Part 24: To Kill a God-Head
Chapter 23: To Kill a God-Head
Spawning demons might signify the end of the world, but what if the world wasn‘t ending? What if demons were just a natural occurrence that popped up despite the fact that somewhere else something much more grand was happening?
Indeed, how can one appreciate the gravity of the situation when he‘s worlds away, block away by such petty thing as human warriors blocking their path and refusing to budge?
Even if the person is one of the few that can kill dragons easily…
…does killing one more dragon signify some sort of greater end? If killing wurms is a mundane task, does one think about matters that might be grander than slayings?
In a world where evil trees blessed by goddess of healing can grow teeth, who can say for sure?
If mad barbarians can set up a city in lava and worship their god without burning, who can say what CAN’T happen?
‘A shrewish hag! But she is very strong indeed! Even without Krypta’s support she can give anyone a lot of trouble as she can still heal and raise the undead”
Especially when the players are finally taking their places.
One can already see the one who would imagine herself in the place of goddess of death, the one that ruled an empire which never dissented, for there were no more tongues to spread dissent and all the hearts that could burn with fires of revolution had rotted away long ago.
Only she and her power over the dead remained.
Yet no one balked, nor feared her, nor did they alter their plans for her. Monsters were to be killed, and their lairs were to be looted. All to speed the end…
“Amberon… It’s a dark story that has happened with this Amberon. The Advisor says Amberon the Dark is the most loyal and the most dangerous of the ‘lieutenants’ of the United One, but if so, then who is Amberon the Light, the favored Great Mage of the Elves?
The only theory I have is that Amberon managed to escape from the power of the United One, but not as a whole self, only the best side. The one that understands that United One cannot be the Supreme Truth… And the dark part with all its anger, wrath, cruelty and evil was left in Ardania…
That is… a very unpleasant combination. Especially when armed with bow and arrows that don’t miss”
Behold, a Elven knight with a black more dark than the Empress ever had. Do not look at him, but through him and gain insight:
Know that through imprisonment and separation of Amberon did the elves gain a leader that was kind to his subjects
Know that even evil can posses loyalty and die for what it believes
And it doesn’t really matter that his beliefs are false and he’s dedicated to what most certainly isn’t the Supreme Truth. After all, he is evil and thus mistaken. If he wasn’t, he would have helped in the fight against Dremer long ago.
In fact, the evil of United One and his lieutenants seems to go so deep and that only the wrath of Father of Gods will be able to expunge their taint from the ground.
But that time is not yet here. There is still fighting to be done, and any who wishes to see it all through must prepare hard and fast. And so they do, practicing their sword swipes or bolting metal to floating cups.
“Old Elpiritster… I warned him that staying for too long in ghost from was harmful for his mind, and that any mage who chose life after death would become a Lich. Too bad the old man was too stubborn to realize it…
When the United One appeared, he was the first one to offer his obedience in exchange for the continuation of such ‘life’. Why, with his experience in intrigues, did Elpiritster not realize that United One had no need of servants, that he has everything he ever wants, and sooner or later his ‘lieutenants’ would become his shadows? I’ve hear that Elpritster is still good with protective spells and if necessary can cover his colleague ‘lieutenants’… Well, anyway, he should have been released from his burden a long time ago”
But what can mere metal do against someone who lacked a body for so long, he forgot how the touch of metal feels?
One way is to have the metal encase a zealot, someone totally devoted to their god… and let the rage of the god of gods, Krolm, flow through their bodies, both flesh and not. Divine wrath fills muscle and motor even as it burns their core. The strongest will survive…
And so the first blow is struck. Might the Empress of death might be, but in the end, she’s just human. Selfish and powerful, but just human. She does not have the Wrath, nor the Metal. Thus the Examplar’s fist pound her form, sending both flesh and magic screaming.
The Empress holds, for now…
But another of Examplar’s brothers feel the wrath of Krolm unfold in him. Snakes of fiery rage uncoil in their bodies, extending to their casings of steel and adamantium. The rage boils and spills through his eyes and mouth, and the viewslit shines with ghastly light.
The Empress is left beaten and bloody, still stronger than any man alive, yet already horrifically maimed. A healer can’t help but look at her and feel compassion for life… other life, not hers.
Mages and summoned monsters desperately seek to stop the onslaught, but the Exemplars are indomitable, immovable, judgment of Krolm given body and motion. So they lash out and thus a pack of Dragorts perish in flames, leaving behind their floating cups full of ash.
“This two headed dragon was never much of a Mage, but he is very strong. This, and the fact that he is the son of the legendary Vendral, secured him a place on the Board of Great Mages, and then he became one of the so-called ‘lieutenants’ of the United One. They say the Dark Elf gives Tendral some ‘special powers’. I must remember this”
To the tune of Svarts burning does the great double headed dragon Tendral make his entrance, collecting all four of the lieutenants in once place. The anchors of United One’s power are all there, all evil, all desperate. The horrible battle continues…
...and ends for the Empress. The Fists of the Examplar would be enough, but he’s also powered by magic, so much.
In the end, there’s barely a bloody smear on the ground where one of Ardania’s greatest mages once stood.
Nearby, Elpritster senses his assurance that he won’t die in this fight slip away and dread creeps up his ghastly form.
He doesn’t have to be afraid for long. Madness descends from the heavens and righteous wrath consumes another Examplar. The machine thrashes around and bellows at the skies. The deaths of Dragomorts will be avenged! The arduous trek over the shattered remains of worlds will be repaid with the death of a mage already dead!
Great is the wrath and greater still is the skills with which Examplar spins the axes around. Nobody is safe, not even Tendral in the sky. Yet he lives to bear horrible wounds while Elpritster vanishes in the flurry of steel.
Tendral tries to slip away, to avoid the punishment of gods and magic, to goad one of his spawns to halt the incoming doom by throwing himself at the Examplars.
But the metallic titans are marching upon Amberon. Their rage isn’t as great now, tempered, a little, by the deaths of the necromancers. Yet Amberon has committed great crimes and the punishment will be equally great.
Twisted as he is, he doesn’t see anything wrong in sacrificing an entire city to slow down his pursuers. But Examplars sweep cities and their defenders as easily as they do with everything else and Amberon is driven away.
But…
“You will not slip away this time! I’ll erase the last trace of you from Ardania!”
A great conflagration descends on Amberon, melting his armor, tearing skin from his flesh, and burning him away. The flames are so hot and so high that the whole region is scoured clean, consuming the the ruins of elven city.
“Not like this...!”A lone voice among the damned is extinguished as flames devour the flames in his lungs. He who wanted to see the Dead King of Svarts die, he who set Svart against Svart, who poisoned the mind of Krel, who bribed, backstabbed, poisoned…
He is dead, dead, dead, with no mark left behind and with no name that King Lich VI could give to the green hooded man who had sown discord amongst his subjects.
Only Tendral is left and even he wouldn’t last long. For a moment, he thought that the sky would be his escape, where no Exemplar could ever reach him.
Foolishly he underestimates the mage that had cut a bloody swath through the shards to reach this place. For a mage of such great power, there’s not much challenge in making the metal warriors fly.
Thus the Exemplars give chase…
And so they are set upon by a wyrd-spasm from the touch of god!
The dragon is surrounded, ironically enough, over holy ground. But what aid could it be to someone who serves the United One, who was shunned by all gods? Who can he turn to?
The skies and the mountains tremble with a shout of wrath the likes of which had not been heard since the dawn of time. For miles and miles creatures are driven insane by such horrible incarnation of anger.
The Exemplar twists and twitches as he swoops in to kill the dragon. Tendral exhales his deadly breath and brandishes his vorpal claws…
All too little, all too late. His broken form falls to the ground beneath the feet of the twitching Exemplar.
The United One dies with him. He who snatched victory out of the hands of King Lich VI. He who made himself one with magic of Ardania. The one who challenged gods and enslaved great mages. He dies, undone by his hubris and lack of planning. He dies for the lack of body and connection to the world. He dies for having spread his power around too thin. He dies, because not much remains of him anyway.
Picturesque link to video below
King Lich – or is it God Lich now? – surveys all with his sight. The United One is dead, yet so much work remains. Raising the troops dead in the final assault. Making the explored shards habitable. Fixing Krel’s broken mind. Exploring the other shards. Deadling with other great mages. Convincing Krel to go against Grum-Gog. Maybe looking for traces of the Great King. As for his Svarts…
“I accept the name of Rurik the Loyal and pledge my eternal service to the Lich. I will maintain your realm, see it expand and make sure no one goes hungry with your divinity seeks tasks more suitable for your power”
“I accept the name of Veremoud the Firebrand and pledge my eternal service to the Lich. I will see that our troops are well trained, well supplied and well briefed. I will look after the Quintet of Exemplars and guard your realm from enemies within and without”
“I accept the name of Volundr the Smith and pledge my eternal service to the Lich. With your power flowing through my veins I fill craft all the realm needs, I will made wonders unseen in the shards and I will forge you’re a set armor fitting for a god”
“I accept the name of Razor the God-Eye…”‘twas but a tiny piece of his power, but it was enough to turn his loyal followers into demigods, each entrusted with looking after his people far better than he could. For now, he turned his power to rebuilding and rebirth.
“I saved you once, Ardania. I’ll make you live again”.