Ermor
18-09-2006, 14:31
This wasn't our aim.
Xirrath, the leader of the Ermorian side of the Order.
A mere puppet of the Lich Queen.
How could they have known?
It wasn't supposed to be like this.
He sat within the confines of a blackened hall room, somewhere within the Ashen Empire itself. Inside this room was him and a great, long table made of the blackest obsidian found within the Ashen Empire, surrounded by a number of chairs, one of which he was sitting upon.
There he sat. While he might have seemed relaxed on the outside, he was anything but. He was leaning forward, his right elbow was on the table and his head was upon his right hand.
Not like this.
He was waiting.
Seconds turned into minutes. Minutes turned into hours. Hours turned into days.
All he could think of was what they had done wrong. They had underestimated the sheer power of the Lord of the Underworld. They had thought they could contain a god. They had misinterpreted the effects of the ritual quite profoundly. Indeed, their failure had been almost fatal for their own dreams of power - but now... There was a chance.
And then, finally...
He raised his head, and began to lean backwards, touching the chair's back. A group of men in purple robes, other living Dusk Elders, had come.
"... So, you finally chose to honor me with your presence," Xirrath spoke out with sarcasm in his voice, grinning wryly as he stops speaking.
"Surely you knew that we wouldn't be able to just come here. They would be most displeased if they were to find out," one of them replied, with the others grumbling something in confirmation.
The grin disappeared from Xirrath's face.
"Yes. I know. I am the only one who is not kept an eye on regularily," Xirrath said and stood up, "But let us get into the point."
He slowly began to walk around the table, whilst looking upon the newcomers.
"You do know why I have asked you all to come here?"
Another one of them spoke out.
"Yes... It is blatantly obvious. It is just us."
The others grumbled something in confirmation again.
Xirrath nodded as he continued to walk.
"Indeed. Our work is not... Finished. We did, after a fashion, gain a part of what we wanted," he said and stopped for a second.
"We are immortal," he said, and continued to walk.
"Yes, indeed we are, but becoming a pawn like this wasn't a part of that plan," one of the other men said. It was generally too dark for Xirrath to say which one it was, as had been the case with the rest. Time had passed and he did not remember too much about them - but somehow he remembered them well enough to call them out like this.
Xirrath nodded again, as he still walked.
"And this is what brings us here. I have, with some of you, devised a method to..."
One of them disrupted him, somewhat excitedly, "... To remove this leash the vaunted Lord of the Underworld has placed upon us!"
Xirrath nodded in agreement and stopped walking.
"Yes, this is what we aim to do. To finish what we started. End the reign of the Lord on this realm, and to make the Empire our domain, as planned. After we are done, the dead would have us as their leaders, no matter if they like it or not. They have yet to realize the power of the Ermorian death cult."
He could hear the others talking rather silently with each other, but still talking. After all, not all of them had been aware of this - but they should have known that this day would come. This was to be expected.
After a while, one of the men he had not contacted regarding this before this meeting spoke up. He and those in the know had, on the other hand, scouted their willingness to rid themselves of the Lich Queen and the likes.
"So... What do you want us to do?"
"It is obvious enough. These are the things we must do: Remove the dominion of undeath and either destroy the leadership or turn them into living beings such as ourselves or both. And after this is done, the throne is ours for the taking."
"And how do we do that?"
"We already have the theory set down - what is left is execution. To eliminate the connection the dead have with the Underworld, we must cancel out the dominion within Eldregate... Where it all started. The rituals themselves have already been worked out. As for turning the Lich Queen and her pawns..."
Xirrath took some papers which glowed with a baleful green light from the deep pockets of his robe.
"This is how it is done."
He placed one of the papers in front of several of the Dusk Elders. The rituals differed a little by each - the differing states of undeath when it came to the undead leaders was the reason for this.
"If you follow these instructions I have given to you, everything should work out as planned. As for when to act... You will know."
Xirrath sat down on his seat.
"Failure would be worse than death for us and those of our kind who do not even know of this. That just is not an option."
One of the others spoke up again.
"So you want us to do this... But who is going to attack the Lich Queen? None of these documents are about it."
Xirrath nodded.
"Indeed. That would be because I shall do it myself, whilst those that did not receive anything now will... Rid us of the desecration."
"Ah. So that would be when we are to strike."
"Yes. Due to the quite obvious changes that will take place, you will know."
He stood up.
"Be ever vigilant. We may begin this tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow, the next year, the next hundred years or in a millennia. But you cannot fail to do your duty."
The others nodded almost in unison. The conversation continued for several hours on other related issues of lesser importance.
But one thing was certain: The very first, and quite possibly last, attempt to turn the tide of the Empire had been created, by the very same ones who started the Fall.
Xirrath, the leader of the Ermorian side of the Order.
A mere puppet of the Lich Queen.
How could they have known?
It wasn't supposed to be like this.
He sat within the confines of a blackened hall room, somewhere within the Ashen Empire itself. Inside this room was him and a great, long table made of the blackest obsidian found within the Ashen Empire, surrounded by a number of chairs, one of which he was sitting upon.
There he sat. While he might have seemed relaxed on the outside, he was anything but. He was leaning forward, his right elbow was on the table and his head was upon his right hand.
Not like this.
He was waiting.
Seconds turned into minutes. Minutes turned into hours. Hours turned into days.
All he could think of was what they had done wrong. They had underestimated the sheer power of the Lord of the Underworld. They had thought they could contain a god. They had misinterpreted the effects of the ritual quite profoundly. Indeed, their failure had been almost fatal for their own dreams of power - but now... There was a chance.
And then, finally...
He raised his head, and began to lean backwards, touching the chair's back. A group of men in purple robes, other living Dusk Elders, had come.
"... So, you finally chose to honor me with your presence," Xirrath spoke out with sarcasm in his voice, grinning wryly as he stops speaking.
"Surely you knew that we wouldn't be able to just come here. They would be most displeased if they were to find out," one of them replied, with the others grumbling something in confirmation.
The grin disappeared from Xirrath's face.
"Yes. I know. I am the only one who is not kept an eye on regularily," Xirrath said and stood up, "But let us get into the point."
He slowly began to walk around the table, whilst looking upon the newcomers.
"You do know why I have asked you all to come here?"
Another one of them spoke out.
"Yes... It is blatantly obvious. It is just us."
The others grumbled something in confirmation again.
Xirrath nodded as he continued to walk.
"Indeed. Our work is not... Finished. We did, after a fashion, gain a part of what we wanted," he said and stopped for a second.
"We are immortal," he said, and continued to walk.
"Yes, indeed we are, but becoming a pawn like this wasn't a part of that plan," one of the other men said. It was generally too dark for Xirrath to say which one it was, as had been the case with the rest. Time had passed and he did not remember too much about them - but somehow he remembered them well enough to call them out like this.
Xirrath nodded again, as he still walked.
"And this is what brings us here. I have, with some of you, devised a method to..."
One of them disrupted him, somewhat excitedly, "... To remove this leash the vaunted Lord of the Underworld has placed upon us!"
Xirrath nodded in agreement and stopped walking.
"Yes, this is what we aim to do. To finish what we started. End the reign of the Lord on this realm, and to make the Empire our domain, as planned. After we are done, the dead would have us as their leaders, no matter if they like it or not. They have yet to realize the power of the Ermorian death cult."
He could hear the others talking rather silently with each other, but still talking. After all, not all of them had been aware of this - but they should have known that this day would come. This was to be expected.
After a while, one of the men he had not contacted regarding this before this meeting spoke up. He and those in the know had, on the other hand, scouted their willingness to rid themselves of the Lich Queen and the likes.
"So... What do you want us to do?"
"It is obvious enough. These are the things we must do: Remove the dominion of undeath and either destroy the leadership or turn them into living beings such as ourselves or both. And after this is done, the throne is ours for the taking."
"And how do we do that?"
"We already have the theory set down - what is left is execution. To eliminate the connection the dead have with the Underworld, we must cancel out the dominion within Eldregate... Where it all started. The rituals themselves have already been worked out. As for turning the Lich Queen and her pawns..."
Xirrath took some papers which glowed with a baleful green light from the deep pockets of his robe.
"This is how it is done."
He placed one of the papers in front of several of the Dusk Elders. The rituals differed a little by each - the differing states of undeath when it came to the undead leaders was the reason for this.
"If you follow these instructions I have given to you, everything should work out as planned. As for when to act... You will know."
Xirrath sat down on his seat.
"Failure would be worse than death for us and those of our kind who do not even know of this. That just is not an option."
One of the others spoke up again.
"So you want us to do this... But who is going to attack the Lich Queen? None of these documents are about it."
Xirrath nodded.
"Indeed. That would be because I shall do it myself, whilst those that did not receive anything now will... Rid us of the desecration."
"Ah. So that would be when we are to strike."
"Yes. Due to the quite obvious changes that will take place, you will know."
He stood up.
"Be ever vigilant. We may begin this tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow, the next year, the next hundred years or in a millennia. But you cannot fail to do your duty."
The others nodded almost in unison. The conversation continued for several hours on other related issues of lesser importance.
But one thing was certain: The very first, and quite possibly last, attempt to turn the tide of the Empire had been created, by the very same ones who started the Fall.