War of Shadow and Light (GATE/D&D)

[Phantom General]

Alright then, let's get this started:

Prologue


Sadera was burning.The outer wall had been breached in several areas and the city was being overrun. At the western gate, Imperial soldiers had found themselves being cut down by their previously dead comrades, their bodies joining the ranks of the living dead as they fought desperately to stem the tide. In the northern part of the city a deadly black fog spread through the streets, killing everyone and everything that came into contact with it. The eastern wall, gate and towers had collapsed into nothing but rubble before magics only dreamed about by mages.

Imperial cavalry laid broken on the field of battle, both outside the walls due to attempts to break the siege early and inside due to confined city fighting. Dragons with scales coloured like tarnished metal circled above uncontested, the empire's wyvern corps having been annihilated early on in the siege. Above all, however, the main temple was in ruins, much like the smaller ones in the city, the dragons seemed to take care to destroy them the moment they had a free hand. While armoured ogres initially made a good show against the attackers, dwarven constructs were brought up to eviscerate them wherever they appeared.

Most of the remaining Imperial army had fallen back to defend the azure palace, with the elements of the units that couldn't make it behind the gate in time being trapped in the growing inferno that had once been the shining capital of the empire.

The siege had dragged on for weeks, the attackers were a strange mix of humans, various demi-humans, constructs, dragons and most of all, undead. The gods themselves seemed to have abandoned them or had become unable to act.The besieging army had been brutal, arguably more so than the empire had been in its history. Magic seemed to be crucial to the way they made war, the dragons in the air seemed tame enough they didn't need a rider.

A wall was built in the ashes of the city, siege engines were brought up, a mix of catapults, ballistae and cannons. When the advance was sounded, the assembled artillery opened fire, with the intent to suppress the wall's defenders while the siege ram was pushed into position. As with previous assaults the undead led the attack, primarily to wear them down, absorb cavalry charges and test defenses.

The soldiers of the Empire fought like mad bastards, like the next attack was going to be their last. That was to say the situation wasn't entirely without hope. They had been told by the few surviving priests that the gods were on their side and by their commanders that an army sent east to quell a rebellion on the frontier would return in victory to chase off the enemy. They seemed more reluctant to engage in protracted assaults since the gate closed.

While the enemy pressed forward, something odd happened in the courtyard of the imperial palace. Strange bolts of energy started to dance in the air, forming a column of crimson energy, easily becoming the most impressive display of power yet. The column soon widened, stabilizing into the unmistakable form of a tall rectangular gate.

What followed moments after was a colossus made entirely of an unfamiliar metal emerging, followed by reinforcements, but they weren't imperial. First emerged a mixed army of goblinoids, trolls and other assorted demi-humans, backed by smaller golems made of what looked like blue steel. Then elves with coal black skin emerged, bow and blade in hand, gleaming with magical power… The reign of the empire was over and it had come crashing down at the hands of those it intended to enslave.

----

Princess Pina Co Lada sat up in her bed, waking in a cold sweat. This wasn't the first time she had that nightmare. Every time it was incredibly vivid, with every detail as clear as day, were the gods trying to tell her something? Still, she couldn't help but notice her rose order knights were among those fighting for the empire, only for their dead to be cruelly turned against it without a second thought. She would have to figure out a way to avoid that outcome, even if it meant the empire itself becoming a vassal state. Little did the Princess know, the entire leadership of the empire and its vassals included had received similar dreams.

 

[Phantom General]

Chapter 1


"And that concludes my findings over the last five hundred years." Iranel said confidently. Here she was, just having proved a heliocentric model as thoroughly as she could while teasing her knowledge of orbital mechanics, just enough to hint that there was much more to what she presented. The only question was if other sages would accept the reality in front of them.The assembled sages seemed shocked at how much time and effort she put into refining her thesis. She had played the long game, establishing herself as an academic sage before working on moving the world forward. She even adjusted her glamour to make her look like a local high elf.

Later on, she was in Rondel's market, watching as people went about their business, having avoided being inked like so many sages that day. "Flat." She said, feeling the presence of another high elf.

"One day you'll tell me how you do that." He said, smiling.

"Sorry for stealing your project like that, my little side-project finished sooner than I expected." She said, letting out a frustrated sigh.

"What were you working on?"

"I can't say, because every sage I've gone to collaborate with on it has ended up dead one way or another. At this point, I suspect the gods have something to do with it." She said bluntly.

"That's a strong accusation, best not tell the priests." Flat joked, only to get a serious look in response.

"Live long enough and you start to notice patterns and differences between how things appear and how they actually are." She said bluntly.

"I think your age has made you paranoid. There's no doubt the gods hold the best intentions for us mortals. Even if that was true, there would be no way to challenge them. You've just been very unlucky for a long time." Flat responded, there was something off about this woman, but he couldn't tell what.

"That's how things look on the surface, I wouldn't doubt that it's well within their interest and power to arrange things so." Iranel said, standing firm.

"I don't believe that, everyone knows the gods their will through the apostles, I think you've grown paranoid." He said.

"I don't doubt their power and reach, Flat. I only doubt their intentions when they use that power. You might want to sleep with one eye open from now on though… I may have just marked you for death without knowing it." She said, very seriously.

Not even waiting for a response, Inarel had walked off, vanishing into the crowded streets. She had things to prepare in advance, the gate would open soon, Iranel knew that was a certainty. A shame really, she wanted to minimize the bloodshed that was to come.

----

Elements of the Imperial Army emerged from the gate, it was unusual to say the least. They seemed to have emerged into a large, underground city. As the soldiers fanned out to cover the entryways into the apparently abandoned plaza, they noted the elaborate architecture. Apart from ten massive statues apparently made from some sort of metal around the edge, facing the center of the area, there was what looked to be a ruined temple of some sort with smashed spider statues and other related iconography, being watched by the statues. A messenger had been sent back through the gate, to tell the rest of the army mustered to claim a foothold to enter what may have been Hardy's domain.

Elves… they were fighting, of all things to encounter underground, elves. Sure, the city was poorly lt and a confusing maze, but they had made progress. Captives had been taken, both male and female that they didn't outright kill. With the wyvern riders providing what support they could in the poor lighting, victory seemed assured and the borders of The Empire would soon spread into another world, especially if the rest of the world was as ill-prepared as this city. Still it was an odd thing, they found several empty statue plinths alongside strange statues made of what looked to be a sort of blue steel.

----

Myrue Shadowblade was not having a good day, she knew that Matriarch Ylistea was going to be very angry when she learned of this. Cutting down a scout, the last of the group she encountered, she allowed her blade to disperse for the moment, looking over her kills. Strange, they vaguely looked like orcs, though at the same time she could see a bit of goblinoid in there as well.

The drow heard footsteps approach her from behind, ready to create a new blade at a moment's notice. She already went through the process of shaping the blade as she checked the bodies just in case.

"Getting acquainted with the enemy, Lady Shadowblade?" The drow heard, setting her at ease… well, as much as she could around a hobgoblin in half-plate.

"Report, Khozeg."

"The enemy's main body is human, based on their armour and the formation they assume when hit with arrows, they're Nerrithians or someone with a similar doctrine."

"Nerrithians don't use Wyverns, or humanoid auxiliaries and they spurn magic in most of its forms." Myrue said plainly.

"What are your orders?"

"Go get what members of your legion you can muster, dig in and don't be afraid to collapse a building or two to slow them down."

"Ylistea won't like that."

"She won't like the prospect of losing the city even more when she wakes up. While you and your men hold, I'll send the guard your way and have Istorin recall Karnath and Lillian's forces."

"And the golems?"

"I'll wake my half of them and gods willing, he will be useful for once and wake his." The two parted ways to see to their duties, Mel'shoran would not fall on their watch. Checking her pocket watch, they only had to hold for one hour until Matriarch Ylistea came out of her trance.

----

Marquis Calasta was not in a good mood. What he thought would be an easy battle had turned into a slog. At first he heard from his surviving scouts that they were being attacked by other demi-humans, ones reminiscent of goblins going by the description. Next came the news of a local elf using strange magic to create a sword from thin air. Now, however… what little magical lights there were in the city had gone out entirely without warning. The demi-humans had fought like mad, like war was in their blood, they had pushed back and even wiped out some cohorts entirely, it didn't help that they seemed to be able to see very well in the darkness. The Wyverns had become less reliable.

 

[Phantom General]

Chapter 2


Calasta made sure his men at the least had torches this time, the surprise counter-attacks certainly didn't help as his men rested between attacks. That wasn't even mentioning the occasional ambush that ended with at least one or two officers dead on his forward units. Even that wasn't mentioning the sudden wyvern losses as they used their mount's flame breath to try and light up the battlefield. Still it wasn't all bad news, they had notably quite a bit of success in looting the areas they had held, they had recovered a large amount of gold and silver from what they could only assume was the commerce district and captured two of the city's gates without a fight, the garrisons likely having been emptied earlier.

----

One day, just one fucking day was all Ylistea asked to go without an attempt on her life or an attempt to take her city. It just had to be an invasion of all things while Karnath was out kicking the Derro and Kuo-toa while they were down and Lillian was out guiding other renegade drow to her city. Still, it was awfully nice of these humans to provide an outlet for her anger and an excuse to use her old adventuring gear again. So here she was, under the effect of a wand of fly, hunting down enemy wyvern riders. She trusted Myrue and Istorin to handle the counter-attack on the ground while she scouted ahead and thinned their numbers herself.

----

Myrue and Istorin arrived in the center of the city, silently and without their respective units behind them. They spied several enemy soldiers entering the area, probably building up for a major push. They both turned to check if the other had made it, the way they arrived was so they were in sight of the other.

"Ready? It looks like they're trying to figure out how to steal our constructs." Istorin signalled the soulknife using drow sign language.

"Yes, Though I might need to use a trump card in this fight." She answered.

"No need, I have the perfect wand for this occasion." He signaled, grinning.

----

Chaos, pure chaos erupted in the large plaza as a large monster made of fire appeared without warning. The most brave soldiers moved to attack the monster, only for them to be severely burned by the fire. Adding to the chaos was the elf with the magic sword finishing off those lucky enough to live after it turned its sights on them. Spotting a second elf giving the apparent fire spirit orders in a strange language, a few soldiers charged the robed man. Only then did the statues walk off their plinths and assaulted the unit, moving faster than anything its size had any right to.

With the group of enemy soldiers fleeing, Istorin dismissed the fire elemental, gleefully laughing, but holding back his half of the mithril golems. "That went better than planned." He said, a manic grin on his face.

----

"We were lucky one of their wyverns wasn't in the area." Myrue scolded. "I have a feeling they'll be back and with greater numbers." She said grimly. Letting out a sigh, she had a feeling that this was going to be a long siege, given how Karnath loved to overdo his campaigns and the sheer distance Lillian tended to search for renegade drow. Still, golems in tow, they headed back to friendly territory.

"You're far too cynical Myrue, we're more than capable of crushing this invasion on our own."

"You're far too naive, Ylistea can crush most invasions on her own, she doesn't need us to do it for her."

"Then why hold herself back? If she can wipe out the enemy army all at once, why hasn't she?"

"Do you really think she wants to level at least a quarter of the city everytime she commits to a battle? I have my suspicions, but I think she's a surviving member of House Kenrae. She has greater aspirations than just ruling this city."

"That old house? I'm certain that the last members of that house met their end in the deep roads or if they were lucky, by surfacer hands." He scoffed.

"Who knows? I heard there's a big reward for turning over their signet ring to the church of Lolth, but it's never been found." Myrue said, grinning. Whatever the truth, she was far too loyal to her matriarch to care. "But that's all beside the point, Ylistea can't be everywhere

----

Calasta looked over the wounded from the latest incursion, horrified by the severe burns inflicted on his men, the healers tending to them had already informed him they were likely not going to survive. "These were the unlucky ones, milord." A centurion said, similarly horrified. "It seems our enemy has pushed the art of battle magic to… horrifying levels." He observed.

For a moment, the marquis thought that the battle was, for lack of a better word, unwinnable and that more and worse horrors awaited the empire should the enemy go on the offensive. "What of the lucky ones?" He calmly asked the centurion.

"The blue statues turned out to be golems, the men who didn't run died instantly with each strike."

"We are in need of more men." Calasta quietly said to himself, pushing his doubts out of his mind. The empire would be able to overcome this problem the way it always had. One of his scouts did however manage to find the city's aparrant ruler and managed to lose her before she reduced him to a pile of ash like his partner was. "Send a messenger through the gate to request more men, if we can get our hands on this world's magic, it will be worth more than any cost we pay in blood today." He declared. That said, he would be content with having their leader in chains as his trophy.

----

Ylistea looked through her crystal ball, having sent her familiar after that scout after disintegrating his partner. She doubted they would realize she was even scrying their location or even was using her familiar like this. What was yet another spider in a drow settlement, after all? Looking around the area, she recognized where they were based, the old temple district, the structure they sent someone into must have been their way in. It was probably nothing a direct casting of Mordenkainen's Disjunction couldn't close. On the other hand, just closing it would mean they would learn nothing from the experience and oh how she really wanted to simply cut loose.

The siege continued for days of back and forth, with periods of heavy and often brutal fighting mixed with raids conducted by both sides. Ylistea herself was growing frustrated, both with how stubborn her enemy was and how every major battle meant that much less for her to work with. She knew the golems would be the last of her forces to fall, then she would have to level the city all over again to save it.

----

Calasta was feeling proud, having fought his enemy back. By his estimation his forces controlled the majority of the city and they were running low on soldiers. Sure, casualties had been high, unacceptably so were it not for the magical secrets of this world that would only make the empire stronger. Nothing could possibly stop the empire from spreading into this world now.

A messenger ran into the central plaza, kneeling before the Marquis. "My lord, I bring urgent news, the dagger gate is under attack." He said between breaths.

 

[Phantom General]

Chapter 3


Horror. It had been the order of the day since shortly into the engagement. At first it looked like they were going to roll over the barbarian demi-humans as they had before the gate opened. Between the summoned elemental spirits, magical spells, golems, traps, poisoned provisions and of course whatever killed the wyvern riders was taking its toll on the Imperial Army's morale. Sure, the more they fought, victory drew closer but at the same time that victory was more likely to taste like ash and cinders. Calasta had started seeing the change in the mood of his men after units started returning after getting mauled on the front lines.

Then there were the traps… treasure chests that exploded on opening started cropping up after the first day, pools of grease or oil that were ignited with a fireball, waterproof barrels full of a strange black powder that exploded when exposed to fire. The Marquis had seen this siege change some of his most bloodthirsty men, devout followers of Emroy into men haunted by what they had experienced at the hands of these elves. It had been affecting him as well, what he had once seen as glorious battle and conquest in the empire's name had slowly turned to hell and horror, as if a facade had been removed. He had to wonder, were they now looking upon the true face of war? Another question crossed his mind: What other horrors was this world capable of inflicting on the empire? There was also the ever-present feeling that the campaign beyond the gate had reached its highest point.

----

Karnath waited patiently for his zombie ogres to break down the gate. He was a gaunt man, clad in his custom made armoured robes. Much of its dark purple cloth had frayed as the years passed. Around two centuries ago, one could easily call him a human but now much of his flesh had rotted away, lichdom was never kind to the body. "My lady, I have arrived at the Gate of Daggers as requested and proceeding to force entry. Lillian will enter using the secret path." He sent to Ylistea using a scroll.

"Excellent, you are allowed to engage the enemy as you wish, within reason. As per usual, use of Death Fog is forbidden and I want their leader alive." Ylistea ordered. It was important for her to establish rules for Karnath, otherwise it would be Cloudkill and Death Fog everywhere or so his reputation went.

Ylistea, Istorin and a small number of troops spied the cohort guarding the gate of daggers, the distinctive sound of something hitting the gate, trying to force it open. "Do it." The drow sorceress whispered.

Istorin made the arcane gestures for the grease spell, placing three pools under the feet of the soldiers, he had prepared them all as a silent spell as per his matriarch's request.

Ylistea threw a fireball at the soldiers, particularly aiming to set the grease on fire under their feet. Sure enough, the explosion coupled with the sudden fire under their feet caused much confusion among the cohort, Khozeg and his unit charged in, some of his men making for the gate as per the plan.

What wasn't counted on was enemy reinforcements arriving so quickly. "Oh no you don't." Ylistea said, blocking their access to the area with a wall of force before casting haste on the soldiers fighting. It was a bit of a shame the twins were with Lillian, a pair of Psions would have really helped in the defense. It took some time, but the gate was opened, much to the relief of everyone present and the terror of the empire's soldiers, their reinforcements were here.

"Karnath, I want you and your officers to push them back through the streets, I want them bottled up in the old temple plaza." Ylistea ordered, unfazed by the unliving and their necromancer tenders walking by.

"And if they try to escape?"

"I'll have Lillian lock down the city with her forces, which should get them running back through the gate. If possible I want their general captured, if you kill him, it'll be you paying for the diamond Lillian uses to bring him back."

"Understood my matriarch." Karnath said, bowing before continuing deeper into the city, using a message wand to relay his orders.

"Lillian, I want you and your forces to lock down the gates, I want their only avenue of escape to be in the temple district." The drow sorceress sent, using a scroll. "I want their general alive for Nara to interrogate later."

"Understood, it will be done." The female lich answered.

----

Within around an hour, Calasta went from basking in his soon to be victory over the demihumans to retreating. What bothered him the most was that now he and his men had to deal with something out of his nightmares, the recurring one in particular. The scene of him surrounded by a sea of animated dead, a gaunt and rotting man laughing madly as his men were killed around him, only to be raised shortly before his very eyes and turned against their brothers in arms to replenish their losses.

Eventually, there he was, trapped in the temple plaza, all but one escape route blocked and limited options. Light suddenly flooded the battlefield, improving visibility within the area, him and his men readied themselves for a last stand before the elf leader walked through the ranks of the living dead.

"Oh how quickly fortunes turn." Ylistea said mockingly in Nerrithian.

Calasta was dumbstruck, how did this woman know Saderan? Was there a similar power to the empire here? "Just you wait you knife-eared bitch, the full might of The Empire is coming to take this world as its own!" He countered. It was a lie, his latest request for reinforcements had been denied, he was not on his own.

Ylistea let out a chuckle, sending her will through her signet ring, activating one of the adamantine golems that rested here. "Then I'll welcome their armies into my city, they're free to join their comrades among the legions of stone and iron. If you were to surrender however, you have my word that your lives will be spared, just lay down your arms." She said bluntly. Sure, in normal drow society, mercy was a weakness, but she was hardly a normal example of her kind to begin with.

Calasta considered his options, he could fight and die, return through the gate in disgrace or face the mercy of this strange elf. After weighing his options, he dropped his sword and his few remaining men followed suit. With the realization the statues were all golems, he knew he wouldn't survive and retreating was a dangerous gamble. The least bad option he could see was surrender.

Ylistea grinned at the development. "I want these men in a cell and ready for interrogation, ensure they're properly fed in the meantime!" She ordered in draconic. If they indeed were fighting Nerrith again, it was best to show some measure of leniency.

 

[Phantom General]

Ylistea had returned to her palace and slouched on her throne. On the bright side, no assassination attempts during the entire length of the siege, a new record considering the past century. She had Nara interrogate the prisoners using her psionics while she had Sarae conduct a census on their losses and both Karnath and Lillian on corpse collecting duty and giving her soldiers their last rites. The enemy soldiers were raised on the spot to replenish undead losses, used as food for the ghouls or tossed into the charnel pit as reserves depending on the condition of the body.

Dead enemy officers were spoken with and resurrected if they held a noble title for interrogation and possible diplomatic leverage later on. Myrue was taking inventory of what was stolen and Istorin busied himself with analysing the dead wyverns, both through dissection and seeing how useful their body parts were alchemically. She had messengers sent out to just about every major power on this side of the drakespine. Even with the undead, her little city-state wasn't nearly enough to fight a full empire. She even supplemented that by using a sending wand to ask some old friends for aid.

----

On the other side of the gate, Iranel watched the imperial army just sit there and guard Alnus hill. They had already sent a significant number of their forces through as expected. The Empire and its gods would have to adapt to the new normal or die. There were however more pressing matters than the… issue of this world's gods. The Great Enemy had taken root on this world, its tentacles had yet to expand beyond a single colony, but it was growing ever so slowly as to not attract unwanted attention. Even the local gods had yet to notice them, foolish as they were. This world was in dire need of change even long before they or even she arrived, it now needed knowledge that its gods have denied for far too long in their arrogance. She and her associates had to do this, lest this world's very sun be extinguished and an empire of madness rise.

----

General Godasen looked over the reports from beyond the gate, wanting to have some idea of what he was going to be up against if the enemy had the strength to take the fight to them. He had seen the captives from the early stages of the assault, some sort of elf with coal black skin, white or silver hair and blood red eyes, some long lost relative of the dark elves perhaps? Still, it was strange. While he inspected the captives, the men seemed somewhat timid while the women just glared at him quietly with murderous intent in their eyes, leading him to think their society was matriarchal like the warrior bunnies were. Still though, he couldn't help but be reminded of his recurring nightmares. Still, it was a curious coincidence that they started months before the gate opened.

----

In the town of Solaris, Amelia sat down in the tavern with her party, letting out a long sigh. "Hate to say it guys, but Mel'shoran is on strict lockdown." She said, grabbing her beer. She was an artificer, no mistaking it, she was human, one of only two in the party. Her brown hair was cut at shoulder length. Her hazel eyes gave the impression of someone looking for danger.

"Curious really, first the rumours something odd was going down, now the city's locked up tighter than Quin's sense of humour." Ars, the party's changeling rogue joked. She was currently disguised as a human to blend in, though she changed that fairly frequently to better blend in wherever she was.

"That isn't funny and never will be." Quin, the half-elf paladin responded. He tended to take after his high elf mother, with his blue eyes and blonde hair, clad in intricate half-plate, his greatsword leaning against the table..

Warden, the warforged cleric let out a chuckle. "Ars, I would recommend that you stop harrying Quinn, much like myself he's a veteran." He advised, having to remind the changeling again. His body had been made with adamantine as an experiment, after the war he took to adventuring as a way to find himself. The group was currently waiting for two others who were out taking care of some business in and out of town.

----

Tacey let out a long sigh, looking at the control amulet for the psion-killer before her. "You have to be kidding me." She said, exasperated. She could swear that her blonde hair would turn grey early because of this.

"I'm not, your mother insisted that you would need it in this leg of your journey." The local head of the Psionics Guild said, like it was an order from the gods themselves.

"I can defend myself just fine and the party I attached myself to is good enough to shore up my shortcomings." She insisted. Like hells she going to have her hand held by her parents.

"I'm afraid it's out of my hands the Guildmaster, your father co-signed the order. If you want to take it up with him, he'll be here in a few months." The Guild head said with a shrug.

Tacey let out a defeated sigh, taking the blood red crystal amulet reluctantly. "Fine, I can already hear the counterarguments that mother no doubt has sent here in advance." She said, slipping on the amulet. The blonde-haired and blue-eyed telepath headed for the Inn, followed by her new crystal golem bodyguard. Oh, the joys of having a Seer as a mother.

----

Nosk entered the town, his business in the forest concluded. He was a lizardman, one native to the jungles far to the south. He knew the rest of the party would be in the tavern and went accordingly. The warmbloods around him kept their distance from the ranger. From his observations, he noted that soldiers were making camp near their entry point for the deep roads to an unknown purpose, he would need to tell the group.

----

The entire party assembled and in their shared room, they went over what they knew. "Mel'shoran is locked the hells down, no one gets in or out." Amelia said, starting off the meeting.

"Thus, cutting off access to the deep roads here." Warden said, rubbing his chin.

"Just what happened down there? Did the Matriarch get replaced?" Ars asked.

"I don't think so if it was the case, we'd know by now. That said, all we do know is that messengers were sent out two months before we arrived here." Quinn answered.

"There is a warmblood army camped here, I know not why but it may be that another war has started." Nosk said, pointing to the appropriate part of the map.

"Another war, so soon?" Warden asked, concerned. Clerics to the god Lysanthir were always concerned about such matters, so many wars too soon wasn't exactly the sign of a healthy civilization.

"Entirely possible, Necris had suffered the least in the war. The other drow cities also weren't major players." Quinn speculated. That wasn't even considering random factors such as a wizard from another world opening a gate in the middle of the city.

After a few hours of discussion, the group resolved to wait out the lockdown.

----

Months had passed since he had been locked up, Calasta was surprised at how well he had been treated, all things considered. Strangely, he noted that his fellow nobles seemed to have survived somehow, though the only answer he had gotten was something about Hardy's domain being insufficient to hold them when he asked how they survived. The elf assigned to interrogate him and his fellow prisoners was strangely agreeable to be around, in fact, most of the other prisoners said the same thing. The addition of being given special privileges and treatment in exchange for cooperation and not having the information they wanted violently torn out of their minds by the elf's magic certainly was more than enough incentive. The first man to prove it wasn't an idle threat screamed throughout the process, everyone else took the hint. These elves, no… these Drow as he learned they called themselves were going to be too much for the empire to handle.

----

Ylistea was confident everything was ready now. She had no real ambitions of conquest outside of her kind, sure but at the same time she couldn't exactly leave her city vulnerable like this. After that, getting back the half of her court that was taken through the gate was her priority. So here she was, standing in front of the gate with her allies and friends at her back. The merchant republic of Sar'hael stitched together and sent an elite regiment under its most talented war mage to assist her in this expedition, in part in exchange for a trade deal on drow goods. Her old adventuring party had also answered the call, though most would be delayed significantly. The republic of Nerrith had turned down her request for aid, with the excuse that the orcs had been getting uppity again. Sareth was among the first to arrive with volunteers from stonehelm keep. While Necris wasn't sending over a contingent right away, she did hear from her messenger that they would be mobilizing to ensure the other city-states didn't try to assault her city while she took half her forces beyond the gate.

"My lady, the preparations are complete, we're ready to move out." Lillian said plainly.

"Here's the plan; Myself, Karnath and Lillian will step through first with our forces and secure the other side of the gate. Between myself, Karnath and Lillian our magics should be more than enough to drive off any armies they have guarding their side."

"Are you certain? You did mention that their primary strategy seems to be to overwhelm their enemy with numbers." Robyn, Sar'hael's star warmage asked.

"True, but they're sorely lacking in powerful combat magic, to the point that they don't factor in the possibility of it." Ylistea said, remembering Nara's report.

"Depending on how common magic is on their world, I trust you have a contingency in place if adventuring parties start showing up?"

"Given that necromancy and undead are unheard of on their world, I can say with confidence that at worst, their gods will send someone with tarrasque-like regeneration after us if the stories the prisoners told were true." The drow said dismissively.

"That could be a problem." Robyn deadpanned.

"Relax, me, Sareth and a few others slew a tarrasque toward the end of our adventuring career and they're mostly coming along for this." Ylistea said plainly.

"And you'll have the three of us." A young-looking human woman with glowing silver eyes said, getting significant attention in the process. There were two others like her, both men.

"So this little affair is of concern to the gods?" Ylistea asked, grinning. She knew tarnished dragons when she saw them.

"Yes, I am Sarael and these two are Bors and Mithran." The woman said, plainly.

"We are to assist you when we can, but we have our own mission to carry out." Bors said in a detached manner, his disinterest in the affairs of mortals clear.

Robyn was in awe, the very guardians of the world itself had been called upon to assist them.

"I accept your help, Lady Sarael." Ylistea said, bowing. Turning to her generals with a grin on her face, she couldn't wait to teach The Empire on the other side a lesson it wouldn't soon forget. "Let's move out!" She ordered, taking her first steps through the gate.

 

[Phantom General]

Chapter 5


Godasen woke up in his tent, reeling from his latest nightmare, a different one than the usual recurring one, but somehow more horrific. Not wanting to dwell on the new nightmare, he looked outside his tent, seeing that it was the middle of the night. He was about ready to go back to sleep when a messenger burst into his tent.

"My lord! The sentries at the gate are under attack!" He reported, fear in his voice and eyes.

"Get the men out of their tents and break camp, we're pulling back for now. I want the auxiliaries sent in to stall the enemy advance." He ordered, donning his armour in haste.

"My lord, are we retreating?" The messenger asked, shivering with fear.

"No, whoever they are, they are strong enough to both wipe out Calasta's army and commit to an offensive through the gate so soon. I imagine the best we can do in these conditions is stall them as best we can." Godasen said, exiting his tent. It was odd, he could swear that night time wasn't this dark normally.

----

Ylistea hung back for the time being, letting Karnath and Lillian's forces take care of the enemy. Sure, she did pave the way for them by wiping out the troops guarding the gate. During the months of preparation, she used scrolls to cast greater prying eyes and scout out the other side of the gate. She noted oddities like the time of day and how time seemed… out of synch and the oddity that there was space between the ends of the gate. She started making notes about the oddities and even collaborated with Istorin to try and figure out what was going on. In the end however, it took both Istorin and Robyn working together to calculate the time difference. That led to this situation, she had timed her attack to happen at night on this side, taking advantage of their darkvision. They were all fully expecting a counter attack in the morning after they crush the auxiliaries sent to slow their advance.

----

When morning came, Godasen looked over Alnus hill. A sizable force had indeed entered through the gate and arranged themselves in a basic defensive posture around a small fortified camp that seemed way too small for a force that size. Either the enemy was incompetent or the actual soldiers were something very unusual.

----

Ylistea got herself ready, lowering her natural magic defenses to get herself physically and mentally ready for the battle ahead. Before she tranced for the night, they hashed out a plan. Herself, two wight units, two ghoul units and an ogre unit would hold down the center. Karnath and Lillian would overload their flanks to draw the enemy to her, ensuring a wide berth as she cut loose on the empire's troops. She was counting on the enemy's Wyvern corps to target her the moment she revealed herself as the largest threat. She wasn't suicidal, but she was making a calculated risk. After loading her wand bracer for when she ran out of spells and readying her scrollcase, she donned her black silk archmage robes and walked to her position as her forces rearranged themselves.

----

Godasen watched his enemy weaken their center with a smug grin. According to his officers the enemy seemed to primarily use heavy infantry backed by monstrous demi-humans. That they gave the center a wide berth told him that his knights and wyverns would easily win him the day and The Empire control of the gate once more. He had already sent orders for his knights to concentrate and charge the center. The weakened center would break and he would be able to destroy the enemy at his leisure. He was confident this was going to be an easy battle, in part because his enemy gave it to him. He was confident enough that he ignored the possibility that it was a trap.

----

Ylistea watched as the knights charged her position. "I should have put up a sign saying this was a trap." She deadpanned. Sure, she knew back home this was probably quite blatantly a lure to get the enemy's best troops into the teeth of a powerful mage or cleric by now, but a world with seemingly no or little magic wouldn't. It was time to show them who they were dealing with. The drow sorceress drew from her well of magical power, the arcane gestures and words coming to her naturally as she designated her targets, when she finished the spell, four meteors streaked to the knights she chose as targets.

----

Godasen looked on in horror as a not insignificant number of his cavalry just up and vanished as magic previously thought impossible impacted the unit. He thought that was the extent of the enemy mage's power and it was spent until a second volley turned his cavalry into a memory. "Impossible…" He said to himself, looking at the mass of bodies almost halfway up the hill that were once his cavalry. "Signal the Wyvern corps that I want that mage in the center of their lines dead now!" He barked at his nearest subordinate. As a mage, the scene left three options as to what was going on to him: The mage he was arrayed against was a prodigy with an impossible reserve of magical power, the enemy had exceptional knowledge of the legal principle or, arguably the most terrifying possibility, that the enemy used an entirely different foundation for their magic. The magical effects were far too overt and powerful to match what he knew of elf spirit magic.

----

Ylistea took advantage of the apparent shock of the enemy to send a message to Lillian and Karnath. Simply put, it was their turn to go on the offensive. She would engage the aerial host herself until the dragons arrived.

----

Godasen couldn't believe his eyes, the enemy mage didn't just have the gall to engage his wyverns, but the power to do it on their terms. Impossible seemed to be what mages on the other side of the gate were capable of. Still, focusing on the ground,he got himself and his men ready for what might be their last stand.

----

Lillian floated forward using her boots of levitation, dispassionately repairing her undead with prepared mass inflict wounds spells when it was needed. Unlike Karnath, she served Ylistea because her god, Narfell asked her to do so. That was a common thing for The Old Gods, they never commanded, only asked. She was fairly certain that they didn't even want worship to begin with. That she looked almost alive was in part due to how she made her phylactery. Apart from the glowing red eyes that all liches possessed, she had a fairly death-like pallour to her skin tone, she had found over the centuries she lived that it seemed to put the living at ease to still have one's flesh intact.

----

Karnath, meanwhile was enjoying himself greatly, cackling like a madman as his iron golems breathed their poisoned breath on the enemy. His fear aura was working at full effect as he gave the impression of a mad priest. To say he enjoyed being Ylistea's attack dog was an understatement, he didn't even care that the drow had somehow stolen his phylactery anymore, he was sold on the idea the first time she let him off his leash.

----

Three days, three fucking days the battle with the dead had been going on. For three days, Godasen watched his army be ground down and pushed back by the seeming endless tide of rotting corpses and skeletons. Necromancy was abhorrent and unnatural yet the enemy employed the dead without a care. Primarily, the enemy host had been the animated bodies of some sort of fish-like demi-human but as the battle went on, they used fallen imperial troops as replacements. That the dead fought tactically on their own initiative when allowed to by their handlers led him to believe something of the original person remained intact or an intelligence had been infused into the corpse.

There had been a lull in the fighting, a rarity over the past three days. Godasen used the time to reorganize what was left of his forces into functional units. Around half of his army ended up dying in battle or deserting. Looking over the map he had of the area and the known positions of the enemy, he let out a sigh of frustration.

"It would probably be easier on you and your men if you just retreated." A female voice, seemingly from nowhere said.

"Who's there!?" The imperial general asked, drawing his sword. Now he was hearing voices, great.

"Please General, you're making a fool of yourself. You know this battle is unwinnable, you've seen what I can do to your army when I put my mind to it." The voice said, bluntly.

A chill went down the general's spine as he remembered what that mage did to his army. "Then why tell me to run?" He responded.

"I'm certain that my point has been made by now. There's no 'glory' in pointless defeat and I'd rather we sort out this problem like reasonable people." The woman said plainly.

"We will win in the end, even if I die, there are more soldiers in the empire you and your unholy army will have to deal with."

The woman laughed. "Such resolve, such dedication to your duty, I admire your loyalty to your emperor, I really do. But look to the gate, right now."

Godason looked over at Alnus hill, wondering what the hell that mage was talking about and saw three dragons take flight, one with scales like tarnished silver, one of tarnished gold and one of tarnished bronze. He was completely speechless. To his eyes, they looked to be the same size as the flame dragon.

"Meet Sarael, Bors and Mithran, three of the guardians of the world beyond the gate. Your empire had lost this war before it has even started, fool." The sorceress said bluntly.

Godasen walked out of his tent, his next course of action clear and with purpose.

"My lord! The hill, have you seen-"

"Yes, I have. Our next course of action is clear beyond all measure."

"My lord?"

"Everyone, break camp immediately! The situation has become untenable, we're returning to the capital!" The general barked out authoritatively. It was better to run and fight another day than face certain annihilation.

----

In a different plane of existence, the goddess Hardy watched as the imperial army got ready to leave the field, laughing as the first open battle she could see came to a close. She watched as soldiers from the other side poured in, more humans, led by another woman in robes. Though, the moment her gaze turned to the gate itself, she noticed something… wrong with it. It hadn't connected to the world she expected it to, as if some unknown force moved its endpoint as it opened. At first, she thought it was one of the imperial mages who built the gatehouse but noone in the world had that sort of power or knowledge short of her fellow gods. She could already hear Zufmuut screaming in anger over the somehow soulless undead and how they could disrupt the order of things.

----

Iranel watched as the soldiers of Sar'hael left the gate. "So it has indeed come to this, then." She said, seemingly to no one. The Empire had already reached the late stage of its life cycle over three centuries ago, with Matriarch Kenrae's arrival, it's twilight years had begun in earnest. Turning away from the hill deemed sacred by the local population, she walked in search of a specific person once more.

 

[Phantom General]

After a bit of time wrestling with my muse here's the next chapter.

Chapter 6


"I want this hill fortified enough to give even the nine legions of Baator pause!" Robyn ordered, looking at one of her captains.

"Yes ma'am." The human replied before turning to his men and barking out orders.

"Lillian, I want you and your officers to coordinate with Robyn's men, the addition of undead labour should speed up the construction of proper fortifications." Ylistea said, getting a silent nod in return before the lich went to work.

"Undead labour? I thought they were only good for wars and threatening villages." The wizard deadpanned.

"Why not? It's a cheap source of unskilled labour in the long run. And more ethical than using slaves."

Robyn blinked, the matriarch before her had a point. "Right, what are we doing with the bodies on this hill then?"

"Leave them where they fell, they're both my reserves and fodder for the ghouls unless you would rather your men be eaten."

The wizard shuddered at the mental image, that was something she really didn't want to think about or see again. Still, wanting to get her cannons dug in as soon as possible, she went to assist her artillery company with entrenching.

"I dunno Ylistea, I'm certain that Amara would argue otherwise." A male voice said from behind the drow sorceress.

Ylistea chuckled. "She already hates my style of governance and to a degree, me personally. I wouldn't be surprised, Sareth."

"Point, but as much as I would love to catch up, what's the situation?" He asked in a serious tone.

"I've sent Karnath and most of his forces out to ensure any local bandits in the area are taken care of, the dragons are currently getting a feel for this world and the rest are going to be giving Robyn's soldiers assistance. Those that are out are likely going to return in a day or two if things go to plan." The drow said plainly.

"So is this everyone?" Sareth asked before directing his men to assist where they could.

"It depends, for all I know, Urist might have been able to convince his clan to go with him, Amara might decide to bring a good contingent of her knights over, among those the rest can rally."

"I imagine you don't want to push out until you're certain this position is secure."

"Yes, with Necris sending a contingent eventually, we can't afford to lose this strongpoint." She said, taking a sealed envelope from her robes, offering it to the human. "Mind having one of your men deliver this to Myrue and return?"

"What's on the letter?" He asked, accepting it.

"Special requisition orders, instructions and getting our supply lines and messengers ready."

"So nothing that hasn't been in my life the past few decades." The warblade joked.

"I just need you to answer one important question; Did you bring any of the keep's artificers with you?" She asked, grinning.

----

"I'm coming, I'm coming, be patient." Cato El Altestan said, hearing someone knocking on his door.

"Are you expecting anyone?" Leilei asked as he walked to the door.

"No, the villagers might need my magic." He answered, opening the door. On seeing who was at the door, his eyes widened and he went pale.

"Hello Cato." Iranel said evenly.

"Greetings Iranel, how goes your research?" He asked, fear evident in his voice. His antics in Rondel a few decades back had inadvertently destroyed some of the elf's research material and found out she was terrifying when angry, among other reasons he fled.

"My side-project had been accepted." The elf answered plainly. "I'm not here for pointless grudges, I bring news." She added.

"Oh, well come right in." The old sage said, letting out a sigh of relief.

It didn't take long for the three of them to be comfortable inside the house. "So what brings you here?" Cato asked, looking to the elf.

"Believe it or not, the gate has opened." Iranel said, matter of factly. "There was a battle at Alnus hill recently, the imperial army lost over the course of three days." She added.

Cato took some time to think about that. "Obviously something unusual happened for you to come here."

"Yes, I saw the whole thing. A single mage wiped out the cavalry present then brought down the wyverns over the course of around four or five minutes."

Cato spat out his drink. "What!? Are you certain? The new arrivals had viable combat magic?"

"Yes, but that's not all I saw. At first I thought their army were just demi-humans, then the slain imperials stood up and turned against their former comrades, quite a few of them having their flesh melt off their bones as they rose." The elf said, eerily undisturbed by what she just said.

A chill went down Cato's spine, he wasn't sure what was scarier, that such magic existed in a practical form or that Iranel wasn't disturbed by it at all. "Does this knowledge truly affect you so little?" He asked.

"If this was happening around seven centuries ago, I would be as disturbed as you are. Now, after losing so many I've been close to, I'm not surprised anymore." She said bluntly.

"Who did you lose?"

"Research partners, friends, loved ones… The gods have seen fit to take everything from me, I suspect that Flat will be next, then you." The elf said grimly. "I recommend that you and your apprentice make for Alnus hill soon and go through the gate, I imagine an apostle has you both on their list now." She said, getting up and leaving the house before any counter-arguments could be brought to bear, as if she had heard all of them before.

Cato sat at the table for an additional hour, deep in thought. He had heard of the elf's reputation for harboring deep doubts about the gods during his time in Rondel. At the time, everyone treated her as a magnet for bad luck and her doubts as anger at her fate. Now hearing her side of things and how it changed her, he started to seriously consider the idea that those doubts had merit. It was odd, he didn't remember Iranel's presence carrying the weight of her age before, let alone the impression that she knew a lot more than she was letting on.

----

"So, what do you think?" Ylistea asked, watching Robyn analyze the gate.

"Well, the gatehouse itself seems to just hold the gate open and widen it so armies can march through." The human said, plainly. There was one such edifice in Sar'hael, mostly an experiment in planar gateways than anything else. "The gate itself on the other hand seems-"

"Incomplete?" The drow interrupted.

"Yeah, like someone opened a gate with no destination in mind and to the hells with the potential consequences."

"Istorin said as much, if this gate were to open on the abyss or gods forbid, the far realm-"

"This world would be very fucked and no amount of direct divine intervention would be able to save it. What's your assessment of it?" The human asked.

"It looks incomplete and potentially unstable, like any damage to the edifice holding it open could change its destination or the tenuous time synch. It's missing a lot of things that a normal gate spell has, almost as if it's leaning on some non-magical principle for support. I recommend that we hit it with Mordenkainen's disjunction and open a proper one in its stead once we've secured this area." The drow said honestly. She had been studying it for quite a while now.

"Hmm, I can see it now that I think about it." Robyn said thoughtfully. "Are you going to continue studying the gate?"

"Nah, I have some scrying to do. Last I looked, the general I let leave was approaching their capital." Ylistea said, grinning.

 

[Phantom General]

Tentatively calling this chapter done.


Chapter 7



Amelia let out a long sigh as she took her seat at her group's usual table for the last few months. They had been taking up odd jobs in the meantime to stay both sane and financially solvent. "Is Mel'shoran open yet? I'm tired of fighting goblins and giant insects. When are we taking on demon cults?" She complained, tired of repairing her wands.


"Be patient, I imagine the matriarch has locked down the city for a good reason." Tacey said, letting out a sigh. She had been looking around the tavern more often.


"True, the local matriarch has been mostly reasonable over the last century." Warden said, recalling what he overheard while gathering information.


"As reasonable as a drow can get." Quin said derisively. He hadn't exactly kept his low opinion of drow secret.


"Now now Quin, she doesn't worship Lolth, that is enough for me." Warden said plainly.


It was about then that the group was approached by a grey elf woman. "Excuse me, you wouldn't happen to be adventurers, would you?" She asked curiously, seemingly projecting an aura of mystery about her.


"You are correct." Nosk said, looking warily at the woman.


"Oh good, perhaps we can come to a deal."


"What sort of deal?" Amelia asked, her curiosity piqued.


"Well, I need a team such as yours to do a little scouting in the deep roads for me." The woman said, placing a map on the table.


"Would if we could, but the city is locked down tight." Tacey said plainly.


"Not for much longer, a reliable source of mine has informed me that the lockdown will be lifted soon."


Ars raised an eyebrow. "How did you get this information?" She asked suspiciously.


"I have my ways, but the lockdown doesn't mean that someone can't send a message." The grey elf said plainly.


"Alright then, anything we need to know?" Amelia asked curiously.


"Well, you will need someone with darkvision, the map I have was partly made with darkvision powder." The elf said, motioning to another table.


Quin took a look at the other table, spotting a lone tiefling mage and her owl familiar. "A tiefling, seriously?" He asked incredulously. Fiends were not to be trusted in his eyes.


"Why not? You trust the changeling enough." The woman snarked.


"How did you know that?" Ars asked suspiciously.


"Permanent truesight." The elf answered.


"Fair enough." The changeling said, somewhat bitter.


"But seriously, consider it a chance to keep someone descended from fiends on something resembling the straight and narrow." The noblewoman suggested.


"Fair enough."


"So what does the map lead to?" Tacey asked curiously.


"Oh, just a nest of skum I imagine none of you would mind wiping out."


Just about the entire group bristled at that. "Wouldn't such a nest have been wiped out and made an example of by now?" Tacey asked.


"Matriarch Kenrae currently has other pressing issues on her mind, best to let her focus on those for now."


"Alright then, what's the reward?" Amelia asked, grinning.


The woman placed a bag of coins on the table. "Eight thousand gold pieces, half now and half on completion of the job."


Amelia looked at her party, to ascertain if they wanted to go through. "Alright then, you have a deal." She said, noting her teams approval.


"Once you're finished, meet me at The Whispering Spider Inn within the city for the second half of your payment." The strange elf said, getting out and heading out the door.


Amelia went to recruit the tiefling into the party, leaving the rest of the group to talk among themselves.


"So, did that woman seem a bit odd to you guys?" Ars asked, getting nods from around the table.


----


"A likely story, if you hadn't been such a coward, we would have a foothold on the other side of the gate by now, Godasen!" Cicero La Moltose dismissed, a good number of the senators present backing him up.


"There was only so much I could do with what I had! There is only so much you can do when every sense of conventional warfare has been thrown out the window!" Godasen countered, hiding his headache. He could feel anger swell within him, he did not like being accused of cowardice.


"I suppose this is where your fantastical story of impossible mages, the dragons and the dead rising where they fell comes in, you old fool!" Podawan countered, tired of what he saw were excuses. As far as he was concerned, this was a cover for his incompetence and cowardice.


"Then I suggest you raise an army and go and die upon Alus hill yourself!" He shouted, rage evident in his voice. "Upon Alnus hill, now stands an army that can replenish its losses while it fights and led by a mage with enough power to turn a legion into nothing more than a memory on their own, likely over the course of an afternoon!" He vehemently argued. There was no mistaking the utmost certainty or perhaps stubbornness he argued with. There was something that told him that this was only scratching the surface of what the enemy could bring to bear.


The session in the senate had lasted for several hours, long enough for him to need a drink. While he had managed to successfully defend his decision to cede Alnus hill, he noticed cracks forming in the senate, it seemed that it was going to be deadlocked for at least the duration of the possible crisis. Still, that was a headache for later, he needed that fucking drink.


After entering the high class tavern, Godasen picked out a seat that would leave him relatively alone with his thoughts.


"And here I thought I wouldn't be able to see you, old friend." A familiar voice said.


"Have a seat, Titus." Godasen offered. He'd known the middle-aged mercenary for the better part of twenty years now. "I thought you were out east, what brings you here?" He asked.


"Replenishment, the last job went bad, the only way we've made a profit was looting what we could." The man answered.


"How bad was it?"


"Well, at first it started out pretty well, but weird… people of entire villages seemed to just vanish over the last few months without a trace going by what the locals had been saying." Titus said plainly.


"Perhaps the rebels attacked the village?"


"No, there weren't any bodies and what food there was, was still there."


"So what happened next?"


"We eventually came across a mine that had been taken over by them, the fight itself was intense and nothing we couldn't handle at first, then the ogres appeared. That wasn't the weirdest thing though."


"That being?"


"The entire group seemed to fight like they were of one mind and there was something strange about the ogres. All of them had a dead expression on their faces and four strange scars on their heads in the same place. It was like someone was messing with their heads."


An involuntary chill went down Godasen's spine as his new nightmares came up in his mind. The time went by on a less terrifying note though a drink or two in, he ended up spilling the details of his recent failures, he wasn't mocked or insulted for it this time, but then he knew he could trust the mercenary.


"You might want to get yourself a political patron very soon." Titus said, seriously.


"Why is that? I already have a spot on the senate."


"I have a feeling that someone will try to sway you to your side, likely through your family. They might not try it if they knew someone in the royal family backed you." He advised.


"What do you know of politics? You're just a mercenary."


"I've picked up enough to know that you never truly know who to trust in politics other than yourself. Worst case, I'm willing to help you out if they try something underhanded, free of charge."


"I will think on it, thanks Titus. I don't know what I would do without a friend like you."


"Don't thank me yet, I have a strong feeling the worst is yet to come."


"How so?"


"Well to start, it seems that for all their power, those from beyond the gate have yet to find a reason to want to burn the empire to the ground." Titus said plainly, with the implication they were likely to find one.


----


"Sareth, which of your swords did you bring?" Ylistea asked, the two of them in the drow's tent.


"All of them, why?" Sareth asked curiously.


"Even the-"


"Yes, I figured it would be best for it to be in my hands than risking it getting stolen. Besides, there's no telling what we'll be " Sareth interjected, hearing someone enter the tent.


"A wise choice, considering its power." A third voice interjected.


"It's been a while, Bastion." Sareth said, acknowledging the half-giant with a smile.


"Likewise, Sareth." The psychic warrior said evenly.


"Two down, five more to go." Ylisteas said, sighing. It felt nice to finally be in the presence of some of her old friends.


"Still hung up over the old man's passing, Ylistea?" Sareth asked, placing a hand on the drow's shoulder.


"Arcturus was a good man, he held us together even at our worst. He will be missed." Bastion said, a tinge of nostalgia in his voice.


"Mordecai found a promising lead concerning his next of kin, it's why it'll be a while until he'll join us here." She said, regaining her composure. It wasn't like the heir to their missing eighth member would just show up randomly.


"So that's where he's been all this time. We gonna be doing a scry and die on their leadership?" Sareth asked, grinning. He always found that cathartic when they could pull it off.


"No, even though we can pull that tactic without problems, I would prefer to be reasonable first. If those in power in this world won't be reasonable, then we can take matters into our hands." She said, an amused smirk on her face. "But don't think we won't be using it when we can."

 

[Phantom General]

Took a while for me to get it to a form I was happy with, but here's chapter 8.

Chapter 8


Emperor Molt was deep in thought. He had watched the senate argue over the issue of the army at Alnus hill for the last three days, remaining silent on the issue of the army assembled there. Caution was needed, that the enemy could apparently blur the lines between life and death so easily implied that they could replenish their losses in the field with whatever unholy magic they tapped into.

"My lord, what shall we do? If the allied kingdoms realize what happened to our army, they would surely rebel." Marcus asked, snapping him out of his train of thought.

A thought came to his mind, an idea. If the enemy at Alnus was capable of destruction on such a scale, he would only have to escalate things, if their vassals could contain the threat, they would be busy doing so, the empire would have some breathing room to rebuild its mighty armies. "Send word to the vassal kings, their combined armies should be able to contain the threat growing at Alnus hill." He ordered calmly.

The empire's vassals would have to hold for the time being while they licked their wounds. He did however have the feeling that things were only going to get harder on the empire as things went forward.

To add to his concealed unease about the situation, he couldn't shake the feeling that they were being watched.

----

Ylistea handed her personal messenger a sealed message. "Make sure Myrue sends the items, I need as many here as possible." She ordered.

"Yes Mistress, I will return soon." The man said before running into the portal.

"Something stoke your paranoia?" Sareth joked, a dumb grin on his face.

"Very funny, Sareth." She said, rolling her eyes. "But it's not paranoia when they really are out to get you."

"What did you see?" He asked, slipping into a more serious expression. He knew his friend used divination magic heavily.

"They sent messengers to their vassals, I imagine that we'll be facing a large combined army in the near future."

"So what are you bringing in to help for the coming battle?" Robyn asked, having heard the whole thing.

"Ah Robyn, I've been meaning to ask, are your men familiar with the use of blast disks?"

"Yes, we even have a few with us in case we face an army of undead again, why?"

"Well, we now have as many as are needed for the next battle, I don't know how many we're going to face, but I suspect we're going to need every edge we can get." She said seriously.

"What exactly is your plan here? We have enough field artillery that we can smash most, if not all tightly packed formations that are thrown at us." Robyn said, concerned. The cannons, mortars and the signal rockets she brought with her contingent had been well entrenched by now.

"I suspect we'll be outnumbered, to the point that our magic may not be able to make up the difference. Besides, would it not be wiser to plan for the worst case than hope things will work out?" She queried, hearing the sound of someone in full plate dismounting a horse.

"As much as I hate to admit it, she has a point." A female voice familiar to her said.

"Amara." She said tonelessly, readying herself for another pissing match. Great, just what they needed, a paladin.

"Ylistea, I see you still employ the liches." The Aasimar responded with great disapproval.

"And it seems you still have that immovable rod up your ass." She said flippantly, making eye contact with the tanned woman. She never really liked paladins, feeling like they lacked imagination and seeing Amara as being particularly inflexible.

"And I see you're still a petty tyrant, the last century hasn't changed you one bit it seems." The paladin shot back, the tension between the two of them could be cut with a knife. "Just because my god is fairly forgiving, doesn't mean I should be."

Ylistea tensed up at that, it taking all of her self-control to hold back another snide remark.

"Regardless, what's the situation? Me and my knights are at your disposal, provided that you don't treat us as disposable." Amara stated, her eyes narrowing.

"If there's anyone who's expendable here its my undead and only because they're easy to replace, Knight-Captain." She said with thinly veiled contempt.

"Girls, girls… there's a time and a place for a pissing match and here and now are neither of them." Sareth said, getting between the two of them. He let out a sigh, it was obvious to anyone he was tired of playing peacemaker between them.

"If we're going to be here long term, we should at least have our clerics give the enemy's soldiers their last rites while we entrench, as useful as it is, I doubt our still living men would appreciate a boneyard forming so close to the fort." Robyn said diplomatically.

"We should bury the bodies and while we're at it, consecrate the ground." The paladin added, standing her ground on her beliefs.

"You really haven't changed either… While I agree we should give them their last rites, it would be foolish to deny ourselves easy reinforcements since we have multiple kingdoms bearing down on us." Ylistea said, letting out a sigh. Gods, she hated paladins sometimes. "We'll have plenty of time to bring justice to slave-taking assholes later, we just need to hold our foothold here in the meantime." She reasoned.

Amara remained quiet for a moment, as if considering her options. "Very well then, please continue." She said, having accepted the logic of the situation at the moment.

----

"And that's all I know about what's going on out east, princess." Titus said, leaning on a column outside of the imperial palace.

"Are you certain?" Pina asked, concerned. She had quietly contracted Titus and his black company to investigate the possibility of a rebellion brewing in the east.

"Yes, ask any of my remaining men and they'll say the same thing." He said, letting out a sigh. His company went from three hundred to just thirty and even then, if it wasn't for his second's creative use of spirit magic and his martial skill, they'd have been wiped out.

The princess frowned at that. "What do you think of the situation out east?" She asked.

"To be honest, this shit seems like it has been going on for the last few years. Almost like something big has happened and only now we're starting to see the effects of it." He opined.

"My thanks to you and your men, I'll tell father of this development, though I'm unsure how we'll be able to handle it." She said, letting out a sigh.

"Might I make a suggestion, Princess?" He asked, getting a nod in response. "From what I've heard of what happened at Alnus, the army there might be critical allies against whatever is out east." He suggested with a grin.

"Do you seriously think what Godasen said is true? In all of known history no one has been able to tame a true dragon."
"In our history, certainly. Who knows? Maybe they're used to weird shit like this happening."

----

Iranel walked deep within Koan forest, entering a clearing she made a year prior. She was far enough from civilization that few would stumble upon this meeting, let alone the prying eyes she wished to avoid, if things went to plan, few would realize their presence on this world for a long time.

She waited for a few hours, not even flinching as a dragon with tarnished bronze scales and deep scars landed. "Hello Bors." She said, smiling.

"Lady Ysen." The dragon responded with respect, shifting to his humanoid form. "What is the state of this world?" He asked, all business.

"Fucked." She stated, annoyance in her voice. "The Lords of Madness have arrived on this world." She said, contempt in her voice.

Bors tensed at that, very old memories stirring. "Where?" He asked, contempt audible in his voice.

"To the east, once the battle at the hill resolves, I want you to head east and disrupt them as much as you can, kill those you find on sight." She stated plainly.

"And the thralls?" He asked, almost tentatively.

Iranel's demeanor softened considerably at the question. "Grant them peace in the embrace of their gods, as normal." She said, a touch of sadness and hesitation in her voice. She hated having to do that, but the multiverse was rarely kind.

The dragon nodded. "It shall be done." He said almost mechanically, reverting to his draconic form before leaving.

There were only two things that could save this world now, she knew it all too well. This world needed heroes and knowledge that would be considered forbidden by the twelve parasites. Knowing the former would come from beyond the gate, she knew it was her job to spread the latter. With a smirk on her face, she set off with her new mission. It was high time this world learned a better method of utilizing magic, among other things.