NationStates Jolt Archive

Tenebrus the Shade King stood on one of the millions, maybe even billions of dark paths that fill the landscape of the Underworld. He stood there, in front of a series of strange, unholy portals. With possibly millions of his underlings standing behind him, waiting for his decision. The Underworld's soil was as black as the night itself, and the only light there was of eerie light green, shining dimly in the dark realm.

A winged beast stood next to the portal. One which spoke to Tenebrus.

"... Yes. You are to choose from these portals. You are to go and conquer the lands that you see before you, until you reach the borders of the place you invade."

"I am to go and kill the living of a specific area? How do I know when I should stop, to not arouse too much suspicion in their ranks?"

"Do not worry, you will know when to stop. You will know when the living of those lands have been extinguished, when it is time to go and seek out their capital and assign them an undead leader in the name of your Ashen Empire."

"Very well..."

Tenebrus thought for a while. He would have to choose...

"Just enter the portal of your choosing. Your followers will come after you."

Tenebrus was silent. He just nodded slightly.

And then came the time. He walked into one of the portals.

He had chosen.

The spectral army began to march into the portal after him, slowly disappearing into the darkness.

(OOC: Since I was unable to get a volunteer on IRC, I still need one. So, if anyone wants his nation to become undead, just reply to this thread. You would stay in control of your nation, obviously, but it will answer to the Ashen Empire and to the Underworld. All ties to the living would be severed.

Ermor is now in the future, so that brings the number of candidates down quite a bit. If you do not know what Ermor is about at least read this thread (http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=317863).)

Going through the portal took much longer than he had thought... Maybe he would be able to truly exit the portal when all of those who had followed him had entered it, so that they would enter their chosen land all at once. Yes, maybe it was so. He dozed off into a state of unconsciousness for a moment.



He had his own chamber in the Ermorian Citadel of Eldregate, in which he had stayed for quite some time since his arrival to the mortal plane. But suddenly, his slumber was disrupted. Someone was there... Telling him to go somewhere... To the Lich Queen.

He stood up and followed the dark beast which had come for him. The doors to the Lich Queen's throne room were open. He entered the room, and looked at her.

"You called for me, Lich Queen? Why? What is it that you want now?"

"Good, you're here. I order you, Tenebrus. Go to the Underworld with your spectral legions. Someone shall be waiting for you there. Someone who shall give you your next... Mission. Now, go."

He left the throne room of the Lich Queen.

What is this...?

He left the Citadel. He left all of Eldregate behind him. He would need... Space. For those who follow him to gather around him.

It did not take long for him to gather a great army of spectral beings who had been close enough to hear his calling. Millions upon millions of them arrived, but it still was only a small portion of those who had come through the Soul Gates. But it would be... Sufficient. Or so he had thought.

He cast the spell required to enter the Underworld, he and his legions disappeared in a blink of an eye. In that moment, Tenebrus, the King of the Shade Lands, had entered the Underworld. It did not go unnoticed by those who dwelled beneath, but they did not dare to attack him, for he was under the protection of the Lord himself/herself/itself.

There he met a strange, winged being, one that called itself a Prince of Death. A Prince of Death, which suggested that he was not the only one. It had taken Tenebrus and his legions to a place with many portals... He told Tenebrus to choose. He said it would mean the death and "rebirth" of a nation. It would bring glory to the Ashen Empire and to the realms of the dead.



Tenebrus felt a strange disturbance in the portal's chaotic energy and it reawakened him. He knew that he had not been told everything, but it did not matter. What mattered was the task at hand. Death. Destruction.

Extinguish the fire of the living!

((And...are you forgetting that the living fight back? Are you going to allow for the possibility that this undead army could lose? If not, you aren't going to get many people involved, I don't think. Then again, perhaps it's just cause I've got an old nation, and I'm rather attached to it.))

((And...are you forgetting that the living fight back? Are you going to allow for the possibility that this undead army could lose? If not, you aren't going to get many people involved, I don't think. Then again, perhaps it's just cause I've got an old nation, and I'm rather attached to it.))

(OOC: If someone accepts Ermor's invasion, his or her nation's life is forfeit. The nation will become undead, after a war is fought, obviously, but it will become undead no matter what. Of course, if someone accepts it, he or she will keep his or her nation, but it will be... Well, undead. I won't claim any control over the nation.)

OOC:
Not many people like 'Hey, come lose to me!' wars...

((OOC: Yeah, but they can be fun sometimes.
Ermor: I'll put forth Kanab to be conquered by the undead [for a little while] if you put forth Ermor or another puppet [with sufficient information of course] to be conquered by Roseway's Empire.
Then again...
Just conquer Kanab. I don't care.))

Kanab (kuh-nabb) is a city - town - only-place-with-a-grocery-store-for-miles-around in southern Utah.

The Republic of Kanab extends from the Grand Canyon and Colorado River in the south to a few miles past the former Bryce Canyon National Park in the north. I think I've got good borders there... Arizona, Utah borders on the east and west. Its capital and largest city is Kanab, which has a Moscow-like relationship with its country (half the people live there, the other half want to). Kanab has a population of two million, Teasdale four hundred thousand, and Page three hundred thousand. It's a desert area, with subsistence farming slowly being replaced by mining as the chief occupation. Its inhabitants are (unlike the real Kanab area) almost entirely Roman Catholic.

OOC:
Not many people like 'Hey, come lose to me!' wars...

(OOC: Obviously. I am not trying to be nice with this one. And by saying that by accepting you forfeit your nation's life, I can make sure that there will be no odd wankage, like suddenly gaining technology you didn't have earlier or somesuch, just because you don't want to lose. I'm asking before doing anything, which is a lot more than most people do.)

((OOC: -- Ermor: I'll put forth Kanab to be conquered by the undead [for a little while] if you put forth Ermor or another puppet [with sufficient information of course] to be conquered by Roseway's Empire.))

(OOC: Doesn't work that way. Their dominion is their safe haven, they cannot be followed there by the living unless they are immortal. There are some instances of immortal, living beings being in Ermor. You can't be conquered "for a little while" by the undead. When it is done, it's done. There's not much you can do to remove the dominion, nor would the undead even let you try it. But I'm not asking people to put their main nations onto the line, no. Puppets are sufficient.)

--

(OOC: I'm not even expecting that many "participants" into this thing. I know it doesn't sound all that fun, being forced to lose and all, and I'm not offering anything to sweeten the deal. But what do you expect? How could I make it any better, anyway?

I am ready to even RP this all alone if need be. The only reason why I made this thread in this fashion is to try and see if anyone at all would be interested in... Well, this. It would change your nation permamently.)

OOC:
Not many people like 'Hey, come lose to me!' wars...

Obviously. I am not trying to be nice with this one. And by saying that by accepting you forfeit your nation's life, I can make sure that there will be no odd wankage, like suddenly gaining technology you didn't have earlier or somesuch, just because you don't want to lose.

((Or having millions and millions of undead, seemingly invulnerable minions of darkness led by some ungodly prince of death with his ultra 1337 sword and armor and cool looks to conquer some random nation no matter what. Hmm, who does that sound like...

Furthermore, the forces of the undead have been triumphed against before, with white magic and such, so there's really no such thing as a guaranteed victory. And certainly even a sprawling undead empire (I had one once) has some kind of weakness (forced soulsucking or a surge of positive energy to yank the undead fully into the spiritual realm, for me) that can do it in, rather than saying "Ha! I'm undead so if you come here you die, period!" Just a hint of realism for you to think about.))

((Or having millions and millions of undead, seemingly invulnerable minions of darkness led by some ungodly prince of death with his ultra 1337 sword and armor and cool looks to conquer some random nation no matter what. Hmm, who does that sound like...

(OOC: Led by a Shade King, thank you very much. He is the King of the Shade Lands, but he is quite weak. And where the hell did you get that "ultra 1337 sword, armor and cool looks" thing, anyway? Princes of Death don't wear armor, nor do they wield swords, and they look kind of nasty too. And having millions of undead is less godmoddish by far than having millions of Tolkienesque elves, for one, so it shouldn't sound all that bad. And most Ermorian undead are either completely mindless (soulless, longdeads and the like). Your whining won't change anything.)

Furthermore, the forces of the undead have been triumphed against before, with white magic and such, so there's really no such thing as a guaranteed victory.

(OOC: There is, if one sets it as a requirement as I have, which drops the number of possible volunteers quite a bit. And these undead are not stupid enough to attack as the first thing they do a nation strong in holy magic. And even if they would do that, they'd make damn sure that they would have all possible antimagic spells up before they go any further. Or go in with the technology they have stolen instead of using spectres.)

-- And certainly even a sprawling undead empire (I had one once) has some kind of weakness (forced soulsucking or a surge of positive energy to yank the undead fully into the spiritual realm, for me) that can do it in, rather than saying "Ha! I'm undead so if you come here you die, period!" Just a hint of realism for you to think about.))

(OOC: The Ashen Empire's dominion is directly linked to the Underworld, which is where the undead are coming from. This is why those who are immortal Ermorian undead are really immortal only within the dominion of Ermor. Ermor's armies are vulnerable outside of the said dominion. Inside it, they are hard to see, hard to detect and hard to eliminate, for obvious reasons. Perpetual cold and darkness, the aging effect... For a nation that relies on technology, the easiest course of action to attack Ermor would be a bombardment of some kind. Orbital, from the seas outside of Ermor's dominion... Things like that. Undead burn just nicely, if they don't get to cast them resistance spells.)

OOC:
Simple solution:
I use my orbital fleet to turn your zombies, undead, and nasty beasties into their component molocules, I then drop an antimatter bomb into your undead realm, followed by a localized BHB (Black Hole Bomb), then I procede to find the finest Priests, Druids, or whatever that money can buy and sharp pointy objects and coerce to create so many bloody holy shields your undead cant even LOOK at the place.
I then repeat the process on any other undead portals you happen to have.

Before you tell me that the orbital weapons arent that accurate, the US can do it over ten thosand miles with a missile, im sure I can do it from a hundred with a laser.

((Mmmm...singularity charges... :D

Anyway, you just never said any of that before, Ermor. Now that I can see you do have a vulnerability, I can better see how your empire works. I mentioned the "1337" aspect because all too often, ideas like this turn into "I cast my unstoppable dark magic spell against you!" "I use my unstoppable white magic spell to stop you in your tracks!" "I use my even more unstoppable dark magic spell..." And so on.

But thanks for clearing up your side. However, I honestly don't expect any changes, and I really don't care. I'm not going to join, and I'm beginning to doubt anyone else will, if you don't make your rules a bit more flexible. Then again, like you said, you could always just RP it out yourself.))

OOC:
Simple solution:
I use my orbital fleet to turn your zombies, undead, and nasty beasties into their component molocules, I then drop an antimatter bomb into your undead realm, followed by a localized BHB (Black Hole Bomb), then I procede to find the finest Priests, Druids, or whatever that money can buy and sharp pointy objects and coerce to create so many bloody holy shields your undead cant even LOOK at the place.
I then repeat the process on any other undead portals you happen to have.

(OOC: C'tan said that he might do something like this before, and I told him what would happen then, too. You bomb Ermor, you have a temporary solution. You'll get a whole bunch of 'em undead, but still, the immortal ones just keep on coming back. The immortal ones also happen to be the most powerful ones and they have a habit of not going out of Ermor. And if you bring living beings to Ermor, they die out of old age as stated before. The bombardment won't remove the dominion of the Ashen Empire, even if it does remove the undead which are not immortal for good. The immortal ones could just start bringing new ones.

And right now I must say that you're pretty late. The undead have spread to space now, and have been... Acquiring technology on a rather regular basis (yes, it has all been RPd). Power armors, plasma weapons, the works, altered a bit to fit the undead better, of course. Attack Ermor, and those of Ermor who are in SPAAAACE shall attack you.)

Opps. Question answered before I posted...

OOC:
So, your going to take on the twenty or so futuretech nations on the IM, Im sure they could kill you fast enough to make a differnce, and THEN I cut off the source of your undead army, since even if they ARE made of energy or super-duper-undead matter they cant escape from a black hole.
And note the wonderful preachers.

OOC:
So, your going to take on the twenty or so futuretech nations on the IM, Im sure they could kill you fast enough to make a differnce, and THEN I cut off the source of your undead army, since even if they ARE made of energy or super-duper-undead matter they cant escape from a black hole. And note the wonderful preachers.

(OOC: Your bickering is pointless.

You shouldn't even know of Ermor's existence IC. Added to that, you should know nothing of their possible weaknesses or strengths IC. Hell, you don't even know that they are an undead nation IC. These things with the OOC mark before them are OOC information, you see. Out Of Character. Ermor is a dark, barren wasteland. And those who have found their way there have a tendency of not coming back. If that doesn't make it rather... Uninviting even for the inquisitive types, then nothing does.

Most of the undead are corporeal and mindless, some of them are corporeal and intelligent. Then there's the group that's spectral. As in, non-corporeal. Ethereal. You know, ghosts and the like. And your preachers could not stop the immortal undead from... Being immortal. And antimagic spells and items work quite well against holy magic.

Please also note the wonderful unholy priests and the nice amount of Dusk Elders that reside in Ermor, and that would survive the bombardment due to their immortality within the dominion of the Ashen Empire.

And since you're not really contributing to this thread at all I must
ask you to leave. Bah, you're not even the first one to whine about his OMG GREATNESS in a thread I've made. But you know what? This thread is about what it is about, and there's nothing you can do about it. Abso-frickin'-lutely nothing! And there's even a plus here! Ermor's in Arda! Ha!

I take it that no one will agree to the terms of this thread. Well, too bad.
Just means I'll soon have to resort using one of my damn puppets instead, since retconning isn't really an option.)

OOC:
Yes, I KNOW its OOC, I've been on NS for quite some time, and I have a bit of knowledge of online lingo.
Now, you didnt address the point here, can your undead, corporeal or not, escape from a black hole? Most likely not, since to influence anything they have to exist, and to exist they have to be matter or energy, since NOTHING (that exists) can escape from a black hole, they would be stuck, in the black hole.
But hey, as you say, its your RP and if you want to play with yourself, go ahead ;)
Ill leave you six alone.

OOC:
Now, you didnt address the point here, can your undead, corporeal or not, escape from a black hole?

(OOC: If they are fast enough to enter the Underworld, they won't be affected by things that happen in the realm of the living. If not, their bodies are disintegrated, and their spirits, unless they are mindless, return to the realm of the dead it came from, unable to return to the realm of the living. And somehow I doubt that using black holes on Earth would be such a great idea.)

But hey, as you say, its your RP and if you want to play with yourself, go ahead ;)

(OOC: Well, considering that the puppet I will sacrifice for the cause is of a species that has been in space for tens of thousands of years, I guess I could do worse. If no one wants to become undead, who am I to argue. Ermor is not like, for instance, your Kyrr, who you have made up only for it to get its butt kicked.

Blood shall spill, no matter what.)

Does Ermor get access to the techs and magicks employed by the conquered nation?

Does Ermor get access to the techs and magicks employed by the conquered nation?

(OOC: That depends. If the nation being taken over is of lower magical/technological standing than Ermor, they won't. If the person behind the nation being taken over says no, then they won't. It depends on the soon-to-be undead leadership of the nation in question. If I sacrifice one of my own puppets, it is going to be assimilated into the Ashen Empire instead of being given a rather free status.)

OOC:Ashkeloh IX shall be Weyr's scrificial goat, provided that all of its tech and magick does not get used by any other nation within the Ashen Empire. Besides, I need to test out a few concepts that Weyr will develop over the next few RL months. . .

Ashkeloh is what Weyr *might* become in several RL months.
----------------

IC:
"You're saying we have a 'net flux at Selena Station."
"Yes, ser."
"Dangerous?" the Magus asked. he already knew the answer -- with direct access to the 'net he could access and 'see' everything his techs saw. None the less, he wanted a physical statement.
"No, ser. It looks like an alpha. Won't even graze the citadel," the tech responded, her eyes still slightly glazed over, showing that a part of the young woman was still on the 'net.
"Well, keep watching it," Magus Ash snapped. He hated being called for no apparent reason.

******

Selena was not physically a part of Ashkeloh IX. It was a small asteroid that was detached from the Kingdom of Weyr decades ago, during the days of the Cataclysm. Now, it slowly circled Ashkeloh's pancake-shaped bulk at a rate of one rotation for every twelve years.

The two bodies sped through the Star Ocean, protected by the same Citadel Shields. Inside, people went about their daily business. With communication with Weyr recently reestablished [OOC: it'll get interrupted for the invasion], people no longer felt isolated in the coldness of the Star Ocean.

******

Ashkeloh City was built like the other Ashkeloh cities -- beneath a crystalline dome reinforced with magick. It was the second line of defense for Ashkeloh, the first being the mighty Citadels and the third being the Magitech cannon mounted on the tall spires of the city's buildings.

After meeting with Ashkeloh XII, which went dictatorial and tried to conquer Ashkeloh IX, the Alchemist Tower improved all of the planetoid's defenses against another possible attack.

The Soul Gate had begun to open and Tenebrus was thrusted through it back into the realm of the living. More and more spectral beings came through it, until all of those who were to come to this place had come out. But the Gate did not close. Its immediate surroundings were affected by the Gate's unholy energy, killing anything that was alive in its path. The land around it became hostile and barren.

But there were some... Complications. He looked at his army. It was... smaller than it was when it was in the Underworld, he thought. It soon became quite apparent to him that the Lord of the Underworld wanted him to continue after he and his army had taken this place.

The demands. The expectations. It never ends. Not even in death.

But then he looked around him, and the reduced size of his army suddenly seemed a rather... Small problem. The Prince of Death knew what he was talking about. It was obvious as to how he would know when to stop...

What is this... Thing?

He could see distinct borders in the horizon. It seemed almost as if the place was... Not attached to a planet.

But he did not really care. Interesting, he thought it was. That was all.

Tenebrus shrieked. It was a shriek of the most horrible kind, one that would cause even the bravest of men to rout if they were to hear it. But they did not use this to wage war, no. Only to give orders.

Soon after he had ended giving orders, movement began. Creatures composed of shadows begun to spread. The spectral legions began to march, commanded by commanders of their own kind. Spectral beings with priestly authority began to desecrate more land behind the marching legions.

"How do you intend to stop -that-?" the Senior Alchemist asked.

He could watch, through the 'net, as the hastily-erected shields slowly weakened as they tried to contain the undead spilling into Selena City Dome -- Selena Station's one and only city. The rest of the asteroid moon was uninhabited vacuum.

Everything the senior Alchemist in charge of Selena had learned during his long life screamed that what he was seeing was impossible. Yet the 'net did not lie, could not lie.

"We can dump a holy barrier. We can flood the area within the shield with light of the High Father," high priest Imanuel Ignatius explained. "What -you- must do, is re-pattern the artifacts from the First Civil War. Those -might- offer some protection."

"You mean as in the legends?" Everyone knew the stories of the First Civil War, when the High King first formed The Tower to build artifacts that could beat back the creatures of the Starless Voids. But that was so long ago that only a few garbled memories remained from that time.

"Yes," the high priest responded. Unlike the Senior Alchemist, he did not have the 'net crystal implant that would have permitted him to directly access the 'net. Instead, the priest satisfied himself with watching things on a more traditional azure crystal held in the palm of his hand.

"Fine," the senior alchemist responded, his eyes already fully glazed as he went full 'net, contacting first all of the alchemists not already at the scene to get to the local Tower and begin re-patterning 'holy' artifacts based on old records preserved on the 'net. The senior alchemist's second action was to send word to central on Ashkeloh IX.

******

Perhaps a hundred alchemists were assembled around the huge pearl-white sphere that formed the shield enveloping what could only be called as the undead army. Priests of the various sects were interspersed amongst them. All were getting ready as the patterners tending the shield enervators signaled over the 'net that the shield would soon collapse.

They had no guaranteed weapons or protections against the things that would come at them. Ashkeloh XII they dealt with. The priests said they would grant some warding. Of course, if the undead were corporeal, they would be subject to an alchemist's whim.

******

It was sheer luck that the undead were halted by the shield. When the first signs of the portal first appeared, the automated systems interpreted it as a 'net flux -- a warping on the ambient 'net that could wreak havoc on all things magickal used on Ashkeloh. Anything metaphysical in nature was halted by the shields, whose basic principles dated back into the forgotten past that predated even the oldest myths, when ancient mages opened the barriers between life and death in order to summon minions to do their bidding.

**********************
OOC: they have had no experience with undead for several millenia. There are traditions of anti-undead magicks in most of the sects, and the info about artifacts dating from around the last time undead were seen floats on the 'net along with a ton of other info, even if msot of it is probably useless.

Hmph.

Tenebrus shrieked again.

In an instant, the multitude of unholy priests stopped desecrating the ground, and they began chanting their dark prayers at the advancing legions instead. The few Dusk Elders who were also in the army began casting spells upon the shield to weaken it, except one, who chanted spells upon the whole army.

The Shadows had gone beyond the shield before it was set around the legions. Their shadow-like existence made them almost unnoticiable, as would the fact that they were drained of much of their spiritual energy. At least, they would stay unnoticed until it would be too late. Or so they hoped.

No shield, no dome could hold them from advancing indefinitely. The shield would fall, soon enough.

But then something not quite expected happened, something that Tenebrus could not have expected either. He felt that something was wrong... Something was calling for him and all those around him.

The spectral army just disappeared. in a flash not black nor white, but of many different colors, as the Soul Gate, for a while, became a hundred times larger than it had been, engulfing the whole undead army, and several individual gates opened to suck in those who had already gone far away from the army itself.

They left as quickly as they had gone there, leaving no trace of their existence to the asteroid-like place. It was almost as if they were simply an illusion from a time long past. From a time when humans still savagely slaughtered each other in glorious hand-to-hand battles, leaving thousands dead or dying in the process.

Some time passed and Tenebrus was finally able to open his eyes. He looked around him.

They had been sucked back into the portal. The rest of the army had still waited for them there.

Strange. Almost as if the place they had gone had been the wrong one.

Soon, they found themselves in a new place. This time the whole army had come with Tenebrus.

The sky was red and the lands were black. But not only because of the gloomy, red sky, no, but also because the lands were charred... They could easily walk upon this land and murder whatever there would be to kill.

Tenebrus saw a massive structure in the horizon. Or even a massive complex of structures, he was not sure.

He shrieked.

The legions began to march towards the black structure in the horizon whilst the Shadows began to spread into the surroundings, and the dark prayers of the priests began to bring this place into a state of utter darkness.

Something odd was happening on the planet they originally arrived on. The planet was in the system of Beta Horologii. Truly, something very odd was happening there. Almost as if a gate had opened, and then, as quickly as it had appeared, it had just suddenly closed and was nowhere to be found.

But that was not the strangest thing. Nothing had come through it. Nothing but strange energy readings that still were there, but were now spreading. Much of it was coming towards their black base on the planet.

But it couldn't be anything. It couldn't be. Nothing could come through the shield. No one except their own could breach it. And the Ur-Quan did not use such tricks to attack their own kind.

But then the climate changes began in the direction of the odd phenomenon, and it was rapidly closing onto the Ur-Quan Kohr-Ah settlement, and it would soon jeopardize the shipbuilding going on the planet itself and all those who stayed in the base. They chose to send a few Marauders to investigate it.

They had docking bays in the base. Many of them. Very large ones, too. Three docking bay doors opened, and three Marauders sped off from the base.

They had to change course almost 180 degrees, which slowed them down a bit, but after a while, they were moving towards the site. As quickly as Marauders could within an atmosphere. They were mainly built for space travel.

But soon, they would see... They would see who dared to come to the planet they had claimed for themselves.

They could see the Marauders coming in, but Tenebrus chose to ignore them. He forced a thought into the mind of every single undead legionnaire that followed him towards the unknown structure, a thought that forced them not to ignore the ships as he had chosen. They only continued to march...

March. Not quite the word one would usually use for those who are ethereal. They hover, they do not walk. They have no real mass, unlike those who are corporeal. But that is what they do, as they had done for so long within the infinity of the Underworld, even before the Empire fell and turned into undeath.

The unholy priests were somewhat slower than the legions themselves. They had spread so they could desecrate a much larger area than that the legions marched upon, so that anyone who lived in this forsaken planet would not be able to attack them from behind. There would be only one front. Only one, and even that would be chosen by the dead spirits that were quick in their movement.

They know no exhaustion. They shall march until the end of time.

An evil feeling filled the Ur-Quan pilots of the Marauders as they saw the spectral enemy they would now face and the darkness that came right behind them. They could not turn in time to not be engulfed by the darkness.

But...

One of them sent a transmission to the base as they began to turn anyway. Turning to face the enemy, turning to shoot them. That they could do. Face the enemy, and attempt to stop them. The beings seemed to ignore the ships for some reason the Ur-Quan could not understand, but they would pay dearly for their mistake.

The large ships slowed down arduously. As arduously as they turned. But they were successful, anyway. The ships began to fire their black discs upon the legions that just proceeded to march towards the Ur-Quan base. They were able to fire at least two discs each before they were taken in by the dark mist.

Which was something they had never thought they would be forced to experience. They were... Aging. But it did not stop them from firing again and again. But they lost track on how many times they were able to fire as they aged.

Until...

Death came upon the three. Their ships crashlanded into the cold, barren wasteland, caused by those priests of the spectral armies.

The three Ur-Quan were taken into the Underworld. They were the very first Ur-Quan ever to be in the Underworld more or less fully inhabited by more... Human beings. But still, they were now dead. Death was brought to them by the dominion of the Ashen Empire. And so, they would be brought back to the realm of the living, to fight them and to bring them to the Empire.

The time they stayed in the Underworld felt like innumerable years, like an eternity. The horrors they saw... The darkness...

The hate. They changed.

Then they came back to the realm of the living. There were unholy priests around their dead corpses as they "returned". Only moments after their worldly deaths.

Even if they still looked much the same they had in their life, unlike undead humans and many other beings. The ships had changed as well, but only a little. They Ur-Quan Kohr-Ah built their ships black after all. They had not taken much damage from the crash.

No, instead the ships, the Marauders, just rose again, and they began to speed out of the Ashen Empire's dominion.

--

The damage the legions had taken from the massive discs had been rather nominal. Thousands of spirits had lost their shape for all eternity and had returned to the Underworld, to the Netherworld or to the Shade Lands, but still, there were millions to take their place. Millions upon millions.

They were close now... Very close.

When they got the transmission it was already too late, the spectral army had begun to infiltrate the base. They could not stop the incoming ethereal beings, they had never seen anything quite like them before. Although the Ur-Quan were able to exterminate quite a few of those spectral beasts, there just were too many of them. Too many.

They could not contact those outside the shield. They could not bring it down. Nor could they use their ships anymore. The undead had taken over those places, whilst more and more Ur-Quan became undead in the process. They could see that the undead Ur-Quan were quite similar to those who were still alive.

For the first time in generations, they felt fear.

Not even the Excruciators they had could help them. More and more of them died and became undead. More and more.

After only a short while, a few days or so into the war, the Ur-Quan, without even knowing it, had lost the whole planet to the undead. The planet where most of them lived. Where the Hierarchy's leaders had stayed.

They were all lost.

Tenebrus was looking at the odd ships the alien species they had just taken into the Empire used. They seemed... Very much like those the Ashen Empire used. Black. Depressive. Evil. But they were not inherently unholy. It was odd, but he could feel that they would have to continue the war. This was not all. He knew it. In fact, he had already been told of the station and of the doomsday weapon the species had in space. Things they would take.

And so, one of the now undead Ur-Quan Kohr-Ah came to him. His eyes were as red as they had ever been. He did not seem dead at all, in fact he seemed much like he had been in his life. As all Ur-Quan do.

He was the Ur-Quan that had been called Number 1 in his life, but not anymore. They had, rather quickly, chosen to reinstate their darker names. Those they thought they had left behind them for all eternity. He was now called, rather simply, Death 1, and they now knew that they would truly follow an Eternal Doctrine.

He whispered in the head of Tenebrus...

"There are still more... There... In space... More that we must kill... More that must be brought to the fallen Hierarchy..."

"Yes, I know. And I know how we shall do this."

"How, then?"

Tenebrus pointed at the ships.

"With those."

The undead Ur-Quan was silent for a moment.

"Good."

The Ur-Quan left.

Tenebrus knew just how the undead would bring themselves to the station and to the weapon and even to the other systems. By using their own ships, docking into them, and running them over. They would take those places over quickly.

--

The ships were readied, and sent out of the base. They had many ethereal priests and other spectral beasts within them, ready to attack when they get to their destinations. First, they would attack the station and the weapon. Then they would proceed to the other planets.

No one in space expected anything odd to happen as ships began to exit the planet, cracking the shield open for a few moments. The planet did seem strangely dark. Black, even. But those who saw it didn't think all that much of it, as that was their way. The planet had become rather dark during their stay.

Almost all of their fleet was... Not present. The situation was wholly against the Ur-Quan. As the ships docked into the station and into the Sa-Matra... They did not expect hostility, but that was what they got.

They were completely unprepared for such a threat. Although they made a valiant effort to thwart the advancing... Things, they were unable to stop them.

They had rigged the Sa-Matra to prevent anyone from stealing it, and its destruction caused a brilliant, white explosion. It was far enough from the orbital shipyards and from the station for its explosion to only cause minimal damage to them, but at least the undead would not be able to use the Sa-Matra. Hundreds of Ur-Quan corpses were vaporized in the process.

They could not send transmissions to warn the others still alive. Even if they had been able to do that, they would have sent new ones right after their deaths, stating that it was a false alarm.

The Hierarchy was ready to fall apart, and to be turned into a part of the Ashen Empire.

Perfect.

They were progressing quickly, only a while, a week or so to the war and they had already taken, apparently, their primary system. It was obvious that the living beings they had attacked had not expected anything of this kind. Nor had they obviously had any earlier encounters with the undead. They had been taken completely by surprise.

Tenebrus had gone onto one of the Marauders that were still within the base. With many undead that had come with him and with a single undead Ur-Quan Kohr-Ah. The Ur-Quan seemed to pilot their ships alone. Which was more than convenient for the undead.

Why? Because they were now preparing to invade Alpha and Delta Horologii, which were, according to the undead Ur-Quan, practically defenseless, as they had centered their defenses into Beta Horologii. Then they would call the fleets back and... Take them.

The last vulnerable vestiges of the Hierarchy fell quickly under the spell of undeath, as the two small fleets controlled by the undead flew into Alpha and Delta Horologii, bringing undeath to all Ur-Quan who still remained in their home systems. They had taken out several millions of those beings that had attacked them, but it was not enough. Not enough by far.

Had their fleet remained in their home systems, they could have fought back and even won the war. But now... Everything was different. All that was left was cold, barren and dark wasteland. Their shields still remained operational, although their color was changing, as the taint of undeath became worse. Green they would be, in the end.

It was their hate towards other species that, in the end, consumed them. They had left their home almost unprotected, and an attack from within, like this one, was too much for them to bear. Too much for them to defend against.

The undead took over everything, their shipyards, their technology. Their weapons, their ships. Everything. And with the knowledge of the Ur-Quan, they would soon know how to use their technology.

And so, the Ashen Hierarchy began to rise.

The colonies had fallen. Everything was progressing much faster than they had thought. Tenebrus felt a sensation very close to happiness, although it disappeared in a strange, bursting feeling of pain.

There were still things to be done, and Tenebrus knew it. The Ur-Quan had spoken of their fleet. Fleets. Warfleets. That had been away for quite some time, waiting for a signal to go to war against a traitorous nation. Broken nation.

But now, that all would change.

Tenebrus returned to Beta Horologii, into the so called base of the Ur-Quan Kohr-Ah, where, for one, their leaders reside. He yet again had a plan. A plan with which they would either be able to take, and/or annihilate the great fleet. It would depend on their gullibility, or trust in their leaders.

Tenebrus told their leader, the one they called Death 1, to send a transmission to all of those fleets. A transmission to tell them to return to Beta Horologii into an exact location and to dock into the station and into the docking areas on the planet itself.

As the transmission reached the Ur-Quan Kohr-Ah fleets, they were quick to authenticate it and began acting as ordered by the leader him/herself. The outposts would have to be destroyed.

So they did.

The outposts bursted with a bright, blinding light. They were mostly incinerated by the initial blasts, not leaving much to be salvaged. The Ur-Quan sweeped the areas for anything that someone could salvage. Everything they found was small enough to carry in their ships, so they collected them and thought they would bring them back to the Horologii constellation.

After they had made sure that there was nothing left in the now-destroyed outposts, the warfleets jumped into HyperSpace, and took a course towards Beta Horologii, as they had been told to do.

It would not be some other species that brought the Ur-Quan down, no. In the end, the Ur-Quan Kohr-Ah would fall due to their own unwavering belief towards their leaders. Their unwavering belief that their leaders would never do anything to harm the security of their fellow Ur-Quan.

How wrong would they be...

Tenebrus was pleased with the efforts of the Ur-Quan leaders. They seemed to be successful in luring the Ur-Quan fleets into Beta Horologii for the undead to take care of. Now, the second phase of his plan to completely annihilate the rest of the living Ur-Quan Kohr-Ah who are from this particular Hierarchy would begin.

He left the planet with the newly renamed Death 1 to go to the station that orbited the planet the Ur-Quan had settled quite some time ago. And he also told all the Ur-Quan ships they had control over to be brought into orbit of the planet. Whenever would the Ur-Quan within the fleets realize that something was utterly and horribly wrong, the undead would exterminate them before they would be able to react.

Many ships, including Avatars, Dreadnoughts, Marauders and other, smaller ships left the docking areas of the planet, and flew into orbit. Those within the station did the same. It would seem as if the Ur-Quan Kohr-Ah had created a defensive fleet for the planet. It was true, in a way. But they would not know that the fleet would be the last thing they would see as living creatures.

The trap was set. Now all they would have to do is wait for the Ur-Quan to come.

Ships began to arrive in Beta Horologii in great amounts. They could not see if anything was out of place, everything seemed to be as they had been when they left to build those outposts. Even if they could not decypher the transmissions they intercepted, and that Sa-Matra was nowhere to be found. Maybe it had been sent to do some mission in some part of the known Universe, they didn't know, nor did they care.

A transmission from the station said quite simply that the ships were to be refitted with some new systems on the station and on the planet. They had apparently created some new communications' system, better lifesupport systems, things that were rather ordinary, but the fleets were apparently outdated at the moment.

But something was wrong.

The pace was too fast. It was impossible to upgrade the ships with such a pace, even for the Ur-Quan. Ships left the station and came up from the planet just moments after they had gone there.

Those left began to wonder. Wonder what this was all about.

One of them made a life scan on the ships that had left the station.

There were none.

One other made a scan onto the station.

No signs of life were detected.

But bioscans still showed that there were... Moving... Organic, dead beings within the station and within the ships.

And then the cold truth hit them.

The Marauders now controlled by the undead Ur-Quan began firing at those who still lived. The station began firing at them. The ships that had been in orbit of the planet had changed course and begun coming towards them as well.

They were completely and utterly surprised. Half of the fleet was decimated before they could even return fire. The combined fleet turned from a fleet of five hundred ships to one of two hundred and fifty in mere moments.

They were too close to the station and too close to the Avatars. Although they were able to cripple the station, it was still operational. But before they were removed from the face of this realm, they were able to destroy almost the whole now-undead Ur-Quan fleet.

In one glorious battle, the very last ones of the benign Ur-Quan Kohr-Ah were lost.

The Hierarchy had now fallen. The Ashen Hierarchy was the only one still standing. The undead were victorious.

Tenebrus was in the station, looking at the planet they had taken. It glowed green now, instead of red. That was the only real indication of what had happened, that the Hierarchy was no longer.

Tenebrus heard a dark whisper within his mind...

"There still are things you must do."

He screamed in pain, as he was sucked back by a Soul Gate.

There, he saw his army once again. It was... Smaller than it had been. The Ur-Quan had caused much more damage to it during the short war than he had anticipated.

Hopefully, the next target would not be as resilient.

~Somewhere in the Great Adderton Desert~

A medicene man of high repute looked up.

"Dark Days Come" he said, and walked down from his meditation rock to warn the rest of his people.

Odd.

That was the only thought Tenebrus had in his mind as the Soul Gates began to open once more, and the spectral army began to spread behind him as did the darkness of the Ashen Empire's dominion. He was standing on what used to be a desert but what had now turned into a frosted wasteland.

Apparently they had found their way to a place that was by default a barren wasteland, with one great exception, as it seemed to be a hot one.

Tenebrus shrieked, and the shadows began to spread around the hot desert. The legions began to march, all into different directions, and priests hovered before them to desecrate the lands so they could wage war in cold and darkness, only that the priests would withdraw if they were to face the living.

Tenebrus could not see much else but dunes. So, they would spread around this place as evenly as possible, and... Remove whatever they would find. And bring them to the Ashen Empire.

They came forth as the ancient legends told. Dark figures blotted the sky with their ghastly shapes, swooping down to kidnap whoever and whatever they could find, carting them off to unknown fates. Those that were fortune managed to fire off a couple of shots at the ...creatures, but could not thwart them off for so long.

A lucky survivor, living near a telegraph station, darted to his small machine where he typed the words 'HELP HELP UKNOWN ATTACKERS PILLAGING LICHEN ROCK'.

However, the message did not get out in time, for the wires had been buried in a sandstorm. After sending out his message into the motionless sands of the Great Adderton Desert, the man looked for his nearest rifle. He needed all the help that he could in getting it to the other communities.

The massive desert did not offer much cover for the living, and those who would survive the initial attacks by the spectral legions would not survive the dominion that spread in their wake. The legions spread to all directions from their point of origin, leaving nothing unchecked as they flied over the desolate wasteland.

Nor did the living offer much resistance. It was quite... Odd. Apparently there were those who were in almost the state as Ermor had been for thousands of years even in the midst of the living. Which would ease their invasion greatly, but would prove destructive for those who they were... Removing. Especially since these people did not seem to know how to fight beings that lacked corporeal bodies.

They were back on Earth, Tenebrus could tell. The skies looked much the same here as they look in Ermor. He remained with a few others in the place the Soul Gates had opened, watching as more of their kind emerged from them, and began to hover towards all directions, to seek more of those who were alive.

The aliens they had subdued could not resist them, but he could see many obvious reasons for it, like them lacking any and all knowledge of even the possibility of being attacked by beings that were not alive. Yes, that was pretty obvious.

... But it was all simply an illusion. Tenebrus and his legions found themselves back in the Soul Gates, waiting for them to open. Odd it had been, but it still had happened. All they could do was wait.

(OOC: I shall keep this thread alive, somewhat anyway. If anyone is interested in having a permanent change in their nation, just post in this thread.)

OOC: Ok, i dont mind being out teched, this nation is a puppet ive never had much use for, 202 Million people spread out across a fairly temperate area, urban areas and rural etc, i will let you go first.

(OOC: You won't be out teched. This "conquest" is made by an "offshoot" of mainstream Ermor. They're spirits equipped with ethereal weapons, when Ermorians are usually corporeal undead. They'll use solely magic.)

IC:

The Gates opened quite quickly after the illusionary invasion. Tenebrus was the very first to exit the Soul Gates. Even if the others were coming quickly after him, he took some time to look at the surroundings.

Fields. Forests. Some signs of the place still being more modern than Ermor when it fell. No matter, they would quickly overwhelm the locals. He could feel that there were not many more living here than there were undead in his great ethereal legions, and for a short moment, it gave him an odd feeling of comfort. They were, apparently, in a forest themselves. Good, Tenebrus thought, as it would offer them cover.

The Soul Gates had opened to their full size, and massive amounts of spirits came out of them in a relatively short period of time. The shadows, the shades and the shade beasts began to spread into the surroundings as quickly as they could, the priests began to desecrate the ground and the mages began casting their protective spells at the legions whilst the spectral legionnaires remained stationary behind Tenebrus in an orderly fashion. Some wailing spectral female forms were there amongst the legions as well.

That is, until Tenebrus began to shriek in an inhuman way. So inhuman it was, so horrible it was, that it would have caused almost any human who would have heard it to fall dead from the deep fear it causes. It was a good thing, in that sense, that his screams could only be heard by the dead.

Soon after he had stopped, the legions began to march. Their destination: The most populated area on this land Tenebrus could feel. Many unholy priests hovered behind the legions, desecrating more ground in its wake, making the land dark and barren.

The roar of the 757's engines could be clearly heard on the ground below, the captain gazed out of the front windows whilst his co-pilot monitored the systems of the plane.

"Oh my god, the ground, its black.. and im sure theres something there, radioing in" He said to the co-pilot, before reporting what he had seen and his position over Verasana Vale, the most beautiful forest and collection of glades within the country, then the plane continued to fly over, its occupants blissfully unaware.

Versea City, Versanque

"If someones polluting the glades.." A Minister Began

"No-one would dare, they know the implications" Another minister interrupted

"We should send a detachment of marines, to check it out" Another minister said

"Agreed? Good" The President, Chasea Vanir said, as most of the men rose their hands. She was slightly troubled by this, The Vale was very close to the capital. She had been president for little less than a month, and this was happening, already.

Outskirts of Verasana Vale, Versanque

"Delta 1, Delta 2, Delta 3, Positions, Alpha Team, Position, Over" a man crackled into the radio, this man was Captain Minsre, He had fought in the brief but bloody Vale Wars, he still had scars from the battles, He was a fairly old man by now, his hair gone from brown to greying, but his blue eyes still had the fires of battle.

"Position, Over" The Delta's Reported

"In Position, Over" The Alpha leader reported

"Progress into the vale, Report what you see straight back to command, we dont know whats happening in there, so you might not be able to communicate it to me, understood, Over" Captain Minsre said

"Understood, Over" The unanimous reply came in

The surroundings seemed to be oddly alive... Hostile. Spiteful. The forest itself seemed to hate their presence.

They did not care. It was normal. State of conflict was the state of normalcy between the living and the dead.

The legions contionued to march forth towards the largest population center in the vicinity - which happened to be the capital of the nation. The desecration continued, but not only behind the legions, no, it continued to all directions from the Gates. The shadows were spreading even further.

There was something in front of them. Humans, perhaps? It was quite possible that their presence had been already noted, as their dominion had spread to a very noticiable area already.

Tenebrus shrieked in the minds of the spectral legionnaires. Soon they, the whole massive army, hovered past him. Spectral as they were, they could even go through each other. He shrieked again, and the army began to "march" forth once again, with a greatly amplified speed. They would just run over those in between the settlement and them, and the priests would bring those foolish ones back to unlife.

Countless spectres flew through the forest, with only one thought in their minds:

The living must die.

The 8 Marines of the detachment moved from cover to cover, scanning the green vales with their sights, before moving again.

"Converge over there, i.. feel something" The Captain said, the 8 marines converged on one point, and ducked below cover

"feel something? Captain, your losing it" A Marine said

"No.. sort of a cold, and the forest seems restless" The Captain replied

"Really captain, you better see the base psychologist" A marine joked

"Quit it, Peters, Scan.."

Peters popped over the log covering their position, and dropped back down, his face had gone pure white.

"Peters? What is it.. Peters!? Team, scan, !"

The whole team went up, except peters, who went slowly..

"My god, it looks like.. well i can barely see, i dont know what that is, floating all over the place.. jesus.. Armour.. are we seeing ghosts? Looks like something our ancestors would wear, ill radio this in to command Team, Open fire!"

The teams weapons opened up, and sprayed bullets in the direction of the flew shimmers they could see, whilst the captain radioed is discovery in

But with such massive amounts of legionnaires, they did not even care about "casualties". They just simply began moving even faster. And since they were ethereal, the damage they took was negligible. A few of them were disintegrated here and there, but it did not matter. All they cared about was getting closer to the great "prize" that loomed behind the few living who stood before them.

Now time was of the essence. It would be paramount to get into the settlement before they can fortify their positions, or it might become a costly invasion, even if their etheriality enabled them to take less damage from physical attacks than their corporeal brethren. Or maybe they would be lucky, maybe the humans do not keep their garrisons in their settlements anymore.

The forests filled with the ethereal existence of the legions of spirits, the Marines couldn’t fight the sheer mass of the spirits, The Captain had got out the message, before they were overwhelmed, and their souls taken.

Versea City – Red Alert.

The Sirens, once used to warn of incoming air strikes, whirred once more, the message had frightened the government enough to raise everything to heightened alert, and to evacuate all they could, they could see they were heading for the capital.

The president went to the chambers of the main government building. The whole parliament was assembled for the emergency meeting. The military had begun to garrison the outlying suburbs and such, but they were getting close, recon had shown the black and darkened land, the darkness should normally be like an eclipse in the region, but the sun continued to permeate the blackness, resisting, fighting.

Even green could be seen, the plants were fighting as if the sun was helping them, but it would not be enough, but it would hamper them.

The military demanded action.

“We must fight them! I think that if whatever it is can be hit now, they don’t stand a chance!”

”Theres just too many of them! Too many! And their weapons? They could have laser guns for all we know!”

“Don’t be an idiot, listen, if we attack no..”

”Ladies and Gentlemen please..” The President interrupted, her angel like voice stopping the men and women in their debate, She looked at each one in turn, her green eyes permeating each ones soul, giving them each some more hope, Everyone was surprised by her courage, she was a fairly quiet woman, not too tall, and normally spent her time studying the archives, only normally noticed by her black hair showing above the latest scroll she was reading.

“It is obvious.. these things.. are different, so we must wait, and see, dispatch one messenger, one of the most trusted who will probably be forced to give their life for the country, but only if they are willing” She said

”Ask these… things if they will negotiate.” And with that, she rose, and left.

And so, the task fell to Jurel Nakan, a trusted messenger, normally a diplomat of course, more than willing to give his life, He was young, tall, handsome, with youthful blonde hair and hazel eyes, he hopped onto a bike in the suburbs, left the military barriers behind, and went to meet and talk to whatever lay in front of him.

Tenebrus was watching as the legions hovered towards the city he could see in the distance, a city that looked much like a citadel, with the forest itself attempting to impede their movements. It was a good thing that all of them were ethereal, or the forest could actually cause much damage to them. He had never seen a forest quite like this one... But such an unfortunate thing it was, that the undead had found their way into a holy forest. How was he to know that it was holy? Forests that are holy are about as rare as living forests are in lands controlled by Ermor.

A Dusk Elder interrupted his train of thought with its whispers. He turned to face it.

"What did you say, Dusk Elder?"

"That they have sent a human to 'meet' us. Apparently they wish to reason with us. That is what the thoughts that eminate from that direction tell us."

"Reason? The living? With us? Are they insane? There cannot be peace between the living and the dead!"

"But still, that is what they have done."

"..."

Tenebrus pondered for a moment.

"Interesting. This brings up an opportunity we cannot let to pass. Dusk Elder..."

"Yes, Shade King?"

"Corrupt the mind of the human. Turn him back. Let him claim that all we want is peace with their kind. Let him claim... That we are coming to their city to speak with them."

"Very well, it shall be done."

And so the Dusk Elder left into the darkness.

Lies. Lies always work quite well. The living won't know what hit them when the legions march in and destroy them.

Tenebrus had to go after the massive legions as they had advanced quite a bit during the little conversation he had with the Dusk Elder. Even the unholy priests that followed those legions had gone past him. It was dark... So dark... And he liked it.

They changed him, completely, no longer worthy of trust or even civility, he turned back, back to Versea.

He Told The President and her ministers what they wanted to hear, they were so relieved that they didn’t notice how much he had changed, only if they had.

”Venture Back out, make sure they arrive with all haste, Stand down to yellow alert, you still cant be too safe, to it please ministers.” The President Said, turning and walking out of the room, she had a thought on her mind, something.. elusive, the wind whispered through the tree’s. Of course, she thought the past few hours had worn her down, she needed sleep.

Chasea led on her bed in her Chambers, and let her thoughts drift, suddenly, the thought arose, If they wanted peace, why hadn’t the marines resumed contact? Screams were the last they had heard.. she let the thought trouble her for a few minutes, she couldn’t sleep, She arose, gathered some things together, called a few trusted people, and out of the blue, left the city with them, They were going to Neax Vale, there they would watch.

On the borders of Versea, the military laxed, blissfully unaware, the sun gave way to its counterpart, and 2 moons appeared in the sky...

Darkness had set upon the land, and the marching legions had gotten so close to the city... Actually, the very first ones had already breached the city limits. The night was their friend, the boon of darkness it gave to them practically made their ethereal bodies invisible to the naked eyes of humans.

The smell of the living frenzied them as they began to flood the city. Their great formations began to break, but it did not matter, the living would not even see them that well. All that mattered was the fact that they would get fresh blood to the legions of the undead.

Tenebrus was still just observing the advancing legions. He knew by simply looking to the sky that they weren't on Earth anymore. Yes, this was some other planet... Like those aliens they subjugated were on some unknown planet. As he continued to watch, the same Dusk Elder that had come to him before came to him. Again.

"Shade King... We saw a group of humans leave the city about at the time when our first legions began to spread into the city."

"So? Why should I care?"

"Their thoughts... They have their leader with them. Apparently your little lie did not work too well."

"It does not matter. It was supposed to simply cause some disorder to their ranks at best. It seems, though, that we actually caught them offguard... So maybe the lie worked better than you think."

"Maybe..."

"Did you do anything to the group?"

"Yes, we sent many shadows to follow on them. It's nighttime, and they are even harder to spot in darkness than we are."

"Good. You may go now."

"Very well."

And so, the Dusk Elder left Tenebrus alone with his dark thoughts. The dominion was spreading much closer to the city... Good. When the sun will begin to rise, it will all be over. Or at least, should be. They had both the numerical advantage and the element of surprise on their side. Nothing could stop them now.

The City Was Lost, Anyone awakened was either killed, or began to flee, The Advancing Legions of Spirits, Had mostly swamped the Eastern Side of the City, Mostly Made up of the High class business districts and other such rich settings, it faced the once beautiful vale, but now its occupants were being massacred, the Cordon had faltered, the surviving elements running west, taking anyone they could awaken, the exodus was futile, but they did not know that.

The Town of Brandt, Neax Vale.

Neax Vale was the most beautiful, no matter what was said about the others, it may of not been as big, but the people had always been able to seek protection in the town of Brandt, Brandt had held off hundreds of attacks, The Town spread out from the Central Citadel, now used as a Military Base, The Town was surrounded by cliffs, with 2 passes on each side, Waterfalls cascading down the cliffs fed the towns reservoirs, Whilst as you left the town you entered the many vales and glades of Neax. Rumours had it Neax had been the birthplace of the Pure Order, now largely unheard of On the planet, The Pure Order had been the glorified and mystical knights and crusaders of the old ages, when the thoughts of “magic” and such things was the norm.

Chasea exited her vehicle inside the Brandt Citadel, and immediately began walking into the Base Commanders Quarters, she was sure she had felt a presence on her way into Brandt, but it was not like those she had felt in Versea, as she had progressed into the Town she was sure the presence.. died or at least disappeared, Brandt filled her with hope and energy once more, times were strange.

She entered the man’s quarters, He and a Sergeant were stood transfixed by the Television screen in front of them, a scene full of horror was playing over the screen, before the camera fizzed and crackled into static as it crashed to the ground, the screen turned into one of the “Please wait while this channel is reconnected” screens, Versea had fallen, the men turned to her presence, and nodded solemnly.

”You know what to do” She said.

”Yes President” The 2 Men rose and left, to prepare the town.

Parliament, Versea.

The Parliament was barricaded, all the ministers left in the Capital holed up in the main chambers, little did they know what was to come next.

It was already too late. Shadows lurked within the town they sought refuge in. Hundreds? Thousands? Tens of thousands? Who knows how many of them had entered the town while searching for living beings to kill. Same thing had happened in many locations in the country, as the shadows were lured in by the smell of blood. Many of them had gone for the second best place as the legions had gone to the place with most living in the country, or so at least they thought.

The legions marched unimpeded within the city, killing everything they could see. So many died... So many were brought back as spectral beings. Many legionnaires had been exterminated by the living also, but their numbers were so high and their already high numbers were so greatly augmented by the dead and the dying of the nation itself, so it did not matter.

Tenebrus cackled in glee as he watched the legions annihilate the living with extreme proficiency. It was dark, but darkness does not stop the dead from seeing.

The Dusk Elder came up to him again.

"It appears that some of their leaders are still here, Shade King."

"And why are you telling me this?"

"They have barricaded themselves into a building."

"So, why are you telling me this? Let the legions overrun them. These buildings cannot even slow them down."

"... Very well, Shade King..."

Again, the Dusk Elder disappeared into the surrounding darkness.

The Parliament building had been transformed in a few minutes to a bunker, anyone who could man a gun was firing out of the windows, they must of destroyed hundreds of these things, but they were breaking through everywhere, a spray of bullets teared a few up, but they were soon replaced by more, they burst through the main entrance, and before long, had surrounded the Chamber holding the remains of the government.

Brandt

Brandt had also began to transform, the place that had saved them many times before could become once again the bastion of Versanque.

The President made her way to the walls of the citadel and looked out over the transforming town, looking up to the moons.

"Here we stand, and here we may fall, but by the glades they will pay for every inch of Neax". She said, and strode away

Neax itself had been booby trapped with everything possibly mustered in the short time, they would pay, heavily.

The city was theirs, oddly enough. They had apparently taken the living by such surprise that they couldn't even react. At all. Well, except that some of the legionnaires had been exterminated in the process, but it was to be expected. The legions were now searching for any possible survivors in the areas the priests still had not desecrated.

Tenebrus was content about the outcome within the city, although reports from another place were... Alarming. Apparently this place had been a bit like Marignon in the ancient times, which never was a good thing. And there was this citadel that by simply existing caused much agony to those who tried to enter it. But there are ways to bypass such defenses.

"Ah, Dusk Elder. I have a new order for you. It concerns the citadel in these reports you brought me."

"What is it, Shade King?"

"Destroy it. Do we have any Dusk Elders capable of casting the Flames from the Sky?"

"No... But there are two who can cast the spell Murdering Winter."

"Any others who can cast the Wolven Winter there first? This place is not cold enough for the Murdering Winter."

"There is one..."

"One is all we need. Now, get to it. And tell those ones who are attempting to enter the citadel to steer clear of it."

"..."

And so, the Dusk Elder left. What Tenebrus told them to do was put into motion.

First they would tell their own to leave the citadel alone... And that they did. The shadows that had been attempting to enter it began to ravage the surroundings instead.

Then, one of the Dusk Elders had to bring down the Wolven Winter into the general area of the citadel, which would bring the temperature there well below zero. They pooled whatever water gems they had and came to the conclusion that they had enough. Cold found its way to the citadel, or at least the shadows around it felt the difference.

Then came the time to cast the Murdering Winter, which was, basically, a massive blizzard, powerful enough to tear through houses. If cast in a place that was cold, anyway, a blizzard is quite less powerful in a hot place. They had enough water gems to cast two of them... Any more would need their gems to be made with alchemy.

And so the Murdering Winters were cast, in the hopes to annihilate all those who were within the Citadel. Anything that would be in the path of the blizzards would die out of the cold, as simple as that.

The Dusk Elder returned to Tenebrus.

"It has been done, King."

"Good. Tell the shadows to go into the citadel after the spells have subsided."

"Shall do..."

And again, the Dusk Elder left. Soon it would be time to go and find other settlements to turn to undeath. There would be none as large as this one... But considering the surprises they have encountered here, who knows what they'll find.

Chasea Shivered, the cold got to her bones, she stood and looked out of the window.. snow.. Snow? At this time of year? Dear Glade.. “Magic?” She aksed herself, softly, the snow was rapidly turning to blizzard form, trashing the outskirts of Brandt, completely leveling blocks, she gazed out, anyone outside the citadel was running into it, some falling, dead, she presumed.

She knew this was the end, no modern weapon could stop this.. nothing they possibly possessed could.. she paused mid thought, her mind thought back, to the library, it described a scroll, a scroll in the citadel of Brandt, in this very room, she didn’t have long, the moon’s light was fading and the blizzards were drawing closer.

She scrambled through the books, parchments and scrolls on the one side of the room, one scroll appeared different, no heading, and just one phrase, Defencia amasuar Brandteis, a spell of myth that had saved Brandt in the dark times of magic and knights.

She ran over to the window, and slung it open, the cold got to her even more, she quickly tried to regain her breath, and shouted into the Sky “Defencia amasuar Brandteis!!” the words gained strength as they seemed to reverberate around the very world, the blizzard reached the citadel walls, and the snow turned to water and fell as rain, she gazed up, too early for the sun? But no, The sun was shining in the sky, 5 hours too early, shining brighter than she had ever seen before, the blizzards effect negated itself as it reached the Citadel, they were safe? No.. Those things would be coming for them all, she looked back down into the courtyard, people gazed up with a puzzled look.

She herself was puzzled and confused, but time would tell, maybe there had been a freak event, or maybe magic wasn’t as much of a farce as was thought, she began to turn, warmed by the sun.

”Chasea, Well done!” She heard a man called, she quickly turned back, and looked back down.

”I am Ithild Harcan, surely you’ve heard of me?” He said, she could make out his Brown hair and tall well built form, and if he was who he said he was, his crystal blue eyes would be something she would soon be able to look into.

”By the Vale, this is crazy, a Knight from myth? This cant be true” She shouted back

”It is, and I am here to help you stand.” He looked away from her, and strode into the main doors of the citadel.

Chasea came in, closed the windows, and wondered where the hell sanity had gone.

"What is this? Dusk Elder? What is this bright light?"

"It is not the real sun, that we are sure of. We have come to the conclusion that it is a variation of the spell 'Second Sun'. Not only that, it appears that the spell they used was also a sort of summoning spell, at least according to those shadows that remained in the citadel even though they were told to leave. Apparently they brought here what are the equivalents of the Eternal Knights in Ermor."

"You mean Orion and his group of knights? Who were given immortality by some holy figure when Ermor was still alive? Hmph. I thought they were one of a kind."

"We all did. But this is not the planet Ermor is on, so I would not wonder at all if there were others like them on other planets."

"They were taken prisoner after our legions had overwhelmed them completely... And they still fled. Those they fought were corporeal. How well do you think our ethereal legions will fare against those, hmm?"

"We don't know."

"Do we have any staffs of storms with us?"

"... Yes, we do. Ten or so."

"Place them so that this light gets filtered greatly all over this place. I do not have to tell you what kind of damage this kind of excessive light can cause to us. We'll filter this thing with clouds. Oh right, and try to dispel that sun if it is magical."

"Will do, Shade King."

The Dusk Elder turned to leave, but Tenebrus remembered something.

"Oh, one more thing. Do we have any Dusk Elders capable of casting Wrathful Skies after those storms are in place?"

"Just one."

"That's all we need. Have him cast it over the skies of the citadel.

"Very well... Is this all?"

"Yes. Go."

And so, the Dusk Elder went. The Staffs of Storms were distributed to cause maximum effect and leave as little as possible of the lands uncovered by great storm clouds.

It seemed to be effective enough. They were content with the cover the clouds brought.

And then, the Dusk Elder capable of using the magic of air was brought forth, and he cast the Wrathful Skies, so that lightning would come down upon the citadel. Unlike the blizzard, this was more a natural phenomenon, something that was only induced by magic but not sustained by it, as was the way with most elemental magic.

The shadows were cowardly at heart, but the cover the clouds gave them made them more daring once again, and they began to venture into the citadel with great numbers.

After this was done, the Dusk Elders pooled all the astral gems they had, and the one of them best in astral magic began the ritual of dispelling in an attempt to remove the "sun" from the sky.

--

The legions had taken over the city by now, and it was completely under the dominion of the dead, and those killed had begun to rise into undeath, some awakened by the priests, some by the effects of the dominion itself. The legions themselves had started marching into several directions under the command of wraith consuls, who commanded the wraith centurions who acted as the commanders of the legions.

The sun was lost to them again, this was a certainty, it wouldn’t leave the sky however, even though its rays could not shine, it simply refused to be dispelled.

The lightning struck down into the courtyard, spraying dust and gravel over a area, some of it struck the masonry and stonework, cracking it away as it fell onto the courtyard with a thump.

Chasea was finally realising it was coming to a end, she had muttered a few more holy words, and this strange knight had merely come to her room, said everything would be fine, and he had gone, to the walls, and she could see him, the lightning in the sky not daring to touch the area around him, he merely stood there, muttering words.

A few of the helicopters in the sky, still operational, had reported the Capital over-run, Versanque’s own citizens rising against their own former motherland, the citadel was prepared now, as prepared as it could be, for the inevitable final onslaught, be it by spirit or magic.

The Shade King was observing the situation in the citadel now. He was most displeased when he learned that the sun did not disappear. Maybe it wasn't even magical.

He noticed that the Dusk Elder came to him again, so he turned and spoke to him.

"The sun is still there."

"Yes, it is. We could not dispel it. It appears this place... Acts differently than our own world."

"Doesn't matter."

Tenebrus turned back to watch the citadel as he thought the Dusk Elder was going to leave. He was wrong.

"There is one other thing, Shade King."

He turned to face the Dusk Elder again.

"What?"

"It appears that the Eternal Knight-type is resisting our magics."

"So? Even if he succeeds in bringing something else here, he's still dead. Even those of the living who are immortal die."

"A good point."

Tenebrus let out a cold sigh.

"Do we have any death gems left?"

"Yes."

"Good. I want that 'Eternal Knight' removed. Bring forth the Ashen Angels. If they do not suffice, use all earth gems we might have and bring forth the Earth Elementals. If even they are not enough... Use Soul Slay. If he STILL resists destruction... Amass a great army, and bring him into its center with Wind Ride. We will see what we will do if he still lives after that."

"Are you sure, Shade King? So much for a single target..."

"Yes. I am sure. A single holy man can cause great damage if left unchecked. Trust me. I know. And I think he is the key to their defense."

"Very well, Shade King. We will do as you ask."

And so the Dusk Elder left Tenebrus alone with his thoughts once again, to tell his kind to target a single man with their spells. And so they did, as they were under the command of the Shade King.

(OOC: Ashen Angels look like ethereal winged females drenched in blood who wield Wraith Swords, which suck the very life of those they hit and are purple in color.)

OOC: If you think anything I ever do is god moddy etc, just tell me and I can edit the post.

Ithild Harcan noticed the evil female blood drenched forms coming to him, but it did not matter, his spell was complete, and his murmurings were but of his own thoughts, and a diversion, the spell, even though disrupted by the spirits attempts to take the citadel, should work, the light of not just the sun, but of the holy spirits would bathe the citadel, and the portal, oh the wonderous portal.

The Ashen Angels approached, he produced his bow, took aim, and fired, repeating as they flew ever closer, they screeched hideously, before halting, their evil companions were falling to his aim, and they would not come closer whilst he still stood, he produced a blade, and the ashen angels approached again.

But they would not get the honour of his kill, he murmured one last word, and plunged the blade into his heart.

As his form collapsed, and his blood touched the citadel, the portal opened, its swirling morass encompassing the sky above the citadel, its holy light poured over the ashen angels approaching, and its light was becoming a shield, but as the light grew brighter, spirit forms, ones that were much like the ones they were opposing, but much, much more holy and good, began pouring out of the swirling morass, If Versanque was to fall, then it would take many a foe with them.

”By the glades” Chasea whispered, as she looked out of a window

”It has come to pass..” she murmured

"Can we contain it?"

"It is already contained, Shade King. Our dominion has it fully under control. It is even growing smaller thanks to the continuing desecration of ground. We have lost some priests due to this, but it's still within acceptable limits."

"Then there is no problem. We can leave the citadel under siege. They will die out of hunger and dehydration sooner or later. Or if they have massive food suppiles in that citadel of theirs... They will still die out of old age. Whichever happens first, we can wait."

"What of their children?"

"Children? Ah, yes. Well, they can't continue on for centuries in that citadel of theirs without their supplies replenished. They'll die out even without our help."

"Very well."

The Dusk Elder was preparing to leave, as he thought the discussion had ended. But Tenebrus still had something to talk about.

"Ah, yes. Were the Earth Elementals sent there? I presume not?"

"...And you would presume correctly. Since the man killed himself even before the Ashen Angels got there, we thought it would've been pointless."

"A slight change in plans, then. Send the elementals there. They shouldn't be affected by the holy energies of that citadel, and they should be able to diminish the numbers of those still alive there considerably."

"But can we take their spirits if the land is under the control of some holy power?"

"Yes... And the souls of those I can feel within the holy shield as well. The man was foolish, foolish and stupid as he opened a holy Soul Gate. They are effectively stopping the spirits of their own who die within the sphere of influence of that shield from leaving this plane of existence. It won't take much effort to bring them all to our side... Not to mention that they already are on our side, but do not understand it."

"... Whatever you say, Shade King. We will do as you ask."

And now the Dusk Elder left to tell the other Dusk Elders what to do, disappearing into the night, leaving the Shade King alone once again. Earth Elementals, ones much larger than humans, would bring down those who still live. Others would simply fire unholy magics into the shield, and the priests would continue to chant their prayers to make the shield ineffective.

--

On the same time, the spectral legions had begun to ravage the countryside and lesser cities, towns and such places. If they would offer any resistance was unknown, but as of yet, there was nothing that could stop them.

The Citadel was falling, Chasea knew that, even though these new spirits were coming, she knew it would not be long.

And when she saw the elementals, she knew it would be at an end all too soon.

She hated what was happening, but she had a choice, she could end this now, maybe.. negotiate something, or die..

The thoughts swirled around in her head, she would negotiate.

Little did she know, as she prepared a "white flag", that negotiating would be as good as dying, and that it would haunt her for whatever life remained for her, little did she know what horrors could await.

And as she waved the flag over the wall, the elementals smashed the gate, as if it was made of nothing more than paper.

And she prayed that her flag could be seen, or even understood.

Suddenly, everything stopped. The elementals froze to their positions, the shadows vanished and the clouds began to scatter. It became so calm, so calm that it as if they had just entered the heart of a tornado.

But the truth was quite far from that. The undead had been genuinely surprised by this plea for surrender.

The living did not know it, but all the Dusk Elders present were taking part in this grand undertaking, scanning the minds of the living and searching for more survivors, if there were any, ready to crush their fragile minds if they were to defy the undead even after their leader had chosen to surrender.

A loud, booming voice spoke in the minds of those still alive within the citadel.

"DO YOU ALL WISH TO SURRENDER IN FRONT OF THE GREAT LEGIONS OF THE ASHEN EMPIRE? A THOUGHT IS ENOUGH. IF SO, WE SHALL DICTATE OUR TERMS TO YOU."

Indeed, the situation was unprecedented. Not even a single living being had ever before even tried to surrender, no matter how badly they were losing, not even if the end they would suffer would be far worse than that they would suffer due to surrendering.

There were but 1,350 Survivers out of a nation of 450 Million People.

The Thoughts of 1000 Were ready to surrender, and that is what they thought in reply, 250 Thought no, their minds were crushed and they were taken from us, 100 Remained confused, but then submitted, it was over, but in truth, it was only just beginning, even though death began to take hold of the land, There would be one reminder of the past, the Sun in the sky, would never set.

In a blinding flash of white light came before Chasea. So blinding it was, that she could not see him and had to cover her eyes. Then the light disappeared, but for a while, she was practically blind.

"... You are the leader of this nation. Correct?"

After a few moments she could see again. There was a man, standing in front of her. He wore a purple robe, and a wide smile was on his face. Was it a cincere smile of a benevolent being or one of something that is twisted and evil, it was impossible to tell.

"I am here to dictate our terms to you. Do you wish to hear them now? Or do you want to hear them elsewhere?"

"Uhm, yes" She Stammered, regaining her composure

"State your terms here and now, whoever you may be" She said, more stately and formally now.

"You have had the distinct displeasure of being invaded by the Ashen Empire. Your very lives are forfeit. That is one of our terms, but it is also the truth of what has happened to your people. No matter what you do, you will die. How it will happen is your choice."

He stood silent for a while.

"Unlike most, you get the distinct privilege of being able to choose the method you join our ranks. One. You remain like you are until you die naturally, and will join the Ashen Empire through the normal, painful and mind-numbing way, that most - even I - have gone through. Two. You choose to resist us with arms, and you die as you would die in the first choice. Three. You submit, and let us perform a ritual upon your person. You will technically die, but you will not notice anything. Your spirit shall be corrupted, but you shan't notice it. Your body remains... Alive, as mine, but it will withstand the deadly powers of the dark dominion. In other words, you become immortal."

He grinned after he had said that, and was silent again. But only for a while.

"Those are the choices you can choose from. You will be given full control over your... Changed populace, but only after you have joined the Ashen Empire. They need you more now than ever, I'd wager. Many of them are... Confused. They need a leader."

Chasea shook her head in dismay, and seated herself on the end of the four poster bed in the room, she looked up again.

"Ritual ? Explain.. and what about everyone else?" She said

"The ritual is a complex one, but does not require all that much time to accomplish. You will feel... Nothing. As it is cast. But you will notice its effects soon enough. You will simply feel different. It is also the only way you will retain your current physical form. As for the others... They will be given the same choice."

The man sighed.

"So, what shall it be?"

She sighed, and looked around one more time.

"Your complex ritual it shall be." She said, finally.

The Dusk Elder grinned wryly.

"Good."

The grin disappeared from his face.

"Let us begin."

Now... She could hear whispers from the shadows in the room, but as she looked into them, there seemed to be nothing. Whispers she could not understand. Whispers that would cause her skin to crawl. Whispers that inflict the purest of pains in her mind. The sheer force of it filled her whole being. For a while, she would have felt her spirit leaving her body. Would have, if it was not for the pain that made her not think of it.

"That is the first part. It is done now."

Her body... Her corpse dropped onto the floor. It was still... Alive, although blood did not course through its veins, even it had stopped. The Shade Lands beckoned her spirit.

But just before it would have left this plane of existence, it suddenly was bound to the Overworld. It was not given its final rest. Not given the opportunity to just let go, to stop the pain. She was now simply a dispossessed spirit, but as the horrible, horrible pain continued, she did not notice anything.

"The second part. This will soon be over."

And then her spirit returned to her dead body. But it was not exactly dead. Not yet. The insides of her body... Changed. It became corrupted. Unholy energies coursed through it, forcing it to change. But only on the inside. Her looks did not change. Now she would be sustained by her own hate, no matter how low it is, no matter how she attempts to force it into her subconscious, it would be her hate for the living that would keep her body alive and her spirit in the Overworld.

After that... The pain disappeared, and she "regained" consciousness. No matter how conscious her spirit had been. She could feel that she had been tainted by some unholy power... And she did not even mind it. It felt... Natural. Somehow.

He grinned once more.

"Now it is complete. How do you feel?"

He extended his arm towards her as to help her up.

((OOC note: Heh, "complex" indeed. What was I thinking when I pulled this one? I guess I forgot to point out some stuff like that the complex-ness came from the fact that "you may actually die and be totally fooked in the Underworld, har har". Not all hard processes to do would actually take lots of time methinks. But still, rather crappy for a "complex ritual". :/// ))

She glared at him, for now she could, so she did.

"How do you think? Hm? But this is only the beginning, i assume." She said.

He withdrew his hand, still grinning.

"You would be quite right. As a part of the Ashen Empire, you shall be given certain... Rights. You are free to govern yourselves... As long as you heed the call of the Empire when it needs you. When we need you, we will give you some... Services for free, with no loss to your sovereignty. You shall remain as your nation's leader until you cease to exist, which shall not, most likely, happen any time soon. But if you need our help... You will lose some of your independent stature. The more you require us, the more we will instate those of our own to your nation."

He stopped grinning.

"But you will soon notice a feeling. An ever growing one. A feeling that tells you that you cannot simply let the living roam free in this universe. For you... As for I... It is possible to suppress that feeling. It is so easy, that we can even exist with the living in the same location, even if our loyalties shall never change. One, after he or she has died in the hands of the Ashen Empire and has been resurrected by it... Shall never lose faith in the Empire. Not truly. We can make them believe that we are loyal to them, but we cannot ever truly be that. Even their best mages, their best telepathic beings shall never find this out. That is the power of the Underworld."

He looked up for a moment, mumbling something. Then he looked at her again.

"Ah yes, there is still something. With your people dead, it is quite likely that no one shall accept your people anymore. You will be a part of the neverending struggle against the living now. You cannot ever choose the other side, for they shall always discriminate against you. And if you, at some point, are to lose your sovereignty to the Ashen Empire, you shall be relocated to another part of the Empire, a part that is not known to be a part of it. A part that is... Alive."

"Now... You may ask anything you wish."

"I have no questions" Chasea said.

"Do you? You probably do not, but I have concerns, this world, its soul, will not simply let us exist here. Now we are no longer its children, we are befouling it, it already showed you great resistance.." Chasea informed.

"... The soul of this world is as dead as your people are. Yes, we became aware of its presence quite quickly as our legions began their march. There is nothing it will do to stop you now. It showed us great resistance, yes... But its resistance was crushed by the desecration of its surface. It could only slow our progress down, not stop it. Do not worry of such petty things."

"Even if that sun of yours continues to burn in the sky, it has no effect onto the lands of this now unholy planet. Even it cannot penetrate the perpetual darkness of the Ashen Empire's dominion, imbued with the powers of the Underworld. You see... We are not simply undead. We are children of the Underworld, and it empowers us, strengthens us. Even if the horrific punishment is what brings us back, the Lord of the Underworld blesses us as well. Even if He punishes us, He also wishes us to win, and be given eternal rest. It is a complicated matter."

"It is a complicated matter indeed, but what now, what happens now?"

"You are part of the Ashen Empire now. What happens next is something for you to decide. I would suggest that you go forth to see your people. They are most likely... Confused. For many of them... Death came so quickly they did not even realize they died. They are the lucky ones... For they never truly left this plane of existence. The Shade Lands are much more forgiving than the Underworld is, even if it those lands are directly connected to it."

"We will not stop you from doing anything, except self-destruction or showing your presence to the universe at large willingly and thus endangering us in the process. You exist to destroy the living in this universe. In the long run, that is. That is the only way for us who have risen once again to find our peace. Once there are no beings alive here... We can finally rest. You can feel it, can you not? The uneasiness. The urge to kill. It is normal for us... Normal... Yes. It is what drives us towards our goal. The living cannot co-exist with the dead. When the time comes," he pointed at himself with his left thumb for a second, and then pointed at the woman with his left index finger, "we shall give up these living carcasses, and become what we truly are."

"We will grant you one request without any loss to your sovereignty. One... And only one. After that... What I said applies."

"I will have to think on that request, Any way i can contact you in the future?" Chasea said, before pausing.

"But yes, i must see to my people" She sighed

"You do not need to contact us. We will contact you when you need us. We know."

"Is there something you need me right now? You must be confused yourself as well. It is not like you die and return to the realm of the living every day."

OOC: Sorry for the delay.

IC:

"I do not know.. as you say, i must be confused.. i am confused.." She said, sighing again

"Although it is normal, it is not the state of mind you are needed to be in..."

The man whispered something, and his eyes began to burn red.

"Let me end your confusion," he said with odd tranquility in his voice.

His right hand had begun to glow with an odd, purple light. He raised that hand, and he pointed his right index finger to her. After a few moments the light surged from him to her.

Information spread into her consciousness, information she never had. She knew what she was dealing with now. She knew what she had become. She knew what her people were. She even knew that the man she had been speaking with had been undead for many millennia. Only to be resurrected into a state of perverse life within unlife, and that this... Trick was brought to them by creatures that knew not what they were doing.

She now knew what it was to be undead. She fell down to the floor, still conscious. Shocked, probably, but conscious.

The burning in his eyes had dissipated, and he looked at her with a peaceful smile on his face.

"Are you still confused, child?"