Year 55

“Theo I know you’re here I can sense your presence, you might as well come on out and take your punishment with some dignity.” You say looking down the dimly lit stairway.

You can’t believe after all these years; it’s come down to you personally tracking Theo hiding in the cellar of a simple abandoned farmhouse. Several of the Blades stand behind you asking if they should go in and get him, but you decline. You can handle this yourself, in fact you’d rather do it yourself.

“Just stand guard, I’ll be back soon.” You say to Glen who nods and has the Blades guard the perimeter.

You walk down the stairs without any worry about your safety. Even if Theo does attack you, and you’re fairly certain he isn’t going to be in any condition to do, you’ll easily be able to defend yourself.

The cellar isn’t large and add the fact that there are several stacks of boxes and barrels here make the cellar seem even smaller than it is.

“Supplies. Supplies still here from the Empire rebellion. Never did get around to using them.” Theo’s voice says from the corner of the room. You see him in his torn and tattered robe and sitting against the wall. Between his missing hand and half burned face, he’s a mess.

“Didn’t get around to using them for this one either.” You say.
“Honestly, I’d forgotten about this place until recently. Had so many old safehouses, I was bound to forget some of them. Don’t know why I forgot about this one though…it’s rather peaceful. Serene even. I guess its remoteness helps. Yeah, this would’ve been a good place to settle down…maybe another life. Right?”
“I don’t think Dendrin does reincarnation. Least of all for traitors.”
“Yeah, I suppose so I guess. Good thing I stopped believing in him years ago.” Theo laughs weakly.

“You know, if you stopped believing in him, you could’ve just left rather than cause a whole lot of unnecessary fighting. It’s not like I would’ve stopped you.”
“And tell me Eternal, would you leave if your own wife still believed in Dendrin?” Theo asks accusingly. You don’t know if he’s just asking hypothetically or if he is actually implying something.
“No, I suppose I wouldn’t.”
“Of course not. Besides…I did still believe up until I found out you killed her. From that point I knew that Dendrin truly didn’t support my cause, so why bother worshipping a god that doesn’t? Of course had to still keep up the charade since I had managed to hold sway over some of the new converts in Quala.”
“And that’s when you decided to just kill Sam, declare yourself in charge of his forces and repeatedly tried to invade the temple?”
“Well seemed like a good idea at the time. Honestly if that bastard Ackerson had just allied with me, I believe I would’ve had a good chance at winning. Didn’t expect him to make a separate peace with you though.”
“The fool has still got his sights set on Rask and doesn’t want to expend any military effort that isn’t focused on that endeavor. You might’ve done better trying to get help from Brenda in Nalin, heard she’s not too fond of shadows having caused the death of her husband and all.”
“Believe me I tried, she sent my messengers back without heads and a note saying she wasn’t helping even if I wasn’t really a shadow anymore and as far as she was concerned she hoped that we all killed one another.”
“Well thanks to you, this was certainly another set back for the shadows. Sort of makes the whole original rebellion rather pointless.”
“No…not for me. I think those were the happiest days of my life. I had a purpose, my enemy was clear and I knew I would win because Dendrin was on my side. Then I won, and that’s when it all started to slowly fall apart.”
“Hah. I can certainly understand where you’re coming from on that perspective. Part of your behavior in all this probably stemmed from being a rebel for so long that you never knew quite how to adjust and when the opportunity presented itself, you immersed yourself in the role again because it was comfortable. Really, any of your other reasons were all secondary and just an excuse.”

Theo doesn’t answer he just looks down and nods a few times in a rocking motion as he clutches where his left hand used to be. Eventually he staggers upward sliding his back against the wall in an effort to stand up. You’re guessing he’s ready to die now.

“Just one question Eternal, does Dendrin really speak to you?”
“When he feels like it, but if it makes you feel any better he hasn’t cared about the shadows for a very long time and the only reason why he takes an interest in them at all is due to me.”
“…well I guess I was doomed from the very beginning then.”
“So was I Theo…so was I.” you say and hit Theo with a powerful shadowfire bolt which burns directly through his chest leaving a big hole and a black mark against the wall. Theo slumps down and the leader of the “new rebellion” is dead.

The damage he’s caused isn’t so readily repairable. In addition to losing many shadows he’s also created a separate faction of them (Something you were trying to avoid), which are still located in pockets across Quala. The beliefs are basically the same (and without the indoctrination ritual obviously), with the exception that YOU or any other non-pure human for that matter shouldn’t be a shadow, let alone in charge of the order.

Your first thought is that you should probably hunt them all down and wipe them out before they become a problem, but then again this little conflict has been taking a toll on the shadows you have left. Some of the children don’t even have mothers and fathers anymore. It might be time to pack up the gear and attempt to rebuild again.

As you think on this, you make your way up the stairs and wince at a couple of the aches in your joints in doing so. You might be an Eternal, but you sure as hell aren’t starting to feel like one in the past few years as old age is becoming a little more apparent to you. Makes you sort of glad that you don’t have to rely solely on regular combat anymore thanks to your increased magic abilities gifted to you by your “dedication” to Dendrin no doubt.

In any case you’re tired and you tell Glen that Theo is dead, but you’re going to stay here for the night before heading home again. Glen as usual nods and says he’ll keep everyone on watch.

You find an old bed that probably has been slept in years, but it doesn’t look infested with bed bugs so you use it. Doesn’t take long for you to slowly drift off to sleep, but you get the impression that you’re not going to get a peaceful rest.

“So another enemy falls before you, keep this up and you’ll outlive everyone.” Dendrin remarks.
“Figured you’d show up eventually. Any words of advice on what to do next?” you ask.
“Not really, you seem to have it under control. So…still bored?”
“No, but I hate set backs.”
“Come now you should be used to such things by now.”
“I am, but that doesn’t mean I have to like them. Especially when I feel like packing it all in because there’s little point in going on.”
“So you don’t intend on destroying the heretic shadows?”
“I almost don’t intend on going back to the temple. I feel like just leaving altogether.”
“You’ve said that before, many times. You won’t though.”
“Of course I won’t, but I feel like no matter what I do something severely sets back the shadows. Against all odds I’ve taken it upon myself to be their leader and protect them better than you ever do and I’m still lying about being a true believer.”
“Oh you’re a believer, a cynical one, but you’re a believer. If you weren’t you would’ve left a long time ago because it’s a little bit more than just Talia keeping you here.”
“I don’t see what else there is, because it sure isn’t to bask in the glory of your voice.”
“It’s power pure and simple. It’s being in charge. It’s telling others what to do and ruling them like a king or emperor if you prefer.”
“I might agree with you if I actually thought I was in charge of anything so grand. Besides, it’s really you they’re all worshipping not me.”
“And is that what your problem is? That you’re doing all the work and not getting any of the perks? And here I thought all that nice magical power I’ve been granting to you was a fine way of rewarding you.”
“Well it hasn’t hurt. You’re right though, I don’t mind being in charge and I do thrive on a bit of conflict, but sometimes it just gets a bit tiring that’s all.”
“Ah, and now you see why I stopped directly leading the shadows altogether!”
“Yeah, well I don’t have that luxury unless you can elevate me to godhood.”
“Ha ha, even if I could, obviously I wouldn’t want the competition.”
“Too bad, maybe if you could you wouldn’t suffer from boredom either.”
“Hmm, interesting insight as always Eternal. Well, I’ll let you get back to it. Oh and just in case you did want my advice, I’d rather you not destroy the so-called heretic shadows. They might not be following you, but they do still worship me.”

And once again you wake up, with more dubious advice from your “god.” You sometimes wonder whenever he does give you any of his wisdom if he wants you to do the exact opposite of what he says, because you practically do every time.

In any case, you can’t dwell on the nature of the divine at this moment. You’re still left with the decision about how to fix the mess you have to clean up.
> You wipe out the rest of the heretics
If all your years of knowing him has taught you anything, its what’s best for Dendrin hasn’t always been what’s best for you. While rebuilding is certainly going to be a priority, you still need to wipe out the rest of the heretics as well. It’s the only way you’re going to prevent problems in the future.

You call Glen and the rest of the Blades and tell them that you’ll be heading back to the temple for a break and get some things in order and then you’ll be helping them again soon. In the meantime they can use this place as a base of sorts while attempting to hunt down the rest of the heretics. Glen nods, but has noticed your physical pain increase over the course of this conflict. He suggests that perhaps you shouldn’t worry yourself about it directly as you have more important duties to the shadows and they’re confident that they can handle it.

“Glen, I’m not some crippled old man. I still got fight left in me. I was killing men by the dozens long before you were even thought about. Do not assume just because I have a few extra aches and pains that I’m not fully capable of combat!” you say getting angry at his innocent suggestion.
“My apologies Shadow Master. Didn’t mean to offend.” He replies with a nod.
“No…no…of course you didn’t. Sorry, this is been a long ordeal and it’s not over yet. Just gets tiring sometimes. Okay, I’m off, I can make it back to the temple by myself, don’t worry about escorting me back.”

Glen is about to ask if you’re sure, but he stops himself from doing so lest he be reprimanded again.

The journey back to the temple is uneventful. You let everyone know that Theo has been killed, but heretics still remain. You then go on to say that the Blades and yourself will seek the rest out, but everyone else should focus on rebuilding. Talia questions if you should be going.

“I think the Blades can handle whatever pathetic remnants are left of the heretics. You’d probably be better serving here where you can help in the rebuilding process. You know how the shadows like you around as an inspiration.” Talia says.
“They should be getting their inspiration from Dendrin and if people liked me so much we wouldn’t have had a civil war. Besides, the shadows will like me more if I’m actively doing something about potential threats in the future. Part of the reason these heretics got out of control in the first place is because I wasn’t paying enough attention. It’s my responsibility to see this through to the end.” You answer.
“Are you sure that’s what this is about? And not about say…getting old and trying to prove that you’ve still got it?”
“You too? I just had to hear this before from Glen. Granted he didn’t say it like you did, but I know damn well he thought it. Let me tell you something, I could still take out every one of those Blades AND the heretics on top of it all by myself!”

Talia smiles a bit and rubs your shoulder.

“Yes, I know you could my love. Nobody is truly suggesting that you still aren’t a great warrior, but you don’t have to prove anything to anyone, least of all to me. You don’t need to go wading into battle anymore, those days are past, Dendrin made you Shadow Master not just for your combat skills. You’re a leader and you can allow yourself to rest.”
“I’ll rest when I’m dead. Besides, the last time I got complacent, Theo and Yvette conspired against us, but I’ve said this before.”
“Yes, you have. (Sigh) I suppose you want me to take charge of things here while you go off to prove your alpha maleness. Very well, have fun and be careful.” Talia says and kisses you goodbye.

Talia is right of course. You are doing this mainly to prove you still “got it.” That you can still travel across the countryside getting into fights. It’s silly and pointless, but its what you want to do and another part of you has missed it.

The next few weeks you travel with the remaining Blades hunting down heretic hideouts all across Quala. It’s actually amazing how fast some of them have spread out, and they’ve probably spread out even more since the news of their leaders death and how you’re actively hunting them.

The heretics aren’t the only problem however. You also have to deal with the chaos that’s currently going on in Quala. With Sam and now Theo gone, the region has destabilized again, with several would be leaders all rising up with their own little factions ready to attack anyone who is trespassing on their turf. This doesn’t even include the already established warlords that are eyeing the new leaderless territory that’s ripe for the taking. Even General Ackerson’s troops have been seen patrolling further south than they normally do. Doesn’t help that shadows aren’t really popular for several reasons, but fortunately you can avoid most unnecessary battles due to cloaking.

However, you probably don’t do that as much as you should thanks to your mindset of trying to prove something. As a result you lose the remainder of your Blades in a skirmish with a very large group of General Ackerson’s men lead by a battle mage who despite the non aggression pact, decided that you were just too tempting of a target in the “new land” they recently claimed.

You manage to drag yourself back to Theo’s old hideout, which you were using as a base, cursing the whole time. You’re wounded and angry that once again you weren’t strong enough to stop something bad from happening, yet not really realizing that it was your arrogance that was the cause of it this time.

“Fuck! Shit! I’m not old! I’m not useless! I’m still a warrior!” you say to yourself as you nurse your wounds sitting in the dark farmhouse.
“No, I’m afraid your time has passed.” You hear a whispery voice say.

At first you think its Dendrin since he’s always been one to kick you while you’re down, but then you’re wide awake and he’s never contacted you in that state. Your focus has been so preoccupied with your own pride that you didn’t sense another presence in the farmhouse when you dragged yourself here…

You turn around just in time to utter “Cy…” before you feel a blade slash across your throat.


Year 46

Took long enough, and sometimes it never seemed like it was going to happen, but you’ve finally restored Dendrin’s temple. Restoring it wasn’t easy either, especially not one as big and in such disrepair like Dendrin’s. The surprising thing is you’ve not only restored it in appearance, but in use as well.

The one of the first difficult things was getting the stone. Delerg isn’t exactly flush with rock quarries. The second difficult thing was getting help to restore it in the first place. The shadows might be great warriors and have more knowledge than the average peasant, but nobody in your ranks is a laborer or into masonry. Obviously outside help was necessary.

Fortunately since the fall of the Empire, Delerg had once again become a quiet place with no “leader.” Most of the inhabitants were content to go about their simple lives like they once did before the Empire. When you arrived in Sinkhole, to ask around for workers to try to restore the temple, some couldn’t volunteer fast enough to help.

This need to help you, was a combination of a few things. The most important one being that Delerg was always shadow friendly. The Empire may have ruled it for a while, but the respect that its people had for the shadows was always greater. The shadows after all were once the main protectors of the area before the Empire.

Combining this with the fact that the shadows were the main ones who helped influence so much rebellion and caused the destruction of the Empire, it was only natural that you were as warmly embraced like you were. Good thing too, because you certainly didn’t have the coin to pay the workers in the first place!

As the temple was slowly being restored, more people started flocking to your aid. Some of these were old rebels that the shadows lost contact with when you started consolidating your forces in Rask. They remember you though and offer help in any way their skills allow.

While you were always a little surprised by how much free help you were always willing to get, what surprised you more is how little you really needed to do to get it. These people had no one telling them what to do or how to live anymore, and yet a lot of them seemed to be in a big hurry for that to change by becoming Dendrin worshippers! You understand gratitude, but to willingly surrender a portion of your earnings and time to serve an invisible being that you had no proof existed, while some guy claiming to be his “representative” tell you how you should live seemed like a step backwards for them at least. For you though, it was all beneficial as eventually some of these devoted souls wanted to become full-fledged shadows. Naturally you accepted them into your ranks provided they could pass through the testing.

Right now things have been better for you than they have ever been. You’ve got a nice restored temple, a fair sized congregation, the ranks of the shadows are slowly starting to grow again and most importantly you haven’t had to deal with any problems with the new eternals (Now known as the Shadow Blades) ever since they all went through the ritual. Dendrin was true to his word on that, just like you were true to yours by restoring his temple.

Still, even after directly helping you, you still can’t bring yourself to “worship” Dendrin. Not really. Part of you feels like it was the least he could’ve done after all the stuff in the past he’s put you through. Another of part of you feels as if you’ve “repaid the debt” by restoring the temple.

He’s probably granted you more power as you’ve noticed your magical abilities becoming superior to everyone else’s and it taking much less effort, but again you still feel no sense of “awe” in Dendrin that would cause you to willingly worship him as a god.

To you, he’s a very powerful being that is a whimsical ally at best. You’ve come to realize that he is probably deserving of your respect in regard to his power and you always keep that in mind when up keeping the charade of his religion. Perhaps it is enough, or at least it’ll have to be since you don’t see yourself changing your mind on the matter anytime soon, especially when you’ve been trying to figure out what your next big course of action should be.

The problem with a lack of conflict is that you find yourself very bored. Even in Rask, the monotony was broken up with the occasional giant or ogre attack. Here in Delerg there are no such great dangers surprisingly enough. Most dangerous swamp beasts prefer to stick to their own stomping grounds which all seem to be away from your part of the swamp and Sul-monkeys aren’t a threat so much as they’re an occasional annoyance when large groups of them decide to use the temple roof as a mating area! The last time you had any true conflict was when General Ackerson’s men ambushed you and part of you hasn’t forgotten that incident. From what you know, he’s still in power and sometimes you’d like to change that just on principle.

Quala is still an area in a power struggle between competing warlords, but so far there have been no attempt by any of them to expand into Delerg, probably because there isn’t much here in the first place save for swamp. Not to mention there are most likely trickles of news coming in about the return of the shadows to Delerg. Most of the warlords being ex-Empire probably would like to get some sort of revenge, but know that their losses would be considerable if they even attempted such a thing, so you are left alone.

Talia and Cyrus seem to be content with how things are now, why can’t you be? Funny that you were concerned about the new eternals being restless and getting themselves into trouble, while here you are considering starting a fight because your bored with peace! The only real reason you can think of is petty revenge on General Ackerson and that’s not a very good one even if you could easily tell everyone that Dendrin told you all to go kill him.

In your moment of introspection, you take another look at what you’ve accomplished. You went from being a lone unbeliever practically trapped in an organization that was determined to overthrow an enemy several times larger than itself to the victorious leader of said organization, which is now thriving under your watch.

You probably could defeat Ackerson, but at what cost? Last you heard he has thousands of men at his command still and that includes a few battle mages. The shadows may be growing slowly, but that’s just it, slowly. You don’t have anywhere near the numbers to start raising armies. Sure, you have the entire support of probably all of Delerg, but that doesn’t mean much in the scheme of things if most of the people aren’t warriors. You kill Ackerson and take his territory then what? You hold it? How long can that last with the numbers you’d have left? You doubt if the people of Quala would be as supportive, if anything they probably blame the shadows for the miserable warring state they live in now. This doesn’t even factor in the OTHER warlords in the area. They may all decide to gang up on you and if you’re in any sort of weakened condition they may even press their attack into Delerg itself.

No, the risk doesn’t seem worth it compared to the petty gain. The shadows have never been about conquest and they probably shouldn’t start now. However, that doesn’t mean you should stay idle. Peace is fine, but perhaps there is a way of initiating conflict without actually doing it.

It occurs to you that the warlords of Quala won’t always be fighting. Eventually one of them is going to win or manage to unite the area in some way. When that happens then Delerg might be in potential danger, so it would be in your best interest to make sure that doesn’t happen. Keep Quala weak and disorganized while keeping Delerg the opposite.

You start sending in shadows into Quala to get a good idea of what the situation is there, but not to actually do anything yet. Theo is mostly in charge of this due to his previous experience of working extensively in the region during the Empire war. Eventually after a couple months you have all the information you really need and ready to put the second part of your plan into action, which is to keep the region destabilized. This is going to include sabotage, misdirection, more spying, and assassinations, all those things that play on the strengths of the shadows.

“I like it. So when do we start assassinating people?” Cyrus remarks causing Draven to chuckle.
“Well, we probably should decide who needs it first. Some of the leaders sound so incompetent that it might be better if we left them in charge.” Talia adds.
“Shouldn’t we have some sort of plan before doing this?” Yvette asks.
“We do have a plan, I just explained it.” You say not understanding why she would ask such a question.
“I…think what my wife means is should we not have a greater plan other than sewing chaos. I do not presume to disagree with your reasons Shadow Master, but I do believe that causing discord for the sake of doing it might seem a bit…well…short term.” Theo says.
“So you believe that we should actually take territory? I explained why I believe that would be a problem.”
“No, no, I agree that we shouldn’t be marching armies into Quala, I guess what I mean is perhaps this would also be a good time to launch an aggressive campaign of converting unbelievers. You know send our better speakers to some of the smaller villages that are unhappy with life under the warlords and telling them how Dendrin can release them from such misery. Given enough time, we would have so many converted that we wouldn’t have to worry about raising an army or Quala ever being a threat because most of the population would all be believers in Dendrin.”

An interesting suggestion from Theo and one you weren’t really expecting from him. He also mentions he could get back in contact with some of the old rebels he knows are still living in Quala to help more directly as well.
> You stick with your own plan
Theo might mean well, but you’re a firm believer that simple plans often work best and since you’ve got the last word, you’re sticking with your original plan.

“It’s a good idea Theo, but I believe it may stir up more attention towards us, if we start attempting to convert people outside Delerg. It may even cause certain warlords to unite against us if they believe us to be threatening enough. Better that we keep our presence to a minimum and especially not try to contact any of them directly. What I want you to do instead is to just keep an eye on Anu and Sam since they’re close by, but since they seem to be content on bashing each other in the head just send some Blades to perform sabotage on both sides just to keep them mired down.”
“As you wish Shadow Master.” Theo remarks.
“The western Quala warlords seem pretty occupied as well so we don’t need to deal with them either. General Ackerson though I want assassinated. I know he’s attempting to expand into Rask, but the man is the biggest threat as far as powers in Quala and I don’t want him to improve that position in the future. Cyrus, since you’re really eager about doing this, I’m going to leave it up to you who to send, but I imagine you’ll want to oversee things personally.”
“It will be done Shadow Master, and thank you.”
“I believe that’s about it, we can go over more details one on one later.”

After the meeting Talia speaks to you directly.

“You sure you want to leave it to Cyrus? I would’ve thought you would’ve wanted to handle something so important yourself.”
“I’m confident that Cyrus can do the job efficiently. If nothing else he’s enthusiastic for things like this. I thought about going too, but I’m slowly begining to realize I’ll be needing to delegate and remaining at this temple more. Besides I’m sure there will be other opportunities to go kill someone. Never seems to be a shortage in fact.”
“Well that’s true.”
“I’m thinking I’ll spend more time looking after the security within the Delerg province. I mean yes we have potential enemies outside the province, but it doesn’t hurt to keep alert in our homestead.”
“I suppose not, but we’re pretty well liked here.”
“Perhaps, but if I’ve learned anything, its that enemies can exist anywhere of you look hard enough.”

Over the next few days your initial plans go off quite well. General Ackerson is assassinated successfully and there wasn’t even any indication there was shadow involvement. As of now his group is fighting amongst itself and no longer united. Captain Anu and Sam Jowin have each been suffering set backs and of course blaming each other for them.

You then relent a bit to let the chaos do its work in Quala until it looks like the place is going to stabilize once again and that’s when you send in shadows to create strife again. It becomes routine just like any of the prayer sessions for Dendrin.

Of course as good as the shadows are, you can’t go undetected forever and eventually someone catches on to what’s really been going happening…

“There’s a huddled mass of people outside the temple, Shadow Master. We’re keeping them out obviously, but their speaker really wants to see you.” Brother Gannon says to you.
“Who are these people?”
“Mostly peasants I believe, but they aren’t from Delerg, they’re from Quala. Under Sam’s dominion I think. They say they want our help.”
“Our help? What’s bringing this on and what makes them think we’re going to help a bunch of unbelievers?” Cyrus asks. In fact you all are wondering what this is all about.

“Well I guess the best way to find out is to ask them. Send in their speaker and keep the rest outside. If anything looks suspicious kill them all.” You say.

Brother Gannon nods and waves in the Qualans’ speaker. While you expect a grubby peasant with dirty clothing to come shuffling in, you instead get a young man dressed in leather armor. Despite his warrior garb he’s nervous. He’s trying his best to be brave, but you sense the fear in him.

“Well? Out with it, you traveled a long way just to waste our time.” Talia remarks.
“Yes, my apologies, um Shadowlord is it?”
“Shadow Master actually, but let’s just get on with why you saw fit to lead a bunch of peasants here and why you think we can even help you.” you say.
“Oh yes that. My name is Flynn and we all live in the Quala Freelands, which as you know is run by Sam Jowin. I myself am a soldier of relatively low rank…and uh…look there’s no easy way of saying this so I guess I’ll get right to it. We want you to kill Sam.”

You have to admit this wasn’t exactly the sort of help you thought they were going to ask for. You and the rest of your council look at each other before you speak again.

“And why do you think we would do that?”
“Because you routinely sabotage our side and Captain Anu’s? Because you were most likely involved in the assassination of General Ackerson? It wasn’t apparent at first, but…”
“Now stop right there for a moment Flynn, and think very carefully on your next words.”
“I…I’m sorry Shadow Master, but I do not know any other way to put this.”
“Very well then, let me help you. Even if we were involved in such activities and that’s not an admission, what still makes you think that we would be willing to assassinate your beloved leader?”
“He’s NOT a beloved leader! Sam is no better than the tyrannical Emperor that ruled over us before! I will admit during his freedom fighter days he was an inspiration, but now? He’s just another petty warlord that doesn’t give a shit about anything other than his own power!”
“That’s a pretty bold statement. I knew Sam during the Empire War years and even fought along side him a couple times. He was always a fair man from what I knew of him and cared for those under his command.” Theo remarks.
“Yeah, well he’s changed drastically since then, the things he’s done... the things I’ve had to do in his service…I do not even wish to think about let alone discuss. So do you need payment? We weren’t sure what we’d need to get your help. We have scraped together valuables and gold for you. I don’t know if its enough, I mean I think we could scrape a bit more, but…here’s what we got.”

At this point Flynn reaches for a small pouch on his side and extends his hand towards all of you with it. Cyrus snatches it from him and reveals a few gold coins and a couple of gems of low quality. Probably a paltry amount, but then you don’t really know what the going rate is for assassination is these days never having done it for money before.

“And you think we’re mere thugs for hire?” Cyrus asks throwing the pouch back at Flynn who barely catches it.

“No! I mean well…we uh…are also prepared to give you a virgin girl in exchange for your help if you aren’t motivated by profit.”
“A virgin girl?” Yvette asks.
“Yeah, for your sacrifices to Dendrin. Isn’t that what you guys do?”

At this point Cyrus gets so pissed at Flynn he punches him in the face. Theo isn’t too happy with him either and begins calling Flynn names. You on the other hand, chuckle to yourself thinking that human sacrifice might actually break up the monotony around the temple sometimes. And while you’re not seriously considering such a thing, you are seeing an opportunity here to change things up a bit.

“Alright Cyrus that will do for now. This man obviously came to us for help and kicking the hell out of this poor bastard isn’t going to help matters.”
“But he insulted Dendrin! And he insults the shadows by coming to us like we’re some lowly criminals!”
“No this man came to us looking for skilled assassins who can get the job done right. And that’s what we are, aren’t we? I mean that’s partly how we won the war against the Empire isn’t it? If there are already rumors going around by ignorant peasants that we killed General Ackerson and have been involved in sabotage in Quala then our cover has already been blown at this point. We may as well embrace it.”
“What are you saying?” Talia asks.

“I’m saying that we should take this man up on his offer. However, our payment will be that he owes us a favor. In fact ALL of those that are with him today will owe us a favor. Be sure to get all their names before they leave here. It may be big, it may be small, it may never come at all, but when we call it in, they better deliver…are we agreed to this Flynn?” you say extending your hand to help him up.

He’s unsure at first, but eventually he takes it and gets up. Sam must really be some sort of bastard if Flynn is agreeing to this arrangement.

“I…I accept your terms Shadow Master.”
“Good, it’ll be taken care of as soon as possible.”
“Thank you! Thank you!” he says and starts to bow a lot while he steps backwards towards the door.
“Excuse me, but where do you think you’re going?”
“I was taking my leave Shadow Master.”
“Not with that pouch of valuables you aren’t. They were a gift to us were they not?”
“Oh…yes…of course. Here you go. My apologies Shadow Master.” Flynn says and tosses the bag to you.
“Good. NOW you may go.”

After Flynn leaves the temple you remind some of the Blades to get all their names down. Meanwhile your council is a little confused by your latest decision

“Are you serious about this?” Theo asks.
“Of course I am, if I wasn’t I wouldn’t have made the offer.” You answer.
“But we’re helping unbelievers!” Cyrus says.
“So? We helped them during the Empire War too, what makes now so different? I’ll tell you what makes it different, we’re actually going to be profiting from it for a change. Look if we’re going to stay safe, and I mean truly safe from external threats we need to get back on to the world stage. Staying isolated in this swamp is only going to work for so long and eventually someone is going to come here with an army and attempt to overwhelm us. Last time I checked our numbers are still low.”
“Okay, but weren’t we ensuring our safety by destabilizing Quala?” Theo asks.
“We were, but as I said our presence has obviously become known now. It’s nobody’s fault, it was bound to happen eventually, but that means we’ve got two options. Either we stop completely and risk Quala being united under one person who decides they want to emulate the Empire which means war in the far future. Or we continue doing what we’re doing and risk pissing everyone off to such a degree that they stop fighting each other and unite against us, which means war in the near future. Neither of those sound attractive so I’m choosing the third option.”
“Which is?” Yvette asks.
“We offer our services to the highest bidder. We become the go to organization for assassination. We spread so much fear and terror that nobody will ever want to attack us, they will instead wish to curry our favor in exchange for our help. And Cyrus I already see you’re about to protest and I don’t know why because you’re the first one who usually wants to go practice your killing skills on someone. I’d think you of all people would be happy with this arrangement.”
“You may be right.” Cyrus says.
“But what about Dendrin?” Yvette asks.
“Yes! What about the integrity of this order?” Theo adds
“Dendrin is the god of shadows. Why else would he give us such powers if not to use them in such a manner? But if it will calm everyone down I will certainly consult him on this matter. At this time though I have made my decision on what is best for the shadows.”

None of them may see it now, but you really are taking steps to ensure the survival of the shadows. The shadows were feared during their lackey days under the Empire and during the rebellion the Empire itself learned to fear the shadows.

Now? The fear still exists, but not to the extent that it needs to be. Not to the extent that it SHOULD be. You’re going to get that fear back and that reputation is what going to keep you all alive and thrive.

Surely Dendrin would certainly approve of that. In fact you know that sadistic bastard would.
>
Year 50

With all business taken care of, you tell Talia to let you know if anything important comes up since you’re going to catch a few moments of sleep. Seems like you don’t do much of that anymore.

As you settle down for some much needed rest, you drift off thinking about all what you’ve managed to accomplish.

Quala is essentially under your thumb and you haven’t even resorted to an army to do it. You’ve got people from there paying you left and right to assassinate their enemies whether it is in tangible goods or simple favors that you intend on calling in some day.

It doesn’t stop there either; you’ve even had a few people travel all the way from the Arat province and even Rask to use your services. It of course helps that you’ve never failed to assassinate a chosen target.

As a result, you’ve accomplished much of what you first envisioned. You’ve managed to put enough dread into those in power to not want to invade Delerg for fear of their own deaths or on the more pragmatic side of things they’d prefer to have you around in case they want to get rid of someone.

“You’re enjoying all this aren’t you Eternal? I know you’re playing the emotionless cold hearted assassin guild leader and all, but deep down you’re enjoying every moment of it. It’s okay to admit it, not like I’m going to tell anyone.”
“Of course I am, but not for the reasons you believe. I’m enjoying this because things are going well for the shadows for once AND I’m not terminally bored while leading them. For the longest time I could achieve one or the other but not both.”
“Going well? Haven’t you had to execute ten shadows, including two of your own council? Theo and Yvette I believe?”
“It was necessary. They were conspiring and disagreeing with the new direction the shadows needed to go in order to thrive. Besides, I didn’t say we were without problems. I just meant things were good in general and you don’t seem to have a problem with what I’m doing. You even encouraged me when I made the effort to consult you about it.”
“Of course I don’t. In fact you’ve actually made the shadows more interesting than they have been in a long time. So…now that you’re on top of the world so to speak, what’s your next move?”
“Nothing major though I imagine it won’t stay like that for long. I don’t delude myself that the calmer times last forever, just that I should enjoy them while I can.”

Those words prove to be true considering that Delerg sudden gets a large influx of svelk mercenaries in the town of Sinkhole one day. What’s more disturbing is they weren’t detected until they were in the town. This could be the precursor to an invasion for all you know and you personally go with Cyrus and several other Blades to sort this out.

When you arrive, a few shadows that were in the town report that the svelk haven’t been doing anything except carousing at the tavern. He says they’ve been obnoxious, but nothing serious yet. Besides Mistress, the only dark elves you’ve had to deal with were those that were hired by the Empire to kill you during your time in Rask, so your opinion of them isn’t exactly high to begin with, but that probably makes you the same as everyone else in that aspect.

You know damn well they have to be here for a reason other than spending money on booze though.

You enter the tavern and it gets suddenly much quieter from the revelry you heard before entering. The staff looks miserable, particularly the waitresses and only a few other customers remain trying to hide in a dark corner, probably too scared to pass the dark elves to leave.

“Ah! The great Shadow Master graces us with his presence! I was wondering if we could be expecting you. I told my soldiers here that if we showed up unannounced that we’d get your attention. It is truly a testament to your patrols that we found ourselves hard pressed to evade them undetected until we arrived in this dismal town.” One dark elf says while sitting at a table with his fellows. You presume he’s probably their leader.
“What do you svelk want and make it quick.” You say.
“Straight to the point eh? Very well then. My name is Tyren and what I want is to hire your services.”

You don’t believe it.

“You? You want to hire the shadows to kill someone? Since when did svelk rely on assassins? Doesn’t your race learn such a trade from birth and gleefully kill as a matter of course?”

Suddenly Tyren stands up as if he’s offended by your remark.

“And what do you know of us, shadow? What do you know that you haven’t heard second hand from the grubby ignorant peasants?”
“Trust me, I know your kind well enough that your senseless posturing and fake attempt at being offended are not going to intimidate or second guess myself. You’re a race of sadistic murderous mercenaries that go from battlefield to battlefield profiting from conflict which I don’t have a problem with. What I do have a problem with is when a bunch of them suddenly show up in my backyard where there is no conflict. You come here saying you need our help, yet show up unannounced and without coming to us directly. That shows a severe lack of disrespect, and there is no reason why I shouldn’t just kill the lot of you now and throw your worthless carcasses to the Sul-Monkeys.”

You and your shadows take a step forward and Tyren’s demeanor changes immediately though he tries to play it off like he was joking.

“Sheesh, calm down. I didn’t realize you shadows were so fucking serious all the time. Fine I’ll explain in greater detail. I want you to kill the leader of another Svelk mercenary company. She goes by the name of Edolith. Currently she’s located in the eastern part of the Quala province fighting for one of the half assed warlords there. I want her dead because she’s been taking all the good paying jobs for years and also with her dead I may even be able to gain her warband which has no other viable leaders to take her place.”

Tyren takes a drink before continuing.

“Now I know what you’re thinking why don’t I do this myself or even join an opposing side and kill her on the battlefield that way. Well it is with great risk in front of ALL my soldiers that I admit that I am neither clever or strong enough to take her on, though I would remind my soldiers that I could easily kick all of their asses.” And with those words he quickly draws a dagger and stabs one of his men in the throat. The dark elf spits out a glob of blood and falls backwards gasping for life until Tyren finishes him off with a crushing stomp to his head.

Naturally all the rest of the svelk look upon this as a normal thing, Tyren then turns to you.

“So I call upon you, the shadows for help, the greatest assassins ever known in recent history. I believe that your order has the skill to pull off her assassination. So do we have a deal?”
“Not really considering you haven’t even described payment yet. What could you possibly offer? Svelk mercenaries aren’t known for their wealth and trust me you’d need a considerable amount for me to even consider this.”
“Hmmm, well what about we owe you a favor?”

Now you laugh.

“A favor from you lot? Not likely. We have no need of mercenaries and I doubt if you’d come through with it anyway. We’d probably have to slaughter you all and while that would be doing the world a favor and maybe even sort of fun, I’d like to at least have something tangible if I’m going to help you.”
“You’re incredibly suspicious of us. You sure you don’t have svelk blood? No probably not, you’re pretty ugly even for a human, but what can you do seeing as you all evolved from those Sul-Monkeys out there right? Ha ha ha ha! Okay but seriously… Zarren! Get over here with that big bag!” Tyren shouts at one of his underlings.

Zarren comes to Tyren’s table with a big bag and dumps the contents out on it. What is revealed is more than just regular valuables. There are also some books and other objects as well. So much that part of loot falls to the floor.

“Hey, I recognize that book…its one I read during my days at Gloom! I thought it was lost forever.” Dravin suddenly exclaims. “In fact a lot of these objects are from Gloom! These ceremony rings, these cups…where the hell did you get this stuff?”
“Oh we svelk do a lot of trading with all kinds of people in our travels, those rock eating dwarves just being one of many. We sort of thought you all might be interested in lost objects from your old stomping grounds. Along with the gems and gold, I’d say this should be more than enough payment shouldn’t it?”

While you aren’t overly attached to any “lost objects” from Gloom, you can see Dravin is pretty fond of some of them. You imagine the older human shadows that are still around would be happy to see such things again. Even Cyrus is looking at a couple things, and you know Talia would be interested in them. The actual valuables are probably a fair payment for a job such as this.

Still part of you doesn’t trust the svelk. Something about all this seems a bit sketchy. You don’t know what exactly, but it just doesn’t feel quite right to you.
> You accept the contract
You don’t trust the svelk, but if they have some sort of ambush planned, you’re fairly confident that you can handle anything they’re going to throw at you. In any event you’ll be taking the payment in advance.

“Very well svelk. We’ll take the job. Pack up the loot and put it in the bag.”
“Hey wait, we didn’t say we were paying you all of it now. We need some assurance you’ll complete the job! Half up front, half later!”
“Yeah, not going to happen. I don’t trust you as it is; you really think I’m not taking all the payment now? You’re delusional.” You say.

Tyren is perturbed by your insistence, but then he realizes he’s not exactly in friendly territory and severely outnumbered.

“Fine, just as long as that bitch is dead.” He replies and he proceeds to give the specifics of where Edolith is located before he takes his leave. You tell Cyrus and Dravin to take the best Blades and carry out the job.

“And be very careful. Don’t take anything for granted. I still don’t trust them.” You say.
“Don’t worry about us, we’ll be able to sense a trap.” Cyrus remarks.

When you make it back to the temple with the lost items from Gloom, all the older shadows are eager to look through them, hoping to find something personal of theirs. Talia is especially glad to see the return of them and reassures you that you made a good decision to take the contract.

The next day Cyrus, Dravin and several other Blades have set off on their mission and its business as usual at the temple.

About afternoon, several shadows report that they suddenly aren’t feeling well. Given that you’re in a swamp, you could chalk this up to the environment, the problem with that is the shadows tend use their magic to fend off such ailments. Plus some of the eternals are sick as well and they’re naturally resilient to disease and sickness.

By night time, you and Talia aren’t feeling well either and a couple of the shadows have already died of this mysterious illness. Prayers to Dendrin have been made, but he’s not listening as usual.

“It’s the fucking svelk. I know it. They caused this somehow.” You say in between feeling sick.

You’re so dizzy you can barely think, but it suddenly occurs to you what’s going on. It’s what they paid you, or rather the objects from Gloom. They must’ve done something to them. Maybe a curse of some sort.

“Get all of the objects out of this temple and we need to cast a purification ritual right now!” you say.

As several shadows attempt to carry out this order, you try your best to get prepared for the ritual. Other shadows are deathly ill by this point and you’re not going to save them in time.

“Shadow Master, the svelk are attacking just outside the temple!” Brother Gannon wheezes.

You attempt to order the temple doors locked, but the svelk have already managed to barge in by this point. Under normal circumstances, you’d be more than a match for them, but whatever this curse is, it’s affected the shadows quite severely and they’ve taken full advantage of your weakness. Most are so sick they can’t concentrate to cast any spells, and that includes you.

You put up a good fight, but ultimately the effects of the curse and Tyren’s sneak attack prove to be too much. You eventually fall to one of their repeating crossbows. With several bolts lodged in your vital organs your last thoughts are of the hope that Cyrus will survive whatever the svelk had planned for him.


Year 50

With all business taken care of, you tell Talia to let you know if anything important comes up since you’re going to catch a few moments of sleep. Seems like you don’t do much of that anymore.

As you settle down for some much needed rest, you drift off thinking about all what you’ve managed to accomplish.

Quala is essentially under your thumb and you haven’t even resorted to an army to do it. You’ve got people from there paying you left and right to assassinate their enemies whether it is in tangible goods or simple favors that you intend on calling in some day.

It doesn’t stop there either; you’ve even had a few people travel all the way from the Arat province and even Rask to use your services. It of course helps that you’ve never failed to assassinate a chosen target.

As a result, you’ve accomplished much of what you first envisioned. You’ve managed to put enough dread into those in power to not want to invade Delerg for fear of their own deaths or on the more pragmatic side of things they’d prefer to have you around in case they want to get rid of someone.

“You’re enjoying all this aren’t you Eternal? I know you’re playing the emotionless cold hearted assassin guild leader and all, but deep down you’re enjoying every moment of it. It’s okay to admit it, not like I’m going to tell anyone.”
“Of course I am, but not for the reasons you believe. I’m enjoying this because things are going well for the shadows for once AND I’m not terminally bored while leading them. For the longest time I could achieve one or the other but not both.”
“Going well? Haven’t you had to execute ten shadows, including two of your own council? Theo and Yvette I believe?”
“It was necessary. They were conspiring and disagreeing with the new direction the shadows needed to go in order to thrive. Besides, I didn’t say we were without problems. I just meant things were good in general and you don’t seem to have a problem with what I’m doing. You even encouraged me when I made the effort to consult you about it.”
“Of course I don’t. In fact you’ve actually made the shadows more interesting than they have been in a long time. So…now that you’re on top of the world so to speak, what’s your next move?”
“Nothing major though I imagine it won’t stay like that for long. I don’t delude myself that the calmer times last forever, just that I should enjoy them while I can.”

Those words prove to be true considering that Delerg sudden gets a large influx of svelk mercenaries in the town of Sinkhole one day. What’s more disturbing is they weren’t detected until they were in the town. This could be the precursor to an invasion for all you know and you personally go with Cyrus and several other Blades to sort this out.

When you arrive, a few shadows that were in the town report that the svelk haven’t been doing anything except carousing at the tavern. He says they’ve been obnoxious, but nothing serious yet. Besides Mistress, the only dark elves you’ve had to deal with were those that were hired by the Empire to kill you during your time in Rask, so your opinion of them isn’t exactly high to begin with, but that probably makes you the same as everyone else in that aspect.

You know damn well they have to be here for a reason other than spending money on booze though.

You enter the tavern and it gets suddenly much quieter from the revelry you heard before entering. The staff looks miserable, particularly the waitresses and only a few other customers remain trying to hide in a dark corner, probably too scared to pass the dark elves to leave.

“Ah! The great Shadow Master graces us with his presence! I was wondering if we could be expecting you. I told my soldiers here that if we showed up unannounced that we’d get your attention. It is truly a testament to your patrols that we found ourselves hard pressed to evade them undetected until we arrived in this dismal town.” One dark elf says while sitting at a table with his fellows. You presume he’s probably their leader.
“What do you svelk want and make it quick.” You say.
“Straight to the point eh? Very well then. My name is Tyren and what I want is to hire your services.”

You don’t believe it.

“You? You want to hire the shadows to kill someone? Since when did svelk rely on assassins? Doesn’t your race learn such a trade from birth and gleefully kill as a matter of course?”

Suddenly Tyren stands up as if he’s offended by your remark.

“And what do you know of us, shadow? What do you know that you haven’t heard second hand from the grubby ignorant peasants?”
“Trust me, I know your kind well enough that your senseless posturing and fake attempt at being offended are not going to intimidate or second guess myself. You’re a race of sadistic murderous mercenaries that go from battlefield to battlefield profiting from conflict which I don’t have a problem with. What I do have a problem with is when a bunch of them suddenly show up in my backyard where there is no conflict. You come here saying you need our help, yet show up unannounced and without coming to us directly. That shows a severe lack of disrespect, and there is no reason why I shouldn’t just kill the lot of you now and throw your worthless carcasses to the Sul-Monkeys.”

You and your shadows take a step forward and Tyren’s demeanor changes immediately though he tries to play it off like he was joking.

“Sheesh, calm down. I didn’t realize you shadows were so fucking serious all the time. Fine I’ll explain in greater detail. I want you to kill the leader of another Svelk mercenary company. She goes by the name of Edolith. Currently she’s located in the eastern part of the Quala province fighting for one of the half assed warlords there. I want her dead because she’s been taking all the good paying jobs for years and also with her dead I may even be able to gain her warband which has no other viable leaders to take her place.”

Tyren takes a drink before continuing.

“Now I know what you’re thinking why don’t I do this myself or even join an opposing side and kill her on the battlefield that way. Well it is with great risk in front of ALL my soldiers that I admit that I am neither clever or strong enough to take her on, though I would remind my soldiers that I could easily kick all of their asses.” And with those words he quickly draws a dagger and stabs one of his men in the throat. The dark elf spits out a glob of blood and falls backwards gasping for life until Tyren finishes him off with a crushing stomp to his head.

Naturally all the rest of the svelk look upon this as a normal thing, Tyren then turns to you.

“So I call upon you, the shadows for help, the greatest assassins ever known in recent history. I believe that your order has the skill to pull off her assassination. So do we have a deal?”
“Not really considering you haven’t even described payment yet. What could you possibly offer? Svelk mercenaries aren’t known for their wealth and trust me you’d need a considerable amount for me to even consider this.”
“Hmmm, well what about we owe you a favor?”

Now you laugh.

“A favor from you lot? Not likely. We have no need of mercenaries and I doubt if you’d come through with it anyway. We’d probably have to slaughter you all and while that would be doing the world a favor and maybe even sort of fun, I’d like to at least have something tangible if I’m going to help you.”
“You’re incredibly suspicious of us. You sure you don’t have svelk blood? No probably not, you’re pretty ugly even for a human, but what can you do seeing as you all evolved from those Sul-Monkeys out there right? Ha ha ha ha! Okay but seriously… Zarren! Get over here with that big bag!” Tyren shouts at one of his underlings.

Zarren comes to Tyren’s table with a big bag and dumps the contents out on it. What is revealed is more than just regular valuables. There are also some books and other objects as well. So much that part of loot falls to the floor.

“Hey, I recognize that book…its one I read during my days at Gloom! I thought it was lost forever.” Dravin suddenly exclaims. “In fact a lot of these objects are from Gloom! These ceremony rings, these cups…where the hell did you get this stuff?”
“Oh we svelk do a lot of trading with all kinds of people in our travels, those rock eating dwarves just being one of many. We sort of thought you all might be interested in lost objects from your old stomping grounds. Along with the gems and gold, I’d say this should be more than enough payment shouldn’t it?”

While you aren’t overly attached to any “lost objects” from Gloom, you can see Dravin is pretty fond of some of them. You imagine the older human shadows that are still around would be happy to see such things again. Even Cyrus is looking at a couple things, and you know Talia would be interested in them. The actual valuables are probably a fair payment for a job such as this.

Still part of you doesn’t trust the svelk. Something about all this seems a bit sketchy. You don’t know what exactly, but it just doesn’t feel quite right to you.
> You decline the contract
While it probably would make some of your shadows happy, you just don’t trust Tyren at all. This all seems too straight forward and with these objects from Gloom he’s offering…well its almost as if he’s over eager for you to take the job.

“Tyren, I’m sorry you traveled all this way from wherever you previously were and dragged a bag of treasure with you along the way, but I’m going to have to say, this contract is not in the best interest of the shadows at this time.”
“What?!” Dravin asks.
“Are you serious?” Cyrus exclaims.
“Since when do the shadows turn down a contract?” Tyren asks.
“It’s been known to happen. Now if you please, leave these premises and don’t return.” You say ignoring Dravin and Cyrus’ outbursts.

“But this part of our history he’s got here! How can we not take the contract?” Dravin says.
“I realize that, but it’s the past, not the future and I believe taking this contract is not the best for our future.”
“But…”
“Dravin! I am Shadow Master here, do NOT question me further on this!”
“Hey, he’s asking a valid question. You don’t need to pull rank like that.” Cyrus adds.
“Cyrus, don’t you start too. This is not the time or place.”

While you bicker with Cyrus and Dravin, Tyren and his men begin to snicker which causes you to snap at them.

“Didn’t I tell you merc scum to get the fuck out of here?”
“Okay, okay, we’re leaving.” Tyren chuckles though they’re taking their time gathering up the valuables that they spilled on the table.

Meanwhile Dravin insists on arguing with Cyrus backing him up naturally.

“Look, I don’t mean to question you Shadow Master, but I just think Dendrin would want us to have our history back, if only part of it.”
“I agree. Besides I’m sure Talia would like some of these things as well.”

You can hardly believe the insubordination going on here.

“The both of you are unbelievable right now. Questioning me and arguing in front of fucking dark elves? Did we turn into a pack of orcs overnight? Attempting to use my wife as some sort of support for your disobedience? You want the past? Fine, let’s just take it!” you shout and you draw your weapon. Before anyone can do anything else you grab the nearest dark elf and run him through.

“Treachery! Defend yourselves!” Tyren shouts and drops some gems to pull his crossbow.

The skirmish in the tavern is quick and bloody affair. The dark elves fight the best they can, but the advantage is to you in every way. You allow none to escape and the tavern is littered with their dead and a couple of your own by the end of it. The bar staff peep out from behind their hiding places.

While the rest of the shadows gather up the valuables that are now all over the floor and place them into the bag, you search Tyren’s body on a hunch you had long before you engaged in this bloodbath and fortunately you find something in the form of a letter.

Tyren,

Make sure to wait a day before triggering the curse we put on those objects the rock eaters sold us. That should be more than enough time for the shadows to have placed them somewhere in their temple. The magic words are at the bottom of this letter and they should be simple enough even for you to memorize.

As for the shadow assassin squad they’ll send after me, don’t worry about that, I’ve got that covered and have the ambush ready. You just stay near the Delerg province and monitor the situation with the after effects of the wasting curse. If it looks like they’re severely weakened by it then by all means attack the temple yourself before I get there.

Also remember to destroy this letter, the last thing I need is for the shadows to kill you and find this on your corpse because you were an incompetent fool. Assuming you don’t mess this up on your end. We should at least be able to cripple the shadows to a degree that they’ll no longer be a threat to our livelihood.

Edolith

You figured it was something like this. Makes sense the svelk would see the shadows as major competition.

“Next time just listen to my orders instead of bitching like a couple of housewives at the market!” you say shoving the letter in Cyrus’ hand.

Cyrus looks it over.

“Okay, so you were right, but we outsmarted them, got their stuff and we can perform a sanctify ritual on these objects. This situation turned out better than if we had just let them go.”

You’re already angry at this whole situation and this is just the final straw for you.

“Cyrus that’s not the damn point. My point is you AND Dravin undermined my authority in front of not only the rest of the shadows but outsiders as well as if you knew better. When I told you to desist you continued to piss and moan…in fact you’re STILL doing it!”

Before Cyrus can come up with another snappy come back, you speed yourself up and punch him in the face. He reels backwards and you follow up with a kick sending him to the floor. He attempts to get up, but you kick him again in the face and then with a power stomp you smash his shin, breaking the bone through the skin. He bellows in pain and Dravin dares to try to stop you.

“Shadow Master plea…” is all he utters before you give him a chop to his throat and then twist his arm behind his back before slamming his face into the table.

“You! Stretch out his other arm across the table and take out your dagger.” You say to closest Blade, while continuing to hover behind Dravin. The Blade obeys without hesitation and Dravin is begging for mercy when he hears the unsheathing of a dagger. You can also hear Cyrus pleading for you not to harm Dravin.

Still holding on to Dravin’s other arm, you half turn around to face him.

“YOU shut the fuck up, before I break your other shin! I’m not killing him, but a lesson must be taught to both of you! Now you, what’s your name?” you ask the Blade since you never can keep track of these new eternals’ names, you swear they must’ve altered them all in those tanks to look similar or something.
“Glen, Shadow Master.”
“Glen, take Dravin’s pinky finger.”
“NO!” Dravin screams.
“Okay take his ring finger too!” you say and twist Dravin’s arm further. “You wanna go for the whole hand? Then keep fighting me! You’re lucky I’m not taking them from your dominant hand! Glen proceed.”

Glen cuts off Dravin’s pinky first which causes him to let out a stifled yelp. Glen moves on to the ring finger, and you’re not sure if it’s the combination of the shock and fear, but whatever the reason Dravin ends up passing out completely.

“Wrap up his hand and carry him back to the temple.” You tell Glen.

Cyrus is still on the floor sitting up with his shinbone sticking out of his leg. He’s still in great pain, but you believe he’s more upset about Dravin. You crouch down beside him.

“I’m sorry it had to be this way brother, but I spared your life once for a reason Cyrus. You agreed to obey my commands as Shadow Master and today you repeatedly defied my will. Am I going to regret that decision?”
“…no…no…” Cyrus says trying not cry out.
“No what?” you ask again forcing him to look directly into your eyes.
“No…Shadow Master…”
“Good. Good. Something like this can never happen again.” You say and stand back up.

You tell the other Blades to carry Cyrus and grab the ill gotten bag of loot back to the temple since you’re going on ahead of everyone else. You then turn your attention to the frightened tavern staff.

“Apologies for the mess. Leave them some gold to help clean up this filth off their floor and tables.” You say while stepping over a dark elf corpse and then heading out the door.

When you get back the temple Talia asks you what happened and where everyone else is.

“Had to put down some treacherous svelk, as far as I’m concerned all of their kind now has a permanent target on their backs if any us see one of them again. But we got some things off of them I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised with, you’ll have to perform a sanctify ritual over them first though before bringing them into the temple. As for the rest of the Blades, they’ll be along shortly with said loot I imagine, oh and I’m dissolving the Council. Really no point in it anymore.”
“Wha…well you are Shadow Master, but did you mention this Dravin and Cyrus?”
“Oh trust me, they know.”
>
Year 55

You wake up with yet another permanent ache in your body. Getting old really sucks and it probably doesn’t help that you’ve spent decades fighting all your life. Who knows how many broken bones, deep cuts, head blows and other bodily trauma you’ve had. However, you’re probably more fit than most people your age and your magic ability is certainly a great equalizer.

You go over some of the newest contract requests and one catches your eye due to it suffering from multiple misspellings and the murdering of language in general. When you see that it’s from Flog you’re a little impressed that he was able to write as well as he did.

From what you can make out in the horribly written letter, he wants to meet with some of your people because he’s got a major problem on his hands and he hopes that seeing as he once helped you fight the Empire, you’d help him out in return.

You shake your head at that remark considering that as you recall you basically spared his life in exchange for his support. He doesn’t go into specifics about who he wants killed, but he goes on to say that he’s acquired a lot of wealth in his “conquest” of Rask. A bit of stretching the truth since while its true he owns the biggest stretch on territory there, the area is far from conquered.

Amusingly he wants you to meet him at Blood Tooth, which is apparently what he renamed Evergloom after he moved in years after you left. He states he’ll go into more specifics then, mainly because he doesn’t want the letter possibly falling into the wrong hands and also because all this writing makes his brain hurt. He also mentions that while it isn’t necessary, he’d prefer to meet with you personally since he’s confident in your abilities to get the job done.

You can’t help but smile a little at that last statement.

“You’re not going are you?” Talia asks.
"Why not? I’ve been running the shadows for this long and I haven’t even taken a contract myself. Seems a bit hypocritical don’t you think?”
“You’re the Shadow Master, you don’t need to concern yourself with such things.”
“Maybe, but I’ve always believed that a leader really should lead by example and I’ve done that for the most part.”
“What about that incident with the dark elves?”
“Eh, I actually didn’t even plan that and it really doesn’t count. I just think I need to go on this one.”
“You just want to prove that you aren’t getting old. Don’t think I haven’t noticed you been mentioning it lately.”
“Yeah…well maybe. But still…hey why don’t you come with me?”
“Me?”
“Well why not? Flog’s always liked you and it’ll probably make the meeting go over better. Besides, you should be keeping your abilities up as well.”
“Excuse me, but I continue to spar with the Blades every day.”
“And so do I, but it isn’t enough unless their real danger involved. Come on, you mean to say you don’t miss the old days just a little bit?”
“Not particularly, but I see that this is important to you, so I shall accompany you, but aren’t you concerned about this being a trap?”
“Not really, no. While Flog has always been a little more cunning than the average orc and an opportunistic fool, he’s never been suicidal. I’m pretty sure he knows if he tried to ambush me, it wouldn’t end well for him. Even if he managed to succeed, he also knows that the full force of the shadows would hunt him down personally and with as many enemies as he probably has I doubt if he needs to add more. Besides if it is an ambush, that’ll just make things more interesting and Dendrin’s always looking out for us anyway.”

Your flip remark about Dendrin gets a nod in agreement by Talia who doesn’t take it as a flip remark, but rather that you’re being genuine. “Well I suppose there is that and as the chosen of Dendrin you’d be even better protected, but who is going to be running things while we’re gone?”
“I don’t think we’re going to be gone for that long, but Cyrus can do it. Not like he goes on many missions anymore either.”

This is true. Ever since the incident with the dark elves, Cyrus and Dravin started becoming more withdrawn. Granted Dravin was never an extrovert, but with Cyrus it’s a little sad. It’s like you completely crushed his spirit that day. He lost his unofficial position as leader of the Blades due to the permanent limp you gave him and resigned himself to keeping up on internal security. Sometimes you feel a little bad about it, but you believe that in the long run it was a good thing. Cyrus, even though he’d pledged himself to you still harbored a bit of willfulness that was starting to come back. If allowed to flourish longer, he may have become more of a problem and would have had to been killed.

Though perhaps his current fate is worse than death.

When you approach Cyrus about the situation with Flog, he’s surprised that you’re going, let alone putting him in charge of the temple until you get back. He of course agrees and wishes you luck. Given how Flog was never his favorite person, you wonder why he didn’t at least express the same concerns about meeting with him like Talia did, and then it occurs to you that perhaps he’s hoping you do get killed.

In any event, you’re not going to worry about it. You instead hand pick some of the best Blades to come with you to Blood Tooth and set off on your journey as soon as possible.

The journey to Rask is fairly uneventful. While you mostly keep to the off beaten trails, you know most in Quala are wise enough to not attack a group of shadows even if they did see you. The “stable” leader of northern Quala, First Mage Galen has practically bent over backwards to stay on your good side. You sort of wonder if that is who Flog wants you to assassinate considering all the back and forth attempts at conquest into each other’s realms by the pair of them. If it is, then he better have a hell of a lot of money.

When you reach the Rask it mostly looks very much how it did when you left it. Much of it untouched wilderness though the occasional battlefield markings are apparent. Some are even fairly recent.

“Hey Flog didn’t say anything about safe passage did he in his letter?” Talia asks.
“No, but I don’t think he’d be able to enforce it very well anyway. You know how tribal orcs are, even under a strong leader they tend towards chaotic acts.”
“Well as you said, I suppose that’ll make things more interesting. Actually a battle would probably warm me up right about now. I think I got too used to the heat, though I wasn’t exactly fond of the freezing cold back in the old days either.”
“Really? I kind of preferred it, but we’re going to be making camp soon, we can warm up a little then.”

Later that night at your campsite you take first watch. You can’t really rest anyway since your body aches a bit. As the night goes on, you remember back to the time when you doing this as a regular thing, seems like a lifetime ago.

As you lose yourself in the past a bit you suddenly hear a noise. Like howling, but it isn’t from any sort of wolf that you’ve ever heard. Doesn’t even sound like a natural one and it sounds pretty close by.

“Everyone get up!” you shout with your weapon drawn.

As everyone starts to get up ready for battle, more of those howls can be heard. They’re nearly painful at this point and several of you are clutching at least one of your ears.

“What the hell is that?” Talia shouts.
“Not sure, but we’re about to find out.” You say as all of you form a back-to-back circle for defense.

Several glowing red eyes appear in the dark forest around you, when your assailants finally show themselves, they are in the form of orcs, but more feral and savage looking (even for orcs).

“You think Flog set this up?” Talia asks you while eyeing her closest possible attacker.
“Let’s worry about it afterwards.” You say and the orcs attack.

You’ve had to fight a few unruly orcs in the past and though its been awhile, you know their tactics wouldn’t have switched up that much. They almost lope at you and circle around you like an animal would, in fact animalistic is the best way to describe them since at this range you can see they aren’t even wearing much clothing beyond a loin cloth and a few grisly trophies in the form of bloody body parts. Their hands resemble claws and some of them aren’t even attacking with weapons at all and are just using their nails, which are unnaturally long for orcs.

You cross swords with one of them and even while speeding yourself up, it’s still nearly matching you blow for blow. Its face is close enough for you to get the good look and it’s contorted looking with an extra wide mouth filled with teeth. Whatever the hell this thing is, it isn’t any kind of orc you’ve ever seen or encountered. You muster up all your strength and land a powerful strike against the orc’s head nearly severing the top part of it completely. It attempts to still attack you, flailing its arms wildly and still making that horrible howling sound.

Then you hear a whispery voice in your mind. At first you think its Dendrin, but then you’re not asleep and you don’t feel the same numbness, but rather the exact opposite. A sharp pain in your head.

“The battle is lost mortal. You cannot kill us. You must submit to us, it is the only way to save yourself.”

You look around to see Talia and most of the other shadows still fighting, but you also see a couple of them clutching their heads and falling to the ground in pain. These definitely aren’t orcs you’re fighting considering they’re using some sort of psychic attack.

You could either try to finish off the rest of the orcs to stop the attacks or cast a shield over the minds of you and your shadows, though its very difficult to concentrate right now.
> You cast the spell
You attempt to block everything out in your mind a concentrate on your spell. More voices invade your mind and you begin shouting out Dendrin’s name loudly during your chanting in an effort to drown out the supernatural voice in your head. You also shout to everyone to try to shut out the voices you know they have to be hearing as well.

“NO! You cannot escape us! You are MEAT!” you hear and the voices begin to fade a bit. You notice that your shadows aren’t struggling with their mental assaults anymore either and regular combat goes a lot better. Soon, all attackers are killed and Talia comes over to you rubbing her head a bit after dispatching her orc.

“What the hell are these things?”
“Well I’m not exactly sure, but if I had to guess, they’re wendigos. Evil spirits that take over the bodies of the living and try to consume anyone they can. Found notes written about them after we took Kane’s fort. He apparently fought them all the way back to their home territory and trapped them there. Looks like these idiots let them loose again or something. We should be safe now and I’ve got everyone shielded, but everyone else should keep up their own shield just as added protection. We can link that mental power to each other if we just focus.”
“Just like back in shadow training when we all fought that brain lurker huh?” Talia asks.
“I believe it was a thought lurker, but yeah something like that. Odd that we never encountered another one of those creatures.”
“I think I remember Brother Gray said they typically only lived underground or something.”

Probably some sort of “gift” from the Derro no doubt, but you stop dwelling on the past and pack up you camp so you can continue your journey. You’ll have to get some sleep later.

The rest of the journey is more of an endurance test against the elements rather than any more fighting. Even while sticking to the forests you feel the full strength of the cold winds and snowfall that has decided to grace you with its presence. You see a village in the distance, and briefly ponder if you should head to it and sleep at an inn, but the fact remains you don’t know what you can expect there. You’re guessing Flog might’ve enslaved most of the towns in Rask, but who knows what they’ve been turned into. Chances are they’re probably the equivalent of slave camps now patrolled by a bunch of over eager orcs or ogres ready to attack anyone they don’t know.

“I certainly hope Flog told his people to expect us when we finally get to Blood Tooth!” Talia says wrapping herself up and walking on as you decide to avoid the village.

When you finally arrive at Blood Tooth, you see that Flog hasn’t changed your old home too much, other than the typical orc totems that their kind seem to favor. A group of orcs stand outside looking off in several direction as if they’re expecting someone, but that might not necessarily be you though. They still haven’t noticed you though.

“Well, this is it. We might as well just approach. Be ready for anything though.” You tell everyone.

You reveal yourself from your cloak and begin to walk towards the group. They finally see you and begin waving you down.

“Shadows! Come quickly! Not safe out here!” one shouts.
“Well I’m guessing we’re being welcomed at least.” Talia says.
“For now. Like I said be ready for anything.”

The orcs waste no time in calling for their fort doors to be opened and you’re lead in. Now the place looks less like how you remember. It’s definitely got that orcish touch now, not to mention smell. Eventually you meet Flog on his throne. The years have taken their toll on him to the point where you don’t feel so old any more. Flog stands up slowly and limps over to you, refusing the use of any sort of cane. His face bear the scars of multiple battles and he’s only got one hand, though the stump naturally has some sort of crude weapon grafted to it. His reign is most likely in danger being the age he is, let alone some of his obvious injuries. Still he’s hanging in there somehow, you’ve got to give him credit.

“Shadow Master, its been a long time. And your mate Talia…wait you did not bring the strange lover did you?”
“Strange…oh!” you realize. “No, Cyrus is back in Delerg.”
“Good. Good. Never liked him. You two. Like. Treat Flog fairly and with honor. Um, let us go to my meeting room. Much to discuss. Very important. Your shadows can stay here, drink and partake of our females!”

You look over and see several female orcs AND ogres attempting to look seductive towards some of your shadows. You think this is the first time you’ve seen any of them look genuinely scared during this mission.

“Ah no, I don’t think that’ll be necessary Flog.” You say.
“All strange lovers too huh? Just as well, couldn’t survive being with an orc woman anyway. Let us go.”

Flog takes you and Talia to the very place where you used to hold small meetings and you all sit down before he speaks.

“Flog is old and will die soon. Flog know this and accepts it. Flog can only hope that Flog die in combat, but that time is not yet now. Flog cannot let it be so, so Flog call on those who may help.”
“Well that’s the whole reason for this, but I don’t understand the need for secrecy and why the hell we had to drag ourselves all the way up here. You know there are wendigo prowling about in Rask now?”
“Yes, Flog well aware of it because Flog’s son Mog foolishly attempted to harness them in his grab for power. Now Rask have evil spirits wandering about and Mog is making his move against Flog. Mog need to die.”

There’s your contract, but you still don’t get all of this.

“Okay, but…well normally I don’t ask why, however my curiosity about all this is still there. I mean in orc culture is it not the tradition of the strong to kill the current chief, most preferably one of his sons?”
“Indeed that would be the case, but Flog not feel that Mog deserve it. Mog’s reckless behavior with the wendigo is just one example. Mog also prove to be wasteful with slave towns. If Mog take charge, all of this will collapse. Flog not want it to collapse. Flog want orcs to continue to expand kingdom. Crush puny Galen one day and then beyond.”
“Beyond huh? That include the shadows Flog?” Talia asks.
“Heh. Perhaps one day the shadows and orcs will do battle and on that glorious day orcs will stand on top of the burning ruins of your god’s temple…but not today or even in Flog’s lifetime. All Flog ask now is for help, willing to pay large fee. You shadows also left things here when you abandoned this place. Stuffed things in a storeroom, perhaps you might want them back?”

That sounds very familiar.

“So if you don’t want Mog to take charge who did you have in mind?” Talia asks.
“Next son in line of course. Skog. Skog smart like Flog but not strong enough to beat Mog. Skog from proper orc woman. Mog from terrible drunken night with an ogress. Glad cannot remember much, but Flog do remember a lot of hair and…”
“Okay didn’t quite need those details. So where is Mog?” you say.
“Mog at Mogtown further north plotting my death and preparing to invade Bloodtooth. Be here soon, that’s why he needs to die soon. Mog prefer the company of ogres and giants mostly. Mog also have slave witch with him. Human. She one who released the wendigo and try to tame. Foolish. Cannot tame spirits. Bad idea.”
“I see…well Talia and I need to talk privately first. Just to discuss the exact details.”

Flog nods and lets you and Talia go off in a corner to speak quietly to each other.

“What’s wrong?” Talia asks.
“I dunno that part about giving us old shadow items as payment got me suspicious.”
“We can always sanctify them first, but I doubt if Flog put any sort of curse on them. If he’s honest enough to say the orcs will wage war on us one day he’s not going to bother with the same trickery the dark elves did.”
“Well there’s that too. I’m wondering why the hell should we help a potential enemy in the future.”
“Really anyone we perform jobs for could be our enemies in the future.”
“True, but they’re all human and they generally have a healthier fear of us and death in general than orcs. Flog only has some sense because he’s a little smarter and he’s known us longer.”
“Exactly, these are orcs we’re talking about, do you really think it’s going to matter who takes charge? While that idea in Flog’s head is a nice dream for him, I think we both know it’s just that. There is no way orcs are going to stay unified long enough to form some major kingdom of any kind, not for long anyway. Even with Rask more or less under their rule, its still very tribal here and prone to infighting. Besides, with Dendrin on our side, how would then even stand a chance?”
“Heh, yes I suppose so. Though I’m just wondering if rather than dragging our asses further up north and facing giants, ogres, witches and who knows what else out in the open and by ourselves, if we shouldn’t just make a different offer to Flog.”
“Like what?”
“Well like staying here and helping him in a more direct way. Flog claimed that Mog would probably be coming to invade soon. There will be so much chaos going on, we could probably slip out the fort and move around behind the army to assassinate Mog that way. Might even be easier.”
“Yeah, but who knows how long it’ll take him to invade or if he’ll even come personally and I don’t think Flog is going to go for that idea. Besides don’t you think being involved in a siege would be even more dangerous than trying to sneak into a town when they aren’t expecting trouble?”
> You go ahead with the original plan
Flog probably won’t go for it and being here during a siege probably will be just as if not more dangerous.

“Okay, we’ll stay here for a moment to get some rest and then get going. I hate to admit it but with the recent wendigo encounter and traipsing across the countryside I’m eager to get this over with since I’m starting to feel my age.” You quietly say to Talia.
“Are you going to be okay?”
“Yes, I’ll be fine, just need to get this mission over with.”

You stay at Blood Tooth for a few hours to rest, but soon set off on your mission since the company of orcs isn’t something you or any of the shadows want to endure for very long.

The journey to Mogtown is a miserable one, since the snow begins to fall heavier the further north you go. The snow is so deep that you can’t really speed yourself up since your legs are buried in the snow to the point where you can’t even run. Cloaking is useless since you’re leaving tracks everywhere. By the time you reach your destination, you’ve half frozen and exhausted.

When you see Mogtown in the distance, you’re in for a slight surprise. The front of the town is crawling with troops. Giants, orcs, and ogres are all standing around preparing to invade Blood Tooth no doubt. You expected some guards outside, but nothing like this.

“We’ll sneak around the back and scale the wall from there. Mog’s probably still inside the town in one of the more important looking buildings.” You tell everyone.

Your plan is about the best you can do under the circumstances and while you manage to avoid detection from the patrols, unfortunately there are more wendigos lurking on the outskirts ready to pick anyone off that comes near. They waste no time attacking you and while you’re better prepared for such creatures now, the noise ends up attracting the town garrison.

“Quick, scale the walls and let’s find this half breed bastard!” you shout.

After scaling the walls you find yourself surrounded by more enemies waiting for you. You have to butcher your way through several orcs and ogres before you can catch a breather. You run down an alleyway to avoid more troops descending on your position.

The alley way seems to have been converted into a slave pen filled with humans. You briefly consider freeing them in order to cause a little chaos, but the humans in the cages look so pathetic, you doubt if they’d have the power to even move.

Suddenly large shadows loom over you in the form of a couple giants who are standing on the outside of the nearby town walls throwing great clots of snow at you.. They succeed in destroying some buildings, killing some slaves as well as slowing you down when you feel a great force slam you to the ground from above.

You struggle to maintain consciousness as you try to dig your way out of an icy grave. You don’t have time to morn when you notice Talia’s lifeless body as you dig by it. When your head reaches air you take a deep breath, but this small comfort is cut short when you catch an arrow in the skull.