NationStates Jolt Archive

The stench of decaying flesh and rotten meat spread across the land sickening all those close enough to smell the hedious aroma.

The clanging of metal along with various groans and howls from unhuman beasts rang out from amongst the pitch darkness of night, a strong wind blew as an approaching storm rolled in

"It is good to see you again my lord."

A horrid figure spoke in sickly voice, a large black claymore strapped to his back, his armor clanked as he stepped forward revealing a man, well what was once a man, bearing scars of many battles, his armor was charred and black from fire, its intricate designs ruined from a thousand blows.

The only image remaining was that of a rose upon the breastplate.

"It is good to see you again, Asztum, my great general what news do you have for me?"

A shadowy figure mounted upon a large black warhorse emerged from the darkness, his eyes glowing a dark red in the night making his helm seem empty

Asztum motioned for the figure to follow him to the top of a hill along with his entourage of other knights, there he pointed out to the plains below where a massive army stood assembled in their formations.

Upon seeing their dark lord the army erupted in a mad howls, the sound of swords banging against thousands of shields and the steady beat of war drums rang out from the mass like thunder from the approaching storm.

Undead warriors stood in their formations raising their fists and crying out one name united Soth the name chanted louder and louder, others with their quivers filled with black arrows covered in plauge ridden ooze lit torches.

Aztum pointed out to the mass below

"My lord, I present you with the ninth legion, 8500 strong, they do not eat, they do not sleep or grow tired, they do not feel pain, nor do they show fear or mercy. They are obediant and will carry out your wishes without question.

Many an army feared us in the ages of old, now they will fear us once again in death

My lord, I present to you your army."

Soth turned in his saddle scanning the army below all the way across the valley, he breifly remonecesd of ages ago of when King Hericul had appointed him commander of the ninth legion, Soth's flashback was short lived as his heart quickly filled with remorse and anger at the loss of his love Adrema.


"What is your bidding M'Lord?"
Asztum looked up at his commander awaiting his command

Soth paused gripping his reins and turning his steed back down the hill before turning back to his general

"We march, and we will continue to march until all the world is ridden with plauge, and all the kingdoms of men will come to fear us, March west Asztum, we march west."

With that Soth and his knights rode back towards the encampment, the world would soon see that even in death evil can prevail.

Reserved. I'm too tied to make a coherent post. Will post tomorrow.

Tattered banners, and charred standards adorned with heads of the recently deceased were scatterd throughout the column as the ninth marched across the plains.

Their wardrums now silent as Asztum sought to hopefully surprise an unsuspecting township.

The storm that had been approaching in the early morning had finally arrived as torrential rains began to spread out across the plains, this unfazed the massive army as they continued on their search for mortals to devour.

Upon leaving the safety of their homelands Asztum arrainged the army into battle formations and dispatched scouts ahead of the main force, not wanting to be ambushed while remaining in a column the going would be slower, but safer.

OOC:I would jump in, but location kinda screws me, I'm too far north, and there are a bunch of neighboring kingdoms around you.

ooc:thats fine no worries

ooc: Yup. You're very isolated.

ooc: I have to be..for various reasons, at any rate marching west is only taking me towards NPC's and an inactive drunken weirdos...I could cross the river towards the hefon and seek empires though..or turn north and hit the star republic or Hospitalr from the south east.

OOC: Not really. To get to anyone, aside from the Tannelorn, which is still in the process of being made, you have to march across so many miles, its something difficult even for an undead army. This is the entire world, when you look at the map. Now, we know how large distances can on a world, so think of how long it would take to get to Hefon, Ssek, Drunken Weirdos, and etc, and you have a long ways to march an army.

ooc:Yes it'd take time but undead dont need to eat sleep drink or grow tired....so time isn't really an obstacle to my army...are you in this rp..? There is one obstacle...but im keeping that a secret for now...for ooc talk that is

OOC: Drat . . .I want in but thrashia hasn't up checked my factbook or given me a pop. yet . . . .:(

ooc give em time...and can we please stop all the ooc clutter...thank you

After days of travel across open expanses of plains and crossing rivers Elzar and his emissary escorts came upon the outer most fringes of a desolate and seemingly uninhabitable marshland.

Surveying the land, Elszar noted that the unforgiving swamp land stretched as far as the eye could see and perhaps beyond.

"Onward." Elszar pointed with his lance into the swampland

Having to dismount their horses the party continued onward on foot, several of the escorts cleaved away at the thick tangleing vines and branches that blocked the parties progress into the interior.

Elszar was made slightly uneasy as the party continued onward it was easy to become disoriented and become lost in such terrain, that along with the unfamiliar sounds of strange beastes

After several hours of travel and making very little progress Elszar decided it was time to set camp as the group came to a small clearing with enough dry ground to set tents up on.

Quickly setting up an array of pikes to deter any wild creatures that may attempt to enter the camp and starting a fire Elszar set up sentries to rotate throughout the night.

Who would be foolish enough to attack more than a dozen well armed Silvans?
Elszar thought to himself as he drifted off to sleep, his hand close to the hilt of his blade.

The small camp fire in the distance was a beacon to all that lurked in the forsaken swamps. Already a small group of frontier guards had assembled and were prepared to take the camp, killing or capturing all that inhabited it. Through the pitch darkness of night a frontier patrol observed the glowing light approaching it slowly and cautiously careful to not make too much noise an alert whatever the source of this fire was coming from.

As the group of guards approached they noticed a campground with sentries posted about the camp were not human, instead they were giant beasts the likes never seen before and they appeared to be reptilian in appearance. Clad in armor and bearing the standard of an unknown kingdom.

Undeterred by the camp guards threatening appearance the group slowly pressed forward through the primordial ooze and muck of the swamp using the howls and cries of other beasts to mask their trudging through the marshes.

"We must warn Dagaard Keep."

One of the guards turned to their commander his half decayed face glowing lightly from the distant light, anxiously awaiting his commander's orders.

"Kill the guards, bring the rest back alive if you can, and make it quick. I shall make for Deathsmaw to inform Lord Sinakus of the intruders."
The group of frontier guards all nodded and rendered a salute to their commander as he turned down one of the paths that only the forsaken knew of in order to return to their camp and raise the alarm.

The group spread out surrounding the camp, several of their number placed their plague ridden bolts within their crossbows, or strung their arrows aiming for the throat and head of the lizard-men's sentries. The smell of rotten flesh spread across the immediate area, an ominous sign of things to come.

Once ready, the signal was given and they let loose their arrows.

At nearly the same time several dozen armor clad warriors dripping with the muck and goo of the swamplands rushed the camp, weapons drawn. Their fleshless and decayed bodies moved with surprising quickness.

A slight wizz through the air was the last sound two of the sentries heard as the unknown attacker's arrows met their marks, followed by short gurgeling sounds as the downed sentries gasped for air, their efforts were futile however as their blood soon pooled upon the ground.

Those who were fortunate enough to have not been felld by the ambush yelled out an alarm and rushed towards the oncoming group of animated corpses, swinging their massive blades left and right with ease, the sounds of clashing metal soon filled the night air.

Elszar jumped from his tent, his blade drawn and quickly forced the hilt of his sword into one of the attackers faces, as the attacker fell backwards Elszar was shocked to see the half rotten face of a man missing all the flesh from his cheeks and throat.

The scene was that of chaos as the Silvan party fought against seemingly overwhelming numbers as undead warriors rushed in from all sides of the encampment.

One Silvan fell three attackers only to watch them arise again despite missing a limbs.

Elszar turned and looked on in horror as another sentry was run through by several spears, and still maning to fell two of the attackers before sucoming to his wounds

"They are too many in number, we must escape!"

A sentry cried out and attempted to flee only to run headlong into a deep bog the combination of slimey mud and dense vines along with the weight of the massive armor doomed the sentry to a slow demise.

Elszar soon found himself and three other sentries surrounded the floor littered with limbs and bodies both friend and foe..prepared to fight to the last Elszar gritted his teeth and awaited the last charge by the attackers with great anticipation.

Bluetooth was a goblin slave to the House of Mel'mtor. He enjoyed the Underdark far more than the surface, but as fate would have it his master demanded a group of Bluetooth's fellow Goblin slaves and himself embark to the surface to find a missing drow girl. After climbing to surface with two hundred goblins and only arriving to the surface with twenty-two because of things far worse than the drow lurking in the tunnels of the Underdark, The goblins sought out to find this young girl.

"Me's no like this. Me's wants to go home. Me's no want to die, Bluetooth!" One of the smaller goblins said. "Quiets, we's find drow then we's go homes." Bluetooth snarled.

For hours they searched screaming out "Drows girlie home you come drows girlie", until they heard a horrid groaning off in the distance. Like any rodent they froze in place and slowly scanned the area. For sometime there was nothingness, the trees stood still, no chirping or cricketing; it was almost as quiet as the Underdark. Finally Jaggedbelly lept onto Bluetooth in fear. "Bloostooth! We's go nows! Undeads are commings. We's cannots killsem!" Bluetooth couldn't argue with him, all the goblins knew Jaggedbelly was right.

With much haste and a bit of luck, five goblins made it back to the Matron Mother. "Matrons, we's has gloomy messege to give. Undead Marches! at least-" The goblin stuck eight gnarly fingers in the air. "Ayte..." Bluetooth thought as hard as he could trying to form the words. "Thowsends?" The Matron Mother lept out of her seat smacking him in the face. "You lie Goblin, that's impossible, there's no way there's eight thousand Undead.

"Matrons, we comes homes to tell, theres no lies! We's scareds you have to do's somethings?!" The Matron Mother thought for a moment. It couldn't have been a lie, the goblins are too imbecile to conjure a scheme. She realized with much fear. "Very well, bring me my Weapons Master, see if we can conspire with these Undead or enslave them if they refuse. It is time the world remember who the drow are. For far too long the surface has considered us a faerie tale. We shall let them see the true Glory of Lolth."


***


Even in the darkness, it was too bright for the Drow envoy. Shynthrae'zyr as usual, was called to the task of figuring out the problems of Mel'mtor, be it diplomatic or where the Matron Mother left her favourite pair of shoes. Never the less, One thousand drow were sent to the surface, in case allying should go sour. Shynthrae'zyr had been handling the surface far better than the other fighters, since he had visted the surface just a day ago to bring his students on their graduating raid as they did every year. A few of the wizards were handling better than expected but still everyone groaned. They sprinted, their light footsteps were silent as they fled towards the hills.

Upon seeing the mass horde, Shynthrae'zyr walked ahead of the other drow. "I am Shynthrae'zyr, Weapons Master of House Mel'mtor. May the Lord of this horde step fourth and state your intentions crossing this land." Shynthrae'zyr spoke diplomatically. Unlike the young drow males, Shynthrae'zyr had seen far worse things than the living dead.

The massive battle formation had come to a halt, their tattered banners wrestled in the wind, the familiar stench of rot and decay filled the air and suddenly in unison a steady drumming sound thundered out from the undead legion as soldiers banged the hits of their swords against their shields in beat with the massive war drums

The steady beat coming from the undead army gradually increased in volume as various captains and other officers of the legion yelled out words of encouragement to the regulars, then when it seemed as if the horde would rush headlong against the drowian army instant silence fell across their formations and a lone rider clad in burnt armor a battle scared cape blowing behind him

Azstum rode forward slowly, behing him a contingent of twenty skull calvary knights the dark robed riders contrasting to their solid white mounts. Their horses were clad in golden armor and together they looked very out of place marching with the undead.

Azstum's banner bearing the black rose, its petals cracked and wilted and standard proceeded adorned with the heads and organs of those who had apposed his army.


Azstum looked down at the drow from the back of his mount, pacing his steed back and forth infront of him.

"I am Baron Azstum of nightlund, loyal servant to the great Lord of the Black Rose, and Lord of the Undead.

We march these lands under his authority in search for the kingdoms of men to exact our vengance. Now be out of our way drow for the great lord Soth will show no mercy towards you or your people."
Asztum turned his tattered cape blowing in the face of Shynthrae'zyr as he continued eyeing him from atop his mount

A wry grin came across Shynthrae'zyr's face. "Land's of Men you say? Hmm." The Weapons Master put his hand under his chin and looked up towards the glaring moon. "We too wish to take from the Lands of Men. Perhaps we can ally? I mean "Our people" have twenty-five thousand and with your, powerful army of living dead, we can take back the lands that's rightfully yours." He chose his words carefully as to not step on any toes.

Shynthrae'zyr gestured to the Baron. "It would be my pleasure to bring you to our Matron Mother, She's very interested in alliance negotiations."

Asztum smirked pulling his cape to the side

"Lord Soth meets with no one. If you seek our assisstance then you will travel to Dagaard Keep. Our army marches on, I suggest you get out of the way."

Asztum scoffed then rode back with his entourage towards the line of undead soldiers upon seeing his return the same cries and steady beat resumed and the horde of undead troops began slowly marching forward

Shynthrae'zyr thought for a moment and then shouted out. "Hold!" He pounded his bisento on the ground. "We too wish revenge, it would be a pity for you to lose your chance at a great victory because of your pride." He chuckled and began to pace. "You are willing to give up a chance to win a great victory? Together, we can strike out against the gulf of Tobias and take them by suprise. The men on the gulf gather as we speak. Ships cross the Gulf each day more and more. It is inevitable: they will ally together, if we pair our strengths now and strike as soon as possible, we can destroy them. Send a message to your Lord Soth, if he has another army tell him to amass it and ride North into the Lands of Tannelorn. We will join him with at least Twenty-five thousand."

Shynthrae'zyr slid his hand next to his thigh moving his hand in an intricate way and two drow soldiers went into the darkness.

Soth stood calmly against the balcony overlooking the keep's courtyard, looking out over the dark twisted landscape which was his realm now, his heart heavy as he remonessed of how things used to be, the long nights talking with his wife while they looked out at the stars blanketing the gentle rolling hills.

Gripping the rail tightly Soth slammed his opposite fist against the rail leaving a deep crater on the marble surface, a loud furious cry of rage escaped his lips as he turned back into his demented keep, his steps heavy and his eyes ablaze with a firey red glow in the dark of his chambers the large wooden shutters slamming shut behind him.

Soth's fit of rage was interrupted however as two young robed figures entered his chambers.

"Great lord, messages from Ariakan in Tannelorn, and news from Azstum."
The robed figures presented both a scroll and a twisted looking winged creature.

"Leave me!"
Soth snapped, snatching both objects from the robed messengers before they turned and hastely exited the room, Soth quickly looked over the message sent from Azstum first,quickly glancing it over.

Before replying Soth spoke to the twisted bird figure as it repeated back what Ariakan had uttered to it a day ago.

A sinister smile spread across Soth's charred cracked lips.

Soth quickly grabbed parchment and quill and began to inscribe in a foreign tongue his reply to Azstum's message.

"Send forth the drow represenatives, an alliance we can form with the dark elves, they shall assist us in our quest to fall the kingdom's of men and whipe them from the world. March North to the lands of Tannelorn, Ariakan has discovered a great army there that we may use against the sun elves and exact a vengence against those who have wronged us more than any other."

Soth sealed the scroll whispering a magical spell as a seal bearing a black rose upon the scroll, Soth then placed the scorll in the twisted bird figures talon and released it from his chambers, as the dark messenger departed the keep Soth's demented laughter echoed out across the land.

Shynthrae'zyr stood impatiently, awaiting the deformed birds return. Slowly more and more drow came to the surface until a total of five thousand hid in the shadows. The sun was almost peaking from the hills when Shynthrae'zyr noticed the undead marching. "D'issan" He spat with rage. He sighed and sent four thousand ahead to follow the Undead and awaited the rest of the soldiers.

"It is going to be a long night boys. Tonight you will become true men." He watched them go north as the sun rose further. Soon enough goblins, trolls, ogres all crawled out from the Underdark. Behind them stood a thousand priestesses and wizards as well as fighter mages from all of the majour houses in Idilumrae. With two thousand Drow and thirty thousand creatures they sprinted across RiverBark Planes.