but Trog can't promise that Trog will be able to unite all of the tribes in the Quala Badlands." "Don't need them all, just enough to cause a lot of damage." "Hm, well if there's anything we're good at, it's that. Trog suppose a lot of my people are going to die in the process of this scheme, Trog only hope that in the long run we will be in a better position." "I promise you that your people will always remember what you have done today." "Trog not sure if that good yet." Trog remarks and shuffles off towards the village in the distance. You guess your work is done here. Now only time will tell if this is going to be successful or not. > Year 540 It's not there yet, but the political and social climate in the republic is finally getting to a point that's a little more recognizable to you. Thanks to Trog's actions the orcs have been attacking the Nalin just like you wanted. After a couple of burned down massacred villages, the Nalinites are a lot more supportive of military endeavors (Kobold citizens especially, but that's hardly surprising given their nature). The citizens are also becoming more fearful and suspicious of other "foreign threats" like the usksha. Highlighting the sandman drug epidemic and the crime due to it, Quintus has managed to get restrictions on the southern borders of Nalin. The usksha that used to live within Nalin are starting to go back to their desert due to the increasingly hostile population. Trade hasn't completely stopped, but the relationship between the republic and the emirates is very strained now. Of course some of this still wouldn't be possible without senate support, however that's become more in Quintus' favor due to a combination of several factors. Some are just like the peasants, they're getting scared because their comfortable lifestyle are at risk and want to protect themselves. Some were weak from the start and vote depending on which way the majority is heading. There are still holdouts that don't agree with the more militant policies however. Even the "will of the people" does not sway them to fall in line. The most vocal of these is Senator Batalimus Ventis who has been a long time rival of Quintus. He's stated that this trend towards militarism is going lead back to the dark days of when Matriarch Tarna ruled the land. He has also stated quite openly that Quintus is a warmongering fool that is only a puppet for his "mysterious Eternal" advisor. Quintus hates the man more than he hates the usksha and feels he's the main cause of all his woes. Apparently he's also decided that even if it isn't quite time to dismantle the senate, it is time to get rid of Batalimus and has tried to have the man assassinated on a few occasions. All attempts have failed so far though and all it's done is served to make Batalimus more cautious and legitimize his accusations about Quintus (Even if he can't quite connect Quintus to the actual assassins). You're going to have to speak with Trog soon about the attacks having served their purpose and that he needs to ease up. Trog is under the impression that after all this is over; he or at least his people will have a place within the new order when it finally comes about. In truth, you'd like to have a few orc legions if only for the intimidation factor of keeping the citizenry in line. However, you aren't exactly sure how likely that's going to be since orcs are increasingly becoming hated by the average citizen and are unlikely to want them to be incorporated into the new order no matter what. Let alone as soldiers. Another problem for another day you suppose. Right now though you're on your way back from another visit with Quintus (who basically did nothing but bitch about Bartalimus) and on your way back to Quala. You're a lot better known now and as you pass through you mostly get a lot of respectful nods from the military and worried glances from citizens. Your reputation within the republic has grown and it's much like it was back in the old Empire days. There's a certain familiar comfort in that. Before you leave Dalt you decide to pay a visit to Calvin's museum to see Jennifer. Since the orc war, expeditions to the Quala Badland have been put on hold so Calvin and Jennifer have returned to work at their museum to study what they have found in more detail and ultimately put it on display. When you enter, you see a sign that tells people to be sure to visit their brand new Empire exhibits. Naturally you wander over to where these displays are, so you can see how much they actually got right. When you get to the exhibit its currently empty of visitors. You're impressed with what you see though. They've managed to recreate a small portion of the Emperor's palace and fill it with the old stuff they found. Some of the things are just replicas, but they're very good replicas and in the correct locations. They even managed to restore one of the Emperor's big black statues. Just looking at all this stuff makes you feel like you're back where you should be. When you close your eyes you can almost imagine that you are where you WANT to be. If only things had been different, you wouldn't have to be starting all over again… "We tried to make it look like what we thought it looked like in the past and based on writings we found." You hear Jennifer's voice say and you open your eyes to see her stand to the right of you. "You did a good job, almost feels like home. That big ass black statue wasn't in the throne room though. In fact the Emperor never even used the throne room when I knew him." You say. "Yeah, but we did have any place else to put it. I think its impressive looking where we did put it though. Should draw in a lot of people. So did you come here to revisit old memories?" "Not at first, but this is was a nice distraction." "Glad to hear it, well I'll leave you to your thoughts." Jennifer says and begins to leave. "No, stay here with me, I came here to see you in first place. Besides, no point in reliving past glories when I don't have anyone to share said glories with." You say and grab her hand. Jennifer's reaction is a positive one in that she doesn't let go and moves closer to you. "So since you've got the time, how about you tell me about some of those old glories?" Jennifer asks. You gladly do so. You talk with Jennifer for hours until it starts getting late at which point you say you have to get back to your mission in Quala. Jennifer understands and wishes you luck on it. "If you're going wish me luck, how about you do it with a kiss?" you ask which takes Jennifer by surprise. "That's certainly new. What brought this on?" "I thought you liked me. You do don't you?" "Of course, I'm sure I was pretty obvious about it." "Well why ask why? I'm fond of you as well. I like your company and you're the only person I've ever considered my friend since I got dug up. You're independent, you're physically attractive and you listen to all my stories. What's not to like?" You say which causes a small chuckle from Jennifer. "Okay…we'll talk more about this later, but for right now, here's that kiss." Jennifer moves in to kiss you and the pair of you embrace. After your minor amorous interlude, you take your leave of the museum. You briefly wonder if pursuing a relationship with Jennifer is a good idea, but what's done is done and you'll just have to figure it out. Once again, another problem for another day you suppose. Just as you get out of the gates of Dalt, two guards approach you. They're not military or domestic security, they look like private guards, probably those of a senator. "You the Eternal?" one of them asks. "Yes." You answer. "Senator Batalimus wants to see you. If you would accompany us to his home please, it's just a few miles west of this city." Well this is an interesting turn of events, though perhaps not entirely unexpected. If you had to guess, Batalimus either plans to have you killed when you arrive to meet him or he's going to try to convince you to be on his side. You doubt he has the means to do either. You don't know if you should even bother entertaining him at all, but then you think if he does try to kill you, then you'll have eliminated the need to kill him later. Hell, even if he doesn't try to kill you, maybe you should just do it anyway. You agree to follow the guards and eventually you reach Batalimus' estate. His home isn't much bigger than Quintus' home, though there are a lot more trees and gardens on his grounds. As you expect there are a lot of guards patrolling about. When you step through the front door you feel like you've stepped into a barracks rather than a senator's mansion due to all the guards standing around. Soon an older balding man dressed in a purple robe comes down the grandiose staircase. It's Batalimus. "Ah the Eternal, at last we meet face to face." Batalimus says. "Yes, I'm surprised that you didn't confiscate my weapons though." You answer. "Whatever for? We all know you can just incinerate or fry everyone in the room with the snap of your fingers. It's not like you actually need a sword or even a pistol. You're a walking weapon without such things." "So? Why risk bringing me here then?" "Because I have nothing to lose. Your associate, Quintus seems quite determined to have me killed. Granted he always has harbored ill feelings, but now that the little reprobate has the advantage his confidence has reached an all time high. I suppose the fool has to have his fun though given the family he has. In any case I figure its only a matter of time before he sends you to do the deed and while I could increase my security even further, I quite frankly doubt if it would stop the likes of you. At best you might get mad." You have to appreciate someone who knows exactly where they stand. "So…you brought me here to kill you?" "Hah, I hope not, but I suppose that is a strong possibility. No, what I'd like to do is try to convince you to perhaps not kill the republic because that is what you and Quintus are striving to do, though I believe I actually have a shot with getting through to you. You aren't saddled with any emotions of hatred towards me. To you, I'm just another potential obstacle in your goals. If I have to be killed then you will, but if it isn't necessary you won't." Well it looks like Batalimus has opted to try to get you on his side, just like you thought he might. He is over estimating your willingness to kill him though. True you don't have any hatred for the man and quite honestly you probably already respect him more than Quintus within the short time you've met him, but you've been known to kill folks even if you believe that they will be potential obstacles in the future. Still, killing Batalimus right now isn't exactly part of the plan, so you'll most likely just leave unless he tries to stop you. Then again you did come all this way so there is no harm in hearing him out. > You stay "Okay, I'll listen to your pleas, but I doubt that you will be able to convince me of anything." You remark. "You seem so certain." Batalimus says. "Of course I am. For one I am not some scared citizen or greedy senator that can be bribed or frightened into submission. I am not an ignorant peasant either that can be merely swayed by lies." "Never thought you were." "Second and more importantly, I was not impressed with your republic when I was first dug up and I continue to be unimpressed with it now. It is an inefficient form of government that allows too much power to the people and it doesn't even do that right, considering all the corruption." "Oh I wouldn't say that. Within the last few years the people have been making demands for more security and defense and Quintus has been delivering appeasement to them. It would seem that you've managed make the system work for you." Batalimus says. "And don't you think that's proof that your system is broken? If YOU were the ruler of this country you wouldn't be in the situation you are now. You'd be able to have Quintus executed along with everyone that didn't fall in line." "You may be right." "Of course I'm right, because the masses are by and large weak-willed fools that actually desire a strong hand to rule them and do the thinking for them. Honestly I don't know how your system lasted as long as it did." "Because it worked or at least it did before you came around." "So…you're going to blame me for your system's weaknesses? Seems to me it should've been strong enough to weather the presence of one man." Batalimus begins laughing. "One man? Yes. It's done that for quite some time. Do you think Quintus is the ONLY one who has ever wanted to bring back the so called good old days? His kind has always existed in some form or another since the infancy of the republic. Sometimes there were even whole groups of his type. The difference is, there was never any incentive for the rest of the population to actually listen to them before. There was never a living god on their side defending everyone from vicious foreign attacks like those of the orcs, let alone scaring the hell out of everyone by his mere presence." "I'm not a god." "For all intents and purposes you might as well be. The rumors alone are enough to cause most to think you are, but even without such rumors, the facts are still enough to impress what you would call the masses. Quintus isn't the only one who has access to old Empire history at the Mol Museum. You were the right hand man of a supposedly near omnipotent emperor, you survived the cataclysm that destroyed the old empire, you're certainly the most skilled warrior that anyone has ever seen and you command the use of magic, which is an incredibly rare thing nowadays. Other than the few exceptional svelk in Lenay, wizards just don't exist anymore let alone any of your power. I doubt with even all the magic trinkets Quintus has dug up, he'll be able to protect himself when you finally decide to kill him." Granted you haven't given that possibility much serious thought, Batalimus is probably right about that outcome. "While all this is very interesting, you've still failed to make your case and you're beginning to waste my time." You say. "Yes, forgive me. I'm used to droning on in the senate, I forget that someone like you would rather get right to the point. Right then, here it is, the Republic is better in the long term for the people than your Empire." You're silent. "I certainly hope that isn't your only argument Batalimus." "No, but it should be the only one that matters. Even if you succeed in all your endeavors, you have to know that this revived Empire isn't going to last. At best it'll last a century after your own death and given that you're constantly walking in its shadow who knows how quick that might come." "Choose your next words carefully, one could perceive that as a threat." "A threat? No. Poorly worded, I'll agree. Mainly because I doubt you'll actually die violently despite your particular lifestyle. I'd almost be willing to wager that you'll die an old man in your sleep. A great irony I suppose. Anyway, the point still remains, you have to know that your Empire will not last long after your death, it didn't even last long during your life." "It only fell because of…" you nearly say because of your actions, but you stop yourself. "Because of what?" Batalimus asks. "Because of the cataclysm. It would've still been standing today if that hadn't been the case." "You're guessing. Even if the cataclysm hadn't occurred it would've been something else. Despite the fact that you belonged to a repressive system, I do know that in your way you served the concept of the greater good. You believe that you're actually helping the people by keeping them in line. And maybe you even are to a certain extent, but it's at the cost of liberty and freedom and that is an anathema to me. I'm watching all of what was built being slowly destroyed before my eyes. We as a people came out from the chaos of cataclysm and eventually found a better way to live. One that didn't submit to the whims of a single ruler or is at the mercy of a tyrant. No, it wasn't a perfect system, but we were always working to fix the problems for the people and they were happy. I don't see any joy when I look at people nowadays; all I see is fear, paranoia and suspicion. Can't you see that all you're doing is throwing the people to a backwards age and ultimately it will do nobody any good?" "Good thing I'm not trying to please you then and I'd argue that I've already fixed a few of the major problems with the recent changes. For one, crime is down and you're no longer a potential doormat if anyone stronger should suddenly appear. Even the pirate attacks are much lower now." You answer. "Yes, military strength the backbone of all proper dictators. Let me guess, after this place is completely under your thumb your next step will be to send it forth and conquer land right? How are you going to do that for the Qualan Badlands? You going to force thousands of people to settle on inhospitable land where it's near impossible to farm? And how do your orc friends figure into all this? I know that you probably have some sort of conspiracy going on with them, because they never attacked us like they have been recently. You going to somehow force the Nalin citizens with their newfound xenophobia to live with them or are you going to just commit genocide on the orcs and chalk them up to expendable losses? Then what after? You going to waste countless lives conquering the six cities of Arat? The Usksha Emirates? The Redcap Kingdom? Where is it going to end? Tell me, what do you personally hope to gain by re-establishing an empire? A need for familiarity? A simple power grab? Is it all because of an outdated sense of duty? Whatever the reason, none of them are really good ones for what you're doing. Your time was the PAST and you can't recapture what you lost. Your Empire as you knew it is long dead because all things eventually end. All of this, what you're doing is proof that you just can't accept that fact." You've heard enough. "Funny that you said that Bata, because I'd say that it's the opposite." "What?" "You. Your republic is dying and this desperate attempt to try to convince me to not continue my actions is proof that YOU can't accept that all things eventually end." "I know somewhere within you that you can see my side of this! I mean I won't deny that your presence hasn't been positive for the country in some ways. You could still have a place here in the Republic. You have so much power. Power that could be used to help people in a positive way! Wouldn't you rather be known as a loved hero rather than a figure of fear?" Batalimus exclaims. "I've known several heroes in the past. Some of them fellow Eternals and all of them were figures of fear. Look, I've already pointed out the weakness of your inferior system and you've failed to convince me otherwise. Doesn't matter if I do or don't see your side of things. Whatever motivations you think I'm doing this for don't matter. I'm fairly certain whatever other arguments you may have aren't going to convince me either, so this has just been a waste of both of our time." It takes a moment for Batalimus to gather his thoughts. "I had hoped and perhaps naively thought that you were a reasonable man, but I was wrong. Apparently I did bring you here to kill me. Maybe not in the physical sense, but I see now that there will be no stopping what is to come. It's a bitter thing seeing what you love the most die before your eyes." "Join the club Bata. And I'm not talking about the Empire." You answer and take that as your cue to leave. You half expect Batalimus to have his guards attack you in some last attempt to save his republic, but he just sits there impotently in defeat. And that's exactly why his republic is dying. Nobody cares enough about it to fight for it. This man is probably the only one left who does care and he used words as his weapons. Better that he should've tried to have you assassinated as soon as you walked in the door. But this isn't your problem, your problems are elsewhere and after you leave Batalimus' home, you head back to the Qualan Badlands. A few days later while at your patrol camp, you receive a letter from a messenger. At first you think it's from Quintus with another request to help him with some task that is too difficult for him, but you're surprised when you find out it's from Batalimus. Eternal, By the time you read this, I will be dead. I want to thank you for I believe our little talk finally gave me the courage to just end it all. The funny thing is I had the idea to have Quintus assassinated before I spoke with you thinking that even if I couldn't kill you, I would at least have taken away your partner on the public relations side of things, making the transition from republic to empire a little more difficult for you. Perhaps you would've even gotten so frustrated that you would've left. Then I realized I can't save the republic by destroying it or my ideals. And it wouldn't have stopped you anyway. The days of the republic are indeed numbered and I'd rather remember it as it was rather than continuing to see its own death throes. It is my time that has passed. Your time is now. Still, I can't help being an idealist. Perhaps if your Empire can live again, then perhaps one day so will my republic. I can have faith in that as I pass on to the other world. Good luck Eternal in your pursuit of war and conquest, though I should like to think that maybe my words still got through to you a little bit. That maybe you will realize that the people are important and not just resources to be used on a battlefield or wherever else. That a government can exist that doesn't require repressive domestic methods or the subjugation of foreign lands. But then as I said, I am an idealist. Batalimus Ventis After reading the letter you toss it in the fire. One of the soldiers asks you if it's another order from Quintus. "No, just news that another obstacle is no longer an issue." You remark. A few days pass and you have been thinking about Batalimus' words a lot more since there isn't much going on in the way of action in camp. While he ended up agreeing with you that the republic is coming to an end no matter what, you're still struggling with the idea that what is going to replace it, since it won't truly be the Empire as you knew it. Ol' Batty was right even you did change his mind. Your time is STILL the past. You've had five years to get "used" to the changes and while you have and are even thriving, you're never going to feel comfortable. Even if you kill Quintus and seize power and everything goes well with that, you still have to go through the process of reconquering everything again. Something you really shouldn't have to do. You should've had a your "birthright" over five hundred years ago. Now you feel like you're having to play catch up for a much lesser prize. Most of the old lands are indeed ruined to a degree that you can't imagine anyone wanting to live there even if you did conquer it. Pushing people into doing so is libel to cause a revolt at worst or just flat out attrition at best…ugh…shit you don't want to even ponder yet. And what's the alternative? Not killing Quintus and serving as his loyal right hand goon? Continuing to watch that fool take ALL the credit for stuff you will no doubt have a hand in? No, you did that already and at least with the Emperor you didn't have to put up with any sort of dysfunctional family every time you visited him. You think back to when you spent time in the museum with Jennifer talking about that past. That's still the happiest you've been since you woke up. You even wonder if you shouldn't just abandon all these desires and ambitions. What has it really gotten you in the scheme of things? You made the big gamble the first time and it didn't work out maybe that was a sign. You wonder if you shouldn't just settle down with Jennifer and try to live a normal life. > You dismiss such thoughts This is silly, here you are with the Empire so close to resurrection and you're sitting here wondering if it's all worth it. Of course it's worth it! It's what your whole life has been about and it doesn't matter what time period it is. Whether you're ruling it, or someone else is, it doesn't matter. The Empire must live on. If you just give up now, then what was the point of any of it? And as for Jennifer, you probably should just put an end to that disaster waiting to happen as soon as you can. She's a nice girl and everything, but she's not Alison and she never will be. Not to mention with you by her side she's likely to wind up dead just like Alison. You have no doubt that you'll eventually acquire some powerful enemies looking to take advantage of any possible weakness you might have. You return to your duties without another thought. After about a couple of weeks of your regular rounds in Quala, you decide its time to go visit Trog about your arrangement and how it needs to be altered. With Batalimus' suicide, Quintus' larger influence and the army now stronger than it ever has been, you don't really need orcs as a terror distraction anymore, especially if you want to incorporate them into this new Empire one day. Of course that plan may still fail, but your current deal is a deal and you and Trog have dealt straight with each other so far. You travel the Flogger tribe's territory and just like last time, Trog was already expecting your visit. "So once again the Eternal visits Trog. Is our arrangement going as planned?" "Yes, but that's why I'm here. We've gotten what we need from the war. You no longer have to play any role in it, that is stirring up the other orc tribes." "Trog see. Very well we did have an agreement and the Floggers have benefitted greatly from this arrangement, so it is done for now. However, Trog cannot promise that other minor tribes will not still attack. Can only promise that Floggers will no longer play any part in such attacks." "That's fine, probably for the best that we still get a few attacks. Well that was all I had to say, I'll see you around…" You're about to leave, but Trog speaks up. "Are you not also here about your people that went up to explore Rask?" Trog asks. "No. What people?" "Trog surprised that you did not know. Two weeks ago a group came here attempting to seek passage through Flogger territory. They were lead by a woman with black hair. Trog assumed you knew about this because the woman certainly knew enough about our arrangement to attempt such a thing in the first place." "Wait, was this woman's name Jennifer Mol?" "Trog believe that it was. Said she was trying to explore Rask for some warrior's guild or something. Even Trog not sure if it exists, just heard the rumors at times." "So did you let her through?" "No. She refused to pay the toll which was to leave a couple of her people here for good will." "So she went back home then." "No. She said she'd go around, but then she attempted to sneak through our territory at a weakly guarded area during the night instead." You almost don't want to hear what is going to come next. "Trog see that this woman is someone important to you? If it helps, Floggers did not kill her. She managed to hide and escape before we could. Floggers did however capture and kill some of her crew though. Floggers cannot just have people coming through territory without permission. Cannot show weakness. Trog hopes you understand this. Trog even had guards that were supposed to be watching that area killed for their lack of attention." Strangely enough you do understand. You can't really be angry at Trog and the rest of his tribe for being territorial. It was actually pretty civilized of them to offer a toll option in the first place. Really you can't believe Jennifer would be so foolhardy to attempt something like this, but then she has been braving the dangers of Quala long before you even showed up, so maybe this isn't too out of character for her, especially when she's got her mind set on an expedition. "So…do you know where she went?" "North, past Flogger territory. That was two weeks ago though, Trog doubts that she still alive. Rask is very harsh, even more than Quala, also the dreaded wendigo live there. She has not tried to sneak back through Flogger territory and Flogger's would know because we've increased the guards since her break through." Part of you almost wants to go try to find her; despite the fact you just recently believed that the two of you shouldn't attempts any sort of relationship. Now you start to wonder if you could've prevented all this if you HAD gone to see her two weeks ago. You resist the urge though. For one thing, it's been two weeks. Any way of tracking her is going to be poor at best given all the snowstorms Rask endures. Second, her group isn't the most battle ready. They're going to mostly consist of scholar types that can't fight worth shit. While she probably took a few soldiers with her, even they're going to be fucked when they encounter something like a wendigo or even a giant. She's dead and that's it. Just eliminates the need for you to worry about one more decision. It doesn't put you in the best of moods though. It's that mood that has you return to Nalin and the capital where you see Quintus. "Good, I'm glad you're back, we need to…" Quintus begins to say when you come through the front door of his house and then he notices the fresh blood on your sword and his guards nowhere to be seen. His eyes widen when you raise your hand up to cast a lightning bolt to his face. You find however that the spell fails to work on him and one of his rings glows brightly. "I figured one of those rings protected you from magic. Pity, I was trying to give you a quick and less painful death." You say and advance upon him with your sword in hand. "No! What're you doing?! We're on the same side! We were going to revive the Empire!" Quintus exclaims backing up on the stairway and attempts to rub one of his rings. You aren't exactly sure what he's attempting to do, but you're not going to let him do it. You making a lunging rush at him and he nearly disappears before you, but you've already stuck him like a pig. His brief attempt at invisibility fades as his dying face stares at you. "Wh…why? I…helped…I…was going…to be…emperor…" "Plans change." you say and throw Quintus over the stair railing where his body falls to the floor in a bloody heap. Afterwards you take care of Quintus' family. As dysfunctional as they all are, the last thing you need is for any of them to attempt revenge for whatever reason. The day after, you gather as many soldiers as you can, march into the senate and officially dissolve it in a very violent way. Every senator is killed and the floors of the senate hall run red with blood that day. Most beg for mercy, but you're not in a mercy-giving mood. A few days later and it's official. You make your announcement that the Republic is dead and that the Empire now lives again. The general public doesn't know quite what to make of everything. You're sure that there will be some sort of misguided rebellion, but with the military behind you're confident that you won't have too much trouble. Year 542 You're so damn tired you don't even know when the last time you had any proper sleep. It's just been one rebellion after another and ongoing strife. You haven't even had thoughts of expansion mainly because you've been attempting to maintain order on what you do have. You have attempted to recreate a secret police in a similar style of the Emperor's Eyes, but efforts haven't proved too successful mainly because you're too busy using the military to keep direct order. It isn't that the people don't fear you, it's that they hate you more than they fear. Even after you've destroyed entire towns that have dared defy you, you still get pockets of resistance running off into the wilderness to cause ongoing problems. Your methods in the beginning months were probably too harsh in retrospect, but your mind wasn't in the best place then due to Jennifer's death, which you took a little harder than you imagined you would. Killing everyone in the senate certainly didn't help as perhaps some of those experienced fools might've still been useful in swaying public opinion and dealing with the more mundane issues of running the government. Combine this with the fact that the idea of things like "liberty" still lingered within the people, your brutal actions only proved to them what happens when a single tyrant takes power. Instead of cowing them into submission, you ended up lighting a fire of freedom that you still haven't put out yet and at this point you wonder if you ever will. Even portions of your military have turned against you, if not outright treason then desertion. Some have fled to find work within the six cities of Arat or even joined up with the pirate groups in Delerg. Between the steady attrition of loyal soldiers, the ongoing defiance of the people, external threats like the Flogger tribe hearing of your struggles and taking advantage of your lightly defended outposts in Quala (And certainly have no intention of joining your Empire now) you are pushed to the brink and beyond. You decide if the fools won't submit to your rule, you'll burn the whole damn thing down. You unleash a terrible force of magic the likes most have never seen. You begin destroying entire cities and farmland. It gets to the point where even the most loyal won't even follow you into destroying their homeland. Your reign of terror eventually comes to an end through a combined effort of the citizens of Nalin. Even your powerful magic can't stop an entire nation out for your blood and near the end you're exhausted and half crazed from bloodlust anyway. "Bah, I don't need magic to do my work!" are your last words before you slaughter a few dozen men and women and are shot with several bullets and stabbed repeatedly by a mob. You might've still went down in history as reminder to the people of Nalin of why they should value freedom and never submit to a totalitarian state… But then the Flogger tribe rampaged through the decimated nation, which had practically depleted all of its resources in its war against you. The orcs leave no evidence of an Empire or a Republic ever having existed.

"Okay, I'll listen to your pleas, but I doubt that you will be able to convince me of anything." You remark. "You seem so certain." Batalimus says. "Of course I am. For one I am not some scared citizen or greedy senator that can be bribed or frightened into submission. I am not an ignorant peasant either that can be merely swayed by lies." "Never thought you were." "Second and more importantly, I was not impressed with your republic when I was first dug up and I continue to be unimpressed with it now. It is an inefficient form of government that allows too much power to the people and it doesn't even do that right, considering all the corruption." "Oh I wouldn't say that. Within the last few years the people have been making demands for more security and defense and Quintus has been delivering appeasement to them. It would seem that you've managed make the system work for you." Batalimus says. "And don't you think that's proof that your system is broken? If YOU were the ruler of this country you wouldn't be in the situation you are now. You'd be able to have Quintus executed along with everyone that didn't fall in line." "You may be right." "Of course I'm right, because the masses are by and large weak-willed fools that actually desire a strong hand to rule them and do the thinking for them. Honestly I don't know how your system lasted as long as it did." "Because it worked or at least it did before you came around." "So…you're going to blame me for your system's weaknesses? Seems to me it should've been strong enough to weather the presence of one man." Batalimus begins laughing. "One man? Yes. It's done that for quite some time. Do you think Quintus is the ONLY one who has ever wanted to bring back the so called good old days? His kind has always existed in some form or another since the infancy of the republic. Sometimes there were even whole groups of his type. The difference is, there was never any incentive for the rest of the population to actually listen to them before. There was never a living god on their side defending everyone from vicious foreign attacks like those of the orcs, let alone scaring the hell out of everyone by his mere presence." "I'm not a god." "For all intents and purposes you might as well be. The rumors alone are enough to cause most to think you are, but even without such rumors, the facts are still enough to impress what you would call the masses. Quintus isn't the only one who has access to old Empire history at the Mol Museum. You were the right hand man of a supposedly near omnipotent emperor, you survived the cataclysm that destroyed the old empire, you're certainly the most skilled warrior that anyone has ever seen and you command the use of magic, which is an incredibly rare thing nowadays. Other than the few exceptional svelk in Lenay, wizards just don't exist anymore let alone any of your power. I doubt with even all the magic trinkets Quintus has dug up, he'll be able to protect himself when you finally decide to kill him." Granted you haven't given that possibility much serious thought, Batalimus is probably right about that outcome. "While all this is very interesting, you've still failed to make your case and you're beginning to waste my time." You say. "Yes, forgive me. I'm used to droning on in the senate, I forget that someone like you would rather get right to the point. Right then, here it is, the Republic is better in the long term for the people than your Empire." You're silent. "I certainly hope that isn't your only argument Batalimus." "No, but it should be the only one that matters. Even if you succeed in all your endeavors, you have to know that this revived Empire isn't going to last. At best it'll last a century after your own death and given that you're constantly walking in its shadow who knows how quick that might come." "Choose your next words carefully, one could perceive that as a threat." "A threat? No. Poorly worded, I'll agree. Mainly because I doubt you'll actually die violently despite your particular lifestyle. I'd almost be willing to wager that you'll die an old man in your sleep. A great irony I suppose. Anyway, the point still remains, you have to know that your Empire will not last long after your death, it didn't even last long during your life." "It only fell because of…" you nearly say because of your actions, but you stop yourself. "Because of what?" Batalimus asks. "Because of the cataclysm. It would've still been standing today if that hadn't been the case." "You're guessing. Even if the cataclysm hadn't occurred it would've been something else. Despite the fact that you belonged to a repressive system, I do know that in your way you served the concept of the greater good. You believe that you're actually helping the people by keeping them in line. And maybe you even are to a certain extent, but it's at the cost of liberty and freedom and that is an anathema to me. I'm watching all of what was built being slowly destroyed before my eyes. We as a people came out from the chaos of cataclysm and eventually found a better way to live. One that didn't submit to the whims of a single ruler or is at the mercy of a tyrant. No, it wasn't a perfect system, but we were always working to fix the problems for the people and they were happy. I don't see any joy when I look at people nowadays; all I see is fear, paranoia and suspicion. Can't you see that all you're doing is throwing the people to a backwards age and ultimately it will do nobody any good?" "Good thing I'm not trying to please you then and I'd argue that I've already fixed a few of the major problems with the recent changes. For one, crime is down and you're no longer a potential doormat if anyone stronger should suddenly appear. Even the pirate attacks are much lower now." You answer. "Yes, military strength the backbone of all proper dictators. Let me guess, after this place is completely under your thumb your next step will be to send it forth and conquer land right? How are you going to do that for the Qualan Badlands? You going to force thousands of people to settle on inhospitable land where it's near impossible to farm? And how do your orc friends figure into all this? I know that you probably have some sort of conspiracy going on with them, because they never attacked us like they have been recently. You going to somehow force the Nalin citizens with their newfound xenophobia to live with them or are you going to just commit genocide on the orcs and chalk them up to expendable losses? Then what after? You going to waste countless lives conquering the six cities of Arat? The Usksha Emirates? The Redcap Kingdom? Where is it going to end? Tell me, what do you personally hope to gain by re-establishing an empire? A need for familiarity? A simple power grab? Is it all because of an outdated sense of duty? Whatever the reason, none of them are really good ones for what you're doing. Your time was the PAST and you can't recapture what you lost. Your Empire as you knew it is long dead because all things eventually end. All of this, what you're doing is proof that you just can't accept that fact." You've heard enough. "Funny that you said that Bata, because I'd say that it's the opposite." "What?" "You. Your republic is dying and this desperate attempt to try to convince me to not continue my actions is proof that YOU can't accept that all things eventually end." "I know somewhere within you that you can see my side of this! I mean I won't deny that your presence hasn't been positive for the country in some ways. You could still have a place here in the Republic. You have so much power. Power that could be used to help people in a positive way! Wouldn't you rather be known as a loved hero rather than a figure of fear?" Batalimus exclaims. "I've known several heroes in the past. Some of them fellow Eternals and all of them were figures of fear. Look, I've already pointed out the weakness of your inferior system and you've failed to convince me otherwise. Doesn't matter if I do or don't see your side of things. Whatever motivations you think I'm doing this for don't matter. I'm fairly certain whatever other arguments you may have aren't going to convince me either, so this has just been a waste of both of our time." It takes a moment for Batalimus to gather his thoughts. "I had hoped and perhaps naively thought that you were a reasonable man, but I was wrong. Apparently I did bring you here to kill me. Maybe not in the physical sense, but I see now that there will be no stopping what is to come. It's a bitter thing seeing what you love the most die before your eyes." "Join the club Bata. And I'm not talking about the Empire." You answer and take that as your cue to leave. You half expect Batalimus to have his guards attack you in some last attempt to save his republic, but he just sits there impotently in defeat. And that's exactly why his republic is dying. Nobody cares enough about it to fight for it. This man is probably the only one left who does care and he used words as his weapons. Better that he should've tried to have you assassinated as soon as you walked in the door. But this isn't your problem, your problems are elsewhere and after you leave Batalimus' home, you head back to the Qualan Badlands. A few days later while at your patrol camp, you receive a letter from a messenger. At first you think it's from Quintus with another request to help him with some task that is too difficult for him, but you're surprised when you find out it's from Batalimus. Eternal, By the time you read this, I will be dead. I want to thank you for I believe our little talk finally gave me the courage to just end it all. The funny thing is I had the idea to have Quintus assassinated before I spoke with you thinking that even if I couldn't kill you, I would at least have taken away your partner on the public relations side of things, making the transition from republic to empire a little more difficult for you. Perhaps you would've even gotten so frustrated that you would've left. Then I realized I can't save the republic by destroying it or my ideals. And it wouldn't have stopped you anyway. The days of the republic are indeed numbered and I'd rather remember it as it was rather than continuing to see its own death throes. It is my time that has passed. Your time is now. Still, I can't help being an idealist. Perhaps if your Empire can live again, then perhaps one day so will my republic. I can have faith in that as I pass on to the other world. Good luck Eternal in your pursuit of war and conquest, though I should like to think that maybe my words still got through to you a little bit. That maybe you will realize that the people are important and not just resources to be used on a battlefield or wherever else. That a government can exist that doesn't require repressive domestic methods or the subjugation of foreign lands. But then as I said, I am an idealist. Batalimus Ventis After reading the letter you toss it in the fire. One of the soldiers asks you if it's another order from Quintus. "No, just news that another obstacle is no longer an issue." You remark. A few days pass and you have been thinking about Batalimus' words a lot more since there isn't much going on in the way of action in camp. While he ended up agreeing with you that the republic is coming to an end no matter what, you're still struggling with the idea that what is going to replace it, since it won't truly be the Empire as you knew it. Ol' Batty was right even you did change his mind. Your time is STILL the past. You've had five years to get "used" to the changes and while you have and are even thriving, you're never going to feel comfortable. Even if you kill Quintus and seize power and everything goes well with that, you still have to go through the process of reconquering everything again. Something you really shouldn't have to do. You should've had a your "birthright" over five hundred years ago. Now you feel like you're having to play catch up for a much lesser prize. Most of the old lands are indeed ruined to a degree that you can't imagine anyone wanting to live there even if you did conquer it. Pushing people into doing so is libel to cause a revolt at worst or just flat out attrition at best…ugh…shit you don't want to even ponder yet. And what's the alternative? Not killing Quintus and serving as his loyal right hand goon? Continuing to watch that fool take ALL the credit for stuff you will no doubt have a hand in? No, you did that already and at least with the Emperor you didn't have to put up with any sort of dysfunctional family every time you visited him. You think back to when you spent time in the museum with Jennifer talking about that past. That's still the happiest you've been since you woke up. You even wonder if you shouldn't just abandon all these desires and ambitions. What has it really gotten you in the scheme of things? You made the big gamble the first time and it didn't work out maybe that was a sign. You wonder if you shouldn't just settle down with Jennifer and try to live a normal life. > You go to Jennifer You may have lost your mind thinking that you can even attempt living a normal life, but then you're the same guy who actually listened to a twisted abusive svelk bitch that convinced you it was a good idea to attack the Emperor too. And what's this decision compare to something like that? You tell your second to take command of the camp, when he asks for how long, you just tell him until further notice. He's at a loss of how to respond as you leave. When you arrive back at the museum, you find that Calvin, Jennifer and several others are packing up a lot of equipment. "Hey, what're you doing here?" Jennifer asks. "I had to talk to you…what's all this?" "Another expedition! After all these years, Quintus is funding another one." "What? He's sending you to dig around in Quala again?" "No, we're going to Rask!" Jennifer says excitedly. "Rask!?" "Yes! Remember when I mentioned there were rumors of a warrior's guild up there? Well over the years I've been studying old maps and the newer charts created by the few adventurers that came back alive from there and I think I've managed to pin point the location. See?" Jennifer suddenly unfolds a map and points to a circled spot on it. You know a lot of time has passed, but if your knowledge of Rask geography is still remotely relevant at all, that looks like where Fort Defiance would've been located. "That looks like where Fort Defiance was located." You remark. "There was a fort there?" Jennifer says. "Yeah, it was the furthest military outpost in the north of the Empire, well save for one other, but that was more like a small watchtower." You answer. "I didn't know you served in Rask." "I didn't actually, but I did carry out one personal favor there for a fellow Eternal, the one manning that watch tower I just mentioned actually." "Oh. Well still, this would be one of those times I wish you could come with us. Your knowledge of the area even if it is out of date would probably be useful." "Believe me, I'm tempted to. I can't believe Quintus is just sending you out there like this. The dangerous journey TO Rask is bad enough, but the weather in Rask is just as treacherous as the inhabitants and I can only imagine after centuries without any order there its probably only gotten worse since." "Well he probably wouldn't have if I hadn't went to him about the information I found. Plus he was in a good mood about senator's Batalimus' recent suicide. Did you hear about that?" "Uh, yeah another lucky break for our side, look I better go with you." You say. "But don't you have orcs to slay or defending our borders or…" "All of that can be done without me, I think the army is competent enough now that I don't need to hold their hands and if they still do then you're REALLY going to need me to come with you because that means the soldiers you are taking won't be worth shit in a fight. In fact if you even want to get to Rask, you're going to need me to negotiate with the Flogger tribe. Not to mention there's much worse things in Rask than ogres and giants." "What about Quintus? Don't you have to report this to him?" "Fuck Quintus, he's not my master. He could stand without me holding his hand every five minutes too. Nobody tells me what to do." Jennifer takes a pause from your remark, before continuing. "Well, alright then, as long as you don't think it's going to cause any problems I'd be very happy for you to join us. So what was it that you wanted to talk to me about?" "Huh? Oh…that. Uh, nevermind now." "Oh come on, you obviously had something pretty important if you left your post in Quala to tell me. This expedition to Rask business sort of distracted you from your original intent of coming here in the first place, but nevertheless you haven't really abandoned your previous thoughts of settling down with Jennifer so you take her to one side and tell her. Her reaction is mixed though not one of any negativity. "Sounds like you've given this some thought and this decision couldn't have just been on a whim for you." Jennifer says. "It wasn't, that's why I had to see you. I mean I know there's something between us and why shouldn't I focus on that?" you reply. "What about reviving the Empire?" "Yeah, originally after I woke up and got a bit more of my bearings, the concept of doing that did sound appealing and move me into the direction I've been currently going in, but that's been my whole life! I mean my original purpose is gone. MY Empire is gone. Why shouldn't I try something else? What could it hurt?" "Nothing I suppose, but have you thought about what else you would do with your time? I mean no offense, but battle and war are pretty much your best skills." "Yes, I know. I wasn't talking about abandoning such things completely though, I mean I could go with you on expeditions and guard your museum." "Guard the museum?!" Jennifer says followed by laughter. "What's so funny?" "The idea that we'd need a warrior mage to guard my father's museum is hilarious to me. I think the word overkill comes to mind. While the expedition protection would no doubt be of help, it isn't like that's what we do all the time as you well know. We're in the museum most of the time and you'd get bored. Very bored. Besides, it isn't like we get people trying to steal anything on a regular basis. The last time was ten years ago and the thief in question only managed to grab the tooth of an old Usksha sand worm before he was apprehended." "Well I could talk about the old Empire when people come through or something…" "So you want to be part of the tour? Yeah, I don't see that working in the long term either. Look I think you're just feeling home sick or time sick or something again. Why don't you think about this decision more after our trip to Rask, and if you still feel the same way when we come back, we can make arrangements for your future plans I suppose." You agree to Jennifer's proposal since she does have some good points and now you're a little less worried about your future so much as you're more concerned with this expedition. When Calvin hears that you're accompanying the expedition he looks relieved. He mentions that he actually tried to talk his daughter out of going on this thing, but she wouldn't be swayed so he was going to go with her knowing that he'd probably die in the process. Since you're going now, he's going to stay at the museum stating that he's completely confident that she'll come back alive now. Along the way to Rask you warn everyone about the wendigo. Other than Jennifer nobody else seems to know anything about them and she's only heard stories. Apparently they're just "myths" nowadays, but you assure everyone that they're very real and if anyone begins to feel like an unnatural force trying to gain control over their mind, they need to see you immediately and fight the mental attack as if they're life depended on it because it does. This information probably makes everyone a bit more paranoid and on edge, but quite frankly they should be. Eventually you get to the Flogger tribe territory, which seems to have moved further south from when you last remember. Apparently Trog has indeed been taking advantage of uniting the other tribes under his banner. The decor hasn't changed though; they're still favoring the hundreds of dead bodies stretched across various wooden frames with their backs completely flayed of all skin to mark their turf. Naturally everyone (especially the soldiers) are expecting a fight given that you're technically at war with the orcs in general, but you tell them you can handle this and tell them to stay put. "Oy! Youz that Ternal man!" an orc shouts from the crude watchtower. Not that you're an expert, but this orc is familiar, if only because of his great fat belly. "Fatbelly wasn't it? Where's your comrade?" It takes awhile for Fatbelly to process this question at first, but he eventually he knows who you're talking about. "Oh, youz must mean Bilge. He dead. Idjit got 'imself killed by gettin' into scrap wit an ogre. 'Ead got popped off an lived for awhile. Won bet on how long! Hah! Anywayz Trog spectin' you again. 'Ead on in." "He knew I was coming?" "Geez, maybe youz powerful, but yooz stooped as Bilge. Trog Shaman! He haz vishuns member?" "Hmm, how could I forget." You say ignoring the rest of Fatbelly's insult and heading past the dead bodies. Trog isn't far ahead." "So once again the Eternal visits Trog. And once again Trog see that you come, but not know the reason. Is our arrangement going as planned?" "Yes, in fact while I'm here I might as well address that too. We've gotten what we need from the war. You no longer have to play any role in it, that is stirring up the other orc tribes." "Trog see. Very well we did have an agreement and the Floggers have benefitted greatly from this arrangement, so it is done for now. However, Trog cannot promise that other minor tribes will not still attack. Can only promise that Floggers will no longer play any part in such attacks." "That's fine, probably for the best that we still get a few attacks. The other reason that brings me here, is that I and my group need to get through to Rask." "Trog see. Can you not just go around us?" "From what I can tell Trog, that isn't even possible anymore. Your territory was probably blocking the easiest route to Rask to begin with, now it looks like you're blocking it entirely. We have to go through your territory." Trog doesn't look enthused by your suggestion, but ponders it a bit. "Very well, but you cannot just pass for free. Need to extract some sort of payment or security of goodwill." "We aren't really carrying any valuables Trog." "Do not want things. Want people. Give us two. One for your passage through and one for the return trip." "Okay…so what are you going to do with them?" "Nothing. Just keep here so you do not pull any tricks." "What tricks would I play, I've always dealt straight with you. And you do realize that if I was going to play any sort of trick, I'd be more than willing sacrifice whoever I did leave behind and do it anyway?" "Hmm, true. But still, cannot just let you pass for free. Tribe would perceive as weakness. Those are the terms. More than fair." Trog IS being more than fair. He's downright civilized compared to most humans you've known. Under normal circumstances you'd do it without a blink, but you're fairly certain the group is going to be VERY resistant to this idea and you can't say you'd blame them. It's this or just pushing your way through. > You make the deal "Alright, you'll have your two Trog, I need to go back and speak with my people about which two though." Trog nods and you return to the group to explain the situation, it goes about as well as you expected. "You can't expect us to stay with these savages! They'll kill us!" one of the workers exclaims. "We're at war with these monsters!" a soldier remarks. "I'd have to agree that leaving anyone here is tantamount to leaving them to die." Jennifer adds. "Look, this is the ONLY way we're getting into Rask without a fight. And I guarantee we're in no position to be fighting hundreds of orcs." You remark and then point at the soldiers in the group. "Now you lot are soldiers which technically puts you under my command and if I order any of you to stay you better damn well do it or else you're going to have me to deal with and I assure you if that happens you'd rather have orcs." "That being said, I'd rather NOT leave any soldiers behind, because we're going to need every competent fighter we can get when we do get in Rask." You say and then point to the civvies in the group. "You lot on the other hand, I can afford to leave any one of you behind." This remark is met with more protest and exclamations of how which one of them is a valuable member of the group. You're unimpressed and simply say if there's any digging or carrying to be done, anyone can do that and if its for some intellectual purpose, Jennifer is still going to be the most knowledgeable one on whatever it is you do find in Rask, so again the rest are superfluous. This statement is met with more protests until Jennifer suddenly tells them all to shut up. "I don't like this, but he's right. I'll take volunteers first." Jennifer remarks. Predictably more begging, protests and threats follow, which Jennifer addresses that it's either stay with the orcs or try to head back to Nalin without any escort protection. Eventually one brave soul volunteers, muttering that if he's lucky maybe they won't eat him and he can learn more about their culture. The second one loses a lot draw. She's not happy about her bad luck and the situation, but resigns herself to her fate. "I'm glad you backed me up." You say. "I didn't really want to and I'm sure I'm going to get a lot of backlash from my workers, but the potential for this discovery is too important and I trust you. I just hope you trust this orc as much." Jennifer remarks. "I don't, but he's been reliable on matters much greater than this one. The worst that could happen is that he plans on killing us on the return trip when we're exhausted from the dangers of Rask, but we'll deal with that when the time comes." You answer. "Well I guess this is all worth it then." After the two "sacrificial lambs" are presented to Trog, he promises once again that no harm will come to them and the rest of you cautiously pass through Flogger territory, which actually overlaps partially into Rask. In fact you pass by an area where you believe Fort Destiny once stood. There's no evidence of it anymore though, it's just wilderness now. You wonder if was destroyed during the cataclysm or if it was time that ultimately took it over. Eventually you clear Flogger territory and you're in the true wilderness of Rask. You, Jennifer and a couple of others go over the maps deciding which way would be the best. Using your memory, you point out that despite the long passage of time, there are still evidence of old Empire roads and that you should use those as a basic guide to head north. If you're lucky, it may very well take you all the way to Fort Defiance, or at least where the fort used to stand. The journey north is as miserable as you remember when you first came to this unforgiving land. If anything it seems worse now that it's no longer tamed by the Empire. Still, you travel quite a distance before you catch sight of figures moving about in the surrounding forests. "Stop. We're being watched and we're going to be attacked soon. In fact, we're probably surrounded, I suggest everyone prepare themselves." You say. The group forms a protective circle as best they can while you try to keep an eye on all the possible directions of attack. Eventually a few orcs and ogres emerge from the trees. However, something doesn't look quite right about them. They're savage looking like you'd expect, but even for their kind they're moving a fashion that isn't typical. It's more like how an animal would move. They don't make any usual taunts or threats either, but you do hear some loud guttural growling sounds. It probably isn't surprising that some of the soldiers decide they aren't going to wait around to be attacked and go ahead and fire. Two or three of the attackers are wounded, but then the rest make a horrible wailing sound which causes everyone to clutch their ears in pain. Then they move in for the attack, but it's more like a loping gait rather than running. Ogres don't typically run either… "Oh shit, WENDIGOS!" you shout and start casting your mind shield spell, but before you can complete it a possessed orc is already upon you. "Meat!" the orc hisses with its fang filled mouth right in front of your face. You feel a claw dig through your armor and puncture your skin just before you stab the monster through the neck with your dagger. Blood spurts all over you before manage to get the thing off of you and stomp it repeatedly in the throat, crushing it completely. You then hear a voice in your mind. "Sssssss! I sense power…great power…you're an Eye! Hated Eye! Eyes! Away! Away my fellows! Before this they destroy us all!" the voice exclaims. Before you know it, the possessed orcs and ogres cease their attack and begin backing away. Everyone is a bit confused and quite frankly you are too. "Why'd they stop attacking?" Jennifer asks. "Because we were kicking their asses! Hah! So much for the dreaded wendigos!" a soldier remarks, several of the other soldiers cheer in agreement and press forward to attack the retreating wendigos. You aren't exactly sure what's going on, but apparently this wendigo knows you have the capability to destroy it. However, nobody else here can and if the wendigos figure that out, you're going to be in trouble when the spirits are released from their dead hosts. You're not about to give away the fact that everyone else is defenseless by shouting verbal commands to stop attacking, so the best thing you can do is cast your spell. Which is going to be a brand new experience for you since you've never actually cast a mind shield spell over other people before. Ignoring the sounds of gunshots and shouting around you, you concentrate on your spell and try to focus it on the group. It takes a lot more energy than you anticipated. Meanwhile you're getting questions on what you're doing. "Shut up! All of you! I'm trying to protect our lives and it's taking all my concentration! Now does anyone hear any voices? And I'm not taking about my own right now. I'm taking about raspy sounding voices going on about giving up or something similar." This question is followed by the group all-stating that they don't hear anything like that. You breathe a sigh of relief and while you still can't sense any wendigo spirits lurking about, you're not going to take your guard down yet. "Okay, good. Like I said before we got here, if anyone does hear voices let me know immediately. I heard one of them in my head and it thought we were eyes, or they thought I was. It got scared and told the rest to retreat before I destroyed them all." "An eye? What does that mean?" someone asks. "If I had to guess? They thought I was part of an elite military branch force of the old Empire." You say. "We've only found a bit of information on the Eyes, but I didn't know they actively hunted wendigos." Jennifer says. "They didn't. In fact other than some stealth operations during the Felkan War their primary function was internal security after the shadows were disposed of. They didn't have any magic abilities to destroy creatures like wendigos." "Something must've changed then." "I'll say. The only time I've ever heard fear in a wendigo's voice is just before I banished it. I'm guessing it sensed I had that ability and figured I was an eye, which leads me to believe that this mythical warrior's guild we're trying to find must be run by the eyes or decendents of them. Heh. Glad you held something together ol' friend." You say with a smile. "What's that?" Jennifer asks not knowing what you're thinking about. "Warrick. He was head of the Eyes. A Sightmaster. I can only imagine that if the Eyes did survive to this day, he must've had a hand in it somehow. Come on, I'm actually just as anxious as you to find this place now." After patching up some of the wounded you're soon on your way again. You hate dispelling the protection, but if you keep it going constantly, you'll be running out of stamina when you might need it for more physical foes. You just hope that the wendigos continue to believe that you're all Eyes. As it turns out, the rest of your journey is plagued by horrible weather conditions instead. There's also debate on which way to go when the remnants of the Empire roads disappear to wilderness and can no longer provide a base guideline of where to travel. Jennifer and most of her workers want to follow the maps, but you're convinced that you should continue in the direction of where you last remember Fort Defiance to stand. > You follow the maps As much as you hate to go against your instincts, you were only here once and it was over five hundred years ago. Your memory of things isn't going to be correct due to the changes in the landscape alone. Even if the maps aren't giving the exact location, they're at least a more reliable guideline brought back by people who managed to survive this land. "Okay, we'll use the maps. We're going to have to endure this weather either way I suppose and we'll be less likely to get lost." You remark. You continue your journey using the maps. It turns out to be a good idea, but nothing is stopping the cold and freezing ice storm that hits hard within a couple hours. What remaining horses and other pack animals you had left end up either panicking or outright collapse from the exhaustion. Your group ends up having to dig out a shelter and hunker down for the storm to pass. Food isn't much of a problem since you just butcher the animals that are dying any way. Fire isn't either since you can conjure it up. Still, it's not an ideal situation and others in the group are starting to experience minor frostbite and argue with one another. You tell everyone to shut up and listen when you hear a rumbling sound approaching close by. Some think it's just the sounds of the storm, but you point out that it must be something else since the ground is vibrating a bit. "Giant! Get the hell up and move!" you exclaim and the group scrambles to run out of the make shift shelter. Some of you even make it out before a large foot crushes it. Now the term giant has never been used lightly, they're called that for a reason. However, this one is certainly larger than average. In fact, you don't even think it noticed you when it squashed some of your group. Well it didn't at first at least, when it feel the gushiness of flattened humans on its foot along with seeing several scattering about the snow, it comes to the conclusion that a giant could only logically come to, namely flatten the rest of you as well. "Spread out! Spread out! He's going to swing that damn club!" you shout. Meanwhile, the giant successfully crushes a couple of the soldiers with his club and at this point you don't know where the hell anyone else is because their fear has caused them to run out of your line of sight which is small enough with the ice storm hindering long range viewing. You roll out of the way of a club slam and run up to the giant's foot and begin hacking at the back tendon. It isn't easy since the giant's skin is calloused to the point where it acts like armor. You only manage to cause a superficial wound before He nearly crushes you again. Realizing you aren't getting anywhere with that approach, you resort to magic and literally give the giant a hot foot, burning the skin enough to cause a roar of pain. The giant starts moving his foot to sooth the injury in the cold snow. You look up and can barely make out the top half of this monster through the storm. You aren't sure if it's going to work with the storm being as bad as it is, but you're going to try anyway. You cast more fire at the giant, not at his foot though, but at his loincloth which is undoubtedly made of some sort of fur. You don't stop flinging fire until you're confident that the flames aren't going out any time soon. Predictably the giant starts beating its own flaming crotch in an effort to stop the burning sensation, bellowing so loudly that you image all of Rask can hear. The giant runs away from the combat area grabbing snow and ice around it and throwing it on the still burning fur loincloth. "Sheesh, that brings a whole new meaning to the term fireballs." A voice shouts behind you. You turn around and see a figure completely bundled up in snow gear standing with others dressed in a similar manner. Naturally you're ready for a fight, but the one who spoke holds up his hands. "Hold on there! Are you part of the expedition group? We just bumped into a few of them running from the giant. Said one of you was actually insane enough to fight the damn thing." "Yes, what have you done with them?!" "Nothing! We were on patrol, got caught in the storm and then we heard all the screaming and came to investigate. Your people are right over this small hill here with some more of us. Normally, we'd just send you all on your way and tell you that you were fools to come to Rask in the first place, but now that we've seen you in action, I can't help but think the Vision Lord would want to meet you." Vision Lord? "Are you the Eyes?" you ask. "We are from the Order of the Eye and I'm Sightmaster Crowley but if we're going to talk, I'd prefer it if we'd do it at Fort Everwatch. You and the others can rest up there." "And if we don't want to go with you?" "Then you don't go and you all can return to wherever it is you came from. We're not holding anyone prisoner, though the lady of your group, a Miss Mol I believe, says you've been looking for us. As I said normally we try to keep to ourselves and turn away most visitors, but given that we're inviting you in with open arms I should think you wouldn't turn down this opportunity. Besides, I'm fairly certain that none of us here wants to tangle with the guy that just chased away ol' Snowtop single handedly." "What, that giant?" "If you hadn't noticed, he's not just any giant, if he was, he'd be dead by now. He's probably the oldest living frost giant that we know of and he's tougher than a troll steak and almost taller than some of the smaller mountains in this area. Fortunately he seems to only wander about during these bad ice storms that usually no idiot would be caught in, but then here we are." And here you are. You insist that you want to see Jennifer before going anywhere. Crowley takes you to see her and the few survivors. She's glad to see you're alive and hugs you. Her enthusiasm for this trip hasn't diminished and she definitely wants to go see the Eyes' home, despite the fact that you all were nearly crushed to death by a giant, though that can't be said for some of her employees. You're just glad she's all right and you're within reach of your destination. It doesn't take too long to get to Fort Everwatch. It wasn't anywhere near Fort Defiance once stood though so its just as well that you didn't go that way. Everwatch isn't particularly large or fancy, but it does look like it was built to stand the test of time. The interior is just as utilitarian Other than symbols of an eye adorning various parts of the fort, it actually reminds you of an old Empire fort. You can't help but feel at home here despite only just entering the place. You are brought to a great hall area and Crowley says he's going to fetch the Vision Lord. In the meantime he's tells you all to stay here, but feel free to look around. "This is pretty exciting, I hope they'll let us take something back from this place." Jennifer says while looking at the various plaques. "Anything's possible I suppose, but they don't look like they're much into luxuries. The only decorations here seem to be dedicated to their fallen like these plaques or those eye symbols…oh wait, they seem to have battle trophies as well, check out that giant's skull hanging high on the left wall." You remark still feeling a little wary of things. Eventually Crowley comes back with who you guess to be the Vision Lord. The Vision Lord doesn't look particularly impressive despite his name though it is certain by the scars on his face he is no stranger to battle. You were expecting him to be a lot older though as it stands he looks about your age…well not counting your five-century nap of course. He stares at you, Jennifer and the rest for a moment and then he points to Jennifer. "I'm guessing you and this lot come from the Nalin Republic." "How did you know?" Jennifer asks. "Where else would you come from? You're certainly not from one of the six cities of Arat. They're too busy with their petty squabbles. Besides, we've come across some of your type before wandering up here. A few of them even joined our group rather than head back down." "You recruited our explorers?!" Jennifer says. "Yes, if they showed promise and desired to join. I'm sure you might even bump into a couple of them in this place assuming you haven't already. Now you on the other hand…you are very interesting. Your armor looks as if it comes from another time, you can cast magic with ease and I heard you fended off Snowtop all by yourself. That's a feat so impressive I can't imagine you are native to the Republic." the Vision Lord remarks and points to you. "What I find interesting is this place and from what I can tell by your commemorations of the your fallen, you feel keeping history is important. So tell me, did Warrick have this fort built or was it sometime after his death?" you say causing some eyebrows to raise. "You know of Vision Lord Warrick then? Not many outside our order know our founder. How did you come across this information?" "Easy. We were practically siblings. He was an Eternal, just like I am. He wasn't a Vision Lord back then, just a Sightmaster, though I guess he felt the need to assign himself a higher title. Doesn't matter. I'm just glad to see another piece of the old Empire still alive, even if it has taken a very different form." With this response the Vision Lord steps back and the other Eyes now begin whispering amongst themselves. "So, the rumors are true. An Eternal does walk the earth again and it is indeed the one Vision Lord Warrick mentions in his writings. As you might expect we don't get much news this way and we don't venture too far from here, let alone Rask. In fact the few recruits we manage to get are probably our biggest source of new information. Tell me, how is it that you live?" You explain the exact situation as vaguely as you did to Jennifer and Quintus. The cataclysm struck suddenly, you were encased in a magic shell, etc. etc. and eventually Jennifer's crew dug you up. "I see. How unfortunate that you came in contact with the Republic first, but then I suppose it's better than being stuck in a magic coffin. Still, you're here now and I believe you will find a better home here." The Vision Lord remarks. "What?" "I'm inviting you to stay with us. Come now. This Order was founded by an Eternal I'm somewhat familiar with their mindset based on the writings of Vision Lord Warrick. I can only imagine the dull tedium you've endured in the Republic. How have you managed to occupy your time?" "Do not presume you know me based on the writings of Warrick. Truth be told, he didn't exactly create the Eyes, at least not in their original form. The Eyes were originally created by this woman's great ancestor Jacob Mol." You say pointing to Jennifer. The Vision Lord nods his head a bit. "Apologies. I did not mean to offend. And if as you say this lady's ancestor had a hand in creating the Eyes then we've been doubly blessed by the presence of her as well. However, I do believe that you were and still are a man of battle and war. And again I can't imagine those things being in great supply in the Republic. Surely you would enjoy living here instead. You would be great asset in our own war of extermination of the wendigo. We could certainly use the help." This is a sudden offer and certainly one you weren't expecting. The strange thing is it isn't out of the question either. A few days ago you were just going on about to Jennifer about how you were restless in the Republic even with your efforts to help restructure it into a new empire. A glorious undertaking to be sure, but one you've had doubts about recently. Now this opportunity is certainly less impressive, but there's something alluring about its simplicity. All you would have to concern yourself with is the battle. The war. The victories over your enemies in melee combat. You'd even live in a place that's much comfortable to you. Of course there's also Jennifer to think about, but while your relationship with her is blooming into something more romantic what future do you have with her really? She's not even like Alison in that she's a warrior and can truly connect with you on some level even if she does make the attempts. There's also the fact that you've been worried about her the whole trip. Will you continue to worry about her and allow that to be a weakness to be exploited? If she's killed will you go through the same emotional ruin you did when Alison was murdered? Do you even want to deal with any of that again? You tell the Vision Lord that you and he are going to have to discuss this all in more detailed before you make a decision. Jennifer looks concerned when you say this, but doesn't say anything. The Vision Lord says that while you and he talk, the rest of your group can rest up or feel free to explore as there is nothing of major value and he trusts nobody would be foolish enough to steal anything. You speak with the Vision Lord (who reveals his name is Kells) for quite awhile on the current situation of his order as well as the history of this place and Rask in general. He also remarks about how the Eyes are so hated and feared by the wendigo. As you might've guessed magic is in play, but only to a minor degree. Over the centuries the Eyes have managed to focus their minds to create shields against wendigo mental attacks along with being able to banish them to oblivion. (Still vulnerable to normal death through wendigo hosts obviously though) After your discussion he tells you that he'll leave you to your decision, but that he hopes you'll stay. You then speak with Jennifer about your situation; naturally she wants you to return with her and explains all reasons why. You end up sleeping on the offer and pondering everything some more, but ultimately the decision is up to you. > You stay at Fort Everwatch Since you've been dug up, you've been trying to make a go of your new life and while it hasn't been all bad, you feel like ultimately you're just living a shell of your old life that's been gone a long time. You don't belong to this time, even the new "empire" you're trying to help re-establish isn't going to be the one you knew. Maybe some things should just stay in the past. If you stayed here at least you'd be doing something you actually felt somewhat connected to. Really the only thing you're going to possibly miss is Jennifer, but she's not enough for you to stay and she'll be better off without you in her life anyway. No point in second guessing your decision. You're going to stay. You go tell Vision Lord Kells immediately. He's very happy. "Excellent! Your presence here will be a great asset to the Eyes! Together we'll wipe out the wendigo completely from this land!" Kells exclaims. "I'm sure. However, I've got one more thing to do before I join. I have to explain all this to my companion Jennifer and escort her back to Quala." "Of course, I understand. Your official ceremony will begin when you return." You approach Jennifer who is already packed and ready to go, but when she sees your face she already knows what you've chosen to do. "No…no, you're not really staying are you?" she asks. "I'm sorry Jennifer, but I just can't deal with your time anymore. I don't know maybe it's all the complicated politics or the new technology or I just feel constantly out of place, or a combination of several things, but I feel more at home here than I ever did at Nalin." "But what about the Empire?! You're helping it live again! How can you leave now?" "It's not my Empire and it never will be. I believe I have helped Quintus enough in getting the foundations in place if he really wants to go forth with the plan he has. If anything I'm doing him a favor by bowing out now. I probably would've only ended up killing him anyway." "But…but…what about…" "Us? (Sigh) I think you'd be better off with someone…well more your age for one thing, but also someone with similar interests as you. I believe you're more enamored by the idea of me." "I'm not some idiot with a school girl crush you know! I have genuine feelings for you!" Jennifer exclaims. "Look, I know and I have feelings for you as well, but it's just not enough and you'll be better off in the long run anyway." Jennifer looks at you with a mixture of sadness, frustration and anger. "…fine. You've obviously made up your mind about this. And I know how stubborn your Eternal mind works, so let's not argue about this any longer. You might be right anyway, but I think this decision of yours sucks and is ultimately selling yourself out of a good future. And I'm not talking about just us. I'm talking about all the work you put into trying to resurrect the Empire and now just walking away from it all. I thought you were a man of greatness, but I see now that you are just a man…just like the rest." You try to tell Jennifer that you'll escort her out of Rask, but she tells you she'll be fine. Seeing that you aren't going to take no for an answer she reluctantly agrees. Your journey out of Rask is a quiet and uneventful one. If you weren't already feeling the cold from the weather, you'd most certainly be feeling it from Jennifer who says nothing to you the whole time. When you eventually get to the Flogger tribe borders, you part company with Jennifer and the rest. You tell your soldiers to let command know that you won't be returning and not to bother to come find you. You try to say goodbye to Jennifer one last time, but she's already walking towards Quala with her crew. Having nothing else to do, you return to Everwatch to begin your new life. The Eyes have a big ceremony for you and you're appointed as a Sightmaster immediately due to your vast years of experience and magic. Kells catches you up on all the procedures and a little more history, but for the most part you're still wondering if you have made the right decision. After a month of slaying creatures and banishing wendigos you get in the swing of things and your thoughts about anything connected to Nalin start to lessen. Within the year, you feel completely at home with only the occasional fleeting thoughts of concerns outside of Rask. Sometimes you half expect someone from Nalin to come, but nobody does. You imagine Quintus is glad to have you conveniently out of his life now (assuming he succeeded with his Empire idea without you) and Jennifer has gotten over you. Just proves that you weren't really missed or wanted after all and you did make the right decision. At least here you feel genuinely respected and wanted. Years go by and you settle into your routine. It's a very simple one and in time when Vision Lord Kells dies of natural causes, it's very evident that you are the one to take up the mantle. Years become decades and Rask continues to remain fairly isolated. You sometimes wonder if Quintus was ever successful and if he's still emperor or if he failed and Nalin is still a republic. You sometimes also wonder what Jennifer is doing. One time you walked all the way to the Rask borders only to turn back, resisting the sudden urge to revisit that life. This is your life now and you're going to stick with this one. You do begin to have some concerns about the potential future of the Eyes. You're essentially an isolated "monk" order dedicated to wiping out dangerous monsters. Attrition through combat is not only taking its toll, but age is as well. A discussion about a potential remedy like say actively trying to go outside Rask to recruit new members is held, but ultimately nothing is done. So ultimately you continue until eventually all that's left of the order is a few old men and yourself, also of old age by that time. You all go out one day and never come back.

As much as you hate to go against your instincts, you were only here once and it was over five hundred years ago. Your memory of things isn't going to be correct due to the changes in the landscape alone. Even if the maps aren't giving the exact location, they're at least a more reliable guideline brought back by people who managed to survive this land. "Okay, we'll use the maps. We're going to have to endure this weather either way I suppose and we'll be less likely to get lost." You remark. You continue your journey using the maps. It turns out to be a good idea, but nothing is stopping the cold and freezing ice storm that hits hard within a couple hours. What remaining horses and other pack animals you had left end up either panicking or outright collapse from the exhaustion. Your group ends up having to dig out a shelter and hunker down for the storm to pass. Food isn't much of a problem since you just butcher the animals that are dying any way. Fire isn't either since you can conjure it up. Still, it's not an ideal situation and others in the group are starting to experience minor frostbite and argue with one another. You tell everyone to shut up and listen when you hear a rumbling sound approaching close by. Some think it's just the sounds of the storm, but you point out that it must be something else since the ground is vibrating a bit. "Giant! Get the hell up and move!" you exclaim and the group scrambles to run out of the make shift shelter. Some of you even make it out before a large foot crushes it. Now the term giant has never been used lightly, they're called that for a reason. However, this one is certainly larger than average. In fact, you don't even think it noticed you when it squashed some of your group. Well it didn't at first at least, when it feel the gushiness of flattened humans on its foot along with seeing several scattering about the snow, it comes to the conclusion that a giant could only logically come to, namely flatten the rest of you as well. "Spread out! Spread out! He's going to swing that damn club!" you shout. Meanwhile, the giant successfully crushes a couple of the soldiers with his club and at this point you don't know where the hell anyone else is because their fear has caused them to run out of your line of sight which is small enough with the ice storm hindering long range viewing. You roll out of the way of a club slam and run up to the giant's foot and begin hacking at the back tendon. It isn't easy since the giant's skin is calloused to the point where it acts like armor. You only manage to cause a superficial wound before He nearly crushes you again. Realizing you aren't getting anywhere with that approach, you resort to magic and literally give the giant a hot foot, burning the skin enough to cause a roar of pain. The giant starts moving his foot to sooth the injury in the cold snow. You look up and can barely make out the top half of this monster through the storm. You aren't sure if it's going to work with the storm being as bad as it is, but you're going to try anyway. You cast more fire at the giant, not at his foot though, but at his loincloth which is undoubtedly made of some sort of fur. You don't stop flinging fire until you're confident that the flames aren't going out any time soon. Predictably the giant starts beating its own flaming crotch in an effort to stop the burning sensation, bellowing so loudly that you image all of Rask can hear. The giant runs away from the combat area grabbing snow and ice around it and throwing it on the still burning fur loincloth. "Sheesh, that brings a whole new meaning to the term fireballs." A voice shouts behind you. You turn around and see a figure completely bundled up in snow gear standing with others dressed in a similar manner. Naturally you're ready for a fight, but the one who spoke holds up his hands. "Hold on there! Are you part of the expedition group? We just bumped into a few of them running from the giant. Said one of you was actually insane enough to fight the damn thing." "Yes, what have you done with them?!" "Nothing! We were on patrol, got caught in the storm and then we heard all the screaming and came to investigate. Your people are right over this small hill here with some more of us. Normally, we'd just send you all on your way and tell you that you were fools to come to Rask in the first place, but now that we've seen you in action, I can't help but think the Vision Lord would want to meet you." Vision Lord? "Are you the Eyes?" you ask. "We are from the Order of the Eye and I'm Sightmaster Crowley but if we're going to talk, I'd prefer it if we'd do it at Fort Everwatch. You and the others can rest up there." "And if we don't want to go with you?" "Then you don't go and you all can return to wherever it is you came from. We're not holding anyone prisoner, though the lady of your group, a Miss Mol I believe, says you've been looking for us. As I said normally we try to keep to ourselves and turn away most visitors, but given that we're inviting you in with open arms I should think you wouldn't turn down this opportunity. Besides, I'm fairly certain that none of us here wants to tangle with the guy that just chased away ol' Snowtop single handedly." "What, that giant?" "If you hadn't noticed, he's not just any giant, if he was, he'd be dead by now. He's probably the oldest living frost giant that we know of and he's tougher than a troll steak and almost taller than some of the smaller mountains in this area. Fortunately he seems to only wander about during these bad ice storms that usually no idiot would be caught in, but then here we are." And here you are. You insist that you want to see Jennifer before going anywhere. Crowley takes you to see her and the few survivors. She's glad to see you're alive and hugs you. Her enthusiasm for this trip hasn't diminished and she definitely wants to go see the Eyes' home, despite the fact that you all were nearly crushed to death by a giant, though that can't be said for some of her employees. You're just glad she's all right and you're within reach of your destination. It doesn't take too long to get to Fort Everwatch. It wasn't anywhere near Fort Defiance once stood though so its just as well that you didn't go that way. Everwatch isn't particularly large or fancy, but it does look like it was built to stand the test of time. The interior is just as utilitarian Other than symbols of an eye adorning various parts of the fort, it actually reminds you of an old Empire fort. You can't help but feel at home here despite only just entering the place. You are brought to a great hall area and Crowley says he's going to fetch the Vision Lord. In the meantime he's tells you all to stay here, but feel free to look around. "This is pretty exciting, I hope they'll let us take something back from this place." Jennifer says while looking at the various plaques. "Anything's possible I suppose, but they don't look like they're much into luxuries. The only decorations here seem to be dedicated to their fallen like these plaques or those eye symbols…oh wait, they seem to have battle trophies as well, check out that giant's skull hanging high on the left wall." You remark still feeling a little wary of things. Eventually Crowley comes back with who you guess to be the Vision Lord. The Vision Lord doesn't look particularly impressive despite his name though it is certain by the scars on his face he is no stranger to battle. You were expecting him to be a lot older though as it stands he looks about your age…well not counting your five-century nap of course. He stares at you, Jennifer and the rest for a moment and then he points to Jennifer. "I'm guessing you and this lot come from the Nalin Republic." "How did you know?" Jennifer asks. "Where else would you come from? You're certainly not from one of the six cities of Arat. They're too busy with their petty squabbles. Besides, we've come across some of your type before wandering up here. A few of them even joined our group rather than head back down." "You recruited our explorers?!" Jennifer says. "Yes, if they showed promise and desired to join. I'm sure you might even bump into a couple of them in this place assuming you haven't already. Now you on the other hand…you are very interesting. Your armor looks as if it comes from another time, you can cast magic with ease and I heard you fended off Snowtop all by yourself. That's a feat so impressive I can't imagine you are native to the Republic." the Vision Lord remarks and points to you. "What I find interesting is this place and from what I can tell by your commemorations of the your fallen, you feel keeping history is important. So tell me, did Warrick have this fort built or was it sometime after his death?" you say causing some eyebrows to raise. "You know of Vision Lord Warrick then? Not many outside our order know our founder. How did you come across this information?" "Easy. We were practically siblings. He was an Eternal, just like I am. He wasn't a Vision Lord back then, just a Sightmaster, though I guess he felt the need to assign himself a higher title. Doesn't matter. I'm just glad to see another piece of the old Empire still alive, even if it has taken a very different form." With this response the Vision Lord steps back and the other Eyes now begin whispering amongst themselves. "So, the rumors are true. An Eternal does walk the earth again and it is indeed the one Vision Lord Warrick mentions in his writings. As you might expect we don't get much news this way and we don't venture too far from here, let alone Rask. In fact the few recruits we manage to get are probably our biggest source of new information. Tell me, how is it that you live?" You explain the exact situation as vaguely as you did to Jennifer and Quintus. The cataclysm struck suddenly, you were encased in a magic shell, etc. etc. and eventually Jennifer's crew dug you up. "I see. How unfortunate that you came in contact with the Republic first, but then I suppose it's better than being stuck in a magic coffin. Still, you're here now and I believe you will find a better home here." The Vision Lord remarks. "What?" "I'm inviting you to stay with us. Come now. This Order was founded by an Eternal I'm somewhat familiar with their mindset based on the writings of Vision Lord Warrick. I can only imagine the dull tedium you've endured in the Republic. How have you managed to occupy your time?" "Do not presume you know me based on the writings of Warrick. Truth be told, he didn't exactly create the Eyes, at least not in their original form. The Eyes were originally created by this woman's great ancestor Jacob Mol." You say pointing to Jennifer. The Vision Lord nods his head a bit. "Apologies. I did not mean to offend. And if as you say this lady's ancestor had a hand in creating the Eyes then we've been doubly blessed by the presence of her as well. However, I do believe that you were and still are a man of battle and war. And again I can't imagine those things being in great supply in the Republic. Surely you would enjoy living here instead. You would be great asset in our own war of extermination of the wendigo. We could certainly use the help." This is a sudden offer and certainly one you weren't expecting. The strange thing is it isn't out of the question either. A few days ago you were just going on about to Jennifer about how you were restless in the Republic even with your efforts to help restructure it into a new empire. A glorious undertaking to be sure, but one you've had doubts about recently. Now this opportunity is certainly less impressive, but there's something alluring about its simplicity. All you would have to concern yourself with is the battle. The war. The victories over your enemies in melee combat. You'd even live in a place that's much comfortable to you. Of course there's also Jennifer to think about, but while your relationship with her is blooming into something more romantic what future do you have with her really? She's not even like Alison in that she's a warrior and can truly connect with you on some level even if she does make the attempts. There's also the fact that you've been worried about her the whole trip. Will you continue to worry about her and allow that to be a weakness to be exploited? If she's killed will you go through the same emotional ruin you did when Alison was murdered? Do you even want to deal with any of that again? You tell the Vision Lord that you and he are going to have to discuss this all in more detailed before you make a decision. Jennifer looks concerned when you say this, but doesn't say anything. The Vision Lord says that while you and he talk, the rest of your group can rest up or feel free to explore as there is nothing of major value and he trusts nobody would be foolish enough to steal anything. You speak with the Vision Lord (who reveals his name is Kells) for quite awhile on the current situation of his order as well as the history of this place and Rask in general. He also remarks about how the Eyes are so hated and feared by the wendigo. As you might've guessed magic is in play, but only to a minor degree. Over the centuries the Eyes have managed to focus their minds to create shields against wendigo mental attacks along with being able to banish them to oblivion. (Still vulnerable to normal death through wendigo hosts obviously though) After your discussion he tells you that he'll leave you to your decision, but that he hopes you'll stay. You then speak with Jennifer about your situation; naturally she wants you to return with her and explains all reasons why. You end up sleeping on the offer and pondering everything some more, but ultimately the decision is up to you. > You return to the Republic Retreating from the world and living a simple life dedicated to battle would be a kind of escape from any major responsibilities or headaches. You'd just engage in one battle to the next until you finally fell. At worst, you might become the "Vision Lord" (Which would probably be very likely) but even then you wouldn't have much responsibility or cares. Basically staying here would be like your form of "retirement" for all your years to ungrateful master and an unforgiving system that demanded everything from you and gave next to nothing in return. Yeah, you're too young to retire and you've always been the type to do things the hard way even at your own expense. You're going back to the Republic, you'll be damned if Quintus is going to take credit for all your hard work. Even now he's probably making preparations for doing just that, assuming he hasn't made a complete mess of things. Still, if you have it your way you aren't going back alone. No point in coming all this way for nothing. First thing you do is go to Jennifer. "It may please you to know that I'll be coming back with you to Nalin…" you say. "I sense a but in there somewhere." Jennifer remarks. "It's actually a however. Anyway I'm going to try to convince the Eyes to come back with us." "What? I know I wanted to bring something back, but I don't think the entire order is what I had in mind." "I doubt if I'll convince everyone, in fact I'll consider it a victory if they don't try to lynch me when I suggest it, but I have to try. If only to rebuild the Empire properly." "So are we in any danger?" "Always. Don't worry it probably won't be that bad." Jennifer gives you an apprehensive look, but says she'll trust you in this matter. You tell her that everyone should pack up and get ready to run just in case though. Breaking whatever rules the Eyes have in place for decorum you begin to call whoever is nearby to listen to you. "I'm only going to say this once because if I can't convince you the first time, I'm not going to waste my time doing it again. Now I know you're all very proud warriors. That's good, you should be, but your talents are going to waste rotting in this dreary little fort. This isn't what Warrick would've wanted for the lot of you." "And how do YOU know that?! What do you know of the first Vision Lord?!" an Eye angrily shouts. You're guessing he hasn't heard the news on you yet. "I knew Warrick a hell of a lot better than any of you for one thing seeing as I actually interacted with the man! He was a dedicated soldier of the Empire first and foremost! I've read some of his writings and that was true up until the day he died! He never wanted the Eyes to devolve into some strange monastery. He intended for the Eyes to hold what little of the Empire was left together and eventually rebuild if possible. Now I don't know what exactly changed after he died, but it's obvious that the Eyes or whoever took charge of them changed that mission. Well I'm here to tell you all that your original mission can be restored…" your speech is sudden interrupted by Kells who comes storming into the room. "What is the meaning of this?! We have shown you courtesy and respect and THIS is how you repay us? You attempt to use us as puppets…" Kells speech is interrupted with a lightning blast to his face. No mental shield in the world is going to protect against that. Kells falls backwards with his blackened head still sizzling and making popping sounds. Most of the Eyes are unsure of what to do, though four of them immediately make their good attempt to kill you. You dodge and weave the attacks of the first two and successfully run the pair of them through. The third you freeze to the spot and grab the fourth one's arm, breaking it before snapping his neck. Seeing that nobody else is willing to attack, you kick the frozen third attack so that he falls over and shatters into multiple pieces. "Now as I was saying your mission can be restored. What you just witnessed here, I took no pleasure in doing, but I would hate for any of you to pass up an opportunity because of an old system that is leading this great order into extinction. Besides the random worthy adventurer that decides the join, how do you replenish your numbers at a reasonable rate? I don't see many women in your ranks. I don't even see any children. You may be putting dread fear into the wendigo and other denizens of Rask, but your order is slowly dying. Within another fifty years, I'd say the Eyes will at best consist of a few old men. The Empire is going to live again and you can be part of it. You were meant to be part of it. Come with me, and the Eyes will NEVER die." Your speech is met with silence. "Or stay here and die a slow lingering death. The choice is yours, I hope you make the right decision." You say and walk past the crowd. You head towards the exit of the fort and see Jennifer standing there alone. "Where's everyone else?" you ask. "They started running when they heard the sounds of battle even the two remaining soldiers. I assume they're already on their way to Nalin by now." "And you didn't run?" "No, I figured you'd either win, and I'd be safer travelling with you anyway, or you'd die and I'd get killed trying run back to Nalin because if the Eyes didn't get me, the wendigo or giants probably would. So did it work?" "I don't know. I mean I made my point, but there's a lot of indoctrination there. Centuries worth, it was a long shot I guess." "Even after you killed some of them?" "A show of force isn't always as effective as we want it to be, but like I told them, if I wasn't going to convince them this first time, I'll never be able to. Oh well, let's get going." You and Jennifer exit the fort and make your way back to Nalin, fortunately the ice storm has let up. For a while you try to track where the others of your group ran, but unfortunately it looks like they ran in the wrong direction or at least not the way you came. Jennifer wonders if you should make the attempt to look for them, but you say that you'll just be in danger of getting lost yourself and say they're on their own. As you and Jennifer trudge through the snow you get a sense that you're being followed. You turn around and your stalkers make no attempt to hide. They're Eyes. One of them walks towards you alone. It's Crowley. "I can't say you convinced everyone, but if it's any consolation you convinced the smart ones. We're ready for something new and I was getting tired of this weather anyway." He says. With a new group to travel with and better supplies, you continue on your way. The Eyes also know of several short cuts so it decreases your travelling time. Eventually you make it back to Quala and Flogger territory. To be honest, you're glad to have some people that can actually fight now. Your more formidable force is met by Trog and just as he promised Jennifer's two people are still alive and unharmed. In fact one of them excitedly tells Jennifer everything he's learned about orc culture since he's been here. "Trog see that you return with an army from the north. Always heard there were humans living in Rask, never knew for sure though. Your two people have not been harmed as you can see and I trust after you leave our arrangement of non-hostilities will continue in the future." "Well that'll be up to you." "Indeed." "Who is this orc?" Crowley asks in a semi-hostile tone. "He's a great leader to his people and more worthy to be called a vision lord than Kells was given that he can actually see the future sometimes. Let's go." You continue your journey with no more major stops, other than a couple of times to rest. "So what happens when we reach Nalin?" Jennifer asks coming into your tent. "I'll assess the situation of course, but I can't imagine much has changed. I mean there's possibility Quintus has dissolved the senate and declared himself Emperor already in my absence, but it's hard to tell if he hasn't just freaked out without me around." "You're going to kill Quintus aren't you?" Jennifer says. "Well it is looking that way. I doubt if he's going to just step aside and even if he did I don't think I could trust him to stay out of the picture. I take it, you'd rather I didn't?" "(Sigh) At one time I might've said that would be true, but now things are so different. Still, he is the only one that funded and supported my father's expeditions and museum. He's also the main reason why the Empire is a possibility. I mean it is true he couldn't have done this without you, but you might not have been dug up at all had it not been for him. I don't know, it just seems fairly ruthless to do to someone that's been alright with you." "It is and I won't argue that it isn't, but unfortunately I've found that when it comes to power, ruthlessness is what keeps you from getting killed and getting shit done. I mean that was pretty apparent with getting the Eyes to join us." "I mean if you're going to I can't stop you and it won't change my feelings for you, but I also wonder about that as well. I mean call it keeping my head in the sand, but I'm not sure if I'd be able to walk that same path as you even if I'm not actively involved in the darker side of things. I mean I'm can you really see me as an Empress or something similar?" By the look on your face Jennifer sees that you hadn't even pondered it. "Look, let's forget about this tonight. Right now let's just consummate our relationship, whatever that might be in the future. If this trip has taught me anything it's that life is too damn short to worry about the future. You'd think I would've learned that lesson a long time ago, but better late than never." When you embrace Jennifer, you notice a big difference in the act. Namely you don't engage in the forceful roughness that you have in the past. Even though you learned to control during your time with Alison you still always had that urge of aggressiveness. You can only imagine that centuries of being encased in a magic coffin and with Mistress long dead, you don't have that fucked up hang up any more. You certainly have larger concerns nowadays. One of which is what you're going to do exactly when you go marching into Dalt with a bunch of Eyes… One day later "Where have you been? When I heard you weren't at your usual post and…" Quintus begins to ask when you come through the front door of his house and then he notices the fresh blood on your sword and his guards nowhere to be seen. His eyes widen when you raise your hand up to cast a lightning bolt to his face. You find however that the spell fails to work on him and one of his rings glows brightly. "I figured one of those rings protected you from magic. Pity, I was trying to give you a quick and less painful death." You say and advance upon him with your sword in hand. "No! What're you doing?! We're on the same side! We were going to revive the Empire!" Quintus exclaims backing up on the stairway and attempts to rub one of his rings. You aren't exactly sure what he's attempting to do, but you're not going to let him do it. You making a lunging rush at him and he nearly disappears before you, but you've already stuck him like a pig. His brief attempt at invisibility fades as his dying face stares at you. "Wh…why? I…helped…I…was going…to be…emperor…" "Yeah, well I never told you something Quintus. I was involved in killing the last Emperor and NOW I'm finally going to take MY rightful place!" you say and throw Quintus over the stair railing where his body falls to the floor in a bloody heap. Afterwards you take care of Quintus' family. As dysfunctional as they all are, the last thing you need is for any of them to attempt revenge for whatever reason. The day after, you and the Eyes march into the senate and officially dissolve it. This actually involves much less bloodshed as none of them want to oppose you. Indeed some of them offer to be "advisors." You're sure some of the fools will be useful so you stay your hand. A few days later and it's official. You make your announcement that the Republic is dead and that the Empire now lives again. The general public doesn't know quite what to make of everything. You're sure that there will be some sort of misguided rebellion, but with the military behind you and with the support of the Eyes you're confident that you won't have too much trouble. This is it. You've finally achieved what was always meant to be. Now all you have to do is hold it. > Year 545 It isn't what you would've inherited had things been different, but you achieved what many said couldn't be done. You tamed Quala badlands and have successfully incorporated it into the Empire. It certainly helped that you and Trog already had an understanding long before hand, but encouraging more kobolds citizens to settle the area worked out a lot better than you hoped. The eager little scalies seem to like the wilder and more untamed lands and it also got them out of the more "civilized" Nalin too, making more than a few rural human populations happier that their homes weren't suddenly collapsing from over dug kobold tunnels. The Eyes have been doing a good job of being the imposing internal security you wanted them to be and you've already attempted to re-establish a training center for the magic arts. Besides you, the Eyes are the only source of magic in the Empire, if they can strengthen their abilities and train others in such things, you'll have magic might on your side which can only help in the long run. Of course all this expansion has made your neighbors nervous mostly the six cities of Arat, but the Usksha Emirates as well (Though they've been wary about you even before the republic fell thanks to Quintus kicking them all out) There's also the Island League of Delerg to contend with now. The pirates and other ne'er-do-wells had to give up their first profession and actually start putting down roots on their dreary little island hideouts, thanks to the fact that Nalin started cutting back on its naval and seafaring endeavors. None of this really matters though, because you know none of them are strong enough to actually do anything to you. Your neighbors form petty alliances with each other in the hopes that if you did decide to strike that somehow they could stand against you. Though in some cases they'd rather join you, Regnik being one of the city states that sees the writing on the wall. Governor Daniel Tivas has requested several meetings with you and surprisingly you've also gotten a message from an emissary of Lenay. Seems that Domina Eldolith D'vessa wants to also speak with you, though you can't imagine that it has anything to do with joining forces. One of your newer advisors David (former senator) has suggested that it wouldn't hurt to speak with them. Of course most of your military is in favor of just crushing the cities and not talking at all. General Ingrid being the most vocal about it. (Ah the joys of having an enthusiastic military once again under your command.) Sightmaster Crowley has suggested in shutting the doors to any talks and instead retaking Rask since it still contains lots of valuable resources that could be used in the future. While not completely out of the question you imagine that's his former life influencing that advice. He probably hopes that there might be reconciliation between the ones that stayed as well as wiping out the rest of the wendigo. Finally there's Jennifer. She's not an empress, she's not even formal advisor, but you still have a close enough relationship with her that you still speak with her from time to time. The two of you realized that your "paths" were indeed different and parted ways amicably. While certainly a supporter of the Empire, she decided that her place was still archeology, exploration and looking after the museum (Even more so after her father Calvin died of natural causes four years ago). Still, as was mentioned, you do correspond with her and lately she's been expressing an interest in the islands of Delerg and even the great ocean past them. Of course with the Island League there, that makes her desire to mount any kind of expedition non-existent. Then again if you were more active there that wouldn't be the case. You could rebuild the navy again to do more exploration properly and possibly claim those islands for yourself along with eliminating a potential danger in the future (and a pain in Nalin's side even before you were dug up). One direction you're not looking is south though. The Usksha desert is still a formidable environment and sending an army that way you believe would be a waste as there is literally nothing to hold. Nothing of worth anyway since the usksha are still largely nomadic and have no real cities. As long as the Usksha keep to themselves, you have no problem leaving it alone. Whatever you decide, you know you're going to take a prominent role in it. It's time to lead from the front again to keep everyone remembering that you're no throne bound ruler. In the meantime you decide to listen to David's advice and set up a meeting with two of the rulers from Arat. At first you think neither ruler will agree to meet you in Nalin, but surprisingly both do rather than insisting on neutral or even their own territory. In a few days both rulers arrive in Dalt with their respective entourage. Neither one is happy about the other one being here, and the presence of svelk probably puts everyone in Dalt on edge. The Eyes are on extra alert. Daniel obviously isn't a warrior by any means. He's a skinny man with a goatee and a few lines on his face due to the stress of ruling. As for Eldolith, she looks about the same as you last remember, though perhaps slightly older looking. Well as "old looking" as svelk get anyway. "When I first heard that an Eternal appeared in Nalin, I had hoped it wasn't you." Eldolith says when she sees you again. "Mm, I'm sure you'll have to explain yourself to all the other svelk now about how you attempted to seduce me by sucking on my finger." You retort which causes her entire entourage to react with shock and a particular female svelk gives Eldolith a dirty look. Daniel and his people on the other hand are just as surprised, but find it more amusing. "Watch yourself and your slander! I am no longer a lowly merc following the whims of my delusional bitch mother. I am the ruler of my people and we are not about to be conquered by your so called renewed empire!" Eldolith exclaims. "We'll see." You remark with a smile and tell everyone to sit down at the meeting table. "First, I'm glad you both felt the need to come see me in person. This makes what we will discuss here so much more personal, though I know there are six cities. Do you know why none of the other rulers have desired to see me?" you ask. "I can answer that." Daniel says. "The rulers of Atinil and Valizza are already under the influence of Eldolith so by her being here they already have their master to speak for them." "Daniel, you're just frustrated that YOU could not sway them into becoming whores for the Empire like you seem to desire." Eldolith remarks. "Okay, so what of the other two?" "Well since you decided to incorporate those stinking greenskins into your society, the people of Zo want nothing to do with you and I can't say as I blame them. As for Telis, who the hell knows? There hasn't been word from them for almost a decade. The entire city could be dead for all anyone knows." Eldolith says in a bored tone. After hearing this, you ask why both of them wanted to see you in the first place. Daniel tells you that he is basically seeking protection for his city-state. He says that he realizes that Regnik can no longer afford to be independent and that he is willing to become a vassal of the Empire. He doesn't care if half the citizens are against it; he says it's the best thing for the survival of Regnik. He does make it clear though that he is not asking to be annexed completely. He still wants Regnik to be independent on a day-to-day basis, just that it will be paying you money in exchange for protection. Eldolith sneers at Daniel and begins to call him a weakling raising the hostilities of both sides of the table until you demand that everyone calm down. "Alright Eldy, what the hell is it that you want to say, because I know damn well it isn't an alliance let alone vassalhood." "You're right. It isn't being subserviant, but rather a setting of boundaries right now. The svelk people are independent AND strong. We will NOT bend to your will and if you doubt this then send your armies to invade and see them slaughtered by the thousands!" "So, I'm supposed to just sit back and watch you get stronger until you attack us eh? And I'd watch your next words Eldolith, in case you've forgotten you're not exactly in friendly company right now." "You think I care about your threats? Attempt to kill me if you wish, but I will not grovel like this weak human here." Eldolith is certainly going all out to be confrontational, though you wonder how much of it is an act for her people because you embarrassed her with the finger comment. Still, you know svelk and they aren't all bluff. She's probably being very serious with her grandstanding which makes you also wonder what power is it that she holds that could potentially stand against you. You're aware that the svelk do have mages, which does put them above most people, but even you can match that now. If Daniel is correct then she does have the support of two other city-states and will probably have Zo as well seeing as they hate orcs. Still even with the extra military help it still wouldn't be enough. Might take awhile, but you'd conquer eventually. Either Eldolith is got something else up her sleeve or she's being overconfident. Could go either way. The temptation to indulge her threats is great, but maybe some caution might be in order. You decide to take Daniel up on his offer and use his city as a launching zone for spies and other possible intelligence gathering plans before you make a final decision on Eldolith. That would also give you time to bring your attention to other potential areas of conquest like Rask or Delerg. > You make Regnik a vassal and retake Rask Having extra resources to fund a potential war in the future isn't a bad idea so Rask is probably the better choice in that you don't have to worry about building a bunch of ships to take it. Not to mention you've already got a presence of sorts there with Trog's Flogger tribe that makes up most of the population in Quala and spilling over into Rask. The only main concern you have is that you're going to have to transfer more Eyes to that front due to the wendigo danger there which will take away from internal security as well as magic training, but there's nothing else for it. As for Daniel and Eldolith you'll indulge both of their requests for now. You tell Daniel that he can consider his city now under the protection of the Empire and that any foreign invasion attempts in any form with be met with force. "Why are you looking at me when you say that?" Eldolith asks. "Because I know your kind and Daniel's already mentioned you have your influence in two other cities. Now you can have your little territory for now, but make no mistake, you're going to be watched from here on in and if I sense ANYTHING that could be a potential danger to the Empire you're going to wish that you never managed to unite the svelk to begin with." "We'll do as we please and nobody is going to stop us!" "Okay then, as you said just send an invasion force in my direction and see if I'm not being serious." At this point Eldolith just rolls her eyes, but shuts up. Obviously she knows anymore antagonism might result in war which its apparent now that she doesn't truly want if she can help it. Daniel profusely thanks you for heeding his request and will make sure to accommodate your people in anyway he can. You almost shake your head at the man's naivety if he actually believes his city is going to remain autonomous in the way he believes it will. He's going to allow your military there, it won't be long before you've got complete control and any "independence" the city thinks it has is only because you're allowing it. Of course maybe he knows what is probably going to happen and he's just trying to convince himself otherwise. In any event you're glad when the svelk leave (everyone is no doubt), it was a reminder of less happy times in your life. You tell Crowley that you are planning to retake Rask and steps will have to be made to steadily start transferring Eyes up there to combat the wendigo threat. Since there isn't any real centralized government to conquer in Rask, the bigger concern is getting folks to settle up there though you're sure more than a few enterprising sort or people desperate for work will eventually pour into the area when establishing the first towns. If nothing else you've always got orcs who are probably going to be doing most of the fighting anyway since with less Eyes around in Nalin, you're going to have to rely on normal military to keep the plebs in line. (Or rather keep them from getting ideas about getting out of line) Within the first few months you have the basics of a town up and running along with a fort. As you predicted orcs are making up most of your fighting force up here and are being lead by Eyes. As for the regular work force surprisingly most of it consists of elves who have been finding Nalin less friendly to their kind in recent years and prefer the "less human/more wilderness" much more to their liking. You take part in the "retaming" of Rask. For the most part the campaign is successful though not without its struggles. With less Eyes around in Rask, it seems the wendigo took advantage of the situation and made a concentrated attack on Fort Everwatch and they managed to massacre the remaining Eyes or in some unfortunate cases possess them. The fort itself is found in a destroyed state. Crowley naturally is furious by this, as even though he disagreed with his fellow Eyes that stayed, he didn't wish this on them. He becomes so zealous in his vow to wipe out every single wendigo in Rask, you actually have to rein him in a bit so he doesn't go get himself killed by going off by alone on some revenge mission. Within six months you've got the wendigos on the run again more and other dangerous denizens of Rask are becoming even less of a problem or at least retreating away from the slow encroachment of civilization. Fort Sentinel is finally finished along with the new town Tiblik. During this "taming" of Rask you get a message from David telling you in a letter that so far things are going smoothly in Arat, at least on your end of things. The governor is reportedly having some problems with protestors taking umbrage with your troops being in the city. The commanding officer of your soldiers has offered to deal with the problem, but Daniel has said that will only confirm their fears and insists on having his own people deal with the protests. David also tells you that things are also going well in Nalin though there has been a slight increase in crime due to there being less Eyes around. Nothing major, but he felt he should let you know. You throw away the letter and grumble a bit at the realization that you'll have to return to Nalin soon. Even though these concerns aren't big ones, you can't help but believe that if you stay away too long, more problems will crop up and existing ones will get worse. You look at the snowy scenery from the battlements of Fort Sentinel and take a moment to bask in your accomplishment before making that trudge back to Nalin. The cold air actually feels good to you right now. You hear Crowley coming up to find you. "There you are, I was wondering if you knew about the messenger that was looking for you." "Yeah, I got the message. You know people probably thought Rask would never be tamed again, but the first steps are being taken and eventually it'll be part of the Empire again proper, just like Quala." You remark. "I'm certainly glad to see it my Emperor. Just wish all of my brothers had joined me when I first left Everwatch." "A tragic loss for you I'm sure, but do not dwell on them too much, for you are here and they are not. You saw a chance for the Eyes to live forever and took it. And because you did, the Eyes are destined to live as long as the Empire exists. Those that fell in Everwatch will live on in a way." "I suppose you're right. I'm a little surprised to hear you say so though. I might've thought you considered them traitors." "At the time I asked you to join me, the Empire was not even yet reborn. They couldn't be traitors to something that didn't exist. I thought them shortsighted fools perhaps, but not traitors and certainly not cowards. To be honest I was sort of hoping when we did come back here that maybe some of them might've changed their minds." "As did I. I swear I'm going to make sure the wendigo are exterminated from Rask." "Hm, well that would be a blessing, but as I said before don't get too caught up in revenge. Especially since you're going to have to be in charge of this place." Crowley gives you a quizzical look. "What do you mean?" "I mean as much fun as I've had slaughtering the wendigo, ogres, uncivilized orcs and those...(sigh) shit I forgot the name of those little vicious furry things with big teeth…" "Auravraxes, my Emperor." "Yeah those things. Anyway as much fun as I've had doing that and overseeing the first flags being replanted here, I know I have to get back to Nalin. The boring duty of being in charge calls. So I need someone competent to look after stuff here in Rask and since you already know the landscape, probably better than I do, you might as well do the job." Crowley gives a faint smile and a nod. "I won't fail you in this task, my Emperor." "I should hope not, but I'm sure you'll have a handle on things. Really it's not going to get really tough until more citizens start settling up here. I imagine you probably won't have too much problem with the orcs since strength of arms is always respected. The elves on the other hand, well they tend to bitch about anything. You'd think the pointy ears would be grateful that I didn't bring back slavery. Anyway, just don't kill too many unruly citizens if it comes to it, we're trying to keep people up here." "Don't worry, remember I'm a sightmaster, part of my job is keeping the citizenry in line." "Okay, well then I'll leave you to it. You'll find all the latest reports and such in your office." With this final command, you take your leave of Rask and return to Nalin. > Year 550 More and more each year your nation is starting to resemble the Empire of old. More and more each year you're also starting to feel old too. The aches and pains of battles long past (and not too long past) are starting to catch up with you. You never tried to think about getting "old" too much, except during the years of when the Emperor was "sick." Recently you've begun thinking about what his plans were again. How he was going to defeat death by transferring his essence or spirit or mind or whatever into your own body. Well at least that's what Semra and Jacob told you and what ultimately lead to the situation you're in now. Unfortunately, you haven't really the means to go about such a thing. Your knowledge of magic is better than most, but the Emperor never showed you that trick let alone how to get to the Isle of Mortos. You wouldn't even know about how to go about "creating" another one of your kind either which was also required…again so Semra and Jacob told you. Makes you wonder what happened to the "eternals" Marik created. You wonder if they survived the initial cataclysm and if so, what became of them? Did they plan any major role during or after it? It's apparent that the technique to create an eternal like you or Marik's tank babies was lost too. Well it doesn't matter much now anyway, you can assume they're all certainly dead now, along with crazy ol' Marik. Still, you wonder about his factory, as it was located in Arat. In fact there have been a lot of events going on in Arat lately according to your spies. The major thing being that there have been sightings of the Xi Hive in Arat, not many and certainly no major attacks, but the insectoid creatures have been attacking anyone they see as usual. It won't be long before they become a major threat in this area. Right now it isn't your problem at all, but you imagine they will be eventually. From what you've heard the Xi have been really putting the Redcap Kingdom on the defensive, but the gnomes are still holding out and not even losing any ground. You certainly can admire that, and you'd even try to send an emissary to go speak with them if only to get a better feel of the Xi threat, but you've also heard the gnomes have also ordered a kill on sight to well…anyone. Your best shot at learning more about the Xi would probably be Eldolith, but she's also been her usual antagonistic self, especially ever since you officially annexed Regnik into the Empire. Pointing to you and the Xi as a threat she managed to unify the other city-states of Zo, Valizza and Atnil into something called the Arat Confederacy. In reality it's a new nation with four cities rather than a true alliance where everyone is supposedly still autonomous. The only other city-state that doesn't belong to Eldy's little alliance is Telis, which as usual, nobody seems to know anything about. Still, it seems like it's probably in the most danger of the Xi considering its proximity to where Xi territory is starting to expand. You never really gave it much thought until now, but according to the maps and if your memory isn't completely off, Telis isn't too far away from where Marik's factory was located. Now you're starting to wonder if its "mysterious" nature isn't due to that factor. In a perfect world Arat would be your next and only priority, but there have been concerns about the Delerg islands as well. There has nearly been no reports about the Island League's activities for years, it's almost as if they all just disappeared, but more concerning is the fact that strange humanoid creatures have been sighted off the coasts of Quala at night. While Quala is still mostly home to your orc population and the place is still the poorest of your territories, you still don't want a potential invasion to occur. It might be time to start exploring and possibly conquering the islands at last. Seeing as the orcs will have the most familiarity with this potential coastal threat, you decide to go speak with Trog about it. You might as well anyway if only to see who his potential successor is going to be seeing as you know Trog is supposed to be dying. When you arrive to meet with him, you see just how true that is. The old orc is lying prone on fur skin bedding with two younger female orcs attending to him. It's very strange to see orcs behave in this manner. Orcs don't tend to have a long life span to begin with due to all their fighting, but to see one being actually cared for rather than taken to the wilderness and left to die (at best) is unusual. Then again Trog was a very respected leader. He's obviously weak, but when he notices you he tries to sit up and waves away his attendants. "Ah…the Eternal… dreams told Trog that we would see each other one last time before the end. Now that you're here Trog now know death coming soon for me. Sad that Trog could not die as a warrior, but still a good life with many children to carry on name." Trog says. "And who would be that successor Trog?" you ask. "Trog believe that Sprog take over next. Already killed several of his siblings, others too scared to oppose. Was a great contest, only well enough to see some of it, but very good. Very bloody." "Sorry I missed it." "Trog warn you though, Sprog not quite as accepting of our current situation as Trog. Believes orcs should be independent. Might be right, might be wrong, not care. Trog too tired to care anymore." "Am I going to have to kill him?" "Do not know. Perhaps, perhaps not. Do as you wish. You always have. As Trog has said, too tired to care anymore." "So I take it that I probably should ask this Sprog about the reports of the humanoid interlopers off Quala's coast?" "Hrm. That. Trog can still help a little… Yes, there have been sightings, but nothing human about them. Fellow orcs tell me they look more like fish than anything else. Appear on land sometimes, but never for very long. Not sure if they are able or if they are just scouting. Orcs ready for a fight as always if they do decide to invade. Kobolds too. Was not sure about the little scalies living here at first, but enjoy their antics. Respect our strength too…" Trog begins to drift off to sleep, but you aren't done with him yet. "While I hate to interrupt your journey to the afterlife, you have any last visions for me?" "Hrm…yes…Trog did actually. War is coming." "That's a given Trog, war is always coming." "True, but this one will be against an enemy that you've never faced the likes of before. They will be relentless, they will not stop and even as strong as the Empire is, I fear that it will not be enough. Worse is the fact that you are approaching your own twilight years as this terrible threat comes. You will no longer be able to just march in like the great warrior you once were…" "Trog, I might be getting old, but I'm not ready for the damn grave yet." "True, but you acknowledge that you ARE getting old. Still…perhaps that is a good sign. Knowing your limitations. Trog knew his…" At this point Trog falls unconscious and despite your prodding and nudging him, he isn't waking from it. From his breathing patterns, you know he'll be dead soon. "Damn it Trog, you could've at least told me who this relentless enemy was going to be. Guess that was your last little joke on me. Good one Trog." You remark and exit Trog's tent. You tell the group standing outside that he'll be soon passing on, if anyone wants to see the final moments. Several female orcs go in, but the male orcs just give a solemn look downward save for the very large one standing nearby with an equally huge battle axe. When he approaches you, your entourage of guards stands ready to defend you, but judging by his appearance he'd give them a good fight all by himself. "So is the old man dead?" the orc asks gruffly. "Well if he isn't yet, he soon will be…I'm guessing you're Sprog." "Right. Guess you da Emp. Huh. Thought you'd be bigger. Old man say you powerful though. Guess cause of magic abilities like old man. Feh." "I take it, you don't like magic?" "Magic give unfair advantage even more than shooty weapons. Orcs have no more magic types now. Least none Sprog know of. No chance to rebel now." "You're telling me you'd rebel?" "Yes, I'd lead a rebellion if we had magic to even up odds. Told old man that he should challenge you long time ago, but said you were too powerful for him. Scared to die like proper warrior, now he die like old man that he is and we still have to serve the Empire." "Who says? You could still rebel. You're standing right here in front of me surrounded by your fellow orcs, I've only got five men with me. I'd say right now is the best chance you got of killing me and making your people free again." Sprog grips his axe a bit and gives you a suspicious look pondering if you're being serious or not. You are of course, but even though Sprog eventually senses that, he's not taking you up on that offer. "Bah, want to be free, but still stand no chance of killing you. At best might get lucky and wound you before you set Sprog on fire or somethin'. Dying in battle one thing, but Sprog not suicidal. Most orcs too comfortable now with livin' under the Empire anyway. Half would probably attack me, the idjits." "Always did appreciate you orcs and your honesty. Now that I know I don't need to kill you anytime soon, what can you tell me about these sightings off the coasts of Quala?" Sprog tells you much of the same things you've already heard. Fishmen sighted skulking around the coasts and then disappearing. He says he's already got patrols marching up and down the coasts, but no sign of them again. For all you know these fish people are this relentless force that's going to be coming at you, of course it also could be the Xi Hive which is the only other force you could think of, at worst it could be both. Could even be the usksha or someone you haven't even met yet. In any case, you still need to do something about this potential aquatic threat. This has really been a long time coming. Whatever the hell is living out on those islands, be they human or otherwise is going to feel the full might of the Empire. Thanks to having all the extra resources in Rask now your task of getting a proper fleet up and running isn't a drain on the Empire and gets done a lot quicker. Training sailors takes a little longer, but fortunately your people aren't completely ignorant of seafaring ways. Within months you have a sizable armada that should do the job. The only thing you're unsure of is whether or not you should go along on this conquest. Maybe because you're older and beginning to realize you aren't as fast or as strong as you once were, or maybe because you have uneasiness about being on the open water and possibly even an slight fear of it (A fear you weren't even aware of), or maybe it's a combination of the two, you don't know. What was it that Trog said before he died? Knowing your limitations? > You lead from the front There might be a day where you're going to have to command all your armies from bed as a sick old man, but today is not that day. As long as you can wield a weapon and move reasonably well, nobody is stopping you from fighting. As far as being on open water, well this is the perfect chance to get over that possible phobia. Since your own intelligence reports on Delerg have always been hazy at best, you gather your information from less reputable places, namely some of the prisons. Nalin sailors as a rule stayed away from Delerg waters due to the Island League, Still there were always the occasional forays into it for illegal smuggling purposes and you specifically have these types give you any and all information as well as a chance to earn their freedom by enlisting in the navy. While getting the information on island details isn't too much of a problem due to the threat of violence, you don't get a lot of takers to enlist even with the promise of freedom (or implied threats of conscription); at first you believe it's just a criminal attitude of not wishing to be part of the government, but one fellow by the name of Len tells you it's a little more than that. Len is about your age, probably a little older and is the embodiment of an "old sea dog" with his untidy white hair and beard. Len says he stopped smuggling years ago when he started to feel uneasy sailing in the waters, let alone dealing with some of the people who had become enamored with a weird religion. "Religion? What kind of religion?" you ask. "Not exactly sure, but I'm pretty sure it involved the worship of some water god. I remember finding it strange since it wasn't like any of the inhabitants of Delerg were particularly religious before. When one of my friends came into the docks one night babbling a mad tale about how he barely escaped from an ambush of screaming cultists that was around the time I decided to stop making smuggling runs and go into something less dangerous like burglary, obviously I wasn't as good at that since I got caught." Len replies. "So where is this friend of yours and what did he see?" "Not in a jail cell if that's what you're wondering. Last I heard he was committed into an asylum. I think he may have very well killed himself. He never did quite get over it and had a hard time talking about the details, but I do remember him saying that the cultists weren't quite human looking and fully intent on sacrificing him, like they did with the others who weren't so lucky to escape I guess." "What, like the recent fishmen descriptions?" "Perhaps not quite that far, but he did say they had unnatural eyes and their skin was slimy looking. The reason why you're not getting many enlistees is probably either due to these stories or from personal experience and I imagine the personal experience is rare given that my own friend went completely mad from his own experience. To be quite honest, I'm sort of surprised the Empire never knew any of this before." "Wasn't an issue before. A few rumors and tales from mad sailors and criminals isn't going to catch serious attention. In fact before people starting seeing fishmen on the coasts I didn't even know about any of this. Delerg was considered low priority, though that may have been a mistake, then again we're probably in a better position to handle this now. So what is your answer on enlistment?" Len pauses for a moment. "Well, I've been a criminal nearly all my life and never had much use for following orders. But as much as I like living, I like freedom a lot more. So if enlistment means possibly getting killed by a bunch of fish monsters but the chance of getting out of those hellholes you call prisons, then I'll take the risk. Besides, I'd say my odds are a lot better now seeing as I'll be travelling with the Empire's navy. I figure I can't get any safer than that." "Sure you can, you're going to be aboard my own personal ship." "I am?" "You were a captain weren't you? According to your record you're probably one of the more experienced ones in the damn Empire. Criminal or otherwise. You're going to be navigator of my personal ship, because I sure as hell don't know anything about steering a ship. Plus you have better knowledge of the area, so you're coming with me directly." Len isn't sure how to respond except with a hesitant thank you. He probably thought he was going to be able to sneak away at some point, but that will be next to impossible now with him being aboard your ship. When the time comes, you board your personal ship, which is decked out in the best gear available. Actually it's much slower than the rest of the ships due to its size, but then its meant to fight and take punishment, not outmaneuver a possible enemy. Honestly, you aren't even sure what you'll encounter. If the Island League is indeed completely gone, then you may face no opposition at all as far as other ships are concerned. Maybe you'll have strange fishmen scaling your ships in an attempt to kill you. Whatever you face, you'll be ready. Since the occupation of the islands is the main priority, you're taking a strong force of orcs with you. Sprog himself has volunteered to come, possibly to prove to the rest of his people of how much of a warrior he is. Crowley sent a letter asking if you needed his assistance or the assistance of any of the Eyes as things are much calmer in Rask nowadays, but you tell him the Eyes are needed at home as they always are. Within a few days you're in Delerg waters, but you've come across no islands yet. Len remarks about how strange this is since according to his memory you should've come across a couple by now. Even the information you received from others with knowledge of the area would dictate that you would've encountered some sort of landmass by now. When you sail further out to sea, you still don't find any major landmass. There are small patches of land, but nothing that would support a town or other settlement. At best you might be able to build a small guard tower on them and that would be only if the land was relatively flat and solid, which it doesn't appear to be. "This is damn odd, that small patch of land right there where the Island League's biggest island was! It even had their largest settlement, Barnacle! It's like the waters just swallowed everything up!" Len remarks. "I'm getting a vague impression I know what happened to this place. All of Delerg in fact. There's nothing here worth conquering now, we might as well…" Before you can complete your sentence there is a sudden rumble in the water. "EVERYONE BRACE THEMSELVES!" you shout and then you see several of your ships fly up off of the waters when a large sea monster spectacularly arises from below. Your own ship is rocked severely with water crashing everywhere. For a moment you think night has fallen, but it's just the sea creature blotting out the sun. The creature is bigger than anything you've ever faced. Even "Snowtop" would be the size of a gnome compared to this thing. Doesn't help that the creature has two heads and several tentacles already crushing some of your ships that weren't destroyed when it ascended in the first place. "FIRE EVERYTHING AND DON'T STOP UNTIL THAT THING IS DEAD!" you shout and the cannons roar desperately trying to harm the creature. Fortunately the ships that you have left don't seem to be losing their courage and presumably their captains have the same idea of attacking since you can see cannon fire coming from them. Though given their proximity to the creature, they wouldn't be able to retreat in time for it to crush them anyway. The beast isn't as invulnerable as it would seem as the cannon fire does its work and delivers wounds but the main problem is, it's just too damn big. You cast frost bolts at its tentacles that are attempting to wrap around the ship, you then order your troops to shatter them while they're still frozen. This works well enough that it keeps your ship afloat, but there's more than just the sea monster to worry about and you fully expected something like this to happen even before you met the leviathan. Several of the fishmen begin scaling your ship. While your ship is well defended and has the skilled manpower it needs to repel the attack, you get the impression that some of the aquatic attackers are probably trying to put holes in it from underneath. "Sprog take some of your people, get in the water and kill everything!" you shout. Sprog doesn't argue, he just nods at your command. Assuming if the both of you manage to get out of this alive, you at least know you've got his complete loyalty now. Nothing like fighting side by side against impossible odds to gain respect. Stripping off what little armor he was wearing in the first place, Sprog goes into full bezerker orc battle frenzy while ordering some of his best to follow him down into the water. You know orcs are tough, but you hope they'll be able to fight these fishmen in their own environment. It is a severe disadvantage after all. Meanwhile the beast is continuing to destroy the rest of your fleet. You can see people in the water desperately attempting to cling to floating wreckage, only to be pulled underneath the waves by the fishmen who are picking them off. Your own ship has slowly changed direction thanks to Len taking command of the steering wheel. "We can't fight this monster! We have to retreat!" he shouts pulling the wheel of the ship as hard as he can. He's probably right and who knows, if you tried right now, you might actually manage to get away while the beast is still primarily occupied. That certainly would be the most sensible thing to do; of course something about this whole experience is making you feel well…good. Your heart is pumping, you're full of energy and you're determined to show this undersea abomination that you're not ready to lie down and accept the fact that you're getting older. "NO! I can't let this beast beat me! I never lose!" you shout and knock Len off of the wheel who looks at you like you're insane and scurries off to find a hiding spot. With battle and bloodshed all around you, with the sounds of cannons and swords filling your eardrums, you make your way to the crow's nest to gain the highest vantage point you can. From there you get your best look at the sea monster. The large holes in its body where cannons have blown off chunks of it convince you that it can be defeated. It's just going to take a little magic that's all… or rather a lot of it. You begin to focus… > You create an ice storm Frost has been doing a good job at freezing the beast's tentacles, so you decide to try to freeze the entire thing. You concentrate and as you do you begin to feel little the air grow colder and colder. The wind begins to pick up and soon ice pellets begin to rain down on the area. You directly unleash a blast of frost right at one of the creature's heads and while ice does indeed start to form around it and movement begins to get sluggish. It isn't quite enough to stop it completely from moving. Instead the creature bashes its own head against a nearby ship in an attempt to break the ice shell now around its frozen head, destroying it and cracking the ice in the process. The beast's other head completely submerges under water, followed by the rest of its body. In the meantime the fishmen that are scaling your ship are having a bit of difficulty with the cold which is slowing them down, unfortunately it isn't the best thing for your own crew either, but they're doing better than the fish at least. You help your crew by continuing to cast ice bolts from the crow's nest, but this is soon cut short when a large tentacle whips out of the water and heads directly towards your position. You attempt to freeze the tentacle and you succeed, but you fail to stop its momentum. The frozen tentacle smashes into the crow's nest and the mast, destroying both along with part of the tentacle shattering in several pieces in the process. As for you, you're hit with such a great force that all the wind is knocked out of you and you go flying into the ocean and hit the water quite hard. You barely manage to swim back up to the water's surface and you're still feeling quite woozy and having trouble breathing normally. You're fairly certain you've got cracked or broken ribs. Floating in the middle of the ocean with pieces of your once great fleet drifting nearby, you struggle to swin to some nearby debris before you pass out. You don't get far however, when all of a sudden you feel several claws grabbing your legs, this is soon followed by the feeling of teeth sinking into your legs. You attempt to kick away, but you can't shake them. A fish person rises up from the water to grab your upper body in an attempt to drag you under for good. The smell of saltwater fills your nostril along with the foul smell of sea life in general. Already struggling to catch your breath, you soon succumb to watery death by the hands of the fish people.

There might be a day where you're going to have to command all your armies from bed as a sick old man, but today is not that day. As long as you can wield a weapon and move reasonably well, nobody is stopping you from fighting. As far as being on open water, well this is the perfect chance to get over that possible phobia. Since your own intelligence reports on Delerg have always been hazy at best, you gather your information from less reputable places, namely some of the prisons. Nalin sailors as a rule stayed away from Delerg waters due to the Island League, Still there were always the occasional forays into it for illegal smuggling purposes and you specifically have these types give you any and all information as well as a chance to earn their freedom by enlisting in the navy. While getting the information on island details isn't too much of a problem due to the threat of violence, you don't get a lot of takers to enlist even with the promise of freedom (or implied threats of conscription); at first you believe it's just a criminal attitude of not wishing to be part of the government, but one fellow by the name of Len tells you it's a little more than that. Len is about your age, probably a little older and is the embodiment of an "old sea dog" with his untidy white hair and beard. Len says he stopped smuggling years ago when he started to feel uneasy sailing in the waters, let alone dealing with some of the people who had become enamored with a weird religion. "Religion? What kind of religion?" you ask. "Not exactly sure, but I'm pretty sure it involved the worship of some water god. I remember finding it strange since it wasn't like any of the inhabitants of Delerg were particularly religious before. When one of my friends came into the docks one night babbling a mad tale about how he barely escaped from an ambush of screaming cultists that was around the time I decided to stop making smuggling runs and go into something less dangerous like burglary, obviously I wasn't as good at that since I got caught." Len replies. "So where is this friend of yours and what did he see?" "Not in a jail cell if that's what you're wondering. Last I heard he was committed into an asylum. I think he may have very well killed himself. He never did quite get over it and had a hard time talking about the details, but I do remember him saying that the cultists weren't quite human looking and fully intent on sacrificing him, like they did with the others who weren't so lucky to escape I guess." "What, like the recent fishmen descriptions?" "Perhaps not quite that far, but he did say they had unnatural eyes and their skin was slimy looking. The reason why you're not getting many enlistees is probably either due to these stories or from personal experience and I imagine the personal experience is rare given that my own friend went completely mad from his own experience. To be quite honest, I'm sort of surprised the Empire never knew any of this before." "Wasn't an issue before. A few rumors and tales from mad sailors and criminals isn't going to catch serious attention. In fact before people starting seeing fishmen on the coasts I didn't even know about any of this. Delerg was considered low priority, though that may have been a mistake, then again we're probably in a better position to handle this now. So what is your answer on enlistment?" Len pauses for a moment. "Well, I've been a criminal nearly all my life and never had much use for following orders. But as much as I like living, I like freedom a lot more. So if enlistment means possibly getting killed by a bunch of fish monsters but the chance of getting out of those hellholes you call prisons, then I'll take the risk. Besides, I'd say my odds are a lot better now seeing as I'll be travelling with the Empire's navy. I figure I can't get any safer than that." "Sure you can, you're going to be aboard my own personal ship." "I am?" "You were a captain weren't you? According to your record you're probably one of the more experienced ones in the damn Empire. Criminal or otherwise. You're going to be navigator of my personal ship, because I sure as hell don't know anything about steering a ship. Plus you have better knowledge of the area, so you're coming with me directly." Len isn't sure how to respond except with a hesitant thank you. He probably thought he was going to be able to sneak away at some point, but that will be next to impossible now with him being aboard your ship. When the time comes, you board your personal ship, which is decked out in the best gear available. Actually it's much slower than the rest of the ships due to its size, but then its meant to fight and take punishment, not outmaneuver a possible enemy. Honestly, you aren't even sure what you'll encounter. If the Island League is indeed completely gone, then you may face no opposition at all as far as other ships are concerned. Maybe you'll have strange fishmen scaling your ships in an attempt to kill you. Whatever you face, you'll be ready. Since the occupation of the islands is the main priority, you're taking a strong force of orcs with you. Sprog himself has volunteered to come, possibly to prove to the rest of his people of how much of a warrior he is. Crowley sent a letter asking if you needed his assistance or the assistance of any of the Eyes as things are much calmer in Rask nowadays, but you tell him the Eyes are needed at home as they always are. Within a few days you're in Delerg waters, but you've come across no islands yet. Len remarks about how strange this is since according to his memory you should've come across a couple by now. Even the information you received from others with knowledge of the area would dictate that you would've encountered some sort of landmass by now. When you sail further out to sea, you still don't find any major landmass. There are small patches of land, but nothing that would support a town or other settlement. At best you might be able to build a small guard tower on them and that would be only if the land was relatively flat and solid, which it doesn't appear to be. "This is damn odd, that small patch of land right there where the Island League's biggest island was! It even had their largest settlement, Barnacle! It's like the waters just swallowed everything up!" Len remarks. "I'm getting a vague impression I know what happened to this place. All of Delerg in fact. There's nothing here worth conquering now, we might as well…" Before you can complete your sentence there is a sudden rumble in the water. "EVERYONE BRACE THEMSELVES!" you shout and then you see several of your ships fly up off of the waters when a large sea monster spectacularly arises from below. Your own ship is rocked severely with water crashing everywhere. For a moment you think night has fallen, but it's just the sea creature blotting out the sun. The creature is bigger than anything you've ever faced. Even "Snowtop" would be the size of a gnome compared to this thing. Doesn't help that the creature has two heads and several tentacles already crushing some of your ships that weren't destroyed when it ascended in the first place. "FIRE EVERYTHING AND DON'T STOP UNTIL THAT THING IS DEAD!" you shout and the cannons roar desperately trying to harm the creature. Fortunately the ships that you have left don't seem to be losing their courage and presumably their captains have the same idea of attacking since you can see cannon fire coming from them. Though given their proximity to the creature, they wouldn't be able to retreat in time for it to crush them anyway. The beast isn't as invulnerable as it would seem as the cannon fire does its work and delivers wounds but the main problem is, it's just too damn big. You cast frost bolts at its tentacles that are attempting to wrap around the ship, you then order your troops to shatter them while they're still frozen. This works well enough that it keeps your ship afloat, but there's more than just the sea monster to worry about and you fully expected something like this to happen even before you met the leviathan. Several of the fishmen begin scaling your ship. While your ship is well defended and has the skilled manpower it needs to repel the attack, you get the impression that some of the aquatic attackers are probably trying to put holes in it from underneath. "Sprog take some of your people, get in the water and kill everything!" you shout. Sprog doesn't argue, he just nods at your command. Assuming if the both of you manage to get out of this alive, you at least know you've got his complete loyalty now. Nothing like fighting side by side against impossible odds to gain respect. Stripping off what little armor he was wearing in the first place, Sprog goes into full bezerker orc battle frenzy while ordering some of his best to follow him down into the water. You know orcs are tough, but you hope they'll be able to fight these fishmen in their own environment. It is a severe disadvantage after all. Meanwhile the beast is continuing to destroy the rest of your fleet. You can see people in the water desperately attempting to cling to floating wreckage, only to be pulled underneath the waves by the fishmen who are picking them off. Your own ship has slowly changed direction thanks to Len taking command of the steering wheel. "We can't fight this monster! We have to retreat!" he shouts pulling the wheel of the ship as hard as he can. He's probably right and who knows, if you tried right now, you might actually manage to get away while the beast is still primarily occupied. That certainly would be the most sensible thing to do; of course something about this whole experience is making you feel well…good. Your heart is pumping, you're full of energy and you're determined to show this undersea abomination that you're not ready to lie down and accept the fact that you're getting older. "NO! I can't let this beast beat me! I never lose!" you shout and knock Len off of the wheel who looks at you like you're insane and scurries off to find a hiding spot. With battle and bloodshed all around you, with the sounds of cannons and swords filling your eardrums, you make your way to the crow's nest to gain the highest vantage point you can. From there you get your best look at the sea monster. The large holes in its body where cannons have blown off chunks of it convince you that it can be defeated. It's just going to take a little magic that's all… or rather a lot of it. You begin to focus… > You create a lightning storm As high as you currently are, the beast is still several times higher and should easily be a perfect target. You concentrate and as you do you begin to feel little charges and sparks around you and the air begins to have a faint smell of electricity. As dark as the sky is with the beast blocking the sun with its size, the sky gets even darker when storm cloud gather. You directly unleash a blast of lightning right at one of the creature's heads. It must be enough to addle what passes for brains in the creature, because the serpentine head begins to flail back and forth making an incredibly loud bellow and knocking into the other head and taking it off its concentrated effort to destroy your fleet. Then a rumbling comes from the sky and you're nearly blinded by the light show that occurs next. With the storm clouds, the creature takes several lightning strikes to both of its heads. If the creature wasn't in pain or addled before, it certainly is now. Its roaring of pain is so great that it's practically deafening. You don't let up though, you continue to summon the lightning and that's when you learn that you only have so much control over nature. The lightning strikes begin going all over the place. Some hit your ships, so hit the water and some continue to hit the beast. You struggle to direct the lightning, but your energy ebbs quickly as you fail to do so and you take a direct bolt yourself. It's a quick and odd feeling. You feel a great deal of pain, followed by a warm sensation and then you briefly realize you've fallen from the crow's nest, which was completely destroyed by the blast. You then feel extreme agony when you not only crash onto the deck of the ship, but also through it. You land on some barrels though all you know is when you land you heard a snap and a numbness wash over your body. And that's when you know; you're paralyzed from the neck down. You hear the sounds of battle continue all around you, some of the crew that were manning the cannons on the lower deck call for help when they see you, but there's nothing anyone can do to help you. Everything's blurry, you've probably got a concussion, and death has never been so close to you since you fought the Emperor. You're going to fall asleep and your body will sink under the water when the ship is inevitably destroyed. There the fish will eat you or possibly the creatures you're fighting will eat you. Its possible Crowley might step up and take command of the Empire, but after him? You don't see it lasting very long. Your own legacy will eventually be forgotten and that will be the story of you. That is if you had any intention on dying today. "Get away from me and get back to fighting, you're not done yet!" You weakly command the crewmembers that are standing around gawking at you. You remember the lessons the Emperor taught you about healing yourself. At this point you're in dire need of A LOT of healing and you imagine you'll easily be shortening your life span quite a bit in the process, but then you aren't supposed to be alive right now anyway. You focus again. You will your body to mend itself together. In your weakened state you're drifting in and out of consciousness already, but somehow you manage to push through it and feel the magic doing its work. You start to feel your body again. You're wracked with pain, but you can feel again. You try to get up, but you're still just too weak and drained. You see a fishman coming down the ship's stairway and alert your crew with a shout. The last thing you see is the thing coming at you before you pass out. "Lover? Have you finally come to join me?" you hear a voice ask. "Huh? Who is that?" "It's me, of course." You open your eyes and see Semra hovering over you. She looks exactly like you remember well except she happens to be completely naked right now. (Though you remember that too) "Shit, I'm dead after all." You say. "And given that you're here I must be in some sort of hell." "Ah, I missed that dry sense of humor. I also missed this." Semra remarks and you feel a hand on your crotch. Normally you'd probably push her away, but given everything you just went through you figure that if this is your personal hell, you could certainly do worse. Just as you're about to give in completely, Semra's head is cleaved in with a single sword blow. Blood splatters all over you and her body slumps lifelessly onto your own. "Is this what you fucking want? I thought you were stronger than that! The man I married never gave up!" another familiar voice says. After pushing Semra's dead body off of you, you look up and see Alison in all her warrior maiden glory. You never thought you'd ever see her again though you wish she were in a happier mood. "Alison I…" "Nope, don't even try to make an excuse! I caught you and you're not getting off that easy. I'm doing this for your own good!" You see Alison's sword coming straight at your head, but you don't attempt to dodge, instead you sit up to meet the sword half way… And you wake up with a splitting headache and your body still hurting all over. "Hah, told you he was going to wake up. He's not called an Eternal for no reason you know. You owe me two gold pieces Sprog!" Len exclaims. "Sprog owes you what?" "Erm, nevermind. Welcome back to the living Emperor. Everyone wasn't sure if you were going to make it or not, but I had a feeling you might." "Bah, should've died. Was a glorious battle. Be great honor to die in such a battle." Sprog remarks. "Oh really? Then why didn't you make more of an effort to die then?" Len asks. "Sprog still need to produce more children first, now more than ever since three sons died on other ships. Must ensure legacy!" Sprog says and walks away. You look around and find yourself still on the lower deck of your personal ship. You guess that nobody wanted to move you for fear of doing more damage to you body. It's a mess on the lower deck and there's still a hole from where you crashed through, but obviously the ship survived the battle. As you sit up, you nearly lay back down due to the pain. A volley of expletives soon follows. "Easy there! While I know you just survived something no man should have, I'm pretty sure taking a direct hit from a lightning bolt and crashing through the deck of a ship from a great height still has to be painful. In fact its odd, but you even look a little older because of the experience." "You have no idea…" you remark. "Insisting on fighting that beast had to be the single most insane things I've ever seen, but while I was personally afraid I can't help but admire it. Despite him believing you were going to die, I know Sprog certainly admired it." Len says. "He probably hoped I was going to die. Still glad to see he's honorable enough that he didn't try to take advantage and kill me while I was unconscious though. Glad to see you didn't either." "I was a smuggler, not a murderer. Besides I don't think anything I could do would actually kill you anyway after seeing what you just survived." "So did we win? I can only assume us still being afloat means we won…unless we've retreated…" Len gives an apprehensive look before answering. "Well…yes and no. Technically we won, though I'm not sure if we actually killed that sea monster. After you crashed through the deck of the ship, the fishmen continued to scale the ship, but the sea monster continued to be hit by lightning. It eventually sank back beneath the waters, but like I said, I dunno if we killed it or it just swam away. Soon after that happened the fishmen stopped attacking too." "But?" "But, other than this ship and a couple of others straggling along side us your fleet is gone, along with all of your people aboard them. We had patch up several holes they managed to put in this ship and we're only sailing at half speed due to all the broken masts, but we'll make it back to Nalin okay barring any other attacks of course." You curse again, but this time it's more at yourself rather than the pain you're in. You wasted a lot of troops and resources on this endeavor for no real prize. You didn't even acquire any new territory. You think back to Trog's words again about getting old and knowing your limitations, well you certainly learned that lesson today hard. "Well I suppose it isn't all bad, you did teach those fish creatures that you're not to be trifled with. It was like a battle between gods when you unleashed lightning on that beast's heads. They might think twice about popping up on your shores now." Len says in an attempt to cheer you up. "We can only hope I suppose." You answer. The first thing you do when you get back home is try to rest. You do so for as much as you're able for weeks and while you do eventually recover, you're never quite the same again. You've visibly gotten older due to the healing magic and it only did so much, you're still experiencing dull aches and pains on a daily basis. Worse than you did before you went on the mission. You'll never be like you were. Those days are long gone. On the bright side, there have been no more sightings of fish people on the coasts, so perhaps your venture was fruitful after all, unless they're biding their time and trying to regroup which is exactly what you'd do, so naturally you've ordered the building of a new fleet along with proper naval training for potential sailors. Of course if the fishy people are no longer a threat that still means Trog's vision of a relentless enemy still looms. Which means it's either the Xi Hive or an as of yet unknown enemy. More things to look forward to as you approach your twilight years. > Year 555 "Reports as usual say that the Xi have been becoming more frequent in the Arat region and that they have been sighted close to Empire borders, specifically near the city of Regnik." David remarks. "Well that would be the most logical place for them to attack first seeing as it's the closest. Seeing as the Xi like to attack from underground, have all of our kobold units on alert and have the seventh scaly brigade stationed in Arat. I know they're the best of those little vicious bastards and I'm confident that they can slow down or repel such a Xi attack before the rest of the armies get mobilized. Probably can do some tunnel scouting and digging as well." You remark. "Very well, but I also have a report stating that the Xi have mostly been focusing on the Arat Confederacy. All four cities have been attacked and apparently Eldolith wants to speak with us about coordinating forces to destroy the threat. Apparently she's also been sending people to speak with the Redcap Kingdom too. No idea if that was successful." "So Eldy's having a bug problem and now she's begging for help. I'm a little surprised that she swallowed her pride enough that she's willing to talk at all. So when is she due to arrive?" "She isn't, she claims that if you want to talk that you should meet her on neutral ground between Lenay and Regnik." "Typical svelk arrogance. Call for help and then insist that it be on their terms. (Sigh)" "You're aren't thinking about going are you?! Surely it will be some sort of trap." "Of course it will be a trap. But if I did go I could probably learn more about what she's been up to if I go and in the off chance that this isn't a trap and completely on the up and up then I can still better assess what her situation is and the Xi Hive threat." "But Emperor, your condition…I mean not to say your aren't a fit man for your um…age…but that battle with the sea beast five years ago…well I just mean I don't want to see you walk into something a tad overwhelming for you again. The Empire needs you." These are some pretty bold words, though David was as diplomatic as he could've possibly been. Really brave on his part, though he didn't need to fear anything from you. He's right, you're still feeling that battle to this day and will continue to until the day you die. David's actually been a bit of a surprise to you. When he first groveled for the job of being your top advisor you assumed that like most of the senators of the old Nalin republic he was just looking to save his skin while also looking for the best possible position he could get in the new order of things. He got it because he seemed to be competent and the least annoying at the time. Since then though he's proven himself to be good at his job and genuinely care about his work and the good of the Empire. "While your concern is noted, I'm not going anywhere. Send a message to her stating that if she really wants to discuss terms of an alliance or something similar she's going to have to drag her svelk ass here." David nods and leaves your presence. Seeing as all your major business is concluded today you head back to your personal chambers. You spend a little time reading a new book that Jennifer has written with her new husband. It's all about the old Empire and called "The Glory Before the Fall" Fairly accurate, but then again she did have your input on the thing. Still never told her (or anyone for that matter) about you her ancestor being involved in killing the Emperor which indirectly caused the Cataclysm. You suppose that'll just be one of those secrets lost to history when you die. As you're reading you begin reflecting on your old relationship with Jennifer. It sometimes seems strange that the two of you have remained friends despite not being romantically involved anymore. Of course the two of you just see one another as much anymore either so that might help. Really your relationship with her was more due to a young crush on her part and perhaps a bit of loneliness on your own. She saw you as a "pillar of strength" and the pinnacle of a "warrior." Basically someone who got things done which was somewhat lacking with most of the leaders and citizens of the republic. You were different and it was attractive, then she slowly grew out of it. Now she's happily married to someone more similar to her. A scholar interested in history. She even had a son a couple years ago. And that's all okay with you. You're happy for her. You've got so many more concerns nowadays that you can't be bothered to feel pangs of regret of "what could've been." Besides, Jennifer was and will always be nice and one of the few people you could consider a friend, but she was no Alison. Nobody ever will be. All this self-reflection and thoughts about Jennifer's family makes you ponder your own lack of one though. Not so much due to an overwhelming desire to have one, but more of what's going to happen to the Empire after you die? You've been thinking about that on and off ever since your last brush with death actually. To be quite honest you never really thought about a successor mainly because for a long time you were focused on actually being the Emperor rather than passing the title on. It would be easier of course if you could have children, and then just pass it on that way, but then even if you could, that wouldn't be a guarantee they'd be worthy or show the desire or interest. You were unnaturally molded into the way you were, who is to say how your imaginary children would've turned out even if you attempted to mold them into mirror images of yourself. That of course just leaves passing the Empire on to someone worthy. You've briefly entertained the idea before and believed that Crowley would potentially be the best candidate. Of course given that he's around your age, he's not likely to live any longer than you are, assuming you die of natural causes which isn't necessarily a given even if you are taking less risks nowadays. You begin thinking that perhaps you should get some sort of list of the Empire's best and brightest and subject them to a series of tests to see if they're worthy enough to be an apprentice of sorts. Basically what the Emperor did with you except without all the magical alteration and the sadistic svelk taskmasters. You spend the next few days going over records of various soldiers, Eyes, administrators, technicians, politicians and others, though being a warrior yourself you can't help but be biased toward the military types, but you don't want to overlook anything. During this time David reports to you that Eldolith is actually in Dalt and demanding an audience. That didn't take long though you're a little surprised she actually showed up in person, you figured she'd send a flunky of some sort. When you go to meet her she's standing with her personal guard and looking around as if just being in a room full of humans is tainting her svelk "purity." "Hello Eldy, I'm sure you're anxious to get this over with…" "Don't address me by a shortened version of my name in an attempt to be condescending, I am Domina Eldolith D'vessa of the Arat Confederacy!" "Hrm, and I'm sure that sounds very impressive when you tell your subjects in that little nation of yours." "Yes, a little nation that stood strong against the Xi for years and managed to survive your expansion efforts. A testament that it's the QUALITY of the nation rather than the size." You chuckle. "Eldy, the only reason your nation is still around is because I've allowed it and I suggest that YOU do not come here grand standing when you are in no position to do so. We all know you're here to beg for my help with the Xi because they're kicking your ass. Now we can make this as easy OR as humbling as possible. Your choice." Eldolith gives you a look of absolute burning hatred and is silent. Her personal guards shift uncomfortably and your own soldiers are fondling their rifles looking for an excuse to open fire. "You're enjoying this aren't you?" Eldolith remarks. "Actually not as much as you'd think, mainly because I don't want you here anymore than you want to be here, so how about we get to the point like I originally suggested?" "Fine, here it is. The Xi are beating on the Confederacy's doors. We've been your buffer zone between them and you. If we fall then you're going to have to face them in full force." "And? You seem to believe that we aren't going to be able to handle that. Not a very compelling argument Eldy." "Because you're a short sighted f…" Eldolith stops herself. "What I mean is you haven't let me finish. We have an ancient magic weapon at our disposal that could end this threat completely, but the problem is…(sigh) none of our own mages are powerful enough to tap its full potential. As much as I hate to inflate your ego any more than it is, I believe you magical abilities would be able to. So as you can see, you don't need to marshal armies to our defense or waste any resources. All that is required of you is to get up off your throne for one moment and take a trip to Lenay and we can get started…" You burst out laughing. "Oh yes, let me just go walking into a city filled with svelk! That won't be a death sentence at all! You expect me to just trust you at your word? Even if you do have this so called powerful weapon, I still have a hard time believing that there isn't some sort of trick or catch or angle that doesn't involve me dead in some way." "I thought you were the Emperor? Mr. invincible and fearless? Have you gotten so cow…cautious in your old age that you can't handle being alone?" "Eldy, if you think this pathetic attempt of character assassination is going to suddenly cause me to behave in some erratic manner and go to Lenay you're sadly mistaken. You never were any good in the art of persuasion. The only way you're going to see me in Lenay is if I'm leading a conquering army through it which given your continued insolence is starting to look more appealing, so who knows maybe you will see me there soon. Now get out of my sight before I put an end to your miserable life before the Xi do!" "Fuck this, I told her this was futile!" Eldolith exclaims and her personal guards surround her with a magic shield. Bullets from your soldiers are absorbed into the barrier. "Congratulations, you just made this easier." You say and focus on bringing down the shield, while your soldiers advance with their weapons. "I think not, a lot of time has passed since I was a mercenary captain and you were an Empire puppet who had not yet cut his master's strings!" Eldolith says and suddenly she floats above her own personal guards followed by a red glow of light from her. Her personal guards at this point all begin screaming in pain. Whatever it is she's doing she's sacrificing her own people to do it. Then a super blast of telekinetic energy repels all of your troops back. You even have a hard time not falling over. Eldolith casts some sort of spell that literally starts melting your soldiers' weapons. Some manage to drop them before the hot metal scalds them too much. Your own Eye mages lob offensive spells at her, but they aren't penetrating the shield. Some aim for her soldiers, but they aren't moved despite some of them even being on fire. They're already in a living death state anyway. Eldolith never had any magic abilities, and while its possible she studied and trained herself, but something seems off about all this, not to mention her odd comments. Just as you bring her shield down, a portal opens up behind you. You have no idea where it's going, but you can feel it pulling you in slightly. "Time to be reunited!" Eldolith shouts and a red beam of magical energy is thrown in your direction. > You dodge the beam If you were twenty years younger and not saddled with countless old wounds that cause your body to react much slower nowadays, you'd probably easily dodge the beam, hell if you were just ten or five years younger even. However, you aren't and your agility isn't what it used to be. When you attempt to duck and roll out of the way, you just succeed in spraining your back with your sudden move, but that's the least of your concerns when Eldolith's red beam hits you directly in the head. You feel a crushing pressure all around your skull for a moment and then a "pop" sound is heard inside our head before your brain is completely scrambled by an overload of…well whatever the hell Eldolith hit you with. All you know is it hurts a lot in the few moments you're actually conscious to experience the pain. With your brain fried and blood leaking out of your ears you collapse to the floor. If Eldolith's goal was to get you into that portal, she's going to have to drag your corpse in there now.

Year 555 "Reports as usual say that the Xi have been becoming more frequent in the Arat region and that they have been sighted close to Empire borders, specifically near the city of Regnik." David remarks. "Well that would be the most logical place for them to attack first seeing as it's the closest. Seeing as the Xi like to attack from underground, have all of our kobold units on alert and have the seventh scaly brigade stationed in Arat. I know they're the best of those little vicious bastards and I'm confident that they can slow down or repel such a Xi attack before the rest of the armies get mobilized. Probably can do some tunnel scouting and digging as well." You remark. "Very well, but I also have a report stating that the Xi have mostly been focusing on the Arat Confederacy. All four cities have been attacked and apparently Eldolith wants to speak with us about coordinating forces to destroy the threat. Apparently she's also been sending people to speak with the Redcap Kingdom too. No idea if that was successful." "So Eldy's having a bug problem and now she's begging for help. I'm a little surprised that she swallowed her pride enough that she's willing to talk at all. So when is she due to arrive?" "She isn't, she claims that if you want to talk that you should meet her on neutral ground between Lenay and Regnik." "Typical svelk arrogance. Call for help and then insist that it be on their terms. (Sigh)" "You're aren't thinking about going are you?! Surely it will be some sort of trap." "Of course it will be a trap. But if I did go I could probably learn more about what she's been up to if I go and in the off chance that this isn't a trap and completely on the up and up then I can still better assess what her situation is and the Xi Hive threat." "But Emperor, your condition…I mean not to say your aren't a fit man for your um…age…but that battle with the sea beast five years ago…well I just mean I don't want to see you walk into something a tad overwhelming for you again. The Empire needs you." These are some pretty bold words, though David was as diplomatic as he could've possibly been. Really brave on his part, though he didn't need to fear anything from you. He's right, you're still feeling that battle to this day and will continue to until the day you die. David's actually been a bit of a surprise to you. When he first groveled for the job of being your top advisor you assumed that like most of the senators of the old Nalin republic he was just looking to save his skin while also looking for the best possible position he could get in the new order of things. He got it because he seemed to be competent and the least annoying at the time. Since then though he's proven himself to be good at his job and genuinely care about his work and the good of the Empire. "While your concern is noted, I'm not going anywhere. Send a message to her stating that if she really wants to discuss terms of an alliance or something similar she's going to have to drag her svelk ass here." David nods and leaves your presence. Seeing as all your major business is concluded today you head back to your personal chambers. You spend a little time reading a new book that Jennifer has written with her new husband. It's all about the old Empire and called "The Glory Before the Fall" Fairly accurate, but then again she did have your input on the thing. Still never told her (or anyone for that matter) about you her ancestor being involved in killing the Emperor which indirectly caused the Cataclysm. You suppose that'll just be one of those secrets lost to history when you die. As you're reading you begin reflecting on your old relationship with Jennifer. It sometimes seems strange that the two of you have remained friends despite not being romantically involved anymore. Of course the two of you just see one another as much anymore either so that might help. Really your relationship with her was more due to a young crush on her part and perhaps a bit of loneliness on your own. She saw you as a "pillar of strength" and the pinnacle of a "warrior." Basically someone who got things done which was somewhat lacking with most of the leaders and citizens of the republic. You were different and it was attractive, then she slowly grew out of it. Now she's happily married to someone more similar to her. A scholar interested in history. She even had a son a couple years ago. And that's all okay with you. You're happy for her. You've got so many more concerns nowadays that you can't be bothered to feel pangs of regret of "what could've been." Besides, Jennifer was and will always be nice and one of the few people you could consider a friend, but she was no Alison. Nobody ever will be. All this self-reflection and thoughts about Jennifer's family makes you ponder your own lack of one though. Not so much due to an overwhelming desire to have one, but more of what's going to happen to the Empire after you die? You've been thinking about that on and off ever since your last brush with death actually. To be quite honest you never really thought about a successor mainly because for a long time you were focused on actually being the Emperor rather than passing the title on. It would be easier of course if you could have children, and then just pass it on that way, but then even if you could, that wouldn't be a guarantee they'd be worthy or show the desire or interest. You were unnaturally molded into the way you were, who is to say how your imaginary children would've turned out even if you attempted to mold them into mirror images of yourself. That of course just leaves passing the Empire on to someone worthy. You've briefly entertained the idea before and believed that Crowley would potentially be the best candidate. Of course given that he's around your age, he's not likely to live any longer than you are, assuming you die of natural causes which isn't necessarily a given even if you are taking less risks nowadays. You begin thinking that perhaps you should get some sort of list of the Empire's best and brightest and subject them to a series of tests to see if they're worthy enough to be an apprentice of sorts. Basically what the Emperor did with you except without all the magical alteration and the sadistic svelk taskmasters. You spend the next few days going over records of various soldiers, Eyes, administrators, technicians, politicians and others, though being a warrior yourself you can't help but be biased toward the military types, but you don't want to overlook anything. During this time David reports to you that Eldolith is actually in Dalt and demanding an audience. That didn't take long though you're a little surprised she actually showed up in person, you figured she'd send a flunky of some sort. When you go to meet her she's standing with her personal guard and looking around as if just being in a room full of humans is tainting her svelk "purity." "Hello Eldy, I'm sure you're anxious to get this over with…" "Don't address me by a shortened version of my name in an attempt to be condescending, I am Domina Eldolith D'vessa of the Arat Confederacy!" "Hrm, and I'm sure that sounds very impressive when you tell your subjects in that little nation of yours." "Yes, a little nation that stood strong against the Xi for years and managed to survive your expansion efforts. A testament that it's the QUALITY of the nation rather than the size." You chuckle. "Eldy, the only reason your nation is still around is because I've allowed it and I suggest that YOU do not come here grand standing when you are in no position to do so. We all know you're here to beg for my help with the Xi because they're kicking your ass. Now we can make this as easy OR as humbling as possible. Your choice." Eldolith gives you a look of absolute burning hatred and is silent. Her personal guards shift uncomfortably and your own soldiers are fondling their rifles looking for an excuse to open fire. "You're enjoying this aren't you?" Eldolith remarks. "Actually not as much as you'd think, mainly because I don't want you here anymore than you want to be here, so how about we get to the point like I originally suggested?" "Fine, here it is. The Xi are beating on the Confederacy's doors. We've been your buffer zone between them and you. If we fall then you're going to have to face them in full force." "And? You seem to believe that we aren't going to be able to handle that. Not a very compelling argument Eldy." "Because you're a short sighted f…" Eldolith stops herself. "What I mean is you haven't let me finish. We have an ancient magic weapon at our disposal that could end this threat completely, but the problem is…(sigh) none of our own mages are powerful enough to tap its full potential. As much as I hate to inflate your ego any more than it is, I believe you magical abilities would be able to. So as you can see, you don't need to marshal armies to our defense or waste any resources. All that is required of you is to get up off your throne for one moment and take a trip to Lenay and we can get started…" You burst out laughing. "Oh yes, let me just go walking into a city filled with svelk! That won't be a death sentence at all! You expect me to just trust you at your word? Even if you do have this so called powerful weapon, I still have a hard time believing that there isn't some sort of trick or catch or angle that doesn't involve me dead in some way." "I thought you were the Emperor? Mr. invincible and fearless? Have you gotten so cow…cautious in your old age that you can't handle being alone?" "Eldy, if you think this pathetic attempt of character assassination is going to suddenly cause me to behave in some erratic manner and go to Lenay you're sadly mistaken. You never were any good in the art of persuasion. The only way you're going to see me in Lenay is if I'm leading a conquering army through it which given your continued insolence is starting to look more appealing, so who knows maybe you will see me there soon. Now get out of my sight before I put an end to your miserable life before the Xi do!" "Fuck this, I told her this was futile!" Eldolith exclaims and her personal guards surround her with a magic shield. Bullets from your soldiers are absorbed into the barrier. "Congratulations, you just made this easier." You say and focus on bringing down the shield, while your soldiers advance with their weapons. "I think not, a lot of time has passed since I was a mercenary captain and you were an Empire puppet who had not yet cut his master's strings!" Eldolith says and suddenly she floats above her own personal guards followed by a red glow of light from her. Her personal guards at this point all begin screaming in pain. Whatever it is she's doing she's sacrificing her own people to do it. Then a super blast of telekinetic energy repels all of your troops back. You even have a hard time not falling over. Eldolith casts some sort of spell that literally starts melting your soldiers' weapons. Some manage to drop them before the hot metal scalds them too much. Your own Eye mages lob offensive spells at her, but they aren't penetrating the shield. Some aim for her soldiers, but they aren't moved despite some of them even being on fire. They're already in a living death state anyway. Eldolith never had any magic abilities, and while its possible she studied and trained herself, but something seems off about all this, not to mention her odd comments. Just as you bring her shield down, a portal opens up behind you. You have no idea where it's going, but you can feel it pulling you in slightly. "Time to be reunited!" Eldolith shouts and a red beam of magical energy is thrown in your direction. > You put up your own shield Given that your reflexes aren't what they used to be, you don't risk physical avoidance and instead put up your hands to create a shield for the oncoming beam of magic. At first you assume that the beam will either absorb into the shield or deflect completely, instead the force of it knocks you back much more than you were expecting. And right into the portal. You don't feel any pain or anything really other than a minor fall on your back, which hits a stone floor. You're not in your palace anymore, but what catches your attention immediately is what is in the room with you. A fancy chair with an old withered looking body in it. You can tell its svelk, but you've never seen an "old" svelk before, or at least not one that displayed this great deal of age. At this distance you can't even be sure if its alive or not. Surrounding the chair are several tall rods, which emanate a magical field. The rods are embedded in the floor, they look like they're made of adamantium. Very strong material usually used by the derro. Nearby there are several orbs mounted on similar shorter rods, they aren't glowing or anything, but you assume that they're also magical. Other than this sight, there isn't anything else in the room, which is made of solid looking stone. The other notable feature is the fact there aren't any doors or any other apparent way out… "I knew one day, you would return to me." You hear a voice utter in your head. The voice is familiar and for a brief moment you think you're dreaming, but a closer look at the withered body in the room and you know this is all too real. "So you survived after all. Explains why there was no svelk body nearby when I got dug up." You say. "Not without a price as you can see." Semra says. Apparently she can only communicate through your mind. The magical field prevents you from getting too close, but Semra's face looks like it's in a permanent slack jaw state. It would also appear that some magic never dies as you can sense Semra's "emotions" right now thanks in part to that little spell she cast on you before you faced the Emperor. Right now Semra's probably gathering all the information of what you've been more or less up to since you were freed. As always, your own ability is limited and you can't read what she's been up to, however given her current state you don't imagine it's involved much physical activity. You can sense a faint sign of…happiness(?) from her because you're here, but then you never did quite understand her unnatural obsession for you. You also sense a slight feeling of shame for appearing the way she does (Though she's trying really hard to block it from you). Vanity of course. Really though you're more concerned with how you're going to escape from here. You doubt that you can destroy the field surrounding Semra, if you could, you wouldn't have been brought here in the first place. It's obvious that Semra really wants to talk with you. "Do you have no desire at all for a brief discussion with me after all we've been through?" Semra asks. "Not particularly, though since I can see no apparent way out at this time, I suppose I'll indulge you for now." "Don't worry, unlike me, you are not a prisoner here. (Sigh) You don't know how good it is to see you again, even if you are a little older…ha ha like I'm in a position to judge." Semra remarks. " Yeaah, about that…so…what is this? Are you dead? Are you alive?" "Oh I'm alive, but thanks to my daughter's treachery I have been reduced to this pathetic shell." "When did that happen and how?" "How, why and when it happened isn't important. The fault is mine for not being more observant and allowing myself to still hold a torch for you which contributed to my weakness. I cannot blame Eldolith for her actions that lead me to this fate. She only did what a true svelk daughter would do." "So I take it you're proud of her for turning you into a wizened invalid?" "I was for a time, however despite a few shining moments she has ultimately proven to be a failure in her ambitions. She could've expanded the svelk so that we had our own Empire once again, but she was too busy bedding and torturing her slave girl lovers or indulging in other petty pleasures. She ultimately has no real confidence in her own abilities, if she did she wouldn't keep me around." "I figured she kept you around as some sort of torture for you." You remark. "While you're partially correct, the other reason is she still needs me around to hold her hand and tell her what to do next. She claims that she keeps me around because she enjoys mocking my decrepit impotent form while occasionally tapping my powers, but without me advising her, she wouldn't have even held on to THIS city for as long as she did. If she's trying to torture me by continuing to display her idiocy and making foolish decisions, while I can't actively do anything about them, then it's working. I urged her that she should've sought you out as soon as I sensed your active presence, but she just ignored me, claiming I was just being a sentimental fool. She never saw the big picture until it was too late, but I did. I still do. Which is why I wanted to see you." "What, the Xi threat?" "That is indeed a threat, but it is perhaps just the catalyst for what is going to come." "And I suppose you can see into the future? I don't remember you ever having that ability." "I didn't, but after Casimir's death, or the Cataclysm as most call it, many things were unleashed. Large waves of wild magic being one. Wish I had developed the ability BEFORE I was reduced to this husk, but then I suppose my current state allows for such dormant powers to manifest themselves due to being unable to do anything else except sit and think. Another thing that was unleashed was the Xi. Did you know they've lived far underground for millennia? Even further than the Derro or any other known subterranean race. Practically unknown to the surface world. It was only due to the massive upheaval of the earth due to the Cataclysm that they slowly started to make their way up to the surface. I believe they thought it was an attack, and now they've finally amassed their numbers to a point where they can overrun the surface world. Took them a few centuries, but here they are and they will be very difficult to stop." "But you said they weren't the only danger." "They aren't. The old Empire may have died, but its actions are going to be the destruction of the new one you have forged one way or another. The Xi are just one way, the other way is much more personal and the wound still runs deep. Wounds that we were also both were responsible for." You think back and you can only think of one thing… "The gnomes?" you ask. "Correct. My daughter has clumsily acquired info on the Redcap Kingdom over the years, but I trust my visions more. And if any of this is remotely accurate, they plan on committing mass genocide to everything in the area. This apparently will be done with a combination of weapons only their expertise in technology could've brought forth, it will also be done far above the ground." "What from the air? What did they figure out how to fly or something?" You hear a small chuckle in your head from Semra. "I see that you have not been very observant of the gnomes. You probably just heard that they had become less peaceable creatures, but the reality is much much more than that. In their war of survival against the Xi, they have been developing technology that can kill as quickly if not as elegantly as battle magic. Their most recent inventions have been strange flying machines. Airships for the lack of a better word, from these they rain down explosive death on the Xi." This is a lot of information to assess, but thanks to your link to Semra, you can sense no trickery from her. She has indeed been having visions similar to how Trog had them, except perhaps stronger. "Okay, so basically I should just let the Xi and gnomes continue fighting until they wipe each other out to a point where neither one is a threat." "You can't afford to do that, lover. Letting them battle it out hasn't worked. That's what my fool daughter thought and it's proven to be a failure. The Xi AND the gnomes have managed to avoid extinction despite being at each other's throats for decades now. The Xi has just expanded towards our direction and the gnomes have just developed more powerful weapons. If it keeps going, the war is going to ultimately engulf the entire area and chaos will ensue. The line needs to be held here in Arat if only to prevent the spread and that's why you're needed here." "So I've heard. Your daughter mentioned an ancient magical weapon that would only work if I helped charge it or something." Semra's voice chuckles again. "Yes, that was her way of insolently describing me, though I suppose it isn't too far off as a description. Really though it isn't a true solution. Basically you and I would join our energy together and form a protective barrier over this city. Something great enough that I doubt if even gnome weapons could penetrate it and I know the Xi wouldn't be able to dig through it." You can't believe that would be an option. "This sounds pretty sketchy that some how I would be the convenient answer to the problem. I mean you've got other mages here and your daughter…" "My daughter is a fucking charlatan. She has learned no real magic herself. As I've said she only taps my own powers which is why she can cast magic in the first place. As for other svelk, most of them are pretenders as well. The few that do actually have magical talent they wouldn't be able to handle the full might of my magic either. But you. You are different. YOU actually have the ability. The power. I know because I trained you myself and what I didn't teach you, Casimir certainly did. YOU and I could join together and survive the coming destruction like we did before." "Yeah because that turned out so well right? I was in stasis for five hundred years and you…well just look at yourself. You'd be better off dead. Am I to join your fate when I join with you in this magic spell that is supposedly going to save this city? And why would I want to save a city full of svelk?" "Because you could be their ruler? What difference does it make when in the scheme of things you do not really care about your subjects so much as you care about the power you wield over them? I have seen your thoughts. Lately you have been dwelling on your own death and who will be worthy to take your place. Let me answer both questions. Nobody will EVER be worthy to take your place. Your Empire, what you have built will fall even if you do manage to save it from the Xi invasion or the inevitable revenge of the gnomes. You WILL be forgotten in time. But I'm offering you a chance at avoiding that fate. I'm offering you a kind of immortality and the chance to be in power FOREVER. Yes it is true, you would be confined to a state similar to mine, but you do not know the true power of the mind. Your body might be in a prison, but your mind would never be. I could teach you if you just join with me." As strange as it may seem, Semra's words do hold a little weight. Immortality is appealing and lording it over the svelk would probably be amusing, but at what cost? Semra claims that her mind allows her freedom in a way that her physical body never could, but you just can't see living like that voluntarily. You might be facing your own mortality soon, but if that is going to happen then that's how it shall be. The future hasn't been written yet as far as you're concerned. Plus there's also the fact that Semra just wants someone to join in her living death misery, who better than you? "Semra, I've listened to your offer and indulged you long enough. I decline and will deal with the threats to my Empire on my own terms. Now then, I trust you have the ability to let me go?" Semra says nothing, for a moment you think you're going to have to make a threat. While you aren't sure if you'd actually be able to take down the magical field around her, you'd give it a good try. It doesn't come to that though and soon another portal open up. "Go then. You will see that I'm right though and you will come back to me. You know we were meant to be together." Semra remarks. "Well thanks to your daughter, your nation has officially declared war. So perhaps you're right, maybe I will be back with an entire army." You answer. "I will be looking forward to that day, lover." You step through the portal and find yourself back in your palace where things are in turmoil. Your return quells things down though. Unfortunately Eldolith got away. Apparently she escaped through another portal. You aren't worried though; she'll pay for what she did. The svelk won't have to wait for the Xi to overrun them; you'll get there first. > Year 557 Arat is nearly yours...well what's left of it anyway and even after you take it completely there is still the matter of holding it. And that will certainly be a great task, one you even wonder if you'll live to see. The aches and pains in your body continue to get worse with age, you tire a lot easier and you get short of breath at times. Everyone tells you that you shouldn't be anywhere close to the battlefield, but you can't help it. It's the only place you feel you truly belong and gives you a thrill even if you're not doing a lot of active fighting nowadays. To be quite honest this war has been a blessing for you as there is no end in sight. It allows you to focus on something other than mundane things like the economy or civics. It's also allowed you to put off the task of finding your "successor" and you don't even care anymore. You've come to the conclusion that when your days are done in this world whoever gets the Empire is whoever is strong enough to hold it. If that means it disintegrates and falls into the abyss then so be it. The Empire fell once before and you revived it. It can do it again. Only four major cities to conquer and the Arat Confederacy would be resigned to the history books, but they proved to be much harder to crack mainly because of Xi AND Redcap interference. Arat is a massive warzone and now all the major players are involved. Zo was the toughest nut to crack in terms of fighting, but perhaps the easiest in some ways as there were no other elements to make things complicated. It was a straight up battle and it only defied you mainly due to its hatred of orcs, which make up a large part of your armies. It is almost unfortunate that the entire city population had to be practically eradicated because its citizens were certainly the bravest and had the best soldiers in this war. Valizza was next. The crimelords there practically opened the gates for you. If it was a choice between suffering Zo's fate or being ruled by the Empire, there was no choice at all. After all crime always exists somewhere in societies no matter how hard a government tries to stomp it out. The crimelords there no doubt assumed that they could just switch sides and slither into the underworld that exists in the Empire. Most of them were wrong. You couldn't be worrying about petty gang violence between warring factions you needed another city on the frontlines contributing to the war effort. You immediately had all the "leaders" sized up, determined which one was the most efficient and made him "governor" while the rest were executed. "Hand Cannon" Harry was grateful and now knows that the city is ultimately run for Empire purposes FIRST. And whatever criminal activity he has going on comes second. You're the "Boss." Atinil, ever the bootlicking city to Lenay of course fought back, though not very well. The only reason why it posed any problems is due to Lenay's forces attempting to bail them out and Xi incursions which had started to become more of a problem by this point. It was during this battle that your armies had begun facing any sort of heavy Xi opposition. Semra was right, there are an awful lot of them and they attack in waves with no regard for their own lives. They also make their first strikes mainly from below; in fact that's what ultimately ended the siege of Atinil. Towards the end, its citizens threw open the gates begging you to destroy the Xi who had managed to enter the city before you did. By the time it was all said and done the Xi had destroyed half of the city before you managed to beat back the infiltration. Your kobold commando units have been doing a good job at blocking off tunnels or creating new ones to form counter attacks, but again there are just so many of them that for every ten you kill it seems like a hundred take their place. To make matters worse, the Redcaps have been making excursions into Arat via their airships. You've only manages to catch sight of a few from a distance, but others have described them to you in greater detail. Great big oval shaped contraptions that seem to move by propellers and some sort of gas that keeps them aloft. (At least that's how someone tried to explain it to you, really you still never got all that "science" stuff) And just as Semra had mentioned in your visit with her, they've been bombing indiscriminately on the Xi AND your own troops. You've yet to take one of these airships down mainly because they never stay around long enough in a battle (and certainly not in any battle that you've personally participated in. They float in to cause destruction and then leave, though you have noticed that they've all been going in a particular direction. Namely towards the city-state that has always remained a mystery, Telis. Now Lenay is all that remains of the Arat Confederacy and it's making sure that all attackers will not stomp out its presence with ease. A magic barrier has formed around the city, and probably extends far below the earth as well otherwise the Xi would've gone under it. The barrier has proven impenetrable to all known weapons and magic or at least anything your soldiers can throw at it. Given how strong it is you can only guess that Semra is having a direct hand in the matter. So much for her claims that "you" were needed to create the barrier in the first place, then again she did imply that she merely needed your help to keep her from using up all her power. Usually a "siege" mentality isn't very successful (certainly didn't work for the Felkans) but the svelk seem to be content on "waiting" everything out while you and the Xi slaughter each other, they may even be building up something that will change the tide of the war. (And probably are) So once again it's all falling onto you. You're the only one that has magic remotely powerful enough to bring down that barrier and even then you might need help. You half wonder if taking the barrier down is going to kill you, but if it comes to that then so be it, but there might be a more pressing concern. The recent appearances of the gnomes and their travels towards Telis make you wonder if you shouldn't direct your attention toward them. Semra did warn you about them and their recent actions of bombing your own troops haven't exactly proven her wrong. It's just a question of what you want to spend your time and resources on. Making a long trip to Telis probably through Xi occupied territory and then face whatever the gnomes have there (which you have no sort of intel on) or bring down the barrier (And continuing to fend off the Xi in the meantime). Both of those are probably going to result in considerable losses. > You bring down the barrier You aren't going to wait around and marching your troops off to Telis seems like a waste of time when you're so close to finishing off the Arat Confederacy. Most of all you want to get your revenge on Eldolith for her attack on you in your own palace years ago. You gather all the mages that are currently within your war camp and explain that you're going to bring down that barrier. It's going to require a great deal of energy and that it's completely possible that some won't even survive the process, but once that barrier is down, Lenay will be ripe for the taking. In the meantime, the regular army is going to have to deal without magic back up for awhile when repelling Xi incursions. You and your mages focus on the massive barrier protecting Lenay. You envision it coming down and staying that way. Doesn't take long before you begin to feel a force combating your efforts. With a personalized touch that only Semra can do. "What do you think you're doing my eager eternal? If you wanted me to let you in, you could've just asked you know." You hear her voice inside your head. You try to block it out, but that's a losing task. You and Semra are locked in more than just a battle of the wills right now. Your minds are still linked. "This is a useless endeavor eternal. Even with your little followers you aren't going to bring down this barrier. I can keep this up forever." One good thing about having a linked mind, is you can sometimes tell an outright lie, though in Semra's case it's always better to assume that she's lying anyway. However, you know she can't keep this up forever, her power is nowhere near how it used to be, otherwise she wouldn't have wanted you to "join her" years ago. "Very well, continue if you must…" Semra's voice says and thankfully you're just left with silence. Five days pass and your army is fending off the Xi well enough, but the barrier still stands strong. You have not eaten, slept or drank anything and are really starting to feel those effects even if you are in a trance like state right now. The only thing that's managed to sustain you is…well leeching off the energy of your other mages of which you've lost seven at this point. Still, you really feel that you're making progress. You can sense that the barrier is weakening, perhaps only a little, but it's still something. Unfortunately you may never know if you would've succeeded eventually because something occurs that interrupts everything. Something big and something you and probably nobody else could've ever envisioned… An incredibly large object hovers high above the earth and moves slowly towards the city of Lenay. It's high enough that it's fairly safe from conventional weapons. It isn't an airship either; it's something much more. It's Telis. The gnomes have somehow managed to uproot an entire city and have it floating in the fucking air. While your army is certainly panicking about this, you're nearly completely oblivious due to your continued spell focus on bringing down the barrier. You hear some of your officers shout at you about a flying city or something similar, but you're more or less out of the loop. Even when Telis begins to unleash a volley of mortar rockets in your area you still aren't completely entirely cognizant of the situation. Loud explosions strike all around you and it's amazing you aren't killed in the blast, you do finally lose focus though and fall to the ground. It is then when you realize how much danger you're in. The gnomes are continuing their vicious bombardment of the area, probably hoping to wipe everyone out and they're doing a fairly good job all things considering. You look around and see your army completely panicked and running away. They are some of the bravest men and women from all walks of races, but they've never had to face something so large and massively destructive before. In fact you don't even know if you're going to be able to make it, you feel so weak and the most recent blast just killed or severely maimed the soldiers that were trying to carry you away from danger. Dizzy, tired and very drained, you struggle to retreat from the area as your legs feel very wobbly. "Can't let it end like this. Argh! Hate this fucking weakness!" you exclaim as pain shoots all through your body and you collapse. It shames you, but you almost feel like just giving up and letting the gnome weapons finish you off. "You see what happened my darling eternal? You were so focused on revenge on my idiot daughter that you completely neglected keeping up on what those red cap miscreants were up to. Now look at you, you're all spent, just like when we first made love. Remember that?" you hear Semra's voice say in your head. Apparently she's still in contact with you. You make an audible groan when you believe that mocking voice of Semra is going to be the last thing you hear in your final moments. However, as usual her mysterious and still baffling obsession with you might be your salvation…again. "Fear not, lover. Mommy can save you. It will have to involve me lowering the barrier for just the briefest moment, but I can open a portal to your safety. Enter it and you'll be back with me, right where you should've been all this time." No sooner do you hear these words uttered when you see a portal open up not far in front of you. "Come to me, let us embrace again. You know it was always meant to be. We are the survivors. We did it once and we can do it again." Semra's creepy attempt at temptation aside, you don't have much time to react to your situation. The gnomes are undoubtedly going to unleash another volley of explosives and who knows if you're going to be lucky enough to avoid a direct hit this time. Then again, if you enter that portal who knows what the hell is in store for you. > You enter the portal You know this probably isn't going to end well, but if you jump into the portal you at least know you'll buy yourself a little time and a chance at survival. Staying out here is probably going to result in your getting blown to pieces. You don't think anymore about it and you take a crawling tumble into the portal. When you go through you're instantly transported before Semra again. Same withered body, same chair, same plain room without any doors and the portal behind you is gone. You then hear an incredibly loud noise coming from above. It's enough to even shake your surroundings a little. "Glad you finally decided to listen to me again. Those little redcap assholes nearly managed to hit Lenay with their crude explosive weapons. If I had held that portal open any longer for you, they might've even destroyed this city. I hope you appreciate the sacrifices I make for you." Semra says. "Right…so what now? What's your plan?" you ask getting up off the floor. "Plan? I assumed you knew that by now. I mean you did come through my portal." "Yeah, I only took your escape route because I would've been a dead man had I not. That doesn't mean I'm siding with you and I'm still not done with your daughter or this city." "I see…well perhaps we can arrange something to appease you better." "I doubt it." "Your faith in my capacity to see what you desire wounds me, especially since you have stated it so plainly here. Now if you give me a few moments, I can give you what you want, but I suggest you prepare yourself." At first you're about to ask what she means, but even if you couldn't get a glimmer of her mind, you believe you'd guess correctly fairly quickly. And within a few moments another portal opens up and soon after that Eldolith steps through. "Mother, the barrier went down for a few seconds and those gnomes nearly killed us all! You've got one job to do and you failed to do it! What the fuck are you doing down here? It's bad enough that we had to stop the annual sveld infant hurling competition because…" Eldolith suddenly stops her complaining when she notices you in the room. Her eyes grow wide and she says nothing, but instead tries to re-enter the portal, but Semra has closed it. Having chosen to unsuccessfully run rather than attempt to defend herself properly, you easily give her a large shock with lightning. She falls to the floor, her body convulsing from the jolt, but not dead yet. You sort of expected that when you finally faced her, she'd put up more of a fight and inevitably you'd either kill her with a powerful magic strike or perhaps a quick sword thrust if you managed to get that close. But now that she's more or less at your mercy, something comes over you. A desire for cruelty. It's strange, but you haven't felt that way towards…well anyone for quite sometime. In fact the last time you felt this way was when you stopped yourself from giving in to such feelings when Eldolith was smarting off to you in Alison's war camp. You remember some of the things you wanted to do to her. Maybe this is some sort of repressed emotion that's been coming for a very long time… "We're not finished Eldy. We're not finished by a long shot. This has been a long time coming." You say and kick her in the stomach and chest several times as hard as you can. You then get on top of her and begin to just punching her in the face. Her svelk "beauty" quickly starts to diminish as teeth become broken and her nose follows suit. "Moth…ARGH!" Eldolith cries out as she desperately attempts to call for a maternal figure that just looks on in sadistic pleasure. Eldolith weakly tries to claw at your eyes with her hands, but you easily grab them both and break her wrists. Eldolith screams at this point, begging you to stop and just kill her already. "Apologies, but this is too much fun, in fact don't you feel my…excitement?" you whisper in her bloodied ear and then slam the back of her head on the stone floor. Aches and pains shoot through your joints, your hands, arms, your legs and your feet, but such things are overridden by the enjoyment you're getting by beating the shit out the Eldolith. Eventually Eldolith's breathing becoming very "automatic." It's getting near the end where her body is just "functioning" and higher brainpower is quickly fading. Even through the blood all over her face, you notice the tears coming from Eldolith's eyes. "Oh no, not yet. I'm going to take you up on that offer you once gave me so long ago." You say and roll Eldolith's body over… "Yes! YES! Do it! Do it my lovely eternal! Do it for mommy! Teach her that you are the master and that she is to be utterly destroyed!" you hear Semra's voice in your head exclaim. These calls of encouragement are followed by Semra's real sounds of excitement made by her own withered body. The wheezing sickly noises are only drowned out by your half crazy rants of pure hate and grunting sounds. After a short but brutal process later you end it by shoving your dagger through Eldolith's skull, cracking through bone and brain. You even enjoy the sound it makes as you slowly pull it back out. Painting heavily and covered in blood, you don't feel nearly as bad as you usually do from such energetic activity. You almost feel…invigorated. "There now. Don't you feel better? Don't you see this is how it should've always been? And just think you can enjoy this sort of thing all the time if you stay here with me. You think what you just experienced was revitalizing? When you fully embrace the power of your mind, you will truly know freedom." You just stare at Semra's disgusting wizened body in a semi-trance as you listen to her alluring voice. "You will have an entire city to rule and defile! To torture and humiliate! Let the gnomes burn the outside world to a crisp! Let the Xi overrun the land with their hives! WE will be still here LONG after their time in the sun has gone! We will be like the GODS of old here FOREVER." Semra's personal barrier that surrounds her body goes down and another chair materializes next to her own. "Join me my love and we can have everything…" Semra's voice is so entrancing. She's making a lot of sense. You don't detect any lying and you can even see into her mind more clearly. She's letting you in. You still don't quite understand a lot of it or see all of it, but you catch a glimpse of perhaps why Semra harbors "romantic" feelings for you. You see the image of another svelk. A male, obviously a soldier, but a mage as well. You also see images of him battling creatures and conquering foes all in the name of his Empire. He obviously enjoys the violence and takes great pleasure in battle, but there's a certain "honorable" trait about him though too. It's odd and you're loathed to admit such a thing, but despite being a svelk he seems very similar to…well you. He even looks vaguely like you in your younger years if you had black skin and the pointy ears. You think you're about to see more, but Semra finally shuts you out. You guess she's decided you've seen enough. Whether that means she's trying to hide something or just merely unwilling to because the memories are too painful, you cannot be sure. Is this why Semra's been so obsessed with you? Was it really that simple? You reminded her of a long dead lover? She could've just said something, but then of course that wouldn't be the svelk way, let alone Semra's. Maybe this is all a trick. Maybe she's making you see something that isn't real to make you more sympathetic towards her despite all the rotten things she's done. Maybe she intends on killing you. Maybe the spell she cast on you over five hundred years ago was all part of some incomprehensible long range plan that only she understands and you're finally falling under her complete influence. Or maybe she's just scared of dying alone. You don't know. What you do know that you're probably never getting out of here. (Wherever "here" actually is, though you assume its somewhere under Lenay) Even if you kill Semra, you don't have the ability to create magical portals or anything like that so you'll essentially be in a living tomb waiting to die. Of course you probably won't be waiting too long. Considering she's currently the only thing up keeping the protective barrier over Lenay as soon as you kill her, you'd wager that the gnomes are going to bomb the shit out of this place and you'll die in a cave in and that's assuming the Xi don't come digging through and overwhelming you first. > You kill Semra Maybe you aren't going to defeat the gnomes and maybe you aren't going to defeat the Xi. Maybe either one or both of those races will eventually destroy the Empire you resurrected. Maybe you'll be completely forgotten. And that's all okay, because what you're about to do is going to be completely worth it. You walk slowly towards the chair that Semra has provided for you. You keep your mind completely clear of any murderous thoughts. "You're right. This is destiny…" you say with a smile. You are soon in front of Semra's husk of a body. It's even worse looking up close, not to mention the smell, but you continue to smile as you put your face in front of hers. "But before I take my place by your side my lover, let me give you one last thing…" You see Semra's face, as slack jawed as it is, manages to make a disturbing grin. "Yes, my eternal, kiss me..." you hear her voice say in your head. And at that moment you grab your dagger…the very dagger you just killed her daughter with while you fucked her. The very dagger Semra stabbed you with and gave to you as a gift when you were just sixteen years. It has at last been returned to its owner when you stab Semra in the chest with it. "HHHAAAAGGGHHHH…" Semra's desiccated vocal cords gasp. The foul odor of her breath invades your nostrils and the scent of death has never smelled so sweet to you. "Smmaahhh! Lovely." You remark and step back to watch Semra soon expire from her mortal wound. When her body slumps downward in her chair you know she won't be healing her way out of this one. And soon you're alone and feeling very tired. You take a rest in the chair Semra created for you and dwell on your life in general. You think back mostly on your old life before you were dug up five centuries later. The good old days when you knew exactly who was always by your side. Alison. You think back to your wedding day and how happy you were then and how you thought the glory days would never end. But everything ends eventually, just a question of when. If anything, your life has been running on borrowed time for the last twenty some odd years. When you think about it, you did pretty good all things considering. Your introspection is put to an end when you hear several large explosions above you and this time, its not just shaking, the ceiling to the room is beginning to crack and stone begins to fall. Looks like it will be the gnomes that get you even if they're unaware of it. In fact nobody is going to be aware of what happened to you. You just disappeared off the battlefield. You imagine you'll be presumed dead though. It doesn't matter really, but perhaps it is fitting that you die the same way you were originally meant to, buried and crushed by dirt and rubble. In your last moments as the ceiling comes crashing down on your head, you surprisingly grab on to Semra's cold dead hand. Perhaps in some strange way you were meant to be together after all.

You know this probably isn't going to end well, but if you jump into the portal you at least know you'll buy yourself a little time and a chance at survival. Staying out here is probably going to result in your getting blown to pieces. You don't think anymore about it and you take a crawling tumble into the portal. When you go through you're instantly transported before Semra again. Same withered body, same chair, same plain room without any doors and the portal behind you is gone. You then hear an incredibly loud noise coming from above. It's enough to even shake your surroundings a little. "Glad you finally decided to listen to me again. Those little redcap assholes nearly managed to hit Lenay with their crude explosive weapons. If I had held that portal open any longer for you, they might've even destroyed this city. I hope you appreciate the sacrifices I make for you." Semra says. "Right…so what now? What's your plan?" you ask getting up off the floor. "Plan? I assumed you knew that by now. I mean you did come through my portal." "Yeah, I only took your escape route because I would've been a dead man had I not. That doesn't mean I'm siding with you and I'm still not done with your daughter or this city." "I see…well perhaps we can arrange something to appease you better." "I doubt it." "Your faith in my capacity to see what you desire wounds me, especially since you have stated it so plainly here. Now if you give me a few moments, I can give you what you want, but I suggest you prepare yourself." At first you're about to ask what she means, but even if you couldn't get a glimmer of her mind, you believe you'd guess correctly fairly quickly. And within a few moments another portal opens up and soon after that Eldolith steps through. "Mother, the barrier went down for a few seconds and those gnomes nearly killed us all! You've got one job to do and you failed to do it! What the fuck are you doing down here? It's bad enough that we had to stop the annual sveld infant hurling competition because…" Eldolith suddenly stops her complaining when she notices you in the room. Her eyes grow wide and she says nothing, but instead tries to re-enter the portal, but Semra has closed it. Having chosen to unsuccessfully run rather than attempt to defend herself properly, you easily give her a large shock with lightning. She falls to the floor, her body convulsing from the jolt, but not dead yet. You sort of expected that when you finally faced her, she'd put up more of a fight and inevitably you'd either kill her with a powerful magic strike or perhaps a quick sword thrust if you managed to get that close. But now that she's more or less at your mercy, something comes over you. A desire for cruelty. It's strange, but you haven't felt that way towards…well anyone for quite sometime. In fact the last time you felt this way was when you stopped yourself from giving in to such feelings when Eldolith was smarting off to you in Alison's war camp. You remember some of the things you wanted to do to her. Maybe this is some sort of repressed emotion that's been coming for a very long time… "We're not finished Eldy. We're not finished by a long shot. This has been a long time coming." You say and kick her in the stomach and chest several times as hard as you can. You then get on top of her and begin to just punching her in the face. Her svelk "beauty" quickly starts to diminish as teeth become broken and her nose follows suit. "Moth…ARGH!" Eldolith cries out as she desperately attempts to call for a maternal figure that just looks on in sadistic pleasure. Eldolith weakly tries to claw at your eyes with her hands, but you easily grab them both and break her wrists. Eldolith screams at this point, begging you to stop and just kill her already. "Apologies, but this is too much fun, in fact don't you feel my…excitement?" you whisper in her bloodied ear and then slam the back of her head on the stone floor. Aches and pains shoot through your joints, your hands, arms, your legs and your feet, but such things are overridden by the enjoyment you're getting by beating the shit out the Eldolith. Eventually Eldolith's breathing becoming very "automatic." It's getting near the end where her body is just "functioning" and higher brainpower is quickly fading. Even through the blood all over her face, you notice the tears coming from Eldolith's eyes. "Oh no, not yet. I'm going to take you up on that offer you once gave me so long ago." You say and roll Eldolith's body over… "Yes! YES! Do it! Do it my lovely eternal! Do it for mommy! Teach her that you are the master and that she is to be utterly destroyed!" you hear Semra's voice in your head exclaim. These calls of encouragement are followed by Semra's real sounds of excitement made by her own withered body. The wheezing sickly noises are only drowned out by your half crazy rants of pure hate and grunting sounds. After a short but brutal process later you end it by shoving your dagger through Eldolith's skull, cracking through bone and brain. You even enjoy the sound it makes as you slowly pull it back out. Painting heavily and covered in blood, you don't feel nearly as bad as you usually do from such energetic activity. You almost feel…invigorated. "There now. Don't you feel better? Don't you see this is how it should've always been? And just think you can enjoy this sort of thing all the time if you stay here with me. You think what you just experienced was revitalizing? When you fully embrace the power of your mind, you will truly know freedom." You just stare at Semra's disgusting wizened body in a semi-trance as you listen to her alluring voice. "You will have an entire city to rule and defile! To torture and humiliate! Let the gnomes burn the outside world to a crisp! Let the Xi overrun the land with their hives! WE will be still here LONG after their time in the sun has gone! We will be like the GODS of old here FOREVER." Semra's personal barrier that surrounds her body goes down and another chair materializes next to her own. "Join me my love and we can have everything…" Semra's voice is so entrancing. She's making a lot of sense. You don't detect any lying and you can even see into her mind more clearly. She's letting you in. You still don't quite understand a lot of it or see all of it, but you catch a glimpse of perhaps why Semra harbors "romantic" feelings for you. You see the image of another svelk. A male, obviously a soldier, but a mage as well. You also see images of him battling creatures and conquering foes all in the name of his Empire. He obviously enjoys the violence and takes great pleasure in battle, but there's a certain "honorable" trait about him though too. It's odd and you're loathed to admit such a thing, but despite being a svelk he seems very similar to…well you. He even looks vaguely like you in your younger years if you had black skin and the pointy ears. You think you're about to see more, but Semra finally shuts you out. You guess she's decided you've seen enough. Whether that means she's trying to hide something or just merely unwilling to because the memories are too painful, you cannot be sure. Is this why Semra's been so obsessed with you? Was it really that simple? You reminded her of a long dead lover? She could've just said something, but then of course that wouldn't be the svelk way, let alone Semra's. Maybe this is all a trick. Maybe she's making you see something that isn't real to make you more sympathetic towards her despite all the rotten things she's done. Maybe she intends on killing you. Maybe the spell she cast on you over five hundred years ago was all part of some incomprehensible long range plan that only she understands and you're finally falling under her complete influence. Or maybe she's just scared of dying alone. You don't know. What you do know that you're probably never getting out of here. (Wherever "here" actually is, though you assume its somewhere under Lenay) Even if you kill Semra, you don't have the ability to create magical portals or anything like that so you'll essentially be in a living tomb waiting to die. Of course you probably won't be waiting too long. Considering she's currently the only thing up keeping the protective barrier over Lenay as soon as you kill her, you'd wager that the gnomes are going to bomb the shit out of this place and you'll die in a cave in and that's assuming the Xi don't come digging through and overwhelming you first. > You join Semra You realize you don't want to die yet. You also realize that events have conspired against you to lead up to this moment, so perhaps maybe you should just give in to fate. You hate Semra. You've always hated her. And whenever she's helped you've resented it even more. And when she's right that's when you hate her the most. But you can't deny her appeal. Even after all these centuries, that part of you, that sick twisted part of you that thought was gone forever is still there and as strong as it ever was. So you give in. You take your place by Semra's side and sit in the chair that Semra has provided for you. You can sense the delight in her mind. "So…now what?" you ask. "Now the fun begins, lover! Just close your eyes and relax. As always mommy will take care of everything…" You feel your magical essence join with Semra's own and together you both feel stronger. Most of the energy goes towards the barrier protecting Lenay, but the rest goes towards your own whims, which are now endless at least within your mind, and the city is concerned. You and Semra take a more direct control over Lenay now without Eldolith in charge. You both instill fear into the populace and give commands via your mind to the next highest in rank. (Who just happens to be Eldolith's latest ambitious girlfriend who gladly accepts the position of Domina). For the most part you just let the city run itself and enjoy watching the excess the city has to offer. Semra herself says things like gladiator matches, the torturing of sveld slaves and the baby throwing competitions are much more enjoyable now that she has someone close to share them with. And when you aren't doing that, you engage in an activity that's more common. Of course seeing that your bodies are in no longer suitable for that activity, you engage intimately on a whole mental level. Semra was right about this too, it is somehow more intense than you imagined that could be. Your mind is not limited like the body and you and Semra indulge in many twisted fantasies. You have to admit though, you don't ever really see baby throwing as a "sport", but more like an activity. You and Semra constantly have debates over this issue… "But there's a target and points and everything! How the hell is it not a sport?!" Semra asks. "Just doesn't seem like one to me. Gladiator matches I can see. There's clearly skill and training involved." "You think there isn't any training or skill with baby throwing? Do you realize how much sveld babies squirm about before your throw them? It's not like just lobbing a nice round rock you know. They don't tend to fly straight, you have to practice and adjust for wind and all kinds of other little factors. Like whether or not the baby has eaten within the last couple of hours or so." "What? If you're going to kill them anyway why the hell would you even feed them so close before throwing them?" "It shouldn't surprise you, but baby throwing is taken VERY seriously in svelk society. So much so that some like to cheat by secretly feeding their opponent's babies before hand. Nothing worse than a baby-spraying diarrhea all over you while you're swinging it around to throw. Even the smell could distract you from your throw and cause you to lose valuable points." "I dunno, still just seems like a celebrated svelk activity to me. I mean why don't you consider torturing elves a sport? Surely the torturers have practiced their trade enough to keep victims alive long enough to give a good show." you ask. "Because that's not a sport, that's a fucking art! (Sigh) You humans are such uncultured barbarians." While you and Semra remain safely inside the barrier of Lenay, the world outside goes on, but not in a good way. The Empire suffers greatly without your leadership. The Xi begin overrunning the borders and the gnomes continue to bomb the hell out of both. Doesn't take long before holdings in Arat fall completely and Quala is well on its way. Sightmaster Crowley does his best to fill your shoes, but it just isn't enough when the gnomes come out with an even deadlier weapon than their airships. They develop a plague of some sort to kill the Xi and it works spectacularly. The Xi die off by the thousands. Then the citizens of the Empire start to die off as well. Whether it's from the same disease or a different one the gnomes created, it doesn't matter. Elves, humans and even orcs begin to sicken and die. The only ones with somewhat of a resistance are the kobolds and they quickly abandon their duties and scurry back to the safety of their underground dwellings when the gnomes start fire bombing the dying husk of the Empire. The gnomes don't give up on Lenay either. They attempt to use different weapons to breach the barrier and continue to use the old ones in the hopes that eventually the magic on the barrier will weaken, after all you had the same idea that even Semra couldn't keep it up forever. And it's true she can't by herself. With your help though it isn't quite as much of a problem. Unfortunately even with the two of you, you can't keep it up forever either, especially you when you realize that Semra's been slowly draining all your energy little bit by little bit. You were so wrapped up in enjoying decadence that you didn't think about how Semra was ultimately using you and eventually killing you. You try to free yourself, but her spell that melded your minds keeps you in place and too weak to resist her. You try to reason with Semra by stating that if you die, it'll only buy her a bit more time and the gnomes will eventually break through anyway. "Perhaps, my sweet eternal, but not today…I will miss you…" Semra says sounding genuinely sad. You curse yourself for being so weak as you have nobody to blame but yourself. Semra was just being true to herself, something you should've done. You were so afraid of death that you ran from it only to die a slave rather than a warrior or even as a free man. You lament your poor judgment as your mind begins to fade into the ever-lasting darkness.

You aren't going to wait around and marching your troops off to Telis seems like a waste of time when you're so close to finishing off the Arat Confederacy. Most of all you want to get your revenge on Eldolith for her attack on you in your own palace years ago. You gather all the mages that are currently within your war camp and explain that you're going to bring down that barrier. It's going to require a great deal of energy and that it's completely possible that some won't even survive the process, but once that barrier is down, Lenay will be ripe for the taking. In the meantime, the regular army is going to have to deal without magic back up for awhile when repelling Xi incursions. You and your mages focus on the massive barrier protecting Lenay. You envision it coming down and staying that way. Doesn't take long before you begin to feel a force combating your efforts. With a personalized touch that only Semra can do. "What do you think you're doing my eager eternal? If you wanted me to let you in, you could've just asked you know." You hear her voice inside your head. You try to block it out, but that's a losing task. You and Semra are locked in more than just a battle of the wills right now. Your minds are still linked. "This is a useless endeavor eternal. Even with your little followers you aren't going to bring down this barrier. I can keep this up forever." One good thing about having a linked mind, is you can sometimes tell an outright lie, though in Semra's case it's always better to assume that she's lying anyway. However, you know she can't keep this up forever, her power is nowhere near how it used to be, otherwise she wouldn't have wanted you to "join her" years ago. "Very well, continue if you must…" Semra's voice says and thankfully you're just left with silence. Five days pass and your army is fending off the Xi well enough, but the barrier still stands strong. You have not eaten, slept or drank anything and are really starting to feel those effects even if you are in a trance like state right now. The only thing that's managed to sustain you is…well leeching off the energy of your other mages of which you've lost seven at this point. Still, you really feel that you're making progress. You can sense that the barrier is weakening, perhaps only a little, but it's still something. Unfortunately you may never know if you would've succeeded eventually because something occurs that interrupts everything. Something big and something you and probably nobody else could've ever envisioned… An incredibly large object hovers high above the earth and moves slowly towards the city of Lenay. It's high enough that it's fairly safe from conventional weapons. It isn't an airship either; it's something much more. It's Telis. The gnomes have somehow managed to uproot an entire city and have it floating in the fucking air. While your army is certainly panicking about this, you're nearly completely oblivious due to your continued spell focus on bringing down the barrier. You hear some of your officers shout at you about a flying city or something similar, but you're more or less out of the loop. Even when Telis begins to unleash a volley of mortar rockets in your area you still aren't completely entirely cognizant of the situation. Loud explosions strike all around you and it's amazing you aren't killed in the blast, you do finally lose focus though and fall to the ground. It is then when you realize how much danger you're in. The gnomes are continuing their vicious bombardment of the area, probably hoping to wipe everyone out and they're doing a fairly good job all things considering. You look around and see your army completely panicked and running away. They are some of the bravest men and women from all walks of races, but they've never had to face something so large and massively destructive before. In fact you don't even know if you're going to be able to make it, you feel so weak and the most recent blast just killed or severely maimed the soldiers that were trying to carry you away from danger. Dizzy, tired and very drained, you struggle to retreat from the area as your legs feel very wobbly. "Can't let it end like this. Argh! Hate this fucking weakness!" you exclaim as pain shoots all through your body and you collapse. It shames you, but you almost feel like just giving up and letting the gnome weapons finish you off. "You see what happened my darling eternal? You were so focused on revenge on my idiot daughter that you completely neglected keeping up on what those red cap miscreants were up to. Now look at you, you're all spent, just like when we first made love. Remember that?" you hear Semra's voice say in your head. Apparently she's still in contact with you. You make an audible groan when you believe that mocking voice of Semra is going to be the last thing you hear in your final moments. However, as usual her mysterious and still baffling obsession with you might be your salvation…again. "Fear not, lover. Mommy can save you. It will have to involve me lowering the barrier for just the briefest moment, but I can open a portal to your safety. Enter it and you'll be back with me, right where you should've been all this time." No sooner do you hear these words uttered when you see a portal open up not far in front of you. "Come to me, let us embrace again. You know it was always meant to be. We are the survivors. We did it once and we can do it again." Semra's creepy attempt at temptation aside, you don't have much time to react to your situation. The gnomes are undoubtedly going to unleash another volley of explosives and who knows if you're going to be lucky enough to avoid a direct hit this time. Then again, if you enter that portal who knows what the hell is in store for you. > You run for it Mustering up all the strength you can, you pull yourself up off the ground and run around the portal rather than through it. "Stop! What're you doing!? I'm your only chance! Don't you remember last time?!" you hear Semra's voice exclaim in your head. You answer back in your head, hoping Semra hears the message. "Semra, I was an idiot to listen to you five hundred years ago, not repeating that mistake again." Whether or not she heard you, you'll never know because several large explosions occur behind you and the force of the blast even from this distance causes you to fall again. With the barrier temporarily taken down, the gnome rockets were able to hit Lenay quite hard, you turn over to see the portal disappear and Lenay in flames. What you don't see is the barrier going up again. While you temporarily sit there looking at the destruction, some of your troops see you and rush to your aid. You're carried away and you survive this day, but you know it's definitely no victory. Year 560 The Empire that you resurrected from the ashes is now returning to that state. Maybe not quite yet, but it will be soon. It wasn't the increased overwhelming Xi attacks on your borders. You were managing them. It wasn't the superior technological machines of the gnomes. Even the mass fire bombings of Arat and Quala from their airships weren't enough. In time you would've caught up and crushed them. It was however another gnomish "invention" that has lead to your ruin. Biological warfare of the likes nobody had even seen. They created a disease to wipe out the Xi and it worked spectacularly. The Xi began dying off almost immediately when it took affect. Unfortunately this plague also affected your people as well. Or perhaps maybe they engineered another one for other races, you don't know, it doesn't matter because people started getting sick and dying. Elves, humans, even orcs. The only ones with somewhat of a resilience were the kobolds of all races. Well them and yourself. Despite your physical frailties and age, it would seem your Eternal roots have protected you from the disease. Everyone you knew who was close to you has died of the plague. Your top advisor David, Sightmaster Crowley, even Jennifer. Your citizens are dead or sick. Your workforce is non-existent and all you've got left for a military force are fucking kobolds and quite frankly they aren't going to be enough to stop the gnomes from finishing everyone off. And you know they'll be coming soon. You're tired though and you don't have the fight left in you to oppose the red-capped bastards anymore. Indeed there isn't much left to fight for. Your own life doesn't even mean much to you any more, you doubt if you'd live much longer anyway given how much your body is in pain and much weaker than you used to be. It's no kind of life. Not for an Eternal. That's why you aren't going to run. When the gnomes come in their flying machines to bomb Nalin to cinders, you'll be right here to go along with it. And in a few months, you meet your fate.

Year 557 Arat is nearly yours...well what's left of it anyway and even after you take it completely there is still the matter of holding it. And that will certainly be a great task, one you even wonder if you'll live to see. The aches and pains in your body continue to get worse with age, you tire a lot easier and you get short of breath at times. Everyone tells you that you shouldn't be anywhere close to the battlefield, but you can't help it. It's the only place you feel you truly belong and gives you a thrill even if you're not doing a lot of active fighting nowadays. To be quite honest this war has been a blessing for you as there is no end in sight. It allows you to focus on something other than mundane things like the economy or civics. It's also allowed you to put off the task of finding your "successor" and you don't even care anymore. You've come to the conclusion that when your days are done in this world whoever gets the Empire is whoever is strong enough to hold it. If that means it disintegrates and falls into the abyss then so be it. The Empire fell once before and you revived it. It can do it again. Only four major cities to conquer and the Arat Confederacy would be resigned to the history books, but they proved to be much harder to crack mainly because of Xi AND Redcap interference. Arat is a massive warzone and now all the major players are involved. Zo was the toughest nut to crack in terms of fighting, but perhaps the easiest in some ways as there were no other elements to make things complicated. It was a straight up battle and it only defied you mainly due to its hatred of orcs, which make up a large part of your armies. It is almost unfortunate that the entire city population had to be practically eradicated because its citizens were certainly the bravest and had the best soldiers in this war. Valizza was next. The crimelords there practically opened the gates for you. If it was a choice between suffering Zo's fate or being ruled by the Empire, there was no choice at all. After all crime always exists somewhere in societies no matter how hard a government tries to stomp it out. The crimelords there no doubt assumed that they could just switch sides and slither into the underworld that exists in the Empire. Most of them were wrong. You couldn't be worrying about petty gang violence between warring factions you needed another city on the frontlines contributing to the war effort. You immediately had all the "leaders" sized up, determined which one was the most efficient and made him "governor" while the rest were executed. "Hand Cannon" Harry was grateful and now knows that the city is ultimately run for Empire purposes FIRST. And whatever criminal activity he has going on comes second. You're the "Boss." Atinil, ever the bootlicking city to Lenay of course fought back, though not very well. The only reason why it posed any problems is due to Lenay's forces attempting to bail them out and Xi incursions which had started to become more of a problem by this point. It was during this battle that your armies had begun facing any sort of heavy Xi opposition. Semra was right, there are an awful lot of them and they attack in waves with no regard for their own lives. They also make their first strikes mainly from below; in fact that's what ultimately ended the siege of Atinil. Towards the end, its citizens threw open the gates begging you to destroy the Xi who had managed to enter the city before you did. By the time it was all said and done the Xi had destroyed half of the city before you managed to beat back the infiltration. Your kobold commando units have been doing a good job at blocking off tunnels or creating new ones to form counter attacks, but again there are just so many of them that for every ten you kill it seems like a hundred take their place. To make matters worse, the Redcaps have been making excursions into Arat via their airships. You've only manages to catch sight of a few from a distance, but others have described them to you in greater detail. Great big oval shaped contraptions that seem to move by propellers and some sort of gas that keeps them aloft. (At least that's how someone tried to explain it to you, really you still never got all that "science" stuff) And just as Semra had mentioned in your visit with her, they've been bombing indiscriminately on the Xi AND your own troops. You've yet to take one of these airships down mainly because they never stay around long enough in a battle (and certainly not in any battle that you've personally participated in. They float in to cause destruction and then leave, though you have noticed that they've all been going in a particular direction. Namely towards the city-state that has always remained a mystery, Telis. Now Lenay is all that remains of the Arat Confederacy and it's making sure that all attackers will not stomp out its presence with ease. A magic barrier has formed around the city, and probably extends far below the earth as well otherwise the Xi would've gone under it. The barrier has proven impenetrable to all known weapons and magic or at least anything your soldiers can throw at it. Given how strong it is you can only guess that Semra is having a direct hand in the matter. So much for her claims that "you" were needed to create the barrier in the first place, then again she did imply that she merely needed your help to keep her from using up all her power. Usually a "siege" mentality isn't very successful (certainly didn't work for the Felkans) but the svelk seem to be content on "waiting" everything out while you and the Xi slaughter each other, they may even be building up something that will change the tide of the war. (And probably are) So once again it's all falling onto you. You're the only one that has magic remotely powerful enough to bring down that barrier and even then you might need help. You half wonder if taking the barrier down is going to kill you, but if it comes to that then so be it, but there might be a more pressing concern. The recent appearances of the gnomes and their travels towards Telis make you wonder if you shouldn't direct your attention toward them. Semra did warn you about them and their recent actions of bombing your own troops haven't exactly proven her wrong. It's just a question of what you want to spend your time and resources on. Making a long trip to Telis probably through Xi occupied territory and then face whatever the gnomes have there (which you have no sort of intel on) or bring down the barrier (And continuing to fend off the Xi in the meantime). Both of those are probably going to result in considerable losses. > You divert your forces towards Telis You're not wasting any more time on Lenay and as much as you'd love to put a blade into Eldolith from your last encounter, she's not worth the time either. The Arat Confederacy is no longer a concern. Let the Xi have Lenay if they want to continue throwing bodies at it. The gnomes are the greater threat; they've already got ships that fly in the air and who knows what the hell they have planned. Maybe if you take Telis, you can also gain the knowledge of how to build such machines because so far the experiments by your inventors haven't had much success. The first thing you have to do is order a withdraw from the Lenay area. This confuses your officers, but other than General Ingrid who insists that the city can be taken, they all just follow your commands. (As does Ingrid after a bit of arguing) The next thing you do is have the major wounded transferred back to Velizza or Atnil. The Xi are still a major concern in the area and hopefully the wounded will get well before the Xi start advancing on those cities because they're going to need all the extra protection they can get. You also send a message to Sightmaster Crowley to send a full battalion of Eyes. You tell him to even take them away from security positions if he has to, because you anticipate that you're going to need the extra magic power. You also tell Crowley that if you fall in battle that he's officially the successor of the Empire. A bit of an abrupt way of passing this decision on, but there it is at last. If he decides to use this as an excuse to stage a coup later, you'll have to deal with it later, but again, you doubt if you've really got much time anymore for "later." The next step is making the long march to Telis. You know where it is, but even if you didn't you could just follow the occasional airship in the far distance. Unfortunately you have a feeling that if you're close enough to see them at all, the crews aboard such things can probably see your massive forces heading their way as well. There's nothing for it though, Arat has always been pretty open and there's no real way to hide a force as large as yours. You half hope some of those airships make a detour towards you, so you can call down a lightning storm on them the same way you did on that sea monstrosity years ago, but none of them do. The Xi however give you more than enough trouble on your journey. You continued to be impressed by the Xi's tenacity to completely abandon any sense of self-preservation. They exceed orcs even in that regard and that's something you thought you'd never see. If only there was a way you could've had them fighting for you instead, you wouldn't have had to waste so many years rebuilding the Empire in the first place. You could've just had it immediately. You watch in the distance as some of the kobolds take down a single Xi warrior. That's something you never thought you'd see either. Fighting along side kobolds of all creatures and them actually being some of your best soldiers within their limited capabilities. Funny that you should respect or find a certain affinity to such non-human races like orcs, kobolds or even the Xi than you do with humans. Then again maybe it's because you've never really truly been human. You're just masquerading as one. After a week of marching through Xi infested territory Telis is finally in sight. And from where you're standing, you see it being besieged by the Xi. Unlike Lenay however, Telis doesn't have the benefit of an impenetrable magic barrier defending it. It does however have several airships launching all manner of explosions and gunfire to the area around the city. It would seem the gnomes are reluctant to damage Telis itself (though some of that is probably unavoidable), but the reason isn't clear. Are the gnomes Telis' allies? From what you've heard Telis did have a human population, so it seems unusual that the gnomes would be helping them given their new outlook on life. Unless they're invaders as well and just don't want their potential prize destroyed. In any event you're somewhat glad that the Xi are involved. Gives the gnomes another target and divides the attention from you. Seeing as the gnomes are less willing to blow up Telis itself, you figure your best course of action is to get your army into the city right away. Actually getting in doesn't look like it will be a large problem thanks to the efforts of the Xi, the problem lies more with fighting your way through the Xi while avoid potential bombings from the gnomes. All available mages are ordered to put up shields and all soldiers are ordered to protect them while making the long march towards Telis or else nobody is going to make it to the city at all. It's not a long distance, but it feels like one. Explosion after explosion crashes down on the magical shields. Since your shields are simple ones the Xi simply dig under them and attack that way, but the soldiers do a good enough job of keeping them from killing your mages. You do your part by supporting the magical energy required for this feat. It's a great strain on you, but you try to block out the pain. You can see the Telis gate wide open and it reminds you of the day when the Felkan capital fell to your forces. What a glorious victory that was. "Advance! Kill everything! They can't stop us! Not the Xi and not the gnomes and their machines! We will be the last ones standing and remembered long after worms have eaten all their corpses! Long live the Empire! Long live the Emperor!" you shout. While it's a simple speech meant to encourage the surrounding troops, your last line was probably a little strange since you're the Emperor and it sounds odd. Of course you realize this soon after you said it because you temporary forgot what the hell time period you were in. "Shit, get focused…" you mumble. Memory lapses aside, your army continues to battle its way into the city. Some of your people have already reached the entryway and that's when a large rumbling noise is heard from the city and then the ground begins to shake. The shaking soon becomes more violent tremors to the point that the ground starts to crack and that's not from Xi digging… Many of your people have a hard time keeping their footing and during this time some of the mages lose their concentration. This is a fatal mistake, which soon results in entire companies being blown to bloody pieces by the airships continuing to dump bombs from above. The airships aren't the only things that are flying now though. The loud rumbling continues along with the earth shaking and you soon see what is going on. It's Telis. The city is rising off the ground. Whatever the hell the gnomes have been doing, this has to be part of it. They've created a flying city! The gnomes have already displayed a significant amount of power with their airships. With this city they could very well be unstoppable. Questions about how and when they did this will have to wait, what matters now is that you have to stop them. The city has only just started to rise and its taking a long enough time that you see several Xi and your own troops grabbing on to what they can before its completely out of reach. You're either going to have to destroy it or capture it. If you were younger you'd just unleash a firestorm or something similar without another thought, but that's a risky endeavor in your condition for several reasons. Capturing it is probably going to be even harder, especially since you're going to have to board the damn thing. You MIGHT reach it in time if you make a full dash towards it now, but that would mean no longer supporting the mages to defend the rest of your army. > You destroy the city You're not going to reach it in time, but you can't allow the gnomes to wield such power. If this spell kills you then so be it, still maybe you won't need to summon a firestorm so large. The airships are close enough to the city that if you could damage them, they'll probably crash into the city themselves and bring it down. You concentrate on flames, fire, and the entire sky burning. Doesn't take long before the sky around you goes red. Your soldiers aren't quite sure what's going on, but when it's obvious that you're casting something, multiple officers shout to their subordinates to find shelter within mage barriers if they aren't there already. Then it comes. Fire from the sky. Airships are hit with a rain of fire. There is no shelter or escape for the machines and the gnome crews are equally helpless. Attempts to fly out of the area of danger fail as they catch fire and soon turn into a crashing inferno of metal, wood and the incinerated crew and sure enough some of those go crashing into the city which has also been catching fireballs. On the ground, it looks like a vision of hell. Large sections of torn up fields and plains are burning, and the only thing protecting your soldiers are your mage barriers and a general retreat has been sounded now that airships are falling out of the sky and it soon looks like the city will too. Even the Xi have chosen to retreat at this point, making their escapes by burrowing back under the earth. "Emperor, we have to go!" you hear a voice shout. You aren't quite sure who it is though because you're woozy after casting your spell. In fact you'd be completely exposed by the rain of fire, if you weren't being dragged away by your loyal soldiers within the cover of Eye mages. Eventually you regain your bearings and tell your soldiers to let you go and that you can make it yourself. They're hesitant to do so at first, but comply. You're drained, but you've still got the energy to move clear of the inevitable spectacular explosion that occurs when Telis finally come crashing down from the sky. The amount of destruction is actually quite impressive, but as you look at the burning wreckage from the distance you curse the fact that you could not utilize such a powerful weapon for yourself. After a few days pass the fires finally die down enough that you order a full search of the wreckage of anything that might be useful, but there isn't much left. At best you have some of the debris carried away so that your inventors might figure out how to re-create at least the airships, but that doesn't seem very likely to occur anytime soon. In the meantime, the Xi slowly begins to re-invade the area and continue to press forward towards your territory. They've also managed to completely cover the area surrounding Lenay despite still not being able to get into the city. Having no more wish to waste anymore manpower on capturing the city yourself, you decide to have your forces to hold the line at your own territory in Arat. Lenay is just going to be one target that you won't get to eliminate any time soon, if at all. Year 559 "Arat has completely fallen, Quala is starting to suffering an influx of Xi troops and reports say that there have even been sighting of Xi in Rask." David remarks. "(Sigh) What kind of fools…(sigh) have three more armies reinforce the forces in Quala. Send another one up to Rask and have Sightmaster Crowley mobilize everything he has there to combat the threat. Have him recruit ogre if he can!" "Very well my Emperor, I uh…should let you know that our people have still made no progress on re-creating an airship." "Didn't think they would. The little gnome bastards took that secret to their little graves when the Xi finally wiped out the Redcap Kingdom a year ago. Even they couldn't hold out against them forever, just like Semra couldn't keep her barrier up forever to protect Lenay and also got resigned to the box of now extinct cultures. Which is something we'll eventually be at this rate. (Sigh) Cancel the project; have them go back to working on perfecting our existing weapons or something." David leaves without saying another word and you're left to ponder this increasingly grim scenario. A scenario that you're not entirely sure you're going to win, in fact you're almost certain you won't. The odd thing is you're okay with it, mainly because you're also fairly certain you don't have long to live anyway. You tire a lot easier and your body hurts all the time now, you might have five or six years left tops and that's assuming the Xi don't overrun Nalin first. The only question that remains for you is how you want to handle this. You're going to continue to fight to the bitter end no matter what, but you wonder if that fate shouldn't necessarily include your people. You wonder if maybe you should have an "escape" plan for your people. Unfortunately there aren't too many places to run to, a mass exodus through the Usksha desert is likely to result in death for several reasons and you imagine the Xi would easily just invade there as well. Heading further north through the mountains of Rask has similar problems. That only leaves one major "safe" option, the ocean. There haven't really been any major efforts to explore the open seas to see if new land does indeed exist, but you figure if there is an "Isle of Mortos" there must be other lands. (Hopefully) Still this is going to be very short notice and a massive undertaking of building ships big enough to carry not just people, but supplies as well for this uncertain journey. However, if it worked and there was land, then the survivors would definitely be free of the Xi threat, even the Xi can't cross the ocean. If you're going to enact this escape plan though, you're going to have to do it soon because time is not on your side. Of course the other side of you still believes that maybe, just maybe if you concentrate your efforts you could still win this war. > You prepare for the exodus You already made the mistake of believing you were more important than the Empire before and it lead to its destruction, you're not making it again. The Empire must live on in some form even if you do not and that means your subjects must live. You make the preparations; you call your advisors who are all very surprised by this plan as it involves the mindset that you have already been defeated. When you quickly remind them that most of the ones that are going to have first dibs on having a seat on one of those ships are most likely those in the upper part of the hierarchy, they don't argue too much about it. They suggest that you don't announce the plan as it'll cause a great lowering of morale, but you see no reason to hide it and rumors are going to abound anyway which may cause some trouble anyway, so you make a grand speech about your plan to the people. You explain that despite the dark days ahead, the Empire is not going to die as long as some of them live. You tell them that you won't lie about the escape possibly being just as dangerous as staying and fighting, but for those that want to leave there will be a merit system. Those that work the hardest towards making this plan feasible will get first consideration for getting aboard a ship. This doesn't mean just building a ship, it could mean being a soldier and defending said workers of the ships and other helpful positions. Ship builders and all other manner of laborers are assigned right away to work on building the arks. You realize that considering the time its going to take to build these things, you'll need to hold off the Xi for as long as possible, so you consolidate the majority of your forces back to the borders of Nalin. This leaves Quala and Rask to fend for themselves and while you urge citizens that if they want protection they need to make their way back to Nalin. However, some people are stubborn and the orcs that live in Quala are the most stubborn. In fact most of them outright say you're abandoning them and see now that the late Warlord Sprog was right and that orcs don't need the Empire. You wash your hands of such insubordination. You figure the Xi will sort them out. Kobolds on the other hand are a bit more compliant and since most of them used to live in Nalin before, they return. Sightmaster Crowley doesn't agree with this decision, but thankfully he pulls most of his forces out of Rask (The ones that didn't insist on staying) and returns to Nalin. Admiral Len is overwhelmed by the fact that you'll be saddling him with so much responsibility of commanding this exodus plan. He states that he doesn't even know if land exists past the vast eastern ocean. Your response is "Find some." Len says he'll send out scout ships while the arks are being made, but he isn't hopeful. Finally you contact Jennifer. You reassure her that her family will definitely have a seat on one of the ships. She of course is grateful, but asks if there is nothing that can be done to defeat the Xi. You say you wish you had a more combative solution, but you still feel this is the best chance of the Empire continuing to exist. She understands, but is upset by it and hugs you one last time, before you never see her again. After it's all said and done, Nalin is slightly more crowded than before, but is very well protected now with its entire military in one area. The Empire has shrunk, but it isn't dead yet. Year 564 "Have all the arks left?" you ask. "Reports are sketchy at this point, but I believe yes, the last of them have departed. Our forces were successful in holding off the Xi in that regard." David remarks. "Well that's something at least. So I'm guessing the rest of the struggle for Nalin isn't going well?" "I'm uh…afraid not Emperor." "Figured as much." You reply. You and David are both silent for a while. In fact your palace has been fairly silent in general now that many either died or left on the arks. "David, tell me. Why did you stay?" you ask. "Me? Well, I'm so old now I don't think I'd survive the journey on the open seas anyway." David says. "Hmm, you too huh?" you say. "Besides, my place is here and you need at least one of your staff still here seeing as you sent Sightmaster Crowley away on an ark." David continues. "Heh, yeah I thought we were going to have to knock him out and have him dragged aboard one those things. Still when I explained that the new Empire is going to need the Eyes and their leader to defend it he got the point." "He always was a duty bound soldier." "Yes, yes he was." Another moment of silence passes and then you get your aching body off of your throne. "Well, I guess I might as well get this over with." You say. "Get what over with?" "I'm not going to wait around for the Xi to come get me. I'm going to go out there and kill the first ones I see and repeat that process until they finally bring me down. I'm thinking I might be able to last a few days at least." "Oh. Well, erm you might increase your chances if you meet up with one of our units. There are still many out there and…" "No, I'm going to meet death alone. That's how we all die in the end anyway." You reply. "Very well…it was an honor serving you my Emperor." David says and you nod silently before making your way out of the palace. In your last days of fighting the Xi (and through your own physical pain) you wonder if those ships will find a new place to settle. You did your best and really given the circumstances, that was all you could've done. Eventually you are struck down by the Xi and your last thoughts are wondering if you'll be reunited with Alison.

You're not going to reach it in time, but you can't allow the gnomes to wield such power. If this spell kills you then so be it, still maybe you won't need to summon a firestorm so large. The airships are close enough to the city that if you could damage them, they'll probably crash into the city themselves and bring it down. You concentrate on flames, fire, and the entire sky burning. Doesn't take long before the sky around you goes red. Your soldiers aren't quite sure what's going on, but when it's obvious that you're casting something, multiple officers shout to their subordinates to find shelter within mage barriers if they aren't there already. Then it comes. Fire from the sky. Airships are hit with a rain of fire. There is no shelter or escape for the machines and the gnome crews are equally helpless. Attempts to fly out of the area of danger fail as they catch fire and soon turn into a crashing inferno of metal, wood and the incinerated crew and sure enough some of those go crashing into the city which has also been catching fireballs. On the ground, it looks like a vision of hell. Large sections of torn up fields and plains are burning, and the only thing protecting your soldiers are your mage barriers and a general retreat has been sounded now that airships are falling out of the sky and it soon looks like the city will too. Even the Xi have chosen to retreat at this point, making their escapes by burrowing back under the earth. "Emperor, we have to go!" you hear a voice shout. You aren't quite sure who it is though because you're woozy after casting your spell. In fact you'd be completely exposed by the rain of fire, if you weren't being dragged away by your loyal soldiers within the cover of Eye mages. Eventually you regain your bearings and tell your soldiers to let you go and that you can make it yourself. They're hesitant to do so at first, but comply. You're drained, but you've still got the energy to move clear of the inevitable spectacular explosion that occurs when Telis finally come crashing down from the sky. The amount of destruction is actually quite impressive, but as you look at the burning wreckage from the distance you curse the fact that you could not utilize such a powerful weapon for yourself. After a few days pass the fires finally die down enough that you order a full search of the wreckage of anything that might be useful, but there isn't much left. At best you have some of the debris carried away so that your inventors might figure out how to re-create at least the airships, but that doesn't seem very likely to occur anytime soon. In the meantime, the Xi slowly begins to re-invade the area and continue to press forward towards your territory. They've also managed to completely cover the area surrounding Lenay despite still not being able to get into the city. Having no more wish to waste anymore manpower on capturing the city yourself, you decide to have your forces to hold the line at your own territory in Arat. Lenay is just going to be one target that you won't get to eliminate any time soon, if at all. Year 559 "Arat has completely fallen, Quala is starting to suffering an influx of Xi troops and reports say that there have even been sighting of Xi in Rask." David remarks. "(Sigh) What kind of fools…(sigh) have three more armies reinforce the forces in Quala. Send another one up to Rask and have Sightmaster Crowley mobilize everything he has there to combat the threat. Have him recruit ogre if he can!" "Very well my Emperor, I uh…should let you know that our people have still made no progress on re-creating an airship." "Didn't think they would. The little gnome bastards took that secret to their little graves when the Xi finally wiped out the Redcap Kingdom a year ago. Even they couldn't hold out against them forever, just like Semra couldn't keep her barrier up forever to protect Lenay and also got resigned to the box of now extinct cultures. Which is something we'll eventually be at this rate. (Sigh) Cancel the project; have them go back to working on perfecting our existing weapons or something." David leaves without saying another word and you're left to ponder this increasingly grim scenario. A scenario that you're not entirely sure you're going to win, in fact you're almost certain you won't. The odd thing is you're okay with it, mainly because you're also fairly certain you don't have long to live anyway. You tire a lot easier and your body hurts all the time now, you might have five or six years left tops and that's assuming the Xi don't overrun Nalin first. The only question that remains for you is how you want to handle this. You're going to continue to fight to the bitter end no matter what, but you wonder if that fate shouldn't necessarily include your people. You wonder if maybe you should have an "escape" plan for your people. Unfortunately there aren't too many places to run to, a mass exodus through the Usksha desert is likely to result in death for several reasons and you imagine the Xi would easily just invade there as well. Heading further north through the mountains of Rask has similar problems. That only leaves one major "safe" option, the ocean. There haven't really been any major efforts to explore the open seas to see if new land does indeed exist, but you figure if there is an "Isle of Mortos" there must be other lands. (Hopefully) Still this is going to be very short notice and a massive undertaking of building ships big enough to carry not just people, but supplies as well for this uncertain journey. However, if it worked and there was land, then the survivors would definitely be free of the Xi threat, even the Xi can't cross the ocean. If you're going to enact this escape plan though, you're going to have to do it soon because time is not on your side. Of course the other side of you still believes that maybe, just maybe if you concentrate your efforts you could still win this war. > You prepare for the final war You're not going to waste time on a possibility that doesn't even have any proof behind it. There is no knowledge of land west of the ocean and there just isn't time to mobilize a half cocked plan to evacuate people who might die a slower death on the open sea anyway. Better to stay and fight. You continue organizing your forces and mobilizing them in the best way that you'll think that they will be the most effective. Year 566 As you lie on your deathbed weakened by your own physical frailties the war with the Xi still carries on and not in the Empire's favor. You struggled as best you could, but it just wasn't enough. The Xi are indeed a relentless force that even you cannot stop. Quala has completely fallen. Rask has been cut off, you have no idea if it's been overrun as well, but it hardly matters by this point. Your last report states that possibly within a year or even six months the Xi will completely overrun Nalin. Anyone who was remotely close to you is gone. David was taken by natural causes, Sightmaster Crowley in battle, even Jennifer was killed along with her entire family by a surprise Xi attack on Dalt. You believe there were some last ditch efforts of escape via ships. Some have successfully done so, but it's hard to imagine where they will go. Makes you wonder if setting up an escape plan might've been a better idea to at least save some people to possibly keep the Empire alive, but you dismiss such thoughts. No, you are the last of a dying Empire. The old one and now this one. When you die, it will die with you. Your only regret is that you didn't decide to face death in battle when you at least still had the strength to do so. Your body hurts so much right now that you almost wish the Xi were here just to put you out of your misery. Eventually your pain comes to a quiet end when you manage to drift into unconsciousness and finally death. And just as you believed, the Empire follows you in death soon after, though perhaps not quite as quietly.

You're not wasting any more time on Lenay and as much as you'd love to put a blade into Eldolith from your last encounter, she's not worth the time either. The Arat Confederacy is no longer a concern. Let the Xi have Lenay if they want to continue throwing bodies at it. The gnomes are the greater threat; they've already got ships that fly in the air and who knows what the hell they have planned. Maybe if you take Telis, you can also gain the knowledge of how to build such machines because so far the experiments by your inventors haven't had much success. The first thing you have to do is order a withdraw from the Lenay area. This confuses your officers, but other than General Ingrid who insists that the city can be taken, they all just follow your commands. (As does Ingrid after a bit of arguing) The next thing you do is have the major wounded transferred back to Velizza or Atnil. The Xi are still a major concern in the area and hopefully the wounded will get well before the Xi start advancing on those cities because they're going to need all the extra protection they can get. You also send a message to Sightmaster Crowley to send a full battalion of Eyes. You tell him to even take them away from security positions if he has to, because you anticipate that you're going to need the extra magic power. You also tell Crowley that if you fall in battle that he's officially the successor of the Empire. A bit of an abrupt way of passing this decision on, but there it is at last. If he decides to use this as an excuse to stage a coup later, you'll have to deal with it later, but again, you doubt if you've really got much time anymore for "later." The next step is making the long march to Telis. You know where it is, but even if you didn't you could just follow the occasional airship in the far distance. Unfortunately you have a feeling that if you're close enough to see them at all, the crews aboard such things can probably see your massive forces heading their way as well. There's nothing for it though, Arat has always been pretty open and there's no real way to hide a force as large as yours. You half hope some of those airships make a detour towards you, so you can call down a lightning storm on them the same way you did on that sea monstrosity years ago, but none of them do. The Xi however give you more than enough trouble on your journey. You continued to be impressed by the Xi's tenacity to completely abandon any sense of self-preservation. They exceed orcs even in that regard and that's something you thought you'd never see. If only there was a way you could've had them fighting for you instead, you wouldn't have had to waste so many years rebuilding the Empire in the first place. You could've just had it immediately. You watch in the distance as some of the kobolds take down a single Xi warrior. That's something you never thought you'd see either. Fighting along side kobolds of all creatures and them actually being some of your best soldiers within their limited capabilities. Funny that you should respect or find a certain affinity to such non-human races like orcs, kobolds or even the Xi than you do with humans. Then again maybe it's because you've never really truly been human. You're just masquerading as one. After a week of marching through Xi infested territory Telis is finally in sight. And from where you're standing, you see it being besieged by the Xi. Unlike Lenay however, Telis doesn't have the benefit of an impenetrable magic barrier defending it. It does however have several airships launching all manner of explosions and gunfire to the area around the city. It would seem the gnomes are reluctant to damage Telis itself (though some of that is probably unavoidable), but the reason isn't clear. Are the gnomes Telis' allies? From what you've heard Telis did have a human population, so it seems unusual that the gnomes would be helping them given their new outlook on life. Unless they're invaders as well and just don't want their potential prize destroyed. In any event you're somewhat glad that the Xi are involved. Gives the gnomes another target and divides the attention from you. Seeing as the gnomes are less willing to blow up Telis itself, you figure your best course of action is to get your army into the city right away. Actually getting in doesn't look like it will be a large problem thanks to the efforts of the Xi, the problem lies more with fighting your way through the Xi while avoid potential bombings from the gnomes. All available mages are ordered to put up shields and all soldiers are ordered to protect them while making the long march towards Telis or else nobody is going to make it to the city at all. It's not a long distance, but it feels like one. Explosion after explosion crashes down on the magical shields. Since your shields are simple ones the Xi simply dig under them and attack that way, but the soldiers do a good enough job of keeping them from killing your mages. You do your part by supporting the magical energy required for this feat. It's a great strain on you, but you try to block out the pain. You can see the Telis gate wide open and it reminds you of the day when the Felkan capital fell to your forces. What a glorious victory that was. "Advance! Kill everything! They can't stop us! Not the Xi and not the gnomes and their machines! We will be the last ones standing and remembered long after worms have eaten all their corpses! Long live the Empire! Long live the Emperor!" you shout. While it's a simple speech meant to encourage the surrounding troops, your last line was probably a little strange since you're the Emperor and it sounds odd. Of course you realize this soon after you said it because you temporary forgot what the hell time period you were in. "Shit, get focused…" you mumble. Memory lapses aside, your army continues to battle its way into the city. Some of your people have already reached the entryway and that's when a large rumbling noise is heard from the city and then the ground begins to shake. The shaking soon becomes more violent tremors to the point that the ground starts to crack and that's not from Xi digging… Many of your people have a hard time keeping their footing and during this time some of the mages lose their concentration. This is a fatal mistake, which soon results in entire companies being blown to bloody pieces by the airships continuing to dump bombs from above. The airships aren't the only things that are flying now though. The loud rumbling continues along with the earth shaking and you soon see what is going on. It's Telis. The city is rising off the ground. Whatever the hell the gnomes have been doing, this has to be part of it. They've created a flying city! The gnomes have already displayed a significant amount of power with their airships. With this city they could very well be unstoppable. Questions about how and when they did this will have to wait, what matters now is that you have to stop them. The city has only just started to rise and its taking a long enough time that you see several Xi and your own troops grabbing on to what they can before its completely out of reach. You're either going to have to destroy it or capture it. If you were younger you'd just unleash a firestorm or something similar without another thought, but that's a risky endeavor in your condition for several reasons. Capturing it is probably going to be even harder, especially since you're going to have to board the damn thing. You MIGHT reach it in time if you make a full dash towards it now, but that would mean no longer supporting the mages to defend the rest of your army. > You capture the city Probably a fool's task, but if you survive this you're going to have to still deal with the Xi. A flying fortress would give a significant advantage. You stop using your own energy to support your mages and refocus on a creating a personal shield around yourself. You give the order for everyone to get out of your way or grab on to Telis if they can. It isn't too bad, most of your mages hold their own, and continue to protect a majority of the army, but its yourself that you're concerned about as you attempt to reach Telis which is slowly becoming completely airborn. You ride your horse as hard to the point where it probably isn't going to survive after you intend to make a leap forward off of it. You pass your soldiers, you pass the Xi fighting them, you pass over the torn up ground from the battle and bombs and you look up and see Telis escaping your reach. "No, I've come too far!" you say and you stand on top of your horse, nearly falling off in the process while still attempt to upkeep your shield… You make the jump towards the city and manage to grab ahold of one half of Telis' front gate doors which is currently hanging off its hinges. Your shield is down, your body hurts and you're practically deaf from all the explosions going on around you. You hang on for dear life as the ground gets further away and attempt to climb up, but your strength is failing you and even if it wasn't the door is slowly loosing its weak attachment to the rest of the city. "Shit! Shit! No! No! No! Not like this! Fuck! Hate this weakness!" you exclaim as you prepare to either lose your grip or for the door comes loose. And you doubt you'll be in any condition to "repair" yourself when you take this long fall. Fortunately it doesn't come to that. "Emperor! Take my hand!" a human soldier shouts and reaches over the side. You waste no time in accepting his help and soon a couple of other soldiers help him lift you up just in time for the door to fall to the ground. After catching your breath and assuring the soldiers that helped you that you're fine, you get a better assessment of your surroundings. "Okay first things first, what's your name so I know what to call you." "Lieutenant Renly, my Emperor and this what's left of my platoon." Renly says and waves his arm to six other soldiers. "We're not the only ones here, I believe there's a couple of orc platoons further in the city. They're probably fighting the Xi that managed to get in or combating the gnome clockwork golems. Hell even the teams of gnomes with their rapid repeaters isn't something you want to deal with and that's not even counting the ones probably trying to spot us from the nearby airships." "So wait, are there no humans or regular citizens in this place?" you ask. "Not from what anyone can tell. It's like the whole place is empty other than the Xi, the gnomes and us. Unless the Telis citizens are all hiding somewhere." "Or maybe the gnomes did something to them all. Well it doesn't matter we need to figure out where the hell the controls are for this thing. We get control and we can get rid of those airships with a lot more ease." "Not sure where something like that would be located Emperor." "That's easy, we keep moving towards the areas that have most of the little bastards and their damned contraptions. It's going to be the most heavily defended place because it's the most important thing in the world to them." "Well then I believe we should take a left down that street over here. Saw a gnome patrol accompanied by two clockworks not long ago." "Okay, but when possible we should probably stick to the back alleys. Don't need one of those airships floating by and spotting us. In fact our best chance is to do this as stealthily as possible. A rare tactic for us I know, but our main task is getting control of this thing." You, Renly and the rest of his platoon make your way towards where you hope some sort of master control is located. Along the way, you see the remnants of where small skirmishes have already taken place. Bodies riddled with bullets or in some cases chopped up. They're mostly bodies of the Xi, but some of your soldiers as well. You don't see any gnome casualties other than pieces of their golems. The sounds of battle can still be heard throughout the city, but it gets concerning when the sounds get less infrequent, since that means the gnomes are probably mopping up invaders to their city, which means less distraction for them. Your attempts at sneaking around are fairly successful. As you stealthily avoid these patrols, you finally see the gnomes and you can't get over how radically they've changed. With their dark red caps, goggles and stylish leather uniforms, they couldn't look anymore different than their pathetic ancestors that you helped round up centuries ago to have their souls utterly obliterated. Really though, after an event like that and who knows what else during the Cataclysm you suppose it shouldn't be surprising that the gnomes decided they wouldn't be victims and became hostile towards other races. Let alone rely on other societies to defend them any longer. They shaped their own destiny and you can certainly respect and even admire that; after all you never hated them. That was the Emperor. You were just following orders at the time. Eventually the gnome patrols are getting too thick and you can't really properly proceed without engaging the enemy. Just as well, you were getting sick of acting like a shadow. "Alright, everyone get ready, because it's going to be killing time from here on in. I'll take the lead on this." You say. "Emperor, shouldn't you stay behind us so we can better protect you?" Renly replies. "While I appreciate the sentiment, I've been doing this a lot longer than you have, if anything you all should try to stay behind me and in cover until I clear out most of the rabble. Don't worry, I may be old, but I'm not out of this yet. And if you all survive this, you'll all be getting promotions and whatever else I think might be an appropriate reward, so it behooves you all to listen to me if you want to reap the benefits of this situation." With this understanding, Renly and his platoon follow your lead. Still unseen, you take advantage of a group of gnomes tanding around with their clockwork creations. You unleash a flurry of fireballs, which not only has the desired effect of killing some of the gnomes outright, but also causing an explosion due to their hand thrown bombs they carry on them The explosion takes care of the golems. "That's one group down, but the rest aren't going to be as easy!" you say and advance with a shield up. Not easy is correct because the little bastards start coming out in full force. You just try not to get surrounded. The unrelenting repeater weapons are bad enough, but the gnomes also come out with weapons that emulate some of your spells! A single gnome who managed to sneak up on two of Renly's men blasts them with some sort of weapon that emits flames. Renly shoots the gnome in the head before turning his attention to grab one of the repeaters from a nearby dead gnome. "They're all coming out of that big red building, that's probably where we need to go! Come on!" you shout and take out another golem." During the carnage you think back to how you used to mainly use your sword during battles. During this one, you haven't even used it yet. In fact you haven't done so for so long, you wonder if you'd even be able to use it effectively anymore. Granted in this situation like this you've practically got no choice but to rely on your magic, still though you miss the good old days. The closer you get to the building, the waves of gnomes lessens, until you see one of them close the door just as the last few golems are shot to pieces. The sky above you grows darker and you notice an airship looming overhead. They don't throw bombs at you, but they certainly unleash a volley of gunfire, which manages to kill another one of Renley's platoon before he and the rest can get into cover. As for you, your shield is working just fine, but you need to get into that building which is probably locked and barricaded. You aren't going to be able to blast it open with that airship firing at you. > You refocus the shield to repel the bullets back Normally you don't do this, because repelling projectiles actually takes more focus than flinging fireballs or putting up a shield in the first place, but if you can take out all the guns firing on you with their own bullets then you'll get the breather you need. You refocus the shield and sure enough the bullets are repelled back towards the guns that are firing on you. It isn't an exact hit, but enough of them hit their own guns (or in some cases the gunner) enough that it puts them out of commission, other bullets either go flying off wildly into the air or into other parts of the airship. In any case you hit something that causes problem since you see and hear minor explosions, which the gnomes are probably busily trying to contain. The airship shudders in the sky a bit, but it isn't falling out of sky, which it probably would have done if you'd lobbed hunks of fire at it. Taking advantage of the respite, your soldiers take what explosives they've found on the bodies of the gnomes, pile them up against the building's door and you hurl a ball of fire at it. Naturally it not only explodes spectacularly, but it also succeeds in destroying a couple of golems that were waiting to ambush you. You and the other run inside, before the airship above you manages to get its guns working again. When you get inside you see that the building consists of a lot of desks and generally laid out like a bureaucratic office. You briefly think that maybe this was all for nothing and your hunch was wrong, but sure enough when an automated repeated pops up out of the floor and puts several holes into one of Renly's platoon and more golems appear from other trapdoors in the floor you're fairly certain you're still on the right track. You and Renly's ever dwindling platoon take care of your assailants though at this point they're probably hoping there aren't too many more. "Glad this building doesn't have multiple floors." One soldier remarks. "It still might, those golems came out of the floor. There might be several basement levels." Renly points out. "It can't go too far down, the city is flying in the air now. It's not going to be a Derro complex." You say peering door one of the trapdoors. "Derro?" Renly asks. "Oh. Before your time I suppose. They were a subterranean race that were primarily hostile isolationists and had a knack for technology. Sort of like the current gnomes I suppose. I always wondered if they were related in some way to be honest." You answer. "And they were enemies?" "Allies actually. Well… such as they were. Anyway I imagine whatever is causing this city to fly would be located right under it, so we might as well start searching there especially since the rest of this building looks more like an oversized office rather than any example of engineering. You all descend down one of the trap doors and find yourself in some small narrow corridors. Not so small that you can't move around, but certainly small enough that you all have to crouch down. Even at the best of times your body aches, this bending and stooping routine just makes it worse for you. The corridors are also filled with a light steam with gears, pumps and other manner of machinery that you assume are keeping this city afloat. A noisy hum and the occasional jarring metal on metal screeches also surround you and you briefly wonder just how much solid stone floor is between you and the sky right now. "Guess the gnomes designed this part of the city." Renly says. "Never thought I'd say this, but I wish we were kobolds right about now." Another soldier remarks. "Alright let's focus. The good thing about this corridor is I can easily shield us from any attack from the front or the back but you're all going to have to fire upon on any enemy that attacks us. If I start throwing magic bolts or whatever around here I'm libel to damage something severely and send this thing crashing to the ground with us in it. You travel the corridors for what you believe to be an hour at least. It twists and turns, but you remain convinced that SOMEWHERE down here is a control room. In the meantime more gnomes attempt to stop you and while they have better maneuverability your shield continues to protect everyone and you fend off attacks. "At least they're just sticking with guns now." One of the soldiers says. "They don't really have choice, explosives or those flame weapons would damage all these gears that are involved in holding up the place." Renly remarks. While your followers make minor comments about the situation, you begin to notice a slight change in surroundings. The mist that fills the corridors is dissipating, the floors have become steel and now there are actual walls coving the previously exposed engineering. It suddenly occurs to you that the gnomes hadn't actually finished this place up yet and you are now seeing the areas that took priority. "We're near the control room." You say. "We are?" Renly says. "I'm sure of it." "Wouldn't there be more defenses?" "I said I think we're near it, we're not actually there yet. For all we know the actual control room has shit we've never seen before." You answer. "Oh it does, Eternal. It does. Come on in and see." You hear a voice say nearby. You and the others look around and at each other. "Just continue a little bit forward and turn the corner. Don't worry, you've killed all of my people, but then you always were an expert at such things weren't you?" the voice says. When you follow the voice you enter a room filled with a bunch of technical equipment and machines. You no idea what any of it does, but its certainly a technological feat that you've only seen matched by Marik when he was growing tank babies. Also in the room a single gnome sitting in a chair dressed in the traditional leather uniform you've seen others of his kind wearing. He also sports the same bushy facial hair and red cap they all seem to favor. The only main thing that causes him to stand out is that he's obviously older than the ones you've been fighting and he's wearing explosives around his waist with a wire attached to another device he's gripping tightly in his hand. The other thing that stands out is that he is completely unconcerned about you or your soldiers pointing their weapons at him. "You know, this really was one of our greatest works. (Sigh) It's going to be a shame to destroy it, but anything is better than letting it fall into your hands. Can't let a gnome killer like you have it can we?" the gnome remarks. "You speak as if you know me and I don't mean by my present reputation. You speak as if you know me from the past." You say. "Oh not personally, but my family's ancestors told me stories about you. Yeah, great ancestor Klemto made sure the story got passed down so that something like Gnome's Home could never happen again. One of the few gnomes you didn't manage to round up and have systematically slaughtered." "Well I see your mind is made up, no point in debating the issue." You answer. "Oh no, please I'd LOVE to hear your defense on the matter. I could use a good laugh before I blow us all up." At this point having one of your soldiers shoot him would be counter productive, he'd just release the switch when he died. Rushing the gnome would likely have the same result Your only option is to cast a freeze spell and encase his hand in a solid block of ice. The problem with that right now is you're exhausted. You'd have to stall for a little time so you could muster up the energy to do it right now. So you stall for time and engage the gnome in conversation. "I was just following orders." You say. "Really now? That's your defense?" the gnome asks. "It's not a defense because I don't think I have anything to defend against. The Emperor…Casimir hated your kind. Not I. Why he hated your people so intensely I cannot say because I never fully understood the depths of it. He gave reasons, but as I said I believe there was more to it. It doesn't matter though, since I merely acted on his orders." "So you were just a blindly loyal soldier just doing your duty eh?" "At the time yes. Look, if you want me to beg for my life, you'll not get it here. I didn't begin my life as an Eternal begging so I'm certainly not going to end my life begging." "I see…I suppose I should've known your arrogance and lack of emotions would prevent you from such actions…" the gnome remarks, but you cut him off. "Funny you should say that. Since I would think someone with the same arrogance and lack of emotions would understand." You say. "What?!" "THIS! This flying fortress! And all your airships! You really expect me to believe you designed them for peaceful purposes?" "We had to protect ourselves!" "Against the Xi, yes I can see that, but you've been bombing us as well and we didn't even declare war on you!" "Bah! You would have eventually! And your pathetic attempt at comparing us bombing your soldiers and you rounding up gnome civilians for slaughter is laughable." "I wasn't actually, I'd say that would be closer to what you did to the original citizens of this city. So what did you do with Telis' original citizens?" The gnome begins to get annoyed. "Nothing. This city was always ours!" "Bullshit. Maybe this place was wrapped in mystery, but not to such a degree that it wasn't known that humans lived here. Or at least they USED to live here. Just looking at the buildings and one can tell that this place was originally designed for humans rather than the smaller architecture that make up these corridors. So how did you go about it? I'm actually curious how you managed to wipe out an entire city without anyone getting a hint of what was going on. I know from your reputation that you don't associate with other races any longer so I can only assume that you had the citizens of this city done away with long before you actually moved in and started making this place into a flying city. Perhaps maybe like something similar that was done to the gnomes?" The gnome now actually gets off his chair and both of his hands are balled up in anger, which is good since you want him to grip that kill switch as tight as possible. "It was a completely different situation!" the gnome exclaims. "Was it? Your ancestor said we rounded gnomes up to be slaughtered, what he probably didn't know since he avoided capture is HOW we did it. We didn't just kill them. We completely obliterated their souls. It's what the Emperor wanted. Then again, you lot probably didn't go that far…no magical skill to speak of, I guess that's why you like your mechanical toys so much…" "You're going to pay for your crimes you evil bastard. When I release this switch my only regret is going to be that you won't suffer!" "No doubt. But it's a shame that the real culprit won't taste your justice after you blow us all up." "What're you talking about?" "I'm talking about the main executioner. Maybe I rounded some up and killed a few and the Emperor gave the orders, but there was one in particular who was enjoying the job around the clock. She's still alive too you know, or maybe you didn't. She isn't very mobile or social these days. All I'll say is she's a svelk and she's the mother of that bitch that currently runs Lenay, well assuming Lenay hasn't been overrun by the Xi…" "ENOUGH! This ends now!" the gnome yells getting ready to release the switch. "Truer words have never been spoken." You say and cast a blast of frost at the gnome's left hand and fortunately you encase his whole arm in ice before he can release his hand from the switch. You collapse on the floor just from that small feat of magic. You really need to rest. The gnome desperately tries to break the ice, but the remaining two soldiers from the platoon restrain and knock him out. "Take this little shit topside and throw him off the city. Renly and I will try to figure out the controls to this thing. And do it quickly, that arm won't stay frozen and there still might be some gnomes running around." You say and drag yourself to sit up against a nearby wall. "Emperor are you okay?!" Renly asks. "I'm fine. Just very very tired. And unfortunately my work isn't even done yet…" you answer. "But just maybe this thing will make it easier at least." > Year 560 "Emperor, the Xi have made their first incursions into Quala." David remarks. "(Sigh) It was only a matter of time I suppose. The damn bugs just can't seem to be wiped out. Even with this floating fortress and the new airships we created. Have we lost Arat completely?" "No, but the only city left is Regnik and its slowly in danger of becoming overrun. It probably won't last another week despite the carpet-bombing we've done around the area. Quala is having problems as well and last reports stated that Warlord Sprog fell in battle." You sometimes wonder if the Xi are some sort force of nature taking everything back from the others races that have caused so much turmoil and strife. Like the other races had their day in the sun at some point and now it is the time of the Xi to rise to power. Of course you've never been one for giving into fate or "destiny", so your main concern is how to deal with this seemingly unstoppable foe. Fortunately after you took Telis (Now called Apex) from the gnomes, you found some rather interesting notes on how it might be possible and your brightest and best have been attempting to decipher them. Technology wasn't the only thing the gnomes were working on; they were also working on a bunch of stuff to do with biology. Apparently they had plans to design and release some sort of germ that would kill all the Xi. Sounds like a blessing, but the problem is you have no idea how long that's going to take. You have your inventors and doctors and wise people, but honestly they're only going by a few found pieces of scraps and half thought out plans from a race of people now no longer around. Nobody has even had this sort of idea before; using unseen organism as weapons. But then nobody had the idea to create weapons that could destroy entire buildings or allow one unskilled peasant to murder an entire squad of swordsmen at one time either. In the meantime, you're still left with the same problem. You have to fend off the Xi from destroying the Empire. You're doing your best, but you have to admit, the outlook is grim. Just as you're about to give David your list of commands for the day and retire to your private abode, David tells you that you have an audience today. "Audience? With who? I'm the only ruler left in the land and I doubt very seriously the Xi are wanting to speak with me about peace negotiations." You say. "No, it's a regular citizen Emperor and know normally you don't hold such audiences, but I thought in her case you might. It's Jennifer." David replies. "Really? Well what does she want?" "She didn't say, other than wanting to see you. Should I tell her to reschedule?" "No, I suppose I can spare the time to see what she wants and I could use a diversion from this Xi situation anyway." David nods and fetches Jennifer from the next room. You haven't seen her in a while, but she still looks about the same, just a few extra gray hairs. You have to admit you're mildly glad to see her after dealing with the Xi day in day out. After a few pleasant greetings you both go back to your private chambers to speak. "So…it's been a long time." You say. "It's been about ten years since we were in the same room together." Jennifer answers. "Has it? Time really flies. As you probably know I've been a little busy. Apologies for not keeping in better contact." "No, it's fine. Seriously, you're the Emperor and keeping us all safe from hostile forces is a full time job. I always knew better than to expect that you'd be able to stay on constant contact." "Glad you understand. So where's your family?" "They are on the surface, my son really wanted to see the flying city, but his father…well let's just say he wasn't fond of the idea." Jennifer says with a bit of hesitancy. It's apparent that not everything is well with her marriage, but you don't want to pry. "I see…well tell your son that the Emperor has said he can see it any time its convenient. It isn't like the place is off limits, just difficult to get to I suppose." "Indeed. Tickets for an airship here are expensive and not many have that sort of money to throw around anymore. Anyway about why I'm here, I've been working on another book." "Another one? So what is this one about?" "About you actually. I need your input with it obviously considering you're the main subject." "A book about me huh? Any reason why you wanted to write such a book?" "Why wouldn't I? You're only one of the most important people in history. I mean there needs to be records of this for when…I mean so people don't forget your deeds. I mean sometimes I have to argue with idiots at the museum who don't know how good you've made things for them! At one time people used to view the Old Empire exhibit with wonder and questions. Now it seems all some of them want to do is criticize it and claim it's nothing more than a pile of falsehoods and lies! Some of these dissidents have even been claiming this flying city is just an example of how you believe you're so much better than they are!" "Hmm, haven't heard about too much dissident activity for quiet some time, but then the Eyes are stretched pretty thin these days." "Well some of these morons that enter the museum need to be rounded up! You're not better than them because of a flying city; you're better than them for a whole bunch of other reasons! Being a strong leader and making the tough decisions that in the long run are best for all of us! I intend for my book to reinforce the needed understanding of why the things you do are completely necessary. I've already managed to interview some people that have seen your greatness in action like Captain Renly and Admiral Len. Their testimony and others will make great additions, but the words from your own lips will be what's most important!" You've seen Jennifer get excited and fired up about things in the past, but you sort of figured such excitement would never be reserved for anything related to you ever again. You had thought that Jennifer had long since outgrown her "worship" of you when she got married and had a family, but either it never left and had been dormant or something has changed to cause it to revive such feelings again. And if you had to guess you imagine it might have something to do with her marriage. "Jennifer, while I've always appreciated your support, I doubt if any book is going to change a lot of minds. You even said not many people have disposable income these days to buy luxury items. You can't let every loudmouth with an opinion get you so upset. I mean I'm glad you told me, and I'll even get Crowley to have some Eyes look into matter and see if it's a potential larger problem, but I think you're really upset about something else." "Of course I am! I'm upset because I made the wrong choice! I followed some silly notion of wanting a normal life! I'm married to a man who has successfully sickened me with his criticism of the government and you to the point where I cannot even stand his touch anymore! I should've tried harder to serve you! I should've stayed with you! By your side! That's where I belonged! I was a Mol and a Mol has always served their ruler loyally in whatever capacity they can!" Jennifer exclaims You have no words. Even if you the whole story you probably still wouldn't have the words. How can you condemn someone who obviously thinks so highly of you? If you had more of an ego you'd just take advantage of the situation and let Jennifer write her book and fill it with propaganda and have the book be distributed for free, but you can't help being a little grounded in reality even if it means shooting yourself in the foot. While you don't scold Jennifer for her slightly misguided loyalty, you do feel she has the right to know the whole truth so you start by telling the thing you never told anyone before. "You know, Jacob Mol was loyal to the Empire, but not to the Emperor. Well at least not towards the end." You say. "What?" Jennifer asks. "He personally killed the Emperor Casimir. Shot him in the back actually." Jennifer is speechless. "Oh don't judge your ancestor too harshly, he was only helping me at the time since I was doing a miserable job of attempting to kill the Emperor. Me and the true late svelk ruler of Lenay, Semra. It was a group effort I suppose and to be fair, Casimir was planning to have me killed despite my lifetime of loyalty." Jennifer continues to remain speechless. "When we killed the Emperor, he unleashed a magic curse when he died which fucked up the rest of the land in various ways, regular folks know that event best as the Cataclysm." Jennifer is finally about to speak, but you put up your hand to let her know one more thing. "The kicker of all this? A few years before Semra died she even told me the Xi were living undisturbed deep underground and it was only because of all the violent earthquakes that they turned their attention to the surface. ALL of what's going on right now is my fault. Hell, even the fact that the gnomes were also planning to bomb us into oblivion is my fault. I can tell you more about that gruesomeness though and you could even get Renly to confirm it since he was there when one of those red capped bastards confronted me about it. I'm an usurper. A tyrant. A killer. And worse. And you know what? I'm perfectly fine with that." You move closer to Jennifer. "Now then…how do you THINK the citizens would REALLY feel about their strong leader if they knew the truth from my own lips?" Jennifer moves her own face closer to yours. "It doesn't matter, because I'm writing the damn thing how I want to." Jennifer remarks. "So true history doesn't matter to you despite being dedicated to it?" "History is written by those in power and the winners. Perhaps some of what you told me was a surprise, but do you think I didn't have my suspicions that you probably had something to do with the death of the old Emperor? Your continued vagueness of the topic even years later was a give away. I'm not stupid. I know what you think of me. You probably believe me to be a mindless fanatic at worst or a misguided loyalist at best, but you couldn't be more wrong. I am a true patriot. My family always has been. You even said it yourself my ancestor Jacob was loyal to the Empire, but he obviously saw its ruler as lacking to its greatness. He saw that greatness in YOU, otherwise he wouldn't have helped you overthrow the Republic or even warn Quintus that you were going to kill him." Jennifer grabs your hand. "I still see that greatness in you. I always have. If I didn't, I wouldn't be here. Let me be by your side again. Like I should've been. Don't send me back down to the surface. Let me stay and help." Jennifer looks at you hopefully and preying upon that small part of you that actually does have feelings. It's just too bad; you don't feel the same strong feelings as she does for you. > You let Jennifer stay Again you think: How can you really punish such dedication? Casimir tried to kill you for similar loyalty and while you wouldn't kill Jennifer, sending her away would most certainly be the same thing to her. While you are lucky to have someone so dedicated and even though she explained herself somewhat, you don't really understand why. Then again, you never fully understood Semra's obsession for you either. Some motives only make sense to the mind that creates them. "Very well. I will find a place for you, but what of your son? Surely you want your son don't you?" you ask. "Yes! Yes of course I do. It's just if I left him he probably wouldn't care at this point, but he'd make things difficult and probably try to stop me if I tried to take our son Marcus with me. Then there's Marcus to think about, I can't reasonably whisk him away from his father. He still loves him. So um, can you arrange for something to happen to my husband? "Wait…you want me to kill him?" You ask. "Well…I mean…(Sigh) I dunno…" "You better make up your mind Jennifer, because once its done, its permanent you know." "I know! I know! Alright…" Jennifer says and starts mumbling to herself and staring upward as if she's weighing all the pros and cons. After a few seconds, she gives you her answer. "Okay, do it. Kill him." "Very well. He must've really pissed you off." "It's for the best in the long run. He poisons my son's mind with anti-Empire ideology at times. He's practically a dissident, he might as well die." Jennifer says with absolute certainty. Though you can tell in her eyes that while she's successfully convinced herself of that, there's still some tiny part of her that is sad her marriage has come to this. Strangely, you feel a little odd doing this too. You can't even begin to count how many deaths you've inflicted or ordered and yet this one feels weird to you. You've never even met the guy, but you're essentially you're going to be murdering him and "taking" his wife and son. On the scale of things its a far cry from orchestrated genocide of an entire race, and granted you aren't struggling with it like before you decided to kill Casimir, but its just something that makes you feel a little off. You have an Eye take care of the situation and to make it look like an accident for the boy's sake. It naturally all goes off fairly quickly and successfully. It's barely even noticed, after all what's one "accidental" death of an average citizen compared to the thousands dying on the front lines with the Xi every day? After a funeral (again, to keep up appearances for the boy) and a trip back to the surface, Jennifer returns to Apex with Marcus who is taking his father's death pretty well, though you imagine Jennifer has probably been trying to mold the boy to her liking. As for your other promise to Jennifer, you aren't really sure how to proceed, mainly because you don't really have much for her to do. You already have your official advisors and generals and the like. To be honest Jennifer was probably serving you well enough as a propaganda outlet with her museum constantly promoting Empire values, history and such. So you leave her to continue such work. She still owns the museum of course, but has someone else run it now. In the meantime she works on the thing that originally brought her back to you in the first place, her new book. Of course this involves several sessions of her asking you some questions and going over the book's content. And sure enough, you and Jennifer do experience a bit of rekindled closeness during such time. It's not the same as it was, and you'll never feel as strongly for her as you did for Alison, but you've learned to enjoy the moments again if only because the Xi problem dominates the most of your thoughts and blocking out the constant pain your body is in makes up the rest. In a couple weeks you receive word from one of your scientists that in order to work on the disease to kill the Xi, experiments are going to have to be done on captured Xi. Naturally you agree that a few forces can be set-aside for capture missions and think nothing more of it. When you briefly mention this to Jennifer she has another perspective on the situation. "Experiments on the Xi huh? Sure that's a good idea?" Jennifer asks. "Well I'd rather that our armies just focused on killing them, but if capturing a few of them is going to lead to something that will eventually kill all of them, then I'm all for it. Don't worry, every precaution is going to be in place for our scientists." "That's not what I mean. I mean are you sure they should just be experimenting on the Xi?" "Who else would they be experimenting on?" "Well, our own people for one. How do we know this germ or whatever is going to just affect the Xi? I've had an opportunity to read copies of some of those notes that the gnomes left while I've been up here in Apex and maybe your other people missed something, but I got the impression that the gnomes were planning to design something that wasn't going to just wipe out the Xi." It's odd, but that had completely slipped your mind. You figured the gnomes were just going to bomb you out of existence or something similar. Makes sense that if they planned biological warfare on a grand scale for the Xi, they'd do it to the Empire as well. "That's good thinking…so you believe we should what? Round up some folks for experimentation?" you ask. "Well it couldn't hurt. I mean we don't want to release something that's going to kill us all." Jennifer replies. "Okay, well I'll let them know immediately to start emptying out the prisons for this project. Pretty sure there's more than enough for a good diverse mix of our population." "You think?" "Well mostly humans, but thanks to their violent personalities, there's more than enough kobold and orc criminals in the prison system." "What about elves?" "Dunno. They don't tend to last long in prison from what I've heard. I guess we'll take our chances if we don't have a lot. I'm sure it'll be fine." You thank Jennifer who is very happy that you're pleased with her and begins discussing some parts of her book again. Year 564 You look over your balcony and stare at the grand view of the surface below. The Xi have been starting to establish great hills of earth where a central hive is located. This is a good thing since it makes targeting key locations a lot easier. Small porcelain bombs of infection meant for the Xi are going to be dropped from Airships anywhere the Xi are greatly located. There are even kobold commandos that will be doing their best to deliver the disease more directly. (Turned out the little scalies were the most resistant to the disease in the first place) It all rides on this plan and you certainly hope it will work. Jennifer comes to see you and holds your hand. As gentle as she is you still feels a sharp ache going up your arm causing slight recoil of it. "Damn it. I used to be so young and strong once. Now I'm just this…old bag of broken bones." You remark. "You're the Emperor." Jennifer says. "Well for now anyway. Won't be long before that won't be the case. Just hope this plan works so I'll be remembered if only for a little while longer." "Of course it will work." You flash a smile at Jennifer who smiles back. In silence, the pair of you watches an airship in the distance drop its plague bombs onto a Xi hill before returning back inside. Weeks pass and you continue to receive steady reports of large numbers of dead Xi bodies being found and Xi attacks dropping off completely in places. The plague has worked. Better yet, you're not getting reports of mass sickness from your own people. Well there have been reports of your elven citizens suddenly getting sick, but you can't save everyone. It's still a long road ahead to rebuild the massive damage the Xi did, but this is a positive step in the right direction. Jennifer's book "Eternal Leader", which had been released shortly before the bug bombing suddenly sees an increase in popularity and sales. Celebrating good fortune all around, you officially make Jennifer your consort making her very happy. Which technically makes her son your heir. You don't have much time to teach him the ins and outs of rulership. In fact in your condition you can't even teach him the art of combat or magic, but Jennifer had him enrolled in a military school shortly after she made her home in Apex (You've barely even seen the boy), so you're guessing he'll be okay in that department. After all, it isn't like the old days now. Combat is becoming an increasingly non-personal affair. How you've defeated the Xi is proof of that. Plus Jennifer will probably do her best to guide him. She's already proven adept in the advisory role. You don't know how long you have left in this world, but you think you'll be taking it easy for a while. And why the hell not? You're the Emperor.

Year 560 "Emperor, the Xi have made their first incursions into Quala." David remarks. "(Sigh) It was only a matter of time I suppose. The damn bugs just can't seem to be wiped out. Even with this floating fortress and the new airships we created. Have we lost Arat completely?" "No, but the only city left is Regnik and its slowly in danger of becoming overrun. It probably won't last another week despite the carpet-bombing we've done around the area. Quala is having problems as well and last reports stated that Warlord Sprog fell in battle." You sometimes wonder if the Xi are some sort force of nature taking everything back from the others races that have caused so much turmoil and strife. Like the other races had their day in the sun at some point and now it is the time of the Xi to rise to power. Of course you've never been one for giving into fate or "destiny", so your main concern is how to deal with this seemingly unstoppable foe. Fortunately after you took Telis (Now called Apex) from the gnomes, you found some rather interesting notes on how it might be possible and your brightest and best have been attempting to decipher them. Technology wasn't the only thing the gnomes were working on; they were also working on a bunch of stuff to do with biology. Apparently they had plans to design and release some sort of germ that would kill all the Xi. Sounds like a blessing, but the problem is you have no idea how long that's going to take. You have your inventors and doctors and wise people, but honestly they're only going by a few found pieces of scraps and half thought out plans from a race of people now no longer around. Nobody has even had this sort of idea before; using unseen organism as weapons. But then nobody had the idea to create weapons that could destroy entire buildings or allow one unskilled peasant to murder an entire squad of swordsmen at one time either. In the meantime, you're still left with the same problem. You have to fend off the Xi from destroying the Empire. You're doing your best, but you have to admit, the outlook is grim. Just as you're about to give David your list of commands for the day and retire to your private abode, David tells you that you have an audience today. "Audience? With who? I'm the only ruler left in the land and I doubt very seriously the Xi are wanting to speak with me about peace negotiations." You say. "No, it's a regular citizen Emperor and know normally you don't hold such audiences, but I thought in her case you might. It's Jennifer." David replies. "Really? Well what does she want?" "She didn't say, other than wanting to see you. Should I tell her to reschedule?" "No, I suppose I can spare the time to see what she wants and I could use a diversion from this Xi situation anyway." David nods and fetches Jennifer from the next room. You haven't seen her in a while, but she still looks about the same, just a few extra gray hairs. You have to admit you're mildly glad to see her after dealing with the Xi day in day out. After a few pleasant greetings you both go back to your private chambers to speak. "So…it's been a long time." You say. "It's been about ten years since we were in the same room together." Jennifer answers. "Has it? Time really flies. As you probably know I've been a little busy. Apologies for not keeping in better contact." "No, it's fine. Seriously, you're the Emperor and keeping us all safe from hostile forces is a full time job. I always knew better than to expect that you'd be able to stay on constant contact." "Glad you understand. So where's your family?" "They are on the surface, my son really wanted to see the flying city, but his father…well let's just say he wasn't fond of the idea." Jennifer says with a bit of hesitancy. It's apparent that not everything is well with her marriage, but you don't want to pry. "I see…well tell your son that the Emperor has said he can see it any time its convenient. It isn't like the place is off limits, just difficult to get to I suppose." "Indeed. Tickets for an airship here are expensive and not many have that sort of money to throw around anymore. Anyway about why I'm here, I've been working on another book." "Another one? So what is this one about?" "About you actually. I need your input with it obviously considering you're the main subject." "A book about me huh? Any reason why you wanted to write such a book?" "Why wouldn't I? You're only one of the most important people in history. I mean there needs to be records of this for when…I mean so people don't forget your deeds. I mean sometimes I have to argue with idiots at the museum who don't know how good you've made things for them! At one time people used to view the Old Empire exhibit with wonder and questions. Now it seems all some of them want to do is criticize it and claim it's nothing more than a pile of falsehoods and lies! Some of these dissidents have even been claiming this flying city is just an example of how you believe you're so much better than they are!" "Hmm, haven't heard about too much dissident activity for quiet some time, but then the Eyes are stretched pretty thin these days." "Well some of these morons that enter the museum need to be rounded up! You're not better than them because of a flying city; you're better than them for a whole bunch of other reasons! Being a strong leader and making the tough decisions that in the long run are best for all of us! I intend for my book to reinforce the needed understanding of why the things you do are completely necessary. I've already managed to interview some people that have seen your greatness in action like Captain Renly and Admiral Len. Their testimony and others will make great additions, but the words from your own lips will be what's most important!" You've seen Jennifer get excited and fired up about things in the past, but you sort of figured such excitement would never be reserved for anything related to you ever again. You had thought that Jennifer had long since outgrown her "worship" of you when she got married and had a family, but either it never left and had been dormant or something has changed to cause it to revive such feelings again. And if you had to guess you imagine it might have something to do with her marriage. "Jennifer, while I've always appreciated your support, I doubt if any book is going to change a lot of minds. You even said not many people have disposable income these days to buy luxury items. You can't let every loudmouth with an opinion get you so upset. I mean I'm glad you told me, and I'll even get Crowley to have some Eyes look into matter and see if it's a potential larger problem, but I think you're really upset about something else." "Of course I am! I'm upset because I made the wrong choice! I followed some silly notion of wanting a normal life! I'm married to a man who has successfully sickened me with his criticism of the government and you to the point where I cannot even stand his touch anymore! I should've tried harder to serve you! I should've stayed with you! By your side! That's where I belonged! I was a Mol and a Mol has always served their ruler loyally in whatever capacity they can!" Jennifer exclaims You have no words. Even if you the whole story you probably still wouldn't have the words. How can you condemn someone who obviously thinks so highly of you? If you had more of an ego you'd just take advantage of the situation and let Jennifer write her book and fill it with propaganda and have the book be distributed for free, but you can't help being a little grounded in reality even if it means shooting yourself in the foot. While you don't scold Jennifer for her slightly misguided loyalty, you do feel she has the right to know the whole truth so you start by telling the thing you never told anyone before. "You know, Jacob Mol was loyal to the Empire, but not to the Emperor. Well at least not towards the end." You say. "What?" Jennifer asks. "He personally killed the Emperor Casimir. Shot him in the back actually." Jennifer is speechless. "Oh don't judge your ancestor too harshly, he was only helping me at the time since I was doing a miserable job of attempting to kill the Emperor. Me and the true late svelk ruler of Lenay, Semra. It was a group effort I suppose and to be fair, Casimir was planning to have me killed despite my lifetime of loyalty." Jennifer continues to remain speechless. "When we killed the Emperor, he unleashed a magic curse when he died which fucked up the rest of the land in various ways, regular folks know that event best as the Cataclysm." Jennifer is finally about to speak, but you put up your hand to let her know one more thing. "The kicker of all this? A few years before Semra died she even told me the Xi were living undisturbed deep underground and it was only because of all the violent earthquakes that they turned their attention to the surface. ALL of what's going on right now is my fault. Hell, even the fact that the gnomes were also planning to bomb us into oblivion is my fault. I can tell you more about that gruesomeness though and you could even get Renly to confirm it since he was there when one of those red capped bastards confronted me about it. I'm an usurper. A tyrant. A killer. And worse. And you know what? I'm perfectly fine with that." You move closer to Jennifer. "Now then…how do you THINK the citizens would REALLY feel about their strong leader if they knew the truth from my own lips?" Jennifer moves her own face closer to yours. "It doesn't matter, because I'm writing the damn thing how I want to." Jennifer remarks. "So true history doesn't matter to you despite being dedicated to it?" "History is written by those in power and the winners. Perhaps some of what you told me was a surprise, but do you think I didn't have my suspicions that you probably had something to do with the death of the old Emperor? Your continued vagueness of the topic even years later was a give away. I'm not stupid. I know what you think of me. You probably believe me to be a mindless fanatic at worst or a misguided loyalist at best, but you couldn't be more wrong. I am a true patriot. My family always has been. You even said it yourself my ancestor Jacob was loyal to the Empire, but he obviously saw its ruler as lacking to its greatness. He saw that greatness in YOU, otherwise he wouldn't have helped you overthrow the Republic or even warn Quintus that you were going to kill him." Jennifer grabs your hand. "I still see that greatness in you. I always have. If I didn't, I wouldn't be here. Let me be by your side again. Like I should've been. Don't send me back down to the surface. Let me stay and help." Jennifer looks at you hopefully and preying upon that small part of you that actually does have feelings. It's just too bad; you don't feel the same strong feelings as she does for you. > You turn her away While you might have some sympathy for Jennifer, honestly you don't see any benefit of her being by your side. Are you supposed to just kill her husband and marry her or something? If Jennifer is having marital problems or going through a mid life crisis of some sort she's going to have to work it out herself because you really haven't the time or the patience for any of this sort of drama, you've got so much more on your mind right now. You don't have a place for her in your cabinet and you don't feel the same way that she feels about you and you're not going to pretend otherwise. "Jennifer, I appreciate your loyalty and your honesty. You will always be someone I have a certain fondness for, but you're already serving the Empire and me well enough with your museum. I have no place for you here. Go home. Go back to your family and work it out with your husband or divorce him, whatever you wish." Jennifer is shocked by your response. She probably was so sure that you wouldn't turn her away due to your history together. "You…you're turning me away?" Jennifer asks. "I'm turning your proposal away. Look, we had our time together, but that time has passed and there is no point in going back to that. Nowadays, my mind is preoccupied with the Xi, my body is in constant pain, and to be honest I'm probably not going to live too much longer. You still have a long life ahead of you, enjoy it while you can. Don't squander it with some delusional concept of loyalty and duty. I know you're probably surprised to hear someone like me say that, but I'm speaking from personal experience. I spent a good chunk of my life serving a man and a system that ultimately cared nothing for me. Then I was locked in a fucking magical coffin for five centuries. Now towards the end of my life, I've got all the freedom and choice in the world as Emperor, yet I can't really enjoy any of it because I'm an ancient pile of broken bones. Can't even hold a sword for very long anymore, let alone practice with one." "I could…" Jennifer starts to say, but you interrupt. "No. You CAN'T help. Not with this. What I want isn't obtainable. I want my youth back. I want MY Empire back. I want my Alison back. You can't provide any of these. Everything I know is dead and has been for quite some time and the only thing keeping me going is my stubborn innate will to survive and to win. I can't let the Xi beat me, so I will see this through for as long as I can. But you can't help me with that either. So as I have said, go back Jennifer. Live your own life. You did it before I came into your life and you were doing it after we parted ways years ago. You can easily do it again. I know you're strong enough to do so." Jennifer's eyes are watered up with tears, she's trying very hard not to cry, but she's failing. You touch her shoulder. "Even Jacob knew when to stop serving his ruler." You say. Jennifer wipes away her tears and sniffles a bit. It takes her a moment to compose herself, but eventually she does and gives you a serious look. You expect her to either start cussing you out or telling you that she understands. She surprises you again. "I will go my Emperor. (sniffle) If you say I have no place here, then I shall redouble my efforts to prove myself." Jennifer says. "Jennifer, that's not what I meant…" "No, I understand. My place is at the museum and educating the ignorant masses and making them see the light of your greatness. I will continue to work on my book and I will distribute it throughout the Empire so that everyone will know of your hardships and the sacrifices you made and continue to make to keep us all safe." You don't really have a response. You can see she isn't going to be swayed despite your best efforts to get through to her. "Thank you, my Emperor. I see what must be done now." Jennifer says, grabs your hand one last time and kisses it before leaving. And you are alone again. For a while you ponder what Jennifer will do or what she has planned. You wonder if maybe you should've just indulged the girl and allowed her to stay. Would it really have been an inconvenience? Maybe, maybe not, in any case it's done and after a short rest you return to the business of combating the Xi. A few weeks later you receive word from one of your scientists that in order to work on the disease to kill the Xi, experiments are going to have to be done on captured Xi. Naturally you agree that a few forces can be set-aside for capture missions and think nothing more of it. Life continues much as it always has for you. Year 563 You look over your balcony and stare at the grand view of the surface below. Complete and utter desolation of what remains of your Empire. You had the plague released to kill the Xi a year ago and its affects are still being felt. Small porcelain bombs of infection meant for the Xi dropped from airships ended up doing their job well enough, but unfortunately your scientists failed to take extra precautions. The plague mutated or evolved, or whatever it did, it spread and infected your people as well. It wasn't noticeable at first, but eventually hundreds followed by thousands of Empire citizens were sick and eventually dying. Rask, Quala, Nalin, nowhere was safe even a small case hit Apex. Your closest advisor David died of it just recently. Oddly you haven't got sick despite suffering from your increasing frailties of old age. Not even a symptom. Perhaps you have your Eternal roots to thank for such immunities. Elves were hit the hardest by the disease whenever they caught it. There almost aren't even many left now. Even as resilient as orcs normally are, they've been suffering from the plague as well. The only ones who seem to be doing okay are the kobolds of all beings. If the plague continues to be as effective as it has been, that's all your Empire will consist of. If the plague wasn't enough, a lot of those that haven't fallen ill have decided to blame you personally for all this. You've got mass riots all across the Empire, despite the Eyes valiantly attempting to maintain control of the situation. You're just glad Sightmaster Crowley didn't succumb to the plague (yet). And to top it all a small group of your citizens have taken it upon themselves to enact their own brand of vigilante justice on dissidents. This group is lead by Jennifer of all people. She finished her book called "Eternal Defender" and distributed it for free throughout the Empire, well as much as it could be under the circumstances. It doesn't really matter though since the group actively goes around like religious missionaries preaching about your "virtues" and even that the plague is evidence of how the unworthy are being culled from the true believers. From what you've heard, the museum she once ran is now practically a temple and her husband is dead. (You have no idea how) You do nothing to stop her delusions or her group. It wouldn't matter and on a practical level she's helping contain the chaos. That's all she ever wanted, to help. You can imagine that she's out there night and day preaching fanaticism in your name and hoping that it will somehow please you and invite her back to Apex and "ascend to the heavens." That won't happen though. Nowadays you just want to live out the rest of your years in solitude. You did everything you could to resurrect the Empire, and just as you did over five centuries ago, you've practically destroyed it again. Makes you wonder what the hell the point was. You look forward to the day when you're free of this damn broken down old body and this world. You're tired of being Emperor. It hasn't been any fun, but then maybe it wasn't supposed to be. Maybe your "quest" to be Emperor was a lot more desirable than the actual goal. Which makes your decision to help assassinate Casimir an example of complete foolishness on your part. Perhaps it would've been better for the Empire if you had just let Casimir kill you…if that is indeed what he had in store for you. You've allowed yourself believe that was the case and it probably was, but still…there's that one part of you that has always wondered if Semra wasn't just lying and you fell for it. If she was lying, then she got the last laugh on you. "Wait a minute…no she didn't. She's fucking dead and I'm still here. She got eaten by the damn Xi." You say to yourself then you think about that a little longer. You think about how they must've easily eviscerated her withered old helpless body. Probably dissolving her insides, sucking them up and then taking the bloody slop back to their Xi maggot babies to feed on via regurgitation. Leaving nothing more than a husk behind. Everything she was just gone, and in such an undignified manner and how she must've suffered the entire time. Then you start to laugh. You laugh for a long time…

Normally you don't do this, because repelling projectiles actually takes more focus than flinging fireballs or putting up a shield in the first place, but if you can take out all the guns firing on you with their own bullets then you'll get the breather you need. You refocus the shield and sure enough the bullets are repelled back towards the guns that are firing on you. It isn't an exact hit, but enough of them hit their own guns (or in some cases the gunner) enough that it puts them out of commission, other bullets either go flying off wildly into the air or into other parts of the airship. In any case you hit something that causes problem since you see and hear minor explosions, which the gnomes are probably busily trying to contain. The airship shudders in the sky a bit, but it isn't falling out of sky, which it probably would have done if you'd lobbed hunks of fire at it. Taking advantage of the respite, your soldiers take what explosives they've found on the bodies of the gnomes, pile them up against the building's door and you hurl a ball of fire at it. Naturally it not only explodes spectacularly, but it also succeeds in destroying a couple of golems that were waiting to ambush you. You and the other run inside, before the airship above you manages to get its guns working again. When you get inside you see that the building consists of a lot of desks and generally laid out like a bureaucratic office. You briefly think that maybe this was all for nothing and your hunch was wrong, but sure enough when an automated repeated pops up out of the floor and puts several holes into one of Renly's platoon and more golems appear from other trapdoors in the floor you're fairly certain you're still on the right track. You and Renly's ever dwindling platoon take care of your assailants though at this point they're probably hoping there aren't too many more. "Glad this building doesn't have multiple floors." One soldier remarks. "It still might, those golems came out of the floor. There might be several basement levels." Renly points out. "It can't go too far down, the city is flying in the air now. It's not going to be a Derro complex." You say peering door one of the trapdoors. "Derro?" Renly asks. "Oh. Before your time I suppose. They were a subterranean race that were primarily hostile isolationists and had a knack for technology. Sort of like the current gnomes I suppose. I always wondered if they were related in some way to be honest." You answer. "And they were enemies?" "Allies actually. Well… such as they were. Anyway I imagine whatever is causing this city to fly would be located right under it, so we might as well start searching there especially since the rest of this building looks more like an oversized office rather than any example of engineering. You all descend down one of the trap doors and find yourself in some small narrow corridors. Not so small that you can't move around, but certainly small enough that you all have to crouch down. Even at the best of times your body aches, this bending and stooping routine just makes it worse for you. The corridors are also filled with a light steam with gears, pumps and other manner of machinery that you assume are keeping this city afloat. A noisy hum and the occasional jarring metal on metal screeches also surround you and you briefly wonder just how much solid stone floor is between you and the sky right now. "Guess the gnomes designed this part of the city." Renly says. "Never thought I'd say this, but I wish we were kobolds right about now." Another soldier remarks. "Alright let's focus. The good thing about this corridor is I can easily shield us from any attack from the front or the back but you're all going to have to fire upon on any enemy that attacks us. If I start throwing magic bolts or whatever around here I'm libel to damage something severely and send this thing crashing to the ground with us in it. You travel the corridors for what you believe to be an hour at least. It twists and turns, but you remain convinced that SOMEWHERE down here is a control room. In the meantime more gnomes attempt to stop you and while they have better maneuverability your shield continues to protect everyone and you fend off attacks. "At least they're just sticking with guns now." One of the soldiers says. "They don't really have choice, explosives or those flame weapons would damage all these gears that are involved in holding up the place." Renly remarks. While your followers make minor comments about the situation, you begin to notice a slight change in surroundings. The mist that fills the corridors is dissipating, the floors have become steel and now there are actual walls coving the previously exposed engineering. It suddenly occurs to you that the gnomes hadn't actually finished this place up yet and you are now seeing the areas that took priority. "We're near the control room." You say. "We are?" Renly says. "I'm sure of it." "Wouldn't there be more defenses?" "I said I think we're near it, we're not actually there yet. For all we know the actual control room has shit we've never seen before." You answer. "Oh it does, Eternal. It does. Come on in and see." You hear a voice say nearby. You and the others look around and at each other. "Just continue a little bit forward and turn the corner. Don't worry, you've killed all of my people, but then you always were an expert at such things weren't you?" the voice says. When you follow the voice you enter a room filled with a bunch of technical equipment and machines. You no idea what any of it does, but its certainly a technological feat that you've only seen matched by Marik when he was growing tank babies. Also in the room a single gnome sitting in a chair dressed in the traditional leather uniform you've seen others of his kind wearing. He also sports the same bushy facial hair and red cap they all seem to favor. The only main thing that causes him to stand out is that he's obviously older than the ones you've been fighting and he's wearing explosives around his waist with a wire attached to another device he's gripping tightly in his hand. The other thing that stands out is that he is completely unconcerned about you or your soldiers pointing their weapons at him. "You know, this really was one of our greatest works. (Sigh) It's going to be a shame to destroy it, but anything is better than letting it fall into your hands. Can't let a gnome killer like you have it can we?" the gnome remarks. "You speak as if you know me and I don't mean by my present reputation. You speak as if you know me from the past." You say. "Oh not personally, but my family's ancestors told me stories about you. Yeah, great ancestor Klemto made sure the story got passed down so that something like Gnome's Home could never happen again. One of the few gnomes you didn't manage to round up and have systematically slaughtered." "Well I see your mind is made up, no point in debating the issue." You answer. "Oh no, please I'd LOVE to hear your defense on the matter. I could use a good laugh before I blow us all up." At this point having one of your soldiers shoot him would be counter productive, he'd just release the switch when he died. Rushing the gnome would likely have the same result Your only option is to cast a freeze spell and encase his hand in a solid block of ice. The problem with that right now is you're exhausted. You'd have to stall for a little time so you could muster up the energy to do it right now. So you stall for time and engage the gnome in conversation. "I was just following orders." You say. "Really now? That's your defense?" the gnome asks. "It's not a defense because I don't think I have anything to defend against. The Emperor…Casimir hated your kind. Not I. Why he hated your people so intensely I cannot say because I never fully understood the depths of it. He gave reasons, but as I said I believe there was more to it. It doesn't matter though, since I merely acted on his orders." "So you were just a blindly loyal soldier just doing your duty eh?" "At the time yes. Look, if you want me to beg for my life, you'll not get it here. I didn't begin my life as an Eternal begging so I'm certainly not going to end my life begging." "I see…I suppose I should've known your arrogance and lack of emotions would prevent you from such actions…" the gnome remarks, but you cut him off. "Funny you should say that. Since I would think someone with the same arrogance and lack of emotions would understand." You say. "What?!" "THIS! This flying fortress! And all your airships! You really expect me to believe you designed them for peaceful purposes?" "We had to protect ourselves!" "Against the Xi, yes I can see that, but you've been bombing us as well and we didn't even declare war on you!" "Bah! You would have eventually! And your pathetic attempt at comparing us bombing your soldiers and you rounding up gnome civilians for slaughter is laughable." "I wasn't actually, I'd say that would be closer to what you did to the original citizens of this city. So what did you do with Telis' original citizens?" The gnome begins to get annoyed. "Nothing. This city was always ours!" "Bullshit. Maybe this place was wrapped in mystery, but not to such a degree that it wasn't known that humans lived here. Or at least they USED to live here. Just looking at the buildings and one can tell that this place was originally designed for humans rather than the smaller architecture that make up these corridors. So how did you go about it? I'm actually curious how you managed to wipe out an entire city without anyone getting a hint of what was going on. I know from your reputation that you don't associate with other races any longer so I can only assume that you had the citizens of this city done away with long before you actually moved in and started making this place into a flying city. Perhaps maybe like something similar that was done to the gnomes?" The gnome now actually gets off his chair and both of his hands are balled up in anger, which is good since you want him to grip that kill switch as tight as possible. "It was a completely different situation!" the gnome exclaims. "Was it? Your ancestor said we rounded gnomes up to be slaughtered, what he probably didn't know since he avoided capture is HOW we did it. We didn't just kill them. We completely obliterated their souls. It's what the Emperor wanted. Then again, you lot probably didn't go that far…no magical skill to speak of, I guess that's why you like your mechanical toys so much…" "You're going to pay for your crimes you evil bastard. When I release this switch my only regret is going to be that you won't suffer!" "No doubt. But it's a shame that the real culprit won't taste your justice after you blow us all up." "What're you talking about?" "I'm talking about the main executioner. Maybe I rounded some up and killed a few and the Emperor gave the orders, but there was one in particular who was enjoying the job around the clock. She's still alive too you know, or maybe you didn't. She isn't very mobile or social these days. All I'll say is she's a svelk and she's the mother of that bitch that currently runs Lenay, well assuming Lenay hasn't been overrun by the Xi…" "ENOUGH! This ends now!" the gnome yells getting ready to release the switch. "Truer words have never been spoken." You say and cast a blast of frost at the gnome's left hand and fortunately you encase his whole arm in ice before he can release his hand from the switch. You collapse on the floor just from that small feat of magic. You really need to rest. The gnome desperately tries to break the ice, but the remaining two soldiers from the platoon restrain and knock him out. "Take this little shit topside and throw him off the city. Renly and I will try to figure out the controls to this thing. And do it quickly, that arm won't stay frozen and there still might be some gnomes running around." You say and drag yourself to sit up against a nearby wall. "Emperor are you okay?!" Renly asks. "I'm fine. Just very very tired. And unfortunately my work isn't even done yet…" you answer. "But just maybe this thing will make it easier at least." > You mysteries revealed (Notes on Telis and Gnome Plans) After successfully bringing Telis under control and eliminating the gnomes still in the city and either driving off or destroying the nearby airships, several notes, books and journals are found and it's a veritable treasure trove of information solving more than a few mysteries and indeed confirming some of your own suspicions. Telis was mostly inhabited by humans (and perhaps a few elves) and it's technological bent was due to its proximity to Marik's old factory. Apparently during the initial days of the Cataclysm, many managed to take refuge in the place and the survivors in time founded Telis. One of the journals is extremely old, nearly destroyed and barely legible, but you manage to make out that the writing is derro on the few pages it has left. And to your surprise its must be Marik's. There's no name, but the type of language used and some of the references signify that it could only be him. One of the more… coherent entries catches your attention. Entry 101 Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! I do everything around here and those ignorant fucking surfacers appreciate nothing! I don't need this shit! I'm a fucking shit king! I mean I'm king of shit! I don't have to play third fiddle to some fucking eternal and his svelk bitch! I'M the damn fucker! The KING OF THE FUCKERS! I need to remember to eat today. Who the fuck does he think he is telling me my creations are no match for him? Fuck him! Fuck him with a fucking horse dick! Dick! Dick! DICK! I know what I'll do! I'll slaughter them all! Drown 'em in their tanks! That'll teach them for failing me! And then I'm leaving this shithole and then the Emperor will see his lack of vision for listening to his idiotic so called son! FUCK THAT SVELK FUCKER! Perhaps I should work on dirt golems. Why not? There are stone ones and iron ones. Why not dirt? There's a bunch of dirt! I could create a fuckload of them! And then I could be a FUCKING MASTER! Must remember to take this journal with me. This is good stuff. The remaining pages contain a lot of drawings of schematics and similar things that you guess went through Marik's insane mind, but nothing more about the "tank babies" who you assume Marik had killed like he mentions he would. You can only assume Marik himself must've died during the initial chaos of the Cataclysm due to the fact that his journal was found by the survivors hiding out there. Probably killed during the violent earthquakes and shockwaves that caused cave-ins and tunnel collapses. Getting back to Telis, the place managed to maintain a better standing due to not falling into the dark ages so easily and by staying closely guarded. When the svelk founded Lenay, Telis became even more unwelcoming to strangers and effectively closed its doors too all. Or at least it did until the gnomes founded the Redcap Kingdom. Despite the gnome's new outlook on life they noticed that due to Telis being the only other closed society that embraced technology they secretly made contact with them. Telis was suspicious at first, but due to similarities, in time the rulers of the city became more open to the idea of trade and even visits. It would be a grave mistake on their part. The population of Telis was indeed annihilated by the gnomes, though apparently it was an insidious process. Worthy of a svelk actually. They slowly and gradually poisoned the water supply. Not to a degree that people were dying instantly either. Just to a point where apparently they couldn't reproduce anymore and in many cases a lowering of intelligence as well. Over the decades, eventually when the population was low enough, the gnomes offered "help" and then proceeded to exterminate the rest in a more traditional fashion. From there, they worked on turning the entire city into a flying fortress. You wonder why they just didn't do this with one of their own cities, but if you had to guess, their own cities were under constant attack by the Xi (especially underground) making ongoing work problematic (Hence their hasty attempt to get this one up and running when the Xi started becoming more of a problem in Arat) From what you can tell this all started before you were even dug up. At least according to Flemto Zookwinkle's journal here. (What a silly name) You're guessing he's the one that confronted you and is now nothing more than a bloody red spot on the ground. You've found some other plans and scraps of info about what the gnomes were up to recently as well, but a lot of it is pretty technical and some of it looks biological. Specifically Xi. Maybe they were looking to poison the Xi somehow too. In any event, you decide to let your inventors and doctors take a closer look at the mess and maybe they can figure out how to apply it.

Normally you don't do this, because repelling projectiles actually takes more focus than flinging fireballs or putting up a shield in the first place, but if you can take out all the guns firing on you with their own bullets then you'll get the breather you need. You refocus the shield and sure enough the bullets are repelled back towards the guns that are firing on you. It isn't an exact hit, but enough of them hit their own guns (or in some cases the gunner) enough that it puts them out of commission, other bullets either go flying off wildly into the air or into other parts of the airship. In any case you hit something that causes problem since you see and hear minor explosions, which the gnomes are probably busily trying to contain. The airship shudders in the sky a bit, but it isn't falling out of sky, which it probably would have done if you'd lobbed hunks of fire at it. Taking advantage of the respite, your soldiers take what explosives they've found on the bodies of the gnomes, pile them up against the building's door and you hurl a ball of fire at it. Naturally it not only explodes spectacularly, but it also succeeds in destroying a couple of golems that were waiting to ambush you. You and the other run inside, before the airship above you manages to get its guns working again. When you get inside you see that the building consists of a lot of desks and generally laid out like a bureaucratic office. You briefly think that maybe this was all for nothing and your hunch was wrong, but sure enough when an automated repeated pops up out of the floor and puts several holes into one of Renly's platoon and more golems appear from other trapdoors in the floor you're fairly certain you're still on the right track. You and Renly's ever dwindling platoon take care of your assailants though at this point they're probably hoping there aren't too many more. "Glad this building doesn't have multiple floors." One soldier remarks. "It still might, those golems came out of the floor. There might be several basement levels." Renly points out. "It can't go too far down, the city is flying in the air now. It's not going to be a Derro complex." You say peering door one of the trapdoors. "Derro?" Renly asks. "Oh. Before your time I suppose. They were a subterranean race that were primarily hostile isolationists and had a knack for technology. Sort of like the current gnomes I suppose. I always wondered if they were related in some way to be honest." You answer. "And they were enemies?" "Allies actually. Well… such as they were. Anyway I imagine whatever is causing this city to fly would be located right under it, so we might as well start searching there especially since the rest of this building looks more like an oversized office rather than any example of engineering. You all descend down one of the trap doors and find yourself in some small narrow corridors. Not so small that you can't move around, but certainly small enough that you all have to crouch down. Even at the best of times your body aches, this bending and stooping routine just makes it worse for you. The corridors are also filled with a light steam with gears, pumps and other manner of machinery that you assume are keeping this city afloat. A noisy hum and the occasional jarring metal on metal screeches also surround you and you briefly wonder just how much solid stone floor is between you and the sky right now. "Guess the gnomes designed this part of the city." Renly says. "Never thought I'd say this, but I wish we were kobolds right about now." Another soldier remarks. "Alright let's focus. The good thing about this corridor is I can easily shield us from any attack from the front or the back but you're all going to have to fire upon on any enemy that attacks us. If I start throwing magic bolts or whatever around here I'm libel to damage something severely and send this thing crashing to the ground with us in it. You travel the corridors for what you believe to be an hour at least. It twists and turns, but you remain convinced that SOMEWHERE down here is a control room. In the meantime more gnomes attempt to stop you and while they have better maneuverability your shield continues to protect everyone and you fend off attacks. "At least they're just sticking with guns now." One of the soldiers says. "They don't really have choice, explosives or those flame weapons would damage all these gears that are involved in holding up the place." Renly remarks. While your followers make minor comments about the situation, you begin to notice a slight change in surroundings. The mist that fills the corridors is dissipating, the floors have become steel and now there are actual walls coving the previously exposed engineering. It suddenly occurs to you that the gnomes hadn't actually finished this place up yet and you are now seeing the areas that took priority. "We're near the control room." You say. "We are?" Renly says. "I'm sure of it." "Wouldn't there be more defenses?" "I said I think we're near it, we're not actually there yet. For all we know the actual control room has shit we've never seen before." You answer. "Oh it does, Eternal. It does. Come on in and see." You hear a voice say nearby. You and the others look around and at each other. "Just continue a little bit forward and turn the corner. Don't worry, you've killed all of my people, but then you always were an expert at such things weren't you?" the voice says. When you follow the voice you enter a room filled with a bunch of technical equipment and machines. You no idea what any of it does, but its certainly a technological feat that you've only seen matched by Marik when he was growing tank babies. Also in the room a single gnome sitting in a chair dressed in the traditional leather uniform you've seen others of his kind wearing. He also sports the same bushy facial hair and red cap they all seem to favor. The only main thing that causes him to stand out is that he's obviously older than the ones you've been fighting and he's wearing explosives around his waist with a wire attached to another device he's gripping tightly in his hand. The other thing that stands out is that he is completely unconcerned about you or your soldiers pointing their weapons at him. "You know, this really was one of our greatest works. (Sigh) It's going to be a shame to destroy it, but anything is better than letting it fall into your hands. Can't let a gnome killer like you have it can we?" the gnome remarks. "You speak as if you know me and I don't mean by my present reputation. You speak as if you know me from the past." You say. "Oh not personally, but my family's ancestors told me stories about you. Yeah, great ancestor Klemto made sure the story got passed down so that something like Gnome's Home could never happen again. One of the few gnomes you didn't manage to round up and have systematically slaughtered." "Well I see your mind is made up, no point in debating the issue." You answer. "Oh no, please I'd LOVE to hear your defense on the matter. I could use a good laugh before I blow us all up." At this point having one of your soldiers shoot him would be counter productive, he'd just release the switch when he died. Rushing the gnome would likely have the same result Your only option is to cast a freeze spell and encase his hand in a solid block of ice. The problem with that right now is you're exhausted. You'd have to stall for a little time so you could muster up the energy to do it right now. So you stall for time and engage the gnome in conversation. "I was just following orders." You say. "Really now? That's your defense?" the gnome asks. "It's not a defense because I don't think I have anything to defend against. The Emperor…Casimir hated your kind. Not I. Why he hated your people so intensely I cannot say because I never fully understood the depths of it. He gave reasons, but as I said I believe there was more to it. It doesn't matter though, since I merely acted on his orders." "So you were just a blindly loyal soldier just doing your duty eh?" "At the time yes. Look, if you want me to beg for my life, you'll not get it here. I didn't begin my life as an Eternal begging so I'm certainly not going to end my life begging." "I see…I suppose I should've known your arrogance and lack of emotions would prevent you from such actions…" the gnome remarks, but you cut him off. "Funny you should say that. Since I would think someone with the same arrogance and lack of emotions would understand." You say. "What?!" "THIS! This flying fortress! And all your airships! You really expect me to believe you designed them for peaceful purposes?" "We had to protect ourselves!" "Against the Xi, yes I can see that, but you've been bombing us as well and we didn't even declare war on you!" "Bah! You would have eventually! And your pathetic attempt at comparing us bombing your soldiers and you rounding up gnome civilians for slaughter is laughable." "I wasn't actually, I'd say that would be closer to what you did to the original citizens of this city. So what did you do with Telis' original citizens?" The gnome begins to get annoyed. "Nothing. This city was always ours!" "Bullshit. Maybe this place was wrapped in mystery, but not to such a degree that it wasn't known that humans lived here. Or at least they USED to live here. Just looking at the buildings and one can tell that this place was originally designed for humans rather than the smaller architecture that make up these corridors. So how did you go about it? I'm actually curious how you managed to wipe out an entire city without anyone getting a hint of what was going on. I know from your reputation that you don't associate with other races any longer so I can only assume that you had the citizens of this city done away with long before you actually moved in and started making this place into a flying city. Perhaps maybe like something similar that was done to the gnomes?" The gnome now actually gets off his chair and both of his hands are balled up in anger, which is good since you want him to grip that kill switch as tight as possible. "It was a completely different situation!" the gnome exclaims. "Was it? Your ancestor said we rounded gnomes up to be slaughtered, what he probably didn't know since he avoided capture is HOW we did it. We didn't just kill them. We completely obliterated their souls. It's what the Emperor wanted. Then again, you lot probably didn't go that far…no magical skill to speak of, I guess that's why you like your mechanical toys so much…" "You're going to pay for your crimes you evil bastard. When I release this switch my only regret is going to be that you won't suffer!" "No doubt. But it's a shame that the real culprit won't taste your justice after you blow us all up." "What're you talking about?" "I'm talking about the main executioner. Maybe I rounded some up and killed a few and the Emperor gave the orders, but there was one in particular who was enjoying the job around the clock. She's still alive too you know, or maybe you didn't. She isn't very mobile or social these days. All I'll say is she's a svelk and she's the mother of that bitch that currently runs Lenay, well assuming Lenay hasn't been overrun by the Xi…" "ENOUGH! This ends now!" the gnome yells getting ready to release the switch. "Truer words have never been spoken." You say and cast a blast of frost at the gnome's left hand and fortunately you encase his whole arm in ice before he can release his hand from the switch. You collapse on the floor just from that small feat of magic. You really need to rest. The gnome desperately tries to break the ice, but the remaining two soldiers from the platoon restrain and knock him out. "Take this little shit topside and throw him off the city. Renly and I will try to figure out the controls to this thing. And do it quickly, that arm won't stay frozen and there still might be some gnomes running around." You say and drag yourself to sit up against a nearby wall. "Emperor are you okay?!" Renly asks. "I'm fine. Just very very tired. And unfortunately my work isn't even done yet…" you answer. "But just maybe this thing will make it easier at least." > The Fall of Lenay and the Redcap Kingdom (Year 558) Year 558 "No sign of any survivors?" you ask. "Well scouts say that Lenay is crawling with Xi. If anyone has escaped, they'd have to be incredibly lucky. There aren't any svelk suddenly running to our borders either which would be the closest safe haven. None of their elven slaves either." David remarks. And so Lenay has finally fallen. You knew as soon as that magic barrier went down; it would be the end for the city. Even Semra couldn't keep it up forever. And so ends the last living link to your past. The funny thing is, you didn't even know she was still alive until a few years ago. You look at the mithril dagger she nearly killed you with when you were in your sixteenth year. At the time Semra mockingly gave it to you as some sort of twisted gift. Perhaps as a reminder of your failure to kill her. You kept it of course as a reminder of your failure as well, but also with every intension of killing her with it one day. Of course that personal goal was given up long ago and even if you did still harbor the motive for revenge, the Xi have deprived you of that. You're more disappointed that you didn't get to kill Eldolith, but you guess she got hers as well. As you study the dagger and fondle it, you ask David if there has been an activity by the gnomes. "Well, after we destroyed all their airships, I don't believe any of them managed to escape the Xi either. The Xi have finally completely overrun the Redcap Kingdom. If they aren't all dead already, then they soon will be. We are the last hope against the Xi my Emperor." "Hm." You acknowledge. "Last hope" isn't quite a term you've been successful with. You were supposed to be a "last hope" for the Empire too, and you ended up destroying it. So much has turned out differently from what you expected. You have another realization which is you just indirectly carried out the elimination of the gnomes due to your actions. Over five hundred years later, Casimir's wish has finally been fulfilled. Feels odd that you managed to serve him in this last capacity. Casimir and Semra; the closest thing to "parents" that you've ever known and everything you are today is partly due to their influence in one way or another. Snapping out of your introspection, you address David more directly. "Begin moving our reserve armies toward Arat. Regnik will be our main hub of operations in the area and we'll start sending out those new airships of ours to start bombing the Xi as soon as possible. Can't just rely on this oversized flying fortress to do all the work." You say. "Very well, it shall be done." David replies and turns to leave. "Oh David, here take this." You say hold out the mithril dagger for him to take. "What's this for?" David asks taking the dagger. "To dispose of, I have no more need of it." You answer.

Probably a fool's task, but if you survive this you're going to have to still deal with the Xi. A flying fortress would give a significant advantage. You stop using your own energy to support your mages and refocus on a creating a personal shield around yourself. You give the order for everyone to get out of your way or grab on to Telis if they can. It isn't too bad, most of your mages hold their own, and continue to protect a majority of the army, but its yourself that you're concerned about as you attempt to reach Telis which is slowly becoming completely airborn. You ride your horse as hard to the point where it probably isn't going to survive after you intend to make a leap forward off of it. You pass your soldiers, you pass the Xi fighting them, you pass over the torn up ground from the battle and bombs and you look up and see Telis escaping your reach. "No, I've come too far!" you say and you stand on top of your horse, nearly falling off in the process while still attempt to upkeep your shield… You make the jump towards the city and manage to grab ahold of one half of Telis' front gate doors which is currently hanging off its hinges. Your shield is down, your body hurts and you're practically deaf from all the explosions going on around you. You hang on for dear life as the ground gets further away and attempt to climb up, but your strength is failing you and even if it wasn't the door is slowly loosing its weak attachment to the rest of the city. "Shit! Shit! No! No! No! Not like this! Fuck! Hate this weakness!" you exclaim as you prepare to either lose your grip or for the door comes loose. And you doubt you'll be in any condition to "repair" yourself when you take this long fall. Fortunately it doesn't come to that. "Emperor! Take my hand!" a human soldier shouts and reaches over the side. You waste no time in accepting his help and soon a couple of other soldiers help him lift you up just in time for the door to fall to the ground. After catching your breath and assuring the soldiers that helped you that you're fine, you get a better assessment of your surroundings. "Okay first things first, what's your name so I know what to call you." "Lieutenant Renly, my Emperor and this what's left of my platoon." Renly says and waves his arm to six other soldiers. "We're not the only ones here, I believe there's a couple of orc platoons further in the city. They're probably fighting the Xi that managed to get in or combating the gnome clockwork golems. Hell even the teams of gnomes with their rapid repeaters isn't something you want to deal with and that's not even counting the ones probably trying to spot us from the nearby airships." "So wait, are there no humans or regular citizens in this place?" you ask. "Not from what anyone can tell. It's like the whole place is empty other than the Xi, the gnomes and us. Unless the Telis citizens are all hiding somewhere." "Or maybe the gnomes did something to them all. Well it doesn't matter we need to figure out where the hell the controls are for this thing. We get control and we can get rid of those airships with a lot more ease." "Not sure where something like that would be located Emperor." "That's easy, we keep moving towards the areas that have most of the little bastards and their damned contraptions. It's going to be the most heavily defended place because it's the most important thing in the world to them." "Well then I believe we should take a left down that street over here. Saw a gnome patrol accompanied by two clockworks not long ago." "Okay, but when possible we should probably stick to the back alleys. Don't need one of those airships floating by and spotting us. In fact our best chance is to do this as stealthily as possible. A rare tactic for us I know, but our main task is getting control of this thing." You, Renly and the rest of his platoon make your way towards where you hope some sort of master control is located. Along the way, you see the remnants of where small skirmishes have already taken place. Bodies riddled with bullets or in some cases chopped up. They're mostly bodies of the Xi, but some of your soldiers as well. You don't see any gnome casualties other than pieces of their golems. The sounds of battle can still be heard throughout the city, but it gets concerning when the sounds get less infrequent, since that means the gnomes are probably mopping up invaders to their city, which means less distraction for them. Your attempts at sneaking around are fairly successful. As you stealthily avoid these patrols, you finally see the gnomes and you can't get over how radically they've changed. With their dark red caps, goggles and stylish leather uniforms, they couldn't look anymore different than their pathetic ancestors that you helped round up centuries ago to have their souls utterly obliterated. Really though, after an event like that and who knows what else during the Cataclysm you suppose it shouldn't be surprising that the gnomes decided they wouldn't be victims and became hostile towards other races. Let alone rely on other societies to defend them any longer. They shaped their own destiny and you can certainly respect and even admire that; after all you never hated them. That was the Emperor. You were just following orders at the time. Eventually the gnome patrols are getting too thick and you can't really properly proceed without engaging the enemy. Just as well, you were getting sick of acting like a shadow. "Alright, everyone get ready, because it's going to be killing time from here on in. I'll take the lead on this." You say. "Emperor, shouldn't you stay behind us so we can better protect you?" Renly replies. "While I appreciate the sentiment, I've been doing this a lot longer than you have, if anything you all should try to stay behind me and in cover until I clear out most of the rabble. Don't worry, I may be old, but I'm not out of this yet. And if you all survive this, you'll all be getting promotions and whatever else I think might be an appropriate reward, so it behooves you all to listen to me if you want to reap the benefits of this situation." With this understanding, Renly and his platoon follow your lead. Still unseen, you take advantage of a group of gnomes tanding around with their clockwork creations. You unleash a flurry of fireballs, which not only has the desired effect of killing some of the gnomes outright, but also causing an explosion due to their hand thrown bombs they carry on them The explosion takes care of the golems. "That's one group down, but the rest aren't going to be as easy!" you say and advance with a shield up. Not easy is correct because the little bastards start coming out in full force. You just try not to get surrounded. The unrelenting repeater weapons are bad enough, but the gnomes also come out with weapons that emulate some of your spells! A single gnome who managed to sneak up on two of Renly's men blasts them with some sort of weapon that emits flames. Renly shoots the gnome in the head before turning his attention to grab one of the repeaters from a nearby dead gnome. "They're all coming out of that big red building, that's probably where we need to go! Come on!" you shout and take out another golem." During the carnage you think back to how you used to mainly use your sword during battles. During this one, you haven't even used it yet. In fact you haven't done so for so long, you wonder if you'd even be able to use it effectively anymore. Granted in this situation like this you've practically got no choice but to rely on your magic, still though you miss the good old days. The closer you get to the building, the waves of gnomes lessens, until you see one of them close the door just as the last few golems are shot to pieces. The sky above you grows darker and you notice an airship looming overhead. They don't throw bombs at you, but they certainly unleash a volley of gunfire, which manages to kill another one of Renley's platoon before he and the rest can get into cover. As for you, your shield is working just fine, but you need to get into that building which is probably locked and barricaded. You aren't going to be able to blast it open with that airship firing at you. > You launch a fireball at the airship Best way to get them to stop shooting at you is to return the favor with superior firepower literally. You unleash a torrent of fireballs at the airship, which land all over the place. Some hit the gun shooting at you, which causes it to explode. In fact other your hits cause several explosions and then one large one creating a blast that knocks you down on the ground even from you were standing. The airship is in flames and falling out of the sky, unfortunately since it was directly hovering over the city that means it's crashing into it. You scramble off your feet and hope to find some sort of cover and maybe at least get away from where the major impact is going to be. You keep your barrier up to protect yourself from the falling debris, but Renly and the others have no chance at all especially when the airship begins hitting the larger buildings causing them to collapse and setting what looks to you like the whole sky ablaze. When the airship finally hits the city surface it is engulfed by fire and the impact strikes your barrier so hard that even you are pushed away by the force. Your entire body hits the ground and you lose concentration of your spell. Fire is all around you and you pass out. You never wake up to experience Telis falling out the sky and causing an even greater explosion on the surface.

As high as you currently are, the beast is still several times higher and should easily be a perfect target. You concentrate and as you do you begin to feel little charges and sparks around you and the air begins to have a faint smell of electricity. As dark as the sky is with the beast blocking the sun with its size, the sky gets even darker when storm cloud gather. You directly unleash a blast of lightning right at one of the creature's heads. It must be enough to addle what passes for brains in the creature, because the serpentine head begins to flail back and forth making an incredibly loud bellow and knocking into the other head and taking it off its concentrated effort to destroy your fleet. Then a rumbling comes from the sky and you're nearly blinded by the light show that occurs next. With the storm clouds, the creature takes several lightning strikes to both of its heads. If the creature wasn't in pain or addled before, it certainly is now. Its roaring of pain is so great that it's practically deafening. You don't let up though, you continue to summon the lightning and that's when you learn that you only have so much control over nature. The lightning strikes begin going all over the place. Some hit your ships, so hit the water and some continue to hit the beast. You struggle to direct the lightning, but your energy ebbs quickly as you fail to do so and you take a direct bolt yourself. It's a quick and odd feeling. You feel a great deal of pain, followed by a warm sensation and then you briefly realize you've fallen from the crow's nest, which was completely destroyed by the blast. You then feel extreme agony when you not only crash onto the deck of the ship, but also through it. You land on some barrels though all you know is when you land you heard a snap and a numbness wash over your body. And that's when you know; you're paralyzed from the neck down. You hear the sounds of battle continue all around you, some of the crew that were manning the cannons on the lower deck call for help when they see you, but there's nothing anyone can do to help you. Everything's blurry, you've probably got a concussion, and death has never been so close to you since you fought the Emperor. You're going to fall asleep and your body will sink under the water when the ship is inevitably destroyed. There the fish will eat you or possibly the creatures you're fighting will eat you. Its possible Crowley might step up and take command of the Empire, but after him? You don't see it lasting very long. Your own legacy will eventually be forgotten and that will be the story of you. That is if you had any intention on dying today. "Get away from me and get back to fighting, you're not done yet!" You weakly command the crewmembers that are standing around gawking at you. You remember the lessons the Emperor taught you about healing yourself. At this point you're in dire need of A LOT of healing and you imagine you'll easily be shortening your life span quite a bit in the process, but then you aren't supposed to be alive right now anyway. You focus again. You will your body to mend itself together. In your weakened state you're drifting in and out of consciousness already, but somehow you manage to push through it and feel the magic doing its work. You start to feel your body again. You're wracked with pain, but you can feel again. You try to get up, but you're still just too weak and drained. You see a fishman coming down the ship's stairway and alert your crew with a shout. The last thing you see is the thing coming at you before you pass out. "Lover? Have you finally come to join me?" you hear a voice ask. "Huh? Who is that?" "It's me, of course." You open your eyes and see Semra hovering over you. She looks exactly like you remember well except she happens to be completely naked right now. (Though you remember that too) "Shit, I'm dead after all." You say. "And given that you're here I must be in some sort of hell." "Ah, I missed that dry sense of humor. I also missed this." Semra remarks and you feel a hand on your crotch. Normally you'd probably push her away, but given everything you just went through you figure that if this is your personal hell, you could certainly do worse. Just as you're about to give in completely, Semra's head is cleaved in with a single sword blow. Blood splatters all over you and her body slumps lifelessly onto your own. "Is this what you fucking want? I thought you were stronger than that! The man I married never gave up!" another familiar voice says. After pushing Semra's dead body off of you, you look up and see Alison in all her warrior maiden glory. You never thought you'd ever see her again though you wish she were in a happier mood. "Alison I…" "Nope, don't even try to make an excuse! I caught you and you're not getting off that easy. I'm doing this for your own good!" You see Alison's sword coming straight at your head, but you don't attempt to dodge, instead you sit up to meet the sword half way… And you wake up with a splitting headache and your body still hurting all over. "Hah, told you he was going to wake up. He's not called an Eternal for no reason you know. You owe me two gold pieces Sprog!" Len exclaims. "Sprog owes you what?" "Erm, nevermind. Welcome back to the living Emperor. Everyone wasn't sure if you were going to make it or not, but I had a feeling you might." "Bah, should've died. Was a glorious battle. Be great honor to die in such a battle." Sprog remarks. "Oh really? Then why didn't you make more of an effort to die then?" Len asks. "Sprog still need to produce more children first, now more than ever since three sons died on other ships. Must ensure legacy!" Sprog says and walks away. You look around and find yourself still on the lower deck of your personal ship. You guess that nobody wanted to move you for fear of doing more damage to you body. It's a mess on the lower deck and there's still a hole from where you crashed through, but obviously the ship survived the battle. As you sit up, you nearly lay back down due to the pain. A volley of expletives soon follows. "Easy there! While I know you just survived something no man should have, I'm pretty sure taking a direct hit from a lightning bolt and crashing through the deck of a ship from a great height still has to be painful. In fact its odd, but you even look a little older because of the experience." "You have no idea…" you remark. "Insisting on fighting that beast had to be the single most insane things I've ever seen, but while I was personally afraid I can't help but admire it. Despite him believing you were going to die, I know Sprog certainly admired it." Len says. "He probably hoped I was going to die. Still glad to see he's honorable enough that he didn't try to take advantage and kill me while I was unconscious though. Glad to see you didn't either." "I was a smuggler, not a murderer. Besides I don't think anything I could do would actually kill you anyway after seeing what you just survived." "So did we win? I can only assume us still being afloat means we won…unless we've retreated…" Len gives an apprehensive look before answering. "Well…yes and no. Technically we won, though I'm not sure if we actually killed that sea monster. After you crashed through the deck of the ship, the fishmen continued to scale the ship, but the sea monster continued to be hit by lightning. It eventually sank back beneath the waters, but like I said, I dunno if we killed it or it just swam away. Soon after that happened the fishmen stopped attacking too." "But?" "But, other than this ship and a couple of others straggling along side us your fleet is gone, along with all of your people aboard them. We had patch up several holes they managed to put in this ship and we're only sailing at half speed due to all the broken masts, but we'll make it back to Nalin okay barring any other attacks of course." You curse again, but this time it's more at yourself rather than the pain you're in. You wasted a lot of troops and resources on this endeavor for no real prize. You didn't even acquire any new territory. You think back to Trog's words again about getting old and knowing your limitations, well you certainly learned that lesson today hard. "Well I suppose it isn't all bad, you did teach those fish creatures that you're not to be trifled with. It was like a battle between gods when you unleashed lightning on that beast's heads. They might think twice about popping up on your shores now." Len says in an attempt to cheer you up. "We can only hope I suppose." You answer. The first thing you do when you get back home is try to rest. You do so for as much as you're able for weeks and while you do eventually recover, you're never quite the same again. You've visibly gotten older due to the healing magic and it only did so much, you're still experiencing dull aches and pains on a daily basis. Worse than you did before you went on the mission. You'll never be like you were. Those days are long gone. On the bright side, there have been no more sightings of fish people on the coasts, so perhaps your venture was fruitful after all, unless they're biding their time and trying to regroup which is exactly what you'd do, so naturally you've ordered the building of a new fleet along with proper naval training for potential sailors. Of course if the fishy people are no longer a threat that still means Trog's vision of a relentless enemy still looms. Which means it's either the Xi Hive or an as of yet unknown enemy. More things to look forward to as you approach your twilight years. > You jennifer's visit (A friendly face for once) "I told you I don't want any visitors and I'm not dealing with anything today, I'm resting!" you tell David as you wince from the aches all over your body. "I know, but under the circumstances, I thought you might make an exception for this person. It's Jennifer Mol, my Emperor." "Really? Well what does she want?" you ask. "I think she heard what happened and just wants to see you." Despite your pain, you suppose you can spare the time for Jennifer. "Alright send her in." You take a seat and mumble about the sharp pain in your back when Jennifer enters your room. She notices your discomfort immediately and walks briskly towards you. "Are you okay?" she asks. "Not really, but there's nothing you can do. Don't worry about it. Good to see you." "I had to come to see if you were as wounded as I had heard. I also heard that you had a great battle with a sea monster?" "Well, I did have a battle with a sea monster and I also managed to paralyze myself in the process, fortunately magic has its advantages." You say. "Paralyze?!" "Yes, but as I said magic has its benefits. Look, its all been taken care of. I'll just have to put up with a few more aches and pains now, but I'm alive and still functional and that's the important thing." "I suppose so. I'm guessing you succeeded against those fish people then?" "Well there haven't been any more sightings, so I certainly hope that's the case. I regret to inform you that Delerg no longer exists in any form though, its nothing but water now. I remember you once expressed a desire to explore the islands at one time." You say. "Oh yes, I did. I sort of gave up on that idea though when I realized it wasn't possible. Sometimes you just realize those sorts of things you know?" Jennifer says that like she's talking about something more than just Delerg. Like your former relationship. "Heh, but then of course in your case I suppose everything is possible for you." Jennifer adds. "Not getting severely injured seems to still elude me as well as getting old…bah I don't want to dwell on this shit anymore. Tell me about what you've been up to." "Oh! Well nothing important, I mean certainly nothing as exciting as protecting the Empire from external threats." Jennifer remarks. "Doesn't matter. It's important to me, I'm genuinely interested." You say. This comment garners a smile from Jennifer who begins to tell you what has been going on in her life. The big thing she mentions is the book she's working on. She hasn't thought of a title for it yet, but it's going to be all about the old Empire or at least from what she's pieced together from what she's found and from what you've told her. While she's explaining the process, you notice a male name keeps popping up when she discusses having another person helping her put it together. You can't help but wonder… "So your partner, is this the one?" you ask. "One?" "Your new boyfriend of course. I might not be an expert on these matters, but I do notice a bit of extra excitement when you speak his name and how much he's supported and helped in putting together the book." Jennifer doesn't know how to react; you reassure her that she's done nothing wrong. "Jennifer, what we had ended amicably and years ago, I certainly didn't expect you to continue your life alone. I'm certainly not uncomfortable or going to be angry about it." "Okay." Jennifer says as if a weight has lifted off of her. "So anyone I know? Tell me about him." you ask. Jennifer says, that he isn't anyone you would know. He's a historian that started working at the museum about a year ago, but that they got along almost immediately. She says that they are already talking about getting married and maybe starting a family. You are a little surprised by that news, but not displeased. You're glad she found someone that's probably a little more "stable." Still, when she explains all this, you can sense almost an apologetic tone at times. Like she feels in some way that she's betrayed you even though logic dictates otherwise and you've even said as much. "Well that sounds very good, I'm glad life is working out for you and you're doing well. And if you need more information for your book you're free to ask me at anytime…well assuming I'm not fighting any more sea monsters or whatever else the world decides to throw at me." "Ha ha, If I need more information I will certainly ask you. Well…I guess I better leave you to your rest. I know you've got an Empire to run and you need all your strength for that." Jennifer starts to leave, but turns around. "I just want to say I will always be a loyal citizen to you and the Empire. I have always believed in you and appreciate how you ascended this nation to greatness. Maybe people tell you these things all the time, but I want to reinforce the fact that I respect and appreciate the sacrifices you make to protect us all." You certainly weren't expecting all that. "Well I thank you very much Jennifer. I never doubted your loyalty for a second, you didn't need to tell me." You reply. Jennifer smiles again, but her eyes look slightly watery like she's going to cry. "I…know. I just wanted to say it to you." She remarks and then nods silently and walks out of your room, leaving you alone. You get out of the chair you were sitting in slowly and make your way to the bed ignoring all the pains the whole time. When you finally get horizontal you actually feel a little relief. "Ah…better." You say as the pain in your back lessens. "She'll get over those lingering feelings eventually. Everything fades in time." You say that, knowing that isn't necessarily true when you begin thinking about Alison as you drift off to sleep.

Year 550 More and more each year your nation is starting to resemble the Empire of old. More and more each year you're also starting to feel old too. The aches and pains of battles long past (and not too long past) are starting to catch up with you. You never tried to think about getting "old" too much, except during the years of when the Emperor was "sick." Recently you've begun thinking about what his plans were again. How he was going to defeat death by transferring his essence or spirit or mind or whatever into your own body. Well at least that's what Semra and Jacob told you and what ultimately lead to the situation you're in now. Unfortunately, you haven't really the means to go about such a thing. Your knowledge of magic is better than most, but the Emperor never showed you that trick let alone how to get to the Isle of Mortos. You wouldn't even know about how to go about "creating" another one of your kind either which was also required…again so Semra and Jacob told you. Makes you wonder what happened to the "eternals" Marik created. You wonder if they survived the initial cataclysm and if so, what became of them? Did they plan any major role during or after it? It's apparent that the technique to create an eternal like you or Marik's tank babies was lost too. Well it doesn't matter much now anyway, you can assume they're all certainly dead now, along with crazy ol' Marik. Still, you wonder about his factory, as it was located in Arat. In fact there have been a lot of events going on in Arat lately according to your spies. The major thing being that there have been sightings of the Xi Hive in Arat, not many and certainly no major attacks, but the insectoid creatures have been attacking anyone they see as usual. It won't be long before they become a major threat in this area. Right now it isn't your problem at all, but you imagine they will be eventually. From what you've heard the Xi have been really putting the Redcap Kingdom on the defensive, but the gnomes are still holding out and not even losing any ground. You certainly can admire that, and you'd even try to send an emissary to go speak with them if only to get a better feel of the Xi threat, but you've also heard the gnomes have also ordered a kill on sight to well…anyone. Your best shot at learning more about the Xi would probably be Eldolith, but she's also been her usual antagonistic self, especially ever since you officially annexed Regnik into the Empire. Pointing to you and the Xi as a threat she managed to unify the other city-states of Zo, Valizza and Atnil into something called the Arat Confederacy. In reality it's a new nation with four cities rather than a true alliance where everyone is supposedly still autonomous. The only other city-state that doesn't belong to Eldy's little alliance is Telis, which as usual, nobody seems to know anything about. Still, it seems like it's probably in the most danger of the Xi considering its proximity to where Xi territory is starting to expand. You never really gave it much thought until now, but according to the maps and if your memory isn't completely off, Telis isn't too far away from where Marik's factory was located. Now you're starting to wonder if its "mysterious" nature isn't due to that factor. In a perfect world Arat would be your next and only priority, but there have been concerns about the Delerg islands as well. There has nearly been no reports about the Island League's activities for years, it's almost as if they all just disappeared, but more concerning is the fact that strange humanoid creatures have been sighted off the coasts of Quala at night. While Quala is still mostly home to your orc population and the place is still the poorest of your territories, you still don't want a potential invasion to occur. It might be time to start exploring and possibly conquering the islands at last. Seeing as the orcs will have the most familiarity with this potential coastal threat, you decide to go speak with Trog about it. You might as well anyway if only to see who his potential successor is going to be seeing as you know Trog is supposed to be dying. When you arrive to meet with him, you see just how true that is. The old orc is lying prone on fur skin bedding with two younger female orcs attending to him. It's very strange to see orcs behave in this manner. Orcs don't tend to have a long life span to begin with due to all their fighting, but to see one being actually cared for rather than taken to the wilderness and left to die (at best) is unusual. Then again Trog was a very respected leader. He's obviously weak, but when he notices you he tries to sit up and waves away his attendants. "Ah…the Eternal… dreams told Trog that we would see each other one last time before the end. Now that you're here Trog now know death coming soon for me. Sad that Trog could not die as a warrior, but still a good life with many children to carry on name." Trog says. "And who would be that successor Trog?" you ask. "Trog believe that Sprog take over next. Already killed several of his siblings, others too scared to oppose. Was a great contest, only well enough to see some of it, but very good. Very bloody." "Sorry I missed it." "Trog warn you though, Sprog not quite as accepting of our current situation as Trog. Believes orcs should be independent. Might be right, might be wrong, not care. Trog too tired to care anymore." "Am I going to have to kill him?" "Do not know. Perhaps, perhaps not. Do as you wish. You always have. As Trog has said, too tired to care anymore." "So I take it that I probably should ask this Sprog about the reports of the humanoid interlopers off Quala's coast?" "Hrm. That. Trog can still help a little… Yes, there have been sightings, but nothing human about them. Fellow orcs tell me they look more like fish than anything else. Appear on land sometimes, but never for very long. Not sure if they are able or if they are just scouting. Orcs ready for a fight as always if they do decide to invade. Kobolds too. Was not sure about the little scalies living here at first, but enjoy their antics. Respect our strength too…" Trog begins to drift off to sleep, but you aren't done with him yet. "While I hate to interrupt your journey to the afterlife, you have any last visions for me?" "Hrm…yes…Trog did actually. War is coming." "That's a given Trog, war is always coming." "True, but this one will be against an enemy that you've never faced the likes of before. They will be relentless, they will not stop and even as strong as the Empire is, I fear that it will not be enough. Worse is the fact that you are approaching your own twilight years as this terrible threat comes. You will no longer be able to just march in like the great warrior you once were…" "Trog, I might be getting old, but I'm not ready for the damn grave yet." "True, but you acknowledge that you ARE getting old. Still…perhaps that is a good sign. Knowing your limitations. Trog knew his…" At this point Trog falls unconscious and despite your prodding and nudging him, he isn't waking from it. From his breathing patterns, you know he'll be dead soon. "Damn it Trog, you could've at least told me who this relentless enemy was going to be. Guess that was your last little joke on me. Good one Trog." You remark and exit Trog's tent. You tell the group standing outside that he'll be soon passing on, if anyone wants to see the final moments. Several female orcs go in, but the male orcs just give a solemn look downward save for the very large one standing nearby with an equally huge battle axe. When he approaches you, your entourage of guards stands ready to defend you, but judging by his appearance he'd give them a good fight all by himself. "So is the old man dead?" the orc asks gruffly. "Well if he isn't yet, he soon will be…I'm guessing you're Sprog." "Right. Guess you da Emp. Huh. Thought you'd be bigger. Old man say you powerful though. Guess cause of magic abilities like old man. Feh." "I take it, you don't like magic?" "Magic give unfair advantage even more than shooty weapons. Orcs have no more magic types now. Least none Sprog know of. No chance to rebel now." "You're telling me you'd rebel?" "Yes, I'd lead a rebellion if we had magic to even up odds. Told old man that he should challenge you long time ago, but said you were too powerful for him. Scared to die like proper warrior, now he die like old man that he is and we still have to serve the Empire." "Who says? You could still rebel. You're standing right here in front of me surrounded by your fellow orcs, I've only got five men with me. I'd say right now is the best chance you got of killing me and making your people free again." Sprog grips his axe a bit and gives you a suspicious look pondering if you're being serious or not. You are of course, but even though Sprog eventually senses that, he's not taking you up on that offer. "Bah, want to be free, but still stand no chance of killing you. At best might get lucky and wound you before you set Sprog on fire or somethin'. Dying in battle one thing, but Sprog not suicidal. Most orcs too comfortable now with livin' under the Empire anyway. Half would probably attack me, the idjits." "Always did appreciate you orcs and your honesty. Now that I know I don't need to kill you anytime soon, what can you tell me about these sightings off the coasts of Quala?" Sprog tells you much of the same things you've already heard. Fishmen sighted skulking around the coasts and then disappearing. He says he's already got patrols marching up and down the coasts, but no sign of them again. For all you know these fish people are this relentless force that's going to be coming at you, of course it also could be the Xi Hive which is the only other force you could think of, at worst it could be both. Could even be the usksha or someone you haven't even met yet. In any case, you still need to do something about this potential aquatic threat. This has really been a long time coming. Whatever the hell is living out on those islands, be they human or otherwise is going to feel the full might of the Empire. Thanks to having all the extra resources in Rask now your task of getting a proper fleet up and running isn't a drain on the Empire and gets done a lot quicker. Training sailors takes a little longer, but fortunately your people aren't completely ignorant of seafaring ways. Within months you have a sizable armada that should do the job. The only thing you're unsure of is whether or not you should go along on this conquest. Maybe because you're older and beginning to realize you aren't as fast or as strong as you once were, or maybe because you have uneasiness about being on the open water and possibly even an slight fear of it (A fear you weren't even aware of), or maybe it's a combination of the two, you don't know. What was it that Trog said before he died? Knowing your limitations? > You lead from the back While you may still have many years ahead of you, the days of your prime are starting to fade. Perhaps you need to start accepting the fact that your days of charging first into battle are gone and probably should be. Your mind is more important for running the Empire than your sword arm or even your battle magic at this point. There's also the fact that it's true, you don't relish the idea of being on a boat. You decide to that you're going to sit this one out. A week goes by and business in the Empire continues as usual, but you hear nothing from the large fleet that you sent out. One of the faster messenger ships should've at least come back to give a report by now. Another week goes by and you know something is terribly wrong. There has been no word back from your fleet. Naturally the families of the soldiers and sailors that left on this mission are very upset. True, that their lives are always in potential danger, but everyone labored under the impression that it would be a quick mix up with the Island League and then heading back home. Even if there were losses it would be acceptable, but as it stands nobody knows exactly what happened. They're just gone, all of them. Like the waters just swallowed them all up, and for all anyone knows, maybe it has. Such mystery is frightening especially when you're getting more sightings of fish people now off the coasts of Nalin. These fish people have also started outright attacking orcish settlements near the shores in Quala. It'll only be a matter of time before they start attacking Nalin as well. Doesn't take long before you've not only got on going raids from the coast, but also rabble rousing from the orcs. Warlord Sprog has been actively condemning you for failing to eliminate this threat like you were supposed to and begins claiming that the orcs have been taking the brunt of the attacks. He also openly says to any and all who will listen that they would be better off on their own. Naturally when you hear about this treason talk you have several Eyes sent to go bring him in. He succeeds in slaying five of them before escaping into the Arat wilderness with several followers. With your inability to fend off the fish people properly, the loss of your entire fleet, a panicked population and now an orc rebellion in the making, you know you have dark days ahead. Year 552 Being a tyrant is one thing, but being one who can't protect his territory and is inefficient is even worse so when the troubles started piling up, you decided you couldn't afford to just sit back and command anymore. You had to take direct action and lead from the front like you did before. Getting the population back in line took a bit of doing from the Eyes, but it was done. The orcs were a bigger problem and a costly one. Warlord Sprog continued to incite your orc population to the point where Quala and parts of Rask were hostile territory. It about a year before you personally slew Sprog in combat. The damage was done however, they razed several towns, even Regnik in Arat was destroyed. Though you suspect that Eldolith might've had something to do with that. Probably secretly funding or helping Sprog somehow or got spies into the city to lower the gates. You also had no more orc population to use as soldiers anymore and those that lived took to the wilderness and continue to be a nuisance. It was a waste of resources and manpower that quite frankly you couldn't afford to lose. During the whole time this was happening you couldn't really effectively combat the fish people threat who continued to raid the coasts and in much greater force. Some have been so bold to even create camps along the shores of Quala. Most of Nalin's port towns were still fairly well defended in the beginning, but then the sea beast arrived and completely destroyed most of them. The leviathan has two heads and countless tentacles. You believe it is the "god" of the fish people, or at least leading them. Unfortunately the beast never stays near the coast and retreats back to the deeper water when it's done rampaging. There's nothing for it except to go out there and kill it. You have another fleet built in the southern most port town in Nalin since the fish people haven't attacked that far yet. Building the fleet take awhile though due to the decreased labor force and having to practically restart from scratch again. The whole time you're building the fleet you're anticipating an attack from the fish people, you half expect the usksha to attack you with claims that you're planning to invade them. Thankfully that doesn't happen. When it's all said and done, you've got a new fleet, though much smaller than before, but you can't afford to wait too much longer. The quick you kill the monster the better. You have to win back your considerable losses. You've been made to look foolish and sometimes weak these past couple of years. Time to put an end to that once and for all. And after you kill this thing, your next order of business will be to invade Arat. No more than a day has passed and your fleet is already attacked by fish people. They were never the best fighters, but they aren't worst either and being on their territory as well as being outnumbered certainly gives them an advantage as some don't even bother to scale your ships and just bore holes in the ships with whatever tools they're using for such a task. You've lost half of your fleet by the time the sea monster makes its presence known and now having seen it first hand with your own eyes, you feel incredibly small in comparison. Stories about how it "blotted out the sun" weren't exaggerations. It is just that huge and you're surrounded by water with no where to run. You try to cast a lightning storm, but the ship is being so overrun with the aquatic invaders that you can't possibly concentrate on such a spell. Your crew fights bravely, but they're just so outnumbered that they can't defeat the numbers or keep from completely panicking that they're going to die on the water this day. A large tentacle smashes the deck of the ship and also succeeds in smashing three of your increasingly dwindling crew. You run your sword through another fishman and dodge the other tentacle coming from the other side. Even if you do survive this, you're not sure if you'll even be able to get back to land within a reasonable amount of time. You've lost every ship and your own is now in danger of becoming driftwood if it takes any more punishment, which it most certainly will. You blast a group of the fishmen with lightning which gives you a breather, but only so you're just in time to see another tentacle come sweeping towards you. Unfortunately you don't quite get out of the way in time and the hefty blow shatters your legs. This also has enough force to knock you off the boat and into the water. You struggle a bit in the water desperately trying to keep above it, but soon the claws of several fish men grab at your broken legs and torso. Your struggling is put to a complete end when one of them rises up out the water to sink his teeth into your throat.

Year 545 It isn't what you would've inherited had things been different, but you achieved what many said couldn't be done. You tamed Quala badlands and have successfully incorporated it into the Empire. It certainly helped that you and Trog already had an understanding long before hand, but encouraging more kobolds citizens to settle the area worked out a lot better than you hoped. The eager little scalies seem to like the wilder and more untamed lands and it also got them out of the more "civilized" Nalin too, making more than a few rural human populations happier that their homes weren't suddenly collapsing from over dug kobold tunnels. The Eyes have been doing a good job of being the imposing internal security you wanted them to be and you've already attempted to re-establish a training center for the magic arts. Besides you, the Eyes are the only source of magic in the Empire, if they can strengthen their abilities and train others in such things, you'll have magic might on your side which can only help in the long run. Of course all this expansion has made your neighbors nervous mostly the six cities of Arat, but the Usksha Emirates as well (Though they've been wary about you even before the republic fell thanks to Quintus kicking them all out) There's also the Island League of Delerg to contend with now. The pirates and other ne'er-do-wells had to give up their first profession and actually start putting down roots on their dreary little island hideouts, thanks to the fact that Nalin started cutting back on its naval and seafaring endeavors. None of this really matters though, because you know none of them are strong enough to actually do anything to you. Your neighbors form petty alliances with each other in the hopes that if you did decide to strike that somehow they could stand against you. Though in some cases they'd rather join you, Regnik being one of the city states that sees the writing on the wall. Governor Daniel Tivas has requested several meetings with you and surprisingly you've also gotten a message from an emissary of Lenay. Seems that Domina Eldolith D'vessa wants to also speak with you, though you can't imagine that it has anything to do with joining forces. One of your newer advisors David (former senator) has suggested that it wouldn't hurt to speak with them. Of course most of your military is in favor of just crushing the cities and not talking at all. General Ingrid being the most vocal about it. (Ah the joys of having an enthusiastic military once again under your command.) Sightmaster Crowley has suggested in shutting the doors to any talks and instead retaking Rask since it still contains lots of valuable resources that could be used in the future. While not completely out of the question you imagine that's his former life influencing that advice. He probably hopes that there might be reconciliation between the ones that stayed as well as wiping out the rest of the wendigo. Finally there's Jennifer. She's not an empress, she's not even formal advisor, but you still have a close enough relationship with her that you still speak with her from time to time. The two of you realized that your "paths" were indeed different and parted ways amicably. While certainly a supporter of the Empire, she decided that her place was still archeology, exploration and looking after the museum (Even more so after her father Calvin died of natural causes four years ago). Still, as was mentioned, you do correspond with her and lately she's been expressing an interest in the islands of Delerg and even the great ocean past them. Of course with the Island League there, that makes her desire to mount any kind of expedition non-existent. Then again if you were more active there that wouldn't be the case. You could rebuild the navy again to do more exploration properly and possibly claim those islands for yourself along with eliminating a potential danger in the future (and a pain in Nalin's side even before you were dug up). One direction you're not looking is south though. The Usksha desert is still a formidable environment and sending an army that way you believe would be a waste as there is literally nothing to hold. Nothing of worth anyway since the usksha are still largely nomadic and have no real cities. As long as the Usksha keep to themselves, you have no problem leaving it alone. Whatever you decide, you know you're going to take a prominent role in it. It's time to lead from the front again to keep everyone remembering that you're no throne bound ruler. In the meantime you decide to listen to David's advice and set up a meeting with two of the rulers from Arat. At first you think neither ruler will agree to meet you in Nalin, but surprisingly both do rather than insisting on neutral or even their own territory. In a few days both rulers arrive in Dalt with their respective entourage. Neither one is happy about the other one being here, and the presence of svelk probably puts everyone in Dalt on edge. The Eyes are on extra alert. Daniel obviously isn't a warrior by any means. He's a skinny man with a goatee and a few lines on his face due to the stress of ruling. As for Eldolith, she looks about the same as you last remember, though perhaps slightly older looking. Well as "old looking" as svelk get anyway. "When I first heard that an Eternal appeared in Nalin, I had hoped it wasn't you." Eldolith says when she sees you again. "Mm, I'm sure you'll have to explain yourself to all the other svelk now about how you attempted to seduce me by sucking on my finger." You retort which causes her entire entourage to react with shock and a particular female svelk gives Eldolith a dirty look. Daniel and his people on the other hand are just as surprised, but find it more amusing. "Watch yourself and your slander! I am no longer a lowly merc following the whims of my delusional bitch mother. I am the ruler of my people and we are not about to be conquered by your so called renewed empire!" Eldolith exclaims. "We'll see." You remark with a smile and tell everyone to sit down at the meeting table. "First, I'm glad you both felt the need to come see me in person. This makes what we will discuss here so much more personal, though I know there are six cities. Do you know why none of the other rulers have desired to see me?" you ask. "I can answer that." Daniel says. "The rulers of Atinil and Valizza are already under the influence of Eldolith so by her being here they already have their master to speak for them." "Daniel, you're just frustrated that YOU could not sway them into becoming whores for the Empire like you seem to desire." Eldolith remarks. "Okay, so what of the other two?" "Well since you decided to incorporate those stinking greenskins into your society, the people of Zo want nothing to do with you and I can't say as I blame them. As for Telis, who the hell knows? There hasn't been word from them for almost a decade. The entire city could be dead for all anyone knows." Eldolith says in a bored tone. After hearing this, you ask why both of them wanted to see you in the first place. Daniel tells you that he is basically seeking protection for his city-state. He says that he realizes that Regnik can no longer afford to be independent and that he is willing to become a vassal of the Empire. He doesn't care if half the citizens are against it; he says it's the best thing for the survival of Regnik. He does make it clear though that he is not asking to be annexed completely. He still wants Regnik to be independent on a day-to-day basis, just that it will be paying you money in exchange for protection. Eldolith sneers at Daniel and begins to call him a weakling raising the hostilities of both sides of the table until you demand that everyone calm down. "Alright Eldy, what the hell is it that you want to say, because I know damn well it isn't an alliance let alone vassalhood." "You're right. It isn't being subserviant, but rather a setting of boundaries right now. The svelk people are independent AND strong. We will NOT bend to your will and if you doubt this then send your armies to invade and see them slaughtered by the thousands!" "So, I'm supposed to just sit back and watch you get stronger until you attack us eh? And I'd watch your next words Eldolith, in case you've forgotten you're not exactly in friendly company right now." "You think I care about your threats? Attempt to kill me if you wish, but I will not grovel like this weak human here." Eldolith is certainly going all out to be confrontational, though you wonder how much of it is an act for her people because you embarrassed her with the finger comment. Still, you know svelk and they aren't all bluff. She's probably being very serious with her grandstanding which makes you also wonder what power is it that she holds that could potentially stand against you. You're aware that the svelk do have mages, which does put them above most people, but even you can match that now. If Daniel is correct then she does have the support of two other city-states and will probably have Zo as well seeing as they hate orcs. Still even with the extra military help it still wouldn't be enough. Might take awhile, but you'd conquer eventually. Either Eldolith is got something else up her sleeve or she's being overconfident. Could go either way. The temptation to indulge her threats is great, but maybe some caution might be in order. You decide to take Daniel up on his offer and use his city as a launching zone for spies and other possible intelligence gathering plans before you make a final decision on Eldolith. That would also give you time to bring your attention to other potential areas of conquest like Rask or Delerg. > You make Regnik a vassal and retake Delerg While not a true threat in the scheme of things, the Island League of Delerg is still a hostile "power" on your borders. If you have to go to war with the Arat Confederacy in the near future, you don't want to be worrying about getting possibly attacked from another side. Rask can wait for now. As for Daniel and Eldolith you'll indulge both of their requests for now. You tell Daniel that he can consider his city now under the protection of the Empire and that any foreign invasion attempts in any form with be met with force. "Why are you looking at me when you say that?" Eldolith asks. "Because I know your kind and Daniel's already mentioned you have your influence in two other cities. Now you can have your little territory for now, but make no mistake, you're going to be watched from here on in and if I sense ANYTHING that could be a potential danger to the Empire you're going to wish that you never managed to unite the svelk to begin with." "We'll do as we please and nobody is going to stop us!" "Okay then, as you said just send an invasion force in my direction and see if I'm not being serious." At this point Eldolith just rolls her eyes, but shuts up. Obviously she knows anymore antagonism might result in war which its apparent now that she doesn't truly want if she can help it. Daniel profusely thanks you for heeding his request and will make sure to accommodate your people in anyway he can. You almost shake your head at the man's naivety if he actually believes his city is going to remain autonomous in the way he believes it will. He's going to allow your military there, it won't be long before you've got complete control and any "independence" the city thinks it has is only because you're allowing it. Of course maybe he knows what is probably going to happen and he's just trying to convince himself otherwise. In any event you're glad when the svelk leave (everyone is no doubt), it was a reminder of less happy times in your life. You tell everyone that your next move is taking the islands of Delerg which means you have to rebuild the navy. Crowley is a little disappointed that you aren't retaking Rask, but he understands your desire to eliminate the Island League first. Since building the fleet and having more sailors trained is going to take awhile, you spend the next few months trying to gather more intelligence on the League since your information on them has been spotty at best. Nalin sailors as a general rule have avoided the islands for obvious reasons, but there's always illegal smuggling so you get some of the information from the prisons. Most of the information you get is fairly basic though perhaps more than you had. You find out that the League in general has started to become more introverted over the years, which might also explain why you don't have much conflict with them anymore. Their capital Barnacle is on the largest island and still more or less a pirate haven, but the other islands have no major settlements and those that do tend to just be small groups of people not wanting to share anything with the ruler who lives in Barnacle. When the time comes you have what you hope to be a sizable fleet assembled. You doubt if your ships are going to be more maneuverable, but you're hoping that their size and firepower will be enough to out power any resistance you may have. You also decide to accompany the fleet. Part of you has always been a little uneasy about being on the water, but you figure this would be the perfect time to get over that possible phobia. Within a few days you're in Delerg waters, but you encounter no other ships. You pass by a few small islands, but you decide to make your way to where Barnacle is located. You figure if that's the largest settlement, you need to take that one first and possible launch more attacks from that point. When you sail further towards your destination, you at last encounter a flotilla of ships surrounding a large island. You have an order issued to all of your ships to prepare for battle, but as you get closer a single smaller sailboat with a raised white flag approaches your fleet. The crew of the sailboat is taken aboard your own ship when it is confirmed that the boat isn't containing a bomb or some other trick. The sailboat crew only consists of two people and neither one is armed. They are disheveled and unkempt looking, but apparently one of them is the ruler of Barnacle. "Um…hello great Emperor of the…uh Empire. My name is Jon, mayor of Barnacle and this is my first mate Corino." Jon remarks. "I'm surprised you were brave enough to parley, or perhaps just foolish. You may speak your mind, but know that we aren't not leaving until these islands are under my rule." You say. "Yes, I already assumed such a thing. That's why I'm graciously opening up his town to you without conflict." You weren't expecting much of a fight, but you weren't expecting this. "Truly? You're surrendering?" "Well, I'd prefer to think of it as negotiating a better deal, but if you prefer to think of it as a surrender, then we are in no position to argue. I know that in the long run he will not be able to defeat you. Even if we fought today and won, you would only come with more ships later. We only have limited resources, while you have much much more." "So…that's it? The Island League is officially capitulating to the Empire?" Jon laughs a bit at your question. "Well, let's just say that I'm capitulating. I'm not sure if the Island League as a whole is, and that's assuming you even considering a semi-cohesive unit nowadays. Barnacle is yours, and whatever that entails. I just hope that I can continue on as mayor. I believe my experience can…" "Yeah, yeah, you're looking to save your own ass. Got it." You interrupt. "We'll see, but what's all this about the rest of the Island League?" Jon goes on to tell you that much like the Arat Confederacy, the Island League is not a single entity, but rather an alliance of several groups. Barnacle just happens to be the biggest and most powerful. Jon says that despite the size of the other groups, they may not wish to join and will have to be eliminated completely. He also states that some of the groups have disappeared completely, he says he doesn't even know what happened to them. "Perhaps the environment just swallowed them up. Strange things have been found on the less explored islands after all." Jon says. "Hmm, well I suppose if you want to keep your current job, you'll be providing me of good maps of what you have." "Of course. Anything you need! So, shall you be coming to Barnacle now to claim it?" "Well it is one of the goals of this journey." You reply. When you get to Barnacle, the place is fairly well kept despite being a haven for disreputable criminals. The funny thing is, you don't really get a sense of resentment as you pass through with platoons of soldiers. It's early yet though. Jon himself is very accommodating, providing you and your people whatever they want or need. You don't know though if this is because he really wants to please you so he can keep his job, or he's planning on tricking you some how. While deceit is always a possibility you sense it's almost more like…relief? Maybe he was having problems with the rest of the Island League leaders and now with you here he sees it as a way for him to eliminate them while still keeping his position. In any case you tell everyone to keep alert and be prepared as usual. After a few days, you think you've seen everything you need to and gotten all the information you need from Jon and Barnacle in general. After a bit of thinking about it, you decide that you'll just go to all the inhabited locations that Jon has provided for you and either wipe out the groups or incorporate them into the Empire if they prove to be cooperative. Rather simple plan really. You decide that Jon can go ahead and stay mayor of Barnacle, but you'll be keeping troops here of course as well as your own ships. Now you're just wondering if you need to stick around for this rather mundane search and destroy mission, or go back to the Empire. > You stay in Barnacle Considering that you're not really going to launch any other major operation until these islands have been tamed, you might as well oversee the process. Jon warns you that you'll probably be doing more fighting than diplomacy. He mentions that some of the other groups living on the islands have become very odd and more isolated, some of them to the point where they attack anyone on sight. In the next few days you see what Jon was talking about when you come in contact with your first group of islanders. They don't even speak other than war cries and in some cases complete gibberish. Other groups, while not as wild they're still just as hostile and need to be eliminated. It's a fairly time consuming process sometimes due to their intimate knowledge of their own islands, but it doesn't matter in the end, because well where are they going to run? There is the rare occasion you're met by hostile ships, but these are much rarer. Jon apparently had the biggest fleet in the League so you easily outnumber and out power any such encounters. While you've got more than enough ships and troops to split up and search the numerous islands, it still takes months. You do start getting friendlier islander encounters however. Jon figures what you've been doing to everyone else is beginning to get around and people are finally waking up to the idea that you mean business and aren't going away. Seems like a likely conclusion. Jon tells you that your search and destroy missions should probably be coming to an end soon as he's dug around his office and found some of the older maps that haven't been used in a long time. "Not sure if it's necessary, but I know the Empire likes to be thorough. There's an island cluster far out to the northwest that you probably haven't searched yet." Jon says handing you a dusty old map. "What, are these like so called lost islands or something?" you ask. "Heh, not really lost so much as not visited too much anymore. They used to be used more when piracy was more lucrative, but as time went on, they got used a lot less. Also they've actually drifted further out to open sea as well so those maps are more of a guide than a precise location. Just another reason why they became less visited or used. Still, who know who might be living out there." With this in mind you set off on what will hopefully be the last mission on these islands. You've had enough of ships and water for a long time. The journey to the island cluster takes about a week, but the maps weren't too inaccurate. Jon was right though they have drifted from what the locations were on the charts. You wonder what caused such a thing to these, but not the other islands. Then again you're not an expert on geology or the ways of the sea, you're just here to claim the damn islands and be done with it. There are no signs of ships, so these islands probably are empty, but you don't need any possible surprises later. As usual you have some of your fleet split up to have their crews search the other islands. When you land on the island that you've chosen to search you find that the island's ground is fairly soft and water seems to seep through it every step you take. You wonder if this place is in the beginning stages of sinking completely. The island shows no signs of any life, though upon a bit more exploration, you do come across something you thought was lost to time long ago. A ruined structure lies half above the ground, half submerged under water. Its worn and crumbling from age, water and other elements, but it's the old shadow temple. You're actually surprised to find it, considering it was leveled when the shadows were eliminated back during the old Empire days. Not exactly the most pleasant of memories for you considering they were your enemy and your experience with Cyrus, but you get the impression Jennifer would love to dig around this place for the history value. Just as you're about to call it quits, you hear a loud explosion coming from the direction of where your ship was. You and the rest of your soldiers waste no time in running back it. When you arrive you see it on flames and slowly sinking into the sea. You also see some of the crew that stayed aboard dead on the ground nearby, but more disturbing, is that you see some of the same crew cheering at the fact the ship on fire and sinking. You don't know what exactly the hell is going on here, but you know this is a very bad situation. The first thing you do is order the soldiers with you to open fire on the traitors. After that's done you try to keep morale up. "Don't worry, we're not going to be stranded here. We've got a whole fleet out there and I'm sure several of our ships saw that explosion." You say. Naturally no sooner do you calm everyone's immediate fears when new ones crop up… all around you. Several humanoid creatures begin popping up from the water. They have fishlike qualities and weld weapons made out of coral or bone. It's obvious what their intent is as they advance on your position. You order your troops to form a defensive circle. You lob a couple of fireballs at the fish people group in an effort to thin out their ranks. More of them emerge from the water and you realize out severely outnumbered you are. Your soldiers only have so many bullets and eventually they manage to start closing the ranks. You focus on casting an area effect spell in the hopes of eliminating more of them. You rain fire and ice down on the island and kill multitudes of the fish people, but it's at a terrible cost. Most of your troops are wiped out as well. Those that aren't are severely wounded and yet, you STILL haven't stopped the fishman horde. "What the fuck, it's like they knew I was…" you don't even complete that sentence as you mumble it to yourself. You suddenly come to the realization that this whole thing, from Barnacle to this island has been one big trap. There's an island league all right, but the only thing the humans around here are in league with are these aquatic monsters. The worst thing is somehow they got to some of your people and turned them against you. Probably managed to do it when groups split up and then came back to report that they didn't encounter any hostiles, only "friendly islanders." Who knows how many they managed to brainwash or mind control, or well you don't know exactly how they got to your people, but it hardly matters right now. You spend the better part of the day personally slaying fish monsters. Eventually the rest retreat, but that doesn't stop the fact that you're stranded on here. You wait another couple days for the hope of rescue from one of your other ships, but you get none. Instead you see and hear several explosions in the distance, probably from battle or sabotage no doubt. You attempt to build a raft, but the wood on this island is scarce and in any case, you don't have time to finish it as another horde of fishmen come back to attack you again. You manage to fend them off, but they actively destroy what bit of raft you did create. They continue this cycle every few days and you're successful in driving them back despite the odds. You manage to survive on fish person meat to survive, but the problem is a lack of fresh water (And as for fishman blood, well you might as well be drinking sea water). You just can't keep up your strength to survive the ongoing assault and again, there is no rescue in sight. Eventually after a week of holding out, you eventually succumb to a combination of dehydration and the fishman attacks. Soon after your bloody death, your body is mostly consumed and some of your bones used to make new weapons.

While not a true threat in the scheme of things, the Island League of Delerg is still a hostile "power" on your borders. If you have to go to war with the Arat Confederacy in the near future, you don't want to be worrying about getting possibly attacked from another side. Rask can wait for now. As for Daniel and Eldolith you'll indulge both of their requests for now. You tell Daniel that he can consider his city now under the protection of the Empire and that any foreign invasion attempts in any form with be met with force. "Why are you looking at me when you say that?" Eldolith asks. "Because I know your kind and Daniel's already mentioned you have your influence in two other cities. Now you can have your little territory for now, but make no mistake, you're going to be watched from here on in and if I sense ANYTHING that could be a potential danger to the Empire you're going to wish that you never managed to unite the svelk to begin with." "We'll do as we please and nobody is going to stop us!" "Okay then, as you said just send an invasion force in my direction and see if I'm not being serious." At this point Eldolith just rolls her eyes, but shuts up. Obviously she knows anymore antagonism might result in war which its apparent now that she doesn't truly want if she can help it. Daniel profusely thanks you for heeding his request and will make sure to accommodate your people in anyway he can. You almost shake your head at the man's naivety if he actually believes his city is going to remain autonomous in the way he believes it will. He's going to allow your military there, it won't be long before you've got complete control and any "independence" the city thinks it has is only because you're allowing it. Of course maybe he knows what is probably going to happen and he's just trying to convince himself otherwise. In any event you're glad when the svelk leave (everyone is no doubt), it was a reminder of less happy times in your life. You tell everyone that your next move is taking the islands of Delerg which means you have to rebuild the navy. Crowley is a little disappointed that you aren't retaking Rask, but he understands your desire to eliminate the Island League first. Since building the fleet and having more sailors trained is going to take awhile, you spend the next few months trying to gather more intelligence on the League since your information on them has been spotty at best. Nalin sailors as a general rule have avoided the islands for obvious reasons, but there's always illegal smuggling so you get some of the information from the prisons. Most of the information you get is fairly basic though perhaps more than you had. You find out that the League in general has started to become more introverted over the years, which might also explain why you don't have much conflict with them anymore. Their capital Barnacle is on the largest island and still more or less a pirate haven, but the other islands have no major settlements and those that do tend to just be small groups of people not wanting to share anything with the ruler who lives in Barnacle. When the time comes you have what you hope to be a sizable fleet assembled. You doubt if your ships are going to be more maneuverable, but you're hoping that their size and firepower will be enough to out power any resistance you may have. You also decide to accompany the fleet. Part of you has always been a little uneasy about being on the water, but you figure this would be the perfect time to get over that possible phobia. Within a few days you're in Delerg waters, but you encounter no other ships. You pass by a few small islands, but you decide to make your way to where Barnacle is located. You figure if that's the largest settlement, you need to take that one first and possible launch more attacks from that point. When you sail further towards your destination, you at last encounter a flotilla of ships surrounding a large island. You have an order issued to all of your ships to prepare for battle, but as you get closer a single smaller sailboat with a raised white flag approaches your fleet. The crew of the sailboat is taken aboard your own ship when it is confirmed that the boat isn't containing a bomb or some other trick. The sailboat crew only consists of two people and neither one is armed. They are disheveled and unkempt looking, but apparently one of them is the ruler of Barnacle. "Um…hello great Emperor of the…uh Empire. My name is Jon, mayor of Barnacle and this is my first mate Corino." Jon remarks. "I'm surprised you were brave enough to parley, or perhaps just foolish. You may speak your mind, but know that we aren't not leaving until these islands are under my rule." You say. "Yes, I already assumed such a thing. That's why I'm graciously opening up his town to you without conflict." You weren't expecting much of a fight, but you weren't expecting this. "Truly? You're surrendering?" "Well, I'd prefer to think of it as negotiating a better deal, but if you prefer to think of it as a surrender, then we are in no position to argue. I know that in the long run he will not be able to defeat you. Even if we fought today and won, you would only come with more ships later. We only have limited resources, while you have much much more." "So…that's it? The Island League is officially capitulating to the Empire?" Jon laughs a bit at your question. "Well, let's just say that I'm capitulating. I'm not sure if the Island League as a whole is, and that's assuming you even considering a semi-cohesive unit nowadays. Barnacle is yours, and whatever that entails. I just hope that I can continue on as mayor. I believe my experience can…" "Yeah, yeah, you're looking to save your own ass. Got it." You interrupt. "We'll see, but what's all this about the rest of the Island League?" Jon goes on to tell you that much like the Arat Confederacy, the Island League is not a single entity, but rather an alliance of several groups. Barnacle just happens to be the biggest and most powerful. Jon says that despite the size of the other groups, they may not wish to join and will have to be eliminated completely. He also states that some of the groups have disappeared completely, he says he doesn't even know what happened to them. "Perhaps the environment just swallowed them up. Strange things have been found on the less explored islands after all." Jon says. "Hmm, well I suppose if you want to keep your current job, you'll be providing me of good maps of what you have." "Of course. Anything you need! So, shall you be coming to Barnacle now to claim it?" "Well it is one of the goals of this journey." You reply. When you get to Barnacle, the place is fairly well kept despite being a haven for disreputable criminals. The funny thing is, you don't really get a sense of resentment as you pass through with platoons of soldiers. It's early yet though. Jon himself is very accommodating, providing you and your people whatever they want or need. You don't know though if this is because he really wants to please you so he can keep his job, or he's planning on tricking you some how. While deceit is always a possibility you sense it's almost more like…relief? Maybe he was having problems with the rest of the Island League leaders and now with you here he sees it as a way for him to eliminate them while still keeping his position. In any case you tell everyone to keep alert and be prepared as usual. After a few days, you think you've seen everything you need to and gotten all the information you need from Jon and Barnacle in general. After a bit of thinking about it, you decide that you'll just go to all the inhabited locations that Jon has provided for you and either wipe out the groups or incorporate them into the Empire if they prove to be cooperative. Rather simple plan really. You decide that Jon can go ahead and stay mayor of Barnacle, but you'll be keeping troops here of course as well as your own ships. Now you're just wondering if you need to stick around for this rather mundane search and destroy mission, or go back to the Empire. > You return to the Empire Seeing as you've taken care of the major problem here, you don't see any need to stick around for the mundane search destroy missions that will undoubtedly take months. You could be focusing on more important things. So you return to the Empire giving Jon a warning that while you've graciously allowed him to keep his position, any signs of possible betrayal or anything similar will be met with a complete cleansing of Barnacle and his painful drawn out demise. When you get back to the Empire, you make the announcement that the Delerg Islands are now currently being incorporated into the Empire and what remains of the so called Island League is being hunted down as you speak. Sightmaster Crowley seems to be happier than anyone as he suggests once again that retaking Rask should be the next priority. You tell Crowley that the retaking of Rask will definitely be next on the agenda, but you know it's going to take a lot more manpower than Delerg. You'd rather wait until you've completely tamed those islands first before launching another major operation. Still you can make the preparations in the meantime. As the months pass you get a few reports about how things are going in Delerg and so far there have been no major troubles. While there have been a few skirmishes, for the most part your soldiers have found most Delerg inhabitants to willingly surrender to Empire law. It is also around this time that you get a letter from Jennifer. She asks you about your recent visit to the Delerg islands and if it might be safe to launch an expedition to the islands. You write back and tell her that its probably "safer" but considering there are still hostile League members and who knows what sort of dangerous wild life on those islands you tell her that she probably shouldn't go. However, you follow up with if she does insist on going like you know she probably will, then to at least stop at Barnacle first and to take your seal that you're sending with the letter you're writing to the nearest officer or even the mayor and she'll have an armed escort to protect the expedition. And just as you suspected, Jennifer goes off on her expedition. She never was one to play it too safe, but you're pretty sure she'll be fine. Year 547 "Trouble, my Emperor?" Crowley asks. "(Sigh) It looks like. David just sent a message saying that there's some weird religion that's been cropping up in Nalin. He says there hasn't been any real trouble yet, but he felt I should know due to my stance on organized religion. Ugh, I'm going to have to return to the Empire and straighten all this shit out. You know when we brought most of the Eyes with us here to Rask so we could effectively fight the wendigo, I was concerned about perhaps an increase in crime or possibly even a bit of rabble rousing in Nalin. Not this shit. We're finally making good progress and I don't need religious fanatics to possibly fuck up my plans." You explain to Crowley that you'll be leaving him in charge of all operations in Rask. Seeing as he's very familiar with the territory already you have confidence that he'll be fine here. Of course he's been slightly revenge driven on the wendigo when you found out Everwatch was overrun and destroyed by them. When you arrive at your palace in Dalt, you're anxious to get down to this new religion business. David greets you immediately and states that Jennifer is also here and wanting to see you. "Jennifer? I thought she was still digging up shit in Delerg and trying find lost islands. She's finally back?" you say. "Yes, I just sent her into your private chambers. I thought due to your history, you wouldn't mind seeing her." "Normally I wouldn't mind, but I'd like to get down to this new religion you mentioned in your message. Can't afford to waste any time with it." "Apologies, Emperor." "(Sigh) Very well, she's already here, I might as well see her…what the hell is that on your arm?" you ask David, pointing at the skin on left forearm. It's almost scaly looking. He reacts rather sheepishly and tries to pull his sleeve back down. "Oh that. Just a bad skin rash. I need to make a quick trip to the apothecary." "I'll say, its pretty nasty looking." You remark and head on to see Jennifer. When you arrive to see Jennifer, she's fiddling with a box of some sort. She closes it up when you walk in. "Hey if it isn't the conquering Emperor of Rask! How is everything going up there?" Jennifer asks. "Better than expected I suppose, what's that box?" "Oh this? Just something I found while digging around Delerg. Y'know you really should've stuck around that place longer. It has a lot of fascinating historical things relating to the old Empire." "Hmm, well I'm more concerned with the new one myself, but I trust you haven't had any problems during your time there." "No, none at all. My expedition there went very well." "Good, good. Look Jennifer, I'd like to play catch up and all that with you, but you've caught me at a bad time right now. David has told me there's a new religion starting to take root in Nalin, and I want to stomp that out, before it becomes a problem." "You mean like the shadows caused for the old Empire?" "Exactly like that." "You know one of our discoveries was an old shadow temple located on one of more remote islands. Most of it was underwater, but it was still very interesting." Jennifer says. "Hrm. They did have their original temple located in Delerg. Surprised its still around, we had it demolished even back when we finished off their seditious religion for good." "I think the problem with the shadows is that they waited too long to strike." "What?!" you exclaim. "Oh don't get me wrong, I'm glad the Empire defeated them. Its just that from what you've told me about the shadows and from what I've learned from my findings, its that the shadows waited too long to strike out against a powerful enemy." You're about to ask Jennifer what the hell is she getting at, when all of a sudden the doors to your private chambers are kicked open and four soldiers fire at you. You're taken completely by surprise and most of their shots hit you. You fall to the floor wheezing and in pain, but you muster up enough strength to cast a fireball at your assailants who are all set ablaze due to their proximity to each other. While they scream and flail about in the hallway trying to put the flames out, you realize you need to heal yourself immediately before you succumb to your mortal wounds. You being to concentrate, but are suddenly kicked in the side of the head and shot again, this time in the neck. You still aren't dead yet, but you most certainly will be soon. You stare up from the floor at Jennifer who holds a smoking pistol in her hand. Probably what she had in the box she was messing with earlier. "I wish things could've been different, but I knew you would've never accepted the glory that is to come when Hukleev rises from his underwater kingdom and submerges the Empire, transforming all into his subjects." You can't even reply or react to Jennifer's words let alone her treachery. You just bleed out and start to lose consciousness. The last thing you see is Jennifer moving in closer to you where upon she gives you one last kiss, which tastes faintly of brine.

As much as you hate to go against your instincts, you were only here once and it was over five hundred years ago. Your memory of things isn't going to be correct due to the changes in the landscape alone. Even if the maps aren't giving the exact location, they're at least a more reliable guideline brought back by people who managed to survive this land. "Okay, we'll use the maps. We're going to have to endure this weather either way I suppose and we'll be less likely to get lost." You remark. You continue your journey using the maps. It turns out to be a good idea, but nothing is stopping the cold and freezing ice storm that hits hard within a couple hours. What remaining horses and other pack animals you had left end up either panicking or outright collapse from the exhaustion. Your group ends up having to dig out a shelter and hunker down for the storm to pass. Food isn't much of a problem since you just butcher the animals that are dying any way. Fire isn't either since you can conjure it up. Still, it's not an ideal situation and others in the group are starting to experience minor frostbite and argue with one another. You tell everyone to shut up and listen when you hear a rumbling sound approaching close by. Some think it's just the sounds of the storm, but you point out that it must be something else since the ground is vibrating a bit. "Giant! Get the hell up and move!" you exclaim and the group scrambles to run out of the make shift shelter. Some of you even make it out before a large foot crushes it. Now the term giant has never been used lightly, they're called that for a reason. However, this one is certainly larger than average. In fact, you don't even think it noticed you when it squashed some of your group. Well it didn't at first at least, when it feel the gushiness of flattened humans on its foot along with seeing several scattering about the snow, it comes to the conclusion that a giant could only logically come to, namely flatten the rest of you as well. "Spread out! Spread out! He's going to swing that damn club!" you shout. Meanwhile, the giant successfully crushes a couple of the soldiers with his club and at this point you don't know where the hell anyone else is because their fear has caused them to run out of your line of sight which is small enough with the ice storm hindering long range viewing. You roll out of the way of a club slam and run up to the giant's foot and begin hacking at the back tendon. It isn't easy since the giant's skin is calloused to the point where it acts like armor. You only manage to cause a superficial wound before He nearly crushes you again. Realizing you aren't getting anywhere with that approach, you resort to magic and literally give the giant a hot foot, burning the skin enough to cause a roar of pain. The giant starts moving his foot to sooth the injury in the cold snow. You look up and can barely make out the top half of this monster through the storm. You aren't sure if it's going to work with the storm being as bad as it is, but you're going to try anyway. You cast more fire at the giant, not at his foot though, but at his loincloth which is undoubtedly made of some sort of fur. You don't stop flinging fire until you're confident that the flames aren't going out any time soon. Predictably the giant starts beating its own flaming crotch in an effort to stop the burning sensation, bellowing so loudly that you image all of Rask can hear. The giant runs away from the combat area grabbing snow and ice around it and throwing it on the still burning fur loincloth. "Sheesh, that brings a whole new meaning to the term fireballs." A voice shouts behind you. You turn around and see a figure completely bundled up in snow gear standing with others dressed in a similar manner. Naturally you're ready for a fight, but the one who spoke holds up his hands. "Hold on there! Are you part of the expedition group? We just bumped into a few of them running from the giant. Said one of you was actually insane enough to fight the damn thing." "Yes, what have you done with them?!" "Nothing! We were on patrol, got caught in the storm and then we heard all the screaming and came to investigate. Your people are right over this small hill here with some more of us. Normally, we'd just send you all on your way and tell you that you were fools to come to Rask in the first place, but now that we've seen you in action, I can't help but think the Vision Lord would want to meet you." Vision Lord? "Are you the Eyes?" you ask. "We are from the Order of the Eye and I'm Sightmaster Crowley but if we're going to talk, I'd prefer it if we'd do it at Fort Everwatch. You and the others can rest up there." "And if we don't want to go with you?" "Then you don't go and you all can return to wherever it is you came from. We're not holding anyone prisoner, though the lady of your group, a Miss Mol I believe, says you've been looking for us. As I said normally we try to keep to ourselves and turn away most visitors, but given that we're inviting you in with open arms I should think you wouldn't turn down this opportunity. Besides, I'm fairly certain that none of us here wants to tangle with the guy that just chased away ol' Snowtop single handedly." "What, that giant?" "If you hadn't noticed, he's not just any giant, if he was, he'd be dead by now. He's probably the oldest living frost giant that we know of and he's tougher than a troll steak and almost taller than some of the smaller mountains in this area. Fortunately he seems to only wander about during these bad ice storms that usually no idiot would be caught in, but then here we are." And here you are. You insist that you want to see Jennifer before going anywhere. Crowley takes you to see her and the few survivors. She's glad to see you're alive and hugs you. Her enthusiasm for this trip hasn't diminished and she definitely wants to go see the Eyes' home, despite the fact that you all were nearly crushed to death by a giant, though that can't be said for some of her employees. You're just glad she's all right and you're within reach of your destination. It doesn't take too long to get to Fort Everwatch. It wasn't anywhere near Fort Defiance once stood though so its just as well that you didn't go that way. Everwatch isn't particularly large or fancy, but it does look like it was built to stand the test of time. The interior is just as utilitarian Other than symbols of an eye adorning various parts of the fort, it actually reminds you of an old Empire fort. You can't help but feel at home here despite only just entering the place. You are brought to a great hall area and Crowley says he's going to fetch the Vision Lord. In the meantime he's tells you all to stay here, but feel free to look around. "This is pretty exciting, I hope they'll let us take something back from this place." Jennifer says while looking at the various plaques. "Anything's possible I suppose, but they don't look like they're much into luxuries. The only decorations here seem to be dedicated to their fallen like these plaques or those eye symbols…oh wait, they seem to have battle trophies as well, check out that giant's skull hanging high on the left wall." You remark still feeling a little wary of things. Eventually Crowley comes back with who you guess to be the Vision Lord. The Vision Lord doesn't look particularly impressive despite his name though it is certain by the scars on his face he is no stranger to battle. You were expecting him to be a lot older though as it stands he looks about your age…well not counting your five-century nap of course. He stares at you, Jennifer and the rest for a moment and then he points to Jennifer. "I'm guessing you and this lot come from the Nalin Republic." "How did you know?" Jennifer asks. "Where else would you come from? You're certainly not from one of the six cities of Arat. They're too busy with their petty squabbles. Besides, we've come across some of your type before wandering up here. A few of them even joined our group rather than head back down." "You recruited our explorers?!" Jennifer says. "Yes, if they showed promise and desired to join. I'm sure you might even bump into a couple of them in this place assuming you haven't already. Now you on the other hand…you are very interesting. Your armor looks as if it comes from another time, you can cast magic with ease and I heard you fended off Snowtop all by yourself. That's a feat so impressive I can't imagine you are native to the Republic." the Vision Lord remarks and points to you. "What I find interesting is this place and from what I can tell by your commemorations of the your fallen, you feel keeping history is important. So tell me, did Warrick have this fort built or was it sometime after his death?" you say causing some eyebrows to raise. "You know of Vision Lord Warrick then? Not many outside our order know our founder. How did you come across this information?" "Easy. We were practically siblings. He was an Eternal, just like I am. He wasn't a Vision Lord back then, just a Sightmaster, though I guess he felt the need to assign himself a higher title. Doesn't matter. I'm just glad to see another piece of the old Empire still alive, even if it has taken a very different form." With this response the Vision Lord steps back and the other Eyes now begin whispering amongst themselves. "So, the rumors are true. An Eternal does walk the earth again and it is indeed the one Vision Lord Warrick mentions in his writings. As you might expect we don't get much news this way and we don't venture too far from here, let alone Rask. In fact the few recruits we manage to get are probably our biggest source of new information. Tell me, how is it that you live?" You explain the exact situation as vaguely as you did to Jennifer and Quintus. The cataclysm struck suddenly, you were encased in a magic shell, etc. etc. and eventually Jennifer's crew dug you up. "I see. How unfortunate that you came in contact with the Republic first, but then I suppose it's better than being stuck in a magic coffin. Still, you're here now and I believe you will find a better home here." The Vision Lord remarks. "What?" "I'm inviting you to stay with us. Come now. This Order was founded by an Eternal I'm somewhat familiar with their mindset based on the writings of Vision Lord Warrick. I can only imagine the dull tedium you've endured in the Republic. How have you managed to occupy your time?" "Do not presume you know me based on the writings of Warrick. Truth be told, he didn't exactly create the Eyes, at least not in their original form. The Eyes were originally created by this woman's great ancestor Jacob Mol." You say pointing to Jennifer. The Vision Lord nods his head a bit. "Apologies. I did not mean to offend. And if as you say this lady's ancestor had a hand in creating the Eyes then we've been doubly blessed by the presence of her as well. However, I do believe that you were and still are a man of battle and war. And again I can't imagine those things being in great supply in the Republic. Surely you would enjoy living here instead. You would be great asset in our own war of extermination of the wendigo. We could certainly use the help." This is a sudden offer and certainly one you weren't expecting. The strange thing is it isn't out of the question either. A few days ago you were just going on about to Jennifer about how you were restless in the Republic even with your efforts to help restructure it into a new empire. A glorious undertaking to be sure, but one you've had doubts about recently. Now this opportunity is certainly less impressive, but there's something alluring about its simplicity. All you would have to concern yourself with is the battle. The war. The victories over your enemies in melee combat. You'd even live in a place that's much comfortable to you. Of course there's also Jennifer to think about, but while your relationship with her is blooming into something more romantic what future do you have with her really? She's not even like Alison in that she's a warrior and can truly connect with you on some level even if she does make the attempts. There's also the fact that you've been worried about her the whole trip. Will you continue to worry about her and allow that to be a weakness to be exploited? If she's killed will you go through the same emotional ruin you did when Alison was murdered? Do you even want to deal with any of that again? You tell the Vision Lord that you and he are going to have to discuss this all in more detailed before you make a decision. Jennifer looks concerned when you say this, but doesn't say anything. The Vision Lord says that while you and he talk, the rest of your group can rest up or feel free to explore as there is nothing of major value and he trusts nobody would be foolish enough to steal anything. You speak with the Vision Lord (who reveals his name is Kells) for quite awhile on the current situation of his order as well as the history of this place and Rask in general. He also remarks about how the Eyes are so hated and feared by the wendigo. As you might've guessed magic is in play, but only to a minor degree. Over the centuries the Eyes have managed to focus their minds to create shields against wendigo mental attacks along with being able to banish them to oblivion. (Still vulnerable to normal death through wendigo hosts obviously though) After your discussion he tells you that he'll leave you to your decision, but that he hopes you'll stay. You then speak with Jennifer about your situation; naturally she wants you to return with her and explains all reasons why. You end up sleeping on the offer and pondering everything some more, but ultimately the decision is up to you. > You voices of the past (Writings of Vision Lord Warrick) While you're trying to make up your decision on whether or not to stay here or not, you end up walking around fort and bumping into Kells again. He holds a small old worn book in his hand and holds it out to you. "What's this?" you ask. "This is the journal of the first Vision Lord Warrick and your fellow Eternal." Kells says. You have a sudden feeling that you've done this before… You take the book and it would seem that at least the Eyes took better care of Warrick's private journal than the numerous collectors (including Quintus) did with Brenda's since the pages aren't falling out. "Normally only the Vision Lord is allowed to read through it, but under the circumstances, I believe you have just as much right seeing as you knew the man. You're probably thinking that I'm trying to influence you with nostalgia and you'd be right, but I think if you read through the book, you'd see how the Eyes have kept the spirit of the Empire alive and that ultimately you belong here with us. I'll leave you to your decision." Kells remarks and leaves you alone. Seeing as you could take your mind off of your current dilemma you figure you might as well scan through the journal. You don't quite have the feeling of "snooping" through Warrick's privacy like you did with Brenda. Perhaps because you've gotten used to the fact that they've been dead for centuries and they aren't going to care what you do. While Warrick's journal is in much better condition than Brenda's, it still displays a lot of wear and tear probably from too much handling. Honestly if these people really honored their predecessors so much you'd think they'd take better care of these things! Apparently Warrick was "lucky" enough to be near the Rask border when the cataclysm hit. He mentions that he barely survived the magic acid storms that engulfed the northern part of Quala. Rask wasn't doing too much better, but at least severe ice storms were better than acid falling out of the sky. He goes on to mention that during the cataclysm the magic barrier that contained the wendigo was destroyed and the evil spirits ran amok throughout Rask. Entire towns were cannibalizing each other before Warrick could scrap together what remained of the military and the Eyes. He mentions being fortunate that several Empire mages escaped to Rask and they were able to combat the wendigo menace. Still, it was never enough, even driving the hungry spirits away was only a temporary solution, there were only a few mages to outright banish them and that always took a lot of energy. And wendigos weren't the only threat. Ogres and giants also took advantage of the chaos. Still Warrick wasn't going to be deterred in his mission to hold together Rask since for all he knew it was all that remained of the Empire. Quala was still too dangerous to travel through and he had heard no news. One passage gets your attention. Entry 34 Another wendigo attack and lost another good soldier today. Still the fact that I only lost one makes it a good day. The fact that the mages actually managed to banish the bastard makes it even better. I have still heard no news from any higher command. I was hoping that my Eternal brother who serves by the Emperor's side would have contacted me by now, but sadly I fear that he along with the Emperor may not have survived this terrible disaster. I can hardly believe it. I always thought he'd outlive all of us. At this point I'd even tolerate Brenda's hostile condemnations towards me, at least then I'd know she was still alive. I may very well be the last Eternal, but I will not be the last Eye and if I can help it, Rask will not be the last bastion of the Empire. We've lost too much already. Even now several towns have fallen here and only a handful of huddled masses remain in the more secured ones. The Eyes have always been the ones to keep the Empire together and if they're going to continue doing that they are going to have to change to combat the wendigo threat more effectively. They are going to have to learn magic and fortunately we have mages to teach them. It isn't going to be easy, and most are probably not going to be able to learn at all, but I do know if one has the potential, then it can be done. This task, this great work, this VISION is going to take years, possibly even more than I have, but someone will take over for me and that person after that and so forth. We will live on for as long as the Eyes survive, the Empire will survive. You close the book and reflect upon the words within.

"Alright, you'll have your two Trog, I need to go back and speak with my people about which two though." Trog nods and you return to the group to explain the situation, it goes about as well as you expected. "You can't expect us to stay with these savages! They'll kill us!" one of the workers exclaims. "We're at war with these monsters!" a soldier remarks. "I'd have to agree that leaving anyone here is tantamount to leaving them to die." Jennifer adds. "Look, this is the ONLY way we're getting into Rask without a fight. And I guarantee we're in no position to be fighting hundreds of orcs." You remark and then point at the soldiers in the group. "Now you lot are soldiers which technically puts you under my command and if I order any of you to stay you better damn well do it or else you're going to have me to deal with and I assure you if that happens you'd rather have orcs." "That being said, I'd rather NOT leave any soldiers behind, because we're going to need every competent fighter we can get when we do get in Rask." You say and then point to the civvies in the group. "You lot on the other hand, I can afford to leave any one of you behind." This remark is met with more protest and exclamations of how which one of them is a valuable member of the group. You're unimpressed and simply say if there's any digging or carrying to be done, anyone can do that and if its for some intellectual purpose, Jennifer is still going to be the most knowledgeable one on whatever it is you do find in Rask, so again the rest are superfluous. This statement is met with more protests until Jennifer suddenly tells them all to shut up. "I don't like this, but he's right. I'll take volunteers first." Jennifer remarks. Predictably more begging, protests and threats follow, which Jennifer addresses that it's either stay with the orcs or try to head back to Nalin without any escort protection. Eventually one brave soul volunteers, muttering that if he's lucky maybe they won't eat him and he can learn more about their culture. The second one loses a lot draw. She's not happy about her bad luck and the situation, but resigns herself to her fate. "I'm glad you backed me up." You say. "I didn't really want to and I'm sure I'm going to get a lot of backlash from my workers, but the potential for this discovery is too important and I trust you. I just hope you trust this orc as much." Jennifer remarks. "I don't, but he's been reliable on matters much greater than this one. The worst that could happen is that he plans on killing us on the return trip when we're exhausted from the dangers of Rask, but we'll deal with that when the time comes." You answer. "Well I guess this is all worth it then." After the two "sacrificial lambs" are presented to Trog, he promises once again that no harm will come to them and the rest of you cautiously pass through Flogger territory, which actually overlaps partially into Rask. In fact you pass by an area where you believe Fort Destiny once stood. There's no evidence of it anymore though, it's just wilderness now. You wonder if was destroyed during the cataclysm or if it was time that ultimately took it over. Eventually you clear Flogger territory and you're in the true wilderness of Rask. You, Jennifer and a couple of others go over the maps deciding which way would be the best. Using your memory, you point out that despite the long passage of time, there are still evidence of old Empire roads and that you should use those as a basic guide to head north. If you're lucky, it may very well take you all the way to Fort Defiance, or at least where the fort used to stand. The journey north is as miserable as you remember when you first came to this unforgiving land. If anything it seems worse now that it's no longer tamed by the Empire. Still, you travel quite a distance before you catch sight of figures moving about in the surrounding forests. "Stop. We're being watched and we're going to be attacked soon. In fact, we're probably surrounded, I suggest everyone prepare themselves." You say. The group forms a protective circle as best they can while you try to keep an eye on all the possible directions of attack. Eventually a few orcs and ogres emerge from the trees. However, something doesn't look quite right about them. They're savage looking like you'd expect, but even for their kind they're moving a fashion that isn't typical. It's more like how an animal would move. They don't make any usual taunts or threats either, but you do hear some loud guttural growling sounds. It probably isn't surprising that some of the soldiers decide they aren't going to wait around to be attacked and go ahead and fire. Two or three of the attackers are wounded, but then the rest make a horrible wailing sound which causes everyone to clutch their ears in pain. Then they move in for the attack, but it's more like a loping gait rather than running. Ogres don't typically run either… "Oh shit, WENDIGOS!" you shout and start casting your mind shield spell, but before you can complete it a possessed orc is already upon you. "Meat!" the orc hisses with its fang filled mouth right in front of your face. You feel a claw dig through your armor and puncture your skin just before you stab the monster through the neck with your dagger. Blood spurts all over you before manage to get the thing off of you and stomp it repeatedly in the throat, crushing it completely. You then hear a voice in your mind. "Sssssss! I sense power…great power…you're an Eye! Hated Eye! Eyes! Away! Away my fellows! Before this they destroy us all!" the voice exclaims. Before you know it, the possessed orcs and ogres cease their attack and begin backing away. Everyone is a bit confused and quite frankly you are too. "Why'd they stop attacking?" Jennifer asks. "Because we were kicking their asses! Hah! So much for the dreaded wendigos!" a soldier remarks, several of the other soldiers cheer in agreement and press forward to attack the retreating wendigos. You aren't exactly sure what's going on, but apparently this wendigo knows you have the capability to destroy it. However, nobody else here can and if the wendigos figure that out, you're going to be in trouble when the spirits are released from their dead hosts. You're not about to give away the fact that everyone else is defenseless by shouting verbal commands to stop attacking, so the best thing you can do is cast your spell. Which is going to be a brand new experience for you since you've never actually cast a mind shield spell over other people before. Ignoring the sounds of gunshots and shouting around you, you concentrate on your spell and try to focus it on the group. It takes a lot more energy than you anticipated. Meanwhile you're getting questions on what you're doing. "Shut up! All of you! I'm trying to protect our lives and it's taking all my concentration! Now does anyone hear any voices? And I'm not taking about my own right now. I'm taking about raspy sounding voices going on about giving up or something similar." This question is followed by the group all-stating that they don't hear anything like that. You breathe a sigh of relief and while you still can't sense any wendigo spirits lurking about, you're not going to take your guard down yet. "Okay, good. Like I said before we got here, if anyone does hear voices let me know immediately. I heard one of them in my head and it thought we were eyes, or they thought I was. It got scared and told the rest to retreat before I destroyed them all." "An eye? What does that mean?" someone asks. "If I had to guess? They thought I was part of an elite military branch force of the old Empire." You say. "We've only found a bit of information on the Eyes, but I didn't know they actively hunted wendigos." Jennifer says. "They didn't. In fact other than some stealth operations during the Felkan War their primary function was internal security after the shadows were disposed of. They didn't have any magic abilities to destroy creatures like wendigos." "Something must've changed then." "I'll say. The only time I've ever heard fear in a wendigo's voice is just before I banished it. I'm guessing it sensed I had that ability and figured I was an eye, which leads me to believe that this mythical warrior's guild we're trying to find must be run by the eyes or decendents of them. Heh. Glad you held something together ol' friend." You say with a smile. "What's that?" Jennifer asks not knowing what you're thinking about. "Warrick. He was head of the Eyes. A Sightmaster. I can only imagine that if the Eyes did survive to this day, he must've had a hand in it somehow. Come on, I'm actually just as anxious as you to find this place now." After patching up some of the wounded you're soon on your way again. You hate dispelling the protection, but if you keep it going constantly, you'll be running out of stamina when you might need it for more physical foes. You just hope that the wendigos continue to believe that you're all Eyes. As it turns out, the rest of your journey is plagued by horrible weather conditions instead. There's also debate on which way to go when the remnants of the Empire roads disappear to wilderness and can no longer provide a base guideline of where to travel. Jennifer and most of her workers want to follow the maps, but you're convinced that you should continue in the direction of where you last remember Fort Defiance to stand. > You follow your instinct Maybe things have somewhat since you were here last time, but the fact remains, you were actually in Rask once, nobody else here has and who knows if those maps are accurate. You're going to trust your gut and head towards where you remember Fort Defiance was located. Nobody in Jennifer's expedition crew is exactly pleased with that decision, but Jennifer calms them down and says she trusts you. You continue your journey and it's a miserable experience as a freezing ice storm hits hard within a couple of hours. What remaining horses and other pack animals you had left end up either panicking or outright collapse from the exhaustion. Your group ends up having to dig out a shelter and hunker down for the storm to pass. Food isn't much of a problem since you just butcher the animals that are dying any way. Fire isn't either since you can conjure it up. Still, it's not an ideal situation and others in the group are starting to experience minor frostbite and argue with one another. A couple more days of this and you're still not at your goal and the cold is even worse. Either you've gotten lost or Fort Defiance has long since fallen to the wilderness. More arguing occurs and blame is placed on you. "I told you we should've followed the maps!" one of Jennifer's crew remarks. "Why the hell are we listening this guy for? He's also the one that insisted on leaving two of our people with blood thirsty orcs!" "I'm also the guy that's keeping you alive, but that situation can be changed…" you answer. Surprisingly the man doesn't back down. "Oh sure, threaten me with violence, that's your solution to everything isn't it?" "It's worker pretty well so far and suggest you back off if you don't want a demonstration to see just how well." "Go ahead Mr. badass eternal! We're already fucking dead anyway now that you've gotten us lost! Of course you probably don't give a shit because you'll just survive by eating our bodies after we all…" You can't hold back any longer, you punch the man in the face breaking his nose. He falls to the ground in a daze. You step forward to give him more of a thrashing, but Jennifer gets in your way. "Alright that's enough! I think you've proven your point to Kevin. We're already fighting the elements and the hostile creatures that live here, we don't need to fight each other as well." "(Sigh) Fine, but this asshole better not step out of line again, otherwise I might not be as reasonable!" you remark and then gesture to your soldiers to help Kevin up. As they do so, it would seem that Kevin isn't quite through with you yet. He grabs a pistol from one of your soldiers and fires it right at you. He's not accurate enough to get a kill shot, but he's close enough that he doesn't miss. You feel a hot burning sensation go right through your stomach and pass through your back. "Shit! Fuck…" you utter and fall to the ground. While you're bleeding internally and externally, your soldiers make quick work of Kevin causing remainder of Jennifer's people to either look on in horror or scream and yell. Jennifer rushes to your aid, but she isn't quite sure what to do. "Damn it, should've…get off me!" you exclaim. Your body is partially in shock, but you manage to catch a breath long enough to gather your thoughts. You need to heal yourself quickly. With you attempting to concentrate, Jennifer's crew screaming, your soldiers threatening to subdue them and Jennifer trying to reason with everyone, nobody is paying attention to their surroundings. at least not until an ogre comes loping out from the trees and rips off one of your soldier's heads. More ogres come out of the trees as well and they aren't normal kind… "Fucking wendigos!" you shout. The wendigos must have been watching you and finally figured out you aren't Eyes at all and given that you're somewhat incapacitated now, they also figured now would be good time to strike and they were correct. You can't even get up, because the bullet ripped through your spine paralyzing you from the waist up, the bet you can do is wave your sword around in an attempt to slash at the wendigos nearby. It doesn't take long for them to easily kill Jennifer and her crew, followed by your soldiers and by the time they get to you, you're still weak from blood loss and having limited mobility. You manage to kill one of them before one puts its fist through your chest and rips off the top half of your torso for a feast.

You may have lost your mind thinking that you can even attempt living a normal life, but then you're the same guy who actually listened to a twisted abusive svelk bitch that convinced you it was a good idea to attack the Emperor too. And what's this decision compare to something like that? You tell your second to take command of the camp, when he asks for how long, you just tell him until further notice. He's at a loss of how to respond as you leave. When you arrive back at the museum, you find that Calvin, Jennifer and several others are packing up a lot of equipment. "Hey, what're you doing here?" Jennifer asks. "I had to talk to you…what's all this?" "Another expedition! After all these years, Quintus is funding another one." "What? He's sending you to dig around in Quala again?" "No, we're going to Rask!" Jennifer says excitedly. "Rask!?" "Yes! Remember when I mentioned there were rumors of a warrior's guild up there? Well over the years I've been studying old maps and the newer charts created by the few adventurers that came back alive from there and I think I've managed to pin point the location. See?" Jennifer suddenly unfolds a map and points to a circled spot on it. You know a lot of time has passed, but if your knowledge of Rask geography is still remotely relevant at all, that looks like where Fort Defiance would've been located. "That looks like where Fort Defiance was located." You remark. "There was a fort there?" Jennifer says. "Yeah, it was the furthest military outpost in the north of the Empire, well save for one other, but that was more like a small watchtower." You answer. "I didn't know you served in Rask." "I didn't actually, but I did carry out one personal favor there for a fellow Eternal, the one manning that watch tower I just mentioned actually." "Oh. Well still, this would be one of those times I wish you could come with us. Your knowledge of the area even if it is out of date would probably be useful." "Believe me, I'm tempted to. I can't believe Quintus is just sending you out there like this. The dangerous journey TO Rask is bad enough, but the weather in Rask is just as treacherous as the inhabitants and I can only imagine after centuries without any order there its probably only gotten worse since." "Well he probably wouldn't have if I hadn't went to him about the information I found. Plus he was in a good mood about senator's Batalimus' recent suicide. Did you hear about that?" "Uh, yeah another lucky break for our side, look I better go with you." You say. "But don't you have orcs to slay or defending our borders or…" "All of that can be done without me, I think the army is competent enough now that I don't need to hold their hands and if they still do then you're REALLY going to need me to come with you because that means the soldiers you are taking won't be worth shit in a fight. In fact if you even want to get to Rask, you're going to need me to negotiate with the Flogger tribe. Not to mention there's much worse things in Rask than ogres and giants." "What about Quintus? Don't you have to report this to him?" "Fuck Quintus, he's not my master. He could stand without me holding his hand every five minutes too. Nobody tells me what to do." Jennifer takes a pause from your remark, before continuing. "Well, alright then, as long as you don't think it's going to cause any problems I'd be very happy for you to join us. So what was it that you wanted to talk to me about?" "Huh? Oh…that. Uh, nevermind now." "Oh come on, you obviously had something pretty important if you left your post in Quala to tell me. This expedition to Rask business sort of distracted you from your original intent of coming here in the first place, but nevertheless you haven't really abandoned your previous thoughts of settling down with Jennifer so you take her to one side and tell her. Her reaction is mixed though not one of any negativity. "Sounds like you've given this some thought and this decision couldn't have just been on a whim for you." Jennifer says. "It wasn't, that's why I had to see you. I mean I know there's something between us and why shouldn't I focus on that?" you reply. "What about reviving the Empire?" "Yeah, originally after I woke up and got a bit more of my bearings, the concept of doing that did sound appealing and move me into the direction I've been currently going in, but that's been my whole life! I mean my original purpose is gone. MY Empire is gone. Why shouldn't I try something else? What could it hurt?" "Nothing I suppose, but have you thought about what else you would do with your time? I mean no offense, but battle and war are pretty much your best skills." "Yes, I know. I wasn't talking about abandoning such things completely though, I mean I could go with you on expeditions and guard your museum." "Guard the museum?!" Jennifer says followed by laughter. "What's so funny?" "The idea that we'd need a warrior mage to guard my father's museum is hilarious to me. I think the word overkill comes to mind. While the expedition protection would no doubt be of help, it isn't like that's what we do all the time as you well know. We're in the museum most of the time and you'd get bored. Very bored. Besides, it isn't like we get people trying to steal anything on a regular basis. The last time was ten years ago and the thief in question only managed to grab the tooth of an old Usksha sand worm before he was apprehended." "Well I could talk about the old Empire when people come through or something…" "So you want to be part of the tour? Yeah, I don't see that working in the long term either. Look I think you're just feeling home sick or time sick or something again. Why don't you think about this decision more after our trip to Rask, and if you still feel the same way when we come back, we can make arrangements for your future plans I suppose." You agree to Jennifer's proposal since she does have some good points and now you're a little less worried about your future so much as you're more concerned with this expedition. When Calvin hears that you're accompanying the expedition he looks relieved. He mentions that he actually tried to talk his daughter out of going on this thing, but she wouldn't be swayed so he was going to go with her knowing that he'd probably die in the process. Since you're going now, he's going to stay at the museum stating that he's completely confident that she'll come back alive now. Along the way to Rask you warn everyone about the wendigo. Other than Jennifer nobody else seems to know anything about them and she's only heard stories. Apparently they're just "myths" nowadays, but you assure everyone that they're very real and if anyone begins to feel like an unnatural force trying to gain control over their mind, they need to see you immediately and fight the mental attack as if they're life depended on it because it does. This information probably makes everyone a bit more paranoid and on edge, but quite frankly they should be. Eventually you get to the Flogger tribe territory, which seems to have moved further south from when you last remember. Apparently Trog has indeed been taking advantage of uniting the other tribes under his banner. The decor hasn't changed though; they're still favoring the hundreds of dead bodies stretched across various wooden frames with their backs completely flayed of all skin to mark their turf. Naturally everyone (especially the soldiers) are expecting a fight given that you're technically at war with the orcs in general, but you tell them you can handle this and tell them to stay put. "Oy! Youz that Ternal man!" an orc shouts from the crude watchtower. Not that you're an expert, but this orc is familiar, if only because of his great fat belly. "Fatbelly wasn't it? Where's your comrade?" It takes awhile for Fatbelly to process this question at first, but he eventually he knows who you're talking about. "Oh, youz must mean Bilge. He dead. Idjit got 'imself killed by gettin' into scrap wit an ogre. 'Ead got popped off an lived for awhile. Won bet on how long! Hah! Anywayz Trog spectin' you again. 'Ead on in." "He knew I was coming?" "Geez, maybe youz powerful, but yooz stooped as Bilge. Trog Shaman! He haz vishuns member?" "Hmm, how could I forget." You say ignoring the rest of Fatbelly's insult and heading past the dead bodies. Trog isn't far ahead." "So once again the Eternal visits Trog. And once again Trog see that you come, but not know the reason. Is our arrangement going as planned?" "Yes, in fact while I'm here I might as well address that too. We've gotten what we need from the war. You no longer have to play any role in it, that is stirring up the other orc tribes." "Trog see. Very well we did have an agreement and the Floggers have benefitted greatly from this arrangement, so it is done for now. However, Trog cannot promise that other minor tribes will not still attack. Can only promise that Floggers will no longer play any part in such attacks." "That's fine, probably for the best that we still get a few attacks. The other reason that brings me here, is that I and my group need to get through to Rask." "Trog see. Can you not just go around us?" "From what I can tell Trog, that isn't even possible anymore. Your territory was probably blocking the easiest route to Rask to begin with, now it looks like you're blocking it entirely. We have to go through your territory." Trog doesn't look enthused by your suggestion, but ponders it a bit. "Very well, but you cannot just pass for free. Need to extract some sort of payment or security of goodwill." "We aren't really carrying any valuables Trog." "Do not want things. Want people. Give us two. One for your passage through and one for the return trip." "Okay…so what are you going to do with them?" "Nothing. Just keep here so you do not pull any tricks." "What tricks would I play, I've always dealt straight with you. And you do realize that if I was going to play any sort of trick, I'd be more than willing sacrifice whoever I did leave behind and do it anyway?" "Hmm, true. But still, cannot just let you pass for free. Tribe would perceive as weakness. Those are the terms. More than fair." Trog IS being more than fair. He's downright civilized compared to most humans you've known. Under normal circumstances you'd do it without a blink, but you're fairly certain the group is going to be VERY resistant to this idea and you can't say you'd blame them. It's this or just pushing your way through. > You push your way through Trog is being fair, but there is always the chance that Trog is outright lying and he'll have them for breakfast or something. It isn't likely, but it's still a possibility. Plus he needs to realize that he's gained a lot with your alliance. "Trog, I understand your position, but I can't just leave two people with you. Now our deal was pretty good for you, so I'd say letting us through is the least you can do." You remark. Trog continues to remain stoic and unmoved by your remark. "This offer is not negotiable, Eternal. Perhaps you are mistaking Trog's civility for weakness, but Trog urge you not to make such a mistake. You either pay price or you can find another to Rask." Trog says. "Erm…maybe we should do that. Surely we could find another way around and…" Jennifer begins to say, but you're only half paying attention. You're too annoyed with Trog right now. "Look, we're not going to waste time going around your shitty barren territory. It's not like you've got anything worth while here that we're going to disturb anyway. YOU seem to forget who the fuck I am Trog. I could slaughter you right now and you know it! We're going through and that's it!" "Eternal you kill Trog and you'll bring down the entire wrath of the Floggers down on your head! And even if you get away, Floggers will turn their eyes towards your precious nation and never stop waging war until it has completely been burned to the ground." "Given some recent events I've experienced, you seem to think I actually care about Nalin…but perhaps killing you isn't the solution." You say and then suddenly grab Trog. He attempts to struggle, but after a couple of hard punches to his face you knock him the ground and tell one someone to hand you a rope. "What…what the hell are you doing?! Isn't this going to bring every orc here down on our head?!" Jennifer exclaims. "Nope. Trog here is going to be our safe passage. Now gimme some damn rope!" you order. One of the Jennifer's crew nervously throws one to you, meanwhile everyone including your soldiers are looking around anticipating an attack. "You…you fool. Eternal, you believe Floggers will not attack just because you have Trog hostage? You think Trog cares about life?" "Nice try Trog, but it's all bullshit. If you were a regular simple-minded orc, I'd agree, but you aren't are you? You're a fucking shaman, I'd wager that even most of the Floggers know how advantageous that is and they won't risk your death. As for your life, well like I said, if you were the average orc I'd say no you don't care, but you're not average. You have a sense of self-preservation. If you didn't you wouldn't have made a deal with me in the first place. Now let's go!" you say and pull Trog up from the ground after tying him up. "You will rue this day Eternal." Trog says, but complies with your commands. "I'm really afraid, this seems really dangerous, maybe we should just go back." Jennifer says. "What the fuck did you think this was going to be Jennifer? A walk through the flower fields? If you think this is dangerous, what the hell do you think Rask is going to be like? It's a pitiless land filled with fucking monsters that will eat your fucking heart! Now this is YOUR expedition, I suggest you get comfortable with the fact that unexpected things like this might happen!" you yell. Jennifer is taken back by your response. Granted she's been on the receiving end of your vitriol before, but not for quite some time and at the time you weren't putting everyone in danger. "Come on, we're getting the hell out of here." Jennifer remarks to her crew. "This is just insanely dangerous." Jennifer remarks and begins to walk in the opposite direction. Her crew slowly follows her. "Are you fucking kidding me?" you say. "After all I've done for you?!" "Done for me? You ruined this expedition by taking an orc shaman hostage! Even if we DO make it through, did you think about how we were going to make it back? I dunno what the hell happened with you recently, but you are not thinking shit through. You just told Trog that you didn't even care if orcs burned down Nalin! I highly suggest you get your…" Jennifer's speech is cut short with an arrow through her back and out her chest. She stares down briefly to see the head of the arrow still dripping blood and piece of her heart on it. She then falls to the ground dead. The weird thing is you don't even see any orcs in the direction where the arrow came from. In fact there aren't any around, yet another arrow hits one of your soldiers. You turn to Trog who just stands there silent and still tied up. "Call off your fucking greenskins Trog! You turned them invisible or whatever you did, I don't care, call them off or your life ends here!" you command. "You were right Eternal, Trog do value life. That's why Trog not even really here." Trog says and before your eyes you see Trog's image completely disappear. An illusion. All along you were talking to an illusion. Who knows where the real Trog is. You have little time to find out as more arrows from invisible orcs rain down on your position killing whoever is still left. Had you been paying more attention, you could've just cast a barrier around yourself and avoided them, but while you were threatening illusionary Trog, several arrows puncture your internal organs. You fall to the ground and begin coughing up blood. You desperately try to heal yourself before you succumb to your wounds, but there isn't enough time. You start to lose consciousness before the orcs finally materialize and finish you off in a more up close and personal way. Your last moments are being beaten and chopped to a bloody unrecognizable pulp by several clubs and blunt axes.

Year 540 It's not there yet, but the political and social climate in the republic is finally getting to a point that's a little more recognizable to you. Thanks to Trog's actions the orcs have been attacking the Nalin just like you wanted. After a couple of burned down massacred villages, the Nalinites are a lot more supportive of military endeavors (Kobold citizens especially, but that's hardly surprising given their nature). The citizens are also becoming more fearful and suspicious of other "foreign threats" like the usksha. Highlighting the sandman drug epidemic and the crime due to it, Quintus has managed to get restrictions on the southern borders of Nalin. The usksha that used to live within Nalin are starting to go back to their desert due to the increasingly hostile population. Trade hasn't completely stopped, but the relationship between the republic and the emirates is very strained now. Of course some of this still wouldn't be possible without senate support, however that's become more in Quintus' favor due to a combination of several factors. Some are just like the peasants, they're getting scared because their comfortable lifestyle are at risk and want to protect themselves. Some were weak from the start and vote depending on which way the majority is heading. There are still holdouts that don't agree with the more militant policies however. Even the "will of the people" does not sway them to fall in line. The most vocal of these is Senator Batalimus Ventis who has been a long time rival of Quintus. He's stated that this trend towards militarism is going lead back to the dark days of when Matriarch Tarna ruled the land. He has also stated quite openly that Quintus is a warmongering fool that is only a puppet for his "mysterious Eternal" advisor. Quintus hates the man more than he hates the usksha and feels he's the main cause of all his woes. Apparently he's also decided that even if it isn't quite time to dismantle the senate, it is time to get rid of Batalimus and has tried to have the man assassinated on a few occasions. All attempts have failed so far though and all it's done is served to make Batalimus more cautious and legitimize his accusations about Quintus (Even if he can't quite connect Quintus to the actual assassins). You're going to have to speak with Trog soon about the attacks having served their purpose and that he needs to ease up. Trog is under the impression that after all this is over; he or at least his people will have a place within the new order when it finally comes about. In truth, you'd like to have a few orc legions if only for the intimidation factor of keeping the citizenry in line. However, you aren't exactly sure how likely that's going to be since orcs are increasingly becoming hated by the average citizen and are unlikely to want them to be incorporated into the new order no matter what. Let alone as soldiers. Another problem for another day you suppose. Right now though you're on your way back from another visit with Quintus (who basically did nothing but bitch about Bartalimus) and on your way back to Quala. You're a lot better known now and as you pass through you mostly get a lot of respectful nods from the military and worried glances from citizens. Your reputation within the republic has grown and it's much like it was back in the old Empire days. There's a certain familiar comfort in that. Before you leave Dalt you decide to pay a visit to Calvin's museum to see Jennifer. Since the orc war, expeditions to the Quala Badland have been put on hold so Calvin and Jennifer have returned to work at their museum to study what they have found in more detail and ultimately put it on display. When you enter, you see a sign that tells people to be sure to visit their brand new Empire exhibits. Naturally you wander over to where these displays are, so you can see how much they actually got right. When you get to the exhibit its currently empty of visitors. You're impressed with what you see though. They've managed to recreate a small portion of the Emperor's palace and fill it with the old stuff they found. Some of the things are just replicas, but they're very good replicas and in the correct locations. They even managed to restore one of the Emperor's big black statues. Just looking at all this stuff makes you feel like you're back where you should be. When you close your eyes you can almost imagine that you are where you WANT to be. If only things had been different, you wouldn't have to be starting all over again… "We tried to make it look like what we thought it looked like in the past and based on writings we found." You hear Jennifer's voice say and you open your eyes to see her stand to the right of you. "You did a good job, almost feels like home. That big ass black statue wasn't in the throne room though. In fact the Emperor never even used the throne room when I knew him." You say. "Yeah, but we did have any place else to put it. I think its impressive looking where we did put it though. Should draw in a lot of people. So did you come here to revisit old memories?" "Not at first, but this is was a nice distraction." "Glad to hear it, well I'll leave you to your thoughts." Jennifer says and begins to leave. "No, stay here with me, I came here to see you in first place. Besides, no point in reliving past glories when I don't have anyone to share said glories with." You say and grab her hand. Jennifer's reaction is a positive one in that she doesn't let go and moves closer to you. "So since you've got the time, how about you tell me about some of those old glories?" Jennifer asks. You gladly do so. You talk with Jennifer for hours until it starts getting late at which point you say you have to get back to your mission in Quala. Jennifer understands and wishes you luck on it. "If you're going wish me luck, how about you do it with a kiss?" you ask which takes Jennifer by surprise. "That's certainly new. What brought this on?" "I thought you liked me. You do don't you?" "Of course, I'm sure I was pretty obvious about it." "Well why ask why? I'm fond of you as well. I like your company and you're the only person I've ever considered my friend since I got dug up. You're independent, you're physically attractive and you listen to all my stories. What's not to like?" You say which causes a small chuckle from Jennifer. "Okay…we'll talk more about this later, but for right now, here's that kiss." Jennifer moves in to kiss you and the pair of you embrace. After your minor amorous interlude, you take your leave of the museum. You briefly wonder if pursuing a relationship with Jennifer is a good idea, but what's done is done and you'll just have to figure it out. Once again, another problem for another day you suppose. Just as you get out of the gates of Dalt, two guards approach you. They're not military or domestic security, they look like private guards, probably those of a senator. "You the Eternal?" one of them asks. "Yes." You answer. "Senator Batalimus wants to see you. If you would accompany us to his home please, it's just a few miles west of this city." Well this is an interesting turn of events, though perhaps not entirely unexpected. If you had to guess, Batalimus either plans to have you killed when you arrive to meet him or he's going to try to convince you to be on his side. You doubt he has the means to do either. You don't know if you should even bother entertaining him at all, but then you think if he does try to kill you, then you'll have eliminated the need to kill him later. Hell, even if he doesn't try to kill you, maybe you should just do it anyway. You agree to follow the guards and eventually you reach Batalimus' estate. His home isn't much bigger than Quintus' home, though there are a lot more trees and gardens on his grounds. As you expect there are a lot of guards patrolling about. When you step through the front door you feel like you've stepped into a barracks rather than a senator's mansion due to all the guards standing around. Soon an older balding man dressed in a purple robe comes down the grandiose staircase. It's Batalimus. "Ah the Eternal, at last we meet face to face." Batalimus says. "Yes, I'm surprised that you didn't confiscate my weapons though." You answer. "Whatever for? We all know you can just incinerate or fry everyone in the room with the snap of your fingers. It's not like you actually need a sword or even a pistol. You're a walking weapon without such things." "So? Why risk bringing me here then?" "Because I have nothing to lose. Your associate, Quintus seems quite determined to have me killed. Granted he always has harbored ill feelings, but now that the little reprobate has the advantage his confidence has reached an all time high. I suppose the fool has to have his fun though given the family he has. In any case I figure its only a matter of time before he sends you to do the deed and while I could increase my security even further, I quite frankly doubt if it would stop the likes of you. At best you might get mad." You have to appreciate someone who knows exactly where they stand. "So…you brought me here to kill you?" "Hah, I hope not, but I suppose that is a strong possibility. No, what I'd like to do is try to convince you to perhaps not kill the republic because that is what you and Quintus are striving to do, though I believe I actually have a shot with getting through to you. You aren't saddled with any emotions of hatred towards me. To you, I'm just another potential obstacle in your goals. If I have to be killed then you will, but if it isn't necessary you won't." Well it looks like Batalimus has opted to try to get you on his side, just like you thought he might. He is over estimating your willingness to kill him though. True you don't have any hatred for the man and quite honestly you probably already respect him more than Quintus within the short time you've met him, but you've been known to kill folks even if you believe that they will be potential obstacles in the future. Still, killing Batalimus right now isn't exactly part of the plan, so you'll most likely just leave unless he tries to stop you. Then again you did come all this way so there is no harm in hearing him out. > You leave You know what this is going to be, his attempt to convince you of why you shouldn't be helping Quintus. You're not interested in anything he has to say, and it will be pointless to do so. "I'm going to just leave now and stop wasting both of our time, Batty. I suggest you don't try to stop me." You remark and begin walking towards the door. "But, you're already here! You can't just listen?" Batalimus says. "No. This was a lapse in judgement on my part I suppose. Still, I guess I got a good idea of the layout of this place when I eventually have to kill you." "Very well then, but I had hoped you'd be reasonable about this Eternal." With those last words you leave Batalimus' house and return to your duties in Quala. Just as you're thinking about how you need to go see Trog soon about your little arrangement you get an urgent message from a republic messenger. "He's fucking dead?!" you exclaim. "Yes sir, as I said he was found dead in his home, poisoned. His assets are all being seized due to him owing various people, though his wife is contesting…" As the messenger drones on about this, you realize you're in position that you really should've considered. Namely, you have no "patron" anymore. Sure, you're somewhat popular with the military, but Quintus' influence on the population and his fellow senators were a big deal. Batalimus must be behind this and even if he isn't, he's going to be the main one taking advantage of the situation. Without another word you ride off to Nalin and you don't stop until you arrive at Batalimus' place. Batalimus' personal guards are surprised to see you and even more surprised when you start chopping them down with your sword. Despite killing everyone in his home, you don't find Batalimus so you go to the next logical place to look, the senate building. You don't have any more luck there, all you manage to do is interrupt some of the senators debating something or other. "Where is Batalimus?!" you demand. "I don't know! We don't know!" the senator that has the floor answers, but it really isn't the answer you want to hear. "Lies!" you say and fry the senator with a lightning bolt. "You really think your republic is going to survive? Most of you were already supporting Quintus' ideas, now I bet you're ready to turn your back on those same ideas just because he's dead. Well Batty killed the wrong man. I will see the Empire return even if the rest of you are too cowardly to do so!" you shout and begin throwing fireballs at the rest of the senators. You don't stop until you leave the senate house in flames. By this time the military is on the scene, but they're unsure of what to do for several reasons. So you give them the reasons. You take immediate control of the military and tell them to start hunting for Batalimus and to maintain order. A few days later and it's official. You make your announcement that the Republic is dead and that the Empire now lives again. The general public doesn't know quite what to make of everything. You're sure that there will be some sort of misguided rebellion especially with Batalimus still on the run probably stirring up dissent, but with the military behind you're confident that you won't have too much trouble. Year 541 "You really think this is going to change anything? Look at the nation! Despite your attempts to crush its spirit with your outdated concepts of order it still resists you! Face it, you've already lost and my death will not save you!" Batalimus screams defiantly. You break a couple more of his ribs with a few stomps to his chest. The older man wheezes and gasps in pain. He won't show fear though; he's fully willing to die. "It may not change anything, but keep this in mind before I send you on your way. Your actions did NOT save the republic; it only increased the chaos and strife. You may have fucked up my plans, but you have completely destroyed and betrayed your own." "(Wheeze) Perhaps…Eternal…(gasp) but better the people should live in anarchy than under your brutal order!" You shake your head at his answer and crush his windpipe with your boot. At last the thorn in your side has been removed, but the damage he's done has not. In fact you're not even certain that you can repair it. Even with Jennifer doing her best with the propaganda machine, it's still not enough. You have attempted to recreate a secret police in a similar style of the Emperor's Eyes, but efforts haven't proved too successful mainly because you're too busy using the military to keep direct order. Even portions of your military have turned against you, if not outright treason then desertion. Some have fled to find work within the six cities of Arat or even joined up with the pirate groups in Delerg. It isn't that the people don't fear you, it's that they hate you more than they fear. Even after you've destroyed entire towns that have dared defy you, you still get pockets of resistance running off into the wilderness to cause ongoing problems. Your methods in the beginning months were probably too harsh in retrospect. Killing everyone in the senate certainly didn't help as perhaps some of those experienced fools might've still been useful in swaying public opinion and dealing with the more mundane issues of running the government. Combine this with the fact that the idea of things like "liberty" still lingered within the people, your brutal actions only proved to them what happens when a single tyrant takes power. Instead of cowing them into submission, you ended up lighting a fire of freedom that you still haven't put out yet and at this point you wonder if you ever will. Batalimus of course took advantage of that fact too. Between the steady attrition of loyal soldiers, the ongoing defiance of the people, external threats like the Flogger tribe hearing of your struggles and taking advantage of your lightly defended outposts in Quala (And certainly have no intention of joining your Empire now) you are pushed to the brink and beyond. You decide if the fools won't submit to your rule, you'll burn the whole damn thing down. Jennifer however talks you out of it saying that it won't solve anything. She also tries to convince you that maybe you should consolidate what holdings you do have and build from there. It's a nice thought and it's certainly logical, but you're so exasperated at the entire situation that you decide to just give up. You realize that your time has come and gone. The people don't want you around and at this point you don't even care to rule them anymore. In fact you don't even care about ruling anything anymore. All you really ever wanted to do was serve the Emperor and the Empire and enjoy your time with Alison. Things were so much simpler back then. You shouldn't have ever listened to Semra. Even if the Emperor had killed you, at least you wouldn't exist in a time where the Empire doesn't. You would've died at least knowing the Empire would still be around. Not being able to go on and unwilling to stick around, you suddenly leave Nalin forever. Where, nobody knows. Some say you found death in the Usksha Desert, others say you found it in the cold mountains of Rask, but ultimately what happened to you is lost to time.

Year 537 "Ah, there's nothing better than when a plan comes together! Your actions of stirring up the orcs have been paying off and I've finally managed to get the public to become in favor of a strong army and your training has been producing much tougher and disciplined soldiers to create that stronger army." Quintus remarks to you while he sips his wine. "I'm certainly glad someone you finally found someone more competent than yourself. Makes all your years of failure totally worth it." Quintus' wife Nalia remarks in a bored tone lying on a couch. She's already on her second bottle of wine and it's not even the afternoon yet. While Quintus dismisses his wife's usual emasculating remarks, you're wondering why you're here when you could be doing something more important to keep this plan in motion because its nowhere near coming together like Quintus seems to think it is. The orcs haven't even made a major attack yet. They've just been harassing a few patrols, but it's just as well since you're still trying to whip the paltry number of spirited soldiers you do have into shape so that they the orcs do attack they'll be ready for them. You can't really complain, because you are doing something you're familiar with and good at, but the main thing that's been nagging at you is Quintus himself. You don't respect him and it's starting to become a problem sometimes. It's not anything he's done to you either. He's practically bent over backwards to accommodate you in anyway he can. You wondered at first if it's his overly smarmy demeanor with you which at times seems fake, but that isn't it. Part of that is that he's a politician and he probably can't help but be that way as part of his personality, not to mention you've become quite a good judge of character and you believe his admiration for you is genuine. Regardless of what his wife claims, Quintus is extremely ambitious and a hard worker which you can appreciate. He's just been hampered by the social and political climate. If he'd been born during the time of the Empire, he would've fit right in. Might've even been one of the Emperor's advisors. Despite all this, you've been developing an increasing lack of respect for the man. Not to the point that you're ready to kill him or anything, but taking orders from him has got you questioning why? Of course you know the reasons why, because the republic is still a pussy whipped place that has long since abandoned the ideals of people like yourself and trying to take power like a strong man would ultimately only result in chaos and collapse. Ironically, you'd probably be more at home in one of the city-states in Arat where they still favor a single ruler. What it all comes down to you think is Quintus' family. Something about Quintus' lack of admiration from his own family bothers you. If he can't reach the people that are supposed to be closest to him, how the hell can you respect him? Gets harder to when you have to be subjected to these meetings and see his family walk over him first hand. They all either criticize him or belittle him even though he's been trying to make life better for them. His wife is a slothful alcoholic that has never a word of encouragement for him. She looks much older than she actually is mainly due to hitting the bottle so much. She's never truly addressed you directly, but her attitude seems apathetic at best. His teenage daughter Yollanda is a red headed trollop that routinely sleeps with the sons of his senate rivals and in some cases the rivals themselves. And those are the "classier" encounters. Quintus once complained that if there was a good purpose for her bed hopping like say for gathering important information on his enemies it could be acceptable, but she has no higher purpose other than the pleasure of her girl parts. You try to stay away from her as her outright sexual advances that's she's made towards you in the past is a complication you don't desire or need. Makes Jennifer's obvious minor crush on you downright subtle by comparison. Then there's his younger son Gelo who is an idiot. Not in the traditional sense that he does stupid things without thinking them through, no he's a dyed in the wool, born and bred moron. You imagine that his mother might've drank while she was carrying him, but who knows? By and large he's harmless, but extremely annoying. He yells a lot, breaks things and is generally obnoxious mainly because he doesn't even have a stable structure to mold him into something at least somewhat useful. You don't understand why he wasn't killed at birth. Such defective babies were usually either put to death by the family or at least sold into slavery so that they could be productive to the Empire on a minor level. It was a good policy. The only positive thing is he seems to be afraid of you and thus stays away (Often screaming his head off and runs away if you're ever in the same room.) And that's just Quintus' immediate family, it's not even counting the other in laws and extended family that basically mooch off of him. For a man that has ruthless ideals he's a doormat when it comes to his family. Fortunately for Quintus, he seems to have a lot more luck with the general population and has been getting more support just like he's been bragging about lately. If you were Quintus, you might crave the respect of strangers as well. "Quintus, why am I here? I'd like to get back to my job." You remark. "But that's precisely why you're here my Eternal friend! Your job! Since the army problem is well on its way to being taken care of, I think its time to move on to our navy." "Navy?" "Yes, you do remember we have one such as it is. I'd like you to have a hand in making it stronger as well." "And just how the hell am I supposed to do that?" "I dunno, you told me you were the military expert. Just do it the same way you did with our army I suppose. Stir up the pirates of the Delerg islands so they start attacking our costal towns en masse and the people demand a stronger navy." "Quintus, I'm glad you're excited about the plan, but the first part of it isn't even ready yet. I don't feel the soldiers are even ready yet. They've been in a few skirmishes, but nothing that is really going to test them. And there's still the matter of the orcs. They're riled and I have noticed large tribal gatherings as if they're preparing for a large attack against a bigger foe, but by and large they're still disorganized and in some cases still attacking one another." "But surely you've trained some of the soldiers enough that they can perform these duties in your stead? Delegate responsibility to the more talented ones?" "I have, but its a slow process from them to train their fellows as well as I trained them and I still wouldn't trust any of them to do what I'm doing with the orcs, or at least not do it and live. Quite frankly I need more time with them and diverting my attention to your navy is just a distraction." "But the senate is going to dismantle it!" Quintus exclaims. "Oh please will you stop whining in front of the help Quintus. It is soooo undignified. You don't have to try to impress me anyway; I always knew you weren't man enough to help my brother out with his shipyard. If the senate does dismantle the navy and his shipyard goes under because of less business, well he can always live here. No big deal." Nalia remarks taking another long swig out of her wine bottle. Quintus has no words he just throws his hands up and looks to you for help, but what can you do short of killing his wife? And you're fairly certain he doesn't want that no matter how much she gives him grief. You suppose you could see what you could do with the naval situation, but the main problem is you have practically no experience in such seafaring things. You dare say the average sailor has much more experience than you do about such matters. Sure you'll be assisted, but without the actual experience you'll still have a disadvantage that you don't feel comfortable with. On the other hand what exactly does the republic need with a powerful navy anyway? As far as you know they don't have an enemy trying to invade them from sea and they don't have contact with a big nautical trading partner. They just send merchant ships to travel along the southern coast to the Usksha Emirates. If the pirates got too out of control, they could just send large shipments through the desert. > You try to strengthen the navy While the military definitely still needs your attention, you've got the ball rolling on that aspect already. You can see that Quintus really wants this navy build up to happen for several reasons and there are still pirate troubles after all, so you might as well see what you can do on this front. "Alright, we'll get the navy strong again, or whatever it was before I showed up." You remark. "Good, good! I'm sure we'll make improvements so quickly that I'll be able to convince the senate that the navy shouldn't be dismantled. So, I guess you'll want to get started immediately, so you should make your way to Waveview, it's the largest of our port towns where our most experienced sailors are and most of the shipbuilding takes place. In fact Admiral Jarred Plickus should be there right now." Quintus says. "Wheeee! My incompetent husband finally managed to convince one of his goons to actually do what he wants for a change. This calls for a drink!" Nalia says and finishes off her bottle and grabs another one nearby. You leave before you insult Quintus' wife, well actually you leave before you do something worse than just insult her. You make your way to Waveview and then to seek out this Admiral Plickus. After asking a few passing sailors and shipwrights they direct you towards one of the larger ships and say he's aboard that one. The admiral apparently likes to spend all his time aboard his favorite ship. From afar the ship looks impressive, but when you're up close it looks less so. You expected the pride of the Nalin fleet with the admiral aboard it would at least look more presentable. With as many noticeable "patches" they've nailed into the hull, they might as well have just built a new ship. The rest of the crew direct you to Admiral Plickus' cabin when you finally board the ship where upon you find him fast asleep. He looks so damn old, you half wonder if he was alive during the time of the old Empire. (He's human though so you know that isn't the case) When you finally manage to wake him up to interact with him, he's not exactly young of mind either. You honestly don't know why this man is still commanding anything, let alone a fleet. Frustrated you leave the cabin call for the captain of the ship. "Yeah, I'm here." A bearded man little older than you replies. "I'm here? What the hell kind of answer is that?" you answer back in a threatening manner. The captain suddenly realizes who you are exactly and makes more of an effort. ""Oh shit, you're that Eternal. Apologies sir. We didn't know you were coming. My name's Len." The captain says desperately attempting to straighten himself up. "By the status of the admiral it seems like he still doesn't know I'm here, let alone who I am." "Yes, well the admiral is getting on in years, but the senate doesn't seem to care. I believe two of his sons are on the senate in fact." "Figures. If he's here, then they don't have to take care of him at their own home. (Sigh) If this is supposed to be the best the fleet has to offer, I'd hate to see the other ships up close." You say. "It's um, well I dunno what to tell you sir, except the truth. It's true, the fleet isn't given much attention; in fact you'll probably find our cargo ships kept in better condition because of our trade with the usksha." "And that's fucking stupid for the sole fact that you need to defend those same ships from pirates. That means warships that don't look like they're on the verge of sinking themselves!" "I agree sir, and I've tried to make due with what I can, but spending on the navy has been cut a lot over the years. In fact I heard a rumor that the senate was going to dismantle the navy altogether." "Well not now they aren't. I've been told to try to get something done with this sorry excuse for a fleet." "Oh? Well I suppose that would be a blessing, sir." "Glad you think so, because as of right now, you're the new admiral of the fleet." "I am?" "Well I assume you're the next most competent and experienced sailor if you're commanding this wreck. Is that not the case?" "Well I don't like to boast sir, but I am indeed the best captain that the Nalin fleet has to offer…such as it is. But trust me sir, that I routinely make forays into the Delerg islands in the hopes of whittling down some of those pirate bastards." "Good, shows you're at least proactive." After a bit of explanation of what you want done to shape up the navy, you tell Len that you're going to go talk with the shipyards and have them to start concentrating on building new warships. "Didn't you want a demonstration?" Len asks before you leave. "Demonstration of what?" "Of whether I'm really up to this task. I mean I think it's a great honor that you've placed so much responsibility on me, but I'd still like to prove myself to you. Come with me on a patrol. I mean this might be my last time in a long time since I'll have to be organizing stuff for a while." You think about it for a while and you can appreciate the fact that Len wants to show you that he's up to the tasks you've set before him. "Okay, but what about the ex-admiral?" you ask. "Him? Bah, we patrol with him on board all time, he never even wakes up despite the cannons. Let's set sail." Len says. Soon you're on your way towards the islands of Delerg. That still seems odd to you. Wasn't a place you visited a lot, but the idea that that swampy landmass is now just a cluster of islands is still a little weird. You find that being on the open water isn't quite as bad as you thought either. You sort of had a minor concern about this whole navy thing at first, but going into battle on the water will certainly be a new thing you can experience and you're sure this crew will appreciate the extra magical firepower you can bring. You do ask Len about going on patrol alone and wouldn't it be better to bring more ships, but he mentions how half of them are being repaired and some are pulling shore defense duty elsewhere. He mentions that pirates usually try to run rather than fight anyway and that while this ship looks horrible, it's a lot more durable than it looks and certainly more than anything the pirates have. "The major handicap is speed and maneuverability, usually they can outsail us if they really want to get away, but our firepower prevents most from escaping before they get that far." Len laughs. A few days pass and you're finally in Delerg waters. You see several islands nearby, but the fog is making it harder to make out anything in the far distance. "Is it always this foggy?" you ask looking out across the limited foggy view. "Not always, but this is actually a good thing. This will allow us to sneak up on the pirates." "Or allow them to sneak up on us if we aren't careful." You say. "Funny you should say that…" Len says and then two gunshots are heard and a painful sensation in two parts of your back. You gasp and your upper half falls over the side of the ship. "Damnit, I told you idiots to aim for the fucking head!" Len says "Sorry sir, can't see for this fucking fog." A sailor answers. "Nevermind all that, help me throw him overboard!" Len replies. As you're gasping for air and trying to move to do something to defend yourself, captain Len and his treacherous crew grab your limbs and throw you overboard. "Sorry Eternal, but the smuggling business is too profitable for me to start making enemies out of my business partners. And with you around breathing down my neck with this navy shit, I'd never get anything accomplished." Len says as you plunge into the water below. Under normal circumstances, you might've been able to heal yourself of the two big bullet holes in your back that also caused severe internal damage, but floating in cold water, with limited mobility and a profuse loss of blood is a deadly combination. You eventually lose consciousness and the merciless sea does the rest.