Eternal
As regrettable as it is, Warrick’s condition is secondary; killing this beast is top priority.
Despite the dragon’s weakened state, you don’t take any chances and unleash a blast of cold on the creature, which slows it down even more. Eventually its skin starts to frost over until parts become as ice.
“Fire at its head!” you shout and the troops with you do so immediately with chunks of the dragon’s frozen head breaking off as bullets go into it. You finish up with a couple of magic bolts to shatter it completely. The headless dragon flails slowly about for a moment though you don’t really stand around to be mesmerized by its death twitches as you suddenly find yourself attacked by Iznac warriors who had fled from the fort, but apparently were still lurking in the jungle.
They down a couple of your people, but they’re really no match for you and are quickly dispatched. With all enemies beaten, you finally go over to where Warrick’s body lies. As you predicted, he’s already dead.
“Shit. How the hell am I going to explain this to Brenda?” Is about the only thing you can utter at this point.
Warrick isn’t the only loss as you soon to come find out. Flevas also died during his own battle in the jungles with the Iznac (Though the battle was successful). Fortunately Captain Snilkez’ka lived and was also successful in defending Fort Tangle against the Iznac hordes.
With the dragons dead and this large Iznac offensive repelled, its safe to say that Nyttrus is yours. The Iznac will probably linger with petty raids for awhile, but eventually much like the Torites they will become only a memory. After assigning new orders and giving out a few field promotions, you return to Evigrus with Warrick’s body.
When you arrive, you waste little time to give the sad news to Brenda though as soon as she sees you enter the training room by yourself, her face already displays the look of someone who already knows what you’re going to tell her.
“Brenda, I think you can stop training the eternals for the day, I’ve got…”
“He’s dead isn’t he?” Brenda interrupts.
“Yes.” You answers.
Brenda is silent and pauses a moment before telling the fourth gens to stop training for the day and to return to their barracks. They comply though most of them take a moment to stare at you and whisper, presumably in awe that their Emperor has paid another visit.
With the two of you remaining in the room, Brenda addresses you again.
“It was a death fitting for an Eternal I trust?” Brenda asks.
“Oh yes. Yes it was. He died in battle with a dragon. I cannot think of a more glorious death.”
Brenda inhales and exhales, rubbing a hand over her face, trying to hold back tears.
“Good. That’s good. (Sniffle) That’s more than Roldan got at least. Was there enough of his body left for a proper funeral?”
“Yes, I’ve brought his body back from Nyttrus. The arrangements for a heroes’ funeral will be made as soon as you’re ready.”
“Okay. Well I’ll see you tomorrow to make the arrangements, now I believe I should get my students back in here, don’t want them to get lazy and make any reckless mistakes when the time comes.”
“Brenda you can take as much time as you need, you…”
“No. I have a duty to train these Eternals and I will see to that task. Warrick did his duty for the Empire and so I will continue to do mine for the Empire. These Eternals are going to help ensure the Empire’s continued survival one day and the Empire must survive for as long as the Empire lives on, Warrick will live on as his sacrifices will not have been in vain.”
You nod at Brenda’s decision.
“Okay, well I shall take my leave now.” You say not having much more to add.
“Thank you my Emperor.” Brenda says before you leave.
“What for?”
“Giving me that extra year. I’ll cherish it for as long as I live.”
You leave Brenda to morn in her own way, which apparently is immersing herself in her work despite feeling horrible. To be honest, you’re not exactly feeling great yourself. Warrick wasn’t just a vital member of your command, he was one of your “siblings” and now it’s just you and Brenda.
Warrick’s funeral isn’t a spectacle. Brenda’s requests a quieter and much more private one. He of course is still placed in a grave next to other honored Empire heroes, but for the most part only you, Brenda and a few of his closest subordinates attend. It is here you get to meet the one Warrick appointed to be in charge when he left for Nyttrus, Cassandra.
Warrick mentioned her a couple times during your time in Nyttrus, though he neglected to mention she was an elf. Actually you didn’t even realize there had been any elves recruited into the Eyes and you’re sort of curious of when this happened and how she rose through the ranks, so its just as well that she makes a point of wanting to speak with you after the funeral.
Later the pair of you go to talk in your meeting room.
“So…Cassandra is it. You’re my new Sightmaster eh? Warrick never mentioned you being an elf.” you say.
“I didn’t think that was a problem, my Emperor.”
“No. No problem. Warrick just never mentioned recruiting any elves into the Eyes actually. He did mention you to me a few times during our time in Nyttrus though. Assured me you were very competent at your job and had complete trust in you. Considering I’ve come back to a serene Empire, I’d say his judgment was correct.”
“Thank you my Emperor.”
“Hrm. So seeing as that was about all Warrick mentioned about you and I’ve only just come back from Nyttrus and have not yet had time to look up your paperwork, tell me a little about yourself and why you wanted to see me immediately.”
Cassandra mentions that she grew up in Rask where her family endured a lot of suspicion due to their being a group of separatist elves that were giving the Empire a bit of grief there before Captain Kane’s effort’s solved that problem. Though some humans that lived in her village at the time still murdered her brother one night. Of course nobody said they saw who did it, but it was known. Of course her family being elven, nothing much was done about it.
Cassandra said she was angry about it for a while, but then realized that that sort of thinking wouldn’t get her anywhere in the long term, so made a vow to try to work within the system. Her first step was to join up with an Empire militia, which was used more back then in Rask due to most of the regular troops fighting in the Felkan War and the fact that ogres and giants were still a nuisance. These militia groups were also made up of some of the lower class rabble that were either poor, patriotic, looking to fight or a combination of all three. As such there weren’t any restrictions for the most part.
Of course she had to struggle to be accepted the entire time and was practically disowned by her parents who while law abiding citizens, couldn’t believe she’d willingly join an “injust” system. She held her own though and learned a lot during that time though it wasn’t really until Warrick became Sightmaster for the Eyes, that she came into her own.
He was looking for new recruits in Rask and she signed up for Eye training. She nearly didn’t even get in, but fortunately Warrick intervened and allowed her to prove herself, which she did. She goes on to say she kept a relatively low profile since it made life easier in general among her peers.
“Not so low profile now, you’re the Sightmaster.” You say.
“Yes, and believe me I wasn’t even expecting it when Warrick assigned me to take the position. Though as an Eye, I still prefer to keep a low profile.”
“Understandable. I trust you are not having problems with any of your subordinates?”
“Oh, you mean being an elf that’s in charge? Oh no. Actually I haven’t had any of those sorts of problems for quite some time. Really after you had all elves still in slavery freed and promoting a man like Flevas to eventually be a general, I’ve encountered less hostility overall…though I imagine being an Eye might make the average person pause before insulting me.” Cassandra says with a slight smile.
Sounds like Cassandra enjoys the little power trip she has over most humans, sort of like Flevas in that regard actually. No matter, as long as she does her job, you don’t care. Warrick was confident in her abilities and you have no reason to distrust his judgment and after your little discussion about her past, she addresses the original point of wanting to see you.
“I wanted to talk to you about Dokkrus. It is my understanding that you plan on invading it?”
“That is a major agenda in the near future, yes.”
“I see. Well since its discovery I have kept apprised of its situation via Eye agents as you requested. Granted this intel is limited due to the distance, but here is what we’ve learned.” Cassandra as this point hands you a large folder filled with reports of what has been discovered about Dokkrus. She then gives you a brief run down on her own thoughts of it.
“Now, I’ve never been to Nyttrus, but from what I’ve heard of the place the situation you’d encounter at Dokkrus would be much the same. Heavy resistance mixed with non-traditional tactics. Perhaps worse given that these are svelk we’re talking about.”
“I didn’t expect it to be a walk in flower fields. Besides aren’t the svelk fighting each other most of the time?”
“Well, most of them are, but last reports state that one group is starting to show more signs of unity. Its not a stable thing mind you, but its there nonetheless. There has also been a lot of sudden efforts in mining and metal working. Oddly though, the group of svelk don’t seem to be focusing on building weapons though, it seems to involve these giant metal structures that are in locations all over Dokkrus.”
Semra. This has to be her doing. She’s already preparing and if you had to hazard a guess, she’s trying to repair some of those portals. Is she planning to use them to teleport directly somewhere in the Empire?
Cassandra says that this unified groups isn’t very large. It’s not even an army, but then maybe Semra’s just planning a precise strike against you, like say a sudden assassination attempt so she might not need a lot of people. With those portals working, she might be able to just drop in anywhere.
Something has to be done now. Cassandra has already said she believes an all out invasion is going to encounter problems, but doesn’t everything involving dark elves?
Despite the dragon’s weakened state, you don’t take any chances and unleash a blast of cold on the creature, which slows it down even more. Eventually its skin starts to frost over until parts become as ice.
“Fire at its head!” you shout and the troops with you do so immediately with chunks of the dragon’s frozen head breaking off as bullets go into it. You finish up with a couple of magic bolts to shatter it completely. The headless dragon flails slowly about for a moment though you don’t really stand around to be mesmerized by its death twitches as you suddenly find yourself attacked by Iznac warriors who had fled from the fort, but apparently were still lurking in the jungle.
They down a couple of your people, but they’re really no match for you and are quickly dispatched. With all enemies beaten, you finally go over to where Warrick’s body lies. As you predicted, he’s already dead.
“Shit. How the hell am I going to explain this to Brenda?” Is about the only thing you can utter at this point.
Warrick isn’t the only loss as you soon to come find out. Flevas also died during his own battle in the jungles with the Iznac (Though the battle was successful). Fortunately Captain Snilkez’ka lived and was also successful in defending Fort Tangle against the Iznac hordes.
With the dragons dead and this large Iznac offensive repelled, its safe to say that Nyttrus is yours. The Iznac will probably linger with petty raids for awhile, but eventually much like the Torites they will become only a memory. After assigning new orders and giving out a few field promotions, you return to Evigrus with Warrick’s body.
When you arrive, you waste little time to give the sad news to Brenda though as soon as she sees you enter the training room by yourself, her face already displays the look of someone who already knows what you’re going to tell her.
“Brenda, I think you can stop training the eternals for the day, I’ve got…”
“He’s dead isn’t he?” Brenda interrupts.
“Yes.” You answers.
Brenda is silent and pauses a moment before telling the fourth gens to stop training for the day and to return to their barracks. They comply though most of them take a moment to stare at you and whisper, presumably in awe that their Emperor has paid another visit.
With the two of you remaining in the room, Brenda addresses you again.
“It was a death fitting for an Eternal I trust?” Brenda asks.
“Oh yes. Yes it was. He died in battle with a dragon. I cannot think of a more glorious death.”
Brenda inhales and exhales, rubbing a hand over her face, trying to hold back tears.
“Good. That’s good. (Sniffle) That’s more than Roldan got at least. Was there enough of his body left for a proper funeral?”
“Yes, I’ve brought his body back from Nyttrus. The arrangements for a heroes’ funeral will be made as soon as you’re ready.”
“Okay. Well I’ll see you tomorrow to make the arrangements, now I believe I should get my students back in here, don’t want them to get lazy and make any reckless mistakes when the time comes.”
“Brenda you can take as much time as you need, you…”
“No. I have a duty to train these Eternals and I will see to that task. Warrick did his duty for the Empire and so I will continue to do mine for the Empire. These Eternals are going to help ensure the Empire’s continued survival one day and the Empire must survive for as long as the Empire lives on, Warrick will live on as his sacrifices will not have been in vain.”
You nod at Brenda’s decision.
“Okay, well I shall take my leave now.” You say not having much more to add.
“Thank you my Emperor.” Brenda says before you leave.
“What for?”
“Giving me that extra year. I’ll cherish it for as long as I live.”
You leave Brenda to morn in her own way, which apparently is immersing herself in her work despite feeling horrible. To be honest, you’re not exactly feeling great yourself. Warrick wasn’t just a vital member of your command, he was one of your “siblings” and now it’s just you and Brenda.
Warrick’s funeral isn’t a spectacle. Brenda’s requests a quieter and much more private one. He of course is still placed in a grave next to other honored Empire heroes, but for the most part only you, Brenda and a few of his closest subordinates attend. It is here you get to meet the one Warrick appointed to be in charge when he left for Nyttrus, Cassandra.
Warrick mentioned her a couple times during your time in Nyttrus, though he neglected to mention she was an elf. Actually you didn’t even realize there had been any elves recruited into the Eyes and you’re sort of curious of when this happened and how she rose through the ranks, so its just as well that she makes a point of wanting to speak with you after the funeral.
Later the pair of you go to talk in your meeting room.
“So…Cassandra is it. You’re my new Sightmaster eh? Warrick never mentioned you being an elf.” you say.
“I didn’t think that was a problem, my Emperor.”
“No. No problem. Warrick just never mentioned recruiting any elves into the Eyes actually. He did mention you to me a few times during our time in Nyttrus though. Assured me you were very competent at your job and had complete trust in you. Considering I’ve come back to a serene Empire, I’d say his judgment was correct.”
“Thank you my Emperor.”
“Hrm. So seeing as that was about all Warrick mentioned about you and I’ve only just come back from Nyttrus and have not yet had time to look up your paperwork, tell me a little about yourself and why you wanted to see me immediately.”
Cassandra mentions that she grew up in Rask where her family endured a lot of suspicion due to their being a group of separatist elves that were giving the Empire a bit of grief there before Captain Kane’s effort’s solved that problem. Though some humans that lived in her village at the time still murdered her brother one night. Of course nobody said they saw who did it, but it was known. Of course her family being elven, nothing much was done about it.
Cassandra said she was angry about it for a while, but then realized that that sort of thinking wouldn’t get her anywhere in the long term, so made a vow to try to work within the system. Her first step was to join up with an Empire militia, which was used more back then in Rask due to most of the regular troops fighting in the Felkan War and the fact that ogres and giants were still a nuisance. These militia groups were also made up of some of the lower class rabble that were either poor, patriotic, looking to fight or a combination of all three. As such there weren’t any restrictions for the most part.
Of course she had to struggle to be accepted the entire time and was practically disowned by her parents who while law abiding citizens, couldn’t believe she’d willingly join an “injust” system. She held her own though and learned a lot during that time though it wasn’t really until Warrick became Sightmaster for the Eyes, that she came into her own.
He was looking for new recruits in Rask and she signed up for Eye training. She nearly didn’t even get in, but fortunately Warrick intervened and allowed her to prove herself, which she did. She goes on to say she kept a relatively low profile since it made life easier in general among her peers.
“Not so low profile now, you’re the Sightmaster.” You say.
“Yes, and believe me I wasn’t even expecting it when Warrick assigned me to take the position. Though as an Eye, I still prefer to keep a low profile.”
“Understandable. I trust you are not having problems with any of your subordinates?”
“Oh, you mean being an elf that’s in charge? Oh no. Actually I haven’t had any of those sorts of problems for quite some time. Really after you had all elves still in slavery freed and promoting a man like Flevas to eventually be a general, I’ve encountered less hostility overall…though I imagine being an Eye might make the average person pause before insulting me.” Cassandra says with a slight smile.
Sounds like Cassandra enjoys the little power trip she has over most humans, sort of like Flevas in that regard actually. No matter, as long as she does her job, you don’t care. Warrick was confident in her abilities and you have no reason to distrust his judgment and after your little discussion about her past, she addresses the original point of wanting to see you.
“I wanted to talk to you about Dokkrus. It is my understanding that you plan on invading it?”
“That is a major agenda in the near future, yes.”
“I see. Well since its discovery I have kept apprised of its situation via Eye agents as you requested. Granted this intel is limited due to the distance, but here is what we’ve learned.” Cassandra as this point hands you a large folder filled with reports of what has been discovered about Dokkrus. She then gives you a brief run down on her own thoughts of it.
“Now, I’ve never been to Nyttrus, but from what I’ve heard of the place the situation you’d encounter at Dokkrus would be much the same. Heavy resistance mixed with non-traditional tactics. Perhaps worse given that these are svelk we’re talking about.”
“I didn’t expect it to be a walk in flower fields. Besides aren’t the svelk fighting each other most of the time?”
“Well, most of them are, but last reports state that one group is starting to show more signs of unity. Its not a stable thing mind you, but its there nonetheless. There has also been a lot of sudden efforts in mining and metal working. Oddly though, the group of svelk don’t seem to be focusing on building weapons though, it seems to involve these giant metal structures that are in locations all over Dokkrus.”
Semra. This has to be her doing. She’s already preparing and if you had to hazard a guess, she’s trying to repair some of those portals. Is she planning to use them to teleport directly somewhere in the Empire?
Cassandra says that this unified groups isn’t very large. It’s not even an army, but then maybe Semra’s just planning a precise strike against you, like say a sudden assassination attempt so she might not need a lot of people. With those portals working, she might be able to just drop in anywhere.
Something has to be done now. Cassandra has already said she believes an all out invasion is going to encounter problems, but doesn’t everything involving dark elves?