Decius stood forlornly amongst the wreckage of Feiss Mabdon, brow furrowed in somber contemplation. Feiss had once been a grand city, home to thousands of peaceful Hippus merchants and farmers, where industry and commerce with their Calabim neighbors had prospered. Then came the scourge of the Kurio Rouge. Without warning their hordes of ungulate savages had swarmed across the border, quickly overwhelming the helpless Hippus token self-defense forces. The slavering literal horsemen had then immediately turned to rapine and pillage of the countryside, stripping it utterly bare. What cities they had not burned outright were emptied of their populations, who were herded off into the fields and never heard from again. When Decius had finally managed to rouse the normally peaceable Calabim into action to liberate the city, he had found it utterly abandoned by its craven centaur garrison, empty save for a few starving, raving lunatics. In disgust Decius ordered the entire wretched tableau destroyed. “What a shame.” he muttered to himself.
“Yes master, it is most regrettable that we had to burn a city that embraced the Veil…” noted a ritualist lurking nearby. Decius turned and glared at the man with an expression of steely resolution and utter contempt before gruffly dismissing him. The baleful servants of the Ashen Veil were a clear blight on the Calabim Empire, yet Decius was forced to openly harbor their foul presence. In his former life as a man of the Bannor, Decius had gained knowledge of Infernal forces unsurpassed by any civilization of man, with the possible exception of the Sheaim. He had also heard tales of the mysterious leader of the Kuriotates; how he never seemed to age, how his eyes had a cruel and uncanny aspect, how it was he who first summoned the harbingers of Esus, the Veil, and the mad Overlords to the world. The conclusion was clear: the “boy-king” of the Kruiotates was possessed by one, if not more, powerful demonic entities. Only through studying the profane teachings of the Veil himself could Decius hope to comprehend and ultimately destroy his abominable foe.
Decius was again drawn out of his reverie by the sound of hooves rapidly approaching his position. He readied his blade- if the Kruiotates intended to assassinate him, they would not find him unprepared. He glanced up and saw a magnificent figure clad in imposing onyx armor- his old comrade Rosier, whom he had know since his youth with the Bannor. Like Decius, Rosier was a testament to the intolerance and short-sighted nature of the Bannormen, and he now fought alongside the Calabim as one of their greatest champions.
“How do you fare, m’lord?” inquired Rosier. “I’m fine, friend. How goes the campaign?” Decius questioned back. “Excellent, sire. Our cowardly foe has abandoned his positions on all fronts, falling back to a series of hastily erected earthworks. It won’t help him though. Hopefully he’ll offer battle soon; some of the vampires are becoming impatient.” Decius smiled, “They’ll have opportunity to whet their blades soon enough. Is there anything else?” “Well, yes one other thing…” started Rosier hesitantly, “Shall I be referring to you as Decius today, or as Bobchillingworth?” “What?” replied Decius, confounded. “Or are you Dave? Your identity seems to be in a state of flux as of late. Perhaps you’ve been spending too long with our Svartalfar allies?” “I- but… what?” sputtered Decius, utterly nonplussed.
If you want, or you could save a story for when something major happens with your own civ, which you don't mind publicly declaring
I'm not requesting everyone come up with a tale right now just cause' PB and I wrote a few paragraphs, but it would be cool if everyone took a shot before the game is over.
Well... I can share up this thing for general consumption, since any story post I make will be under the assumption that people know about Auric's circumstances in my Illian empire. If it steps on anyone's toes, just remember that it was written by a guy who had only a tangential relationship to sanity.
Sadly for the lurkers, they've already seen this. :neenernee
Quote:In keeping with Christmastime, I'm going to tell you three tales. The first is the story of the Empire's past. The very early history of the Illians. Why did I have bloodpets at the start instead of a warrior and a scout? Why did I suddenly go to war with those damn dirty Svarts?
Authored by the late I.R. Glass of the Illian Magistry of Law, an approved version based on his source notes was heavily reedited and released by his secretary following the trial.
An Abridged History of Auric Ulvin, the Winter King: Unapproved Edition Wrote:After the cataclysms of the age of ice, the Illians were a people in crisis. Our leaders were capable enough, but alone were unable to cope with the loss of their god, their power and their purpose. It was only with the coming of Auric that the Empire was reborn. We all owe him our lives, but there is little that is understood about his life. I hope to make his history clear, so that we can pay him more fitting tribute.
The early history of Auric is obscure, and even the highest ranking members of the government only met him after his visit to the Frigus. Through a series of meetings I have managed to piece together some few details of his life before that fateful day.
Auric's parents were not Illians, but were members of the Amurite empire that defeated us. To many within the empire that thought would be sacrilege.. our greatest enemies spawning our saviour? As for myself I have always found the thought amusing. The arrogant and delusional magicians wove their own doom in more ways than one.
The Amurite empire shattered into pieces after the cataclysm, and the disappearance of Kylorin. Auric's parents survived and gave birth to their little boy. They shielded him through the terrors, and Amurite society was initially far less affected than the Illian so his early childhood was a lot less traumatic than it could have been. The trouble for the Amurites was that they had ignored an ancient and terrible evil that lurked within their ruling classes.
The origins of vampires are unknown, but I have always suspected that it was the doing of those twisted and depraved sorcerors attempting to save themselves. What happened in the aftermath of the cataclysm was that the vampires arose, taking power and establishing themselves as an aristocracy of blood. Some managed to escape. The Hippus are theorized to have originated when ancient bandit clans merged with those fleeing the vampires, and spent many years attempting to rescue others. The Kuriotates were supposed to have been rescued from thralldom by a child blessed with the power of the sun. These are all rumours and hearsay however and are not a fit subject for historical concern.
What matters to us is the effects on young Auric. He was a prodigy, a genius in more ways than one. As such he was soon picked out of the litter of the breeding pits and brought into a vampire household. There the young Auric was groomed for power, to one day join the ranks of the vampiric aristocracy. One can only imagine the nightmare for the world if that had been the fate of our lord and master, his noble soul degraded by the vampires to the state of a gutter rat.
Fate chose to intervene however. A great tide swept through the vampiric society, and many of its most noble houses were broken. The scattered and decadent lords were merged into a clan, and then an empire. This was undertaken apparently by a humble human named Decius, although whether he remained a mortal is unclear. The patrons of Auric were swept up and ripped asunder in the revolution and he was forced as a young man to flee "Calabim" lands with only his two faithful retainers for companionship.
The months that followed I was unable to catalogue, and his two retainers, although they were forever famed in Illian folklore as great explorers, left distressingly little historical data on the period. I have pieced together accounts of the destruction of a minor orc fire cult, the assassination of a wandering insane clown and the unchaining of a frosted figure, these events seem to bear the hallmarks of our lord's years in the wilderness, and I have dispatched agents to study them further.
What is certain is that it was in this time that he first heard the call of Mulcarn. That he was first chosen to be the new god of winter. It must have been a marvellous beautiful moment. Perfect clarity and knowledge of purpose that few of us can hope to parallel. It left him wanting to find Letum Frigus.
The tale of what happened on the day he arrived is well told. Many of our older citizens (and politicians, as they never stop harping on about) were there. They all saw, and we all know, the glorious visage of the lord of Ice, finally reunited with his people. We all know the tales of the first colony and how he tirelessly built night by silent night many of the foundations of our empire, and the civic structures that we still honour.
I am not interested in going over that same well tread and wearied ground again. What I will note however, is that even in this time we could see the seeds of the fate that would befall him. His cheeriness and life would sometimes give over to intense depression. His projects were what kept him going, and without them he would sit motionless for hours on end.
It was the attack at the peace conference that really spelled despair for Auric however. He had been his usual self, in the midst of training the great priests, busily building and working for the conference. We had just met what were theorized to be the only major empires of Erebus, and with the exception of the Orcs all were willing to join us in the hall of peace that we were building to discuss the future of the world.
We all know of the cowardly attack that took place at that conference. Of the way the Svartalfar assassins nearly killed Auric. For every drop of blood he spilled, we killed a hundred elves. His disciples tore out of the palace, howling for the assassins (although it might be impolitic to mention that their prodigious healing skills might have been needed in tending to the weakened Auric.)
The Svartalfar government took no responsibility, stating that it was a rogue group of summer court fanatics who were responsible, offering to execute the ringleaders. But we knew the truth. The Summer court had been a political thorn for the Svarties for countless years, and they would certainly have arranged the operation as an excuse to off their political rivals while denying any wrongdoing. The deaths of Amelanchier the "Ringleader", and his two female accomplices was of no consolation to us. The conference had been ruined. The Illians saw no future in peace.
The effect was more devastating than we could have dared to imagine though. While the priests were away, Aurics state of mind took a turn for the worse. Too injured to engage in physical activity he had no recourse but his paperwork. He wrote many things but he also spent longer and longer in a depressed state.
Even after he healed, he was a changed man. And one day, he retreated to the throne room, asked not to be disturbed, and sat down. There he sits to this day. In an eternal stasis. Since then our government has been run by simpering fools, hoping to echo even a tenth of his glory while being too weak to follow his examples.
They've spent their time building pretty toys to coax him back to interest. A shiny palace, a pathetic card tournament. Not being content with that, they sought to pry into his very mind! Echoing the sins of the sorcerors of the Amurites our "wise leaders" have built towers and trained seers to seek out the mind of Auric.
I am doubtful that any of this will work. The weight of godhood is too much for the mortal body to bear. I believe that I have seen the solution that these fools are too blind to know. In writing this book and as a high magister of the law arcana I have seen many strange sites. I know that the Ether works in mysterious ways. If the flesh is too weak to bear godhood then we must liberate our lord from the flesh. We must work to honour him by allowing him to access his godly powers, and remove those weak incompetent fools who dither and piss away our greatness. I leave these words that others may follow my example if I fail. I will carry out my scheme tonight.
NB. It is believed Mr Glass died in the Jingle Bell mines less than a month after writing this. Rumours of his use in a biological warfare attack on the Kuriotates are unsubstantiated. Earth-mana empowered deep mining definitely did not unleash the blight, no matter what anybody says.
Selrahc Wrote:We all know of the cowardly attack that took place at that conference. Of the way the Svartalfar assassins nearly killed Auric. For every drop of blood he spilled, we killed a hundred elves. His disciples tore out of the palace, howling for the assassins (although it might be impolitic to mention that their prodigious healing skills might have been needed in tending to the weakened Auric.)
The Svartalfar government took no responsibility, stating that it was a rogue group of summer court fanatics who were responsible, offering to execute the ringleaders. But we knew the truth. The Summer court had been a political thorn for the Svarties for countless years, and they would certainly have arranged the operation as an excuse to off their political rivals while denying any wrongdoing. The deaths of Amelanchier the "Ringleader", and his two female accomplices was of no consolation to us. The conference had been ruined. The Illians saw no future in peace.
I take issue, and cannot possibly be responsible for that outrage. Svartalfar assassins do not fail. That alone should be all the proof you need to believe me.
