Eternal
Year 67
“Svelk? And you’re sure about this?” you ask.
“Absolutely sure my Emperor. We fought off a band of them just the other day. There have also been other sightings of them roaming about the wastes of Mortos.” General Damon responds.
You silently curse to yourself about this news. You knew the svelk were going to show up at the most inopportune time and sure enough they have. You didn’t expect them on Mortos though. Is this what Semra was planning? Is she trying to get the book herself?
General Damon goes on to report that the fourth gens have been proving themselves very well in battle and showing good resistance against the negative effects of Mortos.
“They’re a true credit to the name Eternal, my Emperor.” Damon remarks.
“Hrm. Well I’d expect nothing less, especially after having the best trainer.” You say.
“Mentor Brenda was indeed a very good teacher, I will always be grateful for her lessons when she taught me the rest of the third gens.” Damon says with a bit of pride.
Cassandra speaks up next and tells you that the Eyes have still not yet located the temple you last remember the book being at, but they have located more than a few ghouls towns and mapped out where some negative zones are located.
“Just glad we’ve got a relatively large population of Sul Monkeys to use as testing for such zones. It certainly cuts down on our own casualties.” Cassandra says and then starts to say something else before stopping.
“What is it?” you ask.
“Oh nothing my Emperor, it’s just a silly thought, nevermind.”
“You were going to ask me if humans are related to Sul Monkeys somehow, weren’t you?”
“How did you know?” Cassandra asks.
“Given that I had to hear Semra and several other svelk refer to humans as monkeys on more than one occasion, I’ve heard the theories before.”
“Oh. So is it true? I mean my parents said it was and most others of my kind believe it, but I always wondered and I figured you being the Emperor and all might know for certain…”
You nearly laugh.
“As much as I might like the idea of being all knowing, I have no idea nor do I really care. You’d probably be better off asking Elam, he knows more about all that stuff. Speaking of which I need to go talk with him about increasing automaton production.”
As you’re about to make your way to do just that, you receive an urgent message.
“Message from Kivan, Emperor. Very urgent.” The courier says.
“Everything is urgent according to Kivan, let’s see…” you say and then begin to read.
Then you feel a small sinking feeling when you see the news. It’s a short message, but one of great impact.
“I have to go.” You say and leave New Dessel.
Brenda has killed herself. Her body was found by an Eye who was going to pick her up for her re-assignment as a trainer for them. She was in her bathtub with slashed wrists. Her body has already been taken for preparation; Kivan decided it would be best to keep this incident relatively quiet and contact you immediately.
When you arrive at the capital, Kivan is already outside waiting for you and trying to apologize for disturbing you.
“Nevermind all that, where is she?”
“The mortuary, of course. She’ll be ready for the hero’s funeral that…”
“No. No, we aren’t going to have all that. She wouldn’t want it. We’ll do what we did with Warrick. A simple private funeral.” You say still trying to wrap your head around the fact that Brenda’s dead.
“As you wish Emperor. Uh…this was also found on the site of her death. It hasn’t been opened and it was addressed to you.”
Kivan hands you an envelope, which you take and read alone.
My Emperor
By the time you read this, you no doubt will know I have decided to move on from this world. I just can’t go on any longer. I’ve given all that I have and anymore that I do have left isn’t worth much anyway.
I thank you for not taking all the fourth gen Eternals immediately and giving me those last two years with most of them, just as you gave me that one last year with Warrick.
I did try to heed your words that you spoke to me a couple years ago and I almost even convinced myself, but ultimately they just weren’t enough. I hope that I haven’t disappointed you too much. I always tried not to; all of us did and still do.
You told me that you were a “mistake” that wasn’t supposed to be an Eternal. I don’t believe that’s true. Whatever the nature of events that occurred; there is no denying that you aren’t a TRUE Eternal. You are the best of all of us and I have no doubt that you won’t accomplish your goals in achieving immortality to keep the Empire alive.
I always had a feeling you’d outlive all of us, even when that svelk bitch tried to break your spirit on the first day of training. Personally I believe you’d outlive the Empire itself if you and it weren’t so intrinsically linked.
I die knowing that not just the Empire will live on, but that the name Eternal also lives on.
It was an honor to serve under you. I go now to join our fallen siblings.
Brenda
Not much moves you emotionally nowadays, but this has certainly done it. You aren’t disappointed by Brenda’s actions. You understand them from her point of view, you just wish you could’ve convinced her that her life did still have purpose. Brenda may not have been the traditional Eternal bringing glory on the battlefield, but her role was nevertheless an important one and like the loss of Warrick, Roldan, Kane and Decena, the Empire is just a little worse off because she’s no longer part of it.
Brenda is eventually placed where the other great heroes of the Empire are entombed. Her deeds will forever be remembered and when the news of her death is made public to the Eternals she trained you remind them all that she would want them to not falter in their assignments nor spend time lingering over her passing.
Life goes on and so do your goals.
Getting back to the current problem at hand, the recent incursions of svelk are growing to become more frequent, still no real confirmation on what they’re doing there exactly. It hardly matters you suppose since whatever they’re there for it’s only to hinder you.
Knowing Semra, part of her plan is to try to divide your attention. She wants you to attack Dokkrus so you’ll get tied up in a land war there and lose your edge in Mortos. Better that you should keep to your plan. If Semra wants to open up another front, she’s going to have to come to you and you’re more than ready for that.
In fact you probably can do more to damage her if you start capturing some of her people. Granted svelk aren’t necessarily the most talkative captives, but if you can capture some of her mages to power up a second portal or even more, well that would at least allow you have more entryways in and out of Mortos. You also could hamper the svelk by destroying or capturing their own portals. Either way, your best decision is to keep your efforts focused on Mortos. You’ve still got a book to track down and you haven’t even begun to face the full power of the necromancers yet. In fact you’re starting to wonder when that shoe is going to drop.
Year 70
Ignoring the stench and claws of your nearby zombie attackers, your Eternals make quick work of them while you put down the necromancer with a lightning bolt to his baldhead. He’s not coming back and the last of his minions fall uselessly into piles of putrid mush.
If there’s one thing that’s sure to stop an undead army, it’s taking out the necromancer.
The undead in general are vastly outclassed, not just in the face of your highly skilled soldiers, but also due your superior weaponry. Guns have advanced drastically since they were introduced to the battlefield and such power easily rips through the relatively weak and slow moving undead. Your automatons are the perfect foil against them.
Really the only advantage the dead have over your own people is numbers and their annoying tendency to not stay down. But eliminate the necromancer and a shambling rotting horde goes down quicker than a house of cards. True, there is still enough negative energy here to keep some of the corpses still standing, but not enough to be a threat and certainly not as organized.
Still, fighting the necromancers on their own home isn’t completely easy. If it were, you wouldn’t still be at war with them. The insane Mortos ghoul “citizens” actually give you more trouble besides the necromancers themselves. Something about the fact that they’re actually “living” makes them somehow worse than the undead. Their gibbering, howling and just general unpleasantness is still enough to make you shudder at the fact that you nearly once got caught by a pack of them on your first visit here.
Of course the group that has been the biggest thorn in your side are the svelk, which as you’ve come to learn through captives is that they are actually allied with the necromancers.
You have no idea how this ever came to be, something about a very old “agreement” which you never knew the svelk as a collective group could be so honorable about. Of course maybe its just Semra’s doing, but either way it doesn’t change the fact that they’ve been making things difficult for you.
So far you’ve found none of their portals back to Dokkrus, so it appears that the svelk are sending their people on a one way trip. Of course if they’re allies, they might have an easier time of heading back through the necromancers’ magic.
You haven’t found the book yet either despite actually locating the temple where it was last time. Figures it would be moved and you have an idea that it’s probably with Nicodemus who still hasn’t made an appearance or tried to contact you at all like you almost expected he would.
A few “cities” have been scouted out on Mortos, but none of them seem like places of major importance. Given the utter ruin of every population center its hard to know exactly where it might be kept, so you’re going to just go through the tedious process of search every corner of this dismal island if you have to.
“Emperor, Sightmaster Cassandra has just sent word that they’ve managed to capture another svelk mage.” A fourth gen comes up to report to you while you’re making double sure that the necromancer is dead.
“Not surprised, Cass loves capturing svelk more than she loved intimidating humans.” You respond.
You imagine Flevas would’ve enjoyed the chance as well if he were still alive. You sometimes wish the elf were still around, as he’d definitely be an asset right now, but then you wish a lot of people were still around. Even your top advisor Kivan died a few years ago of natural causes. That’s a rarity nowadays, at least for people that know you on a personal basis. His replacement is capable, but honestly you barely remember what his replacement’s name is since you’ve been spending most of your time in Mortos.
Some probably believe you shouldn’t push yourself so hard, and they may very well have a point since you’re not in your twenties anymore and you’re in pain most of the time due to a combination of age, old wounds, and just general exertion. You can’t afford to stop though, not when you’re so close to your goal. The funny thing is, your time here in Mortos somewhat envigorates you. It’s probably just a mindset as it certainly can’t be physically. Still, you haven’t been involved in a real war since Nyttrus and getting back into battle again, even to your limited degree (mostly relying on magic) almost makes you feel “young” again. But then, you always were one to embrace the call of war and the personal glories of direct combat. Something about killing your enemies directly has always been a lot more satisfying. If you weren’t weakened and slowed by your age, you’d be tempted to go wading in with a sword in hand again.
Only you could find a zest for “life” in a literal land of the dead.
“Should I tell the messenger any new orders you may have for her?” the fourth gen asks.
“No, just tell him the message has been received and approved of. Cassandra knows what to do with the dark elven bastard. She’s probably already hauling him away back to Evigrus. We should have enough of them soon.” You say.
You’ve already been going through with your plan of using the svelk mages that you’ve managed to capture to “power up” new portals…bigger portals. Portals large enough that will allow a large new weapon of destruction to enter Mortos.
These weapons are called the juggernauts; large heavily armored wheeled machines mounted with a cannon and repeater rifles on their sides. A crew apparently operates them from the inside. You have no idea how Elam came up with the concept, but you’re glad he did. He must be channeling his creative energy back into technological advances since he hasn’t had the time to work on his desire to his biological experiments. (Every once in awhile he still tells you that he’d like to restart a new Eternal Project)
They might not be airships, but if you can get them rolling into Mortos, it would definitely give an advantage or at least even the playing field, because deep down you know you still haven’t seen the worst this place has to offer. At some point when the necromancers start getting desperate and realize that you aren’t going to just go away, they’re going to start bringing out their own “big guns” and you’re going to have to be ready for whatever those may be.
“Svelk? And you’re sure about this?” you ask.
“Absolutely sure my Emperor. We fought off a band of them just the other day. There have also been other sightings of them roaming about the wastes of Mortos.” General Damon responds.
You silently curse to yourself about this news. You knew the svelk were going to show up at the most inopportune time and sure enough they have. You didn’t expect them on Mortos though. Is this what Semra was planning? Is she trying to get the book herself?
General Damon goes on to report that the fourth gens have been proving themselves very well in battle and showing good resistance against the negative effects of Mortos.
“They’re a true credit to the name Eternal, my Emperor.” Damon remarks.
“Hrm. Well I’d expect nothing less, especially after having the best trainer.” You say.
“Mentor Brenda was indeed a very good teacher, I will always be grateful for her lessons when she taught me the rest of the third gens.” Damon says with a bit of pride.
Cassandra speaks up next and tells you that the Eyes have still not yet located the temple you last remember the book being at, but they have located more than a few ghouls towns and mapped out where some negative zones are located.
“Just glad we’ve got a relatively large population of Sul Monkeys to use as testing for such zones. It certainly cuts down on our own casualties.” Cassandra says and then starts to say something else before stopping.
“What is it?” you ask.
“Oh nothing my Emperor, it’s just a silly thought, nevermind.”
“You were going to ask me if humans are related to Sul Monkeys somehow, weren’t you?”
“How did you know?” Cassandra asks.
“Given that I had to hear Semra and several other svelk refer to humans as monkeys on more than one occasion, I’ve heard the theories before.”
“Oh. So is it true? I mean my parents said it was and most others of my kind believe it, but I always wondered and I figured you being the Emperor and all might know for certain…”
You nearly laugh.
“As much as I might like the idea of being all knowing, I have no idea nor do I really care. You’d probably be better off asking Elam, he knows more about all that stuff. Speaking of which I need to go talk with him about increasing automaton production.”
As you’re about to make your way to do just that, you receive an urgent message.
“Message from Kivan, Emperor. Very urgent.” The courier says.
“Everything is urgent according to Kivan, let’s see…” you say and then begin to read.
Then you feel a small sinking feeling when you see the news. It’s a short message, but one of great impact.
“I have to go.” You say and leave New Dessel.
Brenda has killed herself. Her body was found by an Eye who was going to pick her up for her re-assignment as a trainer for them. She was in her bathtub with slashed wrists. Her body has already been taken for preparation; Kivan decided it would be best to keep this incident relatively quiet and contact you immediately.
When you arrive at the capital, Kivan is already outside waiting for you and trying to apologize for disturbing you.
“Nevermind all that, where is she?”
“The mortuary, of course. She’ll be ready for the hero’s funeral that…”
“No. No, we aren’t going to have all that. She wouldn’t want it. We’ll do what we did with Warrick. A simple private funeral.” You say still trying to wrap your head around the fact that Brenda’s dead.
“As you wish Emperor. Uh…this was also found on the site of her death. It hasn’t been opened and it was addressed to you.”
Kivan hands you an envelope, which you take and read alone.
My Emperor
By the time you read this, you no doubt will know I have decided to move on from this world. I just can’t go on any longer. I’ve given all that I have and anymore that I do have left isn’t worth much anyway.
I thank you for not taking all the fourth gen Eternals immediately and giving me those last two years with most of them, just as you gave me that one last year with Warrick.
I did try to heed your words that you spoke to me a couple years ago and I almost even convinced myself, but ultimately they just weren’t enough. I hope that I haven’t disappointed you too much. I always tried not to; all of us did and still do.
You told me that you were a “mistake” that wasn’t supposed to be an Eternal. I don’t believe that’s true. Whatever the nature of events that occurred; there is no denying that you aren’t a TRUE Eternal. You are the best of all of us and I have no doubt that you won’t accomplish your goals in achieving immortality to keep the Empire alive.
I always had a feeling you’d outlive all of us, even when that svelk bitch tried to break your spirit on the first day of training. Personally I believe you’d outlive the Empire itself if you and it weren’t so intrinsically linked.
I die knowing that not just the Empire will live on, but that the name Eternal also lives on.
It was an honor to serve under you. I go now to join our fallen siblings.
Brenda
Not much moves you emotionally nowadays, but this has certainly done it. You aren’t disappointed by Brenda’s actions. You understand them from her point of view, you just wish you could’ve convinced her that her life did still have purpose. Brenda may not have been the traditional Eternal bringing glory on the battlefield, but her role was nevertheless an important one and like the loss of Warrick, Roldan, Kane and Decena, the Empire is just a little worse off because she’s no longer part of it.
Brenda is eventually placed where the other great heroes of the Empire are entombed. Her deeds will forever be remembered and when the news of her death is made public to the Eternals she trained you remind them all that she would want them to not falter in their assignments nor spend time lingering over her passing.
Life goes on and so do your goals.
Getting back to the current problem at hand, the recent incursions of svelk are growing to become more frequent, still no real confirmation on what they’re doing there exactly. It hardly matters you suppose since whatever they’re there for it’s only to hinder you.
Knowing Semra, part of her plan is to try to divide your attention. She wants you to attack Dokkrus so you’ll get tied up in a land war there and lose your edge in Mortos. Better that you should keep to your plan. If Semra wants to open up another front, she’s going to have to come to you and you’re more than ready for that.
In fact you probably can do more to damage her if you start capturing some of her people. Granted svelk aren’t necessarily the most talkative captives, but if you can capture some of her mages to power up a second portal or even more, well that would at least allow you have more entryways in and out of Mortos. You also could hamper the svelk by destroying or capturing their own portals. Either way, your best decision is to keep your efforts focused on Mortos. You’ve still got a book to track down and you haven’t even begun to face the full power of the necromancers yet. In fact you’re starting to wonder when that shoe is going to drop.
Year 70
Ignoring the stench and claws of your nearby zombie attackers, your Eternals make quick work of them while you put down the necromancer with a lightning bolt to his baldhead. He’s not coming back and the last of his minions fall uselessly into piles of putrid mush.
If there’s one thing that’s sure to stop an undead army, it’s taking out the necromancer.
The undead in general are vastly outclassed, not just in the face of your highly skilled soldiers, but also due your superior weaponry. Guns have advanced drastically since they were introduced to the battlefield and such power easily rips through the relatively weak and slow moving undead. Your automatons are the perfect foil against them.
Really the only advantage the dead have over your own people is numbers and their annoying tendency to not stay down. But eliminate the necromancer and a shambling rotting horde goes down quicker than a house of cards. True, there is still enough negative energy here to keep some of the corpses still standing, but not enough to be a threat and certainly not as organized.
Still, fighting the necromancers on their own home isn’t completely easy. If it were, you wouldn’t still be at war with them. The insane Mortos ghoul “citizens” actually give you more trouble besides the necromancers themselves. Something about the fact that they’re actually “living” makes them somehow worse than the undead. Their gibbering, howling and just general unpleasantness is still enough to make you shudder at the fact that you nearly once got caught by a pack of them on your first visit here.
Of course the group that has been the biggest thorn in your side are the svelk, which as you’ve come to learn through captives is that they are actually allied with the necromancers.
You have no idea how this ever came to be, something about a very old “agreement” which you never knew the svelk as a collective group could be so honorable about. Of course maybe its just Semra’s doing, but either way it doesn’t change the fact that they’ve been making things difficult for you.
So far you’ve found none of their portals back to Dokkrus, so it appears that the svelk are sending their people on a one way trip. Of course if they’re allies, they might have an easier time of heading back through the necromancers’ magic.
You haven’t found the book yet either despite actually locating the temple where it was last time. Figures it would be moved and you have an idea that it’s probably with Nicodemus who still hasn’t made an appearance or tried to contact you at all like you almost expected he would.
A few “cities” have been scouted out on Mortos, but none of them seem like places of major importance. Given the utter ruin of every population center its hard to know exactly where it might be kept, so you’re going to just go through the tedious process of search every corner of this dismal island if you have to.
“Emperor, Sightmaster Cassandra has just sent word that they’ve managed to capture another svelk mage.” A fourth gen comes up to report to you while you’re making double sure that the necromancer is dead.
“Not surprised, Cass loves capturing svelk more than she loved intimidating humans.” You respond.
You imagine Flevas would’ve enjoyed the chance as well if he were still alive. You sometimes wish the elf were still around, as he’d definitely be an asset right now, but then you wish a lot of people were still around. Even your top advisor Kivan died a few years ago of natural causes. That’s a rarity nowadays, at least for people that know you on a personal basis. His replacement is capable, but honestly you barely remember what his replacement’s name is since you’ve been spending most of your time in Mortos.
Some probably believe you shouldn’t push yourself so hard, and they may very well have a point since you’re not in your twenties anymore and you’re in pain most of the time due to a combination of age, old wounds, and just general exertion. You can’t afford to stop though, not when you’re so close to your goal. The funny thing is, your time here in Mortos somewhat envigorates you. It’s probably just a mindset as it certainly can’t be physically. Still, you haven’t been involved in a real war since Nyttrus and getting back into battle again, even to your limited degree (mostly relying on magic) almost makes you feel “young” again. But then, you always were one to embrace the call of war and the personal glories of direct combat. Something about killing your enemies directly has always been a lot more satisfying. If you weren’t weakened and slowed by your age, you’d be tempted to go wading in with a sword in hand again.
Only you could find a zest for “life” in a literal land of the dead.
“Should I tell the messenger any new orders you may have for her?” the fourth gen asks.
“No, just tell him the message has been received and approved of. Cassandra knows what to do with the dark elven bastard. She’s probably already hauling him away back to Evigrus. We should have enough of them soon.” You say.
You’ve already been going through with your plan of using the svelk mages that you’ve managed to capture to “power up” new portals…bigger portals. Portals large enough that will allow a large new weapon of destruction to enter Mortos.
These weapons are called the juggernauts; large heavily armored wheeled machines mounted with a cannon and repeater rifles on their sides. A crew apparently operates them from the inside. You have no idea how Elam came up with the concept, but you’re glad he did. He must be channeling his creative energy back into technological advances since he hasn’t had the time to work on his desire to his biological experiments. (Every once in awhile he still tells you that he’d like to restart a new Eternal Project)
They might not be airships, but if you can get them rolling into Mortos, it would definitely give an advantage or at least even the playing field, because deep down you know you still haven’t seen the worst this place has to offer. At some point when the necromancers start getting desperate and realize that you aren’t going to just go away, they’re going to start bringing out their own “big guns” and you’re going to have to be ready for whatever those may be.