It was remarkable how quickly we expanded and how quickly that all changed. Less than three weeks had passed since I took the first city. After Maltis fell, my domain exploded onto the plains, nothing slowing it. Freya was a blessing I hadn’t expected. She organized and sent out raiding parties to conquer and expand.
The rapid assault left the local forces on the back foot. We had ambus...
2024-01-22 17:00:13 +0000 UTC View PostWe marched out of Maltis a week later. We waited that long to be certain Freya and Gallus had a firm handle on the city. In that time, I had created another ten necromancers for my army. Freya told me she was planning on sending out forces to conquer smaller villages and hamlets in my name nearby.
We marched south and then east, heading deeper into the plateau. When I had fled from Omark,...
2024-01-19 22:30:33 +0000 UTC View PostI felt bad that I didn’t even know the man’s name. He’d volunteered to be used as a sacrifice, though they claimed they did not see it as a sacrifice. When I proposed the spell, Freya had suggested this change. I told her I wasn’t going to refrain from using eldritch magic, these creations needed to be one with my power. Still, she had insisted, saying they would follow me and before th...
2024-01-17 17:00:13 +0000 UTC View PostI clenched my teeth in frustration looking through the numbers. I knew they would’ve been much worse if Freya had not been there to support me, and if I had not created the additional necromancers. Still, it was frustrating. The bone guard and the eldritch death knights had been the hardest hit. Nearly half were slain. Of that group, a quarter of them had been so completely obliterated there ...
2024-01-15 17:00:15 +0000 UTC View PostA relatively simple ritual was sketched out around Ehud. I was part of the ritual, standing at the edge along with a pile of death cores on the other side.
“Okay, when this starts, it will pull some soul energy from you, not much, just a signature. The death cores will be broken down and used to repair his own core and his soul will re-inhabit the body,” Freya explained. “The bound ...
2024-01-12 19:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostInquisitor Cleric of Olattee
Archbishop of Olattee
Level: 175
Inquisitor clerics have taken an oath to their god similar to that of the paladins. They swore to seek out and purge all that stand before the righteousness of their god.
Inquisitor clerics of Olattee are powerf...
2024-01-10 17:00:14 +0000 UTC View PostBarriers erected by Othniel and Jiar contrasted against the barrage as they held off the assault. I was glad they remembered, because that would’ve been a nasty attack to take head on.
The roof of the temple was in line with where the attack had come from. Standing on top of it was a figure. Though the temple was several streets away and likely hundreds of buildings lay between us, the ...
2024-01-08 17:00:12 +0000 UTC View PostA priest poked his head over the top of the crenulations around the guard building, which was basically a squat tower, his spell already directed at me. I struck first. The priest had made the mistake of erecting his magical defenses first. When my eldritch cannon fired, there was nothing to stop the blast of eldritch power from blowing a hole through his head.
I recognized Maxwell song. ...
2024-01-05 17:00:14 +0000 UTC View PostUndead smashed together, their unfeeling bodies crushing each other. The flesh golem’s tore apart dozens at a time, absorbing them and growing. This kind of brutal melee was exactly what they wanted.
“Where are you, Ezekiel?” a distorted voice growled. The massive, corrupted magic emanated from a figure stalking through the middle of his zombies. They weren’t zombies though, not i...
2024-01-03 17:00:15 +0000 UTC View PostThe priest struck first. I really hadn’t been planning on chasing him onto the bridge, even after Raven had told me. But when he ran, I decided I just couldn’t let him go.
My precognition had me moving as the bolt of searing white power tore through where I had been. He was powerful, at least as strong as I would’ve been if I were a regular NPC. Mercy’s scythe form was a decent en...
2024-01-02 17:00:16 +0000 UTC View PostHarris Aeacus did his best to hide his disdain for the lower city. After all, the archbishop had sent him here to carry out his holy mission. He dare not wag his tongue about how the residents of the lower city were so far lost to their corruption that they were better off left to wallow in their filth.
Harris was an archdeacon the church of Olattee in the city of Maltis. He’d been offe...
2024-01-01 17:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostThe litter stopped in front of us. The four corners were made of carved black ivory, and the roof was made of dark brown wood taken from something called a demon tree. The perfectly muscled living dead carrying it moved in absolute sync. If it wasn’t for the fact I’d scanned them and knew they weren’t a hive mind I would have assumed they were.
The beaded curtains parted, each bead ...
2023-12-29 17:00:05 +0000 UTC View Post“How can we be so certain that he won’t betray us?” Maxwell asked as we marched away from the fort in the pass.
“I can’t really,” I admitted. “But what I do know is that he along with the few guards that came to our side are not enough to hold that place, not without the undead we left with him.”
“And those undead, while under his control now, would come back under...
2023-12-28 17:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostI ground my teeth and took the blow. The barrier projected by my armor shattered, dissipating the attack around me like water. The residual magic still stung, but I ignored it. Leaping into the air above the paladin I met his eyes one last time. Defeat stared back at me, and I smiled.
I channeled my remaining death energy into Mercy as I drove the needlelike tip through the hole left in t...
2023-12-27 17:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostAs I rushed towards the Paladin, Abimelech noticed and moved to support me. I waved her aside, the mental connection I had with her conveying my intent. I wanted to test myself against this man. I was fine being the commander of our army, but one thing I still knew and had learned about myself was I enjoyed a good fight. And not just magical. I was a powerful melee fighter and enjoyed what I co...
2023-12-26 17:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostAs I spun the wheel, the noise from the door grew louder, my eye never leaving the drawbridge, Come on, Raven, I thought. If the drawbridge did not fall, this would be pointless.
The door burst open behind me. I was out of time. The portcullis was raised only a couple of meters off the ground, that would have to be enough. I threw the latch that would secure the wheel in place, a...
2023-12-25 17:00:09 +0000 UTC View PostA pile of bones and flesh lay before me, prepared by my necromancers and already flooded death mana. I cast a simple undead construct, and the bones and small amounts of flesh were picked up, infused together. A humanoid shape took form. The bones created a powerful and thick skeletal structure. Then the flesh was added, muscle building in strategic places to allow for rapid and powerful moveme...
2023-12-22 17:00:11 +0000 UTC View PostWe marched out of Ostia two days after Aaron’s arrival. It was enough time that the ravens should have spread our message, but also little enough time that I doubted any forces would be mobilized against us.
Still, just in case, I left all of the mindless zombies under my control with Dagian. He would use them to defend the city, which he was now in charge of until someone else was sent...
2023-12-21 17:00:09 +0000 UTC View PostI had gotten less experience from the conquering of the city than at Dead Water. It was a smaller city size with a smaller garrison. Still, it had been enough to give me another level and I put the points into intelligence. The more power I had access to right now the better.
On the second day we were there, a group led by Aaron arrived. They were leading a platoon of six of the controlle...
2023-12-20 17:00:14 +0000 UTC View PostWhen I came back to myself, I was surprised that I was still standing, having assumed I would’ve fallen down. The big raven on my arm cawed at me again, then flapped its wings, leaping into the air. The big raven circled once and flew towards the city.
I turned and followed. Abimelech took notice but I waved her off. “I will be fine, have Tola and Izban render down that pile of corpse...
2023-12-19 17:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostThe door opened, gray light spilling into my mindscape, and Ekwin stepped out. He wore the exact same tailored suit as last time. The world resumed moving when he talked. “Shad’ehki, you know you are not allowed to rummage through my followers’ minds. Did you truly think I would not notice?”
“I thought the mark was mistaken” Shad’ehki responded. “Never seen a lich serve th...
2023-12-18 17:00:13 +0000 UTC View PostMy orders to the troops had been to not kill anyone who was not a threat to them, but still try and contain the populace where possible. Most of the citizens just hid in their houses.
I expected the citizens to flee as soon as they could. Then again, my army was stationed on the only major road out of town and fleeing through the countryside is not something non-adventurers could do easil...
2023-12-15 17:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostI caught the dagger out of the air that Raven tossed to me. I held the priest down on the altar. The powerful death energy contained within beginning to leak out through the ritual. Nothing had fundamentally changed. I’d hope somehow the altar would absorb the death energy.
The bishop struggled, having become aware of what was going on. “You monster,” he snarled.
I brought the...
2023-12-14 17:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostCaptain Core patrolled the street leading past the temple of Olattee when the fog arrived. He was immediately suspicious, as this was the wrong time of year for fog this thick. He was no wizard, but he could tell unnatural fog when he saw it.
“Sergeant Regulus,” Captain Core snapped. “Raise the alarm and send your men out for check-ins from all our patrols, something’s wrong.” 2023-12-13 17:00:35 +0000 UTC View Post
“What do you think?” I asked Raven when she came into the tent we had set up.
Raven examined the construct sitting before me. “I think this is your best attempt yet, though it still smells wrong,” she said. “Let’s see how it works.”
***
I followed Raven through a gap in the wall. I was currently possessing a creation that was the closest I could get to Rave...
2023-12-12 17:01:02 +0000 UTC View Post“This was the start of your great dominion then? And the beginning of the wandering horror?” Marissa asked excitedly.
“You know about that thing?” Ezekiel gave her a wry smile. “I wonder if it’s still around.”
The carriage rolled into Ezekiel’s fortress, night having long since set. “How can you not know?” Marissa asked as they dismounted.
“Do you really ...
2023-12-12 17:00:05 +0000 UTC View Post“My name is Ezekiel Verniac,” my voice boomed across the arena and the town around it. The stands were full, the news of the failure of the invasion having already spread when players were brought into the arena one by one by the Terhaim. “This is my dungeon and my domain. These fools challenged me at the request of a mad god.”
The fifty captured players were still bound and...
2023-12-11 17:00:11 +0000 UTC View Post“What!?” I snapped. Even with my attention directed towards the top of the dungeon, I couldn’t quite sense it like I once did, so I looked at Kellnock.
“There is a large group of bound souls and mortals pouring into the entrance of the dungeon,” Kellnock spoke without inflection. “None of them are strong and none so far have shown the strength to push all the way to the bottom...
2023-12-08 16:59:06 +0000 UTC View PostDamien and Ilore were on the edges of my mindscape. When I got there, they were working on a ritual in smooth stone. Once I understood it I nodded in approval and asked. “Trying to replicate the barrier that once held this place closed off?”
“Yes,” Ilore said. “My ability to work time magic is helping, though I doubt we’ll get anything even close.”
This wasn’t ...
2023-12-07 16:59:41 +0000 UTC View PostAn hour and a half later, and I was already sick and tired of gravitas, foreboding or otherwise. Evidently everything from my relationship with Vito to Kellnock’s level mattered in figuring out the blasted number. The population of Dead Water, which turns out was the name of the city we just conquered, its economic strength, and projected military force strength mattered. I had a bunch of it,...
2023-12-06 17:00:15 +0000 UTC View Post