Eternal
“Shit.” You grumble and get up.
After getting dressed, you march out of your tent with sword in hand. Multiple soldiers on duty ask if you’re okay, but you just ignore them and head directly to where Ackerson’s camp located.
When you arrive, you tell the soldiers on duty that you want to see Ackerson immediately. The general is of course still asleep and when he gets out of his tent he’s still slightly groggy.
“Apologies my Emperor, but what can…” he begins to say and then you cleave his head in with your sword. His face displays a mixture of shock and confusion as the blood trickles down from his head.
You pull the sword out with a sickly sound following it and strike again, this time practically chopping the general’s head in two. At this point the weight of Ackerson’s now lifeless body pulls downward off of your sword and you wipe your sword off in front of the astonished onlookers.
“Alright, listen up because I’m only going to say this once. This man was a fucking traitor. He was planning to betray me at some point during tomorrow’s battle. Don’t ask me how I know, the important thing is I know because I’m the fucking Emperor and I know ALL.”
You continue.
“That being said, I also know he had some of you in on this plan because he was too damn cowardly to face me like a man. I KNOW who you all are and consider this your reprieve from your benevolent Emperor. Help bring us victory tomorrow against the beast folk scum and I’ll forget all about this. However, if I ever get the slightest hint that ANY of you are planning to assassinate me, betray me or be involved in any other type of treason, I WILL make sure that you do not suffer the quick death like I so graciously handed out to the late general here. Do I make myself clear?”
“YES EMPEROR!” everyone shouts.
“Good. Colonel Sini, you’re in charge of Ackerson’s command now. Have someone remove this traitor’s corpse from this camp. I don’t want the aura of his failure and cowardice to rub off on anyone else longer than necessary.”
You take your leave and head back to your tent. You know what you did might not have been necessary since Semra very well might’ve been lying, however you’re fairly confident that you handled it in such a way that it doesn’t matter. You put so much fear into the rest of them that if they didn’t think you were all knowing before they certainly do now.
If it is true though, it is sort of disturbing to you that Eldolith managed to somehow convince some of your own military to try to kill you. That’s the group you rely on the most and feel you have the most identification with, though perhaps you’re taking it for granted that most of them LIKE the military and battles like you do. A lot of them probably joined just to feed their families. Some of them were even conscripted. You can only imagine that she offered a shitload of gold as it doesn’t seem likely that she’d have anything else worthwhile to offer.
You’ll be glad when the orcs have finally raised their numbers back up and the new Eternals are of age to fight.
Despite everything that went on last night, you miraculously actually manage to get a little sleep before the arrival of the Torites. You’re still a little tired, but you think when you get into the thick of battle the thrill of it will kick in and you’ll be invigorated. You usually are.
It seems word of what happened spread fairly quickly to the rest of the camps, even to Decena’s army. You imagine that will at least have to put Galen in a good mood, maybe he’ll whine less now.
When the Torites arrive they certainly look like a chaotic rabble, but it’s no mistake that they mean business. The number of harpies fills the sky to the point where you hope that the Storm can take care of such a flock. The second airship is in far distance behind you. Hopefully by the time it gets to engage in battle it won’t be replacing the Storm so much that it’ll be supporting the Storm.
The cannons and rifles fire as soon as the Torites are within range. Their centaurs return fire with their accurate arrows. The saytr wizards up the ante by casting their elemental magic which rips solid chunks of rock and earth out of the ground and goes flying at your army. It can’t be said that the Torites are any less dangerous just because they’re less technologically advanced.
High above you the Storm takes on the harpy warriors. Even from here, it looks like a swarm of locusts descending on a single blade of wheat. Looks pretty damn grim for the Storm, you just hope if the crew does get overwhelmed they can keep the ship from crashing near your location.
The bull creatures lead the charge along side their horse beast brethren. Another volley of shots takes out some, but they remain relentless in their charge. The satyr rank and file advance steadily behind. They WILL arrive and there will certainly be enough of them left to give your army a good fight.
Your own cavalry meets them and while they have the best training, they can’t overcome the sheer savagery of the minotaurs and as for the centaurs, their very bodies are half horse. They already have the advantage over your own cavalry as far as maneuverability.
Breaks in the Torite army form as they allow their war beasts participate in the charge. Several manticores and chimera of the largest size make their way straight towards you. At their pace, they’re going to be the first ones your people will have to fight. A cannon blast rips through one of the chimera and fireball from one of your mages brings down another, but before you know it, a manticore is shredding apart your front line with its talons and impaling others with its spike tail.
What comes next is utter mayhem. Swords and axes cutting and stabbing. Fangs and claws tearing and biting. Magic on both sides destroying several lives in the blink of an eye. It’s all very glorious.
Decena’s army is holding its own on her front, but then you never had any doubt about that. The only problem they do have is the blasted satyr magic manages to turn the golems against them. Hopefully, Flevas managed to get Galen’s ass out of there before they crushed him. The newly appointed General Sini seems to be doing well on his end. You’re glad to see that the reinforced fear in their ruler has motivated them.
Still, the battle is far from over yet. The fact that you’re simultaneously facing down three bullheads by yourself and a chimera closing in is a great reminder.
You cast a lightning blast at the bulls, which fells two of them, but the third fights through the pain of having his body fried from the inside out. You dodge his axe and follow up with your own sword swing to his meaty leg. The beast roars, but is still undeterred. Two nearby soldiers attempt to help, but are mauled by the chimera which has finally arrived.
The minotaur swings again, but this time you cast a force shield to block the blow. This one has to be some sort of leader or hero or some great warrior to his people because when you swing your sword again to strike, the creature catches its blade and snaps it off leaving you with a broken sword.
“Okay. I get it. A challenge.” You say and step backwards from the minotaur who ignores his deeply cut hand to solidly grip his axe once more.
The bull will have to wait though since the chimera has finally gotten around to attack you. The clumsy beast attempts to pounce, but you leap out of its way and blast one of the its misshaped animal heads with a bolt of fire. Roaring in pain and anger, the creature desperately tries to put out the flames by rubbing the flaming head into the dirt. It hardly stops it from continuing to attack with its scorpion tail. While it misses with its tail, one of its other goat like heads spits a cloud of gas at you. You didn’t even know they could do such a thing, but then these chimeras are rather random beasts.
The gas is certainly poisonous enough to kill the average person, but then you aren’t average. Unfortunately it’s still potent enough to make you feel sick and you gag and wheeze when you inhale a good bit of the stuff.
A paw smashes into your side and you go crashing to the ground. You barely get out of the way of the stinger tail again. Then your old bull friend is there to help with his axe as usual, fortunately someone distracts the bull by attacking him from behind causing him to drop his axe. Unfortunately they fail to kill him and he turns around and breaks their neck with his bare hands, still it’s given you a temporary respite on what to do next.
After getting dressed, you march out of your tent with sword in hand. Multiple soldiers on duty ask if you’re okay, but you just ignore them and head directly to where Ackerson’s camp located.
When you arrive, you tell the soldiers on duty that you want to see Ackerson immediately. The general is of course still asleep and when he gets out of his tent he’s still slightly groggy.
“Apologies my Emperor, but what can…” he begins to say and then you cleave his head in with your sword. His face displays a mixture of shock and confusion as the blood trickles down from his head.
You pull the sword out with a sickly sound following it and strike again, this time practically chopping the general’s head in two. At this point the weight of Ackerson’s now lifeless body pulls downward off of your sword and you wipe your sword off in front of the astonished onlookers.
“Alright, listen up because I’m only going to say this once. This man was a fucking traitor. He was planning to betray me at some point during tomorrow’s battle. Don’t ask me how I know, the important thing is I know because I’m the fucking Emperor and I know ALL.”
You continue.
“That being said, I also know he had some of you in on this plan because he was too damn cowardly to face me like a man. I KNOW who you all are and consider this your reprieve from your benevolent Emperor. Help bring us victory tomorrow against the beast folk scum and I’ll forget all about this. However, if I ever get the slightest hint that ANY of you are planning to assassinate me, betray me or be involved in any other type of treason, I WILL make sure that you do not suffer the quick death like I so graciously handed out to the late general here. Do I make myself clear?”
“YES EMPEROR!” everyone shouts.
“Good. Colonel Sini, you’re in charge of Ackerson’s command now. Have someone remove this traitor’s corpse from this camp. I don’t want the aura of his failure and cowardice to rub off on anyone else longer than necessary.”
You take your leave and head back to your tent. You know what you did might not have been necessary since Semra very well might’ve been lying, however you’re fairly confident that you handled it in such a way that it doesn’t matter. You put so much fear into the rest of them that if they didn’t think you were all knowing before they certainly do now.
If it is true though, it is sort of disturbing to you that Eldolith managed to somehow convince some of your own military to try to kill you. That’s the group you rely on the most and feel you have the most identification with, though perhaps you’re taking it for granted that most of them LIKE the military and battles like you do. A lot of them probably joined just to feed their families. Some of them were even conscripted. You can only imagine that she offered a shitload of gold as it doesn’t seem likely that she’d have anything else worthwhile to offer.
You’ll be glad when the orcs have finally raised their numbers back up and the new Eternals are of age to fight.
Despite everything that went on last night, you miraculously actually manage to get a little sleep before the arrival of the Torites. You’re still a little tired, but you think when you get into the thick of battle the thrill of it will kick in and you’ll be invigorated. You usually are.
It seems word of what happened spread fairly quickly to the rest of the camps, even to Decena’s army. You imagine that will at least have to put Galen in a good mood, maybe he’ll whine less now.
When the Torites arrive they certainly look like a chaotic rabble, but it’s no mistake that they mean business. The number of harpies fills the sky to the point where you hope that the Storm can take care of such a flock. The second airship is in far distance behind you. Hopefully by the time it gets to engage in battle it won’t be replacing the Storm so much that it’ll be supporting the Storm.
The cannons and rifles fire as soon as the Torites are within range. Their centaurs return fire with their accurate arrows. The saytr wizards up the ante by casting their elemental magic which rips solid chunks of rock and earth out of the ground and goes flying at your army. It can’t be said that the Torites are any less dangerous just because they’re less technologically advanced.
High above you the Storm takes on the harpy warriors. Even from here, it looks like a swarm of locusts descending on a single blade of wheat. Looks pretty damn grim for the Storm, you just hope if the crew does get overwhelmed they can keep the ship from crashing near your location.
The bull creatures lead the charge along side their horse beast brethren. Another volley of shots takes out some, but they remain relentless in their charge. The satyr rank and file advance steadily behind. They WILL arrive and there will certainly be enough of them left to give your army a good fight.
Your own cavalry meets them and while they have the best training, they can’t overcome the sheer savagery of the minotaurs and as for the centaurs, their very bodies are half horse. They already have the advantage over your own cavalry as far as maneuverability.
Breaks in the Torite army form as they allow their war beasts participate in the charge. Several manticores and chimera of the largest size make their way straight towards you. At their pace, they’re going to be the first ones your people will have to fight. A cannon blast rips through one of the chimera and fireball from one of your mages brings down another, but before you know it, a manticore is shredding apart your front line with its talons and impaling others with its spike tail.
What comes next is utter mayhem. Swords and axes cutting and stabbing. Fangs and claws tearing and biting. Magic on both sides destroying several lives in the blink of an eye. It’s all very glorious.
Decena’s army is holding its own on her front, but then you never had any doubt about that. The only problem they do have is the blasted satyr magic manages to turn the golems against them. Hopefully, Flevas managed to get Galen’s ass out of there before they crushed him. The newly appointed General Sini seems to be doing well on his end. You’re glad to see that the reinforced fear in their ruler has motivated them.
Still, the battle is far from over yet. The fact that you’re simultaneously facing down three bullheads by yourself and a chimera closing in is a great reminder.
You cast a lightning blast at the bulls, which fells two of them, but the third fights through the pain of having his body fried from the inside out. You dodge his axe and follow up with your own sword swing to his meaty leg. The beast roars, but is still undeterred. Two nearby soldiers attempt to help, but are mauled by the chimera which has finally arrived.
The minotaur swings again, but this time you cast a force shield to block the blow. This one has to be some sort of leader or hero or some great warrior to his people because when you swing your sword again to strike, the creature catches its blade and snaps it off leaving you with a broken sword.
“Okay. I get it. A challenge.” You say and step backwards from the minotaur who ignores his deeply cut hand to solidly grip his axe once more.
The bull will have to wait though since the chimera has finally gotten around to attack you. The clumsy beast attempts to pounce, but you leap out of its way and blast one of the its misshaped animal heads with a bolt of fire. Roaring in pain and anger, the creature desperately tries to put out the flames by rubbing the flaming head into the dirt. It hardly stops it from continuing to attack with its scorpion tail. While it misses with its tail, one of its other goat like heads spits a cloud of gas at you. You didn’t even know they could do such a thing, but then these chimeras are rather random beasts.
The gas is certainly poisonous enough to kill the average person, but then you aren’t average. Unfortunately it’s still potent enough to make you feel sick and you gag and wheeze when you inhale a good bit of the stuff.
A paw smashes into your side and you go crashing to the ground. You barely get out of the way of the stinger tail again. Then your old bull friend is there to help with his axe as usual, fortunately someone distracts the bull by attacking him from behind causing him to drop his axe. Unfortunately they fail to kill him and he turns around and breaks their neck with his bare hands, still it’s given you a temporary respite on what to do next.