Fantasy The Dark Lords of Araen IC

[Selee-01]

Thirteenth Meeting of the Free Council



In the Hall of Zarazattar, eleven mortals took their seats. Dwarves, Men and Elves from across the World glanced at each other, and began.

“The graves of our ancestors have been stripped bare,” one Dwarf shouted.

“Civil wars rage in the Umbral Empire,” an Elf said.

“Corpses walk with golems,” the Human king Akash spat. “Not only that, but organizations of criminals are on the rise in my realm.”

Multiple voices shouted, Elves, Dwarves and Men alike, until a single voice silenced all others.

“There is only one cause of all this,” the Empress of the Lunar Elves said. “The Dark Lords have returned.”

There was quiet.

“The Dark Lords are dead,” Akash ventured at last. “Their unhallowed cities razed, towers cast down, and power diminished to naught. They are dead, in unmarked tombs across the World.”

“Not dead,” the Empress said. “Not sleeping. They are awake, and aware. And if we do not ally against them, Stitched Unkindness, Elder of Night, Black Emperor, Madness Manifested, Eternal Souleater and the Eclipse Necromancer alike, we will fall. The World will burn, or freeze, or drown in nightmares, unless we ally against them.”

____________

In the North, in the most distant seas, a massive island rose from the water. A smoldering mountain range jutted from the hoarfrost-covered earth, casting the great Necropolis in shadow. In the deeps of the subterranean chasms, beyond all light, an Angel knelt before an empty throne.

“My Lord, Your will be done. The Dark Lords have risen.”

The darkness thickened.

“The time is nigh, is it not, Master?”

The faintest hint of heat bubbled from the earth’s heart. A voice of hellfire and ash, corrupted and filled with malice, spoke.

“GO FORTH, AND CONTINUE YOUR DUTIES.”

The Angel left with speed, not looking back as he ascended to the Heavens.

 

[Kingly K Duel]

"Weaklings, the lot of them." Noxsin replied as he brushed his evil teeth, spitting out the gunk and whatnot as he looked at himself in the mirror. "They failed to put an end to me back when they had the deliberate chance, and thousands of years later...I have returned."

The Dark Lord finished his dental care as he wiped the remaining residue off with a cloth, before heading out from his own bathroom.

Entering his main room, he sighed as he knew the state his abode, Castle Valiard.

Nestled high upon an acolve of rocks and a shadow of its former glory, being absent for decades did little to preserve what was once the grand dark catalyst it was. Of what it could become once again.

A knock had taken his thoughts away as a voice sounded afterwards. "Father. The morning meal has been prepared for you."

With a slight groan at the mention at the term, Noxsin replied in turn. "All right. Meet me down in the throne room. I'll be there shortly."

With the sense that the figure bowed behind the other side of the door and leaving afterwards, the Dark Lord dressed himself in his usual attire, coming out of his custom nightgown as he did so.

Once he was outside the room, he took a moment to glance at the crumbling walls that were covered in cobwebs in places. "...Taking Umbral is going to be a priority. Those elves ruined my castle, and by everything unholy, they're going to rebuild it."

Once in his throne room, his retainers appeared as Sault, Moltan, Veltos, and Yutal stood before him as a chained, black skinned elf kneeled in pain, his tongue already cut out to silence the coming screams.

"Ah. Another tribal, I assume?" Noxsin replied, inspecting the goods. "They've been lately rowdy as of today. Of course, they're outcasts so seeing them out in the wilderness shouldn't be all that suprising."

"They're from a tribe known as the Ethil. However they may look like elves, they've long since forgone their Umbral ways in favor of their own. Which is the health of the body." Sault replied, in a cold but honest tone. "Shall I bring something more tender, my lord?"

"No, Sault. This meal will suffice for now." Noxsin replied, starting the process of activating his blood magic at his disposal as the elf started to shiver violently. Blood started to pour from his eyes as mouth as veins began to pop, splurting blood as the torrent raced to the Dark Lord. Slowly but surely the blood was dissolving into his skin, as his body was receiving an influx of life force as the muscle tone shifted slightly, growing in mass.

It only took minutes, but by then the elf became nothing more than a withered corpse, which was then burned by Moltan, taking care not to singe the carpet floor surrounding the group.

"Ah...that was delicious." Noxsin replied, giving his arm a testing flex before sitting down on his throne, getting to buisness. "Now then...status report."

"It appears that the Thirteenth Council has been held, mi'lord." Moltan replied, a slight smirk on his face forming. "If you ask me, they all should be squished like ants right now."

"Patience, Moltan. Taking over their lands will come." Noxsin replied, looking over his own abode. "Anything else?"

"The Civil War between the Umbral Elves is currently going on my lordship. Perhaps we could use this opportunity to gain favor amidst a faction of theirs?" The Dark Cryomancer replied, bowing at his suggestion in front of the Dark Lord.

"Hmm...Plausible. I wouldn't deny that we need to rebuild my castle, and those fools did wreck it centuries ago." Noxsin said, smiling a little. "But laying a siege against a kingdom when we have so little is foolish."

"Then do you wish to subjugate the scattered settlements in the meantime? My orc scouts have located three in our vicinity. Two are of Men, one of an Elvish make. Probably the one Sault referred to as the Ethil." Yutal replied, smiling to his 'Father'.

"Perhaps that would be best. I only call upon a council when the most dire of situations should arise. Veltos, I want you to take a platoon of 24 dire wolves, 5 orcs and 17 skeleton soliders and bring me prisoners from the Men Settlements. Moltan, go with Yutal and take 40 orcs to seize the Elven community. Now go."

With that command, the servants set off with their orders received.

"Now comes the time when I will make my name known..."

 

[Selee-01]

"Weaklings, the lot of them." Noxsin replied as he brushed his evil teeth, spitting out the gunk and whatnot as he looked at himself in the mirror. "They failed to put an end to me back when they had the deliberate chance, and thousands of years later...I have returned."

The Dark Lord finished his dental care as he wiped the remaining residue off with a cloth, before heading out from his own bathroom.

Entering his main room, he sighed as he knew the state his abode, Castle Valiard.

Nestled high upon an acolve of rocks and a shadow of its former glory, being absent for decades did little to preserve what was once the grand dark catalyst it was. Of what it could become once again.

A knock had taken his thoughts away as a voice sounded afterwards. "Father. The morning meal has been prepared for you."

With a slight groan at the mention at the term, Noxsin replied in turn. "All right. Meet me down in the throne room. I'll be there shortly."

With the sense that the figure bowed behind the other side of the door and leaving afterwards, the Dark Lord dressed himself in his usual attire, coming out of his custom nightgown as he did so.

Once he was outside the room, he took a moment to glance at the crumbling walls that were covered in cobwebs in places. "...Taking Umbral is going to be a priority. Those elves ruined my castle, and by everything unholy, they're going to rebuild it."

Once in his throne room, his retainers appeared as Sault, Moltan, Veltos, and Yutal stood before him as a chained, black skinned elf kneeled in pain, his tongue already cut out to silence the coming screams.

"Ah. Another tribal, I assume?" Noxsin replied, inspecting the goods. "They've been lately rowdy as of today. Of course, they're outcasts so seeing them out in the wilderness shouldn't be all that suprising."

"They're from a tribe known as the Ethil. However they may look like elves, they've long since forgone their Umbral ways in favor of their own. Which is the health of the body." Sault replied, in a cold but honest tone. "Shall I bring something more tender, my lord?"

"No, Sault. This meal will suffice for now." Noxsin replied, starting the process of activating his blood magic at his disposal as the elf started to shiver violently. Blood started to pour from his eyes as mouth as veins began to pop, splurting blood as the torrent raced to the Dark Lord. Slowly but surely the blood was dissolving into his skin, as his body was receiving an influx of life force as the muscle tone shifted slightly, growing in mass.

It only took minutes, but by then the elf became nothing more than a withered corpse, which was then burned by Moltan, taking care not to singe the carpet floor surrounding the group.

"Ah...that was delicious." Noxsin replied, giving his arm a testing flex before sitting down on his throne, getting to buisness. "Now then...status report."

"It appears that the Thirteenth Council has been held, mi'lord." Moltan replied, a slight smirk on his face forming. "If you ask me, they all should be squished like ants right now."

"Patience, Moltan. Taking over their lands will come." Noxsin replied, looking over his own abode. "Anything else?"

"The Civil War between the Umbral Elves is currently going on my lordship. Perhaps we could use this opportunity to gain favor amidst a faction of theirs?" The Dark Cryomancer replied, bowing at his suggestion in front of the Dark Lord.

"Hmm...Plausible. I wouldn't deny that we need to rebuild my castle, and those fools did wreck it centuries ago." Noxsin said, smiling a little. "But laying a siege against a kingdom when we have so little is foolish."

"Then do you wish to subjugate the scattered settlements in the meantime? My orc scouts have located three in our vicinity. Two are of Men, one of an Elvish make. Probably the one Sault referred to as the Ethil." Yutal replied, smiling to his 'Father'.

"Perhaps that would be best. I only call upon a council when the most dire of situations should arise. Veltos, I want you to take a platoon of 24 dire wolves, 5 orcs and 17 skeleton soliders and bring me prisoners from the Men Settlements. Moltan, go with Yutal and take 40 orcs to seize the Elven community. Now go."

With that command, the servants set off with their orders received.

"Now comes the time when I will make my name known..."

The settlement of Alazar, a village of the Seafarer Men, was largely unprepared for the assault. They had no foes amongst the Elves, and the Men of the sea were their own blood.

They were, however, not ready to give up.

Arrows rained on the wolves and Orcs, killing and injuring many, as the Alazarian hunters took up positions on the rooftops. The skeleton soldiers, being inanimate bones, weathered the attack with ease. The leader, a man named Keros, rallied his men.

“We can drive the poxy bastards back! Get some hammers from the smithy, and quickly! We’ll smash them to bone dust!”

•••*•••

The Elven town was built into a rocky hillside in the jungle, hidden in the carven stone. The Orcs were heard and smelled before they arrived, and the guards were at the ready.

Bows twanged, and a few Orcs fell before they hid amongst the trees. There were still many, too many to be merely shot. The Orcs were still numerous, and needed to be eliminated.

The bows were set aside, and the Elves donned swords and armor. Several dozen emerged from hidden doors, and readied for battle. Their dark blades absorbed the light. They were carved from dragonscale, sharper and stronger than any other, and their armor was the same.

The Umbral Elves stood firm, ready to die to protect their own.

 

[Kingly K Duel]

The settlement of Alazar, a village of the Seafarer Men, was largely unprepared for the assault. They had no foes amongst the Elves, and the Men of the sea were their own blood.

They were, however, not ready to give up.

Arrows rained on the wolves and Orcs, killing and injuring many, as the Alazarian hunters took up positions on the rooftops. The skeleton soldiers, being inanimate bones, weathered the attack with ease. The leader, a man named Keros, rallied his men.

“We can drive the poxy bastards back! Get some hammers from the smithy, and quickly! We’ll smash them to bone dust!”

•••*•••

The Elven town was built into a rocky hillside in the jungle, hidden in the carven stone. The Orcs were heard and smelled before they arrived, and the guards were at the ready.

Bows twanged, and a few Orcs fell before they hid amongst the trees. There were still many, too many to be merely shot. The Orcs were still numerous, and needed to be eliminated.

The bows were set aside, and the Elves donned swords and armor. Several dozen emerged from hidden doors, and readied for battle. Their dark blades absorbed the light. They were carved from dragonscale, sharper and stronger than any other, and their armor was the same.

The Umbral Elves stood firm, ready to die to protect their own.

Veltos smirked as he looked inwards twoards the battlefield. "Amateurs. Even a normal Solider should know not to make their orders too loud. Ah, well..."

With a mere snap of his fingers, lighting strikes began spewing forth as dark clouds without the coming of rain entered the zone, heavily impacting the smithy with care not to harm his own troops, the electrifying commander chuckled slightly. Looking at the wounded orcs and wolves, he ushered another order. "Fall back to the rear line and patch yourselves up. Once done, flank the enemy. They may be spirited, but they can't fight like true warriors."

The losses, however, were replenishing as wild monsters of a small variety began encircling the port town, smelling the scent of blood spilled upon the battlefield. Strangely, they seemed more interested in the meat of Men rather than those of the orcs and other wolves. Perhaps to them the species were a delicacy.

"And so begins the panic..." Veltos spoke softly, unsheathing his blade as his eyes were glistening with corrupted malice and sadistic intent upon inflicting harm upon them. "Their time came and went...now they must suffer under the banner of my lord or suffer in the dirt."

Meanwhile...

"Looks like the Elves are putting their lives on the line, eh, Yutal?" Moltan said, semi-yawning at the opposing force. "Dragonscale armor sells for quite a bit, so I'd imagine it'd fill our coffers even when damaged."

Yutal nodded as he gave out commands. "Don't let them trample over our Lord's name, you orcs! Surround the village and pin them five to one! And when you find their leader...bring him to me."

"Are you sure? Looks like that might end badly..." Moltan replied, suprised a little by the command.

"True. But then again you set things ablaze with only eye contact, so if things are just swaying the other way, you can roast them alive."

Moltan clapped happily as he smiled. "Certainly! I'd love nothing more than to barbecue dark meat! But just to be sure..."

With a whistle sounding off, the sounds of feathers were abundant as a flock of dark phoenixes filled the skies above, purple flames spewing from each flap. "Come, my precious birds! Time for your exercise!"

The flamed birds shrilled in response as their quick movements were barely seen, talons forward as the aerial and ground spectacle began.

If it wasn't a bloodbath already, it was now. Either the Umbral elves would surrender or they would all perish.

 

[Puppernickel]

It was a rather nice day at castle Eintracht, all things concidered. The sun was shining, birds were chirping, all sorts of flowers bloomed. There was a training exercise going on in the courtyard below, with drill sergeants yelling at the trainees to "do better, maggot!" And other similar lines.



Looking over it all from a window was Dementia himself. Today he'd felt like taking a small break from shapeshifting all the time, and thus was in his natural form, lounging on a large pile of cushions with Fluffles, his werewolf companion, laying down nearby. Dementia waited calmly for his advisors to arrive, watching the sun rising outside the window as he thought about his castle.

It had taken years, nay centuries, but he had finally come full circle. Eintracht was once more in the grasp of the Stringed Emporer, despite the minor case of 'death' he suffered at the hands of those silly little heroes. Huh, like death could stop him!

"They may have slain the Stringed Emporer, but Corruption itself is coming for you all." Dementia murmured, moving his hand lightly over the windowsill as he smiled softly. "Soon all shall see my chaos, and revel in it." He let out a long cackle, which was then interrupted by knocking at the door

"Enter, everyone!" Dementia called out, not turning around as the small group entered. As always Sable was dressed in plain looking dark grey clothing with a dark grey cloak over it, while on the other hand Darlok was dressed in a pristine three piece suit complete with tie. Jessica was wearing something plain and easily ripable, appropriate for a werewolf who might have to change shape at any moment. Harvy was wearing the epitome of a slick businessman's suit, complete with slightly greasy looking surface. Snippet however was sweaty and wearing her armor, as she'd just come of of the training field to attend the meeting.

"Please, sit sit, enjoy yourselves!" Dementia said loudly, gesturing at the table standing in the middle of the room, which was laiden with all sorts of refreshments and lunch. "It is about lunch time for some of you, so I figured we could do a lunch meeting today." After a moment's thought Dementia used some light telekinesis to remove the sweat and some of the smell from Snippet, who frowned when she noticed, but didn't argue.

"How kind of you to think of us, your grace. Truly the generous sort." Harvy said in his ever cheerful voice, quickly sitting down and pulling out a chicken leg, along with some other delectables. "If I may be so bold, may I enquire as to why you called for all five of us?"

Dementia hummed softly, rubbing his chin with his feathered hand as he pondered his answer. "Yes, you may be that bold! Hmmm, well, there are a few things that need to be taken into proper account. First things first, Sable and Harvy, how goes infiltration of the Kingdom of Florian?"

Sable bowed slightly from his seat before idly returning to fiddling with an apple, moving it around in his hands as he spoke quietly. "Well, they've been rather persistent in their resistance. While we've managed to either shove out or integrate most of the criminal element in the few outlying cities, it seems that the capital's crime has mostly been consolidated into a thieves guild known as the Blacklist, and thus have proven harder to remove then usual." Sable frowned in thought, glancing at Harvy before continuing. "As for corrupting King Bernard himself, we're having trouble getting near him. He's a rather paranoid tyrant after all, and constantly afraid of the many enemies he's made in his, aha, 'empire'." Sable chuckled.

Harvy nodded in agreement. "I've managed to contact a few of the nobles in the city, but there aren't that many who fit our needs and are in a high enough position to make much of a difference. Well, possibly...." Havry trailed off, unsure if he should continue, but Dementia made a 'go-on' gesture, so Harvy trudged on.

"We could start a coup against King Bernard." Harvy began slowly. "It shouldn't be difficult concidering the peasants hate him, and there are several noble houses that would jump at the chance to rule the kingdom. It would be mostly ignored by the neighboring realms as well, since it would simply be yet another tyrant losing his kingdom in a power play. Simple, effective, and we might not even need to do anything beyond the initial push required to begin such conflict." Harvy winced, watching his master's expression warily as he waited for a verdict.

Dementia hummed, mulling over the proposed idea before nodding in thought. "That's not a bad idea actually. But tell me, what would we use the conflict for, what purpose would it have? Wouldn't it just harm our current hold on the criminal element in the kingdom?"

Harvy blinked, surprised that his suggestion was actually being taken seriously, but continued on with relish. "Well, if all else failed we could secure some of the surrounding countryside using those who are faithful to you, and have them take control of the kingdom. As for the criminal element, a war would weaken the Blacklist, thus being to our benefit more then a cost. At least, that'swhat I think, your grace." Harvy winced, waiting for the shoe to drop and for Dementia to start berating him for a fool.

Dementia mused over the proposed plan and found himself nodding slowly. "That's not a bad plan Harvs, I must say. It has some flaws sure, but I'm sure you'll iron them out on the way. Very well, conduct a revolution against the nearby aristocracy!" Dementia grinned broadly as he held his arms out wide. "Spread our agents among the populous with orders to sow confusion and delay on all fronts! Snippet, I want a team of 60 shock troops to head out and begin securing some of the outskirt towns as soon as someone fires the first shot. Jessica, assign 15 of your lycan to the squad, with orders to scout and remain unseen." Dementia glared at everyone present, his eyes glinting wickedly. "This is to be a covert operation people. I don't want mention of our involvement getting anywhere near the Coucil of Freedom. If all else fails, blame it all on some gang war between rival thief guilds or some such."

As quickly as it had appeared, the dangerous glint was gone, replaced by the more familiar cheerful grin that w as common for the Spirit. With a chuckle Dementia leaned back, idly messing with an illusion of a cloud with his fingers. "Well, now that that's been dealt with! Snippet and Jessica, how goes the training of new troops? Anything that needs to be noted?"

"No Sir." Snippet grunted her reply, shaking her head. "Training is going precisely on schedule, although we had an incident yesterday when some idiot managed to tick off one of Captain Jessica's contingent. The matter was promptly dealt with and the subjects was reprimanded for their actions."

"Luckily the idiot didn't die, although he'll need his arm sewed back on by a blood mage." Jessica continued for Snippet in a far too cheerful manner. "He'd been warned not to mess with Valiant just like all the other idiots, so he had it coming for pushing it."

Dementia chuckled and waved a hand in dismissal. "Well as long as he lives to learn another day, I believe we shall all manage to get by, although I do wish less idiots found their way to my service. So, what else is on today's itinerary?"

The rest of the meeting went on as normal, and lunch was had between what could loosely be called friends. After all, it was hard not to like each other when everyone had to deal with Dementia in the same room. He tended to make you get along by at the very least mutually hating his guts, though none in the room had that particular issue.

 

[Skylord Nexus]

"How entertaining!" An impish grin spread across Vexark's face as he observed the councils meeting through his orb, a light laugh escaping his lips "I love it when they try to band together like this."

To his side sat an angle who had been going over papers before placing them down to raise an eyebrow and the dark lord "Are you sure that's the right reaction to have sir? After all, wasn't it a similar occurrence which resulted in your defeat the first time?"

Vex sat up slightly in his chair, lightly chuckling and waved his hand dismissively "Now, now my angelic amigo, you make it sound far worse than it actually was. I merely had a very minor rebellion because a few of Ebonthorne's citizens were slightly unhappy with me because I was a brutal dictator which had just murdered half the city's population to dissuade them from revolting against me." "That went well didn't it." "Yeah, as it turns out, doing that tends to make people angry and forcibly take the city gates while you're under siege... allowing heroes to burst into your throne room... and stab you seventeen times in the stomach... Ok, admittedly it wasn't my finest moment." He then stood up, and patted the angel on the back "Besides, I now have you to make sure that doesn't happen."

Alexander sighed and began rubbing his temples in a vain attempt to fight off the migraine he could feel forming "That may be true sir, but that won't matter if the council is able to mobilize against you, we don't have the numbers, nor fortifications to fight off such an assault."

All this concern received was another dismissive wave "Relax. You're talking as if they have an army on its way right now. From the sounds of it, they have a whole lot of crap to deal with before they get to us."

At that moment an elf walked into the large meeting tent with a large, black blade on his back yet comparatively simple armour "I'm inclined to side with Lord Vexark on this point Alexander. The council will have to use a great number of resources to quell the current unrest, and even after they're able to bring the realms some semblance of order, they'll likely focus of whoever the biggest threat is, so we need to remain as quiet as possible."

Vexark's face lightened up slightly as the elf spoke "Cassius! I was just going to summon you! Have you gotten the scouting reports back yet?"

Cassius nodded curtly, handing more papers to Alexander since he knew Vex would read them "I have. Within the general vicinity of Ebonthorne, there are several camps of bandits as well as two villages and a slightly larger town, though we are unaware of what race inhabits them. I do however believe that the bandits will make an adequate test for the troops. From there we should be able to take the villages effortlessly. The town might be slightly tougher, but nothing we can't handle. With your approval, I can have the men ready by tomorrow."

Vex began rubbing his chin in thought as his supreme general spoke, holding up a finger to stop him when he finished "A good plan Cassius, though I fear it may not help draw the people to our cause, the last thing we need how are towns of unhappy people to control given our stretched numbers. My suggestion would be to deal with the bandits, but use that as a way to endear them towards us, given out location I doubt they get much support from the kingdom. Not only would it give us more numbers than taking it by force, but we'll also get more skilled individuals. Which we desperate need, seeing as how we're currently living out of tents in the ruins of my city's market place." The Black Emporer then motion outside of the tent to the ruins around them.

Ebonthorne Market Place, Ruins:

Vexark then let out a mournful sigh "Oh how my great city has fallen! It used to be a centre of arcane innovation and now look at it!" He then proceeded to dramatically collapse onto the table and began using his illusionary magic to create an image of what the city used to look like.

Ebonthorne, As presented by Vexark:

"I never did quite work out how to get it on a mountain."

Alexander then coughed, snapping Vex out of his nostalgia-based stupor "Getting back on track, I think the plan could have merit, we'd also take fewer losses."

Cassius nodded and politely bowed "If that's what you wish my Lord then I'll see it done. I'd suggest sending Kymos out, he's been itching for a fight lately and at the rate he's going, he's going to start ripping the men apart when they spar."

Vexark began laughing to himself "As entertaining as that would be, I see your point, you have my approval... While you're at it form a second team lead by Darius, give them a portion of our supplies and have them pose as merchants, have them go between the town and villages and find out how easily they could be brought over to our side... also have Yvette shadow them in case of trouble."

The elf bowed once more "I'll see it done your majesty. If you require me, please don't hesitate to call, I live to serve." Just as Vex was about to let his general leave, he had a sudden realization "Oh, and Cassius, when it comes to the bandits, kill the leaders and allow any who are skilled and willing to join us." "What of those who aren't willing?" A darkness then crossed Vexark's face and he chuckled slightly more diabolically "We don't really have time to make a show of it so just slit their throats, strip them of anything of value and leave the corpses to rot. Make sure the bandits know the price of betraying their Emporer." "You're will be done."

As Cassius left, Vex fell back into his chair surveying the rest of the tent "Alexander. Where pray tell are Nathan and Alistair?" The angel began flicking through his notes as he responded, "Nathaniel is currently working of estimates for how much money and materials we're going to need to repair the entire city AND imperial palace so that they meet your exacting standards." "Good. Good." "And Alistair is... 'experimenting' " In the distance, an explosion could be heard along with maniacal laughter.

Vexark seemed very placed with this, giving a content sigh "The board is set. Let the games begin."

 

[Selee-01]

Veltos smirked as he looked inwards twoards the battlefield. "Amateurs. Even a normal Solider should know not to make their orders too loud. Ah, well..."

With a mere snap of his fingers, lighting strikes began spewing forth as dark clouds without the coming of rain entered the zone, heavily impacting the smithy with care not to harm his own troops, the electrifying commander chuckled slightly. Looking at the wounded orcs and wolves, he ushered another order. "Fall back to the rear line and patch yourselves up. Once done, flank the enemy. They may be spirited, but they can't fight like true warriors."

The losses, however, were replenishing as wild monsters of a small variety began encircling the port town, smelling the scent of blood spilled upon the battlefield. Strangely, they seemed more interested in the meat of Men rather than those of the orcs and other wolves. Perhaps to them the species were a delicacy.

"And so begins the panic..." Veltos spoke softly, unsheathing his blade as his eyes were glistening with corrupted malice and sadistic intent upon inflicting harm upon them. "Their time came and went...now they must suffer under the banner of my lord or suffer in the dirt."

Meanwhile...

"Looks like the Elves are putting their lives on the line, eh, Yutal?" Moltan said, semi-yawning at the opposing force. "Dragonscale armor sells for quite a bit, so I'd imagine it'd fill our coffers even when damaged."

Yutal nodded as he gave out commands. "Don't let them trample over our Lord's name, you orcs! Surround the village and pin them five to one! And when you find their leader...bring him to me."

"Are you sure? Looks like that might end badly..." Moltan replied, suprised a little by the command.

"True. But then again you set things ablaze with only eye contact, so if things are just swaying the other way, you can roast them alive."

Moltan clapped happily as he smiled. "Certainly! I'd love nothing more than to barbecue dark meat! But just to be sure..."

With a whistle sounding off, the sounds of feathers were abundant as a flock of dark phoenixes filled the skies above, purple flames spewing from each flap. "Come, my precious birds! Time for your exercise!"

The flamed birds shrilled in response as their quick movements were barely seen, talons forward as the aerial and ground spectacle began.

If it wasn't a bloodbath already, it was now. Either the Umbral elves would surrender or they would all perish.

The smithy exploded into flames, short screams echoing from the unfortunate men who were inside. Keros grabbed a spear, out of arrows, and noticed Veltos. He quickly came to the conclusion that he was the leader.

“Evacuate the village! Go to the boats!” Keros shouted. A few of his oldest friends joined him, sneaking towards the position of Veltos out of his sight. The rest of the defenders raced to escape onto the water, and then to Zarazattar.

Meanwhile, the Umbral fought like demons against the Orcs. Their dragonscale blades bit into iron and steel like rotten wood, black blood flowing onto the stony hillside. They were winning.

Then the phoenixes arrived.

The dragonscale was fireproof. Their hair and skin was not. Several phoenixes were slain, but so were the Elves. The battle hung on a razor’s edge.

It was a rather nice day at castle Eintracht, all things concidered. The sun was shining, birds were chirping, all sorts of flowers bloomed. There was a training exercise going on in the courtyard below, with drill sergeants yelling at the trainees to "do better, maggot!" And other similar lines.

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Looking over it all from a window was Dementia himself. Today he'd felt like taking a small break from shapeshifting all the time, and thus was in his natural form, lounging on a large pile of cushions with Fluffles, his werewolf companion, laying down nearby. Dementia waited calmly for his advisors to arrive, watching the sun rising outside the window as he thought about his castle.

It had taken years, nay centuries, but he had finally come full circle. Eintracht was once more in the grasp of the Stringed Emporer, despite the minor case of 'death' he suffered at the hands of those silly little heroes. Huh, like death could stop him!

"They may have slain the Stringed Emporer, but Corruption itself is coming for you all." Dementia murmured, moving his hand lightly over the windowsill as he smiled softly. "Soon all shall see my chaos, and revel in it." He let out a long cackle, which was then interrupted by knocking at the door

"Enter, everyone!" Dementia called out, not turning around as the small group entered. As always Sable was dressed in plain looking dark grey clothing with a dark grey cloak over it, while on the other hand Darlok was dressed in a pristine three piece suit complete with tie. Jessica was wearing something plain and easily ripable, appropriate for a werewolf who might have to change shape at any moment. Harvy was wearing the epitome of a slick businessman's suit, complete with slightly greasy looking surface. Snippet however was sweaty and wearing her armor, as she'd just come of of the training field to attend the meeting.

"Please, sit sit, enjoy yourselves!" Dementia said loudly, gesturing at the table standing in the middle of the room, which was laiden with all sorts of refreshments and lunch. "It is about lunch time for some of you, so I figured we could do a lunch meeting today." After a moment's thought Dementia used some light telekinesis to remove the sweat and some of the smell from Snippet, who frowned when she noticed, but didn't argue.

"How kind of you to think of us, your grace. Truly the generous sort." Harvy said in his ever cheerful voice, quickly sitting down and pulling out a chicken leg, along with some other delectables. "If I may be so bold, may I enquire as to why you called for all five of us?"

Dementia hummed softly, rubbing his chin with his feathered hand as he pondered his answer. "Yes, you may be that bold! Hmmm, well, there are a few things that need to be taken into proper account. First things first, Sable and Harvy, how goes infiltration of the Kingdom of Florian?"

Sable bowed slightly from his seat before idly returning to fiddling with an apple, moving it around in his hands as he spoke quietly. "Well, they've been rather persistent in their resistance. While we've managed to either shove out or integrate most of the criminal element in the few outlying cities, it seems that the capital's crime has mostly been consolidated into a thieves guild known as the Blacklist, and thus have proven harder to remove then usual." Sable frowned in thought, glancing at Harvy before continuing. "As for corrupting King Bernard himself, we're having trouble getting near him. He's a rather paranoid tyrant after all, and constantly afraid of the many enemies he's made in his, aha, 'empire'." Sable chuckled.

Harvy nodded in agreement. "I've managed to contact a few of the nobles in the city, but there aren't that many who fit our needs and are in a high enough position to make much of a difference. Well, possibly...." Havry trailed off, unsure if he should continue, but Dementia made a 'go-on' gesture, so Harvy trudged on.

"We could start a coup against King Bernard." Harvy began slowly. "It shouldn't be difficult concidering the peasants hate him, and there are several noble houses that would jump at the chance to rule the kingdom. It would be mostly ignored by the neighboring realms as well, since it would simply be yet another tyrant losing his kingdom in a power play. Simple, effective, and we might not even need to do anything beyond the initial push required to begin such conflict." Harvy winced, watching his master's expression warily as he waited for a verdict.

Dementia hummed, mulling over the proposed idea before nodding in thought. "That's not a bad idea actually. But tell me, what would we use the conflict for, what purpose would it have? Wouldn't it just harm our current hold on the criminal element in the kingdom?"

Harvy blinked, surprised that his suggestion was actually being taken seriously, but continued on with relish. "Well, if all else failed we could secure some of the surrounding countryside using those who are faithful to you, and have them take control of the kingdom. As for the criminal element, a war would weaken the Blacklist, thus being to our benefit more then a cost. At least, that'swhat I think, your grace." Harvy winced, waiting for the shoe to drop and for Dementia to start berating him for a fool.

Dementia mused over the proposed plan and found himself nodding slowly. "That's not a bad plan Harvs, I must say. It has some flaws sure, but I'm sure you'll iron them out on the way. Very well, conduct a revolution against the nearby aristocracy!" Dementia grinned broadly as he held his arms out wide. "Spread our agents among the populous with orders to sow confusion and delay on all fronts! Snippet, I want a team of 60 shock troops to head out and begin securing some of the outskirt towns as soon as someone fires the first shot. Jessica, assign 15 of your lycan to the squad, with orders to scout and remain unseen." Dementia glared at everyone present, his eyes glinting wickedly. "This is to be a covert operation people. I don't want mention of our involvement getting anywhere near the Coucil of Freedom. If all else fails, blame it all on some gang war between rival thief guilds or some such."

As quickly as it had appeared, the dangerous glint was gone, replaced by the more familiar cheerful grin that w as common for the Spirit. With a chuckle Dementia leaned back, idly messing with an illusion of a cloud with his fingers. "Well, now that that's been dealt with! Snippet and Jessica, how goes the training of new troops? Anything that needs to be noted?"

"No Sir." Snippet grunted her reply, shaking her head. "Training is going precisely on schedule, although we had an incident yesterday when some idiot managed to tick off one of Captain Jessica's contingent. The matter was promptly dealt with and the subjects was reprimanded for their actions."

"Luckily the idiot didn't die, although he'll need his arm sewed back on by a blood mage." Jessica continued for Snippet in a far too cheerful manner. "He'd been warned not to mess with Valiant just like all the other idiots, so he had it coming for pushing it."

Dementia chuckled and waved a hand in dismissal. "Well as long as he lives to learn another day, I believe we shall all manage to get by, although I do wish less idiots found their way to my service. So, what else is on today's itinerary?"

The rest of the meeting went on as normal, and lunch was had between what could loosely be called friends. After all, it was hard not to like each other when everyone had to deal with Dementia in the same room. He tended to make you get along by at the very least mutually hating his guts, though none in the room had that particular issue.

King Bernard sat on his carven throne, of gilded wood. Solid gold was much too expensive. His advisers and court tittered, something about revolts and criminal troubles. Was it a distraction? They were all scheming for his throne, he knew.

Then the massive doors to the Throne Room were cast open.

A man in a white cloak, and white enameled armor strode into the chamber. A golden blade hung at his side, inscribed with runes and oaths.

He was a Paladin, sworn to the Holy Gods and Arbitrator of Justice in their stead.

“I am Paladin Zamiro, your Grace. I have been sent to this Kingdom to examine the rumors of Unholy Activity, as recorded in Page 1207, Line 5 of the Holy Script. Failure to comply will be punished by forcible search by my Brothers and Sisters of the Twelfth Legion.”

King Bernard just nodded.

“Go forth and search my city as you wish.”

You didn’t mess with Paladin Legions.

 

[Puppernickel]

King Bernard sat on his carven throne, of gilded wood. Solid gold was much too expensive. His advisers and court tittered, something about revolts and criminal troubles. Was it a distraction? They were all scheming for his throne, he knew.

Then the massive doors to the Throne Room were cast open.

A man in a white cloak, and white enameled armor strode into the chamber. A golden blade hung at his side, inscribed with runes and oaths.

He was a Paladin, sworn to the Holy Gods and Arbitrator of Justice in their stead.

“I am Paladin Zamiro, your Grace. I have been sent to this Kingdom to examine the rumors of Unholy Activity, as recorded in Page 1207, Line 5 of the Holy Script. Failure to comply will be punished by forcible search by my Brothers and Sisters of the Twelfth Legion.”

King Bernard just nodded.

“Go forth and search my city as you wish.”

You didn’t mess with Paladin Legions.

Harvy Sinatra was currently an absolutely furious dwarf. Everything had been going according to plan: the nobles were bickering with each other, peasants whispered in the night, and the king hadn't noticed a single thing about the fire slowly growing underneath his fragile throne.

Then that thrice cursed Paladin had to show up and throw all his carefully laid plans to the wayside! Harvy couldn't act without gaining the attention of Paladin Zamiro, so he'd had to step back and figure out a way to get through. Sable had mentioned having a contingency plan for just such an event as this, but the Spy Master had yet to inform Harvy as to what precisely that plan entailed, so the dwarf was suck waiting impatiently for any news about what was going on.

Harvy groaned in frustration and leaned forward in his seat, rubbing his face with both hands as he cursed his luck for the fourth time that day. At the same moment a knock was heard at the door, which caused Harvy to glance up and see Sable entering the room.

"Please tell me you have good news for once!" Harvy grunted at the man, continuing to rub at his face. Sable closed the door before speaking, a rare smile gracing the man's face. "Oh, I have more then good news. I've managed to make our job easier."

Harvy raised an eyebrow, a hopeful look crossing his face. "What did you do?" He questioned slowly, interest beginningto mount. Sable's smile only grew in size and he walked over and leaned casually against the wall. "Oh my dear dwarf, I have just instructed a few 'honorable citizens' to answer the Paladin's questions with utter truth on their lips."

Harvy shot out of his chair, his heart racing as he growled. "Are you daft?! You'll bring the fool right to us if you tell him such things!"

"Ah, but my boy, you miss the point." Sable chuckled. "We don't deal with the Unholy most of the time and certainly haven't done anything in the kingdom, and thus we have less to fear from the Paladins, for they are searching for Demonic influence. However, the same can not be said about a few of the nobles in Florian, and a couple of the more troublesome members of the Blacklist, on whom we have evidence and proof of guilt. It would be a real shame if someone were to, say, inform the Paladin about such crimes, wouldn't it?"

With that Harvy's previous anger melted away into a thoughtful expression, a slow nod picking up speed as a grin to match Sable's grew on Harvy's face. "The Paladin's will arrest the more troublesome nobles, thus removing them from our way when we eventually make our move. Oh, that's dastardly! Guess you aren't Spy Master for nothing, eh, Sable?" Harvy chuckled and sat down, returning to his paperwork with a gusto. "So, what should we be expecting, and any advice on how to deal with it?"

"Pull out all of our criminal assets from the capital." Sable said flatly, all traces of humor gone from his face. "The Paladin is going to call in backup, so you can be assured they'll comb the city for every ounce of corruption they can find. We need to make sure the only things they find are corrupt nobles and Blacklist members. We simply step back, go underground, and let the Paladin do our job of clean up for us."

Harvy grunted, shaking his head as he began writing the appropriate letters. "Ugh, months of work building up our presence and a good idea all down the drain because of one stinking Paladin. Well, let's make the most of it I guess. Please make sure that Snippet and Jessica know to pull back as well, so that the Paladin's dont accidentally run into our force in the field."

Sable nodded in agreement, and with that left Harvy to his work, preparing to withdraw his own spies from the cities for the time being until this all blowed over. If, no, when the Paladin's found something, it sure wouldn't be Dementia's forces. They would pull back as far as neccessary to keep out of the Paladin Legion's reach.

 

[Dest]

Loud laughter echoes through throughout the large graveyard as Acheron receives a report from one of his shadows.

"So the others have awoken as well then?" he smiles, turning back to watch Razhul Mortice finish his runic circle, "This will make my triumph all the sweeter in the end."

"The ritual is read Master, shall we begin?" the pale and shaking necromancer asks after he has.

"Of course, I only wish I could see the look on that so called elven 'empress' when she finds out what has happened to her honored dead."

He watches as his pet necromancer begins chanting, the circle lighting up with an eldritch glow. As the chanting rises to a crescendo the sounds of shifting earth and cracking wood begin to echo through the area and a horde of the undead begin to rise.


"Shade, go to the spider, tell her the time has come, find as many high ranking elves as she can, and have her children take them," Acheron told the shadow in his hand as the ritual truly began to begin before muttering to himself, "I must make contact with one of the others, perhaps Dementia would be willing to trade some information for a bit of help with something or other."

As Acheron began to twist a new shade into being the moonlight lit the graveyard, showing the veritable legion of ancient elven warriors and the weapons and armor that they had been buried in.

 

[Kingly K Duel]

The smithy exploded into flames, short screams echoing from the unfortunate men who were inside. Keros grabbed a spear, out of arrows, and noticed Veltos. He quickly came to the conclusion that he was the leader.

“Evacuate the village! Go to the boats!” Keros shouted. A few of his oldest friends joined him, sneaking towards the position of Veltos out of his sight. The rest of the defenders raced to escape onto the water, and then to Zarazattar.

Meanwhile, the Umbral fought like demons against the Orcs. Their dragonscale blades bit into iron and steel like rotten wood, black blood flowing onto the stony hillside. They were winning.

Then the phoenixes arrived.

The dragonscale was fireproof. Their hair and skin was not. Several phoenixes were slain, but so were the Elves. The battle hung on a razor’s edge.

Veltos grinned a little at the futile attempt made by the Men. "So they chose to flee, eh? Too bad for them...that should've been their first thought."

Finding himself surrounded by the now healed orcs, more reinforcements came from the more tribal groups of orcs, as the smell of the smoke and fear of the Men made them gather.

"Now If I was smart I would..." Veltos mused, before stopping abruptly. "Ah...That would be your strategy then. Then I hope you dont mind running though an electric minefield."

Focusing on the energies around him, Veltos performed a smaller feat of magic, creating a conductive residue amongst the grass and trees as the entire forest area surrounding Veltos' forces was now an impassable wall of lightning, sparks buzzing about and fizzing, armed to harm any who wasn't part of the Electric Servant's troop.

"Find the Lifeboats. Destroy them. And no need to fear the killing. Cull the eldest, but spare the youngest for future labor." The evil Commander ordered, as the Orcs were flanking and making haste, the villagers likely panicking amongst the sudden horn of evacuation. "I'll deal with the brazen fools who think cutting of a head of a snake was palpable...because the fangs are the least of their worries."

Meanwhile...

"Haha! Look at their skin burn! They're practically dancing ablaze!" Moltan laughed, seeing the Elves trying desperately to put out their heads and body parts set ablaze.

"True. But your phoenix rally was a rather rash call. Although they'll come back soon enough given their regeneration capabilities..." Yutal spoke up next, with a wave of his hand summoning forth a Cerberus, infused with dark smoke alit with poison breath. "Now it's my turn. Watch and learn how a real conquest is won."

With a simple point of his finger, the three headed dog roared as it began tearing through the file and rank, emitting lethal gases upon its enemies.

"WHAT THE HELL, YUTAL!?!" Moltan shrieked, looking at the monster he summoned. "That dog is going to wipe out our army as well!!!"

"Relax, Reiss. This beast was a gift from my Father on my tenth birthday. I've fed him herbs that will...direct...the effects of poison to only our enemies." Yutal smirked, with a smile upon his face. "Herbs can be enchanted as well. It's just the really flashy stuff that only ever makes the history books."

 

[Selee-01]

Harvy Sinatra was currently an absolutely furious dwarf. Everything had been going according to plan: the nobles were bickering with each other, peasants whispered in the night, and the king hadn't noticed a single thing about the fire slowly growing underneath his fragile throne.

Then that thrice cursed Paladin had to show up and throw all his carefully laid plans to the wayside! Harvy couldn't act without gaining the attention of Paladin Zamiro, so he'd had to step back and figure out a way to get through. Sable had mentioned having a contingency plan for just such an event as this, but the Spy Master had yet to inform Harvy as to what precisely that plan entailed, so the dwarf was suck waiting impatiently for any news about what was going on.

Harvy groaned in frustration and leaned forward in his seat, rubbing his face with both hands as he cursed his luck for the fourth time that day. At the same moment a knock was heard at the door, which caused Harvy to glance up and see Sable entering the room.

"Please tell me you have good news for once!" Harvy grunted at the man, continuing to rub at his face. Sable closed the door before speaking, a rare smile gracing the man's face. "Oh, I have more then good news. I've managed to make our job easier."

Harvy raised an eyebrow, a hopeful look crossing his face. "What did you do?" He questioned slowly, interest beginningto mount. Sable's smile only grew in size and he walked over and leaned casually against the wall. "Oh my dear dwarf, I have just instructed a few 'honorable citizens' to answer the Paladin's questions with utter truth on their lips."

Harvy shot out of his chair, his heart racing as he growled. "Are you daft?! You'll bring the fool right to us if you tell him such things!"

"Ah, but my boy, you miss the point." Sable chuckled. "We don't deal with the Unholy most of the time and certainly haven't done anything in the kingdom, and thus we have less to fear from the Paladins, for they are searching for Demonic influence. However, the same can not be said about a few of the nobles in Florian, and a couple of the more troublesome members of the Blacklist, on whom we have evidence and proof of guilt. It would be a real shame if someone were to, say, inform the Paladin about such crimes, wouldn't it?"

With that Harvy's previous anger melted away into a thoughtful expression, a slow nod picking up speed as a grin to match Sable's grew on Harvy's face. "The Paladin's will arrest the more troublesome nobles, thus removing them from our way when we eventually make our move. Oh, that's dastardly! Guess you aren't Spy Master for nothing, eh, Sable?" Harvy chuckled and sat down, returning to his paperwork with a gusto. "So, what should we be expecting, and any advice on how to deal with it?"

"Pull out all of our criminal assets from the capital." Sable said flatly, all traces of humor gone from his face. "The Paladin is going to call in backup, so you can be assured they'll comb the city for every ounce of corruption they can find. We need to make sure the only things they find are corrupt nobles and Blacklist members. We simply step back, go underground, and let the Paladin do our job of clean up for us."

Harvy grunted, shaking his head as he began writing the appropriate letters. "Ugh, months of work building up our presence and a good idea all down the drain because of one stinking Paladin. Well, let's make the most of it I guess. Please make sure that Snippet and Jessica know to pull back as well, so that the Paladin's dont accidentally run into our force in the field."

Sable nodded in agreement, and with that left Harvy to his work, preparing to withdraw his own spies from the cities for the time being until this all blowed over. If, no, when the Paladin's found something, it sure wouldn't be Dementia's forces. They would pull back as far as neccessary to keep out of the Paladin Legion's reach.

The Paladin arrested several noblemen and criminal leaders over the course of a month. The ‘tipoffs’ from the ‘honorable citizens’ contributed greatly to the process. After the demonically manipulated nobles were tried and executed, Zamiro set up shop in a inn just within the city walls. He was planning to remain until he was certain that the Unholy influence was purged.

Loud laughter echoes through throughout the large graveyard as Acheron receives a report from one of his shadows.

"So the others have awoken as well then?" he smiles, turning back to watch Razhul Mortice finish his runic circle, "This will make my triumph all the sweeter in the end."

"The ritual is read Master, shall we begin?" the pale and shaking necromancer asks after he has.

"Of course, I only wish I could see the look on that so called elven 'empress' when she finds out what has happened to her honored dead."

He watches as his pet necromancer begins chanting, the circle lighting up with an eldritch glow. As the chanting rises to a crescendo the sounds of shifting earth and cracking wood begin to echo through the area and a horde of the undead begin to rise.
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"Shade, go to the spider, tell her the time has come, find as many high ranking elves as she can, and have her children take them," Acheron told the shadow in his hand as the ritual truly began to begin before muttering to himself, "I must make contact with one of the others, perhaps Dementia would be willing to trade some information for a bit of help with something or other."

As Acheron began to twist a new shade into being the moonlight lit the graveyard, showing the veritable legion of ancient elven warriors and the weapons and armor that they had been buried in.

Ten Elven nobles were captured, and presented to Acheron. Many spiders had perished to bring them, and the Elven Empires were on their guard. Armies were marshaled, and spies sent out to ascertain what had kidnapped them.

The Broodmother crept close, mandibles rasping and legs scraping over the ground.

“Can we eat them, Acheron? We have many eggs to lay, and many spiderlings to feed.”

Veltos grinned a little at the futile attempt made by the Men. "So they chose to flee, eh? Too bad for them...that should've been their first thought."

Finding himself surrounded by the now healed orcs, more reinforcements came from the more tribal groups of orcs, as the smell of the smoke and fear of the Men made them gather.

"Now If I was smart I would..." Veltos mused, before stopping abruptly. "Ah...That would be your strategy then. Then I hope you dont mind running though an electric minefield."

Focusing on the energies around him, Veltos performed a smaller feat of magic, creating a conductive residue amongst the grass and trees as the entire forest area surrounding Veltos' forces was now an impassable wall of lightning, sparks buzzing about and fizzing, armed to harm any who wasn't part of the Electric Servant's troop.

"Find the Lifeboats. Destroy them. And no need to fear the killing. Cull the eldest, but spare the youngest for future labor." The evil Commander ordered, as the Orcs were flanking and making haste, the villagers likely panicking amongst the sudden horn of evacuation. "I'll deal with the brazen fools who think cutting of a head of a snake was palpable...because the fangs are the least of their worries."

Meanwhile...

"Haha! Look at their skin burn! They're practically dancing ablaze!" Moltan laughed, seeing the Elves trying desperately to put out their heads and body parts set ablaze.

"True. But your phoenix rally was a rather rash call. Although they'll come back soon enough given their regeneration capabilities..." Yutal spoke up next, with a wave of his hand summoning forth a Cerberus, infused with dark smoke alit with poison breath. "Now it's my turn. Watch and learn how a real conquest is won."

With a simple point of his finger, the three headed dog roared as it began tearing through the file and rank, emitting lethal gases upon its enemies.

"WHAT THE HELL, YUTAL!?!" Moltan shrieked, looking at the monster he summoned. "That dog is going to wipe out our army as well!!!"

"Relax, Reiss. This beast was a gift from my Father on my tenth birthday. I've fed him herbs that will...direct...the effects of poison to only our enemies." Yutal smirked, with a smile upon his face. "Herbs can be enchanted as well. It's just the really flashy stuff that only ever makes the history books."

Keros hurled a spear, which arced through the electric wall. The others did the same, aiming for Veltos.

“Leave this place! We are under the protection of the Elves, monster. This is not your world. Your time was long ago, and long ended!” Keros shouted.

Orcs clashes with the defenders, boats already leaving the port. Their sacrifice gave more people time to escape, and the evacuation was well underway.

Meanwhile, the Umbral Elves scattered against the Cerebus. The survivors fled into the hillside, and a horn blew from a hidden tower. It was a call for aid.




In the Northern Wilds, in the heart of the blackest forest, a mountain rises. On one side, a gradual slope rises a mile into the sky. On the other the stone is cut off, a glassy stone wall plunging down. A staircase winds through the cliff, sometimes cut to a narrow set of ledges, sometimes burrowing through the mountain’s exposed heart.

Five hundred feet from the summit, where the stairs are caked with icicles and hoarfrost, a narrow slot is bored. It slants downward, glassy and slick, before spiraling down. Through the deeps it delves, until it ends at an iron gate. Three gates stand, one in a row, in a passage. At the end of the hall is a chamber, graven with holy runes and ancient spells, spells of hatred and pain.

They ward a sarcophagus, huge and cold and dead.

The heavy lid is cast aside, shattered into broken fragments.

The gates are bent and sundered from within, and their prisoner walks unseen through the deep pit. He is the Lich of the North, Narian. He answers his Master’s call. Northwards he flies, unbodied and wasted. Over the icy seas he goes, until he arrives at the Black Shore. The Lich pauses for an instant, and goes onward.

On the first threshold of his Master’s domain, he takes form.

A pinprick of void and null, expanding like the pupil of an eye. Then black bleeds from black, writhing veins coalescing into the form of an infant. Then it grows, through all the stages of human life, into the outline of a Man.

Over the barren rock and into the abyssal pits he goes. Down the great stairs he plunges, into the dark.

At last, he reaches the Throne.

“Master, Master, I hast come. Divest unto me what is mine, mine Phylactery. Give me my life, mine flesh and blood and bone. I failed, slain, undying dealt death, pitiful, pitiful me!”

The shroud of smoky darkness upon the Throne, grown large and illuminated by the weak fires flickering in the chasms of the chamber, seemed to extend a hand. A box of jade, illuminated with elaborate patterns of golden silver, was visible.

The Lich crawled forward, grasping black fingers becoming more real as he touched the box. Veins and nerves grew in his flesh, bone and muscle wrapping around organs as fat grew. Skin engulfed the nauseating display, and blond hair grew from his scalp. Then the phylactery was gone, and the Lich rose from the ashy rock.

His eyes were seething black, painfully dark.

A dismissive wave, and he fled.

Narian found a moth eaten cloak in the Necropolis, and a store of moldy food. With a few words he restored it, and enjoyed a nice fire. The Lich wasn’t the only thing in the dark, but the others were still awaiting orders.

His fire was the only light.

 

[The Suspicious Eye]

Outskirts of StygiaRustling of feathers bristled across the silent winds as a flock of ravens circled around a lone man draped in a black veil. He had ben sent here by his mistress. Standing in the outskirts of Stygia he was resting his horse under a tree waiting for something unknown. A raven gilded towards his extended hand. The man's ruby eyes rested on the raven, expressionless.

"What shall be done mistress?" He asked the raven as the raven blinked it's third eye and flew up to a tree alongside a whole flock of ravens.

Dark Lord Lonaneyal's Realm

Deep underground on the costal region of the dwarven realm the Dark Lord Lonaneyal's cavernous realm rests. The original castle destroyed and sunken underneath the kingdom it was rebuilt underground to become a vast city for the monsters to live and work. A whole secondary world underneath the realm pillars and walls holding the kingdoms structure in place.

Screams of pain and inhuman shrieks echoed through the chamber without mercy. Every gasp was a wail as Lonaneyal was breeding her newest beast. Footsteps added to the rhythmic wails, a tall man ran his hands across the lines of his jacket. Extending his wings and folded them neatly behind his back. As he stepped into the room where the wailing was occurring. For anyone else the visage was terrifying, the 25 ft tall woman holding a screaming man and bat on her lap knitting their bodies together.

Watching with a smile, as a mortal's blood was ripped out from his body and and knitted into an giant bat. Their flesh unraveling and tearing into strings of ruby and entwined with the mammal to create something new. The cries of both forming and moaning out from the fleshy mass of blood and bone. Carlaban looked over at something undulating in the corner of the room he could tell it was getting worse, but looked up at her with gentle smile. "Mistress the eleven are meeting in Hall of Zarazattar. What would you like us to do?"

The tall woman looked down at Carlaban as she continue to Knit. She batted her eyelashes and spoke over the quieting screams. Her voice was soft and welcoming, almost sining as she spoke. "The others will make War with my materials." Finishing her work she lifted her final product to her cheek and stroked the albino bat creature's rough skin. The creature snuggled against her and cooed, the screaming a distant memory. "They are always so adorable and so simple. We will be focusing our efforts On something much more grand." She released her new monster and it flew to the ground. Her visage shrunk and she stepped out of a large fleshy mound of conjoined ravens.

Standing at a graceful seven feet she looked back to the mass. The ravens still alive in the fleshy mound crying in pain now that Lonaneyal is no longer engulfing them. Twisting her wrist a blood red cord shot out from the mound to her hand. "We are living in a unstable time. Pull the right string" She tugged at the blood red cord with a smile. "and it all unravels." The mound collapsed into hundreds of ravens that flew out into the castle.

"Watch and listen my loves." She mused with a smile as she watched them all fly out.

Turning back to Carlaban she reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder. "You must be hungry my sweet Carlaban, let us continue in the dining room." Stopping him as he tried to protest she mused warmly. "You do so much for me. Making sure you're healthy is the least I can do."

Walking down the halls she stepped into the dining room and extended her hands out to the council and staff. "Good afternoon. How are you all fairing? Well I hope."

The others greeted her with a smile. The thorn nymph looked over at the monster behind them. "Is that one of your newest?" Zarall asked in a voice seeping with disdain for the creature.

Brightening as she looked back a the new creature that followed her like a baby chick following its mother. Placing a gentle hand on it's slender arm she nodded. "Yes my newest bred creation. Though this may be the last of the night creatures. I want more colorful materials, ones that glow. To brighten up the area." Looking to the largest councilman she tilted her head to him. "Vo could you assign more searches in the deepest regions of the ocean for more glowing materials please? I also would like more mammal material as well, sheep's and Elf material."

Vo leaned back and looked at his mistress. "Of course mistress, we're also working on that expansion. It's almost complete. Those dwarves have yet to notice. I doubt they will, swimming isn't their strong suit."

"Thank you! And wonderful. How is that beautiful daughter and wide of yours doing?" Lonaneyal asked with a smile.

"She's doing well. She's currently working on a new negotiation with a seaport king." Vo said proudly.

"That is fantastic news! She is very capable I have full faith in her." Lonaneyal replied.

"Speaking of Kings. We really should begin taking action. If the Free Council is meeting then they likely will begin trying to take action." Zarall asked flicking a fork with boredom.

"Yes. Of course. I suppose I should consider the material. We'll watch their movements, but hold back." Her eyes shined with a deadly foresight. "Our legend is known." Running her fingers through her hair she mused. "Let them come to us if they desire so deeply to be bred to beauty." Lonaneyal said with a smile before clapping her hands together. "Instead let us seek some wisdom from my most favorite of material. No need to worry of me. I will go with an escort." Looking over to the best she motioned to it run off. "Go on play with your friends, be good now." The monster nodded, extended his wings and flew out of the window. Looking to the others she moved gracefully as her body began to shrinking as red tendrils whipped out of her body releasing ravens to the realm before vanishing, only her voice left to the wind.

"I will be on my way. Stay safe! I will be back soon."

Outskirts of StygiaThe ravens of the tree began to caw and shriek, pecking at the tree they were resting on until it was plucked barren. Strings of blood shot out from the ravens and coiled together into a huddled human form of flesh and pain. Shrieks of the ravens roared through as they were stitched together. Then suddenly quieted as porcelain flesh and long raven hair encompassed the mass as Lonaneyal's graceful visage. Batting her eyes she ran her finger through her hair and purred at him. "Tama Klyn."

"Mistress." the expressionless man said.

Lonaneyal reached out and the man helped her down. "My champion. I've missed that handsome face. How long has it been?"

"Three years." The Tama said coldly. His dull eyes slowly blinking as he felt comforted by her presence even if he couldn't express it in any way. Looking at her he had done much in the past three years, luckily he didn't need to tell her anything. She already knew.

"Yes, still expressionless as always. It's what I love about you." Lonaneyal said, caressing his jaw and chest.

Not reacting the man asked calmly. "Where are we headed to mistress. You brought me here for a reason."

"Ah yes we are off to Stygia to see some material about a God." Lonaneyal said with a wink.

"Very well." He lifted Lonaneyal up onto his horse and hopped on himself.

"Such a gentleman." She mused as the two were off to the Demon Cults of Stygia. Up above the clouds a flock of her wyrm beasts followed above watching and waiting for their mistress's command.

Hall of ZarazattarDeep in the fast confins of the Hall of Zarazattar while the group was discussing a game was being played against them. A raven flew through an open window and down the halls, keeping itself close to the ceiling hidden from the staff.

Making its way into the Hall the raven glided over and perched itself on Akash's shoulder.

Before a word could be uttered another raven came and perched itself on the table in front of Akash, then another and another. Until the man was surrounded by ravens, a unkindness surrounding the man.

Selee-01

 

[Selee-01]

Outskirts of StygiaRustling of feathers bristled across the silent winds as a flock of ravens circled around a lone man draped in a black veil. He had ben sent here by his mistress. Standing in the outskirts of Stygia he was resting his horse under a tree waiting for something unknown. A raven gilded towards his extended hand. The man's ruby eyes rested on the raven, expressionless.

"What shall be done mistress?" He asked the raven as the raven blinked it's third eye and flew up to a tree alongside a whole flock of ravens.

Dark Lord Lonaneyal's Realm

Deep underground on the costal region of the dwarven realm the Dark Lord Lonaneyal's cavernous realm rests. The original castle destroyed and sunken underneath the kingdom it was rebuilt underground to become a vast city for the monsters to live and work. A whole secondary world underneath the realm pillars and walls holding the kingdoms structure in place.

Screams of pain and inhuman shrieks echoed through the chamber without mercy. Every gasp was a wail as Lonaneyal was breeding her newest beast. Footsteps added to the rhythmic wails, a tall man ran his hands across the lines of his jacket. Extending his wings and folded them neatly behind his back. As he stepped into the room where the wailing was occurring. For anyone else the visage was terrifying, the 25 ft tall woman holding a screaming man and bat on her lap knitting their bodies together.

Watching with a smile, as a mortal's blood was ripped out from his body and and knitted into an giant bat. Their flesh unraveling and tearing into strings of ruby and entwined with the mammal to create something new. The cries of both forming and moaning out from the fleshy mass of blood and bone. Carlaban looked over at something undulating in the corner of the room he could tell it was getting worse, but looked up at her with gentle smile. "Mistress the eleven are meeting in Hall of Zarazattar. What would you like us to do?"

The tall woman looked down at Carlaban as she continue to Knit. She batted her eyelashes and spoke over the quieting screams. Her voice was soft and welcoming, almost sining as she spoke. "The others will make War with my materials." Finishing her work she lifted her final product to her cheek and stroked the albino bat creature's rough skin. The creature snuggled against her and cooed, the screaming a distant memory. "They are always so adorable and so simple. We will be focusing our efforts On something much more grand." She released her new monster and it flew to the ground. Her visage shrunk and she stepped out of a large fleshy mound of conjoined ravens.

Standing at a graceful seven feet she looked back to the mass. The ravens still alive in the fleshy mound crying in pain now that Lonaneyal is no longer engulfing them. Twisting her wrist a blood red cord shot out from the mound to her hand. "We are living in a unstable time. Pull the right string" She tugged at the blood red cord with a smile. "and it all unravels." The mound collapsed into hundreds of ravens that flew out into the castle.

"Watch and listen my loves." She mused with a smile as she watched them all fly out.

Turning back to Carlaban she reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder. "You must be hungry my sweet Carlaban, let us continue in the dining room." Stopping him as he tried to protest she mused warmly. "You do so much for me. Making sure you're healthy is the least I can do."

Walking down the halls she stepped into the dining room and extended her hands out to the council and staff. "Good afternoon. How are you all fairing? Well I hope."

The others greeted her with a smile. The thorn nymph looked over at the monster behind them. "Is that one of your newest?" Zarall asked in a voice seeping with disdain for the creature.

Brightening as she looked back a the new creature that followed her like a baby chick following its mother. Placing a gentle hand on it's slender arm she nodded. "Yes my newest bred creation. Though this may be the last of the night creatures. I want more colorful materials, ones that glow. To brighten up the area." Looking to the largest councilman she tilted her head to him. "Vo could you assign more searches in the deepest regions of the ocean for more glowing materials please? I also would like more mammal material as well, sheep's and Elf material."

Vo leaned back and looked at his mistress. "Of course mistress, we're also working on that expansion. It's almost complete. Those dwarves have yet to notice. I doubt they will, swimming isn't their strong suit."

"Thank you! And wonderful. How is that beautiful daughter and wide of yours doing?" Lonaneyal asked with a smile.

"She's doing well. She's currently working on a new negotiation with a seaport king." Vo said proudly.

"That is fantastic news! She is very capable I have full faith in her." Lonaneyal replied.

"Speaking of Kings. We really should begin taking action. If the Free Council is meeting then they likely will begin trying to take action." Zarall asked flicking a fork with boredom.

"Yes. Of course. I suppose I should consider the material. We'll watch their movements, but hold back." Her eyes shined with a deadly foresight. "Our legend is known." Running her fingers through her hair she mused. "Let them come to us if they desire so deeply to be bred to beauty." Lonaneyal said with a smile before clapping her hands together. "Instead let us seek some wisdom from my most favorite of material. No need to worry of me. I will go with an escort." Looking over to the best she motioned to it run off. "Go on play with your friends, be good now." The monster nodded, extended his wings and flew out of the window. Looking to the others she moved gracefully as her body began to shrinking as red tendrils whipped out of her body releasing ravens to the realm before vanishing, only her voice left to the wind.

"I will be on my way. Stay safe! I will be back soon."

Outskirts of StygiaThe ravens of the tree began to caw and shriek, pecking at the tree they were resting on until it was plucked barren. Strings of blood shot out from the ravens and coiled together into a huddled human form of flesh and pain. Shrieks of the ravens roared through as they were stitched together. Then suddenly quieted as porcelain flesh and long raven hair encompassed the mass as Lonaneyal's graceful visage. Batting her eyes she ran her finger through her hair and purred at him. "Tama Klyn."

"Mistress." the expressionless man said.

Lonaneyal reached out and the man helped her down. "My champion. I've missed that handsome face. How long has it been?"

"Three years." The Tama said coldly. His dull eyes slowly blinking as he felt comforted by her presence even if he couldn't express it in any way. Looking at her he had done much in the past three years, luckily he didn't need to tell her anything. She already knew.

"Yes, still expressionless as always. It's what I love about you." Lonaneyal said, caressing his jaw and chest.

Not reacting the man asked calmly. "Where are we headed to mistress. You brought me here for a reason."

"Ah yes we are off to Stygia to see some material about a God." Lonaneyal said with a wink.

"Very well." He lifted Lonaneyal up onto his horse and hopped on himself.

"Such a gentleman." She mused as the two were off to the Demon Cults of Stygia. Up above the clouds a flock of her wyrm beasts followed above watching and waiting for their mistress's command.

Hall of ZarazattarDeep in the fast confins of the Hall of Zarazattar while the group was discussing a game was being played against them. A raven flew through an open window and down the halls, keeping itself close to the ceiling hidden from the staff.

Making its way into the Hall the raven glided over and perched itself on Akash's shoulder.

Before a word could be uttered another raven came and perched itself on the table in front of Akash, then another and another. Until the man was surrounded by ravens, a unkindness surrounding the man.

Selee-01

Akash went quiet, barely breathing.
”My Lady,” he said to the Moonlit Empress of the city, “I believe these are not ordinary ravens.” His hand darted towards a raven, firmly holding its wings in place.
“Who sent you?” Akash hissed.

 

[Selee-01]

"How entertaining!" An impish grin spread across Vexark's face as he observed the councils meeting through his orb, a light laugh escaping his lips "I love it when they try to band together like this."

To his side sat an angle who had been going over papers before placing them down to raise an eyebrow and the dark lord "Are you sure that's the right reaction to have sir? After all, wasn't it a similar occurrence which resulted in your defeat the first time?"

Vex sat up slightly in his chair, lightly chuckling and waved his hand dismissively "Now, now my angelic amigo, you make it sound far worse than it actually was. I merely had a very minor rebellion because a few of Ebonthorne's citizens were slightly unhappy with me because I was a brutal dictator which had just murdered half the city's population to dissuade them from revolting against me." "That went well didn't it." "Yeah, as it turns out, doing that tends to make people angry and forcibly take the city gates while you're under siege... allowing heroes to burst into your throne room... and stab you seventeen times in the stomach... Ok, admittedly it wasn't my finest moment." He then stood up, and patted the angel on the back "Besides, I now have you to make sure that doesn't happen."

Alexander sighed and began rubbing his temples in a vain attempt to fight off the migraine he could feel forming "That may be true sir, but that won't matter if the council is able to mobilize against you, we don't have the numbers, nor fortifications to fight off such an assault."

All this concern received was another dismissive wave "Relax. You're talking as if they have an army on its way right now. From the sounds of it, they have a whole lot of crap to deal with before they get to us."

At that moment an elf walked into the large meeting tent with a large, black blade on his back yet comparatively simple armour "I'm inclined to side with Lord Vexark on this point Alexander. The council will have to use a great number of resources to quell the current unrest, and even after they're able to bring the realms some semblance of order, they'll likely focus of whoever the biggest threat is, so we need to remain as quiet as possible."

Vexark's face lightened up slightly as the elf spoke "Cassius! I was just going to summon you! Have you gotten the scouting reports back yet?"

Cassius nodded curtly, handing more papers to Alexander since he knew Vex would read them "I have. Within the general vicinity of Ebonthorne, there are several camps of bandits as well as two villages and a slightly larger town, though we are unaware of what race inhabits them. I do however believe that the bandits will make an adequate test for the troops. From there we should be able to take the villages effortlessly. The town might be slightly tougher, but nothing we can't handle. With your approval, I can have the men ready by tomorrow."

Vex began rubbing his chin in thought as his supreme general spoke, holding up a finger to stop him when he finished "A good plan Cassius, though I fear it may not help draw the people to our cause, the last thing we need how are towns of unhappy people to control given our stretched numbers. My suggestion would be to deal with the bandits, but use that as a way to endear them towards us, given out location I doubt they get much support from the kingdom. Not only would it give us more numbers than taking it by force, but we'll also get more skilled individuals. Which we desperate need, seeing as how we're currently living out of tents in the ruins of my city's market place." The Black Emporer then motion outside of the tent to the ruins around them.

Ebonthorne Market Place, Ruins:
View attachment 732840
Vexark then let out a mournful sigh "Oh how my great city has fallen! It used to be a centre of arcane innovation and now look at it!" He then proceeded to dramatically collapse onto the table and began using his illusionary magic to create an image of what the city used to look like.

Ebonthorne, As presented by Vexark:
View attachment 732845
"I never did quite work out how to get it on a mountain."

Alexander then coughed, snapping Vex out of his nostalgia-based stupor "Getting back on track, I think the plan could have merit, we'd also take fewer losses."

Cassius nodded and politely bowed "If that's what you wish my Lord then I'll see it done. I'd suggest sending Kymos out, he's been itching for a fight lately and at the rate he's going, he's going to start ripping the men apart when they spar."

Vexark began laughing to himself "As entertaining as that would be, I see your point, you have my approval... While you're at it form a second team lead by Darius, give them a portion of our supplies and have them pose as merchants, have them go between the town and villages and find out how easily they could be brought over to our side... also have Yvette shadow them in case of trouble."

The elf bowed once more "I'll see it done your majesty. If you require me, please don't hesitate to call, I live to serve." Just as Vex was about to let his general leave, he had a sudden realization "Oh, and Cassius, when it comes to the bandits, kill the leaders and allow any who are skilled and willing to join us." "What of those who aren't willing?" A darkness then crossed Vexark's face and he chuckled slightly more diabolically "We don't really have time to make a show of it so just slit their throats, strip them of anything of value and leave the corpses to rot. Make sure the bandits know the price of betraying their Emporer." "You're will be done."

As Cassius left, Vex fell back into his chair surveying the rest of the tent "Alexander. Where pray tell are Nathan and Alistair?" The angel began flicking through his notes as he responded, "Nathaniel is currently working of estimates for how much money and materials we're going to need to repair the entire city AND imperial palace so that they meet your exacting standards." "Good. Good." "And Alistair is... 'experimenting' " In the distance, an explosion could be heard along with maniacal laughter.

Vexark seemed very placed with this, giving a content sigh "The board is set. Let the games begin."

The bandit enclave nearest to Ebonthorne, the Redcaps, had a grim repute even amongst the rest of their sort. They were fond of dying their hats red with their victim’s blood, giving them their sobriquet.

The Redcaps were lurking in a high mountain gully, enjoying the wine and meat they’d stolen from the nearby villages. Ordinarily they’d be quiet, but with their leader dying of an arrow to the gut, caution had been thrown to the wind. The forces of Vexark could easily see and hear the oblivious bandits.

 

[Puppernickel]

The Paladin arrested several noblemen and criminal leaders over the course of a month. The ‘tipoffs’ from the ‘honorable citizens’ contributed greatly to the process. After the demonically manipulated nobles were tried and executed, Zamiro set up shop in a inn just within the city walls. He was planning to remain until he was certain that the Unholy influence was purged.

Sable and Harvy were both pleased with the results of the Paladin's inquisition against the nobles, although the fact Zamiro stayed behind frustrated the two. While Sable was a silent individual, Harvy grumbled and groaned constantly, desperately trying to figure out a way to remove Zamiro without raising extreme suspicion, with no results.

The two had reconvened at Eintracht to reassess the situation, Sable returning to check on his spy network while Harvy was left to figure out how to accomplish his task. He was sitting in the library, working on yet another idea that he was sure wouldn't work properly, muttering to himself as he worked. "No no, can't blame the Paladin's death on Bernard, it would bring the entire Legion down on the city and would probably result in martial law for months as the Paladins flooded the place. Ugh, if we hadn't pulled out all of our assets we would have been able to forge a letter from his superior or some such, and make him leave non the wiser!" Harvy groaned, rubbing his face as he tried to calm himself down from his worked up state.

"Hmmm, having trouble dear Harvs?"

Harvy gave a small yelp of surprise as he heard Dementia speak suddenly from behind him, turning around sharply as he saw the grinning form of Madness himself floating before him. "Y-your grace, so good to see you." Harvy stuttered, gulping as he clutched at his chest.

Dementia gave the dwarf a lopsided grin as he chuckled. "Mhmhmhm, apologies for the shock Harvs, but I just couldn't resist since you seemed so... wound up." Dementia tilted his head, a concerned look crossing his features as he leaned in towards Harvy. "Tell me, my fine noble of a dwarf, what is it that ails you? How can Demy assist his chosen few in their endeavors?"

Harvy bit his lower lip, reluctant to inform his ruler of his failure but... that concerned look was too much for him to take, and he could never disobey his master, who would also probably have wisdom to share on the issue. "Well, your grace, you are aware of the Paladin Zamiro, whom we used to cull some of the nobles from Florian."

Dementia's grin widened as he snapped his fingers, which made little ethereal hands appear around them and begin applauding. "Oh yes, and such a wonderful idea that was! Truly, I couldn't have done it better myself!"

Harvy blushed, shifting in his seat awkwardly. He wasn't used to receiving such praise, and was rather flustered to hear his master congratulate him so. "Um, I'm sure your grace could have done much better had you been present."

The ethereal applause paused as Dementia concidered the statement, then shrugged in dismissal, 'creating' two potatoes from nothing and waving them about. "Hmm, potato, potato, wasn't there so we'll never know! But come Harvs, you were about to tell me of your plight?"

Harvy nodded slowly, chewing on his bottom lip as he continued. "Well, despite having cleaned the city of nearly all Demonic taint - Sable and I checked five times sir, all that's left is standard emissions and a few pockets we can't quite pin down yet - Paladin Zamiro refuses to leave the city, apparently believing that there might be some leftovers in the city itself." Harvy winced, shaking his head as he glared down at the papers before him. "It's too risky to make a move with a Paladin right there, but we have no way of removing him without drawing even more Paladins to the scene."

Dementia hummed, the two potatoes and the ghostly hands disappearing in a small puff of smoke as he began rubbing his chin in thought. "Hmm, that is a problem, isn't it?" Dementia mused. "Tell me, do we know how powerful this Paladin is?"

Harvy frowned as he mentally reviewed the information he and Sable had obtained on Zamiro. "Well, he isn't too far up the ranks, but he isn't a newbie either. At the very least he'd probably last long enough to call for reinforcements before dying, unless we surprised him."

Dementia chuckled darkly, his cheerful grin turning malicious within a moment. "Well then, I would say that we could use a new... recruit, shall we say. Do not worry Harvs." Dementia patted the dwarf on the head, his expression changing once more to a kind and almost fatherly look, as his voice became soft and caring. "Do not worry, for Corruption is on your side. I shall deal with this for you. But!" Dementia straightened, giving Harvy a mock glare. "I expect you all to capture the city itself without my assistance! You cannot rely on me for everything, and as the Paladin is an obstacle I will not allow, I shall remove him myself. But Bernard is your test, Harvy. And you aren't allowed to cheat on tests, only life is that optional."

With a final pat upon Harvy's head Dementia turned and spread his wings, quickly flying down the halls and out the castle, leaving Harvy confused as always by his master, overjoyed at the assistance being given, and absolutely terrified as he comprehended that Dementia had said he was being tested.

As he flew towards the city Dementia cast many powerful illusions upon himself to first appear invisable, and then a second layer to appear human. While he could simply shapeshift into a human, it wouldn't allow him to use his magic nearly as effectively, while illusions would allow for such a ploy to work and retain his powers. Sure, it was extremely energy intensive, but he wasn't planning on giving the Paladin a chance to fight back. The combination of blood magic, illusions, and telepathy was a brutally efficient tactic, and even some of the most powerful men would fall to the Spirit of Corruption if he was given a moment to prepare.

It would be as simple as entering Zamiro's room while he slept and entering his dreams, subjugating him there. At the very least Dementia could drain the Paladin's mind of all his knowledge and life force, killing Zamiro in the process and framing the Blacklist. Sure, that would probably draw more Paladins, but it was worst case scenario.

[Direct Action: Directly corrupt Zamiro to be utterly loyal to Dementia using mental magics, or at the very least kill him and steal his stuff]

 

[Dest]

"No spider, we must get all the information out of them as possible. For now have your spiderlings abduct the peasantry for food, and make sure to bring the bodies to Razhul," Acheron waves the spider away and turns back to his true form once she is gone, muttering "Now where might that pathetic order hunting me be hidden?"

He begins to craft a new series of shades, ones that are meant to find both the other dark lords and a particularly annoying group of paladins and either spy on them or, in the case of the dark lords, make contact. Meanwhile the lich general Aenzen marches away from the castle of Vaexhin, home of Acheron's undead hordes, with an army of reanimated elves and stone golems numbering several hundred.

​

"This lot is perfect to ambush the elven armies as my lord has commanded, eh Vex?" the lich says to his companion in this march.

"I suppose, far to few demons though. And a shame that they are oh so easy to light on fire," the fiend demonstrates his point by lighting a straggler on fire, watching as it turns to ash near instantly.

"Watch it you overgrown lizard, besides the only reason you are here is to keep them from being lit on fire."

"Yes yes, lets just get on with it. Its been oh so long since I got to light any elves on fire or to make them go mad," at this the fiend chuckles maniacally, remembering his secondary order of attempting to convert as many of their soon to be victims to their side as possible while they still live.

Soon the castle is out of sight of the two servants and they continue their march towards the soon to be destroyed empire of the Lunar elves.

[Direct action: Shades are created to hunt for paladin orders and the other dark lords, the spiders are told to begin abducting peasantry for food, and an army marches under Vex and Aenzen to engage with the smallest of the Lunar Elves holdings.]

 

[Kingly K Duel]

Keros hurled a spear, which arced through the electric wall. The others did the same, aiming for Veltos.

“Leave this place! We are under the protection of the Elves, monster. This is not your world. Your time was long ago, and long ended!” Keros shouted.

Orcs clashes with the defenders, boats already leaving the port. Their sacrifice gave more people time to escape, and the evacuation was well underway.

Meanwhile, the Umbral Elves scattered against the Cerebus. The survivors fled into the hillside, and a horn blew from a hidden tower. It was a call for aid.

"Oh, nice going Yutal...now the bloody Elves have got backup!" Moltan fumed, quite irritated things weren't going as planned. "Fine. If they want to take this land so badly...let them have it while it burns to cinders."

The young demon ignites a flame midair the size of a meteor as he grins a little manically. Yutal sighed, frowning as their conquest seemed to only result in more problems than solutions. With a whistle, and a bit of magic, their forces retreated through portals that closed behind them, leaving a mountain sized ball of fury behind them as the duo were solemn, unable to please their Dark Lord. Heaven only knows how bad Noxsin would take this...

---

Veltos sidesteps the launched spears as his electric mastery didn't only extend to destructive purposes, it helped that thanks to his conductive forest field that his ability to dodge was greatly boosted, using the bolts themselves like a network of information, sensing what was incoming. "It seems you are quite mistaken. Our time never ended. Rather, it was delayed. Of course, the only way you'd escape is with your boats. Now, I am going to give you a choice...no, I think that time has already passed."

With another snap, Veltos rained down electric judgement upon the docks as water and wood were alit with thunderous sparks, dancing across like a ballet as the evacuees were caught in a deathtrap.

"I came here originally to conquer this land in the name of my Lord...now look at what you have wrought upon yourselves. If you had only submitted, the losses would never have escalated to this number. Now, even if you escape, this town will crumble into ruins. I would personally deal with you myself, but..."

Veltos looked at the blackness in front of him as he simply walked away, using a portal back to his master's domain. "What's left to subjugate if nothing remains to control?"

Before the Men could have a chance to strike at Veltos, the electric user closed the spatial doorway behind him, leaving those that remained of their fighting force to be left in their horror as their families were being zapped to their end.

Back at Noxsin's castle...

"YOU WHAT?!?" Noxsin growled, cursing the reports given to him from his closest aides. "Let me get this straight...I gave you a simple order...and you MUCK IT ALL UP!?!"

Yutal, Moltan and Veltos shivered a little as the Eternal Souleater was fuming. His first attempt to subdue and control forces ended in failure...no, worse than failure, it was an utter disaster. More losses than expected, backup being called...it wasn't a good day at all, at least not to him.

"By all rights I should have you hanged...but as it stands you are the most powerful assets I have at the moment. So as punishment, you all will clean my room...with a TOOTHBRUSH!" Noxsin growled, looking at the somewhat now relived trio thankfully escaping their own execution. "Now go...I need a moment, alone..."

With the orders given, the throne room lay quiet as Noxsin was aside himself. "My first return...a disaster. If anything good came out of this, I'm not seeing it."

Looking out his domain from a window, he sighed once more as he was feeling inept about his chances. But before he could feel down, the Dark Lord sent out scout crows that he bred to inspect new areas, aside from the...accidental mishaps of course. Information was critical as the land was constantly in an influx of news. Whether or not he could turn things around was yet to be seen...

[Yutal, Veltos, and Moltan flee the area via warp gates back to the castle, leaving their assailants as both groups left parting gifts. Upon returning, the trio gets the order to clean the Dark Lord's bedroom off with toothbrushes as punishment. Now a tad depressed, Noxsin sends out crows that he can see through their eyes, scouring the land for any worthwhile intel.]

 

[Skylord Nexus]

The bandit enclave nearest to Ebonthorne, the Redcaps, had a grim repute even amongst the rest of their sort. They were fond of dying their hats red with their victim’s blood, giving them their sobriquet.

The Redcaps were lurking in a high mountain gully, enjoying the wine and meat they’d stolen from the nearby villages. Ordinarily, they’d be quiet, but with their leader dying of an arrow to the gut, caution had been thrown to the wind. The forces of Vexark could easily see and hear the oblivious bandits.

Fifty lightly armoured men made their way into the gully lead by Kymos who, like the others, were eyeing their surroundings in case the bandits tried to ambush them. It quickly became apparent, however, that stealth wasn't important for the outlaws, causing a smirk to develop the demons' face as he quietly laughed "Morons. Nothing better that than enemies stuffed full of meat and alcohol, this will be a piece of cake."

With a silent motion, the men began to form up: Three short rows of spears forming a phalanx, along with another 2 rows of swordsman behind them to swiftly push forward should the need arise, and finally at the back were a few mages to give ranged and healing support.

The tension was palpable as the legionaries waited for the attack order, and were soon answered as a blast of ice shot out from the demon commanders arm, causing a frosty mist to spread through the camp and his short echoed across the gully's walls "Attack! Capture any who surrender, kill any who refuse to kneel! Glory to the Black Emperor!"

He was met by a chorus of cheers and the men charged at the camp with one, singular purpose in mind: Bring glory to their Emperor.

---

Back in Ebonthorne, a group of legionaries dressed as merchants were loading carts with supplies as they prepared to head off to the villages. Darius was currently looking over everything to ensure they would be able to complete their mission to the utmost quality, however, he was quickly drawn away from this task when he saw Vexark approach along with his sister, swiftly going over to him and bowing "Lord Vexark! We were just making last-minute preparations before head out. Is there something you need?"

Vex laughed a little as he considered the similarities between Darius and a dog, both were loyal to a fault to the owner, and both were damn adorable "No, i just wanted to see you off and remind you to keep a low profile. Remember, you're just merchants passing through, making friendly conversation about the kingdom to find out how they feel about it. Nothing more, nothing less. Got it?"

The young tracker quickly saluted looking at the dark lord with big, gleaming eyes "Absolutely! We'll do everything in our power to ensure that this task is completed to your standards, my lord."

Vex clapped his hands together, smiling "Wonderful! I'll let you be off then. Good luck." Darius then returned to his previous task, Once out of earshot, Vex leant down slightly to Yvettes' ear and began whispering to her "I know I already asked you to keep an eye of them, but pay your brother a little extra attention. While I adore his unbreaking loyalty, it does border on zealotry, and that may prove detrimental, so just do my a favour and keep an eye out will you?"

Though unable to talk, the young assassin looked between Vexark and her brother for a second before giving him a thumbs up and walking to join the group as they prepared to leave.


[Actions: Kymos begins assault on the bandit camp. Vex sends out a small group of legionaries disguised as merchants to scout out the villages and to attempt to gauge how easy it may be to change their allegiance to him without bloodshed]

 

[Selee-01]

Puppernickel

A lot happened in the next few seconds.

First, a note on Paladins. Zamiro was a paranoid man, but even he was not paranoid enough to wear his armor in bed. His unbreakable blade was wedged in the door, ensuring that nobody would be able to break in by conventional means.

The only things he had was an Amulet of Holiness, a dagger, and his nightshirt.

The Amulet flared white, and the blast of corruption was staggered for an instant. Zamiro awoke, and swung his blade into the Dark Lord’s chest just as the Amulet shattered. Shards of white filled the air.



Dest

(The Dark Lord interactions I leave to the players)

The outbreak of spying Shades, especially near Paladin fortresses, trigger a wave of Inquisitions upon the nearby country. They began to draw near the seat of Acheron’s power, but it will take months for any real assault to be made.

Acheron did learn several important facts, though:

The Legions once had an Thirteenth Legion (out of twenty total), before they were obliterated for some ancient wrong.

The Legions were all feuding for glory and advancement, and these could be exploited.

The Holy Gods rarely gave direct advice anymore. At best, an Angel would turn the tide of battle.





Kingly K Duel

The crows fly far and wide, seeing the armies of the Elves rallying against the numerous threats. They were near the Solarium Elven Empire, a force greater than any for centuries. It was almost comparable to the armies of the First War, but still much diminished. Their target is unknown, but a closer look with the crows may yield more information.

The crows to the north, near the Dwarven Republic, can spy pillars of black smoke to the north. No island appears on the maps of the north seas. Not only that, but the light seems to break and scatter in the distance



Skylord Nexus

The attack on the Redcaps went excellent. They were drunken, falling and yielding in moments, with few casualties. As the last opposition knelt, the leader stumbled to his feet. He was shivering and pale, an arrow in his gut, but still firm.

“Who do I have the pleasure of seeing?” He says in a quiet voice.

Elsewhere...

The villages are scattered and frequently attacked. Overall, they’d follow anyone who gave them peace and quiet.

(If you want to respond to Dest , everyone, go ahead)

 

[Kingly K Duel]

The crows fly far and wide, seeing the armies of the Elves rallying against the numerous threats. They were near the Solarium Elven Empire, a force greater than any for centuries. It was almost comparable to the armies of the First War, but still much diminished. Their target is unknown, but a closer look with the crows may yield more information.

The crows to the north, near the Dwarven Republic, can spy pillars of black smoke to the north. No island appears on the maps of the north seas. Not only that, but the light seems to break and scatter in the distance

"Hmm...It seems that the crows have proven their use thus far. Perhaps I should take a closer look at the scene..." Noxsin replied, telepathically nudging the first patch of crowe to come down lower to survey the ongoing scene of elves, while the second wave was recalled to prevent anything too bad from happening from the mysterious island.

"Sault! Front and center!" Noxsin's voice resounded throughout the ruined halls, as the dark cryomancer appeared before him shortly, in tow the trio of Veltos, Moltan and Yutal who appeared slightly exhausted from the toothbrush ordeal.

"Didn't call for the others...but whatever." Noxsin sighed, before continuing. "To the north of the Dwarven Empire lies an island seen through the eyes of my scout crows. Normally an uncharted island itself doesn't garner much intrest...however, what does is the black smoke and scattering light. You will take a force with you and head over there. Bring whatever you deem necessary to complete the task...just GIVE. ME. RESULTS."

With a bow, Sault coldly walked past the other servants as he gathered a number of troops, including some of his personal Ice elementals, a few Darkbears, 200 skeletons, and 20 minotaurs to join him in his naval scouting, using 12 viking-like longboats with the banner of his lord to traverse the sea.

Noxsin, now looking at the trio sternly, saw Moltan gulp as sweat emanated from their brows. "As for you three...I hope you learned your lesson amongst this. The first strike is essential and necessary, to kill off the unwary and issue Silence to the other regions. Normally I would hang you after your blunders..."

Noxsin paused, eyeing them up, watching their fearful expressions. "I'm going to give you all a second chance. Fail me again, and you won't live to see tomorrow. Currently there is another item of interest that peaks my curiosity. One that is near the Solarium Elven Empire. I'm sending my crows closer to survey the scene, and with luck, I may be able to ascertain what is going on. If I find it worthy of my time and resources, I expect you to perform your utmost...and that means literally taking nothing to chance. Understood?"

With quick nods, the Dark Lord responded. "Good. Marshal all the troops you require, overly so to the point its overwhelming. Be ready by the command is decisively issued."

Veltos, Moltan and Yutal bowed as they left the vicinity posthaste, prepping as instructed for their redemption.

(Sending part of my crows to get closer to the armies of Elves that are in one spot, recalling the others from the island scouting to let Sault take over the investigation promptly with a large harbor force. The three who finished toothbrush cleaning have been given orders to find soliders aplenty for their redemption mission, should Noxsin gather enough intel to make a presence there.)

 

[Puppernickel]

A lot happened in the next few seconds.

First, a note on Paladins. Zamiro was a paranoid man, but even he was not paranoid enough to wear his armor in bed. His unbreakable blade was wedged in the door, ensuring that nobody would be able to break in by conventional means.

The only things he had was an Amulet of Holiness, a dagger, and his nightshirt.

The Amulet flared white, and the blast of corruption was staggered for an instant. Zamiro awoke, and swung his blade into the Dark Lord’s chest just as the Amulet shattered. Shards of white filled the air.

Amusement coursed through Dementia as he felt the amulet shatter and the dagger pierce his chest. While it would look like it had hurt him, in actuality Dementia was completely fine due to his resilience and magical nature. Mundane weapons did nothing against him, and even some of the more powerful enchantments would only scratch at his true being.

However, Dementia decided to have some fun with Zamiro, as he was bored and in need of amusement, and now that that sneaky little amulet was dealt with -he was rather impressed with it's craftsmanship, they hadn't had anything like that over a thousand years ago - he could work properly.

His illusion of a human gasped in shock and fell to the floor, a large streak of red stretched across it's chest and covering the Paladin's dagger. The illusion remained silent and unmoving, appearing dead to any observer, but merely unconscious upon closer inspection.

Dementia himself flew up to the ceiling and waited for Zamiro to respond to the perceived death, at the same time cloaking the Paladin's sword in invisibility so that he couldn't simply go and pick it up. Dementia also locked all ways out of the room so that Zamiro couldn't escape if he tried, then settled up and leaned against the ceiling, staring down at Zamiro and waiting to see what the man would do.

--------------------

Meanwhile, back at Eintracht, Jessica and Snippet were preparing for their own part in conquering the kingdom. Both were standing inside a tent, huddled over a table that was almost completely covered with a map of the kingdom. The map in turn was covered with many figurines of various shapes and sizes, each signifying a different force of troops.

"They have a decently sized force of troops in this city, compared to our own avalible force at least." Snippet commented, pointing at a small city on the map, next to which Jessica placed a couple small figures. "We should avoid it for now, and deal with this force over here." Snippet gestures at a much smaller group over next to a small town, clicking her tongue as she shook her head. "Sable's spies dont know if they're still there, but seeing as they're merely a peace keeping force we should be able to overwhelm them with a smaller force such as our own."

"What if they've buffed the garrison there since we drew back?" Jessica asked with a frown. "We could be overwhelmed if that's the case and they sent a large force."

"Which is why we send an overwhelming force of troops compared to those we're expecting." Snippet said calmly, a dark chuckle escaping her lips. "100 well trained troops and 20 lycans should be more then enough to overwhelm a single town, especially if we send one of Tracy's Hurlers."

Upon mention of the Hurlers, Jessica cringed and looked away, grunting in discomfort. "Ugh, those guys. Look, I appreciate the potions Tracy brews for us, but couldn't she just make those things smell a bit better then a trash pile that got moldy and then decided to take a bath in skunk oil?"

Snippet rolled her eyes at the descriptive smell Jessica used. "If she lessened the smell it would defeat the entire purpose of a Hurler. Potions that release a noxious smell are excellent for crowd control, and if it hits a man the smell will stick to them like glue."

Jessica groaned and shook her head slowly as she rubbed her face. "The lycans can't operate in the potions radius because of our enhanced sense of smell, and the scent masks that Darlok designed don't work after we transform. We've been over this before Snips!" Jessica growled lightly, glaring at Snippet.

"Then we send a second force somewhere else." Snippet conceded with a sigh and waved a hand at another village that was further out of the way compared to the first town. "A force of 60 men and a few Hurlers should easily take over this settlement over here, which we can then use as a staging ground for further incursions."

Jessica sighed, but nodded in agreement all the same. "That's a decent compromise, I suppose. Why is it that our two greatest weapons are incompatible together?" Jessica muttered to herself in annoyance.

"Because we serve a guy who looks like some kid's nightmare rendition of a patchwork teddy bear while having the personality of an overactive hummingbird." Snippet chuckled, a rare show of amusement on her face as she tapped the table with her knuckles. "Hey, bet you 10 gold I can take the village with Hurlers faster then you can take the town with your Lycan."

Immediately Jessica perked up, a predatory smile making it's way across her face. "Oh, it is sooooo on!" Jessica growled playfully, and the two went about seeing who could win the bet

[Direct Action: Dementia decides to have fun before corrupting Zamiro, while Jessica and Snippet begin assaulting the outskirt towns of the kingdom to establish footholds]

 

[Selee-01]

Kingly K Duel

The crows see a large, open area. Several representatives of the surface-dwelling Elves are present, amongst them a Sun Elf adorned in golden scale armor that glimmered with unnatural light. A cat-sized creamy-white spider is perched on his left arm, bulbous black eyes staring intently. Another Elf, a Star Elf, is pale as frost, her skin cold and livid in the heat of the day. A Lunar Elf, skin hued a faint green-pearlescent, is dressed in jade armor.

“Any word from the Elders?” The Sun Elf asks.

“No. They are slow to wake, and their fiery mountains are comfortable,” the Lunar Elf says.

“We need them. Them and the Forefathers. The darkness has extended too far!” He shouts, the spider on his arm rasping at the sudden noise. He scratches it beneath the mandible, and it hisses in satisfaction.

“We must wait,” the Stellar Elf says. “The Dark Lords are only recently returned, but their might is not lacking. Victory will only come if they are separated, and killed one at a time. We cannot hope to win against a united Dark.”

“At least the Last has not returned,” the Sun Elf muses. “It would sweep us away, for the Elves of today could not replicate the Alliance of old.”

•••*•••

To the North...

The ships sail into distant waters, jagged rocks slowly growing visible. They are twisted and unnatural, and several are just beneath the surface. The ships make it through the shoals, but are scraped and battered. Many ships, rotted and upturned, perch high above the water at perilous angles. Below the water strange images flicker, and bones are visible deep below.

Past that, a broad shore extends. Jagged spears of black rock jut from the sands, and heaps of bones ground into white sand by untold eras are scattered about. Several rusted red heaps that once were armor and weapons are everywhere, dying the sands red. The silhouettes of Elves, Men and Dwarves are burned into the rocks, carbonized in seconds. It is a grim scene indeed.

In the distance, ragged and sharp peaks rise. Smoke plumes from their summits, and the scattering of light seems to be coming from the other side of the rise of the beach. A giant, shattered gate looms in a wall of seemingly natural obsidian.



Puppernickel

Zamiro freezes, and squints at the ‘corpse’. It seems too good to be true, that his attacker died so quickly. He looks at the door, and notes on the ‘absence’ of his sword.

“Akasion nah Gozerak, Mellon dis Arkaen Dorses!” Zamiro shouts. White light bursts into existence, turning the invisible Dark Lord and sword shadowy and slightly visible. The effort visibly weakens Zamiro, as even Holy thaumaturgy exacts a price. The illusion of a corpse dissolves.

“I suppose you are my end,” Zamiro says as he grabs his sword. “I saw you in my dreams. Pray remember, I am a Paladin, and a Paladin dies with blade in hand.” He assumed a position honed by decades of practice, although stiff with age.

•••*•••

Puppernickel
The town fell swiftly, Hurlers drenching the guards before they could attack. Except for several guards and defenders vomiting, there were remarkably few casualties in Valag. The center of the town had a stone tower, recently commissioned by the young town Lord, Aresan.

The settlement attacked by the Lycans fell just as fast. The werewolves, long thought to be myths by the townsfolk, instilled raw terror. The lord, a man named Leukers, had been killed by a werewolf in the ensuing fight.

 

[Kingly K Duel]

The crows see a large, open area. Several representatives of the surface-dwelling Elves are present, amongst them a Sun Elf adorned in golden scale armor that glimmered with unnatural light. A cat-sized creamy-white spider is perched on his left arm, bulbous black eyes staring intently. Another Elf, a Star Elf, is pale as frost, her skin cold and livid in the heat of the day. A Lunar Elf, skin hued a faint green-pearlescent, is dressed in jade armor.

“Any word from the Elders?” The Sun Elf asks.

“No. They are slow to wake, and their fiery mountains are comfortable,” the Lunar Elf says.

“We need them. Them and the Forefathers. The darkness has extended too far!” He shouts, the spider on his arm rasping at the sudden noise. He scratches it beneath the mandible, and it hisses in satisfaction.

“We must wait,” the Stellar Elf says. “The Dark Lords are only recently returned, but their might is not lacking. Victory will only come if they are separated, and killed one at a time. We cannot hope to win against a united Dark.”

“At least the Last has not returned,” the Sun Elf muses. “It would sweep us away, for the Elves of today could not replicate the Alliance of old.”

•••*•••

To the North...

The ships sail into distant waters, jagged rocks slowly growing visible. They are twisted and unnatural, and several are just beneath the surface. The ships make it through the shoals, but are scraped and battered. Many ships, rotted and upturned, perch high above the water at perilous angles. Below the water strange images flicker, and bones are visible deep below.

Past that, a broad shore extends. Jagged spears of black rock jut from the sands, and heaps of bones ground into white sand by untold eras are scattered about. Several rusted red heaps that once were armor and weapons are everywhere, dying the sands red. The silhouettes of Elves, Men and Dwarves are burned into the rocks, carbonized in seconds. It is a grim scene indeed.

In the distance, ragged and sharp peaks rise. Smoke plumes from their summits, and the scattering of light seems to be coming from the other side of the rise of the beach. A giant, shattered gate looms in a wall of seemingly natural obsidian.

Noxsin cursed a little as he heard of a yet unknown Dark Lord. While the news of him currently unable to return were somewhat good and bad, the mere mention of another individual separate from the ones he knew of being a Dark Lord only served as a reminder that what happened eons ago was still vague, even during that period at the height of their power.

Deciding to take immediate action upon this, he writes down separate letters to each of the Dark Lords in response to this predicament. While he was bent on securing total dominion, a large gathering of Elves was nothing to scoff at, especially at this early reawakening.

Spoiler: Letter to Dementia

'To the Dark Lord Dementia,

I send this letter in request for a temporary alliance against a group of Elven foes, comprised of a strong group of Stellar, Lunar, and Sun Elves near the Solarium Elven Empire. Amongst them that stood out was a Sun Elf that had a cat-sized albino spider, treated as if it were his pet. Another was a Lunar Elf dressed in Jade armor, tinted with slight pearlescent green skin. The last of these I audibly noticed was a pale Star elf, as her skin was seeming to be as cold as the first winter's breath.

What I politely request is that we work together with the other Lords on this matter. As I overheard them, if we rally together our forces, wiping or dominating them will be quite easy. But given the mortal races being persistent, I'd imagine some hiccups along the way.

I know we'd rather off each other as much as the other Dark Lords, but timing is crucial if we are to prevent early reckoning lest we face another defeat as a whole by them.

~Yours Neutrally, Noxsin~

Spoiler: Archeron Letter

'Dear Archeron,

I understand the position I'm putting myself in contacting you via message. But given the recent events I overheard thanks to my methods, A rather large group of elves has caught my attention, and I fear given our current strength would be best if we rallied our forces under one banner until the matter has been dealt with.

I fully expect you, as a Dark Lord, to laugh in my inability to handle this matter alone. But it is dire enough I am doing this as a consequence. Mentions of a Last escaped the Elves lips, leaving me to believe that there are still Dark Lords out there that none of our recorded history knows as of yet. Personally, I only know of you through name from the ancient texts gathered in my library, as of the other Lords I sense awakened, but that is beside the point.

The matter is obvious; I think it'd be best if we deal with this now before it gets any worse. The Elves won't sit idly for long as they are attempting to rouse their Elders. I don't think I need to tell you how bad they are, as all of us dealt with them in some form in the past.

If you wish to temporarily shove differences aside, then I would recieve your letter in response to my matter at hand.

~Begrudgingly Asking, Noxsin~

Spoiler: Letter to Lonaneyal

To Lonaneyal,

I hope this letter has reached your corner of darkness, for what I ask may make you uncomfortable for the moment. The time has come for a temporary alliance against an Elven threat I discovered during one of my scouting sessions. The Stellar, Lunar, and Sun Elves have gathered a force lead by strong representatives, requesting further aid from their Elders as a result. Now, as a fellow Dark Lord, I am reluctant to ask for aid. But given the now aware circumstance, our combined presence is needed for this endeavor.

Given the size of this force, plentiful spoils between us should be divdeable enough, as negotiations on reward distributions afterwards will be conversed amongst ourselves in a meeting afterwards, face to face under an oath of non-hostility temporarily.

Once the matters have been settled and we each return to our respective domains, we will resume each our own individual goals of total dominion. Down the road we will eventually become enemies, but for now, I ask that we ask Dark Lords come together for now.

~From the Hesitant Mind to Ask, Noxsin~

Spoiler: Letter to Vexark

'Dear Vexark,

Greetings to you from my part of the world, although such matters seem irrelevant compared to our own goals. Normally I would refrain from doing an act such as this, but I'm afraid that an outright nuisance has been recently discovered during my scouting period. A trio of Elven groups of different varieties, namely Lunar, Solar, and Stellar Elves.

Of course, this wouldn't be a problem for a single Dark Lord back then, as we were primed for true conquest back then, in comparison to now as our castles lay in ruins and we are climbing back up after our losses. But as it stands now, I am asking for a temporary alliance between all Dark Lords until the matter has been dealt with.

Thanks to my historical records I was able to at least ascertain your name, but beyond that only myths and legends persist. If this does reach you, I would agree that even to me I find working with another Dark Lord is likely asking for a backstab. Regrettably, there is no other option given the size of the force, which will be bolstered by Elders if we don't act soon.

In the case you have need to send back a letter, tie your response to the leg of my scout crow. From there, the bird will fly back to my domain. A full face to face conference amongst would be ideal, and generally acceptable upon neutral grounds.

~Hesitantly Speaking, Noxsin~

With the letters written, Noxsin tied each one to a leg of a special scout crow each, tuned to the essence of a Dark Lord to ease the process of finding them whilst bearing in mind their respective need for privacy.

With an opened window, they flew out as the trio of Veltos, Molltan, and Yutal had entered their Dark Lord's throne room, standing in a militarian upright position.

"Our forces have been prepped and ready sir. 52 Acidspit Pythons, 100 Razortail Alligators, 200 Jaguar Hyenas, and 45 Iron Bears. Commanding them are 12 archer Lamia, 15 Gargoyle Pikemen, and 35 Beserker Centaurs." Yutal said, sweating a tad as the efforts were doubled in trying to find and recruit monsters and monster tamers alike for what was to come. "It wasn't too hard to find what we needed, but it wasn't easy either."

Noxsin only put on a serious look as he responded to his 'son's' remark. "Good. Because I've sent letters to the other Lords out there. With any luck, we may just cooperate long enough to be deal with the new threat before us. I only hope its not too late..."

Meanwhile...

Sault beached his boats on a safe nearby sandy shore as he landed his troops. Inspecting the island, the dark Cryomancer leads the main bulk of his force, leaving some behind to guard and prevent the still rideable boats from drifting away or getting damaged further.

Noticing the scattered light source, Sault orders his troops in a defensive stance, using the shields as barriers to protect the eyes, the cryomancer behind the wall of metal as they advanced twoards the intriguing sight.

"Remember; Until we know what it is and if we can safely approach it, shields up and weapons ready." The cold former hero spoke as he formed icicle shades to protect his eyes should the shield wall fail.

(Noxsin sends letters of an alliance to deal with the Elven gathering via Dark Lord sensing crows, the servant trio to Noxsin has gathered forces ready for the big battle that lay ahead, and Sault cautiously investigates the light while ordering a few of his reserve troops to guard the boats they have taken to reach the island, anchoring & preventing the crafts from drifting out to sea, as well as preventing them from getting damaged by the rock formations.

 

[Skylord Nexus]

The attack on the Redcaps went excellent. They were drunken, falling and yielding in moments, with few casualties. As the last opposition knelt, the leader stumbled to his feet. He was shivering and pale, an arrow in his gut, but still firm.

“Who do I have the pleasure of seeing?” He says in a quiet voice.

Elsewhere...

The villages are scattered and frequently attacked. Overall, they’d follow anyone who gave them peace and quiet.

Honestly, Kymos was a little disappointed, sure he didn't expect a hard fight, but he had hoped for more of a fight than they got. He then looked to the bandit leader, his eyes immediately falling on the arrow in the mans' gut before replying "Kymos. A commander in the service of Vexark, The Black Emperor, who is, as of right now, your emperor. You see his majesty doesn't look favourable on criminals, but fortunately for you, he has elected to grant you mercy and not brutally murder all of you on the condition that you serve him. Of course, you're free to refuse, however..."

An icey mist then began to form around the demon's hand. As is swirled around his fingers it began to condense over his claws, making them longer and sharper. Kymos then swiftly swiped at the bandit leaders neck, decapitating him "This is the fate of any who would oppose his majesty." he then took a second to inspect the blood on his icey claws "However if any of you do choose to resist, I assure you that your deaths will not be anywhere near as quick and painless as your leaders' was."

---

Darius had just returned back with the others after their little trip and was currently giving his report to Vex "So all in all, we're pretty sure that as long as we provide them security, that the villages should be perfectly willing to come under your rule." Vex nodded along and looked to Alexander and Cassius for their opinions.

Alexander was the first to speak "That certainly seems promising, and given our relatively small size the villages should be able to provide us with enough supplies and while also getting a high quality of life." Cassius nodded along before continuing "And seeing as how we've already set out to deal with the bandits that operate in the area, we should be able to safely deploy patrols in the area to keep them safe."

The angel then seemed to go into deep thought for a moment "The bandits may be a problem. We set out to make them join us as well, so I'm not sure how the villages will react to that seeing as how they will have been robbed and slaughtered by them."

Vexark's eyes brightened a bit as an idea came to mind "True. However, what if we use them as labour instead." "I'm not sure I follow sir" "Simple! Instead of integrating them in our society, we sentence them to labour for their crimes. They've probably done enough crap to keep them doing labour for years."

By advisors nodded at the idea "It would help keep our image good in the eyes of the villagers by bringing the bandits to justice." "And it will provide us with a much-needed labour force for clearing away the rubble."

Vex stood up and walked over to Darius "It's decided then! Alexander, make the necessary arrangement to house our new convicts, Cassius collect a revenue of guards to watch the prisoners at all time, and Darius, you and you're guys have earned a break, take the rest of the day off! But tomorrow I want you guys to set out again and bring the villages into the fold." He then patted the scout on the head allowing him to and the advisors to leave.

It was once the tent was empty that a crow flew in with a message.

---

'Dear Vexark,

Greetings to you from my part of the world, although such matters seem irrelevant compared to our own goals. Normally I would refrain from doing an act such as this, but I'm afraid that an outright nuisance has been recently discovered during my scouting period. A trio of Elven groups of different varieties, namely Lunar, Solar, and Stellar Elves.

Of course, this wouldn't be a problem for a single Dark Lord back then, as we were primed for true conquest back then, in comparison to now as our castles lay in ruins and we are climbing back up after our losses. But as it stands now, I am asking for a temporary alliance between all Dark Lords until the matter has been dealt with.

Thanks to my historical records I was able to at least ascertain your name, but beyond that only myths and legends persist. If this does reach you, I would agree that even to me I find working with another Dark Lord is likely asking for a backstab. Regrettably, there is no other option given the size of the force, which will be bolstered by Elders if we don't act soon.

In the case, you have need to send back a letter, tie your response to the leg of my scout crow. From there, the bird will fly back to my domain. A full face to face conference amongst would be ideal, and generally acceptable upon neutral grounds.

~Hesitantly Speaking, Noxsin~

Curious as to who would send him a message in such a manner, Vexark cautiously removed it from the crow and began reading over it.

He lounged in his seat sipping wine and he considered how to respond to such a request. On one hand, the elves were definitely a threat to them in their current state, however, if the free kingdoms found out that every dark lord had joined forces, it may well cause them all to join against them, and that was a war none of them would win. No, he wouldn't get implicated in this and announce himself the entire world.

Grabbing a piece of parchment, a quill and some ink, he began writing:


Noxsin,

Given the gravity of this subject, I shall dispense with the pleasantries and get straight to the matter.

While I agree that these elves do indeed pose a great threat to us, I fear you've failed to see forward. I have no doubt that if we all were to join forces we would be able to deal with this army, however, if the news was to reach others that we had all formed an alliance, I fear it would unite the world against us far more than it already is, and while I do so love the chaos that comes from war, I have found it to by far less enjoyable when you're on the wrong side of it.

It is for this reason that I cannot promise you any troops to aid in your endeavour, but do know this is also due to the fact that I do not field a large army and cannot afford to divert any men over such a long distance to aid you at this current time. What I can offer you though is supplies such as potions and poisons of the highest calibre, with the understanding that I will not be linked to this alliance of yours.

Sincerely,
Vexark, The Black Emperor


Admittedly the part about the small army wasn't entirely true, however, Noxsin didn't need to know that.

With the letter done, Vex swiftly attached it to the crow before shoeing it away, feeling slightly uneasy that he hadn't consulted his advisors on the matter first.


[Actions: Kymos decapitated the bandit leader giving the other bandits the option to serve or die slowly and painfully. Vexark decides that any bandits they capture will be treated as prisoners and used for manual labour. He also orders Darius to return to the villages and get them to join him. He finally replies to Noxsin's letter offering supplies but no men to his cause, not wanting to face retribution from the free kingdoms.]

 

[Puppernickel]

Dementia blinked slowly at Zamiro from his position on the ceiling, a thoughtful expression on his face as he hummed. "Well well, I'm impressed. Not many would have seen through such an elaborate ruse for a minute or two more. Tell me, Paladin, do you know who I am?"

Dementia lazily drifted down to the floor, his stance clearly nonconfrontational as he curled up a bit in order to get comfortable. "I am Dementia, Spirit of Corruption. I am the Manifestation of Madness, Insanity Incarnated, So On and So On. If you were to know anything about me, Paladin of the Light of the Twelfth Legion.... it is that I don't kill without reason, and there is great reason not to slay one such as yourself."

Dementia made a sweeping gesture, and the illusions left upon himself vanished, revealing him in all his chaotic glory. "Tell me, Paladin Zamiro. Have you head of the High Protecter Dross, a Paladin who was of great standing many years ago?"

The entire time he spoke, Dementia was preparing to send Zamiro into a deep sleep using yet another blast of magic, but was holding off until the Paladin attacked for now. Dementia could always take him back to Eintracht if he proved to be... uncooperative.

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Snippet was pleased with her incursion, happily strutting to the town square and gesturing to one of her troops. "Bring me Lord Aresan, if he still lives. Actually, he'd better still live after we specifically went with Hurlers, so if he's somehow gotten killed then I want the one responsible brought here to me right now. In fact, make sure to round up all the guards and soldiers and bring them here as well, might as well deal with them all at once. Also, double check that the tower is emptied, I dont want any men sneaking up on us while we consolidate." The troops went about completing their orders with haste, as disobeying Snippet resulted in rather unpleasant things happening to your person.

As for Jessica, she was slightly less pleased, but happy all the same for the smooth takeover. "All right then, secure the town and make sure those villagers aren't bleeding to death or something. You," She pointed at a healer and gestured over at the center of the village. "Get to work on any cuts and wounds. Start with our side, but if you're brought a civilian who's been hurt in the crossfire then bandage them up too." The lycan force went about conducting their tasks with precision, for non wanted to disobey Jessica. She had these horribly effective puppy dog eyes that would make almost anyone feel guilty, and she wasn't afraid to use them on those who failed.

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Dest

Meanwhile, Darlok, second in command of Dementia's entire force, was reading a book in the main library when an interesting thing occured. A shadow seemed to pull itself from a wall and stand before Darlok, staring at him intently.

Darlok, to his credit, was completely unfazed by this occurence, instead glancing up from his book and humming softly as he raised an eyebrow. "Can I help you, Shadow Walker? If you are looking for Lord Dementia, I am afraid he is currently indisposed right now, so you can either wait for him to return or speak to me, his Grand Advisor, and I shall convey any important details to him posthaste."

With that Darlok returned to his book, patiently waiting to see if the shadow would speak, or if it would hold its peace.

[Direct Action: Dementia attempts to lull Zamiro into a conversation. Snippet double checks that the town is truly under her control and desires to speak with the defeated force, while Jessica attempts to lessen any malice the villagers might feel towards them for the sudden invasion. Also, Acheron's shadow messenger locates Dementia's castle, so a conversation could happen there, or be held off until the Lord himself is avalible.]